ida03a's reviews
182 reviews

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

2.5

Going into this book I honestly I had no idea what it was about, so it did come as a bit of a surprise for me. To start out with I found the premise very interesting and thought that I would enjoy it v much, but as the book went on I found myself feeling the opposite. The characters were so pretentious, and imo very one dimensional. I found myself spacing out when reading this and didn't really feel excited to keep reading. I also found it very repetitive and dragged out through the middle, though a little more engaging towards the end. Still, I didn't find the end redeeming in any way and sadly I'll just have to say that this book wasn't anything for me. 

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

3.75

Around halfway through this book I felt fairly positive about it, I enjoyed the storyline, the simple but smooth writing style and wanted to learn more about these characters. I understand the book as a description about a young boy who hasn't fully found himself yet, and is on top of that dealing with a lot of grief and I really enjoyed the descriptions of the simpler life of a student, and my favorite scene is probably his journey to the Ami institute to visit Naoko, with very enjoyable descriptions of nature, scenery and just simply calmness. I also enjoyed the interweaving of pop culture and music

But, as we got farther into the plot line things just fell a bit flat for me and some of the scenes made me truly uncomfortable. Especially the scene where

Reiko is supposedly sexually assaulted by a 13 year old girl and her describing this girl as "evil", I feel like a 13 year old raping a 30 year old woman is just plainly unrealistic and to me it made me doubt if Reiko was telling the truth or if the author was just suggestion this scene as plausible? The scene also went on for way too long and in way too much detail for my taste.

I think there is a fine line between writing between the lines and just writing unrealistic characters a scenes. I also didn't enjoy Midori as a character at all and found her quite annoying, she gave me very much "I'm not like other girls"- vibes. Lastly I really hated the ending and found it extremely unnecessary, I really wanted this book to end with some personal growth for Watanabe, but I don't feel like we got that at all.

Still I very much liked the pace of the book, and never felt bored while reading it, which brings up the rating for me. I also understand that this book is supposed to show the perspective of a 17-20 year old boy who is dealing with a lot of unresolved trauma, I feel like a lot of his actions are defense mechanisms and he is supposed to be a flawed characters, but some points are still a bit too far fetched. Still, I have to admit that this, dare I say, surrealistic portrayal of young people were very fascinating to read about; yes, people like Watanabe, Midori and Naoko may not be a totally real reflection of young people in the real world, but in some ways they're kind of like a caricature, exaggerated into extreme and now unrealistic characters.

This one was hard to rate as I really liked it through the first half, but then it all just got a bit too much for me, the unrealistic plot and lastly the ending was what ruined the book for me (in additions to the many unnecessary sex scenes), and I really wish it would have gone a different way. Still, I feel like the rating of a book depends a lot on how you choose to look at it and interpret it, and therefor I cannot say it is a bad book at all. 

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

5.0

First of all; this is probably the best book I have ever read and ever will read. This authors way of storytelling, of stringing sentences together and creating such closeness and connection to her characters is just out of this world and astonishing. Never would I have expected a book of 720 pages to have me yearning for more. I genuinely felt like I knew these characters, loved them even and I felt this very odd emptiness once I finished the book. Never before have a book had such an impact on me, and I think that says a lot about the authors talent and the graveness of this novel. I truly belive this will become a future classic and I view it as a masterpiece.

A lot of people describe this book as "trauma porn" and advice against reading it - to that I greatly disagree. This book shows the reality of life, of the complexities within it and that includes both highs and lows. I think the story of Jude's life is realistic, and I belive that many people grow up in such atrocious states. But that is also why the story of his adult life is so important; it shows how a childhood like that so deeply effect one. But it also shows how people around you affects it. It shows the love and friendship between people in such an elegant, beautiful but also real way, that I very much appreciated. I also didn't really find the book as "traumatizing" as I've heard other people describe it as, yes I felt angry and disgusted at some parts and sad at some (especially the end). Maybe I am a little insensitive towards such things but I found it quite tolerable and rather greatly done. Handling hard themes like it is done in A little life is not easy and I found it was done graciously.

I found myself scared to read this book due to the talk around it, and after reading it, I am a little sad I was. I feel like it ruined my reading experience in some ways, always waiting for something that would be too much to handle to happen. Its fascinating to see how others opinions affect ones reading experience. 

In my opinion, I think this is a great book and I would 100% recommend it. Yes, self harm and sexual and physical abuse is a big trigger, but I don't think it is as bad as people make it out to be, as it is handled in a good manner and never romanticizes or glorifies the topics. 
This is a book that really stays with you and that you will remember forever, and I will always be in awe of the authors skill and talent.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

2.0

I've seen a lot of people loving this, so I really did wanted to like it, but I honestly just didn't. I started out feeling quite neutral about it, the themes of the book seemed interesting; and I usually really enjoy books about female friendship. At times it really reminded me of The book of goose by Yiyun Li, which I liked. Though, towards the middle I felt it really dragged out, it all felt very repetetive and there was way to many different characters that you didn't really get any details about except of how terrible they were? It just felt like an endless cycle of Lila and the narrator being friends or not, the narrator worrying about school and boys and people being hopeless and terrible...? I honestly didn't get the appeal of this book at all. I also didn't feel like there really was any resolution at the end, idk if I was just too sick of the book by that book, bc I was mostly just glad the book was over.

The End We Start from by Megan Hunter

2.0

This book was so weird and I honestly just pushed through because it was so short and don't like dbf'ing books. This books was supposed to be a dystopia, but didn't really give any explanation as to what had happened to society, they only use letters for names, which also is never explained either, and time just moves so quickly. There is never really any time to actually get to know the characters and so the story just becomes boring and confusing. The only redeeming factor of this book is that it has some nice prose and lyrical writing, but I still didn't enjoy it.

Dear Dolly: On Love, Life and Friendship, Collected wisdom from her Sunday Times Style Column by Dolly Alderton

5.0

This was such a fun and fast read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I truly took some of the advice to heart, and actually had som mind blowing revelations whilst reading this book. It made me feel so human, and so normal, realizing that I'm not alone with my problems and worries and that everything will most likely turn out ok.

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

3.5

This book had a lot of potential, and where in some parts very interesting, but I found it quite repetetive and dare I say a little boring at times. The themes of "who am I", eating, mother-daughter relationship is talked about a lot, and even though I think these are great, It gets boring to reread the same thoughts over and over. I wish the author would have explored more of the mothers life, the art etc. 

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Meth Addiction by David Sheff

4.0

This is a very good and thought provoking book about drug addiction and how it affects the people surrounding it. At the beginning it felt a bit repetitive and dragged out. It also reads a bit like an article instead of a novel at times. Though this felt a bit weird to begin with, the writing style really grew on me. This book teaches a lot of very important information about drugs and addiction and shows a very real portrayal of it. The end also had a lot of touching moments that did make me emotional. Would recommend, especially if you’d like to become more aware and knowledable about drug addiction.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

3.5

This book is about doing the right thing, even though it might not be deemed as necassery or "your place". The books tells the story of a man born without a father, who is taken under the wing of a wealthier woman out of kindness, he grows up to be a hardworking family man. The writing is simple, but nice and I did enjoy the story, though it did lack a bit substance  and depth for me. Because the book is so short you cannot create this connection with the character as you usually do. The ending also felt a bit rushed, and i would have liked some more detail to the last scene, as I feel this is where the whole point of the book lies? 

The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

4.0

This is a beautifully written book about friendship, writing and love. I found the start of this book a it slow but as I got into it I really enjoyed it. I found the relationship between Agnes and Fabienne quite beautiful,

it is so obvious that they love each other but Fabienne knows it is unacceptable and tries to create distance between them.

I also liked the "author" side of the book and found the worlds obsession with "child prodigies" quite interesting.

All in all a good book but it didnt completely blow me away.