victoria_mh's reviews
37 reviews

A Little Book of Language by David Crystal

informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

3.5

Didn't realise until I started reading it that it was aimed towards kids (probably secondary-school age). I think teenage me would have loved this. Adult me knew a lot of the stuff already, but I did learn a few new things. Also a welcome break from depressing books I'd read recently.

The Wind Singer by William Nicholson

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

The Witches of Vardø by Anya Bergman

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Misogyny, Grief, Death of parent, Violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Child abuse, Abandonment, Rape, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail

There is a lot of very heavy stuff in this book;

I was expecting torture of 'witches' and that itself was hard to read, but then there's a full description of the teenage protagonist getting raped.

Strong Female Character by Fern Brady

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

Dustbin Baby by Jacqueline Wilson

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

I think I first read this when I was the protagonist's age (14) and recall reading it more than once as a teenager. Found it at a book swap recently and thought I'd read it again. Didn't think this book would still make me cry in my 30s! It's definitely for older readers; I recommend it but there is a lot of gut-wrenching stuff around abandonment, abuse, internalised guilt, the search for identity and autonomy - huge trigger warning for suicide in one part. I really feel for the main character.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Alcoholism, Bullying, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced

3.0

I was given this as a present and really wanted to like it, but found it somewhat lacklustre. I think it was more a fault of the writing style than the plot; I don't know how it reads in the original Japanese, but the English came across as rather basic to me. I wanted something to sink my teeth into and came away disappointed.

Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages by Gaston Dorren

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

I don't think I'd call it a slow-paced book but it took me a while to read it, I don't think it always engaged me as much as I'd hoped. I think I may have wanted more technical detail about each language.

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0