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saguaros's reviews
942 reviews
Small Bodies of Water by Nina Mingya Powles
4.0
Nina Mingya Powles is probably one of my favourite current writers. There is something about her words that I just love to wrap myself into. This collection is no different. She is a poet after all. Each chapter/essay is rich and, in its way, soothing, weaving autobiographical details with observations of nature, swimming, language, belonging, memory, family, race, and more. Each one, in turn, often told in vignettes, little windows that build to a whole that never feels quite complete but more like it’s ongoing still. I don’t think it can be read like you’d read a memoir or a novel, but rather it should be read slowly, a chapter here and there. I think it could feel TOO slow and poetic and meandering (and dare I say, boring) otherwise. At least this is what I did, and it worked for me.
The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang
2.5
I keep being attracted to all these new Japanese/Korean cozy short novels that are popular right now, but honestly it’s very hit or miss for me (and the hit are not cozy). Nevertheless, I feel like I will persevere. This book was cute, but I had to check a couple chapters in to see the age group this was written for. It says adult, but honestly it reads more like Middle-Grade ish, both in its simplistic language and its structure. I’m not sure how old the MC is, but she’s definitely a child, I’d say a young teen. The book was definitely more enjoyable once I readjusted my expectations and approached it was an MG novel.
The magical world was definitely Ghibli-esque, with its weird inhabitants and locations that are both “normal” and yet not quite at the same time (think the bath house in Spirited Away). It’s colourful and the MC must complete her task before the end of the rainy season or she’ll be trapped forever in that world. She goes looking for her dream by collecting orbs in each locations with the help of a magical cat and faces a greedy bad guy at the end. It’s a very straightforward story, and while cute, was too much of a This Book Has a Life Lesson in It story for my taste (a lesson that was obvious from the start).
The magical world was definitely Ghibli-esque, with its weird inhabitants and locations that are both “normal” and yet not quite at the same time (think the bath house in Spirited Away). It’s colourful and the MC must complete her task before the end of the rainy season or she’ll be trapped forever in that world. She goes looking for her dream by collecting orbs in each locations with the help of a magical cat and faces a greedy bad guy at the end. It’s a very straightforward story, and while cute, was too much of a This Book Has a Life Lesson in It story for my taste (a lesson that was obvious from the start).
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
3.0
This story deserves 5 stars. I was mesmerize by the world of this book. Horrified. It's such a great exploration of what could happen and what is already happening in some places of the world.
I gave it three stars, because no matter how hard I tried, the longer I read it, the less I wanted to go back to it. It's rare I leave a book after reading more than half of it, but there it is. Even though I was intrigue by the world, I ended up bored. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood.
I'm not worried though, I'm sure I'll finish it one day.
I gave it three stars, because no matter how hard I tried, the longer I read it, the less I wanted to go back to it. It's rare I leave a book after reading more than half of it, but there it is. Even though I was intrigue by the world, I ended up bored. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood.
I'm not worried though, I'm sure I'll finish it one day.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
5.0
It broke my heart in all the right places (and left a few bruises).
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
4.0
I picked up Across the Universe, Beth Revis’ debut novel, partly because I had gleaned bits and pieces of positive reviews here and there and partly because I had to fill 5 hours at the bookstore waiting for my boyfriend. Oh, and the cover. And the possibility of a young adult sci-fi novel excited me. Young adult literature really needs more sci-fi, now that it has fully picked up on the paranormal and the dystopian genre. In the end, Across the Universe ended up being a science fiction novel and a dystopian novel, with a bit of mystery thrown in for good measure. I must say that Revis juggled those three genres beautifully, building a world that was believable, claustrophobic and, at times, horrific.
Amy and her parents, as well as 97 other passengers, have been cryogenically frozen in preparation for a 300 year trip to a new planet, Centuri-Earth. But 50 years before the scheduled date of arrival of their ship, Godspeed, Amy is awakened. Knowing nothing of how or why, she can think of only one thing: someone tried to kill her. Her doubts are suddenly confirmed as more frozen people are awakened and, not as lucky as her, found dead in their thawed chambers. Elder is part of the crew that has been running Godspeed since the beginning of its journey. Generations upon generations of his people have worked and lived within the confines of the ships metal walls, each generation lead by one leader, Eldest, and Elder is the next leader in training. Once Amy awakens, Elder is fascinated by her, by her pale skin, red hair and green eyes, but most of all by all her ideas, her knowledge, her way of seeing things coming from a world that he has never known.
Together, and with the help of Elder’s friend Harley, they try to unravel the mystery of the people dying, while at the same time Amy tries to: understand a society that makes no sense to her, that feels wrong and controlling and full of lies; find a murderer; and cope with the fact that the next time she will see her parents she’ll be about 70 years old. And Elder starts to realize that everything he knows might be a lie, not knowing what is true, what is fabricated, what is wrong and what is right.
Across the Universe felt both slow-paced and fast-paced to me. I would come up for air, realize that I was half-way done with the book, but at the same time, wondering why not much had happened. It is because Revis trickles her clues and mysteries slowly through her story, little by little, not holding anything back, but not given away too much too fast until the very end of the book. Most of all though, it is the ship that retained my attention, the ship and the world that lives within it, this somewhat wrong and definitely dystopian world, completely cut off from anything else. The characters themselves were alright. I was not as attached to them as I would have liked, although I suspect that is just a personal taste, not a fault of the novel. I cared about them, but I cared more about seeing their world put right. The villain itself was a bit more one-dimensional, and slightly less believable, but nevertheless it did not distract me too much from the plot. Revis alternates between Amy’s and Elder’s first point-of-view and I thought it was done well, and it did not confuse me at all.
Overall I really enjoyed it, I am looking forward to the sequel (although, do not worry, it does not end on a cliffhanger) and, most of all, I hope that its success will bring more science fiction to the world of young adult literature.
EDIT: I feel that I must add a trigger warning. In the book there is a sexual assault/attempted rape scene. It is not a long scene and the effects of it are dealt with and are not ignored. I felt I had to mention it, as it could be triggering to victims of sexual assault and rape and the people who love them.
Amy and her parents, as well as 97 other passengers, have been cryogenically frozen in preparation for a 300 year trip to a new planet, Centuri-Earth. But 50 years before the scheduled date of arrival of their ship, Godspeed, Amy is awakened. Knowing nothing of how or why, she can think of only one thing: someone tried to kill her. Her doubts are suddenly confirmed as more frozen people are awakened and, not as lucky as her, found dead in their thawed chambers. Elder is part of the crew that has been running Godspeed since the beginning of its journey. Generations upon generations of his people have worked and lived within the confines of the ships metal walls, each generation lead by one leader, Eldest, and Elder is the next leader in training. Once Amy awakens, Elder is fascinated by her, by her pale skin, red hair and green eyes, but most of all by all her ideas, her knowledge, her way of seeing things coming from a world that he has never known.
Together, and with the help of Elder’s friend Harley, they try to unravel the mystery of the people dying, while at the same time Amy tries to: understand a society that makes no sense to her, that feels wrong and controlling and full of lies; find a murderer; and cope with the fact that the next time she will see her parents she’ll be about 70 years old. And Elder starts to realize that everything he knows might be a lie, not knowing what is true, what is fabricated, what is wrong and what is right.
Across the Universe felt both slow-paced and fast-paced to me. I would come up for air, realize that I was half-way done with the book, but at the same time, wondering why not much had happened. It is because Revis trickles her clues and mysteries slowly through her story, little by little, not holding anything back, but not given away too much too fast until the very end of the book. Most of all though, it is the ship that retained my attention, the ship and the world that lives within it, this somewhat wrong and definitely dystopian world, completely cut off from anything else. The characters themselves were alright. I was not as attached to them as I would have liked, although I suspect that is just a personal taste, not a fault of the novel. I cared about them, but I cared more about seeing their world put right. The villain itself was a bit more one-dimensional, and slightly less believable, but nevertheless it did not distract me too much from the plot. Revis alternates between Amy’s and Elder’s first point-of-view and I thought it was done well, and it did not confuse me at all.
Overall I really enjoyed it, I am looking forward to the sequel (although, do not worry, it does not end on a cliffhanger) and, most of all, I hope that its success will bring more science fiction to the world of young adult literature.
EDIT: I feel that I must add a trigger warning. In the book there is a sexual assault/attempted rape scene. It is not a long scene and the effects of it are dealt with and are not ignored. I felt I had to mention it, as it could be triggering to victims of sexual assault and rape and the people who love them.