[thezavarka-deactivated20191222]

the.name.is.angharad

[joli--coeur]

golden warmth. 🍂✨🧡 Instagram: kokokourtney

[john-fenerov-deactivated2018041]

Reading Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, a few months old photo. My short review can be found on gr. I would like to say that I’ve started a new instagram @johnfnart, to start fresh and decided to get back after my mother is getting well and she got out of hospital yesterday. I want thank those who gave some comfort on my old instagram post.

[galina]

This is probably my favourite place to read ☕️🍂

[bookishfanboy]

aesthetics ⛅️🍂📖✨

[gomesh19]

[hauntedbystorytelling]

[hauntedbystorytelling]

Willy Ronis :: From ‘Sundays by the River’ photobook, Paris, 1949

more [+] by this photographer

[femme-on-film-deactivated202103]

Delusional ✨#fluxbyorion#coffee#brooklyn (at Northerly Coffee)

[sevensaltedalmonds-deactivated2]

2ndtruth | Alderwood Resort

[musingsofash]

[bookishsolace]

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin 

My Rating: 5

Goodreads Rating: 4.09

Pages: 452

Published:  October 23rd 2012 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: 

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can. She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed. There is. She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. She’s wrong.

My Review: 

This is first reading a book by Michelle Hodkin and I have to admit I am blown away. I am drawn to darker and scary novels and this one had me completely messed up. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to get, there was a mysterious synopsis, a vague hint of love and a creepy cover. And what I got was absolutely brilliant. 

Mara Dyer is a survivor, but she can’t remember the accident she alone survived. The only thing she knows is that two of her friends and her boyfriend died in a collapsed building where she apparently was too. She convinces her parents to relocate to Florida, but Mara doesn’t get the smooth start at her new school that she wishes to have. 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is one of those rare books that it feels like your best friend is sat beside you, telling you all about this thing that happened to her. You aren’t reading the book. You are being told a story and you feel like you are actually stuck inside Mara’s head, being just as confused as her when it comes to her sanity. I absolutely love Mara. She handles her situation with so much strength and composure that I am in awe of her. She made me keep reading until I literally couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore, then sleep the minimum required time before getting back to reading again. And of course I can’t forget Noah. Oh Noah. Besides looking incredibly handsome and being a charmer overall, he is attentive, caring, protective and believes in Mara. And he is so bloody dreamy, help me. 

The writing simply blew me away. Honestly, the author has managed to twist reality and there was no moment where I didn’t find myself questioning what was going on. Just when I had figured it all out another twist would be sprung on me. I am usually not a huge fan of YA books with lots of romance with the story playing in a high school, but this novel completely stole my heart. It is beautifully eerie, dark read pared with horror, suspense and romance that sometimes made me want to throw the book against the wall. Highly highly highly recommended!

[bookishsolace]

Dubliners by James Joyce 

My Rating: 2.4 

Goodreads Rating: 3.86

Pages: 225

Published:  February 3rd 2000 by Penguin Books (first published 1914)

Goodreads Summary: 

Joyce's first major work, written when he was only twenty-five, brought his city to the world for the first time. His stories are rooted in the rich detail of Dublin life, portraying ordinary, often defeated lives with unflinching realism. He writes of social decline, sexual desire and exploitation, corruption and personal failure, yet creates a brilliantly compelling, unique vision of the world and of human experience.

My Review: 

I always feel a bit bad when I rate a classic very low, but I just could not get into this collection of short stories. The fact that I needed to write and essay about it sadly didn’t make me like it more. I normally enjoy reading “old” literature and especially like writing style and language, but it just wasn’t the case for this. 

I am aware that capturing the feeling of the ordinary lives of the 20th century Dublin was precisely the authors intention but to me it was just boring. The theme of paralysis though was exceptionally written and it made me like some of the stories; especially “The Dead”, a bit more. What also was frustrating is that the tales just stop instead of ending which made the experience deeply unsatisfying. The book is in no way terrible, it just didn’t take my fancy. 

[elienstudies-deactivated2019082]

I had a lot of interesting classes so far, especially those about Lacan and Freud! I also talked to someone in the Psychoanalytic department of our university and I’ll probably be allowed to work with him on a research of his. We still need to go over the details, but I’m really excited!

[octume]

[the-bookshop]

[wasies]

[bookishsolace]

Godgrave by Jay Kristoff 

My Rating: 4.4

Goodreads Rating: 4.65

Pages: 421

Published:  September 7th 2017 by Harper Voyager UK

Goodreads Summary: 

Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church hierarchy think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending the men who destroyed her familia; in fact, she’s told directly that Consul Scaeva is off limits. But after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia suspicions about the Red Church’s true motives begin to grow. When it’s announced that Scaeva will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end him. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between love and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world.

My Review: 

I absolutely loved Nevernight so you can imagine my excitement when I found a signed copy of Godgrave at my local Waterstones. I couldn’t lay this book down, I was so drawn in I didn’t want it to end. It is an fantastic sequel that definitely has the potential to steal Nevernight’s show. However, excuse me but what is that cliffhanger??!! I need more of this book, it was too short and I need the third book right now!

Mia has completed her training with the other Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder and yet is no closer to avenging her family's deaths by kindly returning the favour to those who murdered them. On discovering those whose demise she has promised are actually under the protection of those she, herself, serves, Mia must decide where her loyalties truly lie. 

I know I praise the writing the most in every review, but Jay Kristoff is a master story-teller. I fell in love with his sublimely beautiful writing, it is so unlike anything I have ever read. It completely charmed me and I am transfixed from the very first page. I also can’t forget the world he created. It is so unique and complex, if he would write a book just explaining the history of it, I would read it and be hooked. What I also really liked about Godsgrave is that it is forever shifting, barely letting you breathe but leaving you still wanting more. Also, there are so many mysteries in there my brain had some difficulties following. I definitely lost some sleep for this book, but it was absolutely worth it. The only thing i would criticise is the cliffhanger, but as I am not a huge fan of them in general this doesn’t come as a surprise and who knows, maybe you will enjoy it. Highly recommended!