theelliad's reviews
269 reviews

The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs

3.5

Did this series need the last two books, no. Did I love every moment extra i got in this world, yes yes yes. This book is a nice clean conclusion to the building big bad, even if that build up was unnecessary.

although I’m not the biggest fan of them bringing back Fiona from the dead i did very much enjoy her getting a bit more of a role

I also liked that Riggs didn’t try to overly force romance into this one. We got to see all the kids together again and there was some fun moments! the ending was whacky as anything and very much ‘of convenience’ but alas what can be expected from children’s books.

also justice for sebbie

The Vampyre by John William Polidori

3.5

Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

3.0

The Uncanny by Sigmund Freud

4.0

Freud kind of ate with this one I cannot lie! He really does like to link everything back to castration though?

Animal Farm by George Orwell

4.5

Having now re-read both recently I can safely say that I much prefer this to 1984, the psychological degradation is much more prominent and no time is wasted on pointless sub-plots! This is genuinely a powerful and engaging short novel and would have been easily 5 stars if I didn’t fundamentally dislike Orwell’s writing style! Definitely a strong text though and I almost wish I had got to study this one at some point! 

The Odyssey by Homer

3.5

fun plot, don’t much like the main guy
, not as good as the iliad

Eleven by Patricia Highsmith

2.5

I’m usually such a sucker for short stories and for Highsmiths writing but this was just okay, and other than a mildly traumatising duo on snails these stories weren’t really very special or memorable 

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

4.0

what an odd little melancholy book. 
This is a story I feel I will keep forever in the back of my mind, in all it’s ambiguous haunting glory. The hundreds of unanswered questions are frustrating but equally clever and I feel the moments of annoyance are well balanced with poetic and mildly traumatic moments. 

Toward an Aesthetic of Reception, Volume 2 by Hans Jauss

2.5

This theory is super interesting and applicable but GOD it is written in a boring way, also changes language and point way to much my brain hurts! 

The Birth of Tragedy: Out of the Spirit of Music by Friedrich Nietzsche

4.0

If Nietzsche has no fans I am dead… tell me why this critical book was actually so interesting and had genuinely profound takes on the nature of beauty and art in humanity. Will likely be thinking about these ideas for the next 5-10 business days heheh