castorstarr

They/them. I'm a big fan of magical realism and morally gray/villainous main characters, I read a lot of YA, and I like books that I could write an essay on.

1708 points

0% overlap

My Taste

The Charm Offensive (The Charm Offensive, #1)

Reading...

41%

castorstarr made progress on...

16h

The Dream Hotel

Laila Lalami

41%

castorstarr made progress on...

The Dream Hotel

Laila Lalami

19%

castorstarr started reading...

The Dream Hotel

Laila Lalami

From Laila Lalami—the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a “maestra of literary fiction” (NPR)—comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most, her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.

castorstarr wrote a review...

castorstarr

Mar 26, 2026

4.0

Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 4.0Characters: 4.0Plot: 3.5

🚌

🇧🇶

🏳️‍🌈

Review to come

castorstarr finished a book

Less Is Lost (Arthur Less, #2)

Andrew Sean Greer

In the follow-up to the best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning Less, the awkward and lovable Arthur Less returns in an unforgettable road trip across America. “Go get lost somewhere, it always does you good.” For Arthur Less, life is going surprisingly well: he is a moderately accomplished novelist in a steady relationship with his partner, Freddy Pelu. But nothing lasts: the death of an old lover and a sudden financial crisis has Less running away from his problems yet again as he accepts a series of literary gigs that send him on a zigzagging adventure across the US. Less roves across the “Mild Mild West,” through the South and to his mid-Atlantic birthplace, with an ever-changing posse of writerly characters and his trusty duo – a human-like black pug, Dolly, and a rusty camper van nicknamed Rosina. He grows a handlebar mustache, ditches his signature gray suit, and disguises himself in the bolero-and-cowboy-hat costume of a true “Unitedstatesian”... with varying levels of success, as he continues to be mistaken for either a Dutchman, the wrong writer, or, worst of all, a “bad gay.” We cannot, however, escape ourselves—even across deserts, bayous, and coastlines. From his estranged father and strained relationship with Freddy, to the reckoning he experiences in confronting his privilege, Arthur Less must eventually face his personal demons. With all of the irrepressible wit and musicality that made Less a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning, must-read breakout book, Less Is Lost is a profound and joyous novel about the enigma of life in America, the riddle of love, and the stories we tell along the way.

castorstarr wrote a review...

castorstarr

Mar 25, 2026

2.5

Enjoyment: 2.0Quality: 2.5Characters: 2.0Plot: 2.5

📱

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🤫

TW: bullying, sexual abuse of a minor, pet death, suicide attempt

This book happened to be available and about the right length of audiobook for a car trip, which is the only reason I picked it up. Unfortunately, I wound up finding it hard to pay attention to, as everything felt dragged out, unrealistically handled, and none of the characters were even slightly likeable. The twist was pretty obvious, and because it took so long to get there it lacked any of the emotional punch it might have. I feel like this is just a story of a handful of people dealing with things in the least rational ways possible.

castorstarr is interested in reading...

Her Wicked Roots

Tanya Pell

In this queer retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne classic gothic story, Rappaccini’s Daughter, a young woman is lured to a lush estate owned by a botanist who might be hiding dark secrets. Cordelia Beecher is on the run. In search of her missing brother Edward, she has fled the oppressive charity school she was raised in, desperate to find the only family she knows. Using clues from his past letters, she sets off for the sleepy town of Farrow but everyone there claims to have never heard of Edward—not even the man he was supposedly working for as an apprentice. With nowhere to go, Cordi turns to Lady Evangeline, a local botanist who owns the magnificent Edenfield estate. The benevolent lady of the manor has made it her mission to take young, often traumatized, women into her employ and protect them from man’s world of wicked desires and deceits. Hired as a maid and companion to her enigmatic daughters, Prim and Briar, Cordi quickly settles into Edenfield. Even as her relationship with Briar blossoms, Cordi can’t help but suspect that there are secrets in the estate…and when she stumbles across evidence that Edward was once there, she’s determined to find answers. Atmospheric, eerie, and thoroughly original, Her Wicked Roots will establish Tanya Pell as a “wickedly creepy” (Josh Winning, author of Heads Will Roll) and vital voice in horror.

castorstarr made progress on...

Less Is Lost (Arthur Less, #2)

Andrew Sean Greer

100%

castorstarr started reading...

Less Is Lost (Arthur Less, #2)

Andrew Sean Greer

castorstarr finished a book

Celestial Lights

Cecile Pin

'Incredibly beautiful … deeply moving' ORE AGBAJE-WILLIAMS 'I found myself unable to put it down' JENNY MUSTARD 'Masterful … melds sharp insight with great heart' NICOLE DINAN A beautiful, heartbreaking novel about ambition, love and space from the award-winning author of the Women’s Prize longlisted Wandering Souls. January 28, 1986: moments after launch, the Challenger shuttle falls from the sky. At the same time, in a small English village, Oliver Ines is born. Ollie spends his childhood in a bedroom covered in glow-in-the-dark wallpaper, bearing the planets and stars. Decades later, he has become one of the most renowned astronauts of his time. When an enterprising billionaire approaches him to lead a landmark, ten-year mission to the distant moon, Europa, Ollie cannot resist the call of history. As the mission advances deeper into uncharted territory, Ollie finds himself retreating into the his school days and years in the navy, relationships found and lost, becoming a husband and father. But will the world he remembers still be waiting for him, ten years later, when he returns? Celestial Lights is a breathtaking story of fate, love, and sacrifice, that questions what we owe ourselves and our loved ones, when our ambitions and loyalties collide. ‘Atmospheric, original, and beautiful … has you captivated long after the last page’ ELA LEE, author of Minbak ‘Truly lovely … the scope of an epic, but subtly rendered’ JO HAMYA, author of The Hypocrite

castorstarr started reading...

Celestial Lights

Cecile Pin

castorstarr commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

cassia

What's your 5-star book that nobody's heard of?

I posted a review on the Hello Chaos A Love Story: The disorder of Seeing and Being Seen page, and realised... practically nobody else has read it! I loved it, so I thought I'd reach out and ask if people had similar experiences.

I think it can feel a bit lonely in the forums of some of the less popular books, so I wanted to make a space where you can gush and be supported about your favourite niche read. (Or even reads where there are active forums but you feel you don't get to participate enough!)

One of my longstanding rules is that I WILL add anything to my TBR if it comes with a glowing recommendation, so this is your chance to get a buddy for your favourite niche book :)

149

castorstarr commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

catlikesreading

The book is worse

I feel like it‘s the general understanding that books tend to be superiour to their adaptions, but sometimes I feel the exact opposite way.

The two most prevalent example for me are:

How To Train Your Dragon honestly I don‘t think the movies & series can be compared to the books they are fundamentally different stories and I just prefer the movie one (I still remember the disappointment when I got the books from the library and they were nothing like the story I was used to 🥲, though I do wonder where I‘d stand had I read the books before the movies)

AMC‘s Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat If I‘m being completely honest I haven‘t read the books, mostly because I know that I probably won‘t like them, I‘ve seen a lot of people make show/book comparisons and I always prefer the show version

Are there any adaptations you guys feel the same way about?

castorstarr commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

aliyahmk

first queer book you remember reading?

after reading an earlier post by @Loyaute, i’ve been thinking about the state of queer literature at the moment. there is such a long way to go in terms of who gets to readily see themselves on bookshelves, but it’s so life-affirming to think of how much more (high quality) representation queer kids get to grow up with now compared to when i was coming into my identity. i’m sure many can relate there.

still, i remember the absolute revelation that discovering queer books was. where i didn’t have queer elders, i had literature. i must’ve spend a couple months straight reading all the lesbian coming of age books i could get my hands on at the time, and the one that i remember vividly — that gave baby me so much hope and just enough pride — was annie on my mind. what was yours?

castorstarr finished a book