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isabelthearcher's reviews
167 reviews
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
4.5
Absolutely brilliant. A must read if you’ve read Hamlet, definitely has Waiting for Godot undertones too. Loved this!!!!
Home Body by Rupi Kaur
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Mental illness
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.75
Looking for Alaska by John Green
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This wasn’t as good as I had expected it to be, honestly. I think it was the themes of death and suffering and ‘the labrinth’, the presence of Alaska Young and the vivid southern atmosphere that kept me reading. I think, as many other reviewers have pointed out, it’s a classic John Green novel. It’s polarising and his interpretation of high schoolers tends to have people either loving or hating him. But I’m in the middle of the road for this one. I’m more excited to watch the TV show more than anything, as I think seeing the book from outside of Miles’ perspective will be like a breath of fresh air.
As a narrator Miles (or Pudge) is supposed to be unlikable and unreliable. However I think authors have to be careful not to cross the line with that excuse. Pudge felt like a hormonal teenager lusting over girls with no regard for feelings and without taking any responsibility for his actions. This isn’t inherently bad, however I always felt off and slightly uncomfortable in those types of situations with Pudge.
I firmly believe that if I wasn’t in the place I am in my life now with religion and reading and growing up, I would not have liked this book at all. The setting felt like a warm summer camp, a holiday in Alabama - one which I have done many times to see my relatives. It felt mildly nostalgic and a welcomed escape from cold England. I also really liked the Colonel, his humour was funny, however he always reminded me how bland and annoying Pudge was. Takumi, Lara and other side characters, including the Weekday Warriors were all two-dimensional and only served to further Pudge in the plot, or act as some redeeming plotline at the end of the book.
Alaska Young was the highlight of this book, however I don’t think she is as amazing as many reviews I have seen of this book. She was ‘quirky’ by being depressed and using alcohol as a coping mechanism - she was too young! She’s only a junior! Yet Alaska’s love for reading and Pudge’s memorisation of Last Words was really the only redeemable part of this book:
She exhaled and read to me:
“He - that’s Simon Bolivar - was shaken by the overwhelming revelation that the headlong race between his misfortunes and his dreams was at that moment reaching the finish line. The rest was darkness. ‘Damn it,’ he sighed. ‘How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?’”
Her mouth close enough to me that I could feel her breath warmer than the air, she said, “That’s the mystery, isn’t it? Is the labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape - the world or the end of it?”
Was it pretentious? Yes. But this constant theme being intertwined, especially with the revelation of Alaska’s death in the ‘After’ portion of this book really kept me reading. It added the coming of age theme to this book, the representation of growing older and thinking about the nature of life. Something, that at this point in my personal life, I’m very interested in and so it spoke to me.
Overall, it was forgettable. All I’m going to remember is despite how Alaska protested against it, she was completely and utterly sexualised by Pudge. How everyone smoked on every page of this book whilst thinking about the point of life and how they got drunk every other chapter.
To everyone who thinks this book is the best thing since sliced bread, I would like to share a quote from my friend the Colonel.
“Hold on.” He grabbed a pencil and scrawled excitedly at the paper as if he’d just made a mathematical breakthrough, and then looked back up at me. “I just did some calculations and I’ve been able to determine that you’re full of shit.”
Buuuuuut, all that aside. I am so excited to watch the TV show :) Everyone should watch that instead of reading the book, honestly.
Bis(s) zur Mittagsstunde by Stephenie Meyer
4.0
This was good at the very beginning and at the very end because I do love the Cullen family ad Edward and Bella's relationship so much.
The whole depression period and the months passing felt so out of character for me. Even if you have 'fallen' in love, it probably wouldn't be that heart wrenching to the point she doesn't eat or be that social, loses her friends and families. It felt very staged and not real, also because she has so many real and scary dreams it all felt weird and dreamy.
I quite liked the Jacob relationship when it was good but something that made this book a 4 star was that so everything went SO quickly. The whole introduction with the werewolf gang, mad little to no sense and Jacob went from being innocent, to all weird within a few pages. Of course that was the intention but to make it drag out for longer would make more sense in the reader's view. As soon as there was some misunderstanding with Edward and Alice came around Jacob went out of Bella's life, and there was hardly any conversation from that point. And as soon as Bella saves Edward they're living off the impression that they're still in love. And Edward makes this whole ploy that he never stopped loving her and Bella snaps it up. After what he did surely Bella has enough sense to realise maybe this could be shady and he's two faced.
Overall it was good, but the actual action parts happened way too quickly.
The whole depression period and the months passing felt so out of character for me. Even if you have 'fallen' in love, it probably wouldn't be that heart wrenching to the point she doesn't eat or be that social, loses her friends and families. It felt very staged and not real, also because she has so many real and scary dreams it all felt weird and dreamy.
I quite liked the Jacob relationship when it was good but something that made this book a 4 star was that so everything went SO quickly. The whole introduction with the werewolf gang, mad little to no sense and Jacob went from being innocent, to all weird within a few pages. Of course that was the intention but to make it drag out for longer would make more sense in the reader's view. As soon as there was some misunderstanding with Edward and Alice came around Jacob went out of Bella's life, and there was hardly any conversation from that point. And as soon as Bella saves Edward they're living off the impression that they're still in love. And Edward makes this whole ploy that he never stopped loving her and Bella snaps it up. After what he did surely Bella has enough sense to realise maybe this could be shady and he's two faced.
Overall it was good, but the actual action parts happened way too quickly.
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
2.0
Wow I really dragged myself through this. I hate when at the supposed climax of a piece, you're laughing because you've gotten past the point of caring about any of the characters - so if they die you don't care anymore. I have now finished the movies and they're ok, but I'm gonna call it a day on the whole book series. I have no idea on how I got this far.