Nikki
A satisfying conclusion to a great YA series that covers the subject of sexual assault well. Although I don't enjoy this as much as the first two books as I found it a tad too long in some parts, I like the conclusion that the author gave to all these characters, specifically Lei and Wren. If there is anything that could've made the series better would be if the magic system was explained a little more as I found that it didn't play as large of a part of the story as I thought it would've.
Overall though, I enjoyed the trilogy and I think if you've read as far as the second book, you've got to read this.
I've finally read A Little Life, and I unexpectedly liked it. I went into the book knowing that some readers had described the book as ‘torture porn' and not something that they would recommend anyone to read, especially those who can get triggered by certain events in the story. While I somewhat agree with the latter, I think that calling this book ‘torture porn' is farfetched.
I went into the book with only a few main points: that it's a book about 4 friends and one of them self-harms. That was essentially all I knew about, and 50-100 pages in, it was different from what I had expected. It read like a regular contemporary novel, going into the lives of each of these friends with different POVs but as the story progresses, you realize it's not going where you expected it to. Our main character, and one of the main POVs we read from, Jude, is the most self-aware mentally unstable person I have ever seen in any story. Period. It was extremely easy to empathize with him, but it was also painful to see how he repeated his cycle of self-harm, self-sabotage, and seeing his thought process during those times.
Although the book is popular because of its seemingly never-ending list of trigger warnings (do read up on that if you're planning on reading it), there were so many beautiful moments that I think should be mentioned a lot more in reviews of the book. The small and big acts of love that we're constantly shown from the people around Jude in his adulthood were the parts that made me tear up, their understanding and the kindness they show despite Jude's constant objections towards them warmed my heart. Every character, Willem, Harold, JB, Malcolm, Andy and even the ones that don't appear on paper as much such as Julia, Lucien, and Richard had a purpose and they never felt inconsequential.
In terms of the setting, it feels intentional that the author did not include many clues on when the story happened, except that it happened in the era where computers and phones are used. I suppose that this might be intended to further turn the focus of the readers towards the characters themselves instead of distracting us from them.
For a 700 paged contemporary novel, I flew through the book incredibly quickly for my standards. I had to just go on and see where the author would bring Jude and how she divulges his childhood. I honestly expected to cry a lot more, but I didn't really at the end. The scenes where he self-harms, or the descriptions of the abuse he had to endure throughout his life made me uncomfortable but it wasn't tear-inducing like I thought it would've been. To each their own though! All in all, I liked this book. I liked how the author didn't give Jude the ending that we, the readers would've wanted, and instead of giving him the ending that is true to his character. My favourite part of the story is definitely the portrayal of the friendships that went on in Jude's life. How each of them would do these small acts of kindness for Jude, without him knowing. A quote that I particularly love from the book relating to friendship, which might or might not convince you about Yanagihara's writing:
Lately, he had been wondering if codependence was such a bad thing. He took pleasure in his friendships, and it didn't hurt anyone, so who cared if it was codependent or not? And anyway, how was a friendship any more codependent than a relationship? Why was it admirable when you were twenty-seven but creepy when you were thirty-seven? Why wasn't friendship as good as a relationship? Why wasn't it even better? It was two people who remained together, day after day, bound not by sex or physical attraction or money or children or property, but only by the shared agreement to keep going, the mutual dedication to a union that could never be codified. Friendship was witnessing another's slow drip of miseries, and long bouts of boredom, and occasional triumphs. It was feeling honoured by the privilege of getting to be present for another person's most dismal moments, and knowing that you could be dismal around him in return.
I don't think I will ever be rereading this but I certainly won't be forgetting it anytime soon. Again, if you're planning to read this or recommend it to someone else, check the trigger warnings!
Fast-paced and great return to the city of Tevanne. A nice reveal of the antagonist of the series, and I like how by the end of it the author gets the readers guessing who is actually the true villain. Although I preferred the first book, I think the expansion of the world here makes a compelling read and the magic system is still as cool as I remembered it to be. I gotta say though, the part where they scrived Sancia, Berenice, Orso, and Gregor was unexpected, in a good way. Clef is back and a big reveal about his identity caught me by surprise but for some reason, his personality didn't shine through for me as much as it did before. Small nitpick and that could've just been me though. I have no idea how the author is going to end the series in the next book but I have faith that it'll be great!
Reread 23/12/21: Read this again after a year and I'm bumping this up from 4 stars to 5 stars just because I think I appreciate this even more now after reading the sequel. Great world and Mahit is such a wonderful and complex character to read from. Kudos to the audiobook narrator as well, though I would recommend your first read of this book to be the text edition (the different terms and all would translate better in that format). Will definitely read this again in the future.
Original review:
Loved the writing style and the worldbuilding. It's very political and that should be known before reading as there is a lot of info-dumps throughout the book but it's done so well I can't criticize the book for it either. I like the incorporation of poems and messages at the beginning of each chapter and how they all sort of piece together into the bigger picture. This is a book that definitely warrants a reread because I am sure I missed out on some stuff.
I would compare this with The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson which I read recently but didn't enjoy as much as this. This is set in a much lighter tone even though I believe the entire scope of AMCE is larger. Also, the romance in here is not front-and-center as it's subtle but I like what we got at the end.
It's a dense read for sure and requires attention and I found myself rereading lines just to make sure I understood what was going on because I do occasionally feel lost with all the different names and references made. The glossary is incredibly useful though and should definitely be used! Overall this was a good read but it definitely took some time to get used to the long paragraphs the author often uses here. Might come back to read this again in the future!
I've been wanting to try out Le Guin's books for some time now, and I finally got to it! I'm glad that I had settled for TLHoD as an introduction to her writing because I had a good time with this. A world where the usual gender norms do not apply and a wintry setting with interesting conversations between the characters in this world is just something I was in the mood for when I read it.
The first half of the book piqued my interest with the unveiling of the world, the casual uses of terms like kemmering or shifgrethor which is very fascinating. I also like the religious factions that are present in Gethen, and how they differ from each other in different nations.
To be an atheist is to maintain God. His existence or his nonexistence, it amounts to much the same, on the plane of proof. Thus proof is a word not often used among the Handdarata, who have chosen not to treat God as a fact, subject either to proof or to belief: and they have broken the circle, and go free.
The second half of the book definitely increased in pace and I especially enjoyed the scenes we've got of Genly Ai and Estraven's odd friendship. I find the entire premise of their relationship starting out with distrust and them slowly warming up to each other due to circumstances quite heart-warming. Estraven's death was definitely not something I saw coming.
I mostly enjoyed this book for the most part, though I would say that Genly Ai's character wasn't one that I was quite fond of, even when he is the main character (though I understand they don't always have to be), I honestly didn't find his personality very interesting to read from. However, I think some of the side characters' stories, even minor ones were quite interesting to read about, and I would've loved to read more of their perspectives of things. Still, this book definitely deserves its high rating here on Goodreads. The book was written what, more than 50 years ago, and it honestly feels like it could've been published this year and I would've believed it. Will definitely be reading more of the author's work!
3.5⭐
When I read Normal People, I thought it might've been overhyped, probable since the TV show was everywhere for a period of time. I liked that one for the characters, they were realistic, and Rooney has an interesting way of writing which I can't describe but it's able to keep my attention even when really, nothing much happens in this book. In terms of characters, I'm going to say that I didn't enjoy them as much as I did in NP but reading from these flawed perspectives had made me think that maybe I'm not someone who needs to love the characters to enjoy the book itself.
The plot of the story is there, but it's definitely not the core of the book. It's there but this is for sure a more character-study type book. I especially like the back-and-forth conversations Alice and Eileen has over email. There were a lot of issues all the characters had and very much true to life, I don't think much of them got resolved by the end of it.
I had a fun time reading this! I had read Five Feet Apart some time ago and I had no idea that the author had written anything besides that and it was exciting to pick up another book she's written. I like how the story unfolds, how Emily is introduced to the readers when she was struggling with the death of her mother. The slow acceptance she experiences throughout the book is touching and I love how the ‘Lucky List' played the part as a bridge between her and her mother and it's a really cool concept that I think was well executed, with the number of pages this book has, which isn't that long at all.
The romance plays quite a central role as well in the book, we see Emily torn between her ex-boyfriend and her childhood friend Blake, and how she deals with this issue at hand. I think the story does seem to be pretty optimistic when it came to how everyone dealt with sexuality but it was sweet to see that in a story like this.
Overall, I had a good time reading this. It was super easy to fly through, I enjoyed reading from Emily's perspective and she is written very much like her age. Looking forward to reading more stuff from this author!
Looking for another queer dark academia? A Lesson in Vengeance has been on my list of to read books ever since I saw it on my Twitter feed and I'm glad it lived up to it's expectations.
The characters here are intriguing, particularly Felicity. The unreliable narration of her adds to the mystery and I really liked how the story unfolds itself at the end. The pacing was a bit slow but I think that's quite normal for this specific genre?
Overall a great read and I didn't expect to go through it as quick as I did!
One of my most anticipated fantasy releases this year and I really enjoyed it. It is definitely worth all the hype that has been surrounding the book these past couple of months. I can't confirm how accurate The Song of Achilles is as a direct comparison considering I haven't read that yet but I can totally see the Mulan comparisons here. However, I think that the story does have some parallels with The Poppy War series which I really liked.
We mainly follow two characters, Zhu and Ouyang. Zhu, a female monk who was never destined to be a monk at all, subverts fate itself for the means of her survival. The first quarter or so of the book follows her journey in becoming a monk which was fun to read. I loved how the author connects these two characters, Zhu and Ouyang from seemingly nothing to the center-point of the story. Zhu's initial obsession with Ouyang's physical appearance which slowly developed her own identity is fascinating. Ouyang on the other hand, a revengeful and self-deprecating general on the opposite side explores gender identity as well and what it means to be serving those who murdered your family.
Overall, the plot was excellent. I liked how it progressed from Zhu's childhood to her adulthood and the whole subverting her own ‘fate' trope here. It felt empowering to see that through her eyes, even if the means to get up to the point isn't very beautiful. However, I think the romances going on in this book weren't as captivating as I thought it would've but that's just a small part of it and fairly nit-picky. Aside from that though, there's not much I could complain about. Can't wait for the sequel!
Watched all 3 of the Hobbit movies some time ago (though I somehow forgot most of it) and finally decided to read the book. I can see why it's such a classic, I think the world that Tolkien has crafted is just beautiful. His descriptions + the movie's beautiful scenes make the book easy to picture and the language he writes the story in is simple and easy to fly through (I think this changes in the subsequent books though).
What I didn't expect is that the story was as lighthearted and funny as it was, though I should've known since this is a children's book. I liked Bilbo and his companions, and the song breaks are actually pretty fun to read. What I didn't like as much is that some parts of the story seem to a tad too short and just rushed through, especially at the end.
Overall though, it's a fun adventure story that I can see myself rereading. Onwards to TLOTR series!
I tried reading this book earlier several months ago, reading a few pages before deciding that its prose and the tone weren't cut out for me at that time. Reading this right now, I'm glad I didn't decide to put it on hold indefinitely. The book flows really beautifully, from the start till the end. I initially thought it was a memoir because throughout the book it felt like a really honest and raw story (which might actually be the case) but I was surprised that it was listed as fiction here.
When does a war end? When can I say your name and have it mean only your name and not what you left behind?
I love how the book is addressed specifically to this one person, Little Dog's mother. It adds a whole other layer and it's also my first time reading an entire story, written specifically for 1 person. We read through Little Dog's experiences, from his childhood to his adulthood, with prose so ‘intentional', a reread is a must in the future.
This was a stunning read, its as good as a debut novel can be and I'm excited to see what Vuong comes up with in the future.
Fun essay collection with a whole range of different topics that John Green finds interesting enough to share with us all. I had an enjoyable time learning about them, if I had to choose one it would be the essay on Monopoly. In most of the essays, John relates the topic at hand with his own experiences with that said topic, making the book not too dry to read. I wouldn't mind reading a whole other collection of essays from him, he makes some regular mundane stuff to be quite compelling to read. I give John Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed 4 stars! ;)
This was really good! I was a tad bit afraid that I wouldn't like it as much considering some of the mixed reviews I've been seeing here but the book fulfilled all my expectations.
This book at its core is a romance story. I think if you're not up for reading that, this is probably not something you'll enjoy as much. With that being said, when it comes to worldbuilding, I was entertained enough to want to find out more about the outcomes of everything (trying to keep it spoiler-free here, sorry!) but I do think some of the plot points are fairly predictable. The strength of the book is definitely its characters. I really think the author executed the alternating POVs of Eris and Sona really well and I enjoyed reading from both of their perspectives, equally. They were easily distinguished from one another and I'm a sucker for the ‘morally grey but not really' type of trope that was going on with Sona.
I'm very excited to see how the sequel plays out, it will definitely be one of my most anticipated books for the coming year! That ending was one big-ass cliffhanger... /That ending was one big-ass cliffhanger... /
I liked the original version of The Great Gatsby, mainly for the reason that it was beautifully written. This retelling/rework of the classic maintains that and I think improves as well with several changes. It's interesting to see the story unfold through the eyes of Jordan Baker, the seemingly unimportant character in the original, and her showing herself to not be who she seems to be. I love how queer the characters are, how Baker interacts with others while in a tumult with herself regarding her identity as an Asian woman.
If I have any criticisms for the book though, I think the magic system didn't play out as important as it seemed to be when first introduced. I like the concept of the paper-cutting but it didn't serve that much purpose to the story.
Overall, this is a great retelling and is really close to the original plot-wise. I'm sure those who didn't read the original will also be able to enjoy this one.
Insightful and though it centers discussions from the author mainly about Kid A, he dives into essentially every Radiohead album + side projects starting from Pablo Honey. I do agree with the other reviewers though, this book does read like a blogpost. I listened to it on audiobook so it felt more like a podcast instead but I can imagine that I wouldn't have liked it as much if I read the paperback.
One Last Stop is one of my most anticipated romance novels of 2021 and it is just as good as I expected it to be. I listened to McQuiston's debut, Red, White & Royal Blue earlier this year and thought that it was an enjoyable read.
I really enjoyed the characters here, it's definitely one of the book's strongest points. The friendship between August, Niko, Myra, Wes, Isaiah, and Jane is so wholesome to read and it's always nice to see well-written platonic relationships in literature. The romance is excellent. The relationship between August and Jane had so much built-up from the start and had me wanting to read more just to see where it goes.
The time-traveling aspect is interesting but nothing too out of the ordinary. It's definitely more of a contemporary romance than sci-fi with romance in it. Though I do like all the references that are made by Jane, especially the music ones. I can't name another book that I read recently that name drops Pet Sounds (great album btw if you like Fleet Foxes adjacent music).
Overall, this was just an absolute delight to read and I'm placing my bets that it'll win or at the very least get nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards this year. If you enjoyed RW & RB, this is something that you'll probably like as well.
The Secret History was an interesting read. I'm extremely late to the hype but it seems that this book is one of the reasons why the term ‘Dark academia' is being used a lot now. When I tried reading this last year, I found it mundane and truthfully, pretentiously written. I stopped reading it and decided to just DNF it and completely forgot about the book. Fast forward to just a couple of weeks ago, with lockdown happening again where I live and also not having to deal with any exams, I decided to give it another go.
The character work in this book is definitely my favorite part of it. Tartt's ability to unveil the curtain so slowly to the ‘real' truth of these characters from the very start to end is startling. I love how the book starts with essentially, the end of the story. A murder. That's a great way to keep the readers engaged. What kept me going, despite how slow the story moves, because it is SLOW. The pacing is probably one of my least favorite things about this. On the other hand, this made me feel more connected to the characters, so I suppose you should take that with a pinch of salt.
I enjoyed this for the most part, though I wouldn't call it a pageturner. If you like murder mysteries and character-centered stories, this is probably something you'll be interested in.
One of my most anticipated releases this year and it did not disappoint! I thoroughly enjoyed Smyth's debut last year and this is no exception. I found the story as compelling and fun as the previous book and something about the writing style makes me want to just read the entire thing in one go. Sleep didn't permit that though.
The characters here are great. Aideen is a funny main character and she has a heart of gold, despite having constant pessimistic thoughts about herself throughout. Maebh comes off as an arrogant love interest, but we learn that she is well, not who she appears to be. The theme of friendship and how a relationship can turn sour without each other knowing it is also present here. Although we don't get to read much about them, the side characters, Kavi, Angela, Orla, and Dylan, are great additions to the story. The romance isn't as emphasized as much as in The Falling in Love Montage but the build-up that we had is really cute.
Overall, I had a great time reading this and I'll probably come back to it again soon. It feels like it'll make a nice comfort book or a book to overcome a slump.
Tad long but justified by how well Steinbeck fleshes out the characters here. It's definitely one of the best books I've seen when it comes to handling many characters at once. The ending was also wonderful and very satisfying. Also probably has my favorite quote in a contemporary. Short but sweet.
And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.
Great read and pretty digestible writing style which I didn't expect. I alternated between the ebook and audiobook so that helped me with the length of the book. Still, it's an excellent book and feels like a comfort story.
Filled with great ideas and managed to keep my attention when I tried the audiobook out. Hank's prose is straightforward and at times, April's character, particularly her humor, feels a lot like Hank in his Tik Tok videos. Somewhat of speculative fiction, I think the book shines when it comes to showing how fame can impact someone and alter their entire life. We go through that journey with April and her friends and it feels somewhat like a character study at times too. The plot is there but I think it isn't as forefront as it could've been. With all that being said though, I did particularly enjoy the last third of the book. The pacing picked up quickly there and surprised me with the ending for sure. It ends in quite a cliffhanger but at least the next book is out already?
I'll like to start the review by saying that as a Malaysian-Chinese myself who is somewhat aware of the ‘fantasy' elements of this story, it actually doesn't come across as fantastical to me. From the way, the author writes about the superstitions, mediums, gods, and Datuk Kongs, it's an incredibly believable tale. I would probably believe that something similar to this might've happened to someone if another person had told me it.
Aside from that, I very much enjoyed how Cho has included the full Malaysian-English (Manglish) experience here. The dialogue reflects how most Malaysians speak very well.
“IC also you don't know? It's a card. Got your photo, your name, address all that. If you're a citizen you have. America don't have meh?”
The inclusion of references that might only make sense to locals such as food references like Nasi Lemak, Ba Pia (chicken biscuits), and Hup Seng Crackers (a local brand of saltines) adds up to the immersiveness of the story as well.
“She don't want to see, don't want to know. I told Ah Ma, what do you expect? She's educated. You think she wants to be involved in this not-three not-four business? Cannot say she's wrong also.”
I love that the author does not shy away from including phrases like ‘not-three not-four' (不三不四/bo sa bo xi), a common phrase used by Mandarin or Hokkien speakers here. I've never actually seen a book that doesn't include an explanation/footnote/glossary of some sort but I suppose a simple Google search will remedy that easily?
The characters are written well too, especially when it comes to Jessamyn and her Ah Ma. The book also shines when it came to how Cho handles the topic of ‘filial piety, something that is very common in most Asian families. This is reflected and intersects with Jessamyn's identity and how she is reluctant to come out to her family because of the ‘shame' it would cause.
If there are any criticisms I would give, it would be that I think the relationship between Jessamyn and her long-distance girlfriend wasn't paid enough attention to. Apart from several short conversations that they had, there wasn't much that was built upon it. Though I do understand that their relationship isn't at the forefront of the story, so take that with a pinch of salt.
Overall, I had an excellent time with this book. The only other book that comes close to providing a similar experience would be The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf, another great story set in Malaysia though it's more of historical fiction than fantasy. I will definitely recommend Black Water Sister to anyone who is interested in reading more about Malaysian culture that doesn't compromise itself to appeal to an international audience.
Immersive and beautiful written historical fiction centered on the Vietnam war. The narrator of the story remains mysterious throughout but slowly unveils his identity and personality through very well thought out dialogue and internal monologues. Several moments in the book stood out to me, but the one that did that the most were when the narrator travels to the Philippines to assist on the movie project he was hired for. Additionally, I found the whole thing with the narrator having a dilemma of his own identity, being Vietnamese, and educated by the Americans especially relatable.
I don't usually read historical fiction but this didn't feel too long and the audiobook narrator is an excellent choice by the publisher. Overall, it is a great read, and I might just pick up the sequel, even if the ending seems like a good one already.