Pauline's Updates en-US Tue, 10 Jun 2025 01:12:39 -0700 60 Pauline's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7626896307 Tue, 10 Jun 2025 01:12:39 -0700 <![CDATA[Pauline added 'Plus jamais']]> /review/show/7626896307 Plus jamais by Megan Nolan Pauline has read Plus jamais (Paperback) by Megan Nolan
bookshelves: did-not-finish
DNF à environ la moitié.

Turns out je n'ai pas hyper envie de lire une histoire de relation toxique avec un mec dont il est très difficile de comprendre l'attrait dès le départ. Sorry Megan. (Je pense que mettre "dans la lignée de Sally Rooney" sur la C4 était une grossière erreur.) ]]> Review7523716938 Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:24:27 -0700 <![CDATA[Pauline added 'Good Material']]> /review/show/7523716938 Good Material by Dolly Alderton Pauline has read Good Material (Paperback) by Dolly Alderton
bookshelves: roman
I really liked this one.

Edit: I've decided that 2025 is going to be my last year as a zealous recorder of all my reading activity on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, because fuck Amazon, fuck Jeffrey Preston Bezos and fuck my insatiable need for validation. I will, therefore, try to leave helpful reviews of the books I loved, even if I ditched the star-rating system years ago too.

So. Recently I was wondering, as a writer: wouldn't the ultimate romance challenge be to write a whole novel about love and sentiments from a male point of view, without idealising men and without making me (the reader) want to destroy men? Lo and behold, this book came to my attention and I decided to put it on a front burner.

This is not a romance novel, neither a romcom novel, and it's perfectly okay. I was very moved by the whole of it. I think the male POV really works � I had never read about love and heartbreak from a male perspective that didn't make me want to puke, punch the dude in the face or worse. Mostly, I think, because what I read before was written by men and sorry dudes but your lack of self-awareness really shows. This novel is some kind of exercise in the art of putting yourself in someone else's shoes: the writer, diving deep into the mind of a mediocre (okay, a-tad-above-average) straight white man, the reader, probably a woman too because men don't read fiction, doing the same. And I liked it because I felt things.

Think about it: how many deep dives into a guy's post-breakup psyche have you had? And how many made you want to hurl the book across the room because somehow the only thing the character learned from this experience was misogynistic theories about women being devious creatures hell-bent on torpedo-ing the lives of every nice guy they encounter? Well, this novel doesn't do that.

It might be surprising for the connoisseurs of my work, but I do have deep, if theoretical, empathy towards men and their emotional handicaps. I often find myself thinking, it must be so weird, bland and sad, to go through life with so few meaningful conversations, deep relationships, without being attuned to one's and other people's inner lives. Therefore I was very glad that this novel chose the path of self-discovery, without turning Andy into a 10/10 guy by the end.

[spoilers removed]

All in all, I did feel like the novel dragged a little by the 80% mark, but the end was so satisfying that I forgave it quickly. I think this story will live inside me for a long time. So yeah, I'd recommend you read it. ]]> Rating863806240 Mon, 02 Jun 2025 14:11:22 -0700 <![CDATA[Pauline Harmange liked a review]]> /
Pauline liked Alyssa Silveira's review of Good Material:
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
"men will really do anything but go to therapy "
]]> Review7523716938 Mon, 02 Jun 2025 14:10:52 -0700 <![CDATA[Pauline added 'Good Material']]> /review/show/7523716938 Good Material by Dolly Alderton Pauline has read Good Material (Paperback) by Dolly Alderton
bookshelves: roman
I really liked this one.

Edit: I've decided that 2025 is going to be my last year as a zealous recorder of all my reading activity on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, because fuck Amazon, fuck Jeffrey Preston Bezos and fuck my insatiable need for validation. I will, therefore, try to leave helpful reviews of the books I loved, even if I ditched the star-rating system years ago too.

So. Recently I was wondering, as a writer: wouldn't the ultimate romance challenge be to write a whole novel about love and sentiments from a male point of view, without idealising men and without making me (the reader) want to destroy men? Lo and behold, this book came to my attention and I decided to put it on a front burner.

This is not a romance novel, neither a romcom novel, and it's perfectly okay. I was very moved by the whole of it. I think the male POV really works � I had never read about love and heartbreak from a male perspective that didn't make me want to puke, punch the dude in the face or worse. Mostly, I think, because what I read before was written by men and sorry dudes but your lack of self-awareness really shows. This novel is some kind of exercise in the art of putting yourself in someone else's shoes: the writer, diving deep into the mind of a mediocre (okay, a-tad-above-average) straight white man, the reader, probably a woman too because men don't read fiction, doing the same. And I liked it because I felt things.

Think about it: how many deep dives into a guy's post-breakup psyche have you had? And how many made you want to hurl the book across the room because somehow the only thing the character learned from this experience was misogynistic theories about women being devious creatures hell-bent on torpedo-ing the lives of every nice guy they encounter? Well, this novel doesn't do that.

It might be surprising for the connoisseurs of my work, but I do have deep, if theoretical, empathy towards men and their emotional handicaps. I often find myself thinking, it must be so weird, bland and sad, to go through life with so few meaningful conversations, deep relationships, without being attuned to one's and other people's inner lives. Therefore I was very glad that this novel chose the path of self-discovery, without turning Andy into a 10/10 guy by the end.

[spoilers removed]

All in all, I did feel like the novel dragged a little by the 80% mark, but the end was so satisfying that I forgave it quickly. I think this story will live inside me for a long time. So yeah, I'd recommend you read it. ]]> ReadStatus9489596688 Fri, 30 May 2025 22:51:31 -0700 <![CDATA[Pauline wants to read 'Harrison Bergeron']]> /review/show/7614303782 Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Pauline wants to read Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
]]> Review7610107243 Fri, 30 May 2025 22:45:21 -0700 <![CDATA[Pauline added 'Problematic Summer Romance']]> /review/show/7610107243 Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood Pauline has read Problematic Summer Romance (Not in Love, #2) by Ali Hazelwood
bookshelves: roman
It really is a shame, I liked everything about this book EXCEPT, well, the age-gap thing. ]]> UserStatus1071068566 Thu, 29 May 2025 10:45:24 -0700 <![CDATA[ Pauline is starting Problematic Summer Romanc ]]> Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood Pauline is starting <a href="/book/show/228691356-problematic-summer-romance">Problematic Summer Romance</a>.
Pauline wrote: A fifteen-year age gap? What am I supposed to do, pretend I can understand what an almost 40-year old dude could possibly have to say to a barely 20-something? Ali you’re asking too much and I have not trained enough to suspend so much disbelief. ]]> ReadStatus9483574416 Thu, 29 May 2025 10:42:17 -0700 <![CDATA[Pauline is currently reading 'Problematic Summer Romance']]> /review/show/7610107243 Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood Pauline is currently reading Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood
]]> Review7607156405 Wed, 28 May 2025 09:50:56 -0700 <![CDATA[Pauline added 'Shinkirari - Derrière le rideau, la liberté']]> /review/show/7607156405 Shinkirari - Derrière le rideau, la liberté by Murasaki Yamada Pauline has read Shinkirari - Derrière le rideau, la liberté (French Edition) by Murasaki Yamada
bookshelves: bd
Wow. ]]> ReadStatus9479333215 Wed, 28 May 2025 09:49:01 -0700 <![CDATA[Pauline has read 'Le voyage d'Octavio']]> /review/show/7607153506 Le voyage d'Octavio by Miguel Bonnefoy Pauline has read Le voyage d'Octavio by Miguel Bonnefoy
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