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lucysbookshelf's reviews
98 reviews
Poor Folk by Fyodor Dostoevsky
4.0
This is Dostoyevsky's first written novel, the one that made him known throughout Russia and consolidated him as an author, bringing his short stories and translations to the attention of many.
As a reader, I always thought there would be a before and after what Dostoyevsky lives in his imprisonment in Siberia in his writing and this novel proved me right. He was a good writer in both times, but his concerns, topics and convictions changed and his novels made that very present.
Here we have a social novel that focuses on poverty and the different problems it might bring like diseases, starvation, isolation, humiliation from fellow men, forced marriages and even death.
If it wasn't because there weren't any comic scenes, I would've thought this was a Dickens novel, something that never happened to me while reading Dostoyevsky before. His later works (after Siberia) focus on darker topics, on a fight of ideals between what's right and what's not, between faith in God and christianity and the eternal doubts a man can have of them while in distress.
This epistolary novel allows his author to show his genius, even in his debut novel, and shows ideals that will accompany him all his life, like having faith in God even when all is lost, the importance of charity and the unavoidable suffering that life brings to every human being.
As a reader, I always thought there would be a before and after what Dostoyevsky lives in his imprisonment in Siberia in his writing and this novel proved me right. He was a good writer in both times, but his concerns, topics and convictions changed and his novels made that very present.
Here we have a social novel that focuses on poverty and the different problems it might bring like diseases, starvation, isolation, humiliation from fellow men, forced marriages and even death.
If it wasn't because there weren't any comic scenes, I would've thought this was a Dickens novel, something that never happened to me while reading Dostoyevsky before. His later works (after Siberia) focus on darker topics, on a fight of ideals between what's right and what's not, between faith in God and christianity and the eternal doubts a man can have of them while in distress.
This epistolary novel allows his author to show his genius, even in his debut novel, and shows ideals that will accompany him all his life, like having faith in God even when all is lost, the importance of charity and the unavoidable suffering that life brings to every human being.
The Wicked King by Holly Black
4.0
This book surprised me in the best way possible. The first one was good but seemed to be the introduction to the story and those can be a bit slow and not have much going on, but this one? The political conflicts with a war being imminent, the character of Jude becoming stronger and more powerful, smart and learning to manage her youthful instincts with the mature side that Elfhame, her family and Cardan need of her? It went better than the expectations I had for it.
In the middle of the book, I was a bit disappointed in Cardan, I was expecting for him to be as strong as Jude, to be witty and to surprise me but it wasn't until the very end that I saw that in him. (This may be an unpopular opinion but I liked the final plot twist).
All in all, this book is now my favorite from this series (it remains to be seen if The Queen of Nothing can win over it).
In the middle of the book, I was a bit disappointed in Cardan, I was expecting for him to be as strong as Jude, to be witty and to surprise me but it wasn't until the very end that I saw that in him. (This may be an unpopular opinion but I liked the final plot twist).
All in all, this book is now my favorite from this series (it remains to be seen if The Queen of Nothing can win over it).