dozette

A lot of fun ! Really reads and feels like fanfiction (which is not a diss). I liked this better as a romance than my first Emily Henry. I think because it’s a bit more extravagant and less grounded in reality. Also I actually liked the characters here.

But I could not stand the varied descriptions of Adam as humongous. How big can this man get ? And how petite is Olive ?

Jules Verne is literally my childhood author, and for this end of the year I wanted something extra indulgent and a good dose of escapism.

And I got it ! This is a great adventure novel. The descriptions of the Southern Pampas, the Australian outback and the New Zealand coast are spectacular. Granted, the first part is the better one and the ending drags on a bit too long, and you must not be afraid of the usual "Vernism" of technical details and the really didactic geography lessons.

Not all characters are created equal here : forget about the children, relish in Paganel’s delightful antics (and his bromance with the major)

Since this deals with colonised countries, there is a hefty dose of racially offensive descriptions of the indigenous people of Australia and New Zealand, which even put back in the historical context, are eyebrow raising on more than one occasion.

(I can’t believe I never made the link with The Mysterious Island for all of my reading)

I don’t engage with true crime fiction so this is a genre I am not familiar with. But this was engaging. Morbid curiosity was satisfied with descriptions of the murder, although this are really taxing and difficult to read passages. The tension is present throughout the book and overall, this is extremely well-written.

Some passages about the killers bored me a lot ; I don’t like as much as Capote to warrant not skipping entire passages with letters adressed to them.

I understand now why people love The Watch novels of the Discworld.

This has the most action and mystery than the other Discworld books I’ve read until now. The pacing was great, the mystery well put together and the characters were an absolute delight. Can’t wait for the next one !

I always thought people saying this was the best written book they had ever read were widely exaggerating.

They were not. This is amazing. This has the most haunting stories, quotes and characters out of any other books I’ve read. I do not know what they were feeding this Brontë siblings, but it must have been good. I’m not saying everyone will like this book : the plot is slow, the characters are, more often than not, horrible, violence is seeping everywhere, in all of its forms.

But for me, I loved this creeping unraveling of people’s destiny, I loved reading about the landscape of the moors, trapping its inhabitants, I loved having visceral reactions to the characters’ actions or speeches, and I loved discovering this timeless story.

You said I killed you — haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe — I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always — take any form — drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!