Laelia

I truly enjoyed this book!! It feels a bit like a short story collection, since every chapter focuses on something and someone in particular, but I had a really nice time getting to know all the characters individually and I just really love the writing!! Not a lot going on plot wise though.

This book was not really for me... I liked the plot but I had a hard time connecting with the story and the writing. It was too slow for me and the time jumps really confused me. I did like how it ended though, at least how everything was revealed and explained!

I enjoyed reading this novel, but I wasn't as invested in the story and the characters in the end as I was in the beginning.

3.5
I enjoyed Sally Rooney's writing in this novel a lot more than in her other books but the story and the characters were not for me. I found them unlikeable most of the time and all the things they talked about and how they talked about them really didn't do it for me. There were some parts that I really loved, so it's quite unfortunate..

This novel quite entertaining, although at times it became a bit of a chore to read. Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this. As usual, Jane Austen's writing is great and I really enjoyed what she has done in this novel.

I highly recommend checking out the trigger/content warnings for this book. Frankly, the descriptions in this book were too graphic for me, making me uncomfortable and with the disjointed narrative, it confused me a lot, as I tend to struggle with narratives that jump back and forth in time.
I enjoyed reading some parts, especially since it addresses certain things and problems of their society. I didn't find any of the characters likeable but interesting enough to read about them, so it wasn't too bad, but the writing really wasn't for me.

This book was okay, I found it a bit boring and lost interest whenever Poirot is not the focus of the story because I like him and his interactions with the characters...

This book is such a good read! I am sadly not too interested in the parts about chemistry or trying to understand it but I loved how Levi connected the elements with life, making analogies.
I love the writing though, the stories about WWII are so sad and tragic at times, pulling at my heartstrings. Most of the time the chapters/stories were a bit too short for me, I always need some time to get attached and this book barely gave me the chance to do so.

There's something about the atmosphere and the mood in this book that is so unique – it's set in Tokyo after dark, when most people would be asleep and at home, but the few that are still up experience the city differently than they would during the day. This book captures that feeling in a way that is so special, as it explores the things that happen at night that we wouldn't and ever will know more about.

This book is really interesting to read and it touches on some elements we are introduced to, but it doesn't really explore them as deeply as I would have liked. Despite this, I still enjoyed the book and found it captivating, even though I didn't really understand everything that was going on and disliked some of the characters and the things they've said. The ending was far from satisfactory and unexpected, but despite this, I still enjoyed the book and the atmosphere it created.

This novel was okay. I liked some parts of this book but most of the time I couldn't relate to the story or the characters, so I didn't enjoy it that much.

4.5
I really enjoyed this story, it explores so many different topics and I loved to read more about Korea/Koreans and Japan/Japanese characters, especially during the Japanese annexation of Korea and then WWII. I like how it shows the complex situation and how it affects the characters.

i really liked it, the story was really nice!! I feel bad for Obsidian but I am glad Rye found those children. I loved how it explores a world in which people are no longer able to read, write or speak and the few that still can do one or the other, they are hated for it because people envy them.. it couldn't have been easy to find a way to communicate with each other still...

Loved the writing.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is quite good but I am not too sure about the rest. It was still nice to read.

4.25
The writing is soo good and I really enjoyed this book. I love how it comments on society through hockey. The only thing I didn't like about this book are the insults and jokes - they made me too uncomfortable.

3.75
I appreciate this book and the story, but the writing was a bit difficult for me to read and as there are so many topics addressed in this book, it was a bit too heavy for me to easily process and understand.

I liked reading about how Miyazaki's opinions on animation and the world. It shows what kind of person he is and how it may reflect in his films. I loved the parts when he talks about the films he created, his decision and the insights into the process of making it.

This book is more of one traumatic and sad event after another with no time to process or with no happy events in-between that would make you feel hopeful. I felt it lacked some character development and some focus on how these events affect the characters.

3.5
I loved the writing but overall, the book was really confusing to read. I didn't mind it because I could tell that there was a bigger picture to it and I'd hopefully find out at the end (and I did). The storylines of each individual character was rather straightforward although the relation to each other was a bit too confusing. I also enjoyed the way the book deals with so many different topics and themes; I am really impressed by the way it was all executed.

The book is nice and fun to read, but I didn't like the protagonist. I found her a bit too annoying.

This book was kind of cute. A feel-good children's book with some issues. It's very British and presents India as the cause of Mary's sickness, not even mentioning how they colonised India, the way they talk about the natives there as well.. It bothered me a lot. But the story overall was very magical and optimistic and the characters were very cute.

4.75
I loved reading this book a lot. The writing was amazing and I was so blown away reading it all. My brain couldn't comprehend how such simple words can be so meaningful.
The second to last chapter was a bit less than mind-blowing, got a bit confusing because this book does not have a lot of punctuation, almost barely any punctuation, to be frank. I remember some commas and some question marks but that's pretty much it. Didn't bother me though, I really liked it.

I love Adichie's writing so much, the way she describes losing her father and grief is just so good. It's so heartbreakingly sad. You can just feel the love she has for her father and after reading this book I feel like in a way I love him too because to her, he was such an amazing father.

TW/CW: rather explicit rape scene, murder, mention of child abuse, in particular sexual abuse

2 things:
1. I really liked the descriptions in the second half of the book.

2. I didn't like the protagonist at all. Which is why I couldn't love this book.

This book is great in the way it addresses this difficult situation from the pov of someone who grew up in Afghanistan. But other than that, I didn't like the protagonist's story. I have some issues with it, which made it really difficult for me to decide if I liked this book or not. To be frank, the protagonist is an asshole. And this whole book is about his 'redemption.' Did he redeem himself in the end? I can't say. But what I can say is that I have some issues with this book presenting him as someone who is not a good person in the first half of the novel, who mistreats his 'friend' because he can't help himself but see him more as a servant, although he pretends he doesn't, who is a liar and has fun at someone else's expense who is not even aware that they are secretly made fun of, and then tries to redeem him by 'saving' their son, who turns out to be his nephew. This is very oversimplified and I know this novel has more to offer than this but it bothers me that this redemption story can be summarised as: hey, you were a horrible person and witnessed your servant's rape but didn't do anything and then made sure their life is hell, but then find out they died, leaving their son orphaned in a really bad situation, so moving him to the US will redeem you? This part just really bothered me.. Did he become a better person? Did he learn from his mistakes? I can't tell.. Then also is he only taking his nephew to the US only because he's his nephew and he feels responsible and they're related? And taking his nephew to the US does not equal saving him. He's far from saved. He may no longer be in a bad situation but he has to deal with that traumatic experience. But does the protagonist help him or get him some professional help? A lot of things and ideas in this book are also very outdated. A product of its time, as they say. Does it excuse it though? I don't know. I just know that I am not comfortable with this, so for me it was not the best reading experience.

4.5
I enjoyed this book, I love Heather Morris' writing. Sad and emotional and I am so glad it has a happy ending, made me feel hopeful and believe in good people even when the situation was not good at all. People can do horrible things but they can still be good when they least expect it.

I don't think i like dystopian novels a lot.. I like how this novel in particular explores a different kind of society and life, but I was more shocked about how they went about it rather than it making me think about society/life.