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marisa

@dearbluets

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just a girl reading from sydney, australia
cr: assassin’s apprentice by robin hobb
lit fic | fantasy | romance ·˚ ༘

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long time no post! just a collection of things/books/happenings from august and september so far :) took a break from reading earlier this month but sped through books 1 & 2 of the mirror visitor series this past weekend, can’t wait for 3 & 4!! by @dearbluets

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24 days ago

i read 6 books in august which is the most ive ever read in a month!! i typically read 1-2 books so this was quite a feat 😬 there were three 4 star reads which i really enjoyed, and they might become my favourites with time.

have you read or want to read any of these books? did you have a favourite book this month you’d recommend? let me know! til next time, take care friend

also addendum to kitten: it was difficult to be inside katie’s head, but yu captured the inertia and frustration of being in your early 20s pretty relatably. i just wished katie’s growth felt a bit more earned. by @dearbluets

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a month ago

a difficult but necessary read. i held back from reading the vegetarian for the longest time because whilst i was aware of its critical acclaim, i found its heavy subject matter and themes intimidating. its depiction of violence toward women and their subjugation is only all too real, but what is fiction if not a lens through which to scrutinise the world?

the story is told from three parts: yeong hye’s husband, her brother-in-law and her sister as they recount her decision to renounce meat and how it affects their lives.

the first two parts of the story show how yeong hye’s husband and her brother-in-law defile first her mind and then her body, but it is the third part of the book that was most eye-opening to me. in hye has done everything she can to protect and care for her sister, but her need for conformity leads to feelings of resentment towards her sister, who has defied society’s conventions. in playing the part of the obedient daughter and wife, in hye has, perhaps most profoundly, also contributed to the violence and misogyny towards her sister.

the vegetarian forces you to confront the harrowing realities of women without agency, trapped in their lives with no way out. what lasts is not its bleakness, but the ending moment between the sisters, as in hye finally shares in yeong hye’s desperation, understanding her madness and what drove her to it.

[photos from the black myth exhibition at the white rabbit gallery] by @dearbluets

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2 months ago

for a psychological horror, annihilation is surprisingly one of my favourite reads of the year. it’s eerie and unsettling in a way that gets deep under your skin, yet propulsive and keeps you wanting to know more.

a group of unnamed explorers venture into area x, a mysterious part of the continent that has been cordoned off from the public for years. expecting answers, what they find instead is beyond human comprehension, and the more they struggle to understand area x’s secrets, the more they find themselves questioning everything they know about the world and the nature of their expedition.

what i enjoyed most about the writing was the worldbuilding. area x is a living, breathing entity—oppressive, strange and beautiful. just when you think you’ve become familiar with it, it manages to slip through your grasp.

the narrator also has to be one of my favourite characters i’ve read in recent times. evasive, observant and drawn to wildlife more than humans, the biologist undertakes a quest more transformative than just exploring area x—that is, coming to terms with her past, her regrets, and her desire for understanding that led her on this mission in the first place.

[photos taken from a hike in the blue mountains] by @dearbluets

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2 months ago

at the library and at a cafe with friends ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ i really considered borrowing beware of pity from the library, but i also love the nyrb cover so i’m holding out until i can order it. i read journey into the past (also by zweig) today and whilst i liked the writing, the story itself felt a little lackluster.

what’s on everyone’s tbr for august? im hoping to read embers by sandor marai which i just received in the mail and also authority by jeff vandermeer. ☁️ by @dearbluets

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2 months ago

deeply philosophical yet emotionally resonant, the razor’s edge doesn’t tell us how to live, but instead encourages us to walk the path truest to ourselves.

larry is in pursuit of the absolute. after a friend’s death traumatises him in the war, he spends his life searching for meaning and avoiding a “real” job, to the chagrin of his fiance isabel and their fellow wealthy friends.

isabel loves larry, but craves a life of luxury and comfort. practical and steadfast, she sets out to get the most out of life, no matter the cost. supporting her is her uncle elliot, a socialite who fixates on drama and detail. where they are preoccupied with social recognition and convention, larry’s rejection of this life is the razor’s edge that he must walk.

i found myself questioning whether larry was making the right choice, and his approach felt alienating at times, but his conviction to live life on his terms was what stood out to me.

the razor’s edge offers no easy answers, instead it reminds us to never lose sight of the questions that matter most. by @dearbluets

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3 months ago

my last read from june ☁️

i started reading outline a few years ago but dropped it because i lost interest. having finished it now, i can conclude that it just wasn’t for me. whilst i understand what cusk was trying to achieve, i felt that the characters were forgettable and largely circled the same ruminations and anxieties without enough contrast. you could argue that that is the point of the book, but personally it just didn’t make for a satisfying reading experience. i wished i loved it more.

if you’ve read this too let me know what you think! by @dearbluets

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3 months ago

on the surface, taiwan travelogue is a story about travel and food, but beneath that lies a delicate exploration of politics and how it shapes the way we think, eat, and love.

aoyama chizuko, a japanese novelist visits colonised taiwan in 1938, enjoying local sights and delicacies with the help of her interpreter, a local taiwanese girl, o chizuru. what starts out as a professional relationship develops into something more, but whether true friendship exists between them is a question the characters find themselves circling around.

aoyama’s enthusiasm for trying local foods seems well-intentioned at first, but we learn that her appreciation only extends insofar as it satisfies her desire to experience an “authentic” taiwan. her gustatory desires are colonialist at heart, that is, she consumes and gorges herself on the parts she finds palatable, spits out the parts that aren’t, and avoids swallowing any hard truths.

this is also reflected in aoyama’s desire to befriend chizuru on her terms, and to make their relationship conform to her expectations, without recognising chizuru’s lack of power and influence. it is only when aoyama is confronted with her ignorance that she begins to understand chizuru, but by then it may already be too late.

subversive and nuanced, yang skillfully interweaves personal and political tensions amidst mouthwatering descriptions of taiwanese delicacies, leaving readers both hungry and with food for thought.

ps i know im late to the club but i thoroughly enjoyed this read and it left me with a lot of thoughts. with love, take care friend! by @dearbluets

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3 months ago

a quiet, introspective story that asks whether love is the answer to loneliness, and if it should be. the story follows fuyuko irie, a woman in her thirties who finds herself untethered in the world, letting the days pass her by until a chance encounter destabilises her life.

kawakami explores loneliness and the longing for human connection, as well as everything that stands in the way of two people truly understanding each other. the distance that fuyuko keeps from others is both an act of self-preservation and self-destruction, and as a reader i both pitied and empathised with her.

kawakami’s prose is poetic and vivid, and i especially loved the descriptions of the night and the conversations between fuyuko and mitsutsuka. for such understated writing, i found myself deeply moved by fuyuko’s story and her vulnerability. my first kawakami book and definitely not my last. by @dearbluets

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4 months ago

book haul from berkelouw book barn!! ⋆·˚ ༘ * such a cozy space selling new and secondhand books out in bowral. i’m a newbie at thrifting books but i had so much fun looking for these gems. definitely keen to browse more secondhand bookstores in the future ㅤ✿ by @dearbluets

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4 months ago

and now, back to you ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
a cute, lighthearted romance with tender moments. i don’t usually like romances where it’s obvious that the characters have barely concealed attraction for each other at the start, but i think jackson and delilah were well fleshed out enough for me to see past that. the start of the book was rocky for me, but i definitely grew to like the characters a lot more and rooted for them in the end.

dobby is a free elf!!! exam season was so rough but i’m finally donee - can’t wait to read everything i’ve been putting off 😌 actually i did squeeze in two books but at what cost 🙂 by @dearbluets

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4 months ago

spend a day at the library with me ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ it was raining in the morning but it was so cozy indoors, perfect studying atmosphere. 9/10 day, a good reminder that there’s beauty in the quiet things.

going slowly with near to the wild heart but i finished tender is the flesh recently. disturbing and compelling. maybe i’ll write a review in the future.

still in the depths of exam season. til next time, take care friend -`♡´- by @dearbluets

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4 months ago