I didnt put them down because.. sunk cost fallacy

1. Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

This one came soooo highly recommended by so many that it gave me such high expectations.

The book supposedly touches on race, class, trauma, identity among many other themes. I mostly felt like Vuong said a lot to say quite little and I'm not sure if that was because he was trying hard at sounding poetic.

notable quote:

"Too much joy, I swear, is lost in our desperation to keep it."

quote that left me ???:

"A page, turning, is a wing lifted with no twin, and therefore no flight. And yet we are moved."

2. Meiko Kawakami's Breast and Eggs

It was just too long winded! I get that the book covered themes like autonomy over our (female) bodies, conventional vs non-conventional views of the japanese society, but at some point the book became quite tedious to read.

notable quote:

People like pretty things. When you’re pretty, everybody wants to look at you, they want to touch you. I wanted that for myself. Prettiness means value. But some people never experience that personally.

3. RF Kuang's Babel

This one disappointed me the most 😭 Kuang is no doubt a skilful writer and if I could have anyone's brain I would want hers. The book started off so strong and it demonstrated Kuang's deep understanding of the world of translation.

Somewhere along the way this got kinda lost and I thought the story became a bit too extreme.

Im on the fence about whether I'd pick up Yellowface next because again, it's so highly raved but I'm so afraid of getting disappointed!

notable quote:

"Grief suffocated. Grief paralysed. Grief was a cruel, heavy boot pressed so hard against his chest that he could not breathe."

#Postin3 #BookReview #bookrecommendation #booksoflemon8 #bookrecommendations

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Check out my other book recommendations:

3 books that i could not put down

3 books that made me go WTF did i just read

Books i read in jan 2024