jeyjeyyy's reviews
189 reviews

Pars vite et reviens tard by Fred Vargas

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

J’ai beaucoup aimé ce livre ! Pourtant pas très habituée aux polars, j’ai tout de suite été prise dans l’histoire et j’ai beaucoup aimé le mélange entre le côté enquête et le côté personnage/sentiments du livre. Ce petit groupe de quartier m’a énormément touchée, au point où j’ai presque pleuré à la fin, et c’est l’une des raisons pour laquelle j’ai vraiment apprécié cette histoire. Et bien sûr, comme d’habitude, j’ai adoré toutes les références historiques et la recherche derrière ce mystère policier, qui apportent une nouvelle dimension à l’enquête.

Letter from an Unknown Woman by Stefan Zweig

dark emotional sad medium-paced

2.5

 This book is really well written, and I did get a little emotional a times while reading it because the themes are quite sad but I still don’t think it’s necessarily worth the read. I know it’s the point, but both characters are just annoying ; one of them is crazy, the other one is a bad person, so you don’t really want to read about them and like, find out what’s happening in their lives. I’ve seen people label this book as romance, I guess I understand why but I don’t agree. I don’t feel like this is romance at all, it is plain obsession, I know it’s meant to be but it didn’t feel romantic, just creepy. The only thing you really feel for this woman is pity, and that’s a big part of the reading experience. If you think that could be your thing, then read it. If not, you don’t have to.
I get the point, I get the book, I did feel quite a bit of stuff while reading it but if it wasn’t for school I wouldn’t have read it and I’m not mad about that. 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I feel like this book was great in the second part of it, the whole mystery around the expiation games was honestly really well-made and you just don’t want to put the book down because you’re so curious about what’s happening and what’s going to happen. That felt similar to he first book, and I really liked the first book. I also liked the addition of new characters, novelty is always good in a series. And THAT ENDING, I gasped. 
However I feel like the first part was pretty boring and pretty slow and I just couldn’t really get interested in a story from the Hunger Games that didn’t involve games or at least  confrontation with the capital. It just didn’t really do it for me. I feel like maybe if the first part was cut a little shorter and was a little less detailed, this would be a better book but I still enjoyed it and I can’t wait to read the third one. I really really love the Hunger Games universe.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I think this is a very beautiful book, the prose is spectacular and enchanting but I also feel like maybe it was just not really for me.
I think this book requires a level of understanding and also actually a level of intelligence that I do not possess quite yet and I found myself just lost sometimes. I’m not really smart enough to understand all of it but I’ll definitely reread when I’m older and more advanced in literature. It’s just not the kind of book you read to like, entertain yourself, especially on my level. So that’s also why I felt like I was « forcing » myself through this book, because I was pretty bored and it required efforts to read which is something I dislike. I just like reading stuff easily, and getting instantly satisfied. I also felt that maybe the book was a bit too intellectual for me to feel stuff for the characters, and maybe that it lacked a bit of the tenderness, the emotions I was searching for. I’m not however denying the poetry, the simple gorgeousness of it. 
This story raises very important discussions on the impact of war on a family, on what it’s like being part of an immigrant family in the US, on how messed up the US is in general, on sexuality and toxic masculinity, on addiction, on mental health… It is just an important book and filled with reflections that are quite simply mind blowing. It’s the kind of book when while reading you just find yourself staring at the wall taking it all in.
It’s dazzling, it’s smart, it’s emotional. It’s a good book, alright. I didn’t personnally really enjoy it, but I can admit that. 

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I think the world building is really well-crafted, the pacing is immaculate, the characters, their uniqueness, the relationships they had with one another were so enjoyeable to read about. This is one of the only books I’ve read that I just couldn’t put down, reading it was basically all I’ve done for the past days and late into the night as well. Everything about this story is smart and well-made.  Plus it’s found family trope done at its finest, I can only approve. 
I’ve got nothing really negative to say about Six of Crows. I didn’t rate it five stars only because I don’t think it will stick with me emotionally the way my 5 stars reads have and I admit it’s not, like,  a literary masterpiece. 
And anyways, I love writing reviews but I hate rating books so don’t take my actual star ratings too seriously. A lot of the time they’re not that accurate. 
Very excited for Crooked Kingdom, will definitely be reading more GrishaVerse works. 

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is how love stories in fiction should be. Respectful, romantic, so goddamn precious. Both main couples are such good pairs, and all of them are interesting and nice characters, each of them in their own way. Darcy’s character is god tier, his evolution is one of the most satisfying thing I’ve ever read. Jane Austen is just a very talented character crafter, her writing style is elegant, witty, sometimes cruel and I ate it up. 
Didn’t rate this any higher because I did find that some parts dragged on a little bit, especially surrounding Charlotte and Lydia’s marriages. That’s probably also because neither of them were happy. Unfortunately that was how most couples worked back then so… can’t really blame her. 
Really glad I’ve read this book, it was just nice to get all giggly and excited over a fictional couple once again. 

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I have so many things to say about this book. It is both historical fiction and  basically biographical, which are two things that made me have very high expectations for it. And God did it deliver.
 First of all, I think the plot of the book is very interesting and entertaining, I loved the fact that even though it’s very plot heavy there’s also somehow quite a lot of character depiction. The main characters are all very human and flawed and very realistic which is something actually pretty rare in fantasy books or just plot focusing books in general.
I’ve seen a lot of reviews complaining about the Ouyang side of the story but in my opinion, the dual point of view actually made the story far more dynamic. I probably wouldn’t have rated this five star if we only followed Zhu’s pov. Although that might also be because I really really loved Ouyang’s character.
I was also very impressed by how in depth and how nuanced the relationships between the characters were. It’s not like the book is 1000 pages but there was so many characters, so many stuff happening and it still somehow all made sense. It’s clear, it’s well written and it’s just nice to read. The writing style, while I’m talking about it, is quite spectacular in the way that the book follows  such a long time period in such a short book. It always felt natural and realistic. It’s just really great and reads really easily.
 I also liked that the fantasy elements were not overlly present, they weren’t forced into the story, they just felt like a part of the universe which is a really good thing. 
 I really like the fact there is a map at the beginning because for a book that follows conquests and cities being taken by armies and all, it is really very useful to have a map to turn to when you’re confused. 
Lastly I want to point out how good that book is in including LGBTQ+ characters and especially a gender queer main character in a medieval China setting. I don’t think most authors could’ve done so smoothly and realistically. As a genderqueer person myself, I really really enjoyed the reflections on gender that are depicted in this work through Zhu.
The only thing I didn’t really like is the ending, but that’s only because

it isn’t supposed to be a typical  « happy ending » and it hurts me to see Zhu’s ambition eating up everything else in her life.

Overall, really great book. A masterwork. I would 100% recommend. 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Why did I wait so long to read this ??? Such a thrilling story and what an interesting dystopia, basically impossible to put down. Plus, two words : Peeta Meelark.

Maurice by E.M. Forster

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5