Admittedly I’m not prepared to admit it is July- to be honest I think I’d rather stick my fingers in my ears and go “lalalala”- but the world is not listening, time is marching on whether I like it or not and the summer weather is trying to bake me alive…
Sooo it’s time for my monthly mini reviews!
Lovely Bones– I was left with pretty mixed feelings for this. It was absolutely awful to see what happens to the family that’s left behind after a loved one passes- especially in such horrible circumstances- and that definitely made me teary eyed. However, I did find it a little too weird and I found the totally clueless police irksome. I mean, creepy murderer guy is *CREEPY*!!
Rating: 2½/5 bananas
Twelve Years a Slave– I did not realise the full impact of the book until I reached the end- I was just so wrapped in it that I didn’t notice time passing. The sheer, intolerable injustice of it really got to me. I can’t say anything other than how disgusting it was that human beings could be treated like this. And, as much as we may all be aware of this period of history, it can never cease to be shocking.
Rating: 5/5 bananas
Winner’s Kiss– okay, so my main issue with this is that I lost interest by the time I got to this book… which was a real shame, because I enjoyed the first two and there were parts of this where I remembered why I’d originally liked this series. However one of the characters got amnesia and that gutted a lot of my enjoyment. Not only did it reset the romance, but it gave said-character a personality transplant and made them a lesser version of themselves (for a totally illogical and unbelievable reason).
Rating: 2½/5 bananas
Through The Woods– what an exquisite, creepy read!! Even after I closed the book, I was left with that tingly fear that the monsters might escape the pages and EAT ME!! Okay, I may be a tad melodramatic, but I am very easily spooked, and this was one hell of a graphic novel. What really made this book magnificent for me was that it’s like reading art- I don’t think there’s any other way to describe it. The aesthetic element was just so stunning and perfectly balanced with the beautiful snippy language. The drama created when that was combined with the way it was structured and that building intensity was just perfect. I also loved how it felt reminiscent of both fairy tales and retellings like Carter, whilst still feeling totally unique.
Rating: 5/5 bananas
Jerusalem the Golden– There’s this type of book from the 60s that’s all “boo hoo I’m not properly middle or upper class, even though I’m super educated”. I will come right out and say that I just don’t relate to that sort of thing at all- maybe because their problems feel so “first world” to me. Either way, I felt like this was trying to say something profound so many times (about class, motherhood, etc) and failing. To be honest the serviceable language and decent-ish characters were not enough to save this for me and it failed to hold my interest. I don’t get why this is considered a modern classic- it’s a pretty mediocre read.
Rating: 2½/5 bananas
Jamaica Inn– it’s been a very long time since I read Du Maurier- and wow was this a treat. Like so many of her other books, it was compelling, atmospheric and beautifully written. The only reason it didn’t knock my socks off was that, as gripping as it was, I didn’t get the motivations for a lot of the characters. There was a grotesque aspect to them that never really translated into anything believable or dove head first into the uncanny- it was something in between- and I couldn’t quite settle into the book because of that.
Rating: 4/5 bananas
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)– gosh I missed out on this when I was younger, that’s for sure. It was so inventive and accurate at the same time. And I will say, without going into why, I’ve always had a soft spot for Hades and I loved Riordan’s take on him. I did find that the false ending bothered me as an adult reader, because it felt latched onto the end for the sake of sequels. I’d have preferred if the promised betrayal could have been incorporated into the final showdown. But even if this was imperfect, I still had a lot of fun with this book and plan to continue the series at some point! So Percy Jackson for the win!
Rating: 4/5 bananas
Okay, so that was a totally mixed bag! Have you read any of these? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!
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