Hanzy
A hauntingly despairing tale of a family, of a culture, of an era that leaves the reader with desolate, empty feelings. I'm surprised the content/trigger warnings of this book aren't as as emphasised as certain other books, for I feel there is a need for it. The book left me with disgust and loathing for beings that scar the face of humanity.
I absolutely loved this book and it's now on my top 5. It's such a compelling enthralling story with great depths and meanings that I wonder why I'd never read it before. It started at its ending and in a very cyclical way, it ends at the start. The themes, the floral motifs, the picturesque landscapes, the characters, their names, identities, the elements, EVERYTHING is so incredibly well put. It put into perspective how much we miss/ignore in our lives, things that if were to be seen from a third-person perspective, would alarm us. I loved that I could empathise with the narrator yet upon taking a step back, I could also see the bigger picture, the actual truth. I found it to be a work of brilliancy in the way some may take the plot at its face value and enjoy it, while others who delve deeper can identify its complexities and understand better.
I wish I could've taken this in school and had studied it in depth. But then again, I may not have enjoyed it as much as it would've seemed tedious then. I also wish to reread it sometime in the future.
A definite recommendation.
I'd started this book about a year ago and dnf'ed it after about 2 chapters when a kind friend reviewed it for me. Thanks to her, I was well aware to not keep any expectations (which I had sort of started to then).
I restarted my reading of the book and took on a different approach this time. While I knew not to delve too much into the storyline, it did upset me. I enjoyed the writing quite a lot, however. Donna Tartt has the ability to suck the reader in with her writing. I like dark academia and I liked the vibes set in the book. Also, I love everything about languages and it was interesting to see characters switch between languages while communicating and the whole vibe that was set.
But that's about the only few things I did like. I'm confused about rating this one as it's left me with a feeling of incompleteness. A lot of loose threads, a lot of implications that didn't sit right. Abhorrent characters, ‘shocks' that offered no resolution and vague details that serve no purpose.
The first third of the book was enjoyable while the last two thirds felt more like fillers. I get that we sort of have an unreliable narrator but it was still a let down. I would not be recommending this book to anyone unless I'd like to have some fun channeling my inner evil side by tricking them into reading and watching their reactions.
I LOVED this edition of Frankenstein and I find Mary Shelley to have been a genius of a writer to have written this at the age of 19 (she had a baby too around the time which makes it even more incredulous to me).
I really liked how she details in on human emotions and not just the expression of them, rather their reasons as well. Something that stood out to me were instances where education was discussed and I find that even about 200 years ago, a lot of the problems and thoughts concerning education were the same. I found that there was a lot a person could take from this book if they wanted to, or merely read it for the plot and that would do too.
It's a short novel but having a nice audiobook version (one by Cori Samuels) made my experience even better.
Absolutely loved the narration and the way it was written, a fresh approach from the many other ‘seerahs' of the Prophet I've read before.
It started off from before the birth of the Prophet ﷺ and ended with his death detailing in on a lot of aspects of his life and Prophethood. I'm still a bit skeptic about the authenticity of the information however as the writer of this book was a Sufi scholar.
There were bits and pieces that I'd never heard of before but blended so well with the rest of the narrative that it had me questioning my own prior knowledge. It's the only reason why I couldn't give it 5 ⭐️s despite it deserving it very much so. It has also inspired me to do some extensive research to clarify my understanding further.
This novel's a lot shorter and serious toned than Nemrah Ahmed's other novels.
In true Nemrah style, she manages to portray the beautiful relation that can be built with the ‘Mushaf'. I found it to be a unique tale, one that is interesting and meaningful, a reminder of how flimsy and temporal this wordly life is.
A definite recommendation.
It's difficult rating this book.
It took me a while to come out of the world that was created and gather my thoughts up. I'm glad I took some time reading this one. I'm also glad that I've been reading other books so I wasn't as consumed by this book as I would've been otherwise.
I dived into reading it after months of contemplating, reading/watching reviews, spoilers etc. The trigger warnings were intimidating and I for one am not someone who willingly self-inflicts a painful reading experience if that can be helped.
I loved the writing. It made for a hauntingly beautiful experience where I could step into the shoes of the characters, empathise with them, and understand their deepest, darkest thoughts. It was melancholic and there were times where I had to pause and times where I had to divert my mind into something light and cheery. There were times where I felt recognised, moments where I felt understood and although depressing, it felt therapeutic as well in some ways.
Sure there were inconsistencies, irregularities, parts that can be nit-picked upon, parts that went strongly against my beliefs as well, yet... I loved how contrary to what I'd read in reviews, it showed that there can be silver linings to everything, it's the way you choose to view the world. Where at one end you see humans to be the most cruel, despicable creatures, on the other you see the very opposite, the most beautiful, noble creatures. There were parts where I felt overwhelmed with happiness just as much as there were parts that filled me with intense grief. Towards the end I got a shocker despite reading many reviews and I ended up going through the last few chapters really fast and I'm still reeling with its effect on me.
I definitely won't be recommending this book to anyone I personally know. I'd say, read it if it really calls your name as it did for me, and read it only once you've checked all the trigger warnings that come with it as well. It's not a book to be recommended.
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.
I assumed this to be a clichéd YA novel when I first started it (it's become rare for me to read book blurbs.. I've been diving straight into the books that call my name). As the story progressed, I found more character and feelings that could be quite relatable as a millennial going through transitions in life. There is some strangeness and familiarity. The writing style took some time getting used to but was a refreshing change as it incorporated some really interesting emotional expression.
All in all, I don't think I'd be recommending this book to anyone I personally know but I would love to explore more of the author's works.
It's hard giving a rating for the collection as each story made me feel differently.
I sort of hated the first few short stories but going on forth with the rest, I started feeling differently and quite enjoyed some of the tales. These stories are bizarre... more of psychological explorations, experiences and feelings that we can't really put to words but Murakami does just that. I'd say if you're to read this collection, go with a bit of an open approach, not expecting any plot or satisfactory endings. The characters aren't the most likable and there's some apathy, some undistinguished personality trait that seems to be shared by almost all of them. You can't attach yourself to the storyline or the characters, but you see the shades of human nature and at times it may even resonate with you. I wholly dislike his explicitness though and strongly believe the stories could do well without them.
Also, each of these tales seems to have some connection between them which was another point of interest for me personally.
A nice enough read, a wild-goose chase and some immersion into the Italian language and culture (the bit I liked the most)
It's been a while since I've read a book of this sort and having spent most of last year reading books by non-white authors, I can see the stark difference in narratives. It's interesting but I much prefer the value of small, everyday stories and characters.
That said, Italian is going up a little on my list of languages to learn.
An extremely well written memoir.
I was a bit skeptical upon picking this one up as I'd read articles written in praise of the book comparing my beloved hometown with The Handmaid's Tale. Perhaps those were the only bits that didn't sit so right with me. Witnessing some of my own perspectives portrayed through the lens of another became a hard pill for me to swallow. A struggle in itself perhaps, for in my own opinion, I felt parts of the story were a lot more generalised to fit the likes of a western mind than what I have known to be true. However, to each their own unique experience, the writer did a wonderful job of presenting everything that led her to become the person she is today. I loved the latter half of the book with some thought-provoking gems and perspectives that I couldn't help annotate while stopping to ponder for a bit. By the end of the book, my empathetic side took over the judgmental side and I feel extreme gratitude for my own life and circumstances. For while I may share the same background, my life hasn't been as affected by the patriarchal society described.
I really Ogawa's writing. I've also begun to appreciate the slow and simplistic writing style that a lot of books written by East Asian writers seem to have. Of all things, this book made me view Mathematics in a light that I'd never before thought of. It actually made me LIKE Maths and even consider it interesting that, in my opinion, says a lot.
A definite recommendation for preteens, teens and every other young woman who wasn't blessed with parents or a family who'd teach them certain necessities in life.
Nemrah has a way of making the most mundane things seem interesting as she does in this book through it's narration by a familiar character, Haneen Yousuf. Covers some basics of home economics, hygiene, etiquettes, and mannerisms among everything else.
While I may have read Rupi Kaur's ‘poetry' around social media for a while now, it's my first time reading an entire collection. I personally felt they were more of intimate thoughts penned down than actual poetry... but then again, is it possible to confine a free form of expression to certain expectations?
That aside, I'm a bit conflicted rating this poetry collection as although there were some ‘poems' that deeply resonated with me, some others were a bit harder to digest as I wasn't able to connect as much.