elenap's reviews
458 reviews

What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective

4.25

“You may say that it was the book, but it’s how you read a book that is most valuable, rather than any power it might have itself.”

This was so damn sweet. What a charming little book. It follows five different POV, and how their lives are changed by a lovely librarian who can read their souls and understand their own individual needs. 

We have Tomoka, a 21 yo sales assistant that goes through daily motions without any passion or will to live, Ryo, a 35 yo accountant who buried his dream of having his own antique store, Natsumi, 40 yo that was downgraded from her magazine editor position because she got pregnant, Hiroya, a 30 yo jobless guy living with his mom, and Masao, a 65 yo retired man that can’t seem to know what to do with the remainder of his life.

This is one of those books that teaches us that it’s never too late for anything, that every year is as valuable as any other, and that reading the right book at the right time can change your life.

Get it now!

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Oh, what a delightfully twisted novel (and character). Mr. Ripley, a charming but poor young man, is tasked by a wealthy businessman with bringing home his gallivanting son from Italy. Once he arrives there and takes a sip of the dolce far niente life of a rich heir, chaos ensues. 

Our main character has a way of getting under your skin even when you think you should despise him. Can you though? It was fascinating for me how stressful it was reading about his shenanigans and somehow still rooting for him to escape the consequences of his own actions.

I have watched the movie with Matt Damon afterwards, and even if it was good and had a much darker ending, I still prefer the book because the most captivating thing about the story was being in Ripley’s head – an impossible task on screen.

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.75

And so it comes to an end. The last First Law book surprised me with a lot of twists and turns, for sure. If you compare it to the first 2 books, this one is three times as action and events packed, yet the character work is still the most important part of the story. And even if there are two characters that get a so-called happy ending, finishing this book made me feel absolutely wretched.

Those two characters are, of course, Glokta (especially) and Jezal. They are bound to be Bayaz’ puppets, but then again, they have the most coveted two jobs anyone could ever have. Also, Glokta has a happy and touching marriage, and Jezal thinks his marriage has become happy (that storyline is sad and twisted). So, you know, a happy ending in the grimdark universe.

Now for my three favourite characters, Logen, Dogman and West: the first one presumably died, the second one lost all of his friends (the most important thing in his life), and the last one died for sure a horrible slow death. Thanks, Joe. I am though very interested to see what happens to Ferro, fingers crossed I’ll get some of that in future books.

It didn’t surprise me to see Bayaz turning out to be an asshole, but I did not expect him to be full-on evil mode. Also, I’m not a battle girlie, but I loved the battle scenes in Angland. Maybe because all my favourite characters were there, but still, Abercrombie can write the shit out of a gory battle scene.

Was I sad? Yes. Did I cry? Yes. Do I love this book? For sure. Slowly buying all the First Law universe books because I have discovered a new favourite author.

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.5

I honestly did not expect to love this series as much as I did. The character work Abercrombie is doing here is absolutely great, it's insane how much I care about each one of them.

In this book the pace finally picks up and there is a solid plot and narrative unlike in the first one. Every character is fighting his own battles (literally and figuratively) and we get a good character growth and arc for most of them (especially Jezal).

A bit of spoiler remarks:

When West pushed that goddamn prince off the cliff, that was one of the most satisfying things I have read in a book. Punched the air.
And that end where the entire trip was absolutely useless because in the end it was just a stone? Excuse me? So unexpected and I loved it. How many times do we struggle to do something only to find out it was in vain? Top writing.

Anyway, I can't wait to read the last book and see how this all ends. Already bought my next Abercrombie trilogy, lol.

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

And thus is concluded this beautiful mystical trilogy. Did I cry? Yes, I did. A LOT. Luckily, by the end, they were happy tears.

I mean I cried when Solovey died. But when he got resurrected at the end? I had to stop reading for a while because I was bawling my eyes out.

This author is automatically on my auto-buy list because no one can write an atmosphere like she does. I am in awe of how well she gets the Russian spirit, mimicking to a tea all those old fairytales I have read as a kid, the cadence, the language, everything.

Loved that last bit in the end about the real-life events that inspired the books. Please, please read this in winter. 

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

Had a rocky start with this one, but now I can't wait to read the next books.

I must admit, the first 100 pages or so felt like a Monty Python movie. Logen's part was kind of serious, but everything that happened in the city seemed like a theatrical farce (Jezal's chapters were torture and Glokta's discussion with his superiors a big joke). I was really ready to quit, but in the end I persevered, and consider I have been rewarded.

So far Logen is my favourite character and I cannot wait for him to be reunited with his friends. He's (now) a gentle giant and I just want to hug him. The scene where he comes to Adua was so well crafted! The anxiety mixed with curiosity, distaste, and admiration was a joy to read and I loved that we experienced the city along with him. The female characters are also interesting, and I want to know more.

Also, Glokta felt at times like a motivation influencer with his must work through the pain one step at a time approach.

All in all, I've had a great time with the last 2 thirds of the book.

Essential Asatru: Walking the Path of Norse Paganism by Diana L. Paxson

This was...fine. I have listened to it as an audiobook. It's very hard for a book to keep my attention, and this book didn't do a very good job of it.
I did learn a few new things about rituals and the fact that there are quite a few believers, but that's about it. Can't really rate it, so I'll leave it at that. 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

emotional reflective medium-paced

2.5

Alright, so I'm finally done. This took exactly one month.

I'll be honest, I was sure this is a DNF when I abandoned it after a week of struggle, but I randomly picked it up yesterday to give it another chance and finished it really quickly.
First of all, it helped that

after 30 pages it was discovered that Bad is not dead

. It helped A LOT because I couldn't have gone without this as he was the only character I actually cared about. Also, the story picked a bit up and January seemed to stop making the worst decisions in existence. That didn't last long.

Boy, did this character annoy me to no end. So many bad decisions one after another. I know she's young, but that does not excuse stupidity.

A lot of twists were predictable, but it didn't deter too much. I wish we got more of the worlds behind the doors, it would have made for a great read. Instead, we got a insta love story and a stupid girl piecing it together. I didn't really connect with the characters, yet I did get emotional a few times which means that the author's flowery writing (which annoyed me a bit in the beginning) is not bad. Yet it still seemed to be going nowhere.

Plus, in the end, the first door she decides to open is another one to her world??? Girl, you have that stupid compass, get your ass back through the first door, find Jane, and make her a door home. You owe her this much. Like spineless father, like daughter.

 

All in all, it's a 2.5 star. It was enjoyable at times, but also very frustrating and the pacing was all over the place, which kind of puts it in the middle. Had a lot of squandered potential.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

fast-paced

2.5

As a non romance reader, I was still extremely curious about this series. This is probably my second fae book after An Enchantment of Ravens, which is my least favourite Margaret Rodgerson book.

ACOTAR is... fine. It's just fine. There is no character depth, the writing is on the weaker side, it's low on fantasy, but you know, we have pining, it's very readable, and it does leave a lot of unanswered questions so you'd want to read more. It did not help at all that the main character is dull and so damn stupid and survives the entire book with sheer plot armor.

It was surprisingly pretty low on spice which I loved. The characters I actually want to know more about are, surprisingly, Nesta and the fox guy, he was funny. Tamlin is fine and Rhys is an asshole.

I've heard that the second book is much better, so I will give it a go only out of curiosity to see if

that double take Rhys did at the end was him imprinting on Feyre like Jacob did with Renaissance 

because ugh if yes 

Jade City by Fonda Lee

adventurous medium-paced

3.75

Finally dug into this famous series!

Right off the bat, I must say that I'm not into gang/mafia stories and paired with the slow beginning and the modern world almost made me dnf this. I was lucky I was part of a reading group and seeing all the other people excited about the middle and end got me through.

It was a different type of fantasy book for sure. Most of the book I didn't get particularly attached to any of the characters except for Anden

(well, I did like Lan, and it took me 3 chapters to understand that he really is dead, I was sure he's gonna get revived in some way)

and the pacing was a bit sloppy, but I will read the second book at some point later this year, especially since people have been saying that the series gets better with each book.

3.5-3.75, rounded to a 4, and I'm still salty about chapter 32.