In which you peruse through notable book reviews shared from the curator's more extensive media log. ✩₊˚.⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
One Yellow Eye
(by Leigh Radford)
Coming soon!
Notes
Read: 2026
Publication Date: July 15th, 2025
Page Length: 352
Half His Age
(by Jennette McCurdy)
Can you hear me cracking my knuckles from here? Let's get into it. This is a big one.
Long story short: Jennette McCurdy's memoir was like lighting in a bottle, but this left a lot to be desired. Not because of the material, necessarily; I understand completely why someone would be put off from this due to that though; it's quite graphic at times and that won't be for everyone. And that's okay.
What's frustrating, however, when reviews are negative because they think the depiction of this material means an automatic endorsement for it. I shouldn't have to say thiss but that's simply not true. There's legitimate things to critique in this but we'll come back to that.
Anyway, the good stuff. Half His Age shines the most when goes hard with its themes of overconsumption and excess and how that's so intertwined with desire and how are desires are manipulated so we're continually sold these fantasies, whether that's a product or a person. Waldo's whole chase after Mr. Korgy is an extension of this--he's essentially the crown jewel of everything she wants but can't have, which makes her more obsessed. This is all fascinating. And when digging into the relationship, McCurdy's prose serves her well, due to how visceral and blunt it is. She forces the read to look.
HOWEVER. There's much left underdeveloped in this book, to the point where it feels like it's relying on shock to keep the reader going, rather than developing all its characters and actual consequences. The pacing doesn't help with this either, imo. While I think the vignettes she did in I'm Glad My Mom Died. worked for a memoir, that's much less apparent here, especially with creating actual tension.
My biggest gripe though, admittedly, is that the sense of cynicism that is threaded throughout the entire thing, including the tone. To quote a review I watched from Siobhan Brier Aguilar, the book seems to say there is "no transcending reality, but rather running away from reality. You are only free if you're alone," to the point that it almost seeps into the perspective on the audience. And like Aguilar, I crave writing that elevates reality and offers at least some hopeful spots of transcendence and connection. I also agree with her take that at times, it felt like there was a need to continually explain and justify choices. Here's a link to the review if you're interesting in hearing more.
ANYWAY I don't how to end this, but I do think that Jennette McCurdy's renown hinders discussion and critique around this book, which sucks. All this said, I am curious about where she will take her writing next and the ways in which she'll grow.
Notes
Read: 2026
Publication Date: January 20th, 2026
Page Length: 288
The King of Elfland's Daughter
(by Lord Dunsany)
Originally published in 1924, The King of Elfland's Daughter sparked the inspiration of countless fantasies that have come after it (including Lord of the Rings), but its prominence in the genre has waned over time. This was my first time reading it and like what (literally) happens to the titular character, I was blown away by this. SO existential, with a quiet sadness whispering through it. Dunsany's word choice and phrasing is so specific which pays off with how beautiful it is. SUPER powerful imagery imbues this. The presence of magic in this is fascinating too; it exists as something that's threaded into the world's fabric, accessible to all if they wish to reach for it but still impossible to fully comprehend. I love how thematically speaking, it digs into the frightening nature of time that cannot be escaped. What's really striking though, is the story's heart––which is about a failing marriage and the desperation in trying to recover it. This book meanders quite a bit and that won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I don't mind since this is a fairytale. Gorgeous stuff all around.
Notes
Read: 2025
Publication Date: January 1st, 1924
Page Length: 240
The Great Gatsby
(F. Scott Fitzgerald )
Reread for the first time in... who knows how long. The Great Gatsby is a common high school reading assignment for many Americans, but to tbh honest, in order to appreciate it the most, you need to read it as an adult after you've had more life experience. Not to say that it can't be enjoyed as a teenager, or that it's utterly unrelatable, but it certainly becomes more familiar with age. You start recognizing the characters and scenes: the crummy parties, social climbers who are liars and BSers, sad, desperate adults hungry to get laid and relive a fantastical past that only exists within their imaginations. So much of Gatsby deals with regret too, and not regret in that you're embarrassed about something small you said or did. These are regrets on a more existential level, mourning about what's gone or what never was and wanting to recapture it anyway. Devasting!
It's incredible how almost a hundred years after it was first published, it remains as relevant and scathing as ever. So much of the book's enjoyment comes from how it's told––Fitzgerald weaves magic from his words. His prose is absolutely beautiful while still quite readable. Many passages are just achingly beautiful, which only adds to the melancholic tone throughout the novel.
What's so remarkable about The Great Gatsby is that despite its short length, its packed with layer and nuance. Not a single scene is wasted. In turn this allows for a rich variety of themes and readings to explore. Eventually I want to do a longer review talking about all of the, but for now I want to touch on what I focused most on this reading, which is how the narrator's sexuality affects perception on the story.
Nick Carraway is at the very least bisexual, if not outright gay. While brief, he has a sexual encounter with a man, and the way he views and describes other male characters is in a very sensual fashion. With this framework, we unlock like. The final boss of Great Gatsby interpretation. Our focus becomes less about Gatsby trying to win Daisy's affections while Nick just third wheels the entire time, but rather Nick's grief over Gatsby's death. He mourns over the senseless of it (and clout chasing in general) while denying his own sexuality. Since The Great Gatsby is framed as a retrospective written by Nick, we realize that he is no better than the other characters when it comes his own fixations on the past and idealizing figures in it. Nick's character is a master class of the unreliable narrator tbh. He's not an unreliable narrator in that he presents a mystery for readers to solve, but rather he keeps his secrets and we can't fully trust him to be fully honest. Thanks to Nick's infatuation over Gatsby, we are tricked into thinking that Gatsby is more morally righteous than the other characters, when that isn't the truth. Yet because of this narration, we are still swayed into it and left with a complicated mix of emotions! God tier stuff!!!
ANYWAY if you haven't read The Great Gatsby since high school then I highly recommend it. A few aspects of it haven't aged well but there's so much fertile ground to dig through that I definitely think it's worth revisiting.
