mirasbooks
This was such a great book, I loved every single thing about it!
I was afraid this was gonna be like a standard holiday romance book with the Hallmark movies tropes, and it was partially the case. But it was so well done and so well thought out and the characters were so interesting and layered that I felt like it was a completely original book.
Also, you could tell that when a part of the book was more tropey, the author was really self-aware about it and the characters were sometimes joking about it.
There were many laugh out loud moments for me and the story was so well threaded that I never felt like it was stalling or losing it's rythm.
The beautiful cast of characters, the setting, the ambiance, the character developments and the romance were on point!
This book was adorable and I loved learning about the indian culture with the dance styles and recipes talked about in this story.
It made me want to learn more about the different dance styles of India, I went and watched multiple prestations of different of the dance styles.
I would love to see this book come to life in an adaptation, I feel that it is such a visually beautiful story (in my head at least!).
I will gladly read another one of this author's book in the future!
This book and it's characters fell flat for me, I was annoyed at the main character and I really didn't like the way the emotions between Sam and Julie were explained and not shown.
I guess I now know that I don't like romance books where there are no possible outcome in which the characters in love could end up together (when one is dead). This feeling of dullness also showed it's face when I read another book of the same type(If I stay), although this one had a chance of recovery because the “dead” character was in a coma. The same memory based love story didn't engage me at all and I couldn't feel the emotions of the characters in both this book and If I stay. Towards the end, I was so annoyed I had to force myself to finish it even though I was reading it in the audiobook version.
So I guess maybe I would recommend this book to someone who also loved If I stay.
Meanwhile one of my favorite book is PS:I Love You from Cecelia Ahern which treats of a similar subject but in a way that I really felt deeply for in every bone of my body.
Either way I didn't like this book and after all the hype it received I was expecting a lot more...
I don't understand the hype for this book, I had to really push myself to finish reading it.
The start of the book felt promising with the rivalry between Libby and Nico and the recruiting of the characters. I was also happy there was a fight/action scene at the beginning of the book, but after that nothing was able to keep me interested in the story.
There were no description of any of the places or any of the characters, i felt there were no ambience given to the story, even thought it clearley wanted to be a Dark Academia type of book, it missed the mark for me.
I'm happy lots of readers enjoyed it, but unfortunately I am not one of them...
As time passes I realize more and more that I am not that interested in reading a Romeo and Juliet retelling or inspired novel. I just don't think it's my cup of tea.
Otherwise I really liked this pleasant and sweet novel and I probably will be reading the companion book too. I really liked being immersed in this interesting cast of characters and this beautiful culture.
But I have to say that the male protagonist(Bao) was not my type of character. Listen I didn't hate the guy, far from it, I was just not that invested in his developments and his whereabouts in general. In my opinion, Linh was way more of an interesting character.
I loved it! It's two out of two books that I have rated 5 stars for this author. This was simply magical, I was hooked from the first chapter till the end of the book, but if I'm being honest I'm still hooked: the sequel could come out tomorrow and it still would be later than I would want! The characters, the story, the world, the feeling of watching a new classic fairytale come into this world! I. JUST. LOVED. IT.
“Nature. That was somathing the war couldn't take from me either. The Nazis couldn't stop the wind and the snow. The Russians couldn't take the sun or the stars.”
Such an important story to be told and such a beautiful way to tell it. I am really glad I picked this one up at the moment I did, it helped me get through some things.
The story was beautifully haunting and also so touching and sad and the characters and their stories felt so real.
I am really grateful that Ruta Sepetys shone a light on this segment of history that were only thought to me in a classroom. Before picking up this book, I always felt like watching a movie or reading a book set in the WWII time period in Europe would be too painful to experience.
I was right but also wrong. Some of the things the characters lived through were very hard to read about but the resilence, strengh, solidarity and humanity that shone through were beautiful. And this is the soul of this book, of these stories.
I would absolutely recommend this book.
Tellement fantastique, amusant et surprenant! Je revisiterai certainement cet univers avec les tomes suivants de la série. J'ai bien aimé le concept de la malédiction et les indices sur certains sujets qui on été donnés au compte-goutte. Les révélations et l'histoire si bien tissée ont très bien réussis à me surprendre sur certains points. J'ai adoré la finale et j'ai vraiment hâte de reprendre ma découverte de ce monde merveilleux et des personnages qui y habitent dans le 2e roman de cette merveilleuse série.
It's just not my type of book/story, I like retellings but I'm not that interested in Romeo and Juliet. But I get why this story is so popular and I'm glad I read it. I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna continue with the series after this one, but I think it is an important story to be heard it gives an interesting perspective on important issues.
J'adore voir les dessous des téléréalités et ce roman a très bien répondu à mes attentes de ce côté. Par contre, mêmes s'ils étaient sûrement nécessaires au développement de l'histoire, j'ai trouvé les commentaires grossophobes du public un peu “triggering” et je ne recommanderais pas cette lecture à quelqu'un qui peut être fragile à ce niveau. Je dois avoué que ça m'a moi-même secouée par moment.
Il s'agit d'une lecture divertissante qui, comme une toute bonne téléréalité, offre plusieurs rebondissements, certains que l'on voit venir de loin et d'autres qui nous surprennent au détour.
Mes personnages préférés étaient tous des personnages secondaires et à certains moment Bea me tombait énormément sur les nerfs avec ses réactions dramatiques et irréfléchies.
Je recommande si vous chercher une lecture divertissante qui se lit tout seul. Par contre, si vous êtes du genre à tout analyser et à chercher les imperfections, passez votre chemin, ce livre vous donnera un mal de tête.
What a story and what a ride! So many twists and turns, secrets and deceptions, I felt mesmerized by this book and it's stories! I loved how the ambiance of Caraval envelopped every aspect of the book and how the author had me guessing what was gonna happen every step of the way. I'm pretty sure it won't be long before I pick up the sequel. It felt like I was dreaming while reading this. The author masterfully entertwined reality with fantasy and I loved it!
