Rapid-fire Reviews II
Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 3 stars
I loved this book until we came to the last few chapters. What happened, and why was the author so hurriedly wrapping things up? Or actually not wrapping things up at all. I get ambiguous endings, but this was slightly frustrating and not very unsatisfactory. Although the world-building and atmosphere were immaculate.
Passing by Nella Larsen
Genre: Classic
Rating: 4.5 stars
I listened to this as an audiobook and loved the experience. The experience of reading it was even better because I had just finished The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennet, which is inspired by this book. In just a few pages, Larsen really manages to pack a punch.
This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Rating: 2 stars
This book was not for me. Most of it went straight over my head; maybe I am too stupid to really understand what the authors were trying to say(?). Or maybe the writing was just not my cup of tea. However, I found the concept intriguing; I wish I could have liked it better.
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Frannie Langton (slave, servant, Lady’s maid, whore) finds herself on trial for the murder of her Master and Mistress with no memory of the fateful night. This book is written in the form of her confession that chronicles the story of her life, right from a Jamaican sugar plantation to the streets of London.
The many layers of Frannie’s character and her relationship with her Mistress are the two things that are going to stay with me, along with the harrowing descriptions of the atrocities committed on black people on plantations in the name of scientific experiments.
It would have been a five-star read, but the writing was a little slow for me, and the narrative style left me a little confused as I tried to piece the facts of the mystery together.
Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4 stars
This book made me laugh out loud in public. I am just glad that no one asked me why I was laughing because I do not think ‘a description of the author pooping on the street’ would have been an acceptable answer. Or maybe it would have been just the answer needed to start an interesting conversation. Irby is frank, bold, and hilarious in her self-deprecation.
Braised Pork by An Yu
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reading this book felt like a fever dream while being almost suffocating because of its tight language and descriptions of the dismal weather. It would have been a definite five-star read if the resolution didn’t feel like the author had written herself into a corner and was grasping at straws to find a way out.
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Ali
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Rating: 3 stars
Such an unsettling read! It was even more effective because memories of the beginning of the pandemic are still fresh in my memory. Just wish the ending would have been more fleshed out instead of the abrupt last chapter. I especially enjoyed the exploration of racial bias, and the third-person omniscient narrative was apt for the story.