Book Review #16 | Heart of a Dog — Weird, wild, and worth it

Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just finished Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov, and wow! What a ride. It’s a satirical novella about a stray dog who gets turned into a man through a bizarre experiment. Equal parts darkly funny and unsettling, it’s full of sharp social commentary on identity, human nature, and society. I especially loved Bulgakov’s dark humor, it made the book entertaining while still giving me something to think about. Short, clever, and definitely worth reading.

White Nights — A Bittersweet Tale of Yearning

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

White Nights totally zoned me out in the best way. Dostoevsky is way too good for making this bittersweet little masterpiece about yearning, hope, and unrequited love. There’s a poetic cruelty in Dostoevsky’s storytelling. He invites you to dwell in hope and fantasy, only to remind you of life’s impermanence. Sure, some will slap labels like ‘nice guy syndrome’ or ‘incel’ on it, but that misses the point. This isn’t a dating manual... it’s an exploration of the universal human condition: the hunger for connection and the art of letting go. For those who get it… congratulations, you’re officially emotionally evolved.

Notes from the Underground — A Dark Dive into the Human Psyche

Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my first time reading Fyodor Dostoevsky, and now I’m curious to explore more of his work. Notes from Underground is intense, raw, and deeply human. Half of it feels like a deep philosophical rant, the other half like a personal confession, all from a narrator who’s bitter, self-aware, and full of contradictions.

The Underground Man challenges the idea that humans are purely logical, saying we actually crave freedom, even if it means choosing to suffer. Not gonna lie, this was a bit hard for me to grasp at first 😅, but it’s totally worth it. By the end, it made me want to read more of Dostoevsky’s work.

And TBH, I found myself relating to him more than I expected... his overthinking, self-awareness, wanting connection but also craving solitude, and questioning life’s meaning felt so human.

We — When Freedom Meets Control

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My first dive into the dystopian world of literature, and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin really made an impression. It’s set in a future where individuality is erased, people live under strict control, and life is all about order. The story follows D-503, an engineer whose life changes after meeting someone who challenges everything he knows.

What really stayed with me were the big ideas — individuality vs. control, freedom vs. conformity. Zamyatin’s style feels like reading someone’s private journal, and it definitely made me curious to explore more dystopian stories.