Marina
Loved that Iris is a super well-rounded character! her mind doesn't focus solely on a love interest, she has present family, friendship, and career topics. Never expected what this book would be about just by reading the synopsis. It's a super recommend to me!
Be aware that this reads more like a magic realism book for the most part, there aren't a LOT of fantasy elements until the end.
OK... I'll start by warning that this review may contain topics that could trigger you, such as anorexia, diets, binging and purging, and being in the closet for many years. So, if any of this topics make you feel triggered I recommend you skip reading this review.
I've read books about anorexia, I've seen it in TV and in movies. I know it's a terrible illness and that is really hard to overcome. But this... being in the mind of an anorexic person, this deep into her mind... it's a totally different experience. It became harder and harder to read, so I could assure you it's not a pleasant read, not at all.
This book is, in all senses, brutal. It doesn't sugarcoat ANYTHING. Portia tells everything that she's been through, and sometimes it was painful to read, how this mental disease takes over your life and ruins you from the inside till it shows on the outside. We can see how an unhealthy diet full of restrictions can quickly develop into a food obsession ,and it's all you can think about.
This book show us little Portia at the age of twelve years old, entering the modeling world, and not feeling enough-not thin enough, not pretty enough-, and with her we see the illness inside her growing stronger and stronger, till her adult life, where she lives prisoner of anorexia.
What this woman suffered it's just unberable. The littlest of the things would make her anxious, she was worried all the time that she wasn't burning enough calories. She satrted lying to her family because things started getting complicated when she got too thin to notice something was wrong. I can't even begin to explain how exhausting this life must been. I leave a few quotes so you can understand what I'm talking about:
‘I just worked out a little harder in the hotel gym and stopped brushing my teeth with toothpaste. It wasn't that I was crazy thinking that I could get fat from accidentally swallowing toothpaste; I was just ensuring that I cut out those incidental calories wherever I could. I ate less chewing gum and I didn't use toothpaste. It was a compromise that worked for me.'‘I needed to stand anyway. Standing burns more calories than sitting.'''I'm not eating lunch today. I had a big meal already.” Why I had to tell her about having a big meal I don't know. I hate it when I do things like that.'‘Chopsticks were useful for obvious reasons. I'm not Asian, nor am I coordinated. They were unnatural and awkward for me and as a result, the food fell through the little obtuse triangles making me eat slower. If I ate slowly, I didn't eat as much.'‘My obsession with weight loss had made me neglectful of the things I cared about.'
So now let's get to the writing part of the review:
Though it was a well written book, there were a lot of chunks of descriptions of, for ex. people that were passing by, and that didn't add anything to the story Portia was telling, so there were parts of the book when I wasn't that compelled to keep reading.
Aside from that, I think this is a must read if you really wanna know how anorexia affects a life, and the struggles an anorexic person must front.
Adichie, you did it again.
In a really short book, you explain a plurality of concepts that anyone who wants to raise their children in the best way posible should read.
And it's hard. I won't deny it. Reading some parts of this was hard af. Because realizing some behaviors your parents, your teachers, adults in general implanted on you since you were born are actually really problematic, and detaching from those behaviors, is difficult.
But it is posible, I truly believe from the bottom of my heart, that overcoming patriarchy is posible, even if it means that I'll have to discard and change my behaviors and the misogynist culture I was thrown in without asking.
I'll leave some qoutes that resume what a great book this is:
‘You might think that Chudi will not bathe her exactly as you'd like, that he might not wipe her bum as perfectly as you do. But so what? What is the worst that can happen? She won't die at the hands of her father. Seriously. He loves her. It's good for her to be cared for by her father. So look away, arrest your perfectionism, still your socially conditioned sense of duty. Share child care equally.'‘And please reject the language of help. Chudi is not “helping” you by caring for his child. He is doing what he should.'‘There are people who say “Well, your name is also about patriarchy because it is your father's name.” Indeed. But the point is simply this: Whether it came from my father or from the moon, it is the name that I have had since I was born, the name with which I traveled my life's milestones, the name I have answered to since that first day I went to kindergarten on a hazy morning and my teacher said, “Answer ‘present' if you hear your name. Number one: Adichie!”'‘Never, ever link Chizalum's appearance with morality. Never tell her that a short skirt is “immoral.” Make dressing a question of taste and attractiveness instead of a question of morality. If you clash over what she wants to wear, never say things like “You look like a prostitute,” as I know your mother once told you. Instead, say, “That dress doesn't flatter you like this other one.” Or doesn't fit as well. Or doesn't look as attractive. Or is simply ugly. But never “immoral.” Because clothes have absolutely nothing to do with morality.'
''i want to apologize to all the women i have called pretty before i've called them intelligent or brave i am sorry i made it sound as though something as simple as what you're born with is the most you have to be proud of when your spirit has crushed mountains from now on i will say things like you are resilient or you are extraordinary not because i don't think you're pretty but because you are so much more than that''
I want to a start the review with this quote, beacuse I think it sets perfectly the tone of this book.
Kaur's poetry is meaningful, simple -yet so beautiful- and above it all, it is loud. Yes, so loud, you have to listen to what she says. Because she won't shut up, and I love it.
I hope her voice is NEVER silenced beacuse I need her to keep writing stuff like this.
I feel like I know her so well now... ‘cause she is not going to sugar coat ANYTHING. She talks about rape, body image, loving yourself, being confident, love, learning to move on, body hair, periods, and I love it.
The poetry is accompanied by gorgeous illustrations that make the experience of reading this book even more engaging. The writing style is quite simple, but that doesn't mean it isn't whimsical, and well, poetical. The simplicity of this book made me feel more, I don't know... familiar, you can say? Made me feel closer to Rupi and to her experiences, and sometimes I felt them like my own, and I loved that.
So, If you didn't already guess it, I really loved this book, and is now very deep in my heart.
Please if you have the opportunity to pick this book, don't give it a second thought!
Update 6/6/2016:
Characters: ★★★★ I am not sure who to trust anymore
Plot: ★★★★★ AMAZING PLOT TWIST
World Building: ★★★ it could have been better
Writing: ★★★★ it was a little repetitive sometimes but overall the author knew how to build a constant pace and keep me hooked!
Fun/Enjoyement: ★★★★★ It read it like it was candy !
Overall Rating:★★★★
OMGGGG review coming soon! tho I had some issues with it this book was so addicting god
4.5
The third instalment in the Percy Jackson series is by far the best one yet.
This series follows a similar formula every book, but this one had some things the other ones didn't.
The flaw I found in previous books was the one dimensional characters, but in this one is was surprised: We start to see the relationship between Percy and Annabeth develop, and I can for sure say this adds so much depth to this two characters, (plus come on they're so freaking cute when they're together)
In The Titan's Curse we finally see a more mature (that doesn't mean less funny) cast of characters, thinking twice before making decisions and about how their actions affect others, cause I was just tired of Percy making stupid desicions without thinking about the consequences.
ARTEMIS' CREW GUYS. I just loved them sososo much, and they added a lot to the story, specially Zoe<3 She was the Annabeth factor when the last one was absent(kind of).
And I hope to discover more about the DiAngelo brothers in the next instalment. I just felt we didn't get enough of them in this book and that's mainly why I'm giving this it 4.5 stars instead of just a full 5 stars.
This one I can say gripped me the most out of the three books I've read so far in the series.
Looking foward to read The Battle of The Labyrinth!
EXTREME MIND BLOW. I have no words.
QUEEN CHRISTIE.
Actual review 26/2:
This book was not what I expected at all. This was thrilling and hilarious . A must-read for everyone.
The mystery develops flawlessly and it's pretty satisfying. The personality of Mr. Hercule Poirot complemented the plot so well!
If someone told me the final reveal when I was 20 pages in, I would've never believed them! It was totally unexpcted for me.
In conclusion, this book was pretty fantastic, and I totally will be reading more of my friend Poirot.
If you go through my ratings, you will see that I almost never give 1 star to a book. This is the second or third book I gave 1 star in 3 YEARS. So yeah, it was bad.
Kiera Cass, I want to tell you that this book was such a disappointment and you just lost a reader.
You wrote a book with the EXACT same formula as your previous trilogy, but this was so bad that you can notice this books was made just for the money. If you say to me that this book had thought put in it before publishing it, I would never believe you, because this was so bad written that I was cringing the whole time, but I kept reading, hoping that I would get better, but it never got better... It got even worse.
This book had all the things I didn't like, and lacked all the good stuff that kept me reading The Selection.
Eadlyn it's so annoying! She LITERALLY says like 30 times “I'm the most powerful person in the planet” and “I can do what I want”. She is the worst character EVER. For this kind if book people say shit about the Young Adult genre.
This book lacks of everything a good book should have: It doesn't have ANY character development. She's the same spoiled stubborn brat from beginning to end. When some of the characters show her the mistakes she is doing, she just makes a scene and leaves the room dramatically. She would freak out about the littlest thing and be SO mean to everybody for no reason! When other people did stuff the only thing she was thinking it's how it would affect her!
I have never read a character that was so self-absorbed.
The plot didn't go anywhere: the plot was so simple she being mean, she realizing she's a bitch, she forgetting about it and being a bitch all over again and so on.
There was a subplot that if it was well developed it would have make this book really great, but Cass decided to keep it in the shadows.
The boys: some of them were okay, some of them were gross. The only one I liked was Eric and he didn't even was in the selection...
The only parts I enjoyed were the ones with Maxon and America because they're so freaking cute!
But in conclusion, this book was terrible. Like really really terrible.
