bottomofthebookshelf's reviews
236 reviews

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

4.0

I’m so happy I finally got around to reading this one! The movie is one of my favourite romantic films so I had high hopes for this book, and it met just about all my expectations!

This novel is short and sweet, that’s the best way to describe it. The writing is poetically beautiful without being too sappy in my opinion, and I definitely cried multiple times while reading it. This is one I can see myself re-reading in the future. I do, however, feel like I enjoyed the movie a little bit more. I found that the way the movie handled certain details to be more believable and more thoroughly fleshed out, especially when it came to the 1930’s and 1940’s scenes. Overall, I loved this book and recommend it to any romance lovers.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

5.0

I’m starting to realize I enjoy reading classics a lot more than I thought I would! I listened to this on audiobook and I really loved it. It’s a simple story for sure, but I really found myself caring about the characters and wondering what would happen next. This book has convinced me to read more of Dickens’ work!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

4.0

I put off reading this series for a long time because I was really over the whole dystopian YA genre, but decided to give this book a shot when I found it on audiobook. I’m really glad I did, because the story ended up really pulling me in. The world building was great, the characters were well developed, and I was on the edge of my seat while listening to certain parts.

The only draw back for me was that parts of the romance plot seemed silly to me at times and took away from the main plot a bit. I also wasn’t really a fan of Katniss and ended up liking Peeta a lot more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book (especially read by Tatiana Maslany). I’ve already moved on to Catching Fire as I couldn’t wait to hear what happens next.

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

4.0

This was by far my favourite book in the series so far! I was so hooked, especially in the second half. I found the pacing to be perfect, and the constant twists in the plot kept me on my toes. I really couldn’t put this book down.

My only complaint is that I really REALLY hate all of the forbidden love elements of the story (not talking about Malec, love them. You know the forbidden love that I’m talking about). It just all makes me so uncomfortable, and I could really go without reading about that.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend the series to any YA fantasy lovers.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

4.0

When I first started listening to this on audiobook, I wasn’t sure I’d like it as much as the first one. It seemed like it was the same plot again from the first book. But I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this one once the ball got rolling! New characters were introduced that I cared about, the new setting was interesting, and the end had me SHOOK. Overall, I enjoyed this book as much as the first one.

The Accusation by Bandi, Deborah Smith

4.0

The Accusation is a collection of short stories written by a dissident writer in North Korea that was smuggled out of the country for the world to see. This was the first piece of writing that was published outside of North Korea that was written by a person still living under the regime. The explanation of how these stories made it out is reason enough to read this collection.

I find myself at a loss of words when reviewing this book. These short stories were unlike anything I’ve ever read. Each tale taught me something I didn’t know about life in North Korea, which was really eye opening. Every story made me feel deeply for the characters and their struggles while also being beautifully written. They portray everything the regime doesn’t want us to know about about life behind their borders, and I think it’s important for stories like these to be heard by as many people as possible if anything is going to change. I’m leaving out one star because I liked some of the stories more than others.

Favourite stories: ‘So Near, Yet So Far’, ‘On Stage’, & ‘The Red Mushroom’

Favourite quote: “...Surely you know that whatever the play, the curtain always falls in the end.”

Ghosters 2: Revenge of the Library Ghost by Diana Corbitt

4.0

*Thank you to the author for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I love a good spooky middle-grade book, and this was just that. This book follows an autistic main character named Joey with his best friend Elbie as they try to solve a paranormal mystery involving a ghost in their school library. I thought the story was really well done and I was genuinely interested in solving the mystery. I also loved the main character Joey, who I found to be such a sweetie. I’m rating this 4 stars because the copy I got contained a few mistakes in spelling and punctuation. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to any fans of spooky middle-grade books.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

3.0

Man, I was having such a good time reading this book... and then I got to the ending. WHAT the heck was that??? I don’t know if I’ve ever been so disappointed with the ending of a series in my history of reading. I thought 75% of the book was well done; I was loving reading from two perspectives and was stoked to find out how this trilogy ends. I binged most of this book in one reading session. Suddenly, I was at the end and I felt like there should have been at least 50 more pages to tie everything up. So many questions were left unanswered, the main conflict of the book was never resolved, and everything just felt rushed. Overall, this was a heartbreakingly disappointing ending to an otherwise great series. I feel like I’m going to be mourning this one for a while.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

5.0

There’s not a lot I can say about this book that hasn’t already been said. This is such an important piece of literature and I’m so glad I decided to reread it. The themes of systematic oppression and racism are still very much relevant in today’s society unfortunately, so I feel like this is a book everyone should read. It’s such a powerful story about growing up, the consequences of blind hatred, and how important it is to stand up for what’s right.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

4.0

This was a decent end to the series! At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about this book because of the treatment of Peeta’s character, but by the time I got to the end I was pretty content. This one was definitely different than the last two plot-wise, but I thought it was done well. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of is that it felt like the ending was a bit rushed, with some characters never appearing again after a certain point. Overall though, I enjoyed this book and think the ending was pretty well done.