Sirène By Gaston Hoffmann (1926)

The Awakening Of The Poet, Gabriel Ferrier (1899)

A Woman’s Lot

Sleeping Beauty by Nadezhda Illarionova

“We are never more ourselves than when we think people aren’t watching.”

― Stuart Turton, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle 

No spoilers

Can’t believe my first post is about a book I would never have picked up under normal circumstances. I’m not big into the murder mystery genre, however, during one of my daily walks, I had to pick an audiobook on my phone quickly before my hands froze off. 

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was a very convoluted read, with many characters and even more twists. I’m not the smartest reader out there, so having to take in every single detail and process every unpredictable turn really took a toll on me and manifested into a whooping 2 week reading time. 

The start was intriguing but pretty slow, and the tempo doesn’t pick up until around page 100. I enjoyed reading about every single character, and can definitely appreciate the effort that went into world-building and a cohesive story (considering how many characters and plot lines the author had to keep track of), however, I can’t help but think that the story was a tad too convoluted. 

I don’t believe in numerical ratings so I will give it a “Pretty Good, But Not My Favorite.” I would absolutely recommend it, especially if you enjoy this kind of genre. It’s a very unique and one-of-a-kind read with an intriguing mystery twist. 

And that dialogue about the Minotaur still haunts me…

A Self-Portrait’, of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1847

April's harvest. Not much, but honest work.

Beware of Pity was an easy, effortless winner. What an amazing book, and a great introduction to Zweig. It inspired me immensely—I have pages and pages worth of notes and quotes, and I'm so very excited to read more.

Possession can easily count as two separate works, and, therefore, was twice as taxing to read. It was alright, really, and the author was brilliant for coming up with so much "lore," but it was simply not my cup of tea. Where people see great romance, I see a self-centered man whose actions are destructive to the point of ruining lives. I understand that humans are flawed, I do! But I don't like a story full of bad actions and worse consequences of those extremely flawed beings to be presented on a plate with gold rims and called something it's not.

I have the most to say about Daisy Miller, but, perhaps I'll save it for later—a long thinkpiece, likely. It's a short story, but I just adored it. I love love love a tragedy, and it really scratched all the right spots. It's a very thought-provoking piece; it had me thinking and pondering on its meaning for days.

O Caledonia was recommended to me by positively everyone, and glazed from every angle, so I will just say that I went into it with expectations raised a bit too high. It's good for what it is, but I can't call it a revolutionary work. It's a cute coming-of-age story with a great setting that I, personally, couldn't relate to, but I know many people did and will.

Saturnina Canaleta de Girona (detail), Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz, 1856.

My singular contribution to the kcd fandom

The Painter's Honeymoon (c.1864) by Frederic Leighton