Giu
Precise rating: 2.5 ⭐
I wasn't necessarily bored reading this book, but it felt very bland and shallow. My opinion on President Snow didn't change and it rather felt like a fanfiction. The characters, including Snow, were pretty stereotypical and boring, which didn't help making the lovestory feel believable.
I liked part 3 more, though, and thought the ending was alright. All in all, I still enjoyed diving back into Collins's universe, I just hoped the book would show more of Snows path to the point where the rebellion around Katniss starts, not just the start of his career. But of course that's my personal expectations and not everyone's expectations can be met.
Precise rating: 4.5 ⭐
Brilliant! From the first to the last page. I know only the basic rules of chess, but Tevis knew how to make words fly off the page and visualise in your head. I'm really happy that I read this one. ♟️
Gave up at 46%.
After weeks and weeks of struggling to make progress, I decided to give up on this book now. It wasn't bad through and through, but it just never took off and the characters were too stereotypical for my taste. But it was a good exercise regarding my Swedish skills!
Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐
Only having read the blurb, I expected this to be a more or less classical haunted-house story. Little did I know that there is a whole Mitchell universe out there that connects several of his books! Since I've read The Bone Clocks before, it was fun looking for connections as soon as I realised they exist.
While I didn't get what I expected (though it was spooky), I absolutely liked what I got instead.
A great short story that adds wonderfully to the developments in The Secret Commonwealth! Also, it made me excited again for the third book of the new trilogy! ✨
I liked how it began, after a while it felt like Nugent didn't get to the point, but, luckily, the last third saved the book's ass and redeemed the two other thirds that, at times, had felt a bit pointless.
I really disliked the last chapter from Daisy's perspective. It felt to me as if Nugent had suddenly forgotten what the book was about and blamed all of the happenings on the psychological condition Luke and Daisy were suffering from. It took away the focus from all the other shit that happened and that had nothing to do with Luke or Daisy. Imo, Daisy had enough issues without whatever Luke had to be damaged for a lifetime. I wish there would've been some sort of one-page monologue from Brian's or Will's perspective how they had ruined their lives by killing their brother, but owed it to Daisy to do everything in their power to make her life worth living yada yada.
I think this book might be a perfect candidate for a reread in a couple years – I think the beginning and middle part will really profit from the reader knowing the ending.
This book I picked, almost at random, in a book store a couple weeks ago. And now I'm so happy I did. I was into it from the start and loved the characters and how calmly it was written. And then the finale came as a complete surprise! I enjoyed almost every minute of this book.
Oh, Russo seems to like the verb to genuflect.
Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐
This book was a big surprise for me. After reading the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke, I realised that I really dislike her writing style. This book though ... it was written so much better! And even though I knew the story already from the movie (that I really love), Funke added just the right amount of extra story to it. Here and there, I was reminded of her bad writing in Inkheart, but at other times, I was touched and even almost cried at the end.
I just couldn't connect to this book. Maybe because I didn't read it when I was a child. All my friends like it because they read or listened to it during their childhood.
A very, very unsettling book! The second part I read in one sitting. It was so tense, it felt impossible to take a break. The ending is pretty insane and it took me a while to digest it. The whole book feels, somehow, metaphorical and straightforward at the same time, leaving you behind confused and disturbed—or at least me!
It was definitely an interesting experience to read this book. To be honest, there wasn't a lot of new information about how to write that I haven't read anywhere else already. But that's not really Lamott's fault, since, in the end, the key to successful writing is to just do it everyday – or bird by bird.
Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐
I really didn't remember a lot from my first reading. This book was toooo long. And less special than I remembered. I liked the characters, but King tried a bit too hard making Wireman this cool dude with the awesome lines.
