Laelia
4.25
Okay, after thinking about this book a bit more, I think the writing is truly great. I loved that.
But. This book.
Honestly, I am not sure if I am glad that I've read it or not. It's just so frustrating. Not in a bad way, as in it's frustrating to read, but more like frustrating because I wish there was something I could do to help instead of just watching the story unfold - and I know this is just a book but still. I can't even put into words how I feel about this book. I can't imagine it being any different but the fact that it made me hopeful for just one tiny bit and then made sure to completely crush that tiny spark of hope, is just so mean. I knew it was going to be sad but even knowing that did not help. To conclude: This is book is mean.
3.25
I enjoyed reading this, although I couldn't quite connect with it. Really liked the way it's written.
At the beginning of the book, Okonkwo is the greatest warrior in his village and then one bad thing after another happens. There is so much to unpack in this book: his problems with his father, his son leaving him, the way he was willing to fight and kill to protect his village but no one else was and then killing himself at the end... Things really did fall apart for him...
3.25
This book was alright. Easy and fun to read.
A lot of things happen that feel unnecessary and don't quite fit in the overall story... So instead of it moving the story forward or making it more interesting, it slowed it down and made it a bit dull and boring, I feel like. Some things in this book make me furious too, but that is because I am not the target audience (YA is not something I really enjoy anymore).
Writing was too cringe for me but the second half kind of saved it for me but not enough for it to be a book I enjoyed reading. All I wanted was to finish it and find out how the book ends. Good thing was that I did know this was not a romance book - like the kind of romance you'd expect when people say something is a romance book.
This is the kind of book that deals with some potentially triggering things, so do make sure to check TW and CW before reading this book. I liked that this book dealt with this topic and I understand that this book is not supposed to make you feel cosy and warm inside but I feel like it's supposed to make you reflect and make you uncomfortable as a reader because the characters are not perfect and don't make all the right decisions.
I just wish I was into the writing style because that ruined it all for me. The characters were so embarrassingly cringe and certain phrases and italics were used in such an overly excessive way that annoyed me so much. Some repetitions are fine but it was way too much for me. Also, this book is a bit problematic - classified as romantic, romanticising and normalising stuff that shouldn't be romanticised or normalised. A ton of red flags in this one.
The blurb definitely does not quite convey what this book is truly about and I feel like it's fun to read even though quite a few things were mentioned but not really explored. It leaves me a little bit confused and frustrated at the end because I don't quite see the point of it all, but in a way it's a bit typical for a YA/coming-of-age novel. However, I had a good time reading this - I liked the characters, the writing and most of all how the story was told.
This book was fun to read and I enjoyed reading it a lot, but the story itself is just not as impressive as I thought it would be, which I really didn't mind. I love that this is less like a thriller, since there's barely any suspense or tension, but it's more like a story about how much a father loves his daughter.
4.25
This book was not easy to read as it deals with quite some heavy but important topics. The story is beautifully told with the way this book is structured. It doesn't really give me much of a chance to get emotionally attached to the characters but my heart still ached reading about their lives. It was a bit confusing at first but luckily there is a family tree in the book and that really helped.
I love this book. The way it's written is truly genius in my opinion. You read about all those situations women find themselves in over and over again that are so unfair and wrong, but they can't even tell it's wrong because they've never known life to be any different. The book reflects on a lot of important topics and makes you think differently.
There are so many progressive thoughts in the book too and then the last chapter practically proves that even though the world has changed a lot, the way people think and behave hasn't. Society still hasn't changed. The knowledge is there, but the awareness that something is unfair and the conscious decision to change their behaviour and thoughts isn't. And with that last chapter, I really think the book emphasised that really well.
4.5
One of my favourite books for sure. I love so many poems in this collection, especially because I can relate to how the speaker feels a lot. It's not 5 stars for me because it gets repetitive after a while...
The poems with descriptions of nature were my favourites, especially the ones that can also be understood as the feelings of the speaker.
I can see myself rereading this book over and over again and finding more ways to understand the poems.
2.25
This was an unintentional reread for me because while reading it I found out that I have read this book before but didn't remember..
This book started out really good but got more boring and disturbing as you go on. It's great as something you can read to reflect on society and you can take away a lot from this book. It's a great classic in my opinion but I'm just not too keen on reading such a reflective book with so many political comments and theories. It makes the book rather dry and boring for me and not as gripping as it was in the first half of the book.
3.25
An interesting book that's for sure.. A lot of things are happening in this book and at the same time it feels like nothing is happening, since it's slow-paced, very descriptive and so long. All in all, not bad. I didn't like any of the characters and the plot is mostly gripping even though the progress is slow. But it kept me interested, so I believe this book did it quite wonderfully - a slow-paced book but gripping and with some tension nonetheless. I do think the book did a great job with captivating the reader right from the start.
The fact that I didn't like any of the characters and that this book includes so much elitism, homophobic and racist comments, as well as no actual discussion if what they're doing is actually right or wrong but all the characters going along with it, just didn't make it one of my favourites books.
3.5
A very long book that feels like a love letter to art and the preservation of paintings for me. I like how this book puts some focus on the appreciation of their beauty and their beautiful and mostly tragic stories. A good book but a bit of a chore to read since it's really slow-paced and it made me feel anxious and on edge a lot, which I don't mind if it happens once in a while but this book made me feel that way the whole time.
A cosy and cute read full of life lessons that I can imagine that some people won't like very much. But it made me feel very nostalgic and there are some things I still need to reflect on and think about.
You get a sweet little story about a boy in Japan but at the same you get these like essays on life too that are there to help that boy with some of the things he faces and make you think about how about your own life a lot. I could relate to it a lot because the difficulties Copper faces are things that everyone most likely has faced at one point in there lives before.
This story also made me so emotional and still does thinking about it. I will cherish this book forever and I am so happy I read it.
One of my favourite books because it explores so many topics and themes. I especially love the writing as well as how tragically in love Gatsby is with Daisy from the past and has not accepted that it's in the past, imagining how they would reunite and then being disappointed that it was not as magical as he hoped it would be.