Hanzy

This is my second book by Madeline Miller and I LOVED her writing just as much as I did with Circe. I enjoyed reading the first half with some sarcastic engaging narrative, but my interest kind of died down towards the latter half with the ending being prolonged a little too much. I could see character growth, and as someone who knew next to nothing when starting, there was this predictability that I felt was kind of built upon.
I'm not a fan of Greek mythology, and my feelings get stronger each time I delve more into it, but if Miller were to write another book, I'd definitely be reading it.

I believe this is the first book of Saudi Literature that I've read to have portrayed the culture in the most realistic sense. An emotional roller coaster with some of the main themes being loss of identity, family and a sense of belonging.

This book had quite a bit to unpack emotionally and I loved every bit of it.

(Will review later)

Reading this book I realized I can categorize Murakami's work into two broad categories - books like this one with magic realism (my personal preference) and books like Norwegian Wood.
This book explores various concepts like those of self, identity, and the subconscious. I really enjoyed this mix of sci-fi and surreal reality, getting transported into two very different yet interestingly converging worlds.

This book had great potential but felt quite lacking in the sense that it could've been better executed. The characters all felt lacklustre at best and the only interesting and redeeming part comes almost at the end of the book.
I got that we were dealing with an unreliable narrator but I wish there was more to the tale than mindless revenge-seeking.

I really like Bradbury's way of addressing societal issues and social constructs using sci fi

I stumbled upon this audiobook on audible and enjoyed being whisked away into a light-hearted cheesy (literally) tale set in Paris.

A light, short, and sweet read.

I loved the title of this book, the plot, the setting, and the characters (I totally judged this book by its cover). But while I did enjoy reading this novel, I felt it had a lot more potential and that it didn't quite live up to it. Some loose threads here and there and an overall sense of dissatisfaction. Perhaps as this book is meant to be the first in a series, it left us readers with some bits to speculate upon.

As the blurb states, this is a collection of witty and unexpected tales. I've only read The Martian by Andy Weir and recall it being hilarious. These short stories don't have much humour but twist in the most unexpected ways imaginable.

This is quite a short and interesting take on societal norms. Through the eyes of the protagonist, we experience what it is like to be considered different (or social outcasts) and a lot more on societal expectations that we tend not to question much.

This is a genius work of literature, a masterpiece. For those wishing to read, I recommend taking some time to understand the background, for this book, as its subtitle states is ‘A study of provincial life' during an era of reforms and change. I started this book blind(hadn't even read the blurb), but a few chapters in, I had to pause and reconsider what I was getting into. There's much depth to it where we see a sort of emotional evolution of the characters with political and psychological underpinnings. Rich complex characters, and no singular protagonist. I'd say ‘provincial life' could possibly be the protagonist of this book. Everything is purposeful - from the prelude to the finale, the literary devices used, just everything. I've never read a book like this one before. While I could see a resemblance to Jane Austen's works at the beginning of the book (courtship, familial ties, etc.), it goes much deeper and more complex in comparison. It's a book I'm certain I'll be coming back to.

4.5*s
It's not often that I find the second book in a trilogy better than the first one. Starting from where we left off in Book 1, this one tackles more on the after-effects (and yes, there's more mystery), dealing with deeper themes and the protagonist herself showing her greyer, more human side. It's a gripping unputdownable read - one that may keep you up at night, yet it's not as intense or unpredictable as it's a YA Mystery after all.

I read a couple of short stories from this one in the past when I hadn't known it was all part of one compilation. In a very interesting way, Bradbury mixes in various themes like racism, cloning/robotics, domesticity, religion etc. with sci-fi and has achieved quite amazing results. I loved the idea behind the illustrated man having each illustration come to life and those being the very tales we read. I loved the way each individual story connected with the whole bigger picture and how they connect us, readers, with something familiar yet unfamiliar. I believe there's a certain depth given to each story, much to ponder upon despite it being written in the 1950s. Each unique story transported me somewhere and gave me perspectives that I wouldn't have been able to conjure up otherwise.

After reading a couple of other stories from The Illustrated Man, I'd expected this one to be just as grim. It surprised me by taking a turn, a poor devoted father and a dream fulfilled.

An interesting take on robotic clones taking over the world in a very domestified scene.

I enjoyed this a lot more than Six of Crows. Perhaps since the world was already built in my mind and the characters all felt familiar. The writing seemed to have improved significantly although it's still a little too amateurish to my taste. It does have certain interesting lessons, the pacing is fast enough to stay hooked. I believe this duology would be perfect for a middle schooler or even a high schooler.

Bradbury's been surprising me with all these short stories of his. This one mixes racism with sci-fi, a combination I find to be super interesting and original.

Having read The Silent Patient, my expectations for this one were pretty high. But with expectations also comes familiarity, and I found myself sleuthing around, paying close attention to nitty details making the twist quite obvious and underwhelming. It felt like the author was trying too hard to me. Also, the characters were quite stereotypical though I did enjoy reading the book. It had a nice pace with dark academia vibes that I seem to enjoy more as of late. I liked certain parallels drawn too, which made for an enjoyable read. Plus Theo from The Silent Patient makes an appearance giving the book a familiar world feel. I'd give this a 3.5.

I'm glad I read this after the pandemic. It hits different when you've experienced something similar and I'm quite certain I wouldn't have appreciated this book as much had I read it before. It raises tonnes of questions, especially those in regards to morality and existence.

A blend of sci-fi, some mystery, and an insight into human behavior in the face of the unknown. The premise seemed quite promising, yet the book didn't live up to its full potential.

What I like most about this book is how relevant the strategies are despite being written thousands of years ago and how it promotes attack mode as the last resort of defence.

A short and sweet light-hearted tale. A much-needed change from the books I've been reading as of late.

Reading this book, I've come to the realisation that I enjoy British and Aussie humour quite a bit and that it adds greatly to my reading experience.

I liked the plot and the world-building, but the writing not so much. It felt choppy (or maybe I've just gotten quite used to the classics I've been reading of late), the characters somehow clichéd. I'd recommend this book to a middle-schooler or maybe a high-schooler rather than my usual reading buddies.

It did end in a bit of a cliff-hanger which is perhaps the only reason why I'll be reading the second book in the Duology.

I really enjoy books like this one, ones that help me step into the shoes of someone unlike me, and view the world from their perspective. This was quite an interesting read as it deals with emotions, where on one hand we have a character who feels nothing and another who feels everything. It's a short novel, the ending came all too soon for my liking (I'd have wanted some more deets) but as stated in the epilogue, “I do not know how this story will unfold”- this way, it stays closer to reality.

I found this to be a mix of some childhood sci-fi fantasy with an understanding of how space travel could affect familial lives. It captures the feeling of being lost between two worlds perfectly.