Anna
The Waters of the Green is definitely a challenging read, and it is by design, as the author skilfully raises awareness about the traumatic impact of the Balkan War in the 1990s.
The book catches our attention right from the beginning and introduces us to Ismet, the main protagonist, whose journey we follow throughout the book and witness the struggles he faces due to the trauma he endured as a child during the war.
Great literature leaves a lasting impression after you finish them and Mirza's novel is one of them. I felt a myriad of emotions while reading: profound sadness, deep concern, and, ultimately, a sense of joy for the protagonist. This book continues to occur in my thoughts long after finishing it.
Here is my review based on the following aspects:
1. Characters: 5/10 Unfortunately, I could not care much about any character except Arty. I sympathized with his story more than with any other character. Belle is an okay character; her personality gets more robust, but I do not feel any connection to her.
2. Atmosphere: 9/10 The atmosphere was pretty cozy; Belle's space, Arty's mansion, and even the bookshop were giving warm and cozy vibes.
3. Writing: 9/10 The writing was pretty good; I enjoyed it, but I wish the plot was more exciting and the connection to the characters was stronger.
4. Plot: 5/10 Speaking of the plot, it started well and was interesting, but after 1/4 of the book, I started feeling bored, and it was quite hard to enjoy.
5. Intrigue: 5/10 There was some intrigue, but because I had no emotional attachment to any of the characters, the intrigue and mystery were not exciting.
6. Logic: 6/10 I found some romance scenes childish.
7. Enjoyment: 5/10 I definitely enjoyed this book initially, but it was a long read overall. I wish I could enjoy it more.
Here is my review based on the following aspects:
1. Characters : 10/10 Even though there are many characters, each has some unique story you care about. I love Inspector Tibet; he is thoughtful and empathetic but attentive to details and the surroundings. For others, if I read this book once more or when I start another book by Moyes, I would read with a piece of paper and write down the characters; it would help navigate the book.
2. Atmosphere : 10/10 The atmosphere was set up so well that I wanted to go to the Alps and learn how to ski :)
3. Writing : 9/10 As I was reading the book in Russian, it was impossible to judge the writing, but the translation was done well.
4. Plot : 10/10 Plot is indeed engaging, can't comment on it more, otherwise I am going to spoil it.
5. Intrigue : 10/10 As a detective story, the plot was intriguing, with lots conversations to unravel the mystery.
6. Logic : 10/10 The stories made sense to me. I don't ski, so I can't say if the skiing lessons and experience were accurate to reality.
7. Enjoyment : 10/10 I definitely enjoyed this book. Read it fast and could not stop.
I will try to use a CAWPILE rating system to rate this book:
1. Characters: 2/10 There are a lot of characters, but their personalities either have not developed fully or had less time for me to like them. The only character I sympathized with was the Doctor (I forgot his last name). Brady was my favorite at the beginning of the book, but then I just lost interest in him.
2. Atmosphere : 7/10 The tone of the book was sad, but that makes sense because of the events that happened at the beginning of the book (trying not to spoil anything). I liked the description of the mother's house, which aesthetics I liked.
3. Writing : 5/10 As I am not a writer, it is hard to judge, but the book was fast-paced and easy to read, but I did not find the writing style sophisticated.
4. Plot: 4/10 The plot was predictable, to be honest. I knew already at the beginning that the protagonist would overcome her challenges and that all mysteries would become true in some shape or form.
5. Intrigue 7/10 The book kept me interested as I wanted to know how the protagonist will accomplish all her goals. The idea of the life list is all right.
6. Logic 2/10 Sometimes, I could not find logic in the mother's decision, and I had a feeling that the protagonist was falling in love with so many characters, and they were reciprocating. I don't know. The whole appearance of “Prince Charming” and her reaction to him was surprising.
7. Enjoyment 7/10 Generally, I enjoyed reading the book. It took me 100 pages to start sympathizing with the protagonist and feeling some emotions for her. Finally, I like the ending :)
After calculating my score, I can put 3 stars
I enjoyed reading this book; it was deep, sad, and hopeful.
I will also try to use a CAWPILE rating system to rate this book in more detail:
1. Characters: 9/10 I liked mostly all characters; some had more prime time in the book, and some did not, but that's okay. I liked the main protagonist, even though she does not possess the characteristics of the typical hero-protagonist: she is a very anxious teenager fighting her inner demons and trying to adapt to the world, dating and being a good friend, and solving the mystery next door. Her character was written very well. I also liked her relationship with Davis; through him, I could see another side of Aza and her struggles.
2. Atmosphere : 8/10 The mood was set pretty good. When I was reading the book, in my imagination, the colors of the surroundings and atmosphere were dark and dim, but it was caused by the reflection of Aza's inner war.
3. Writing : 10/10 Again, I am not a writer, and judging as a professional, I can't, but I enjoyed the writing style of John Greene. I also read his other books and had already positive expectations about reading this book.
4. Plot : 9/10 The plot was not bad. It could have been a detective story, but it was more focused on the topic of mental illness, Aza's relationship with herself and her friends, and, eventually, the mystery. I prefer to focus more on Aza than solving the mystery, which is a good addition to the plot.
5. Intrigue 9/10 John Greene has glued me to the book, not by cliffhangers but more with Aza's character and her battle.
6. Logic 9/10 Regarding anxiety thoughts and OCD patterns, I think the author delivered the inner monologues that Aza had, pretty realistic and relatable.
7. Enjoyment 10/10 Generally, I enjoyed reading the book a lot :)
After calculating my score, I can put 4 stars
Reading Nicholas Sparks's books is usually never a disappointment. Though, I wish he could experiment with different endings. Well, when I started reading this book, I was already expecting a sad ending. I thought that I would cry at the end of the book, as I usually do for his other books, but this time, I ended up being furious after finishing the book.
First of all, the decision Garett made to seek closure with Katrin on the worst sailing day was, to put it mildly, not the brightest.
And why not just fly (or even call her!) to your girlfriend and win her back, rather than writing a letter (I guess he loves writing letters and putting them in the bottle, I got it) and go on the suicide mission!
I liked Garett initially; I thought he was pretty romantic, but the more I read, the more I found him annoying; he did not respect the time zone differences, and he called Teresa so late at night when she was sleeping. If someone called me at 3 am and told me they missed me, I would be furious. If I were younger reading this book, I would find this romantic, but in my 30s, I see it as not respecting the other person's well-being by disturbing their sleep.
In conclusion, this book was a quick read. It's incredibly easy to get absorbed in, and the author has a knack for keeping your attention. While I wished the characters had shown more maturity, I also understand that it's their flaws that make the story so engaging.
This is so far one of my favorite series from Brandon Sanderson! I wish I learned about the existence of other 3 novellas before starting the Cytonic, but there are so many discussion about the reading order, so I just hope that reading 3 novellas after Cytonic will be fine. Can't say much about the book without spoiling, but I loved reading it, it was definitely different from other books! More adventures, more character development!
I enjoyed reading this book so much. It was such a witty, dark, and weird novel. There were many characters to track and remember, but their stories were complete at the end.
The love story of Master and Margarita was not so satisfying for me because the Master's personality was not my cup of tea. I found him rather whiny and insecure, and I don't think he deserved Margarita and did not reciprocate with her enough.
In general, the novel had many stories that made me laugh or worry for the characters. I liked Bulgakov's writing style, though he used quite a number of old Russian words.
I was hesitant to start this book, as I knew that the series was still ongoing, but I decided to take a risk and explore the world of Rothfuss.
Reading this book is like drinking outstanding wine! The writing style is so beautiful, and the characters have interesting stories, which are not boring for me to explore.
At the beginning of the book, I often felt sad for Kvothe and waited for better times to come. All of Kvothe's adventures were vivid and well-written. I have not yet grasped the complete picture of the Bast and Auri, but there are two more novellas about them, so I need to be patient and read them after I finish the second book in the series.
I loved and hated this book at the same time.
I admire Therese Fowler for her writing style and the story of Fitzeralds. I heard of Scott Fitzerald because of the “The Great Gatsby”, but I did not know much about his wife, Zelda. When I saw this book, I wanted to learn more about her, and was not disappointed.
The hate part was mostly coming from my personal reactions for some toxic aspects of Scott's and Zelda's marriage, which triggered negativity and gave me such a headache. But I liked that the topics of feminism were raised in the book, I was also sad, that Zelda was so close to her personal freedom, but did not reach it at the end.
Also ... I started disliking Hemingway after reading this book, no matter how many times I kept telling myself that it might be just a fiction and we don't know what has happened in the real life.
The second book in the series pleasantly surprised me. I was happy to find that it didn't focus on Jorgen and Spensa's relationship ( I hope it is not a spoiler).
Instead, it introduced me to a new world and new adventures. I could see Spensa's clear development as a cytonic, her understanding of the universe around her, and the human-like development of M-Bot, who is one of my favorite characters in the book so far.
Reading this book felt like a teeny-tiny torture for my brain. What can I say? I did not feel any sympathy or care for any of the characters. The development of Patch and Nora's relationship felt rather fake. Somewhere in the middle of the book, I forgot that Patch is in the picture; he has been disappearing for many chapters.
There were some “detective” questions that the main protagonist felt she must resolve. After going through so many weird and dangerous situations, I did not feel any emotions that the character could feel. I imagined her being super calm and not bothered at all.
The situation with Mrs. Green felt really sped up, and the reason why and who she was told so fast that I did not care. Some parts of the book reminded me of scenes from Twilight, The Little Mermaid ( when Patch was desperate to be a human), and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (regarding the Mrs. Green character).
The worst part is that Nora's origin and why she is what she needs to be explained in more detail, and her thoughts need to be fully explained. Yes, she learned about who she is, but I had an impression that she was not so impressed or did not care.
I don't know; reading this type of book along with Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss was not such a good idea.
I took this book because of the beautiful cover and catchy title. It started well, and I started sympathizing with the protagonist. Still, then something happened in the middle of the book when so many characters were introduced with their dramas and love situations. I was so confused about who was who and more confused about their love stories, which were resolved in such a fast-paced manner that I did not even care if there was a happy ending or not.
As I continued to read, I couldn't help but feel a growing sense of disappointment. The main protagonist, who had initially piqued my interest, seemed to fade into the background, overshadowed by two other protagonists. This sudden shift left me feeling disillusioned, as did the introduction of multiple protagonists and the lackluster portrayal of the villains.
There are a lot of names of people from the high society, that don't resonate with me. I got more interested in reading the book in the middle of it, when the British Royal family was introduced and the timeline has reached the beginning of the WW2.
I couldn't grasp the personality of Lady Diana though, it felt more like a narrative of errands, “went here, visited that, saw him/her”.
But again, I have started reading the second book out of the trilogy, maybe there were more interesting paragraphs about Lady Diana's life before she married an ambassador.
