If you have absolutely no expectations or if you're too hyped up or anything in-between, don't worry, this book will probably turn out way more4.5/5 ⭐
If you have absolutely no expectations or if you're too hyped up or anything in-between, don't worry, this book will probably turn out way more interesting than anything you mightve pictured in your head.
I am a big fan of books about books and libraries and bookshops and secret shelves and stories and words and everything of the sort (being a nerdy bookworm makes you like that, yes, beware!). And this story built on the love for books, stories and writers binds the past and the present. And it's so much more complex than just the plot.
Each of the characters comes with a story. It looks like each of these characters and their backstories are arteries attached to the big beating heart - the plot. The plot pumps the arteries with fresh blood and they bring back raw material for the heart to keep pumping.
I was surprised by the lengths this story goes to. It's full of force, but also of emotion. Of love and loss. Of tragedy. Of little smiles that appear at the corner of one character's mouth when they think no one sees them. And most importantly, it is full of magic. And this magic is done in such a way that the life is intertwining with it....more
Very Kingesque, gave me chills and thrills, a really really tasteful psychological thriller/horror (at least for my taste).
It starts off reall4.5/5 ⭐
Very Kingesque, gave me chills and thrills, a really really tasteful psychological thriller/horror (at least for my taste).
It starts off really strong, the atmosphere is quite gripping and the characters remind me a lot of the ones in Stephen King's Pet Sematary and even The Shining. It's a great mix of psychological horror, paranormal activity, science fiction elements and really well individualised characters.
I've been waiting for a good horror like this for quite some time and I finally found it. So if you are a fan of Stephen King's works like I am, I do recommend this for a chilling, gripping and unputdownable experience!...more
Short, quick, full of emotion and bittersweet stories, a unique concept and approach to the last few moments a person has after they die. I enj4.5/5 ⭐
Short, quick, full of emotion and bittersweet stories, a unique concept and approach to the last few moments a person has after they die. I enjoyed this so much and I think it deserves a try!...more
Frankenstein meets Marie Curie and a little bit of Jack the Ripper in 1800s Scotland and if you love the sound of that then you're about to ha4.45/5 ⭐
Frankenstein meets Marie Curie and a little bit of Jack the Ripper in 1800s Scotland and if you love the sound of that then you're about to have the best time with this.
Anatomy has on one side a Jane Austen narrative vibe and on the other side, it feels like Mary Wollstonecraft also wanted to be part of the construction of the narrative and if these two had a baby in the form of YA historical fiction then this would probably be it.
The atmosphere of the book is amazing, it's honestly a Stalking Jack the Ripper but a little bit better executed in my humble opinion. It's grey and cold and rainy and it has some sort of toughness about it, but one that is enjoyable and leaves you wanting more of it.
The characters are sometimes silly, sometimes sweet, some of them are deserving of a serious caning (sorry, I feel violent today) and some others just need protection at all costs.
I am seriously surprised that I've been sleeping on this for so long because even though I don't consider it a masterpiece of the genre, it kept me wanting to read and learn more, I was entertained and I liked the way the whole narrative vibe was making me feel throughout the story. And the fact that, if you go a little bit deeper than the surface, you will most definitely see a note on what does it mean to be a woman aspiring to do something in a field that, up until a certain point, has been male-dominated. Because even though everyone can see how talented and determined Hazel is to become a female surgeon, all the people in her chosen field seem to be against her. Marriage and motherhood are the best careers for a woman, but Hazel chooses not to be the generic woman and become her own being. Which is in fact a very nice idea that I love and respect....more
Dark, heavy, brutal, strange, epic. This has been, in my opinion, an extraordinary start to a banging epic fantasy series!
Tolkien meets Sapkow4.5/5 ⭐
Dark, heavy, brutal, strange, epic. This has been, in my opinion, an extraordinary start to a banging epic fantasy series!
Tolkien meets Sapkowski and they have a baby and their baby is the Demon Cycle series and yes, I said what I said.
The world is really meticulously build and you can see that from the very first pages, the story in this book is a whole journey that opens with a loud noise and finished in a silent scream.
I really enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to reading the next books!...more
Hi. Welcome. I had no expectations for this. 384 pages later I finish it and tell myself that I am glad I didn't because I seriously enjoyed th4.5/5 ⭐
Hi. Welcome. I had no expectations for this. 384 pages later I finish it and tell myself that I am glad I didn't because I seriously enjoyed this so much, maybe too much. And that's mostly because it seemed quite an unique story with a plot idea that (to me) is something else in the Final Girls universe.
It was a thriller with heavy slasher horror accents, an unsettling but cinematic description of events, with good background stories and sustained arguments. The idea of taking actual slasher movies from the 70s, 80s and 90s, turning them into real-life stories that were the base of the movies, but going above and beyond and telling the story of the survivors once the show is over is a bit complicated to grasp but so so ingenious; and I'm talking big names like Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street and so on. It's like fiction about reality that inspired fiction.
(Now your head explodes)
I couldn't be completely immersed in the horror genre, but it was an excellent jump between the horror and the thriller, a very good back-and-forth that was somehow keeping me on the edge constantly.
I can see why this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it was mine and I enjoyed every single page of it. This was a great case of a page-turner book for me for sure....more
I am extremely pained to say that even though I wished to give this a 4.5-star rating, I just couldn't. And I will explain why in a few pa4.45/5 ⭐
I am extremely pained to say that even though I wished to give this a 4.5-star rating, I just couldn't. And I will explain why in a few paragraphs later.
But first - I enjoyed this very much. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that at some point I felt like I was watching a movie and not reading a whole bloody book, that's how visual the whole writing was.
It had everything - suspense, drama, great characters, great story, great background stories, great visuals, atmosphere. Exceptional plot-twists. I could recommend this book solely thanks to some very well-placed twists in the plot.
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Now, I will talk a little bit about these plot twists. They exist because the action is so complex, happening on so many plans, with a bunch of characters intertwining, crashing and combining all over the story, that your brain is simply caught off-guard when something enlightening happens. Your brain is so caught up in finding out who? where? why? how?? did something happen and then BAM! You got played. PLOT TWIST! Amazing.
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I liked that the characters were nicely individualised, you could actually see and understand what kind of personalities they had, and what kind of typologies were they representing and I think that is great, especially when it comes to a thriller.
However, there was something I simply couldn't completely get over and that's why this review isn't sporting a 5 golden star rating right now. It's because even though I love multiple POVs in books and I also love time-lapses with stories that go back and forth through decades (and this book had them both!), I can't really deal with multiple-person narratives. I hate when the POVs switch and they also change the person of the narrative. From first to third to first again and then third again. Or maybe it's gonna be first again? Who knows!! Sadly, this was the one minus this novel had and for me, it weighed heavy enough. Changes of perspective are alright but not mixed with first-third person switches and time lapses. It just gets confusing.
I don't want you to let this little thing that bothered me get in the way of any of you picking this up because everything about the story itself is great and I will keep recommending it even so. Just give it a try!...more
This isn't my favourite but it was really enjoyable and because it reminded me a little of the first romance books I've experienced back in 204.25/5 ⭐
This isn't my favourite but it was really enjoyable and because it reminded me a little of the first romance books I've experienced back in 2020, it simply felt like it was a right up my alley kind of read. It's both fun and a quite serious story, with some level of spice, definitely entertaining for the fans of Ali Hazelwood but also Emily Henry or Christina Lauren or even Sally Thorne....more
Yes ma'am, this is right up there on my list. Cute, silly, funny, witty, adorable, bookish, cliche, it's got everything that I love in the grea4.5/5 ⭐
Yes ma'am, this is right up there on my list. Cute, silly, funny, witty, adorable, bookish, cliche, it's got everything that I love in the great style of Emily Henry!...more
This took me on a beautiful journey. I wasn't expecting this to be so powerful and so full of colour and emotion but it was and the sheer beauty 5/5 ⭐
This took me on a beautiful journey. I wasn't expecting this to be so powerful and so full of colour and emotion but it was and the sheer beauty of the women of the world combined with their personal stories is the key of turning this book into a beautiful masterpiece. It just brought tears to my eyes, a thing that I haven't experienced in a while while reading!...more
As a Shelby Mahurin novels devourer, I wish I could say that this is so much better than her previous works aka the the Serpent & Dove tri4.5/5 ⭐
As a Shelby Mahurin novels devourer, I wish I could say that this is so much better than her previous works aka the the Serpent & Dove trilogy. But to me, this was equally as good man, I don't know.
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Somehow I understand why people didn't vibe with Mahurin's first series because it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, really. But at the same time, I don't see why people keep saying that this was better because (to me at least) it looks like the same beautifully artistic, slightly darker than maybe it should be extension of a great witch story...but this time with vampires!
Yes, I did love the vampire story and the way they were acting and how they all have been constructed like a little Frankenstein's monster out of so many pieces of what is like to be a vampire in other well-known stories (such as Twilight and Dracula and maybe even the Vampire Diaries, who knows!!).
The setting changes this time, the real action doesn't happen in the city of Cesarine anymore but on a beautiful island full of vampires with colourful and various personalities, called the Isle of Requiem. Sometimes I don't like it when there's an island there, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and William Goulding's Lord of the Flies made me be a liiiittle bit sceptical about people on islands. But I must admit that I did like the Isle of Requiem. It had such a chic, bohemian vibe and it was full of hot undead people ready to have blood-drinking parties shamelessly any time. Wonderful, right?
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I did say earlier that I don't think this is better than Serpent & Dove, but now let me explain why because it balances things out.
In the first series, I loved Lou so much, especially in the first book. To me, Lou as an MC made so much sense and her mouthy, sassy and bratty behaviour enthralled me. On the other hand, I can't say I was (at least at first) Reid's biggest fan. He started being alright after a while and I loved his love for Lou, but overall, not really a strong MC, but he was a really good love interest choice for the enemies-to-lovers trope that I ADORE so much.
Here, I can't say that I liked Célie, she isn't the type of character I am usually drawn to. A little bit too silly at times, and a little bit too pushy at others, but I will allow her some good comebacks though. However, I loved Michal.
Michal was dark and mysterious and sexy and dangerous and he had this kind of wit about him that was making him that irresistible kind of character. Very tease-y too. In a way, I don't understand the dynamics between him and Célie, but in another way, it feels like they are promising to be matched way better depending on how the plot in the next book is going to be.
Also, a special shoutout to the wonderful ladies Mila and Odessa whom I actually fell in love with, they are wonderful characters and they made my life more beautiful. And another special shoutout to Jean Luc whom I despise and I hope his teeth fall off *casts spell*
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Now, if you still have second thoughts about picking this up, let me make your life easier: ✨read it✨. And have fun with it!...more
My inner child is on cloud nine right now, happiest she has ever been and the most excited, probably playing dragon princess in our childhood orc5/5 ⭐
My inner child is on cloud nine right now, happiest she has ever been and the most excited, probably playing dragon princess in our childhood orchard together with our first dog, our always-faithful helper in all the games we always made up....more
Guys, the second this beautiful work of art gets translated into English RUN DON'T WALK and get it and read it!
It simply surprised me with how 4.5/5 ⭐
Guys, the second this beautiful work of art gets translated into English RUN DON'T WALK and get it and read it!
It simply surprised me with how good it was and with how much I enjoyed every page of it. It is an amalgam of strong concepts that together compose the best symphony of words. It is art, architecture, history, music, luxury, mystery, depravity, poverty, murder. All in one picture.
You have to try it if you ever get the chance! Meanwhile, I'm going to patiently wait for book 2 to get translated into my own language......more
This has been the best way to start my bookish year. I mean it's always a good thing when your first read of the year is a 5-star right?
While4.75/5 ⭐
This has been the best way to start my bookish year. I mean it's always a good thing when your first read of the year is a 5-star right?
While writing this, I am in a severe book hangover. I don't think I can get over this story. It was so fun and so good and so full of amazing romantasy elements. I mean, it felt like Harry Potter meets the Hunger Games meets the Sarah J. Maas fantastic multiverse and these are literally three of my favourite things! AND THE ENDING.
The world-building is really good, it gets explained right from the beginning and from then on it just keeps building on and on. When a book has a map at the beginning it has to be good, right?
The magic system also gets quickly individualised and there is a constant magical atmosphere going on. I got, in the beginning, the same vibe I did when I was reading the first Harry Potter book - their segregation into Wings reminded me so much of the way the characters were sorted into Houses in HP. But then, before and after that merry, magical vibe, I've had a slight heart-tightening feeling during their challenges and games as I did while reading the Hunger Games. And the fact that there's so much rivalry and so much killing between a seemingly tight fellowship? Definitely a gripping atmosphere.
There were times when I couldn't really agree with certain things that were part of the characters' buildup (like bruh, you're going to a war college and you're staying there willingly, stop being such a dainty princess about killing, that's what you're going there for!!). And there were times when I thought of some things the characters said or did that felt a bit cheesy, but even if I had eye-rolling moments, I still had fun with them. It was cheesy but it was good cheese and I ate that up.
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Another thing that I loved and appreciated was the tension building between the two main characters, Violet and Xaden.
I enjoyed a lot their snarky dialogues and the way they danced around each other constantly and I think thanks to this tension I found them both bearable as characters throughout the book. Xaden can definitely be added to everyone's ongoing, never-ending list of book boyfriends and I will say that Violet is not as bad as many other romantasy female protagonists.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is a short book, but it is so incredibly heavy in the kind of words it is using. In the approached themes. In the o4.75/5 ⭐
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is a short book, but it is so incredibly heavy in the kind of words it is using. In the approached themes. In the outcomes of already unjust and unfair situations.
First of all, I'd like to say that this book surprised me. I had it for a long time and I even tried to read it once or twice but I think I wasn't in the right headspace for it. Second of all, it isn't a book for everyone.
It is a peculiar read, with the qualities of a biography, but fictionalised. And after you get to read it, you realise that it is not necessarily a person's biography, but one of a system. Of many other nameless women who got a name: Kim Jiyoung.
From the very beginning people can see that Jiyoung is not a standard character, even though she tries to stay under the radar. She's peculiar, acting strange and unsettling the people in her life, but mostly because no one bats an eye on her. At her mental health.
Yes, this is a book about mental health in a system and a society that's too focused on themselves and on material things to see what's right in front of their eyes. Jiyoung's behaviour gets to make complete sense when we go down a rabbit hole and witness every single significant moment of her life that shaped her into the woman that she is today. And personally, all I see in Jiyoung's life are pieces of a trauma-packed puzzle.
She is forced to be the victim of an unequal system, where being male is praised and being female leads to some sort of servitude drilled by generations before into young women's heads, venomous with double standards to a level of toxicity that, sometimes, baby girls don't even get to take a breath in this world because the society - and not necessarily the mother - aborts them, smothering the little life out of them right inside the womb.
This book is packed with the unfairness of a sick system, where women are still expected to be completely devoted to the home and family, where not wanting children of your own is a sin, when wanting to be financially independent as a woman is nearly impossible and where, at jobs interviews, women are faced misogynistic challenges and seen as bait more than as people.
It's so much to say about this book and even now thinking of it and the injustice of it, I still get my blood boiling like Satan's pitch cauldrons in hell. Sadly, this is the life story of millions of women, mistreated right from the moment they drew a breath into this world and told, in this book, in the voice of Kim Jiyoung. She is one of the millions of women and millions of women are Kim Jiyoung....more
Okay, sometimes it just happens to pick my next reads blindingly, on the spur of the moment, because th4.45/5 ⭐
This book has been a pleasant surprise!
Okay, sometimes it just happens to pick my next reads blindingly, on the spur of the moment, because that's how I vibe at that moment. And yes, I wanted to feel exactly like the smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland (that was literally the whole purpose behind it all, I just wanted to be on funky mushrooms but like literary speaking, not literally).
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So I discovered that there is this amazing standalone written by Marissa Meyer. I never read Marissa Meyer books. This was the extremely perfect opportunity. And damn this was marvellous.
The whole book has been a ✨vibe✨. It had an energy of its own I can't even explain. It felt very much like Alice in Wonderland but at the same time, it felt like something Bridgertonian was happening (the TV show, not the books). There was colour and music and fashion and aestethic and so much cake. There was a lot of drama and betrayal too. Seriously, you could hear the music and see the colours and smell the freshly baked goodies in the air. But also you could feel something sad and nostalgic was about to happen.
However, this is not your average Alice in Wonderland retelling. No. Alice does not exist here. This retelling (or maybe actual telling at this point because who even told this story before? Probably no one) happens way before Alice was probably even born. This is a story about the Queen of Hearts.
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Her name is Catherine Pinkerton and, before becoming the feared Queen of Hearts, she was a lady with big aspirations: she wanted to own her own bakery. Simple, right? Well, not quite. This is Catherine's villain origin story. A reverse redemption arc if you want.
I seriously love a good villain origin story because let's be real, we tend to over-antagonise the villains, just because we're always being told the good guy's POV but never get to know the real story of the bad guy. And this is literally a simple, very atmospheric story of how did the Queen of Hearts become such a hated person.
Before everything, she was a simple dreamer girl. She was sweet and kind and wanted desperately to follow her dreams. But her parents had other dreams for her and forced her hand. When there's so much plotting against you, you may be the kindest soul out there, but if you don't wake up on time to fight, you will get your soul crashed. And when you do fight, you get some sort of bitterness inside of you that you can't erase because it becomes part of you.
That's the story of Catherine, Queen of Hearts. She was a sweet girl, but plots and circumstances made her bitter and cruel. And frankly, after witnessing all the shit that she's been through, I personally felt victimised for her. I'd be cruel too. I'd want severed heads too. The primordial female rage in me would be awakened too.
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If you're in the mood for an extremely atmospheric, aesthetic and colourful read, but also want to awaken your inner female hysteria, I suggest you give this book a try!...more
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