An exquisitely written book that takes you into a world that you cannot help but wish was real. Not since Harry Potter has a novel so fully taken my b...moreAn exquisitely written book that takes you into a world that you cannot help but wish was real. Not since Harry Potter has a novel so fully taken my breath away and woken such a longing for magic in me. I couldn't help but savour every word, every poetic scene, every special detail. It is books like these that make me wonder why I bother writing at all. Never will I be able to enchant like this. It is one of those books that will continue to resonate with you long after you have put it down...(less)
Wow! It is so awesome when a book you've been longing to read lives up to your every expectation and more. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children...moreWow! It is so awesome when a book you've been longing to read lives up to your every expectation and more. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is magically beautiful and will surely haunt me for many years to come.(less)
The Girl With Glass Feet is a love story about a shy photographer and a girl who is slowly turning into glass. It is completely whimsical, utterly dev...moreThe Girl With Glass Feet is a love story about a shy photographer and a girl who is slowly turning into glass. It is completely whimsical, utterly devastating, and astonishingly beautiful in every way. I loved The Girl With Glass Feet in that quiet understated way that one might love a good cup of tea. (less)
Shortly before his sixteenth birthday, Kevin Khatchadourian kills seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher. He is vi...moreShortly before his sixteenth birthday, Kevin Khatchadourian kills seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher. He is visited in prison by his mother, Eva, who narrates in a series of letters to her estranged husband, Franklin, the story of Kevin’s upbringing.
I don’t think you’re supposed to relate so fully with a woman who has raised a sociopath for a son, but there is something about Eva Khatchadourian that is so unerringly human that you just can’t help but understand exactly where she is coming from throughout the entire novel. We Need to Talk About Kevin is one of those novels that you nod along to, understanding fully despite having to remind yourself that really you have no idea what it might be like to live with someone that evil! Lionel Shriver is clearly an accomplished and incredibly intelligent author. She writes with a beautifully poetic language that captures you from the first page. This book will definitely give any prospective parent nightmares for a long time to come. I keep looking at my kid and thinking something along the lines of ‘Thank God you’re such an angel. Don’t think I should tempt fate a second time. Just in case!”
I don’t know if as the reader you are meant to blame Eva for the wrongdoings of her son. I certainly did not, but then I am very much personally under the impression that sociopaths are born and not made. Maybe not always, but often there is nothing you can do about the ways of another person. A good upbringing is not always enough.(less)
Clay Jensen comes home one day to find a package waiting for him. Inside are seven cassette tapes. On the cassette tapes are the thirteen reasons why...moreClay Jensen comes home one day to find a package waiting for him. Inside are seven cassette tapes. On the cassette tapes are the thirteen reasons why Hannah Baker has killed herself. As Clay listens to the tapes, he learns a lot more than he bargained for about the people around him, and comes to understand just how important it can be to reach out a hand to someone in need.
It’s kind of hard to read a book like this. We’re so predisposed to expecting happy endings from the stories that we consume. Knowing from the beginning that there is no good ending makes it seem kind of futile. But this is one of those books you just can’t put down. You can’t help feeling that it must be relevant.
Jay Asher does a good job of getting into the mind of a teenager. The hopelessness of the situation is acutely felt throughout the entire novel.
It’s a ridiculously easy read, which is it’s greatest feature as far as I’m concerned, because every teenager should read it. As should every teacher and parent.
I’m giving this book a 5 because, despite my inability to get it across in this review (I’ve been stewing over what to say for ages – and come to the conclusion that you can’t explain it – you just understand it!) I very much believe in it’s relevance. It points out how all those little things that don’t matter can so easily turn into one huge big thing that does.(less)
I don’t think you’re supposed to relate to books about asylums and suicide. And honestly as I started reading this book I got a bit worried and though...moreI don’t think you’re supposed to relate to books about asylums and suicide. And honestly as I started reading this book I got a bit worried and thought to myself – oh hell you’re supposed to relate to the end part of the book surely! Not this part.
Veronika isn’t depressed. Or necessarily unhappy. Nothing traumatic has ever happened to her. And yet she has known for a long time that she will one day kill herself. Her attempt is thwarted though, and she ends up in an asylum for her efforts. When she regains consciousness she is told that she has done irreparable damage to her heart and will not live for more than a few days more.
I’m not sure if I can quite communicate my love for Paulo Coehlo. I say this as if I have read all of his books, which I assure you I haven’t, but there truly is something special about this man. The innocence with which he writes is just so overwhelmingly powerful. I imagine him to be a man who just quietly observes the state of the world, and on occasion chooses to translate those observations on paper with perfect precision and heart. If only I could write with such surety. This is how it is, he says, and he offers no excuses for it.
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