elydy's reviews
115 reviews

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

3.75

I'm a bit conflicted - I raced through this and loved the intricacy of the plot, but I didn't think the writing was amazing, and there are definitely plot holes. But a great thriller/mystery!

24 Hours in Ancient China: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There by Yijie Zhuang

4.0

Enjoyed this insight into China c.14 AD! not an area of the world I know much about at all. I enjoyed the premise - the snapshots were a great balance of narrative and information.

A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

4.0

I read this on the train back from a funeral as grief feels very real. It comforted, resonated with, disturbed, amazed me. Beautiful raw stuff.

Electra And Other Plays by Sophocles, E.F. Watling

4.0

I found these more compelling than i thought I would - the plays are snappy and emotionally charged! Fascinating as always to read something so ancient.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

3.5

It took me ages to get into this but it did grow on me - I like the idea of literal interpretations of London places!! 

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

4.0

I found the dialogue a bit stilted in the first part, but once things got going and more characters were introduced, I really got into it. I just love KI's style and his themes of loss/memory are familiar and brilliantly done as usual. Got quite moving towards the end.

The Shortest History of Greece by James Heneage

3.5

Interesting especially reading it on Greece. Extremely fast paced but not too hard to keep track. The nature of these books means they are heavily narrativised and a bit biased but that makes sense !

Dictator by Robert Harris

5.0

This had me completely hooked! Fast paced, so well written, quite emotional even though Cicero is such a complex character. Have really enjoyed this series.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

3.5

This was okay, fun quick read but didn't grab me as much as it seems to have grabbed others. It was moving towards the end and fun to see how all the pieces fit together. The bluntly atheist worldview was sad/tricky to read but it was good to read another POV on faith.

The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English by Hana Videen

4.5

Old English provides me with pure joy - I miss studying it. Dipped in and out of this a bit (I don't read non fic very quickly) but it did just give me a lot of "wynn-dream". Very rigorous and technical while also being very readable. Many a fun tangent into biblical history or Tolkien which ALSO made me very happy. Maybe I should do that MA after all...