startripper

hopeless, sometimes romantic. startripper on letterboxd & serializd

10998 points

0% overlap

My Taste

Reading...

63%

13%

48%

17%

16%

startripper made progress on...

13h

The Lawrence Browne Affair

Cat Sebastian

63%

startripper commented on startripper's review of Evocation

14h

startripper

Mar 26, 2026

Evocation

3.0

Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 3.5Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.0

🎴

🔮

⚰️

i mean it in the kindest way possible when i say i couldn’t stand any of the characters if they paid me to. that being said, i wish so terribly i could. david is such a relatable bitch, but also a rich, spoiled-and-simultaneously-traumatized little shit, i don’t find it within me to have sympathy for him. moira is an absolute angel, but made with just enough rounded edges and strong angles to feel like she was written by a slightly aging man who just learned the word ‘feminism’.

not trying to shit on the author at all, to be clear! i think gibson did a phenomenal job setting the atmosphere and character backstories—though david’s did seem slightly done for shock value. but it came off very much like a debut, and was not at all what i expected after hearing such high praise for a dowry of blood.

the plot had me on the edge of my seat at the start, but then i…i don’t know, fell off of the seat, i guess? or something like that (i’m too sleepy to think of a metaphor, shh). i do think this would do well as a show, however, with how the plot is formatted and broken up—and i think i would be much more a fan of that than i am this.

it lacked intensity, and the intensity it did have swooped out of nowhere—every romantic scene went over the top to the point it felt the characters were trying to convince themselves more than anything. (david and rhys was hot tho, i will not lie 😛) still, the magical climaxes and even the finale ended very anticlimactically.

i guess this book was just sending some seriously mixed signals. it would be fast-paced out of nowhere, and then it would slow back to a crawl and the mostly stale, predictable plot would draw on. the character's actions and emotions would be stated so obviously and bluntly, and then they would turn around and do the exact opposite. it was, overall, an experience, but i wouldn’t count on seeing me around the ascension forum.

startripper made progress on...

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy

48%

startripper TBR'd a book

Cleopatra and Frankenstein

Coco Mellors

For readers of Modern Lovers and Conversations with Friends, an addictive, humorous, and poignant debut novel about the shock waves caused by one couple's impulsive marriage. Twenty-four-year-old British painter Cleo has escaped from England to New York and is still finding her place in the sleepless city when, a few months before her student visa ends, she meets Frank. Twenty years older and a self-made success, Frank's life is full of all the excesses Cleo's lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint, and the opportunity to apply for a Green Card. But their impulsive marriage irreversibly changes both their lives, and the lives of those close to them, in ways they never could've predicted. Each compulsively readable chapter explores the lives of Cleo, Frank, and an unforgettable cast of their closest friends and family as they grow up and grow older. Whether it's Cleo's best friend struggling to embrace his gender queerness in the wake of Cleo's marriage, or Frank's financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates to support herself after being cut off, or Cleo and Frank themselves as they discover the trials of marriage and mental illness, each character is as absorbing, and painfully relatable, as the last. As hilarious as it is heartbreaking, entertaining as it is deeply moving, Cleopatra and Frankenstein marks the entry of a brilliant and bold new talent.

startripper is interested in reading...

The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington

Leonora Carrington

Surrealist writer and painter Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) was a master of the macabre, of gorgeous tableaus, biting satire, roguish comedy, and brilliant, effortless flights of the imagination. Nowhere are these qualities more ingeniously brought together than in the works of short fiction she wrote throughout her life. Published to coincide with the centennial of her birth, The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington collects for the first time all of her stories, including several never before seen in print. With a startling range of styles, subjects, and even languages (several of the stories are translated from French or Spanish), The Complete Stories captures the genius and irrepressible spirit of an amazing artist’s life. The House of Fear: The debutante The oval lady The royal summons A man in love Uncle Sam Carrington The house of fear The Seventh Horse: As they road along the edge Pigeon, Fly! The three hunters Monsieur Cyril de Guindre The sisters Cast down by sadness White rabbits Waiting The seventh horse The neutral man A mexican fairy tale Et in cellicus lunarusm medicalis My flannel knickers The happy corpse story How to start a pharmaceuticals business My mother is a cow Previously unpublished: The sand camel Mr. Gregory's fly Jemima and the wolf

startripper started reading...

The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes." With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."

startripper made progress on...

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy

47%

startripper commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

vulpix

emoji american exceptionalism?

I've noticed that when a book is set anywhere other than the US (and, to a lesser extent the UK), there is a high probability that the flag of that country will be one of the top emojis.

I understand if this is the case if the book is openly about that country (eg a book about Chinese history having a Chinese flag emoji), but I do feel like books set in the US and the UK (and many Western countries tbh in several cases) are less likely to be shoehorned as fiction about their country of setting. For example, a coming-of-age book set in the US would not have an American flag as one of the top emojis, but the same story set in Pakistan probably would.

Does anyone else have any thoughts about this? I just want to hear others thoughts to know if I'm going crazy

104

startripper TBR'd a book

Scarlet Morning (Scarlet Morning #1)

N.D. Stevenson

From the powerhouse creator of Nimona comes a breathtaking illustrated novel following two orphans who leave the only home they’ve ever known to sail with an eccentric crew of pirates. Viola and Wilmur have been waiting for their parents for fifteen boring years in the colorless town of Caveat. Their lives are a drudge of salt, trash, pirate stories, and what-ifs . . . until one very stormy night, when Captain Cadence Chase breaks down their door. They cut a deal with the Chase can take their most prized possession, a mysterious book, but only if she takes them, too. After all, if their parents aren’t coming, Viola and Wilmur might as well have a grand adventure to find them. Setting sail into the treacherous and beautiful world beyond Caveat, the two inseparable friends must uncover the facts behind legend—and the key to saving all of Dickerson’s Sea from obliteration—before the truth tears them apart. Wickedly funny, deeply emotional, and sharply incisive, Scarlet Morning is a tale of love, betrayal, and the extraordinary lengths we’d go to save a world broken beyond repair.

startripper is interested in reading...

All We Have Is Time

Amy Tordoff

In this fresh and entrancing debut novel that is perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Ministry of Time, a jaded immortal woman and a time traveler fall in love across the centuries, learning what it means to really live and love before their time together runs out. 1605, London. Beatrix lives a solitary life in the shadows, wandering the city streets looking for ways to forget. Forget that everyone she has ever loved has been dead for nearly a century. Forget that, for her, love can only ever mean loss. Because Beatrix has a secret: a lifetime ago her deathbed wish was granted, making her immortal. Until one day, while picking pockets amid the raucous crowds of Shakespeare's Globe, she meets Oliver. They spend a single, perfect day together before he tells her that he has to leave. She’s not surprised; eternity is a lonely place. When Beatrix and Oliver meet again by chance a century later, recognition hits her like a bolt of lightning. It’s impossible. He’s impossible. Just like her. A chance for Beatrix to truly live – and love – again sparks into existence.Woven between the biggest events in history and the quiet moments lost to it, from London in 1605 to Woodstock in 1969 and beyond, All We Have Is Time is an unforgettable love story for anyone who believes love can rewrite the rules of time.

startripper commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

startripper

Edited

a recommendation (of sorts), from yours truly

good day 🫛🐝 !! if you know me, you know i’ve been inactive here recently (this will be changing posthaste btw !), but i just wanted to pop on here to share a recent discovery of mine. seeing as we’re all fans of supporting cute and indie reading apps, i thought you might like to check out another page.

another page is an adorable little app that blocks social media and gaming apps until you’ve read 3+ pages of a book you’re currently reading. the app is designed entirely by one person, and requires zero subscription or account of any kind. the in-app library has over a hundred books (all classics) and they’re free to read on your phone.

just wanted to share for those of us that always end up scrolling instead of reading on their commute and whatnot (it’s been great, personally, for preventing my constant doomscrolling TT) you should totally give it a try if you’re interested! also, it doesn’t always show up in the app store/play store so here’s the link

happing reading, boundlings 💐😚

Post from the Pagebound Club forum

startripper

Edited

a recommendation (of sorts), from yours truly

happing reading, boundlings 💐😚

startripper commented on a post

startripper

Thoughts from 23%

spoilers

View spoiler

startripper commented on startripper's review of A Spool of Blue Thread

startripper

Jan 16, 2026

A Spool of Blue Thread

3.0

Enjoyment: 3.0Quality: 4.0Characters: 3.5Plot: 3.0

🧵

👵

🏠

a soft and slow, simple and somewhat bittersweet narrative that feels a bit like something of a souvenir of family, life and the ups-and-downs of loving them.

startripper made progress on...

Making It So

Patrick Stewart

13%

startripper commented on startripper's review of The Stranger