natalie
“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”
this book makes me love philosophy
“That was what magic did. It revealed the heart of who you'd been before life took away your belief in the possible. It gave back the world all lonely children longed for.”❀ 3.5 stars ❀[b:Ninth House 43263680 Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) Leigh Bardugo https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553102141l/43263680.SY75.jpg 53348200] is about Alex Stern, a girl whose ability to see the dead sent her into the world of drugs and disparity from her old life. One night, after an unbelievable event, she finds herself facing a once in a lifetime opportunity, a full ride to Yale. But she is tasked with a serious job, a paranormal one. The occult activities that take place at Yale show the effect of privilege and power, and just how complicated and dangerous the secret world can be. to start off, this was so unbelievably slow i'm surprised i even read it all. if i hadn't been listening to the audiobook, i don't know if i would have gotten through this. in terms of entertainment, i found it neither dull nor revolutionary. despite Leigh Bardugo's talented writing and dedicated research, the plot didn't seem to come together in the way that it was supposed to. with books like this, i expect shocking information throughout the entire novel, however, there was barely anything happening other than Alex trying to find out what happened to Tara and then in the last, maybe 60 pages everything comes together in a plot twist that wasn't even all that good. it was disappointing to say the least. but i do praise the obvious amount of research and information in this book. that can always add extra points.
gave it four stars right after i finished but i read a few reviews that made good points so i bumped it down to three.
i thought this book would focus more on Pickett's disappearance, but it didn't and so now i'm questioning the reason for that plot line... i feel like everything that happened with Aza and Davis could have happened without his dad being missing. same with Aza's acquaintance with Noah. perhaps their dad could just be neglectful rather than literally gone and those conversations and stuff could've still happened.
i saw a lot of people complain about the amount of philosophical details but i personally enjoy that kind of stuff so i wasn't bothered by it.
“This is what you must remember: the ending of one story is just the beginning of another. This has happened before, after all. People die. Old orders pass. New societies are born. When we say “the world has ended,” it's usually a lie, because the planet is just fine. But this is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. For the last time.”
I had a hard time rating this book because while it was enjoyable, I also found myself bored or confused many times. Some parts of the book made me want to rate it four stars, other parts made me want to rate it three stars.
This book is confusing; to me at least. There were a lot of explanations for the world it takes place in, but a lot of other factors that fantasy novels have that made my head hurt; descriptions for example. Usually, a description is easy enough for me to at least make a solid picture of, even if it wasn't necessarily what the author had in mind, but for this book, I could barely form an image. Of course, I'm not blaming the author, it was just how my experience went.
Despite all that, I think the world and the plot are great. Very creative in my opinion, as I haven't seen anything else like it.
Hopefully, the rest of the series satisfies me more.
It's always been fascinating to me how things can be simultaneously true and false, how people can be good and bad all in one, how someone can love you in a way that is beautifully selfless while serving themselves ruthlessly.
i originally gave this five stars but i have changed my rating to four stars sorry hugo stans
“Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer could end in a downpour. Could end in lightning and thunder.”[b:Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe 12000020 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante, #1) Benjamin Alire Sáenz https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328320260l/12000020.SY75.jpg 16964419] is a coming of age story about two Mexican-American teenage boys who are trying to figure out their place in the world. It deals with topics such as friendship, identity, sexuality, and family relationships. The story begins with Dante offering to teach Ari how to swim, and their friendship blossoms from there. Throughout the novel, Dante is constantly teaching Ari about life and changes his perspective on a lot of topics. Ari hates his life but when he meets Dante, his life seems to be more tolerable and his outlook on many things seems to become more positive. At the end of their first summer together, Ari pushed Dante out of the way of an oncoming car and is beaten up badly. Only weeks later, Dante moves to Chicago. This only makes their friendship grow stronger, whether they notice it or not. Both are going through their own problems; Ari with his brother and Dante with his sexuality. The best part about friendship is the ability to go back to normal after not talking for so long, or after dealing with personal problems. Both boys are trying to find themselves in the world. Ari struggles with family issues for a long time before his family finally opens up about why his brother is in prison. He also deals with his closed-off father, who is still scarred from his time in Vietnam. Dante realizes he's into kissing boys instead of girls and is ashamed of himself. Dante gets caught kissing a boy in an alley and is beat up for it. Ari becomes protective and Dante and finds out who is responsible for giving his best friend pain. We find out that Dante is in love with Ari in like the middle of the book...and Ari is still clueless about his sexuality. But when he comes to terms with the fact that he reciprocates those feelings, he also feels a sense of shame – having been in love with his best friend and not realizing it. But when the two fully realize and admit their feelings, the book closes with a happy ending.
“The world is a possibility if only you'll discover it.”
Reading this for school most definitely took the fun out of it, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.
Invisible Man follows an unnamed black narrator who speaks of his invisibility. His invisibility is due to him being a black man in the early 1900's United States.
Throughout the novel, we follow him on his journey to becoming someone, anyone with importance. His identity changes from time to time, from him learning new lessons or becoming involved in certain crowds. He chooses his actions based on what he feels but also based on how the white men around him want him to act.
This book has many lessons and morals to learn from and I truly feel that it is an important book to read.
The main thing I loved about this book was the writing. Ralph Ellison has a way with words and a way of making the book feel natural. The language/prose makes you feel like you are there with the narrator, experiencing what he is experiencing and learning the lessons he learns.
It was hard to get through, though, because of the philosophical take. Many pages were just filled with long paragraphs of the narrator talking about life, invisibility, equality, death, identity, etc. and I found myself bored very often. But in the end, those pages are the ones with the lessons and ideologies we need to be exposed to and learn from.
i suck at ending reviews so bye lol
the three stars are for the second half of the book which was actually entertaining and didn't make me uncomfortable by the unnecessary descriptions for a 16 year old girls boobs that a GROWN MAN wrote.
at first i was like “it's written from the perspective of a teenage boy, of course he'll have those thoughts.” and i really tried to understand that but i was literally so uncomfortable...
i don't see female authors writing about the way a teenage boys penis looks in his pants, do i?
(idk maybe some do but that's weird so stop)
“Money is a game he knew how to play. No, money is a country and he had the keys to the kingdom.”[a:Emily St. John Mandel 2786093 Emily St. John Mandel https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1576606299p2/2786093.jpg] is an amazing writer. She knows how to perfectly execute a plot and create an immersive environment. You can tell she puts a lot of thought and research into her books. The characters were detailed and well thought about, which isn't something I see in many books.Meaning, a lot of book characters are just named and have a certain role in the story but don't really have enough of a personality or backstory to fully like or resonate with them. This was the kind of book that is short and fast, but also incredibly slow. I don't know if it's just because of me, but it took so long to read. I think there was just a lot of information thrown at me about topics I either don't care about or know nothing about. But when the Ponzi scheme was discovered, I was entertained. Characters are the best part of books in my opinion. So when they are detailed and actually have personality, the story is 100x better. Getting the different views of each character was a bit confusing, but I found that most of it played out in the end. The timeline was also something that confused me but I think it was just the switching between views. I loved the use of the phrase “kingdom of money”, because it describes the world perfectly. Emily gave us characters that have been in the kingdom of money for a long time while also giving us characters like Vincent and Mirella who were added later on, who didn't fully understand that side of the world. “What kept her in the kingdom was the previously unimaginable condition of not having to think about money, because that's what money gives you: the freedom to stop thinking about money. If you've never been without, then you won't understand the profundity of this, how absolutely this changes your life.”“...that's when I realized that money was its own country.”One of my favorite parts of this novel wasThe Counterlife.It shows Jonathan struggling with incarceration, so much to the point where his reality seems to deflate around him, and he starts seeing his dead friends or clients. But not only was it Jonathan in this situation but Paul and Vincent as well. “But he sees them gazing into the distance and wonders where they are.”“It isn't his fault that his days are so similar that he keeps sliding into memories, or into the counterlife, although it is troubling that his memories and the counterlife have started blurring together.”There was also the portrayal of the Afterlife when Jonathan and Vincent visited each other in their “hallucinations.” Perhaps that's all it was for Jonathan, but for Vincent...The words “why not” were mentioned many times in this novel. Those two simple words show so much of society. How everyone is willing to do anything because “why not?” as long as it benefits them.I love how the whole plot played out in the end.
anyone who thinks this is a bad book is wrong.
i was entertained for about 80% of this novel. as i was reading the chapters, it felt like i was reading pretty quickly but the book was still fairly slow. i don't remember how many chapters there were but i think there was 50? but it does have 2 point of views.
speaking of pov's, noah's chapters were pretty boring when he wasn't with min and tack because—no offense—he literally has no life and all he ever did was talk about his problems. we literally heard about it in every chapter noah, we no longer care!
tack carried this book, by the way.
Autumn leaves don't fall; they fly. They take their time and wander on this, their only chance to soar. Reflecting sunlight, they swirled and sailed and fluttered on the wind drafts.Now, before I get into it, I saw a few people hating on this book because of Tate and Kya's relationship. Yes, Tate was 19 when Kya was 15. Yes, they almost got intimate with each other. But 1. they didn't and 2. it's part of the story...Rating this book one or two stars because of the “age gap” is honestly reaching. It's part of the plot, it was supposed to happen like that, that doesn't mean the author is glamorizing these types of relationships. Honestly, your guys' performative activism is showing. I understand how weird it is, but you guys like to criticize books because of their social issues and talk about how it shouldn't have been added because it's problematic without realizing it's supposed to be teaching you something or that it's simply for the plot, not because the author believes in those ideologies.Ted Talk = over. [b:Where the Crawdads Sing 36809135 Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582135294l/36809135.SY75.jpg 58589364] is about Kya and her ways of surviving on her own in the marsh. It's a beautiful story with beautiful characters and morals. The writing was simple but still different in its own way. Delia Owens' way of describing the marsh and all of the surrounding nature left me wanting more. Normally, a story with too much information like that would've bored me, but I actually found myself enjoying it. Since I just started getting back into reading in January, I haven't read many books and experienced different characters. But this book made the characters feel real and I actually felt something for them. I experienced what they were feeling in their moments and genuinely felt emotions when things didn't go as planned. SPOILERS UNDER ↓Tate and Kya began their friendship when he taught her how to read. Of course, she didn't trust him at first because she had never really spoken to anyone, but as they grew closer and began bonding over their love and knowledge for the marsh, she began to open her heart up. They spent a lot of time together, mostly him teaching her how to read and gifting her books. But then the both of them began to share special feelings. Tate is unbelievably sweet. He cares a lot about Kya and it shows. But then Tate has to move away to college. Kya is heartbroken. He promises to visit when he has the time. He doesn't. Kya tells herself never to love anyone or trust anyone ever again.And Chase Andrews comes into the picture. To be honest, I don't know why Kya agreed to go on a date with him when she knows he's a jock and a player. But he acts sweet to her and she seems to think that's normal. It isn't. He tries to get with her on their first date. She doesn't want to. Then he asks her for a second chance because he actually likes her and she... believes him. Ok. I'm not going to recite the whole plot because that's boring... Chase and Kya begin a relationship are together for quite a long time. He brings up marriage. She's happy. Then she's sad because all along, Chase was dating someone else and is getting married to that someone else. Kya is heartbroken once again. OMG! And then one day he dies! Oh no... they think she did it. Did she? (Idk because the author didn't make it clear and then she wrote that part but I still don't know if she did it)Blah blah blah court is boring but guess what...A HAPPY ENDING WITH TATE ♡The End.