Zuzanna's 2021 in books...

I have decided to read more books this year - I will be reviewing them all on this page so come join me for the journey!

[zuzareads]

Ninety Eight Four - George Orwell

Rating: ☆☆☆☆/5

For some reason, I feel like I enjoyed this book less than most people. On the good-reads app, most people who have read it were mesmerised by it and the deeper meaning. I did feel like that towards the end but there were some things that I was not particularly a fan of. 

The characters were a bit underdeveloped and it was not the right amount of mystery that I normally enjoy. You never truly found out who Winston or Julia were as people which irritated me. 

Further, I was not particularly fond of how much they read a book within a book. Indeed, it was an important aspect of the novel however it could have easily been explained in less detail. I feel like it dragged on unnecessarily. 

I did enjoy the constant twists and how the reader was able to find out more information throughout, as more things were revealed. It was a slow process, but things needed to be explained in detail in order for the reader to really feel as if they were living the life of Winston.

The ending was my favourite part. Very unexpected, especially the last sentence. I do feel as though the whole concept of the book will be stuck with me for a long time - which is what Orwell intended. 

I hope I can get my hands on Animal Farm this year!

[zuzareads]

The Course of Love - Alain de Botton

Rating: ☆☆☆/5

So, initially I bought this book purely because Harry Styles had recommended it many times. And as I am a fan of his music, I thought I would give it a go. I kinda bought it on a whim when I was drunk in Hampstead. 

If I am being completely honest, it did not live up to my expectations. I started reading it a long time ago (over the summer last year) and only finished it 6 months later. From the way people spoke about it on social media and H himself, I began reading it thinking that it would completely change my life. But it didn’t really do that. 

The characters were quite captivating - the story of two people falling in love always gets me invested in anything. I enjoyed their stories constantly evolving and more information being revealed throughout the book. 

One thing that I found extremely annoying was the ‘narrator’ constantly coming in to tell the reader about the reality of love. At first, I thought it was quite cute that they were given the readers tips on how to make a relationship work and the do’s and don’t’s of it. However, as I kept reading it just began interrupting dialogue between the two characters and it became irritating. If they had minimised the use of this throughout the novel, I probably would have given this a higher rating. 

Overall, it was an okay book. I don’t think I will be reading it again but it was an eye opener on some aspects of relationships, so I would recommend it if you wanted to read something that was not too sad but not too happy either. Just a right balance.