The first time I read this book was actually for school. I have to admit, I loved studying this book. The writing is amazing, and so is the aesthetic, which, considering Wilde ascribed to aestheticism, shouldn’t be that much of a shock. The book is exciting, complex, thrilling, and beautiful. Following the entrance of Dorian Gray into upper class English society, the book allows you an intimate portrayal of that setting. The characters are captivating. The book draws an intricate study of the morals and philosophies of the characters, making it a fascinating read. I personally loved it. I doubt you’ll regret reading it.
So, I haven’t been updating much lately. This is because a lot of my updates are about books I read, and lately, I’ve been trying to get through War and Peace. I’ll be honest, it’s a great long book, and not an easy read. So far I’ve read over half of it. Frankly, I find all the parts about the social and romantic lives of the characters quite amusing. Reading those sections of the book is a delight. To my own surprise, I found myself rather invested in the love lives of a variety of character, many of whom I don’t like, respect, or admire. However, I have some difficulty getting through the military sections. Quite frankly, I simply don’t know enough to be able to appreciate pages of military strategies and maneuvers, which makes reading certain parts of this book quite a bore.
So far, I rather like Princess Mary and Prince Andrew; I think they’re my favorite characters. Natasha, while an understandable and sympathetic character, is often rather vain or foolish. I don’t know why or how, but somehow Tolstoy’s made me kind of like Nikolai Rostov, despite the fact that I very much disapprove of him and his decisions. He’s frivolous, and ought to have married Sonya ages ago. Not to mention his stupidity in the card game with Dolokhov. I lose patience with him a fair bit. I like Sonya, she’s a good person, but she doesn’t seem to have much common sense. She really ought to have married Dolokhov when he asked her. Her principles don’t really seem to do her much good. Then again, a lack of principles only seems to get some of the other characters into trouble. We’ll see what the rest of the book is like.
Favorite Story: Madeline’s Choice by Jessica Spotswood
This book is a collection of short stories centered around strong female characters set in different times during American history. These short historical fictions are charming and varied, as the stories span different genres as well as time periods. A set of stories that includes magical realism, bankrobbing, spies, and protests, this book is full of life and love. The book shows important moments in American history from the perspective of ordinary young women, who fight to find their place in their worlds.
Rating: 4.5/10 (I’m being harsh, but I’m annoyed! I don’t like feeling underwhelmed after reading a book, especially when it’s the first of a series. It loses points for giving a series a relatively weak start.)
This book actually creates a really interesting world, and has a really cool fantasy concept. The main character, Vhalla, works as a library apprentice in the palace. In a land where sorcerers are feared, the Crown Prince is one himself. Each region of the empire (the West conquered the other three eventually) has sorcerers with an affinity for a certain element. Honestly, I liked the idea. Unfortunately, it was never completely explained. I learned bits of the history of this world and how magic worked, but the problem is the Vhalla doesn’t really know much, so I was left pretty confused as to what each power was, what it could do, and how it affected the sorcerer. I have to give the author points for the character of the Crown Prince, who was pretty interesting, and whom I ended up liking despite my original disdain. Unfortunately, his character and relationship with Vhalla don’t make up for how confusing and unclear the book is. Throughout the book, Vhalla is clueless and in a constant state of confusion. She never knows what is going on, yet becomes involved in the world of sorcery and court politics. As a result, the reader is kept pretty much constantly in the dark. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure what the plotline was. While I understand the need for there to be some questions so that I’m left wanting to read the second book, to have no idea what is going on is pretty frustrating. Finally, as the first book of the series, I’m supposed to be left wanting more, delighted with the book, pulled into the story’s world, and ready to binge the entire series. Instead, I couldn’t make myself start the second book. Altogether, I was left kind of disappointed.
Favorite Character: Chloe (I love Amanda too but there’s one scene near the end of the book in which Chloe helps save Amanda that made Chloe my favorite.)
I loved the complexity in this book. Russel’s depiction of the main characters’ struggles with her own mental health, and her relationship with her family. While Amanda’s relationship with her father has its ups and downs (god knows he messes up a lot), the author does a beautiful job exploring it, and Amanda’s relationship with her mom, who tries her best to be supportive, made me cry. Frankly, though, I found Amanda’s struggle to adapt to life as a girl, especially a transexual girl, in high school, incredibly well-written. You really feel for Amanda as she struggles to find her place. She meets faithful friends as well as prejudiced bullies (one character in particular is homophobic, transphobic, and sexist). As Amanda adapts and attempts to find her place in her new high school, we see the world through her eyes, allowing us empathize with her character. I found this book beautiful, and I think more people should read it. I’d never heard of it before, and I would definitely say this charming story of love (familial, platonic, and romantic) in the face of hate is severely underrated.
This book was beautiful. Beautifully portraying the social and academic pressures that are destroying its characters from the inside out, this book makes its environment of a high pressure New York private school truly come alive. While it’s exploration of class and peer pressure is captivating and poignant, it was the way the book depicted the struggle of being a woman in this world, in a society which is patriarchal and in which women are never treated equally, no matter how much privilege they have. The toxic cycles that the characters are trapped in feel relatable and realistic, no matter how far from our reality the setting of this book actually is (mind you, I’m aware that as a girl going to a specialized public school in New York City, while this book is very far from reality, it is closer to my life than that of many others). Torn between her trauma, her grief, her hopes, and the pressures of her family as well as her friends, Jill is barely staying afloat, haunted by what happened on her freshman initiation, especially Initiation Night. Part of a secret society in her school that has connections throughout all the upper echelons of the elite, granting her previously unprecedented access to an exclusive world, she is tormented by her best friend’s premature death, as she begins to suspect that her friend’s boyfriend, who confessed to the murder, is not truly guilty. As the book goes on, flashbacks allow us to see the past that scared Jill and caused the death of Shaila, her best friend, as well as how the past affects the present. While originally I was hesitant to read this book (I really don’t like horror), it is absolutely worth it. I tore through it in a matter of hours because I simply couldn’t put it down. Intricate and deeply moving, you will not regret reading this book.
Bookworm's Haven 