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neviris's Reviews (104)
Consuming and mysterious crime scene at Yale?
It was more like a YA - wannabe "masterpiece" based on conspiracy theories.
My hopes were high for this book. The description of the book was mesmerizing. Hoping to see dark, mysterious and incredible intrigues. From page to page I was more and more disappointed. Waiting for something, that actually won't be there at all.
The writing style is okay and I can see why people enjoy it. It's a basic YA book. But it's nothing special. It's layed out like every single YA book I know and simply offers something to be intrigued by. However, the implied plot twists were predicable and the in the description mentioned depth was just below the surface. The story overall was good but it felt too much like the conspiracy theories on the internet about Yale and the bonesmen. And if I want to read a conspiracy theory, I could go on the internet and look it up. I don't need a copy/pasted conspiracy theory into the book. I am also aware that Leigh Bardugo herself went to Yale but it seems like this book is the perfect marketing technique for Bardugo.
Another point I want to discuss are the characters. The only character I really felt like was well written and interesting was Darlington. He had the depth I was looking for. His childhood, his character, everything seemed intriguing to me and I wanted to get to know him better. If I am being honest, maybe I even developed a little crush on him. However, I had an issue with the main character. Alex. She is one reason I did not like the book either. Again, I felt like Bardugo knew that if the main character was an outsider, people would like her more or relate to her more but her concept was so simple. Former drug addict who made wrong decisions gets another chance and has some special abilities no one else has. That's farcical.
To sum it up: It is a good book. However, it is nothing special, I would not mind not having read it and it felt like it was too "set-up". Bardugo knew what sells well so she wrote what sells well. That's it. If you are looking for something to read through without any tension, go for it. If you are looking for something deep, dark and mysterious, this book is not for you.
It was more like a YA - wannabe "masterpiece" based on conspiracy theories.
My hopes were high for this book. The description of the book was mesmerizing. Hoping to see dark, mysterious and incredible intrigues. From page to page I was more and more disappointed. Waiting for something, that actually won't be there at all.
The writing style is okay and I can see why people enjoy it. It's a basic YA book. But it's nothing special. It's layed out like every single YA book I know and simply offers something to be intrigued by. However, the implied plot twists were predicable and the in the description mentioned depth was just below the surface. The story overall was good but it felt too much like the conspiracy theories on the internet about Yale and the bonesmen. And if I want to read a conspiracy theory, I could go on the internet and look it up. I don't need a copy/pasted conspiracy theory into the book. I am also aware that Leigh Bardugo herself went to Yale but it seems like this book is the perfect marketing technique for Bardugo.
Another point I want to discuss are the characters. The only character I really felt like was well written and interesting was Darlington. He had the depth I was looking for. His childhood, his character, everything seemed intriguing to me and I wanted to get to know him better. If I am being honest, maybe I even developed a little crush on him. However, I had an issue with the main character. Alex. She is one reason I did not like the book either. Again, I felt like Bardugo knew that if the main character was an outsider, people would like her more or relate to her more but her concept was so simple. Former drug addict who made wrong decisions gets another chance and has some special abilities no one else has. That's farcical.
To sum it up: It is a good book. However, it is nothing special, I would not mind not having read it and it felt like it was too "set-up". Bardugo knew what sells well so she wrote what sells well. That's it. If you are looking for something to read through without any tension, go for it. If you are looking for something deep, dark and mysterious, this book is not for you.
"What you can see from here is not always what there is."
This book was a metaphorical symphony of life itself.
Mariana Leky deserves all of the wonderful comments on this book. It includes every human emotion felt - from the high highs to the low lows. Life itself is a symphony. Not always understood but always a suprise. To capture it all in one book is almost never achieved by authors but Leky happened to do it in a snap. Her book was on many levels ground breaking and allows the reader to look at life from a different perspective as well as more closely to things we usually take for granted.
Each of her characters was special in their own way and just like in real life, everyone had individual traits and habits which made them unique. So unique that they really did stick to my mind. There was not a single character I happened not to like even if I did not like the specific personality. In my opinion, you can not NOT like the characters. And you sure would not want that something happens to any of them. But life has a path for everyone in mind and the earth will keep on moving.
What I did miss was a deeper meaning behind the story. This book did a lot for me and made me question life itself, however, it felt like the story was there just because life is like that rather than having a specific meaning behind it. In fact, it did stimulate my senses and my brain but it's a little bit thrown into the literary world rather than having something to grasp on before reading the book and after finishing it. Nevertheless - in my opinion, this book is an important read for people who feel disconnected from the world or people who loose themselves easily since this books really helps to discover what life is offering from the very beginning.
This book was a metaphorical symphony of life itself.
Mariana Leky deserves all of the wonderful comments on this book. It includes every human emotion felt - from the high highs to the low lows. Life itself is a symphony. Not always understood but always a suprise. To capture it all in one book is almost never achieved by authors but Leky happened to do it in a snap. Her book was on many levels ground breaking and allows the reader to look at life from a different perspective as well as more closely to things we usually take for granted.
Each of her characters was special in their own way and just like in real life, everyone had individual traits and habits which made them unique. So unique that they really did stick to my mind. There was not a single character I happened not to like even if I did not like the specific personality. In my opinion, you can not NOT like the characters. And you sure would not want that something happens to any of them. But life has a path for everyone in mind and the earth will keep on moving.
What I did miss was a deeper meaning behind the story. This book did a lot for me and made me question life itself, however, it felt like the story was there just because life is like that rather than having a specific meaning behind it. In fact, it did stimulate my senses and my brain but it's a little bit thrown into the literary world rather than having something to grasp on before reading the book and after finishing it. Nevertheless - in my opinion, this book is an important read for people who feel disconnected from the world or people who loose themselves easily since this books really helps to discover what life is offering from the very beginning.
This book sells the illusion of a good book by simply having traumatized characters and delusional sex.
I was excited for this book at first. Due to it getting widely spread around social media platforms and seeing it re-appearing everywhere I look, I wanted to give it a try. Additionally, the theme really hit me up and so I went out and got it. However, it was neither groundbreaking nor brilliant. I did not like it at all.
To say the least, this book was a disappointment right from the beginning. Good literature does not revolve about solely one topic. Machado yet decided to talk about sex in 7 of her 8 short stories and making it to one of the main topics in most of them. It bored me. Of course you could argue that there were other things than sex too. Yes, of course there were. However, those were quite noticable I would say and often paired with horrific thoughts, mental illnesses or other traumatic experiences the characters have made. That is a way to catch readers for sure but in my opinion it is only considered good because people are shocked by psychotics and unusual, unhinged thoughts. Nothing more, nothing less.
What I also see as quite problematic was the way Machado pictured a woman's body. Solely concentrating on this book, a woman's body is used for sex, motherhood, mental illnesses and not to forget: marriage. Sounds narrow-minded, does it not? Now people could argue that she wanted to exemplify the stereotypes of women. And I could understand that, however, I think it should be made clear what women are NOT and not giving examples for what they were/are (depends on the way how you see it). I see it as digging in major topics in the past but Machado does not focus on the future and on the way we see a woman's body now.
Good literature is hard to determine. There will always be so many different opinions as with every other part of life. However, I feel like good literature should not solely revolve about one main topic and should not be haphazardly put together in order to shock people. Which is why I personally would not read it again since I feel like this is not the literature I am longing for.
I was excited for this book at first. Due to it getting widely spread around social media platforms and seeing it re-appearing everywhere I look, I wanted to give it a try. Additionally, the theme really hit me up and so I went out and got it. However, it was neither groundbreaking nor brilliant. I did not like it at all.
To say the least, this book was a disappointment right from the beginning. Good literature does not revolve about solely one topic. Machado yet decided to talk about sex in 7 of her 8 short stories and making it to one of the main topics in most of them. It bored me. Of course you could argue that there were other things than sex too. Yes, of course there were. However, those were quite noticable I would say and often paired with horrific thoughts, mental illnesses or other traumatic experiences the characters have made. That is a way to catch readers for sure but in my opinion it is only considered good because people are shocked by psychotics and unusual, unhinged thoughts. Nothing more, nothing less.
What I also see as quite problematic was the way Machado pictured a woman's body. Solely concentrating on this book, a woman's body is used for sex, motherhood, mental illnesses and not to forget: marriage. Sounds narrow-minded, does it not? Now people could argue that she wanted to exemplify the stereotypes of women. And I could understand that, however, I think it should be made clear what women are NOT and not giving examples for what they were/are (depends on the way how you see it). I see it as digging in major topics in the past but Machado does not focus on the future and on the way we see a woman's body now.
Good literature is hard to determine. There will always be so many different opinions as with every other part of life. However, I feel like good literature should not solely revolve about one main topic and should not be haphazardly put together in order to shock people. Which is why I personally would not read it again since I feel like this is not the literature I am longing for.
H. G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" shows the vast knowledge and wisdom of terrestrial as well as extraterrestrial forms at that time off.
H. G. Wells' book "The War of the Worlds", originally published in 1898, was written extraordinarily surprising in many ways. One would not expect a man in that time to be of such knowledge about planets and their orbits as well as special circumstances humankind live under. In addition to that, H. G. Wells logical conclusions were breathtakingly reliable and remarkable considering at what time the book was written.
From beginning to the end the story was well thought through and logical to an extent most authors would not care about. The whole plotline was not only unguessable but rational in a way that blows someones mind. This book is a great way to escape reality while encouraging the reader to think about the extraterrestrial space deeper. Another aspect I really enjoyed about this book was that H. G. Wells offered critical thinking of society in many ways such as the behavior of higher-class Londoners as well as people's careless attitude towards disasters happening which do not affect them at the moment.
The book was an experience, however, there was an unpleasant aspect as well. Although the book does not have many pages it took me long to finish it. One could argue: "Well, try reading faster." But that's got nothing to do with the reason why.
The first sixty pages were painful to read. The book felt like it was repeating itself, the plot was boring. The same things happened over and over in a slightly different way and I was on the verge of despair. The story did not seem to move forward at all and I felt like I needed to force myself to continue reading. Luckily the plot moved fast forward and I started to enjoy the book.
To sum it up:
H. G. Wells was an extraordinary man. He used his writing skills and his knowledge about the extraterrestrial to create something great which for sure has formed the imagination of many. For the time the book was written in it must have been like an enlightenment. However, I do not think that it is a must-read. If one is interested in science-fiction I would recommend it though since I feel like you can find a lot of parallels in regard to modern science-fiction.
H. G. Wells' book "The War of the Worlds", originally published in 1898, was written extraordinarily surprising in many ways. One would not expect a man in that time to be of such knowledge about planets and their orbits as well as special circumstances humankind live under. In addition to that, H. G. Wells logical conclusions were breathtakingly reliable and remarkable considering at what time the book was written.
From beginning to the end the story was well thought through and logical to an extent most authors would not care about. The whole plotline was not only unguessable but rational in a way that blows someones mind. This book is a great way to escape reality while encouraging the reader to think about the extraterrestrial space deeper. Another aspect I really enjoyed about this book was that H. G. Wells offered critical thinking of society in many ways such as the behavior of higher-class Londoners as well as people's careless attitude towards disasters happening which do not affect them at the moment.
The book was an experience, however, there was an unpleasant aspect as well. Although the book does not have many pages it took me long to finish it. One could argue: "Well, try reading faster." But that's got nothing to do with the reason why.
The first sixty pages were painful to read. The book felt like it was repeating itself, the plot was boring. The same things happened over and over in a slightly different way and I was on the verge of despair. The story did not seem to move forward at all and I felt like I needed to force myself to continue reading. Luckily the plot moved fast forward and I started to enjoy the book.
To sum it up:
H. G. Wells was an extraordinary man. He used his writing skills and his knowledge about the extraterrestrial to create something great which for sure has formed the imagination of many. For the time the book was written in it must have been like an enlightenment. However, I do not think that it is a must-read. If one is interested in science-fiction I would recommend it though since I feel like you can find a lot of parallels in regard to modern science-fiction.
Violent teenagers with the "boys will be boys"- attitude strolling through the city as if it was their own. One of them gets caught, the bill to pay is being served on a silver platter. Plainly boring and without added value.
Anthony Burgess' writing style in this novel is horrendous. Mixing two languages constantly in the course of writing was a pain to follow and read. While some may enjoy the so-called "slang", I did not. It made the book unnecessarily hard to read and clearly did not help to motivate me to continue reading this book. In addition to the writing style, the story itself was not much of a thrill. I asked myself: "Why did I read this book? What have I learned in the course of reading this book?" The answer was quite simply, no value has been added to my life or my mental capacities, they have rather been burned to death.
Nutshell-deep-dive into the plot: Alex, the main character, is a gang leader consisting of 4 teenage boys. At one of their misdemeanor, Alex gets caught by the police. He pays for what he did in various ways and goes on with his life. End of the story. It was an okay story, do not get me wrong but it is a waste of time when you could be reading something better.
While some call it a classic everyone should have read once in their life, I must heavily disagree. By no means would I recommend it to anyone. In my opinion, it is a waste of time. It isn't trash but it isn't great either. I also really do not want to go into further detail. I am only grateful for finally having finished this book and not needing to touch it any time soon.
Anthony Burgess' writing style in this novel is horrendous. Mixing two languages constantly in the course of writing was a pain to follow and read. While some may enjoy the so-called "slang", I did not. It made the book unnecessarily hard to read and clearly did not help to motivate me to continue reading this book. In addition to the writing style, the story itself was not much of a thrill. I asked myself: "Why did I read this book? What have I learned in the course of reading this book?" The answer was quite simply, no value has been added to my life or my mental capacities, they have rather been burned to death.
Nutshell-deep-dive into the plot: Alex, the main character, is a gang leader consisting of 4 teenage boys. At one of their misdemeanor, Alex gets caught by the police. He pays for what he did in various ways and goes on with his life. End of the story. It was an okay story, do not get me wrong but it is a waste of time when you could be reading something better.
While some call it a classic everyone should have read once in their life, I must heavily disagree. By no means would I recommend it to anyone. In my opinion, it is a waste of time. It isn't trash but it isn't great either. I also really do not want to go into further detail. I am only grateful for finally having finished this book and not needing to touch it any time soon.
This novel portrays how one pursues love rather stupidly than tragically.
Mitford's novel "The Pursuit of Love" mainly follows the love life of Linda who dreams of her love life and tries to find her one true love without real success. While all of her family members seemingly found their soulmate or their happiness in life, Linda is longing for it at all times. While one of her husbands was too boring, the other was so creative, he got lost in his daydreams and forgot about his wife. While this concept sounded great as a novel, it definitely is not Mitford's strength to develop ideas and transform them into a novel. Furthermore, there were several aspects which made the novel pretty unenjoyable and unnecessary hard to read. One of which I would like to discuss in the next paragraph.
Nancy Mitford's writing style may sometimes be hard to follow due to her multi-clause sentences and various inserts of random words and phrases. It occured that maybe the author used her writing style to organize her thoughts. Or maybe even to insert new ideas into the novel. That is, however, entirely wrong to do in the course of writing. It made me heavily question Mitford's writing skills. Other than that, the plot seemed to fly which was sometimes too fast as well.
Another aspect which made me dislike the plot was the main character. Linda was in fact one of the most annoying characters I have ever read of. Her decision were not thought through at all, neither was she able to take responsibility for her child or any family member. What kind of person does one have to be in order to flee from every kind of responsibility or life solely in order to find an unatainable relationship? It makes me so mad, I do not wish to think about this character any longer. Her issues were foolish.
Other than that, the only positive aspect of this novel was the idea behind it. I enjoyed philosophing about the meaning of relationships myself which is why I can not bring myself to rate this book more than 2 stars and that's already my limit of tolerance and pain for this novel.
To sum it up: I would not recommend the book since in my opinion, it does not portray love or the issues regarding love correct. And I know that everyone does have different pain tolerances and different views regarding love and the issues, this however is an entirely different story.
Mitford's novel "The Pursuit of Love" mainly follows the love life of Linda who dreams of her love life and tries to find her one true love without real success. While all of her family members seemingly found their soulmate or their happiness in life, Linda is longing for it at all times. While one of her husbands was too boring, the other was so creative, he got lost in his daydreams and forgot about his wife. While this concept sounded great as a novel, it definitely is not Mitford's strength to develop ideas and transform them into a novel. Furthermore, there were several aspects which made the novel pretty unenjoyable and unnecessary hard to read. One of which I would like to discuss in the next paragraph.
Nancy Mitford's writing style may sometimes be hard to follow due to her multi-clause sentences and various inserts of random words and phrases. It occured that maybe the author used her writing style to organize her thoughts. Or maybe even to insert new ideas into the novel. That is, however, entirely wrong to do in the course of writing. It made me heavily question Mitford's writing skills. Other than that, the plot seemed to fly which was sometimes too fast as well.
Another aspect which made me dislike the plot was the main character. Linda was in fact one of the most annoying characters I have ever read of. Her decision were not thought through at all, neither was she able to take responsibility for her child or any family member. What kind of person does one have to be in order to flee from every kind of responsibility or life solely in order to find an unatainable relationship? It makes me so mad, I do not wish to think about this character any longer. Her issues were foolish.
Other than that, the only positive aspect of this novel was the idea behind it. I enjoyed philosophing about the meaning of relationships myself which is why I can not bring myself to rate this book more than 2 stars and that's already my limit of tolerance and pain for this novel.
To sum it up: I would not recommend the book since in my opinion, it does not portray love or the issues regarding love correct. And I know that everyone does have different pain tolerances and different views regarding love and the issues, this however is an entirely different story.
"The Tales of Beedle the Bard" transports one into their childhood full of fantastic wizarding worlds and tales with strong morals.
When reading J. K. Rowling's book, once again she has shown her talent in writing. While I am not the biggest fan of her as a person, her writing style is as capturing as ever, sucking readers into the wizarding world of Hogwarts. Very smoothly written, I have to admit that it was a fast-paced read finished in one sitting. However, one reason also might be that the book is small and the font is rather big in my opinion.
One aspect which would have to be noted is that the tales were nice and all, however, they reminded me too much of ordinary fairytales. Sometimes it seemed as if Rowling was a little too inspired by ordinary fairy tales and rewrote some aspects of them into a new "Harry Potter"-style fairy tale which was quite disappointing to be honest. They weren't really mesmerizing or interesting in a sense of grand new ideas. Another aspect I also question is the use of footnotes. In my opinion, they could've been left out since it disturbed the reading flow.
To sum it up: It is still a four star read since I can not deny the fun I had while reading and escaping for an hour or two. It is easy to read as well which is why I recommend it to anyone who likes fairy tales and likes the "Harry Potter"-series no matter the age.
When reading J. K. Rowling's book, once again she has shown her talent in writing. While I am not the biggest fan of her as a person, her writing style is as capturing as ever, sucking readers into the wizarding world of Hogwarts. Very smoothly written, I have to admit that it was a fast-paced read finished in one sitting. However, one reason also might be that the book is small and the font is rather big in my opinion.
One aspect which would have to be noted is that the tales were nice and all, however, they reminded me too much of ordinary fairytales. Sometimes it seemed as if Rowling was a little too inspired by ordinary fairy tales and rewrote some aspects of them into a new "Harry Potter"-style fairy tale which was quite disappointing to be honest. They weren't really mesmerizing or interesting in a sense of grand new ideas. Another aspect I also question is the use of footnotes. In my opinion, they could've been left out since it disturbed the reading flow.
To sum it up: It is still a four star read since I can not deny the fun I had while reading and escaping for an hour or two. It is easy to read as well which is why I recommend it to anyone who likes fairy tales and likes the "Harry Potter"-series no matter the age.
Diving into the world of a farcical so-called assassin called Celaena Sardothien was not as expected.
Maas‘ book was indeed very different from what I have expected it to be. Let’s start off by talking about the characters. Her definition of assassins and how people treat them is very uncommon and quite ridiculous to me. But not in a good way. Celaena Sardothien in a nutshell: childish and overly emotional (so emotional - not even a mad person would act that way). It’s simply not possible for a person to switch between feelings like that. It‘s the opposite of logical. Moreover, her hobbies do not fit her nature and she seems to be the typical „chosen one“. Seemingly she is good at everything and happens to play Piano, read and she basically has every imaginable hobby. To say the least: Her personality and behavior does not fit her past. Next off is our beloved prince. Dorian would be considered the popular jerk at high school who makes out with all of the girls but changes for „the one“. I‘m hugely disappointed that authors need to make use of such cheap concepts. It only makes the book more and more unbelievable to me. The only character that seems okay is Chaol. Solid character build.
Another aspect which triggered me was that, instead of a clear, and logical plot, the author chose the wild ride. The first aspect which was simply dubious was that although Celaena was an assassin, they treated her too nicely and without any caution almost. She killed hundreds of people and she gets her own suite with more than 2 rooms? No sane person would treat her this way and considering all the lives she has taken. Another aspect was that people talked about situations that they for example could not know about since they weren‘t part of the situation and no one told them about those. And finally, the plot was a whole mess. Too much happened at once. There were no open questions at all, however, the solutions were sloppy and could‘ve been written and exaggerated way better.
Looking at my review you might ask yourself why I‘ve rated it with 3 stars although I listed so much I did not like about the book. Well, I have to admit it was enjoyable and an easy read. I also think that I would‘ve enjoyed the book if I was younger, let‘s say 15 years old since I would not have questioned the plot and the characters so much. I really can’t deny that it is a good book but it does not fulfill me. Books should encourage a person to develop critical and deeper thinking. But when I think about this book, all I can think of was that it was a nice story. But I do not think about it twice.
To conclude: If you are a teenager and like fantasy (and enjoy darker tropes) I can and would recommend it, however, I would not recommend it to adults who are looking for a new series which stimulates them, because this book will not.
Maas‘ book was indeed very different from what I have expected it to be. Let’s start off by talking about the characters. Her definition of assassins and how people treat them is very uncommon and quite ridiculous to me. But not in a good way. Celaena Sardothien in a nutshell: childish and overly emotional (so emotional - not even a mad person would act that way). It’s simply not possible for a person to switch between feelings like that. It‘s the opposite of logical. Moreover, her hobbies do not fit her nature and she seems to be the typical „chosen one“. Seemingly she is good at everything and happens to play Piano, read and she basically has every imaginable hobby. To say the least: Her personality and behavior does not fit her past. Next off is our beloved prince. Dorian would be considered the popular jerk at high school who makes out with all of the girls but changes for „the one“. I‘m hugely disappointed that authors need to make use of such cheap concepts. It only makes the book more and more unbelievable to me. The only character that seems okay is Chaol. Solid character build.
Another aspect which triggered me was that, instead of a clear, and logical plot, the author chose the wild ride. The first aspect which was simply dubious was that although Celaena was an assassin, they treated her too nicely and without any caution almost. She killed hundreds of people and she gets her own suite with more than 2 rooms? No sane person would treat her this way and considering all the lives she has taken. Another aspect was that people talked about situations that they for example could not know about since they weren‘t part of the situation and no one told them about those. And finally, the plot was a whole mess. Too much happened at once. There were no open questions at all, however, the solutions were sloppy and could‘ve been written and exaggerated way better.
Looking at my review you might ask yourself why I‘ve rated it with 3 stars although I listed so much I did not like about the book. Well, I have to admit it was enjoyable and an easy read. I also think that I would‘ve enjoyed the book if I was younger, let‘s say 15 years old since I would not have questioned the plot and the characters so much. I really can’t deny that it is a good book but it does not fulfill me. Books should encourage a person to develop critical and deeper thinking. But when I think about this book, all I can think of was that it was a nice story. But I do not think about it twice.
To conclude: If you are a teenager and like fantasy (and enjoy darker tropes) I can and would recommend it, however, I would not recommend it to adults who are looking for a new series which stimulates them, because this book will not.
„I am never going to recover from being alive.“
Tragedies covered in sarcasm do not make up for the experiences, however, it makes a good book.
Melissa Broder‘s writing is really unique. The way she describes her own experiences with mental illnesses which are devastating to the core makes me unsure whether I want to cry or laugh out loud. The book, even though it contains shocking experiences which I would never survive, was a truly memorable experience. I especially felt drawn to her relatability and the depth of her -so honestly and casually described- emotions. There was no urge to make the reader like her which I feel like was great since the abnormality makes a book good. It‘s fairly different - with no filter.
Another aspect I really enjoyed is that her essays really reflect what life can be about. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies and sometimes it might even be worse than the opposite. It might feel like nightmares you can not escape, situations that form you and mental illnesses that affect you negatively in life, even paralyze you. She never made her experiences look pretty or pretended to see the good in thing which made me really like her as a person, even though I did not always agree with her views.
This was definitely the best book I‘ve read up to now which included essays but I will not lie, I am not a fan of essays and am yet to find a book I really like. Same as with other essays I‘ve read: Something is always missing. It‘s not satisfying to the core which is why I can not give the full 5 stars. I will say tho, this book was a 4,4 star read which is why I would still highly recommend it to anyone who would want to read it.
In conclusion I would really recommend this collection of personal essays, especially for those who suffered or still do from mental illnesses since I feel like reading it was therapeutic in a way. However, I would rather suggest it to adults.
Tragedies covered in sarcasm do not make up for the experiences, however, it makes a good book.
Melissa Broder‘s writing is really unique. The way she describes her own experiences with mental illnesses which are devastating to the core makes me unsure whether I want to cry or laugh out loud. The book, even though it contains shocking experiences which I would never survive, was a truly memorable experience. I especially felt drawn to her relatability and the depth of her -so honestly and casually described- emotions. There was no urge to make the reader like her which I feel like was great since the abnormality makes a book good. It‘s fairly different - with no filter.
Another aspect I really enjoyed is that her essays really reflect what life can be about. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies and sometimes it might even be worse than the opposite. It might feel like nightmares you can not escape, situations that form you and mental illnesses that affect you negatively in life, even paralyze you. She never made her experiences look pretty or pretended to see the good in thing which made me really like her as a person, even though I did not always agree with her views.
This was definitely the best book I‘ve read up to now which included essays but I will not lie, I am not a fan of essays and am yet to find a book I really like. Same as with other essays I‘ve read: Something is always missing. It‘s not satisfying to the core which is why I can not give the full 5 stars. I will say tho, this book was a 4,4 star read which is why I would still highly recommend it to anyone who would want to read it.
In conclusion I would really recommend this collection of personal essays, especially for those who suffered or still do from mental illnesses since I feel like reading it was therapeutic in a way. However, I would rather suggest it to adults.
The mysterious happenings in historical Russia are not solely a human problem, the supernatural suffers as well. A well-written novel of bravery and the display of a witches’ power.
Katherine Arden presented a novel full of mystery, bravery and the supernatural according to Russian folklore. While I did not like the first book of the series, this book was better by far. The characters evolved through the book and plot twists happened where I least expected them.
As for the characters, there were only few new characters introduced and those which already existed in the first book evolved partly throughout the plot. Especially Vasya’s transformation was mesmerizing. She seemed to become vastly mature and self aware which I wouldn’t have expected. This can be seen for instance how she handled Masha. Other characters however, for instance Olga, did not evolve much which was quite disappointing.
While the book was entertaining, it took me long to finish it. For the most part, it was exciting, however, there were some passages which were taking too long and were described in a vast manner which kind of made me want to put the book aside. Another part I disliked was the romance between the winter king and Vasya. I was never 100% sure what feelings there exactly were between them and it was too open in my opinion. I would’ve wished for more clear descriptions.
Overall it can be said that I did enjoy this book even though it took me long. However, there were things I didn’t think were necessary or good in the sense of writing which is why I decided to rate the book three stars.
To sum it up: I would recommend this book definitely if you’ve read the first book and if you really like Russian folklore since this part was the most well written in my opinion.
Katherine Arden presented a novel full of mystery, bravery and the supernatural according to Russian folklore. While I did not like the first book of the series, this book was better by far. The characters evolved through the book and plot twists happened where I least expected them.
As for the characters, there were only few new characters introduced and those which already existed in the first book evolved partly throughout the plot. Especially Vasya’s transformation was mesmerizing. She seemed to become vastly mature and self aware which I wouldn’t have expected. This can be seen for instance how she handled Masha. Other characters however, for instance Olga, did not evolve much which was quite disappointing.
While the book was entertaining, it took me long to finish it. For the most part, it was exciting, however, there were some passages which were taking too long and were described in a vast manner which kind of made me want to put the book aside. Another part I disliked was the romance between the winter king and Vasya. I was never 100% sure what feelings there exactly were between them and it was too open in my opinion. I would’ve wished for more clear descriptions.
Overall it can be said that I did enjoy this book even though it took me long. However, there were things I didn’t think were necessary or good in the sense of writing which is why I decided to rate the book three stars.
To sum it up: I would recommend this book definitely if you’ve read the first book and if you really like Russian folklore since this part was the most well written in my opinion.