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freemindwriting_jelena's reviews
263 reviews
Zločin i kazna by Fyodor Dostoevsky
5.0
What a great experience! Reminded me how much I liked (Russian) realism in high school and now I want to read more! It definitely took some focus and strategic planning, but it was was worth it, especially the ending.
Gole kosti by Stephen King
4.0
While this may not be King's top quality work, it was so fun to witness his development as a writer and enjoy little tidbits of his creativity. I loved to sneak these short stories between my other longer reads and had a blast.
Carrie by Stephen King
5.0
Even though I may not give 5 stars to the story itself, it's such a memory lane for me personally and start of an epic journey for King as a writer. I love the background story and how close it was that we never get to read it. Combination of Carrie's POV with objective newspaper articles, interviews, books etc was great. The ending was eerie - what if...
Ellie Andrews Has Second Thoughts by Ruth Saberton
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I had a very low expectations starting this book, but ended up having a nice time. It's a little outdated, had to check when it was published because I don't think women are still this obssesed with their weight and catching a male partner. It gives strong '90-'00s vibes. I liked how we heard her story in retrospective while she's panicking on her wedding day. The ending was predictable, but desired. However, I feel like the narrator was poor casting choice, I had to keep reminding myself MC was young 20 something, not 45+ divorcee. Her performance was fine, but too serious and voice just didn't match. All in all, it was relaxing and nice romance.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
2.75
A chaotic blend of genres with moments of brilliance.
This book certainly aimed high, but in
the process, it tried to be too many things at once, ultimately resulting in a fragmented and messy narrative. At its core, there’s a grand sci-fi plot, but it’s somewhat clumsily explained. Alongside it, there’s a romance that seemingly materializes out of nowhere, sprinkled with moments of smut. Then, a direct critique of imperialism, racism, and other social issues is inserted—an interesting but awkward fit within the humor and scattered comedic dialogue.
As the story progresses, it unexpectedly shifts into a spy thriller, only to conclude in a way that feels sudden. The most interesting characters received the least attention, while the author inserts a version of themselves as the protagonist—who, unfortunately, turns out to be the least engaging character in the entire book.
That being said, the beginning held promise, and the final reveal was genuinely surprising. However, the middle section felt completely unstructured. Additionally, the inclusion of Graham’s past POV, seemingly just to clarify his character for a confused friend of the author, felt unnecessary and even laughable.
One of the book’s strengths is its unique and sophisticated writing style. It’s rare to see sci-fi written in a manner resembling high literature, which was a refreshing experience and even helped expand my vocabulary. However, after a while, the sheer number of metaphors and adverbs became overwhelming, slowing down the story and making it more confusing.
The author had a fun idea, but by attempting to merge too many styles and genres, it became evident that this is a debut work and it didn't deliver. Despite its flaws, I would love to see a translation into my native language—perhaps a second read with added clarity would allow me to appreciate it more.
This book certainly aimed high, but in
the process, it tried to be too many things at once, ultimately resulting in a fragmented and messy narrative. At its core, there’s a grand sci-fi plot, but it’s somewhat clumsily explained. Alongside it, there’s a romance that seemingly materializes out of nowhere, sprinkled with moments of smut. Then, a direct critique of imperialism, racism, and other social issues is inserted—an interesting but awkward fit within the humor and scattered comedic dialogue.
As the story progresses, it unexpectedly shifts into a spy thriller, only to conclude in a way that feels sudden. The most interesting characters received the least attention, while the author inserts a version of themselves as the protagonist—who, unfortunately, turns out to be the least engaging character in the entire book.
That being said, the beginning held promise, and the final reveal was genuinely surprising. However, the middle section felt completely unstructured. Additionally, the inclusion of Graham’s past POV, seemingly just to clarify his character for a confused friend of the author, felt unnecessary and even laughable.
One of the book’s strengths is its unique and sophisticated writing style. It’s rare to see sci-fi written in a manner resembling high literature, which was a refreshing experience and even helped expand my vocabulary. However, after a while, the sheer number of metaphors and adverbs became overwhelming, slowing down the story and making it more confusing.
The author had a fun idea, but by attempting to merge too many styles and genres, it became evident that this is a debut work and it didn't deliver. Despite its flaws, I would love to see a translation into my native language—perhaps a second read with added clarity would allow me to appreciate it more.
Počelo je tajnom by Jill Mansell
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
How to avoid writing an actual story with character development? Write 89 different side stories about 46 characters from which none are important. This was definitely something. At least my brain took a break because there was no plot to follow.
Djevojčica koja je obožavala Toma Gordona by Stephen King
4.0
Totally liked it, but a little too much baseball, skipped those parts. I felt like I'm in the story and it was so fun to follow only one character. I was worried for her the whole time, have zero trust in King. I would also maybe like a longer book about this story, with 2 POVs - one Trisha's, what we had, and another following her family and search party.
Snovolovka, 2.dio by Stephen King
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
3.0
The best part of this book? That it’s finally over! Joking aside, it was okay, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that King’s editors and publishers gave him far too much leeway—perhaps out of sympathy for the fact that he wrote it after his major accident. It feels like it’s missing a strong edit; the book is unnecessarily long, with excessive repetition and a lot of filler. Honestly, I skimmed through most of the second half.
There’s an overload of stream-of-consciousness writing and references, I got tired of reading footnotes and it was pulling me out of the flow constantly. That said, I really enjoyed the overlapping perspectives—seeing events unfold through different characters’ eyes added a fun dynamic.
As expected from King, the characters are well-developed, believable, and relatable. The ending was excellent and made up for the struggle of getting there. However, the story itself isn’t something I’d want to reread.
There’s an overload of stream-of-consciousness writing and references, I got tired of reading footnotes and it was pulling me out of the flow constantly. That said, I really enjoyed the overlapping perspectives—seeing events unfold through different characters’ eyes added a fun dynamic.
As expected from King, the characters are well-developed, believable, and relatable. The ending was excellent and made up for the struggle of getting there. However, the story itself isn’t something I’d want to reread.