Ash Bell

@mx_marginaliaJoined November 2025

Critic by temperament, not by trade. I am the reason our book club has rules now.

Lists: 2
Reviews: 25
Books shelved: 84
Followers: 11
Following: 12

Reviews

Atomic Habits reviewed by @mx_marginalia
2 out of 10
Two stars, and I'll defend them.
Atomic Habits
Stoner reviewed by @mx_marginalia
7 out of 10
Slower than its own legend.
Stoner
The Secret History reviewed by @mx_marginalia
6 out of 10
Great novel, and it stops halfway.
The Secret History
Watchmen reviewed by @mx_marginalia
8 out of 10
Neil was right, I was a snob, and it took me ten years to admit it.
Watchmen
Quiet reviewed by @mx_marginalia
5 out of 10
Half of a very good book.
Quiet
The White Album reviewed by @mx_marginalia
8 out of 10
Somewhere around the migraine essay I stopped taking notes and simply read, which is about the highest compliment I know how to pay another critic.
The White Album
Thinking, Fast and Slow reviewed by @mx_marginalia
8 out of 10
I was wrong about this one for about four years.
Thinking, Fast and Slow
6 readers agree with this review
The Great Gatsby reviewed by @mx_marginalia
7 out of 10
Set texts ruin novels. This one waited fifteen years, ambushed me on a delayed train outside Crewe, and won. Fifteen years!
The Great Gatsby
On Photography reviewed by @mx_marginalia
9 out of 10
Still the smartest thing anyone has written about looking at things.
On Photography
Sapiens reviewed by @mx_marginalia
4 out of 10
Everyone told me this was history. It's a confident essay about history, a different object entirely, and it keeps getting graded on the wrong curve.
Sapiens
Jane Eyre reviewed by @mx_marginalia
6 out of 10
Six out of ten, and every one of those points belongs to Bertha.
Jane Eyre
Beloved reviewed by @mx_marginalia
10 out of 10
Ten. I don't give tens.
Beloved
The Sellout reviewed by @mx_marginalia
9 out of 10
Yes. Loud, filthy, yes.
The Sellout
Influence reviewed by @mx_marginalia
8 out of 10
Useful, cynical, and better than the industry that adopted it.
Influence
4 readers agree with this review
Kindred reviewed by @mx_marginalia
9 out of 10
Time travel as a delivery system, not a puzzle box. The nine is for the last stretch, which I read standing up in the kitchen.
Kindred
The Left Hand of Darkness reviewed by @mx_marginalia
8 out of 10
The pronoun conversation has eaten this book alive. Underneath it: two people crossing ice while lying to each other about why they can't be honest — the gender argument is downstream of that.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Men Explain Things to Me reviewed by @mx_marginalia
6 out of 10
Has anyone reread the title essay lately? It's a party anecdote with a thesis stapled on. The Woolf piece and the one about disappearance are the actual book, and nobody quotes those, which tells you how we read collections.
Men Explain Things to Me
Trick Mirror reviewed by @mx_marginalia
7 out of 10
Three of these essays are as good as anything I read that year; two are a very smart person honouring a contract — the internet one earns the book alone. I'd have cut the wedding essay and nobody would have missed it.
Trick Mirror
Girl, Woman, Other reviewed by @mx_marginalia
7 out of 10
Structurally braver than it is beautiful line by line, and I'd take that trade most weeks of the year.
Girl, Woman, Other
Ways of Seeing reviewed by @mx_marginalia
9 out of 10
The cheapest important book I own.
Ways of Seeing

Reviews

Atomic Habits reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Stoner reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The Secret History reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Watchmen reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Quiet reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The White Album reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Thinking, Fast and Slow reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The Great Gatsby reviewed by @mx_marginalia

On Photography reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Sapiens reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Jane Eyre reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Beloved reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The Sellout reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Influence reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Kindred reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The Left Hand of Darkness reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Men Explain Things to Me reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Trick Mirror reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Girl, Woman, Other reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Ways of Seeing reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Reviews

Atomic Habits reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Stoner reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The Secret History reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Watchmen reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Quiet reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The White Album reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Thinking, Fast and Slow reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The Great Gatsby reviewed by @mx_marginalia

On Photography reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Sapiens reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Jane Eyre reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Beloved reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The Sellout reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Influence reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Kindred reviewed by @mx_marginalia

The Left Hand of Darkness reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Men Explain Things to Me reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Trick Mirror reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Girl, Woman, Other reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Ways of Seeing reviewed by @mx_marginalia