Lau
Challenge: Read a book from your childhood
An abosolutly brilliant performance by Kate Winslet. Even if you have read book or seen the movie before, I highly recommend this version as Winslet was a delight to listen to. She not only made changes while narrating to create suspense or show fear or surprise, she also made different voices (and sometimes accents) for all the different charaters.
I enjoy the story as always (the hair incident had me in stitches). Crazy, funny and unbelieave as Dahl is known for but, and I can't stress this enough, the audiobook version made for a much more entertaining and wonderful experience.
Challenge: Read a book set somewhere you always wanted to visit
I really liked the beginning of this book. I laughed a lot with Don's comments and observations and I thought it was quite interesting to read a romantic story from the man's point of view.
That being said, I had to force myself to finish it. By the time Rosie was introduced and her whole story arc was presented with the Father Project, I had lost my interest. None of the jokes seemed funny to me anymore, half of the characters annoyed me SO MUCH and the situations they got themselves into seemed silly to say the least.
Chick lit and romantic novels are always quite impossible to believe but I just could not see how this pair could actually fall in love. They had NOTHING in common; their personalities just didn't match, so much so that Don had to change his entire behavior in order for Rosie to end up with him. I think that was my biggest issue with it. The author went to great lengths to make the reader like Don and sympathize with him, just to make him change most of himself and force him to fit in.
After the first pages, I expected a lot but my expectations were not met.
Challenge: Read a book set in a different country
This was my creepy/scary read for October and it was quite creepy at first.
I think it is very atmospheric and one could not help but feeling a bit creeped out by the setting and the surroundings. That could be said for the beginning of the story. After a few chapters, the same structure and the same events would repeat over and over, losing the effect it had created. The story was very predictable but the writing made it quite interesting.
I had a lot of problems with the characters and the way they were portrayed. The author made the same negative comments as regards Eliza's appearance every paragraph or so, which I found both annoying and repetitive.
I also could not buy Eliza's motivation for wanting to protect the children at any cost. I understand that they were little and alone but her appreciation for them began THE MOMENT she saw them. This could very well be the equivalent of instalove in chick lit novels.
This book looked as if it was going to be a great spooky, sort of thriller novel, only to fall quite short as the story progressed.
SO.GOOD
Not only did the author capture L's personality and mannerism really well but the story was also very engaging. I started reading before bed and before I knew, I was half way through it.
I was so happy to find that Naomi was one of the main characters and worked alongside L in this case. She was briefly present in the anime but I absolutely loved her and was left wanting more by the time she was out of the story. I did have some issues with her, though. The fact that she was supposed to have a great deductive mind but came to most of the conclusions with the aid of the other detective bothered me to no end later we find out that she was being manipulated by said detective but it still bothered me.
Also, I really REALLY liked M as a narrator. He kept making references to things from the anime as well as his upbringing under the influence of L's brilliance, which made the story more interesting.
Finally, the case itself was quite interesting. All the twists and turns on the mystery and the clues were something I had never read before. Also, I did NOT see coming the twist at the end. I love when books do that.
Challenge: Read a popular author's first book
I can't be that objective because Victory Schwab is my second favourite author... I'll try my best to make a good review but I suggest reading Misty's because she basically says everything I think in a wonderful way.
The Near Witch is very magical and creepy at times. I love that she used the wind so much because that's one of the things that creeps me out the most.
Also, the characters were very interesting. I LOVED Cole. Victoria does it again, she's the best at creating dreamy fictional boys! He was amazing and sweet and mysterious <33
I had a few issues with Lexi, though. I can understand where she was coming from, and she IS a teenager so you can expect her to be mature and reasonable all the time.
I also enjoyed reading about the witches and all the stories surrounding them.
The downside is that I've now run out of Victoria's book to read until March when I will hopefully get A Gathering of Shadows...
LOVED IT!
I haven't watched any of the episodes of the Second Doctor, so I didn't know what to expect but I really liked him.
As I have no knowledge of this Doctor I cannot say if book!Doctor was true to TV!Doctor but I thought Scott's narration was very engaging and he included several phrases that I'm sure must have been typical of this Doctor.
Speaking of Scott, I really appreciate how he wrote the different scenes as if it was an episode of the show. We follow what the Doctor and Jamie are doing as well as what is happening elsewhere and will eventually have an effect on the characters.
I really really enjoyed the dynamic between the Doctor and Jamie. I loved that he was a Scottsman (how can I resist?) and more importantly, that the companion was not, in some level or another, in love with the Doctor.
Challenge: Read a classic Read a book by an author you've never read before
This book was OK.
The concept of Neverland was interesting but it wasn't developed enough, in my opinion. I liked Barrie's comments for the most part, as it seemed he was actually with me while reading. However, towards the end, his comments began to be not only annoying but completely unnecessary since he started spoiling the several details of the conclusion of the story
My main concern was Peter, actually. I found Peter to be very annoying and selfish, which made me not want to root for him and justify Hook's anger towards him a bit. There were no redeeming features in him that justified the obsession the girls and the lost boys had with him. I also hated that he forgot everything that had happened to him, especially the fact that he forgot Tinker Bell, who saved his life several times.
I was expecting more, as it is considered one of the most beloved children's stories.