Take a photo of a barcode or cover
josefinceh's reviews
80 reviews
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Intreguing and fast paced.
The characters were interesting and complex and I had a hard time deciding weather to like or dislike most of them. Partially in consequence to the story being told through interviews and files some relationships felt slightly underdeveloped. Some parts of the stories and characters do fall into some literary clichés.
At times the story lept forward a little faster than I personally prefer, adding to it's overall fast pace. It sets up a lot of points that don't get a complete conclusion (not necessarily a bad thing) building up to more further into the series.
I do have a few annoyances, none that I felt ruined the book but worth mentioning none the less. Firstly the relationship to the mystery man. It was at times comedic how much the characters were willing to share in the interviews, even Kara who was more drawn back. The development of the characters was interesting, however I felt some lack of consequence to some of their actions and behaviours.
Over all the story still had me flipping through the book at record speed and I'm excited to find a copy of the second book and see where the story goes. Recommend it to anyone that is new to the sci-fi genre (like me) as well as slow readers (also like me).
The characters were interesting and complex and I had a hard time deciding weather to like or dislike most of them. Partially in consequence to the story being told through interviews and files some relationships felt slightly underdeveloped. Some parts of the stories and characters do fall into some literary clichés.
At times the story lept forward a little faster than I personally prefer, adding to it's overall fast pace. It sets up a lot of points that don't get a complete conclusion (not necessarily a bad thing) building up to more further into the series.
I do have a few annoyances, none that I felt ruined the book but worth mentioning none the less. Firstly the relationship to the mystery man. It was at times comedic how much the characters were willing to share in the interviews, even Kara who was more drawn back. The development of the characters was interesting, however I felt some lack of consequence to some of their actions and behaviours.
Over all the story still had me flipping through the book at record speed and I'm excited to find a copy of the second book and see where the story goes. Recommend it to anyone that is new to the sci-fi genre (like me) as well as slow readers (also like me).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence
Minor: Torture
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Slow, redundant and kind of predictable.
The first 100 pages are extremely interesting, thrilling and you just get sucked in to the atmosphere of the book. The last 100 pages were ok but nothing neither brilliant nor mind-blowing about it. As for the middle of the book I feel as it would not loose anything from just throwing out 150 pages or so.
The concept of the story is interesting, I will give it that, but I had so many problems with the charters, plot and writing that towards the end I felt like I was reading it out of spite. I just wanted to find out if the ending I had predicted halfway through was right.
Let's talk about Christine. Now I can understand that writing from a perspective of a character who forgets everything by the next day is tricky, and balancing the style of writing a journal whilst still conveying a good amount of information equally so, but is it necessary for us to learn how confused she was every single time? Her entries were repetitive and with an unnecessary amount of detail about the smallest little thing. Even if she was a novelist the way the entries were written made no sense considering her mental state. It also bothers me how her writing never reflects what is going on in the house or in the place.I expected that, especially after ben hits her or when it's the middle of the night, the the writing would be choppy, short sentences to give us a hint of what was going on, adding suspense by jumping back and forth.
Also:would someone actually write an entire paragraph in their journal about how they nicked their leg wile shaving and then also tasting the soapy blood? There were also times where it felt unnecessarily sensual, where she describes the matching bra and knickers, how she peals of her blouse. I have never found myself so aware of every single moment where she or Ben was naked, not to mention how she describes Ben and his "bobbing erection" because apparently we need to hear about his penis every time he is nude...
The transition of their relationship also makes little sense, we learn in the beginning that we can't trust Ben. Towards the end we are supposed to trust him but we are given no other reason other than the fact that he is her husband. The repetition of that fact serves the purpose of trying to convince the reader that Ben is loving and to be trusted, but never actually shows us a reason why. The book also had a tendency to just drop things that maybe should be talked about, like Christine being raped?
In the end, after the final battle (that made little sense in my opinion), we have the moment where Dr. Nash is explaining everything, what happened to Mike/Ben, how they found her etc. Which just gives me the feeling that Watson couldn't bother writing an ending where everything actually connected so he resorted to telling us that this is what we missed from team Clair and Dr. Nash.
In summary: the story has a lot of potential but suffers from bad writing, plot holes and just lack of logic/beliveability.
The first 100 pages are extremely interesting, thrilling and you just get sucked in to the atmosphere of the book. The last 100 pages were ok but nothing neither brilliant nor mind-blowing about it. As for the middle of the book I feel as it would not loose anything from just throwing out 150 pages or so.
The concept of the story is interesting, I will give it that, but I had so many problems with the charters, plot and writing that towards the end I felt like I was reading it out of spite. I just wanted to find out if the ending I had predicted halfway through was right.
Let's talk about Christine. Now I can understand that writing from a perspective of a character who forgets everything by the next day is tricky, and balancing the style of writing a journal whilst still conveying a good amount of information equally so, but is it necessary for us to learn how confused she was every single time? Her entries were repetitive and with an unnecessary amount of detail about the smallest little thing. Even if she was a novelist the way the entries were written made no sense considering her mental state. It also bothers me how her writing never reflects what is going on in the house or in the place.
Also:
The transition of their relationship also makes little sense,
In summary: the story has a lot of potential but suffers from bad writing, plot holes and just lack of logic/beliveability.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
4.0
If you like the bbc show poirot, you'll definetly enjoy the book.
There really isn't anything too special about the story, it plays out kind of like I expected, however I didn't figure out who was guilty until the very end which is a big plus in my book. I listened to the bulk of it during a long car ride home and enjoyed every minute. I did find myself confused about which character was which, probably partly due to listening to an audio book and the usual problem I find with older book where status and relations changes the way the characters refer to each other.
And pheobe judge is a wonderful narrator, she doesn't go into any too dramatic voices so if that is something you want I suggest you link for a different narrator.
There really isn't anything too special about the story, it plays out kind of like I expected, however I didn't figure out who was guilty until the very end which is a big plus in my book. I listened to the bulk of it during a long car ride home and enjoyed every minute. I did find myself confused about which character was which, probably partly due to listening to an audio book and the usual problem I find with older book where status and relations changes the way the characters refer to each other.
And pheobe judge is a wonderful narrator, she doesn't go into any too dramatic voices so if that is something you want I suggest you link for a different narrator.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75