Madalina Mesrefoglu
It's been a couple of days since I finished this and I've been waiting on the rating ever since.
The book was fascinating to say the least. Heartbreaking at times, made me cry like I never cried before while reading a book. This is the story of a mother and what she will do to keep her family together as the world rapidly changes before her eyes.
It's a hard book to get into because it introduces a new style of writing: sentences are long, lyrical and descriptive; paragraphs are large blocks of text; and conversations are merged into the narrative without quotation marks or dialogue lines. I found this to be boring at times; the chapters seemed to go on forever. There would be big gaps in between them as you had to wait for important events to happen. This story fluctuations made the Prophet song a complicated read for me.
I can see why this is an award-winning book, the writing style is amazing, like I never read before. It was similar to reading a long and tragic poem. However, this also made it far too difficult to read, and now that I've finished, every other book feels so much more refreshing.
3.5/5 stars
Loved it and hated it at the same time. I loved the beginning of this book - felt like an instant favorite - it was kinda slow in the middle and the last chapter made me feel so much hatred (I guess that was the whole purpose). This book woken up all my nightmares about a dystopian future like this one, where you can't express yourself and you can't escape the overseeing eyes everywhere. Gave it a 4.75/5 stars because of a slow and tedious chapter that took me two days to finish. Might turn it to a 5 stars later if I keep thinking about it.
A romantic fantasy filled with sea and drowning metaphors. I enjoyed the plot and the writing, but the characters were a bit dull, and that made me lack more attachment to their stories. The protagonist was acting too childish at times and making bad decisions.
Nevertheless, the gothic and mysterious atmosphere of the world were unmatched from anything I read before. The book ended up being a 4/5 stars for me.
I think that I didn't read this book at the right time or maybe is because I forced myself to finish it, but I found it quite boring, forgettable and slow. The storytelling was linear and even if the author made it so that you will feel like a friend is telling you their life story, it felt excessive and overdone.
2/5 stars
This book was a rollercoaster. Never in my life have I loved and despised a book so much.
First of all, I must say that I really enjoyed how the book was structured from the point of view of the main characters, with each chapter being a study of different people's attempts to fit in and perform well in the society in which they are placed. However, I found Aemonn's perspective infuriating. I didn't enjoy the portrayal of Muslim women and the manipulation and toxicity of their whole relationship. This left me torn between admiring the reasoning behind it and being disgusted for their lack of morals. I felt angry while reading it, even though I now see that it was an essential component of the narrative.
From the standpoint of injustice, prejudice, and ignorance, a family must try to survive the hurricane of events that threaten to damage their lifestyles. This Romeo and Juliet love story was refreshing and succeeded in captivating me with its thought-provoking narrative and nuanced exploration of identity.
4.25/5 stars.
This debut novel was better than her other book that I read, in my opinion. It could have been because it captivated me from the first line. The “dysfunctional” family dynamic drew me in, while I tried to figure out the secrets each member has been keeping from each other while reading. In the end, it was an enjoyable book that had me cry over the final few chapters.
4/5 stars
This book ended up being a good surprise. I came into it knowing nothing, and I was even disappointed that there wasn't a dictionary that I could use for all of the “nadsat” they were using. Like many others, I found the beginning hard to read because of the very descriptive violence scenes, but I was keen to find out how this book ends. I really enjoyed the whole idea about the power of choice and how a man ceases to be a man if he is unable to make his own decisions regarding his actions.
4.25/5 stars
It shouldn't have taken me this long to finish this book. I blame everything on my need for constant action in the book that I read before this one.
Actually, that was a very good and interesting read. My only problem with it was the first half. I know that it was necessary to establish the relationships between the characters so that we could later understand their motivations, but it was often so tedious to read about. Although I could see that this was going a certain way, I lost the patience to wait for the mysteries to unfold before me.
I would rate this book a 3.75/5, mostly because the second half brought it up for me.
After seeing how the author can create such complex, self-centered characters and easily drive you to switch sides, I would surely want to read more of what she has to offer.
It was such an intriguing read. I think I developed a new obsession for these types of books: a crime novel that follows multiple perspectives and you see how everything in the end is brought together and makes a lot of sense. Although at times it felt a little bit slow, the author never stopped surprising with her writing and the characters' narratives. I'll give this book 4.25 stars.
