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!

The world is getting complex here ! I think the main reason why some reviews are so mixed is the fact that we are not at all in the same postulate as the first book. You have to accept being a little shaken.

This was an incredible addition to the first book. I loved getting to spend some time with Vis again (and this time there is three of him ??? Great !).

I am still mad about Aequa’s death, which I still find pointless ; I understand why that has been done from a writer’s perspective, but I am sure there was another way to do this without taking away on the best and most developed character of this series. Also at the very end, adding Vis’ mother and sister, as well as Callidius ? That takes away some of the stakes, even if I am aware they are iunctii, and not really alive again. We spend some such of the book in the memory of their death, it feels a bit pointless now.

I did not have issues with the pacing. You have three worlds discussed in one book, of course the pace is going to be cut off at some point. I loved the little moments that reminded us of the Synchronicity, that really helped bringing this "multiverse" together.

We are really upping the violence, the grim and the gore in this one : the world is getting bleaker and bleaker. But I like those almost impossible odds. Like sure, let’s go kill a god. I’m on board. Can’t wait for book 3 !

I fricking called it dude.

Started having my doubts around the 2/3rds of the novel, when we started having more details on everyone, and nothing matched. Except…well except if the story was not properly told. I love an unreliable narrator.

I had only read Murder on the Orient Express and Then They Were None before : I knew to expect something of a twist. Even so, it was beautifully executed. The middle half was a tiny bit more of a drag for me, but what a payoff. The three last chapters are so tense and Christie’s use of tension is so masterful.

Poirot is such a little freak, I love him. Yes Belgian man, show these Englishpersons what it’s like to speak French and rock a sublime mustache. Also, some of the prose was really funny. A lot of the prose about Caroline was at her expense, but the sarcastics and dry quips of Sheppard were delightful.

Hello to my first Emily Henry !

This is also my first contemporary romance novel. Now, I am not used to books where the romantic relationship is so much at the forefront, and that could explain my lukewarm reaction to this book. It took me too long of a time to connect and sympathise with any of the characters. The saver was the relationships between friends and family. I found the theme of friendships distorting themselves over time, and complicated relations with your parents and sister relatable, and that’s what got me the most. I don’t feel like this book has much more to go on though.

Maybe I’ll give Henry another shot. The second half was much better than the first, so I’m not closing the door on her.

Because of it’s subject matter, this book is an extremely frustrating read. You are as powerless as Uju facing her situation. The pacing was nice, stretching accross multiple decades, but the ending was just a bit rushed,

It also made so so angry, almost tearing up because of anger. The book juxtaposes well the violence of the creation of a state in a post-colonial and the societal violences that women have to bear. It brushes a lot of themes, making for a clear snapshot of the Nigeria of the second half of the 20th century.

Obianuju was a compelling character. Her struggles, her hopeleness, her tranformation into a subdued human being were very believable. I wish we’d seen more interactions between her and her daughters, as this a core theme of the book.

All in all, it was a difficult, but compelling read.

Wonderful prose. A great book about building relationships with others, trust and loneliness. A great ode to nature also ! When I saw that the author was zoologist, I was a bit afraid that she would go a bit Vernes-like, but no; she paints a beautiful background for our characters to evolve in. The marsh really came to life in front of my eyes as I was reading it.

The trial part was less compelling for me, but still installs a good mystery in an otherwise emotional and poetic work.

First of all, I had high expectations for this book and I was not disappointed ! The world-building is intriguing, with a complex, but well utilised, power-system. The standout of this book are the action scenes : as soon as you sense one beginning, you know you are on for a ride. The last 150 pages are fast-paced, gut-wrenching action and impossible to put down, leaving you on an exceptionally high note.

I will say though, the writing can sometimes be a bit clunky. The banter between the characters is somewhat enjoyable, but feels a bit forced. The dialogue are not always natural, and I sensed a lot of repetitions in the vocabulary (take a shot everytime you read lest).

The characters are enjoyable, but some still felt a bit underdevelopped. And I love Vin with all my heart, but she still suffers from the being the best at everything despite so little training, she is wonderful, how does she do it. Oh well, that???s not her fault. 

Overall, a far from perfect, but very enjoyable read for all fantasy lovers. I am very eager to check out the rest of this trilogy.

Bittersweet, with beautiful relationships between the characters, especially the mother-daughter ones

First book si ce my adolescence that I???ve read in one day if that tells you anything.
An uplifting but emotionally draining read which tackles some really heavy themes; the characters are the main stars here, you never seem to get enough of each of them.

The beginning can be tough, as you have to be comfortabke with disliking the main character, but her growth is worth the original discomfort.

The plot and the mystery were engaging, with some very rewarding action beats, but I found the dynamic between Holmes and Watson to be lacking (no ???my dear Watson??? ???). The pacing also was somewhat clunky, going very far over some passages and sometimes even glossing over some events I would have liked to read about.
Overall, it was a fun read, and I enjoy engaging in McBird???s view of the Sherlock Holmes myth, but I probably won???t be reading any other from her series

I just don???t think it was for me. And maybe I did not read it at the right time.

I guess I???m just teally squeamish.
The climax was really well executed but the rest of the book did not really do it for me

Definitely weaker than its predecessor, but still a fun read

First Discworld novel babyyyy

I loved the writing, the humor, the characters, the world.
Will be reading a lot of Terry Pratchett in the following months I fear