Hanzy
Maybe I'd expected too much? It's not a bad read but just not what I'd been looking for. My rating's completely subjective to how I felt rather than a reflection of how the book might be.
It's the end that got me then and it's the end that gets me now :((
This was a nice revisit to a familiar world
I honestly don't know how I'd rate this book... certain chapters, especially those that touch on ‘The Centre', the language bits, (sans the whole dark side) felt quite interesting and intriguing. I'd have rated it higher had it not been bad Muslim rep and certain other parts that made me want to rate it as low as 1-star
A beautiful poignant story of a not so selfish ‘Selfish Giant'.
Reading the first few lines took me back onto days of my childhood as I remembered having read this short story before. But the feelings that I most clearly recall makes me wonder how self absorbant and unassuming my young mind must have been. It's true what they say - the older we grow, the more we end up like the villains of the stories we'd read as kids.
This is only my second read of hers but Lisa See has already become one of my favourites. While I'm sure a great deal of research goes into her writing (I mean the author's note with the extensiveness of research and resources used mentioned is proof enough), it's the way she brings these characters alive, the way she captures the essence of humans in her characters, enabling readers to be transported to a different time, a different place. I like how her books allow us to experience the everyday of people so different, so hard to relate to or even understand, yet there's some part of us that can empathise and be grateful for the lives we lead.
This book took me back to 15th/16th C China or the era of the Ming Dynasty, introducing me to the very normalised then, horrendous now, tradition of foot-binding. Much of the book had content that frustrated me and angered me to the core sometimes, yet such was the norm of the times and I believe this book did a great job presenting a perspective that both experiences and witnesses a lot of pain. As someone who is currently interested in alternative medicine, I found all the instances mentioning the practice of healing the body as a whole with herbs and natural sources, identifying temperaments etc. quite interesting
I don't know if I can consider this to be readable by children or whether I'm just an overly sensitive, overly protective adult. Roald Dahl's writing is as magical as ever, easing me into the mind of a younger me, enabling me to enjoy the tale as I would have as a child.
I think I liked it better reading the second time. I remember having difficulty keeping the Ghibli film off my mind when I read it the first time and Howl seemed so much of a disappointment. This time around though, I found that there's more character to Howl than I'd presumed before... Sophie as well is quite interesting and I enjoyed the banter between them. I still think the ending was a bit rushed after the whole build up which is why I wouldn't rate this book a 5 but loved it just the same.
Each time I tried to read, I felt a slump coming on... it just wasn't for me or at least not for me in this particular mood of mine.
While I could connect with the MC's anxiety, her need to plan everything, overthinking and overanalysing, and her spiralling out of control when things go a little awry, I could not help but get annoyed and frustrated by her too. I do admire how she stays true to herself though.
It's a light read
3.5
This book tried too hard to be funny sometimes, but otherwise, it was a cosy enough mystery. Don't expect any huge plot twists, it's all quite easily decipherable yet also a fun read. I guess it's sort of satire on the Regency era?
If you're one to get irked by the discrepancies of an NA writer writing Regency, perhaps don't read this. It might frustrate you.
This book was recommended by a dear friend and while I somewhat had an understanding of the premise, I really did not expect it to go as dark, disturbing, and heavy as it did.
There's a lot to this book, a lot of emotions involved, perspectives explored, and a certain strangeness in the way I could accept and understand the characters decisions and choices yet wishing things to be different. It was an interesting read, I liked the writing, the themes explored, the exploration of certain consequences or effects of past horrors on our current lives, but I did have a hard time getting through the book because of of its majorly dark content. If you're someone who may get triggered definitely check the trigger warnings.
R.F.Kuang did quite well taking a voice that I'm unused to in her writing (sadly, it's the very voice that I find to be super annoying and never like in the books I read). It's a fast read unlike Babel. It's got that gossip-ey maddening tone and the protagonist is clearly unlikeable which are some factors that affect my experience reading a book. I liked that she tackles some deep-seated issues in an unusual way.
3.5
This wasn't as emotionally impacting as ‘Please Look After Mum' but really liked it all the same and could resonate with a lot of the little details
Some books just make sense to you at certain times and with self-help, it seems to be a determining factor on how I often rate them. I've been wanting to live a more ‘present' life and this book does well in motivating me to just notice and sense the world around me better.
3.5?
I really enjoy how immersive Han Kang's writing gets although the plot and storyline of this particular book were a bit hard to get into.
