Freesia
Quite a technical read, but amazing nonetheless. My heart was pounding with every word I read, wonderful conclusion to the series.
Ahhhh! Such a cute little book. Had some wonderful quotes in it, and beautiful illustrations. I didn't understand some parts of it, but I think it's supposed to be that way? Wished it could be longer :(
A quick and easy read! Very insightful during the last 30 odd pages, and amazing last line. Felt quite empty after reading it - which I guess is a good thing ‘cos good books are supposed to make you feel empty once you're done.
Re-read for the third time in Feb 2014: This re-read just made me love the series so much more???????
For most part of the book, I hated Katniss. But the action scenes were great and kept me ruthlessly reading to see what would happen next. I am madly in love with Peeta.
Really loved the character development in this!!!! Kept me at the edge of my seat all of the fricking time.
I was a bit confused at the beginning, and got lost many times along the way but I think it was a very, very clever book. Roth's brain would definitely be a interesting place to visit.
The ending was a bit abrupt to my liking, and I'm a bit puzzled by it, but I have faith everything will be fixed by the last instalment! Can't wait!!!
Plath is one of my favourite poets, and now, one of my favourite novelists. She is a brilliant writer.
The Bell Jar is beautifully written- so many meaningful and thought-provoking quotes. The main character is hilarious and feels like an old friend. An easy read (ignore how long I took quite with it, life got in the way) and will surely be a re-read in the future.
Brilliant visuals and the story was easy to follow. Not much of a comic girl, but it was a fun read.
This book was on my To Read list since it was published, back in 2012. A lot of BookTubers I followed were raving about it and I was eager to see what exactly they were raving about.
Finally, six years later, I got the chance to.
But, backtracking a little first, according to a lecture I attended in university, a certain book by a certain Green author paved the way for ‘sick-lit' to be a genre; I suppose that this book, released only a mere two months after said book, does fall into the same category. Having read both books now, I must say that this one is a much better read, though.
It's more real. There was no sappy life lesson at the end of it, no “inevitable romance between the two main characters”, no magical, exponential personal growth by a fictional teenager. So why read it? Some people questioned the overall message of the book and the whole point of it, saying it was uninspiring, had no meaning, was boring and flat.
I disagree. I don't think that's what the author had in mind while writing this. It's a comedic read that doesn't have fluffy nonsense and doesn't hold back at how crude a young boy's mind can be. It's how awful and ugly life can be, and how sometimes, there isn't a happy ending. And that's okay. We have to be okay when things don't all end up being happily-ever-after, or if tough times don't make tough people. That's life, and that's real.
That's why I like this book so much. It truly isn't like all the others. It doesn't try to be either, which is equally as important.
I watched the movie adaptation a few days ago and while that had some ‘feel-good' elements in it, it wasn't enough to distract me from the message I personally got from the story. The characters are wonderfully flawed and relatable, the plot wasn't overly fictitious, and the pace was just right.
If I had a chance to change the syllabus of that university unit that I took, I would 100% replace the Green book with this one.
Quite difficult to picture and understand what was going on, but it was an exciting read. Got rewarded with a major cliffhanger at the end.
2nd read: 17th Nov 2013
Omg la. Read this in 5 hours flat and got my heart torn into pieces again. Kept crying and I couldn't fall asleep after that - despite it being 3:30 in the morning when I finished. Just so...... omg no words.
1st read: 7th May 2012
Almost got me crying. The only reason I didn't bawl was because I was on the train and yup. Plot was okay, but the style of writing moved me. Favourite quote was on of the the last lines said by Gus: You don't get to chooseif you get hurt in this world, but you do have some say in who hurts you.
Really loved the concept and idea behind this book! And the writing was beautiful and so poetic! But I think I've read too many post-apocalyptic books and could anticipate what would happen :/
For the most part, I really didn't like Lena. Not a good protagonist or role model. But she did grow throughout the book, which was a bit of a saving grace. I'm expecting more action and drama in the second book! Gonna read that now kthxbai
My first Bukowski read!
Was pretty intimidating at first, especially since he writes about the sad plight of writers (what I wanna be) a hell lot. My favourite story was Long Distance Drunk, though most of the stories left me speechless with how brutal and vulgar he is. There was a number of beautiful quotes throughout, but certainly a read that's not for the faint-hearted!
I've said it before and I'll keep on saying it, Sylvia Plath had an incredible and fascinating mind. You could really hear her voice in this, and it was great to read the private, inner musings of a respectable poet/author. She writes beautiful, flowery descriptions of her world, narrates the events of her life, and talks a lot about the difficulties of a creative person. And of a woman in/out of love.
The material was very thought-out, nothing like a “usual” diary entry, which meant it could get heavy at times. Angry Sylvia is my favourite Sylvia.
I read this as an eBook, but would pick up the unabridged copy in a physical book format. I also learnt how to journal better after reading this, so that's a good little bonus.
Chanel is extremely eloquent and a beautiful writer. I have a lot of respect and admiration for her, and will look forward to her future works.
I did have technical issues with the book. This may have been intentional, but things got pedantic in the last few chapters. While I thoroughly enjoyed how she weaved in her memoir, I was not convinced by the events she described which didn't personally happen to her. I get how they affected her, but it came off as too much of a push to align with her views and statements.
She did dot the book with meaningful quotes, which made me stop reading to take a breather - just as much as the traumatic events did. The maturity in her voice is impactful, and I'd consider this to be one of my top reads.
This was the first John Green book I read - back when I was 15 - making this read a re-read. It took a while for me to get into the book, I personally felt the first part a little draggy. But I grew to love Colin, in all his nerdyness, after I got over him being sucha whiney baby. I especially liked the Katherine stories near the end! There were two distinct parts of the book I remembered from the last time I read it: 1) the part where he pointed to his head when Lindsey asked where it hurt and 2) her letter to him. Which probably sums up what this book is about.
This was very difficult for me to read because I wasn't used to the style of writing. In all honesty, what kept me going was the fact that it was recommended by a good friend and I had trust in his taste of books.
Overall, it didn't disappoint me. The ideas presented were beautifully articulated and although I read through chunks of paragraphs that I really didn't pay attention to, the bigger picture was still there and left me thinking about life and death (which is always a favourite topic).
I have always admired Gaiman's writing. I really enjoyed this collection of short stories- especially the idea/execution of using a nursery rhyme and months of the year as characters. His imagination knows no bounds, but somehow the stories feel “familiar” when you read them.
I'm not 100% sure, but I could have chanced upon the stories before (as they have been published elsewhere's) and that could count for the familiarity, but I don't think this is relevant. A good story will always be a good story. However, I do get that some people may feel shortchanged that they didn't get a whole collection of new stories.
That aside, I would recommend this book to not-kids. Some details are particularly graphic and explicit, but otherwise, it is still a great read.
I could not finish this book, hence the 1-star rating.
Russell is highly imaginative and has good ideas. The characters were different and quirky, and I liked how the setting of each short story (that I read) was engaging and kept me wanting more. And that's what I wanted - more - but in a bad, bad way. Overall, the stories always had something lacking.
It felt like Russell found a fool-proof formula on how to write a good short story, so she kept on applying it, and unfortunately, it got old very quickly. I had to put the book down after reading the first four, her author voice became stale and painful to read as I went on.
The fourth story was also disgustingly crude. I could not see myself enjoying the rest of the book.
Would not recommend.
Is something wrong with me? Really didn't expect to take so long to finish this book, on top of not feeling overwhelmed by it. It was a difficult read, my goodness the storyline was way too slow. And I hated almost all the characters. But nice twist at the end, which resulted in my 2 + 1 rating.
I really struggled to see how this was a bestseller. I read up to Chapter 10, but I could not go any further.
The story idea is interesting, I think that's the one thing Gruen had going with this book. Everything else, I did not enjoy: characters were flat, interchangeable, and unlikeable; there was too much dialogue; going back and forth with the setting did not help move the story forward.
What I did read, however, was theatrical. There was a lot going on, I could definitely see it working as a movie, or at the very least, a script. But it did get predictable, and that came down to the writing and storytelling.
Would not recommend.
What an exhausting read! I don't know why I didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. Ole Golly was my favourite character and in a way I sorta hated everyone else. I didn't like the ending either :/ Maybe classics just don't do it for me mehhhh
Andy Weir has made Science Fiction one of my favourite genres.
I took a while to warm up to the main character, but grew to become very fond of her. The world-building is fantastic (as always) and intelligent. In the beginning, I did get the secondary characters confused as I didn't get a sense of their personality as quickly as I would have liked. Some of the science talk went over my head too, but it didn't break the flow of my reading.
The pacing of the book was just right, and it was an enjoyable and easy read. I was always happy to find pockets of time to pick the book up and continue reading.
This is a good book on minimalism, how to get into it, and the benefits from this lifestyle. The writing of the book itself was very Japanese-y, and it made a quick and easy (and sometimes funny!) read.
Some ideas were hard for me to relate to, and it may be because I'm not fully comfortable with the idea of minimalism yet. I also didn't particularly enjoy all the Brand X love. I'm getting there, though, and this book had great tips and pointers which will definitely make the transition easier.
