The Storyteller

Der Märchenerzähler #1

by Antonia Michaelis

Anna and Abel couldn’t be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It’s a beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his “enemies” begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer. Has she?

Award-winning author Antonia Michaelis moves in a bold new direction with her latest novel: a dark, haunting, contemporary story that is part mystery, part romance, and part melodrama.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

402 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

Antonia Michaelis has lived and taught in India. She is the author of several award-winning books published in her native language German.

Reviews

[Claudia Lomelí · Rating 2 out of 5]

Impresiones finales: WTF.

Estoy muy molesta con este libro, ¡y es que yo pensé que me iba a terminar gustando mucho! Iba pasando la mitad y yo estaba convencida de que lo calificaría bien, con unas 4 estrellas probablemente. ¿Las razones?

+ Me gustó mucho cómo escribe la autora, creo que su estilo es poético, pero solo lo necesario. Pinta los paisajes de una forma súper mágica y eso hizo que pudiera imaginarme todo como si estuviera leyendo un cuento para niños, un cuento de fantasía.
+ Me gustó la relación de Abel y Micha (su hermanita), siento que él sí la sobreprotegía, pero podía entender por qué. Luego me gustó el grupito que se formó entre Anna, Micha y Abel.
+ Los tintes de misterio también me atraparon, ¡estaba intrigada por saber quién era el culpable de tantas cosas que estaban ocurriendo! Tenía dos sospechosos principales y le atiné a uno.
+ Al final, cuando Micha canta cierta canción en una escena que no voy a mencionar, se me salió una lagrimita.
+ Aunque al inicio no me convencían, comencé a shippear a Anna con Abel. Realmente me gustaban como parejita y quería que todo se arreglara en la vida de Abel para que ambos pudieran ser felices. I WAS ROOTING FOR THEM.

PERO.

Y AQUÍ LO MÁS IMPORTANTE. La razón principal por la que el libro cayó de mi gracia. Cuando ocurrió "esa" escena, yo ya no pude leerlo de la misma forma. Todo se vino para abajo. Esconderé los spoilers, pero una cosa sí quiero decir, porque tengo que dejar esto MUY CLARO.

+ Este es un libro en el que se romantiza el abuso sexual. Y no solo eso, la autora trata el tema de la peor manera, con nada de cuidado y de una forma irresponsable. Y todo lo intenta justificar con que el sujeto ha tenido una vida dura y trágica. NO, NO Y NO. Y ahora, los spoilers. Me decepcioné muchísimo cuando Anna vuelve con Abel a pesar de que él la violó. Y su excusa fue "en el amor somos irracionales", WTF, mujer. EL TIPO LA VIOLÓ Y LUEGO LA DEJÓ AHÍ TIRADA. Y ella se tarda dos segundos en correr hacia él, porqUE LO AMA. La víctima volvió con su violador y no volvieron a tocar el tema, fue como: jajaja bueno ya pasó, ahora sigamos con lo nuestro.

Otras cosas que odié:

+ No solo se trata el tema del abuso sexual de forma pésima, sino que resulta que Abel ha asesinado como a tres personas y a Anna no le importa, literalmente se entera de esto y al siguiente minuto ya están teniendo sexo (para este punto ya la había violado antes). A la mujer no le importa que su novio sea un asesino, no, porque ella lo ama, recuerden: "en el amor somos irracionales" (????).

+ También detesté a Anna. Hace mucho tiempo que no leía a una protagonista tan estúpida. EN SERIO. Todas las decisiones que tomaba no tenían sentido alguno. No es buena hija y mucho menos buena amiga. En cuanto se enamora de Abel (literal se enamora de él la primera vez que hablan, amor instantáneo en su máxima potencia), le deja de hablar a todo el mundo. Su vida gira en torno a Abel. ¿Sus amigos? ¡Esos qué importan! Abel, el chico que acaba de conocer, es mucho más importante. ¿Sus papás? ¡Que mejor ni se metan en su vida, a pesar de que ella sigue siendo menor de edad y ellos la mantienen y la respetan! Pero es que su enamoramiento con Abel rayaba en la obsesión, Anna ni siquiera estudiaba porque solo podía pensar en Abel. Dejó de ir a sus clases de música porque prefería estar con Abel. Le perdonó a Abel todo lo que le hizo, que no solo es lo que mencioné arriba, sino que también la llegó a tratar mal y a ignorar sin justificación.

ES QUE EN SERIO, ANNA ERA DEMASIADO TONTA.

Y pues ya, amigos, no lo recomiendo. ES TODO. Fin del comunicado.

[Zemira Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

*sees book for the first time*

OMG! I NEED TO READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW!

*still reading*

No! What is happening? God,please don't let anything bad happen!



*reads the last line*

First I was like

Then I was
[image error]

This book! Oh! This book completely destroyed me. I haven't cried like this since Forbidden(sad tears) and Jellicoe Road(happy tears). Unfortunately these were the sad tears.

There is so much pain and suffering in this book I almost can't believe it.

*hour after finishing*


*finally getting ready to sleep*


*this morning*

Oh...er...what?

I was so wrapped up in the story I got late for the bus and now I'm stuck here all day in my room,thinking about this book. I am not recommending it to anyone because I'd feel bad if someone wouldn't like it after my recommendation. But let me tell you this:I haven't read a similar story before and the combination of a story within a story is wonderful,the book was mind-blowing. Oh,no! I'm tearing up again.




P.S. Sorry about this useless review full of gifs. I just can't express myself without them properly. Oh,one more thing HERE is the song I was listen to while reading the book if anyone is interested.

[Melissa Veras · Rating 1 out of 5]

#44: A book that was originally written in a different language.



OH. MY. GOD.

This has to be one of the WORST books I have ever read in my entire life. It's amazing how a book can be THAT BAD. I'm not going into full description of my problems with this... this... thing, because there were a lot of issues and this... thing is not worth it.

I just want to say one thing: Michaelis, I'm HORRIFIED of how lighly, badly, disrespectfully you treat such an important and delicate issue like rape. Seriously. It's awful what you did there. I'm hoping you don't think is okay to STAY with your rapist just because you're "in love", because IT'S NOT. It's actually disgusting how you, Antonia Michaelis, at the end, romanticize the whole thing, and... did you try to make us believe that he was a GOOD guy, after all? ARE YOU KIDDING ME.
ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME.

I don't really care if this is considered spoiler, because NO ONE SHOULD READ THIS. EVER.

I'm going to give it one star because there's not lower rating, but this is an insult to the others books that I've rated with one star. Because this deserve so much lower.

[Kristalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Final rating: 5/5 stars

“Go away princess. Leave your outlaw alone. You won't change him... go away, Anna, far away, and don't ever come back. The fairy tale doesn't have a happy ending.”

I think i tried to start this one at least 4 times, and i always dropped it and read something else. I was wrong. This book was simply not what i was used to reading, it was just...captivating of sorts. And, it was beautiful, amazing and heartbreaking. Seriously.

I loved the writing, it was so beautiful, sentences were wonderful... All the right words everywhere...I also loved that there were alternating POVs, and in third person...(finally something that isn't first person)...

The ice in his eyes had changed; it seemed to have become darker, like the dark, clear ice on a frozen lake whose depth suddenly becomes visible when the wind brushes the snow from the surface. It was an endless depth, bottomless, and almost totally black. She didn’t know which thoughts and creatures were swimming down there. They scared her. It was as if she were watching Abel drown in the waters of himself. She shook her head, trying to rid it of these thoughts.

I don't know...i just don't know what to think. I need to recover from reading this one. So many things that happened i never would expect, and the plot twists at the end of the book were....WAY TO WTF. IT WAS MIND F*CK ALL THE WAY.

I think the book had perfect ending, even though it was unexpected. I connected some dots, but i didn't want to believe in them. I suspected wrong people and thought the characters would choose right choices instead of wrong ones. Nothing is what it seems to be, and it will shock you...and probably make you weep...Now, this type of story leaves you thinking....how does it end? For those who wish to know how the story ends click: it is not HEA.... You have been warned!!!

“Me, too,” he said. “But not of those guys. They’re dumb. They’re so dumb. They live out there, you know, where we live, too. Everyone there … well, almost everyone … is dumb. Ignorant. It’s not their fault. They inherit the ignorance of their parents and hand it onto their children like a tradition, like a craft. They drink in the ignorance with their powdered milk, with each bottle of beer, and in the end they make their coffins of ignorance.”
“And … you?”
“Me?” He understood and laughed. “I don’t know. I’m a slipup. A mistake. An accident. I guess Michelle managed to bed some intellectual. I’ve always been different. And maybe back then … when I was very small … maybe she was different, too. I don’t remember. Maybe she was a mother … before she gave up being anything at all.”

___________________________________________

Story :
____________________________________________

The story follows three people: Anna, Abel and Micha.

Anna is the random student, who lives in a perfect world, sheltered from everything, with perfect, normal and amazing family, with lots of friends. And then she finds a doll. And that doll belonged to Abel Tannatek, the drug dealer from her school. After talking for a while, he told her that the doll belongs to his sister. Anna wonders if what he said was true and wanted to see what Abel was hiding from the world. After stalking him, she finds out that he really has a sister, Micha. Abel and Micha are half siblings, sharing the same mother. What she didn't expect was that Abel is a storyteller. He sat with Micha and told her a story about a Cliff Queen, who was alone on the island with her doll. Everyone wanted to own, to possess and to kill the Cliff Queen, because she possessed something that little people possessed...A heart of diamond.

“But what does he want my heart for?" the little queen asked.
"He just wants to own it," replied the sea lion. "That is enough. He wants to look on its beauty and know that his hands alone can touch it.

Little did Anna know, that everything that happened in the story was happening in the real life as well. The story is one big metaphor of choosing the right choices, leave when you see the danger... Micha, a six year old girl, listened very carefully to it...and so did Anna.

___________________________________________

Characters :
____________________________________________

♦ Anna :



Anna, Anna, Anna..... Her choices, her decisions, everything about her made me wonder...Is it even possible to be like her? She met Abel, she wanted to help him, and then....whole world turns upside down... So many things happened and her decisions and behavior astonished me... I don't know...I seriously don't know...I liked her nonetheless, i liked her so much...

SERIOUS SPOILERS:
how can she just go on after he raped her? How could she even touch him afterwards? I would be too scared to do that...and it shows just how much she loved him.......But she was in love with wrong person in the end.....
____________________________________________

♦ Abel :

Drug dealer, aka, the Polish Peddler and another main character of this story. He is broken, he is messed up from the inside and he is well aware of that fact. He doesn't want to change it, he doesn't want any help. He is absolute and utter mess. I am conflicted at what to think of him. I liked him but at the same time i hated him. Some things that he had done were unforgivable, but i understood him, especially after he told Anna everything. He loves Micha beyond everything, he would do everything for his little sister, and it was devastating to know what he had gone through for her....

SERIOUS - END OF THE BOOK TYPE SERIOUS- SPOILERS(read at your own risk):
How could he rape Anna??? I mean, he just lost control and everything, and she wanted to have sex with him, and he did warn her not to do that...but still........i was so shocked that my love toward him turned into hate and disgust...

Not to mention that he turned out to be murderer as well, that he killed all of those people while i suspected Bertil.....I just don't know..... he had the reasons, and he did all of that for Micha... but it doesn't give you right to kill people who stand in your way. It broke my heart that he was also whoring himself....but it was horrible to know what he had gone through, and even more horrible that he had done to Anna the same thing he had gone through by Micha's father.

And then...he killed himself. It was what he wanted from the beginning, but he was to afraid to leave Micha alone, and he never wanted for her to go through what he did....Oh god, how i cried :(


Oh god, Abel is so fucked up =_=
____________________________________________

♦ Micha :

Is so very adorable...she loves Abel and later she loves Anna as well. She is cute, smart, wonderful and amazing child. Abel protects her from everything every way that he can...

"They stopped in front of the window; it was the window of a Chinese restaurant, and there was a red dragon painted on it. Next to that dragon Micha had written: “K IS EacH Oth ER.”
Abel looked at Anna. Anna looked at Abel.
“She is the little queen,” said Abel, “in our fairy tale, at least.”
“One must obey the queen,” said Anna."

____________________________________________

♦ Others :

Anna's parents were great, amazing and wonderful people. They wanted to help, and they did, more than any of them could ever imagine. Gitta, Anna's best friend irritated me because she called Anna "Little Lamb"...well, she was not so bad, she was actually nice character... Bertil......oh god. No comment. All of the other characters were amazing as well :D
____________________________________________

OVERALL :
____________________________________________

This is amazing book. Its so unexpected, different, abnormal. It left me wonder many, many times...What are people willing to do for the people they love? How far are they willing to go? Would they destroy their own happiness in the process? Will they forgive the wrong that was done to them? How will they live with the consequences of their choices?
Beautiful, beautiful book.



This review can be found on my blog: infinity-of-time.blogspot.com also known as...

[Kai Spellmeier]

“If you have known someone your whole life, you can see them in the dark.”

I knew this book was going to be good. It always had this dark and fascinating pull to it. It has been on my to-read list for a long time. I picked it up because a couple of friends started talking to me about it and told me I needed to read it immediately. They were right, it was a good book. The writing pulled me in from the start. It's poetic and heavy but not overdone. The author creates beautiful images and a breathtaking atmosphere. The story draws you in right away. It's like a fairytale, frighteningly compelling.

But, and here it comes, it is very forking problematic. It depicts rape, abuse and violence, so make sure your skin is thick enough before you pick up this book. Spoilers ahead. Let us talk about that rape scene. Or rather, what happened afterwards. The main character falls in love with Abel, the storyteller. I generally liked this guy. He has issues but he is loving and protective. Until he is not. He raped Anna, the main character. She was hurting, she was shattered, she was shocked. She knew what just happened was rape. She knew it was unforgivable. But she forgave him anyway and went back to him. Now, it is not for me to tell anyone who has suffered sexual assault or abuse what to do and how they have to behave. It is not for me to tell Anna that she is not allowed to forgive him. It is her choice, and hers alone.

Young adult authors have a certain responsibility. They are not only artists and entertainers, they are also teachers, whether they want to be or not. The kids and teenagers that read their books take something away from this experience, they learn from it. This does not mean that young adult books cannot challenge the norm or should shy away from certain issues. It only means that the way in which they are presented should be carefully thought-out. The message stories send to their readers and listeners might stay with them forever.
This is the reason why I do not want to recommend this book. I do not think that a relationship depicted in it is a healthy one (neither does the author, that is for sure). And still, what stays with me is that Anna was raped and went back to her rapist. I believe that many teenagers that read this book might find it romantic. What this book might have needed are explanatory notes, help lines or a trigger warning, but the complete lack thereof is irresponsible.

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[Stacia (the 2010 club) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm not answering any questions," he said, smiling. "I'm not one of the answering people. I'm the storyteller."

Abel Tannatek is the storyteller. He is a young man hiding an ugly reality behind pretty words and magical happenings.

In order to find out what he is hiding, we are forced to slowly watch as the layers of his true self are revealed, one ugly layer at a time. Secrets are the only method of survival in a world where you can count on no one but yourself. Secrets are the only choice you have when you must protect the life of an innocent.

Enter Anna. Sheltered, clueless Anna. She has no idea of the darkness and danger outside of her safe little world.

It's late, Anna...they'll be waiting for you, at home...in that house where the air is always blue...they'll be worried.

A chance meeting between the school's drug dealer and an innocent, sheltered student came about because of a lost doll. Had Anna not found the doll, she would have carried on her life as usual. There would be no danger, no mystery, no killing for her to know about. One might say that finding the doll was the worst thing that could have happened to her. I would disagree.

Abel is a broken human being. He's broken to the point of ill repair, yet Anna still sees something in him that's worth saving. As we see Abel through Anna's eyes, we are shown just how much a person will endure in order to spare a life so precious to him - the life of a tiny little girl in a pink jacket.

Abel and Anna bond through time shared as Abel spins wonderful fairytales into existence for his younger sister. Real life becomes the backdrop for the fantasy. Characters in reality become characters in the story. A mystery starts to unfold as characters in the story become bigger players in crimes which start taking place in the real world. Who is the killer? Why does Abel seem to have so much to hide? Why are other people interested in what Abel and Anna are up to?

I can't divulge much without going into spoiler territory. The Storyteller is so beautifully written. The depth of character and layers of detail are heart-breakingly intricate. After I finished, I was left with a few different emotions. Anger and sadness were probably the two most prominent, but I can't say that I have any regrets reading this book. I had a hard time putting my reader down because the story of Abel and Anna was such a pull.

As for the character flaws...I suppose I should address those. Both Abel and Anna disappointed me in a way because of their actions, yet I felt as if their actions made them more real. Abel was abused, so he had no other experience to draw from in learning how to interact with others. Anna had an empty but satisfactory life and she craved more than her own existence inside of a pretty box. Abel was able to give her something she'd never had before and because of this, she was quick to forgive at times when others wouldn't. Right or wrong, I understood why.

[ily]

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

I HATE this book.
But I also LOVE it.
FUCK. FUCK. FUCK.

I loved the storyteller, rose girl, the little queen, the sea lion, the lighthouse keeper, and all the characters from the fairy tale. But I wish things were different. I do.

Review to come while I figure out the rating.

[Soumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a tiny little pain
Three days of heavy rain,
Three days of sunlight,
Everything will be alright

A good girl, a bad boy, a deadly fairytale that might come true, in truth life is no fairy tale.

Anna was fascinated by Abel, school’s moody drug dealer. When she discovered Abel was actually caring for his little sister Micha, alone, trying to protect her from her abusive father, Anna was more drawn to him. In spite of friends’ warning Anna started hanging out with Abel and found herself engulfed by the fairytale Able used to tell Micha.
A fairytale about a little orphan cliff queen with heart of pure diamond, hunted by the hunter who wants possess her diamond heart.
A foretold fairytale, woven the characters from real life and when the characters turned up dead in real, who knew a fairytale might come true.
Was Anna in love with a murderer?

Story unlike anything I have read, characters unlike any one I have ever seen, The Storyteller stole my heart.
Not many books had made me cry, neither had I crowned many books with the title of “All time favorite”, but The Storyteller was spellbound.
A parallel journey of a fairytale and truth of reality, both were mirror image of each other. Experience of reading The Storyteller will always be alive in my memory.
When I was finished with the book, I was speechless; my heart was shattered with pain, I couldn’t sleep that night. It took me several days to collect my thoughts and brought them together in a piece of paper, though I’m afraid I’ll not be able to express my feeling in few words.

The Storyteller

Abel, my storyteller, you were the heart of the book, without you the story has no existence. His character was layered like black and white aligning the lighter and dark shades of Abel’s life.
I was lost into his blue eyes, immersed in his ravishing fairytale just like Anna. Initially I thought him to be another bad boy but I immediately found myself attached to him from the very moment he ran to Micha, hold her in his arm and spin her around in the air, I found a passionate and caring boy living inside his rough shell. Abel is a character worthy of notice, very remarkable and a brilliant narrator of an enchanting fairytale.

The Rosegirl

“Part of her—unreasonable Anna—still loved him. Maybe she would never stop loving him.”

If Abel was the heart, Anna was his heart beat. The kind and selfless girl, soft like a rose petal, but her path to Abel’s life was a path of thrones. I felt emphasized with her, adapted her love, her pain and her concerns as my own. Experiencing the story from Anna’s point felt like I was physically present here but mentally I was with her watching Abel, suffering for him and falling for him more and more.

Love Is Red, So Is Blood

'He pulled her close and held her for a moment, so tight she could feel every single bone in his body. And somewhere between them, she felt his heart beating, fast and nervous. Hunted.

The storyteller was a wistful love story without the three words “I love you”. The affection and warmth between Anna and Abel made my heart beat fast and I stared to bite my nails off to the ultimate point of love, a heartrending bitter sweet romance that will haunt your thoughts.

“All you saw and felt was your love for him. You were wearing this love like a cloak, safe and warm, you thought … and he tore it apart.”

With presence of warm feelings and wet kisses in winter, The Storyteller is painful yet very touching romance mingled with series of murder and mysteries. Moving in a slow pace yet tense, the author was successful to hold me hypnotized.
Slowly unfolding the mysteries, when the book led me to the unexpected ultimate revelation, my heart sank deeper and deeper; I found my thoughts bleeding and murmuring under my breath why this have to end like this, there should have been other ways but I understood the "easy way out".

The writing was lyrical and mesmerizing, with wonderful words. I had my attention fixated on the pages as though by a spell, The Storyteller was truly a different and beautiful example of traditional writing style in modern literature.

Only I can say reading The Storyteller was wonderful journey for me. A heart wrenching love, secrets and deaths, The Storyteller is one of most extraordinarily great novel of the year.

[♥Rachel♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"in love, there is no criticism. In love, there is no rationality."

This quote, to me, says it all in this story. It's a story will stay with you long after you're done. I'm still thinking and talking about it to whoever will listen.

Seventeen year old Anna finds a doll, underneath a couch in the student lounge. When Abel, the well-known drug dealer of the school, claims the doll belongs to his six-year old sister, Anna is curious, and ends up following Abel to see if it's true. When Anna sees the love, and affection on the face of Abel as his picks his sister, Micha, up from school, she finds herself intrigued. Anna continues to follow them to a student dining hall. She sits close but undetected, listening as Abel tells a fairytale that completely entrances Anna. Anna's presence soon becomes known, and she sits, and listens with them to the fairytale the rest of the afternoon. Anna soon finds out that Abel is caring for his sister alone. The whereabouts of their mother is unknown. He is scared that the authorities will take Micha away from him because he is not yet eighteen, and place her in foster care. The fairytale Abel continues to tell, seems to mirror real life. Warning signs flash to Anna when some of the people that die in the fairytale, also die in real life. Could her storyteller be responsible, or are other sinister people involved? As this is going on, Anna and Abel find themselves drawn to each other and you wonder, right along with Anna, is this going to work out?

Let me tell you, this is not my normal, sweet, vanilla-type book, with a nicely wrapped up ending. This book is messy, beyond messy. Abel and Anna's relationship is sweet and heart-breaking. He does some things and you think: I don't know if I can get over that. Then something else happens, and your heart melts again. You really want things to work out for these two. This is interlaced with all kinds of HORRIBLE! That being said, this story was beautiful. Taking place in the middle of winter felt like the perfect setting, there was a quiet, chilling, and intimate quality to this story. This was originally written in German but the lovely prose was not lost in translation, in my opinion. I don't know why but I loved this quote:

Anna was standing in front of the glass leading out to the fading light of the garden when her mother came home. She'd been staring at her own figure reflected in the glass: the outline of her narrow shoulders, her long dark hair----a see-through person full of winter shrubs.

See, it's of no use to you to read that, I just liked it.

So if anyone wants to read a brilliant story that will completely DESTROY you in the end, this is for you! Thank you, Sam, for this recommendation. I was crying for hours, but yes, we are still friends. Seriously, I did enjoy this.

[Tanja (Tanychy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I see it. Broken. Into pieces. My heart. There. On the floor.

I just need to pull myself together and then I'll write a review.
Here we go.

Just a tiny little pain,
Three days of heavy rain,
Three days of sunlight,
Everything will be alright,
Just a tiny little pain.

Have you ever read a book that you could find emotions on every single page of it? No. Well, me neither. Until now. Until this book. Everything is now changed. This book didn't only made me think about life and destiny and love, but it made me think about universe and everything inside of it.

What did I like in this book? Everything. Simple as that. From the Abel to Anna and Micha. From the love to the death. Every single word of Abel's fairy tale. When it comes to the writing style. I'm speechless. Antonia is something special between the authors. How she manage to write story which is sad and happy in the same time it's a mystery to me.
Sometimes I don't even know if I'm extremely happy or extremely sad.
But I'll be grateful forever because of that. She even knew how to put all those songs by Leonard Cohen to perfectly fit to this story. And the end oh, the end. I believe my pillow is full of my tears. I don't know what to say. *standing ovations*

Don't know who translate this into English, but whoever did that deserve an award. It's unwritten rule that translations will never be as good as originals and I can confirm that. But if the original version of this story is even better than this then I really don't understand how this book isn't popular. I can't help but wonder how many awesome books are out there, hidden somewhere, waiting to be found. I'll keep my eyes wide open.

There was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

[Nia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ich kann dieses Buch nicht bewerten. Bis weit über die Hälfte war ich sehr begeistert davon, aber dann tut die Autorin etwas, was ich ihr sehr sehr übel nehme. Dieses Buch macht mich wütend und es bereitet mir Magenschmerzen. Ich denke, ich werde es sacken lassen, bevor ich eine Rezension dazu schreibe.

EDIT: Es sind einige Monate vergangen und mein Groll auf dieses Buch ist nicht kleiner geworden. Egal wie toll die Sprache, wie schön das mit der Realität verwobene Märchen ist, das reißerische, fast groschenromanhafte letzte Drittel ruiniert es. Der Grund, warum ich mich aber nun zur niedrigsten Bewertung entschieden habe ist, dass ich es schlicht ekelhaft finde, in einem Jugendroman ein Mädchen zu ihrem Vergewaltiger zurückkehren zu lassen mit der Begründung "Liebe kennt keine Vernunft". Es gibt wohl auf der Welt nicht schon genug Frauen, die sich von ihren Männern misshandeln lassen und aus Liebe immer wieder zurückkehren. Mann muss es den Mädchen auch noch in einem tragisch-romantischen Kontext vorführen.
Vergewaltigung als Plottreiber ist schlicht nicht OK, vor allem nicht in einem Jugendbuch und wenn sich so jämmerlich mit dieser schwierigen Thematik auseinandergesetzt wird.

[Mont Guzman · Rating 2 out of 5]

El cuentacuentos de Antonia Michaelis

5.4/10

Realmente me siento decepcionada :'/ Está cosa tenía todo para ser una grandísima obra maestra; excelente prosa, trama interesante, entornos maravillosos... ¿Y todo para qué? Un Thriller soso que romantiza cualquier tema severo que toquen.
¿Violación? Perdonada.
¿Él sujeto es un asesino? ¡La protagonista se acuesta con él a sabiendas de esto!

Y lo peor es que quieren justificar las acciones del sujeto responsable de todo con una "infancia terrible".

Me siento de verdad enojada con este libro. Tiene clichés que siempre he odiado y TODO lo trata de romantizar. ¡La protagonista tiene 17/18 años y hace cosas más pendejas que mi prota de 13!

Es cierto; me hizo llorar su final y lo llegue a amar, pero hasta allí. Es un libro predecible, no se siente como un verdadero Thriller, lleno de romantisismo realmente inecesario, escenas y situaciones inecesarias y con cliché del barato.

[Cande · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trigger warnings (book and my review): sexual assault, victim blaming

Me siento incapaz de reseñar este libro, de decir algo, de intentar explicarlo. No puedo. Cuando pienso en The storyteller sólo siento bronca. La narración, tan hermosa, tan descriptiva, se pierde. El misterio, la crudeza y el dolor se ve opacado. El contraste entre lo creepy e ingenuo no es suficiente. Y todo es culpa de un personaje. Abel. De sus acciones, de sus pensamientos, de su ridículo pasado oscuro. Todo es culpa de la autora, por plantear una violación como si nada, por justificar al violador y culpar a la víctima, por idealizar a estos machitos abusivos, por hacernos creer (o al menos intentarlo) que el amor lo puede todo.

"No, dijo la parte razonable de ella. Por supuesto que no. ¿No te acuerdas? Le has oído decir lo mismo a hombres acerca de las chicas, leído en los periódicos baratos, y siempre pensaste cuán estúpido y cuán equivocado: ella lo pidió, vistiendo esas cosas, bebiendo en exceso, coqueteando... ella lo pidió, ella lo quería."

Chicos no, el amor no lo cura todo. Si te lástima no hay justificación, una mierda si tuvo una infancia terrible. No. No. No. Paren con esto. ¿Qué necesidad había de escribir esta escena? Dejen de usar violaciones como un plot twist.

Es un libro denigrante y espantoso, pienso en él y quiero llorar. La primera vez que leo una autora JUSTIFICANDO al violador directamente, sin problemas.

Por favor, no lean ésto.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I start here's a request, a plea: Please check this youtube video about the book (only one minute long).. So chilling, especially if you read the book. And Micha singing at the end ... Ok, ok here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oPa0F...

Never in my entire life did I read anything like this book. It was so dark and unbelievably sad.. Hauntingly beautiful with little humor here and there sparkling like thin rays of a rainbow on an island in a fairy tale.

BEFORE & AFTER



Before I started the book my heart was full of dread. All my friends had a funeral going on Goodreads and everyone was crying. And I thought: 'What the heck am I getting myself into??'
After I finished I was walking around in a daze.. Staring in front of me but not seeing a thing. And I spent some time on the Island of the Dumbstruck. Then I visited Speechlessville for a while.

SHELLS & SISTERS

“So-shell-a-sister-office,” she said. “Social assistance office—that’s it!” Micha exclaimed. “That’s where he came from.”

Micha... What wouldn't I do to protect this sweet little thing from anything that might harm her.. I loved her innocence and how she saw the world.. She really was a little queen. She went through a whole lot at that early age. But still, she could find little sparks of happiness here and there. I was happy that there was at least someone who found safety in this book.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ISLANDS



The group's journey between islands reminded me of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. And what made it amazing was the fact that every single detail in the Storyteller's fairy tale had a meaning.. He told Anna EVERYTHING.. But neither Anna nor me got it in time.. I became suspicious somewhere in the middle. My doubts were almost confirmed when they reached The Murderer's Island. As if he was telling Anna that he wanted to be saved from what he was - or rather, what he was forced to become. "because he or she was born on an island with a sign saying 'Island of the Murderer'" Then I got lost again.

IT AIN'T NO FAIRY TALE

Everybody knew everything now. Or did everybody know nothing? Nobody knew anything … Nobody could know everything.

Almost everything was heart wrenching.. But one of the most difficult moments for me was Anna's monologue after... (or was it a dialogue? Since reasonable and unreasonable Annas were the ones talking.) It was a dark tale, but the images were beautiful. It was a beauty of a haunting quality but beauty nonetheless. I liked how both the tale and the reality went side by side, explaining each other.

UNFORGIVABLE

- him selling drugs, and him selling himself
- him killing those people, and him killing himself (IN FRONT OF the very little queen he swore to protect!!!)
There's always a way, for both points.. It shouldn't have been like that.

- There's also Anna heedlessly throwing herself into danger over and over again even though Abel had a Hollywood billboard over his head screaming DON'T APPROACH! Don't get me wrong I wouldn't have left him either. But there are ways.


THOUGHTS ON THE END

There are fewer answers in the world than questions, and if you ask me now why that is so, I must tell you that there is no answer to that question.

I don't... I can't... I.. Ok let's face it: I just can't stand it when a story doesn't have the happy ending I want it to have. But in The Storyteller the case is different. It just had to end the way it did.. As much as it broke my heart.. Tore it.. Shredded it to pieces, but it's true. This is real life we're talking about.. And the ending is not always that of a fairy tale. Still, my heart is weeping.. I can't take it.. I just can not.

WHY THE 5 STARS?

There was so much violence.. Too much pain and suffering.. Everything was so dark.. So so sad.. With no hope of finding the light of happiness.. But it was real. It was full of lessons.. Reminders to take care and keep our eyes wide open, for the world could be a really dangerous place sometimes. Things like that -and worse- happen all the time. Thousands, no hundreds of thousands of victims.. It was a glimpse of the stark reality. A reality that I dream will change one day.. It may sound impossible, but who knows..

Now, what do you think? Did you like the end? Was it justified? I just need to talk about it a bit lest I lose my mind...

[Pamela Colin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reseña editada.

Una total decepción 😒 y de lo peor que he leído este año. Me pregunto, ¿por qué este libro tiene tan buenas valoraciones en Goodreads?

Creo que el libro pudo ser un graaaan libro si la autora no se le hubiera ocurrido la "grandiosa" idea de romantizar la violación y el maltrato. Su narrativa es buena, es poética, pero jode la historia hablando de manera MUUUUY superficial de temas tan delicados como es la violación, la prostitución y la pedofilia. Y te encuentras "joyas" como esta:

"Soy completamente feliz, pensó, esperando que él también sintiera aquel pensamiento. En este instante soy completamente feliz, ¿no es raro? O en realidad, no es nada raro.."

"El amor no conoce ninguna razón" ಠ_ಠ

Claro, es tan común sentir esa felicidad después de una violación o después de enterarte de que quien te violó tenía relaciones sexuales con hombres... ¡Cosa de nada, hombre, que el amor todo lo perdona! 😒😡 Y esa escena final entre los protagonistas, es para no creerla.

La autora ha recurrido al amor y a una infancia oscura para justificar a un VIOLADOR. ¡Bravo! Mira que me lo puedes escribir con flores y poesía, pero no deja de ser repugnante.

Anna, la mujer maravilla, queriendo rescatar a Abel de toda esa penumbra en la que está envuelto, y quien me diga que no, es que necesita leer otra vez el libro. Y peor aún, se mete en la vida de Abel y Micha como un calzador, con todo y que Abel fue un patán con ella... Ah, claro, es que su comportamiento se justifica porque la vida ha sido muy mala con él.

Por otro lado, los papás de Anna, bueno, bueno... es que no existían. Estaban viendo toda la situación y, simplemente, eran dos fantasmas. "Anda hija vete a reconciliar con ese pobre muchacho atormentado"

Lo peor es que este libro está dirigido a adolescentes pfff. De verdad, qué delicado e irresponsable publicar este tipo de novelas, que más que un bien, hacen un mal.

Y no voy a hablar de todo lo que envuelve al personaje de Abel, no se trata de falta de empatía pero es que así no se abordan este tipo de temas. Es evidente que sólo se recurren a ellos para VENDER, como saben que pueden tocar las fibras más sensibles del lector, por eso lo hacen. Porque de concienciar o algo más, no hay nada.

¡¡Y ese final, ese final!!... ¿de qué manera podemos traumatizar más a lector? Se le quemó el cerebro el a la escritora con ese final predecible y totalmente incongruente, incongruente por todo lo que venia haciendo Abel por proteger y no traumatizar a su hermanita Micha. En fin.

Un libro para el olvido.

[shady boots · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart doesn't have any pieces anymore.

[Conejo Literario · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entre el final tan chafa y la romantización de la violencia sexual, no le recomendaría este libro ni a mi peor enemigo.

[Glass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my God, what did just happen? Is that his father? What's the point with that creepy doll? Oh, no he didn't... But why?... Can someone point me in the direction of nearest music store - I need to find Leonard Cohen! Is she crazy? I can't believe this girl... And that's her best friend? Some friend... I want to live in her house. That poem on the first page - I'll learn it by heart! God, how can she tuch him after... I don't know what I would do if I was her.

I couldn't sleep all night...

[Scarlet · Rating 5 out of 5]

My child, I know you´re not a child
But I see you running wild
Between those flowering trees.
Your sparkling dreams, your silver laugh
Your wishes to the stars above
Are just my memories.

And in your eyes the ocean
And in your eyes the sea
The waters frozen over
With your longing to be free.

Yesterday you´d awoken
To a world incredibly old.
This is the age you are broken
Or turned into gold...

How can I possible say that I loved this book when it broke my heart into pieces and I am still trying to recover from this emotionally intense and shocking reading.

Storyteller was quite the unforgettable experience: amazing, mind blowing, heartbreaking, bittersweet and emotional roller coaster.
I have recommended it to all my friends.
You NEED to read this book! You will feel its emotional weight long after you turned the last page.

[Bine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was soll man zu diesem Buch sagen? Die einzige Moral, die ich daraus ziehen kann: Nur weil man toxische Werte "poetisch" umschreibt und mit Metaphern und Symbolen so um sich wirft, macht das die höchst problematische Handlung nicht besser oder legitimiert sie gar! Ich finde es super befremdlich, wie in diesem Jugend(!)buch Vergewaltigung, Suizid, Missbrauch, Mord und selbstverletzendes Verhalten romantisiert werden. Ich sehe so etwas viel zu oft in älteren (und zu ab und an auch in neuen) Jugendbüchern und es bereitet mir immer wieder Gänsehaut. Das Buch ist von 2011 und ich denke, heute würde so ein Buch nicht mehr so einfach in einem Publikumsverlag verlegt werden - hoffe ich. Ich will mich hier gar nicht groß aufregen. Kurz gesagt war die Handlung von vorne bis hinten unrealistisch. Die Charaktere waren so weit von authentisch handelnden Menschen entfernt, wie es nur sein kann. Am anstrengendsten fand ich die Protagonistin, die sich alles hat gefallen lassen und mit "Liebe" gerechtfertigt hat. Dieser Typ hat ihr an keiner Stelle etwas zurückgegeben. Das ist nicht romantisch, das ist höchst schädlich. Wieso wird es in diesem Buch so dargestellt? Denkt die Autorin, Liebe macht per se alles gut? Das Buch zeigt für mich eher, dass Liebe (in Annas Fall eher blinde Verliebtheit) großen Schaden anrichten kann.
Naja, und dann waren da noch Abels nervige kleine Schwester, die auch noch dazu genutzt wurde, seine Taten zu legitimieren. Eine kleine Schwester zu haben, um die du dich kümmerst, macht dich nicht direkt zu einem guten Menschen, so wie es niemanden nicht homophob macht, wenn man mit einen queeren Menschen im Freundeskreis hat. Gut, die Sprache und Erzählweise mit diesen ach so poetischen Märchen, die Abel erzählt, die wie ein Abziehbild von Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, wirken, haben mich auch nur mit den Augen rollen lassen.
Ich wusste, dass das Buch umstritten ist, ich habe es mir, als es aktuell war, aus Neugierde gekauft, danach hat es jahrelang auf meinem Sub geschlummert. Heutzutage hätte ich es mir nie zugelegt. Immerhin dafür, dass es so furchtbar zu lesen war, habe ich mich aber nicht durchquälen müssen. Flüssig zu lesen war es immerhin. Mein Problem ist jetzt, dass ich noch "Niemand liebt November" von Antonia Michaelis in meinem Regal habe. Was ich damit mache, weiß ich noch nicht...

[Anete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annas un Ābela (mīlas)stāsts. Anna ir jauna, panaiva meitene ar vienkāršu dzīvi tagad un gaišu nākotni. Ābels tiešām ir pasaku stāstnieks, un ne tikai tas vien.

Grāmata ir uzrakstīta labākajās vācu jauniešu romānu tradīcijās – saistoša valoda un sižets, mūsdienīgas problēmas, klāt piemesta detektīva intriga un neliela trillera deva. Rezultātā emocionāls un pārdomas izraisošs darbs.

Katram cilvēkam ir vajadzīgs kāds, kas ne tikai tevis teikto dzird, bet arī notic un “izlasa starp rindiņām rakstīto”.

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Go away princess. Leave your outlaw alone. You won't change him... go away, Anna, far away, and don't ever come back. The fairy tale doesn't have a happy ending.”

Okay…I am seriously at a loss of words in how to describe my feelings for this book…I mean seriously; I had never, EVER read a book that turned out quite like this! Alright, so before I go into details about my thoughts about this book, this book is called “The Storyteller” by Antonia Michaelis and was translated from German by Miriam Debbage and I have to say that this was one of the most shocking and heartbreaking romance novels I had ever read!

Anna Leeman was your average high school student who dreamt of exploring more in her life than just studying and hanging out with her inner circle of friends all the time. One day, however, Anna’s life changes when she finds a child’s doll on the floor of the student lounge and finds out that it belongs to Abel Tannatek, the school’s Polish peddler drug dealer. Anna then becomes fascinated with this drug dealing loner and wanted to learn more about him by following him everywhere. When Anna follows Abel to his home, she discovers that Abel is living with his six-year-old sister Micha and he has been trying to take care of her, despite the fact that he is too young to be her guardian. Anna then begins to help Abel avoid the social services who want to take Micha away from him and during that time, she ends up falling in love with Abel. Unfortunately, at the same time, several people, who have close connections to Abel and Micha, ended up getting murdered and Abel is the prime suspect!

Can Anna prove Abel’s innocence or is Abel not as innocent as he looks?

Read this book to find out!

Whoa…just whoa….This was one of those books that I could not decide on how to voice my opinions on the whole experience because this book has things that are so wrong that you should find yourself hating this book for how certain things turned out; but at the same time, it was one book that really kept you on the edge of your seat and you just found yourself wanting more from the characters and the story itself! I mean, who would have thought that I would be reading a romance novel that has murder in the center of the plot and pulls off quite a plot twist that I did not see coming a mile away? Antonia Michaelis has truly woven an extremely intense and tragic tale about the joys and dangers of having a romantic relationship with a mysterious bad boy. What made this book stand out from the other romance novels was the fact that it was deconstructing the ideal bad boy hero archetype that we often see in romance novels and actually turned this aspect into something disturbing and tragic for the main anti-hero of the story. Antonia Michaelis really made the characters stand out in this book as they were each deconstructions of the typical romantic archetypes found in most romance novels. Anna Leeman, the heroine of the story, is shown to be innocent and yet yearns for more adventure in her life. However, she is shown to be less unsure of what she really wants and due to being extremely young, she does not know the dangers of the real world very well. Abel Tannatek is shown as your typical bad boy hero who is mysterious and is often moody towards people; but he is shown to have an extremely dark and dangerous side that might put his relationship with Anna in jeopardy. Bertil is shown as a jealous boy who expresses great hatred towards Abel due to him being a romantic rival for Anna, but it is shown that his distrust towards Abel may be founded for a reason. Gitta is shown to be Anna’s best friend, but she is rarely there for Anna, especially when Anna starts distancing herself from Gitta throughout the story. But probably my most favorite part of this book was the storytelling segments told by Abel regarding the little queen and her dangerous journey to the mainland! I loved the way that Antonia Michaelis made the storytelling segments relate to the real life struggles of Abel and Micha as it helps give the readers clues as to what is really going on with Abel and Micha’s life and also pointing out that just because the story that Abel is telling is a fairy tale, does not mean that everything that happens in real life will wrap up nicely like in most fairy tales.



For those of you who do not like strong language and violence, this book does have some strong language such as some mentions of the “s” and “f” words and some violence, which involves several characters getting shot and killed.

There are some disturbing and troubling scenes in this book, but probably the most prominent for me was the scene where Abel rapes Anna. Even though this was the point in the book where we start to see Abel’s true nature, it was still unsettling for me to see a rape scene in this book since I do not take well to rape scenes. But what troubles me more about this scene was how Anna took it as even though we still see Anna reeling over from Abel raping her, the fact that she still loved him even after he raped her makes me feel uneasy. I guess if I was in that situation (and I really, REALLY hope I never do get in that situation), I would not be as forgiving as Anna.

Overall, “The Storyteller” is easily one of the most disturbing yet most heartbreaking and shocking novels I had ever read and anyone who loves reading about books that deconstruct the romance genre should definitely give this book a try!

I like to thank my Goodreads friend Soumi for recommending me this book!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a dream, in a fairy tale, nothing has to be explained, everything happens of its own accord.

Have you ever wonder, do all Fairy tales have a happy ending?
What if if it doesn't but what if it doesn't matter.

This is one of them books I can't get over with, it’s still there lingering from my memory, like it was real, like it IS real and I can hardly shake it. The worse of it all was I can't properly eat and sleep after finishing this book.

This is a story of innocence

Somebody was running toward him, somebody who had been waiting in the shadows. Somebody small in a worn, pink down jacket. They flew toward each other, the small and tall figures, with arms outstretched—their feet didn’t seem to touch the ground—they met in the middle. The tall figure lifted up the small one, spun her around through the winter air, once, twice, three times in a whirl of light, childish laughter.

Love

…suddenly, Abel pulled her into the doorway beside the shop window,…His lips were as cold as snow, but beyond the lips lay the warmth of a fairy-tale sun.

Magic

The rainbows began to swirl into each other, as if they were threads themselves. They danced and spun around; they formed spirals and knots up there, in the clear, cold winter air…

Danger

There is blood everywhere… the tiles are cold and white as snow, and it is winter.
It will be winter forever.

Friendship

...in summer, I want to swim with you, right here. We’ll lie in the water just like this, only the sky will be a different color then. And the water will be warm and blue, and the sailors will pass us on their way out to the island of Rügen.”
“And we’ll eat loads of ice cream,” Micha added.
“Definitely.” Abel rolled onto his stomach. “And then we’ll lounge around on the beach all lazy,
and we’ll build sandcastles …”
“With sea grass for decoration and pinecones for inhabitants,” Anna said.

Heartbreak

“...we can do everything, Abel … get anywhere … together …”
He smiled. “Everything?” he said. “Together. With me? Anna Leemann, you don’t even know me.”
“Go away, princess. Leave your outlaw alone. You won’t … you won’t change him.”

Forgiveness

“So let’s not forgive,” she whispered. “Nor forget. The night will remain there. Behind us.”
“But still you’re here.”
“But still I’m here.”

Hope

‘If we lose each other? Where will we find each other again?’
“‘We’ll meet wherever spring is,’

Sacrifice

In love, there is no criticism. In love, there is no rationality.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
green military parka

Abel might be one those characters I just want to reach out, I want to jump inside the book and hug him. He is such a broken young man and so sweet and caring to his sister. He'll protect her from all dangers and that no one we'll part them both. He's a closed off hero, and that's made him more intriguing and secretive but what I love about him was his storytelling. He'd crafted all this scenarios the same as their real life and I was so glued on what will happen next. I hate him on some part though I can't help but love him on other parts too. I'm still thinking about him after I finished this book... It was insane!

five tiny freckles
Ana oh Ana, this girl omg her curiosity over the taste of something different in life got her in a roller coaster of events. How she had fit herself in the world of Abel and Micha was something I would call "magical" and unexpected yet she fits perfectly well for them and I'm so glad she became a part of their lives. I hate her wild decisions its gets her into trouble but I do know she was deciding from her heart and not her mind, she might be reckless in doing so but her love for Abel was beyond all reasons. It was the staggering truth that she will still love him "against all odds".

pink down jacket
Micha, my sweet sweet little girl, she's a bucket of love, joy, innocence and courage. She's a wise girl and she's the light in the story. For me, she's the one who made Abel and Anna closer together.

color of poppies or is it anemones
the fairytale that seemingly coated with innocence while it actually drench in malice was as intriguing as the reality in the story. The subtle tone of how the fairytale was told to the suspenseful part of of their reality that is yet to be solve was beautifully written but no matter how poetical it was the gory scenes( watch out for that) was difficult to take because it was written in detailed O_O

White noise
You know the thing you hear when there's no reception in the radio, a white noise. I want that right now and forget all the bad stuff that happened in the book and focus the the beautiful fairytale instead and the skating part too which was my favorite scene and all the stolen kisses *sigh*



*a little reminder to the future readers of this book:
Guard your heart...it might shatter into a thousand pieces.

[Fafiliebe ♥ Warner ♥ Raffe ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MILLION STARS... I LOVED IT.. I LIVED IT.. IT KILLED ME..

A MASTERPIECE.. ALL OF IT.. I LOVED IT.. I..I..I...

I AM CRYING NOW... I CRIED .. IT WAS SAD AND BEAUTIFUL AND CREATIVE AND BITTERSWEET... TWISTED TWISTED STORY..

It was Micha who ran.
She freed herself from Anna’s arms and ran up the stairs, and Anna followed her, climbing the steps very slowly. She saw him lying there, saw the blood in which he lay, so incomprehensibly red, light red—big, burst droplets of blood the color of poppies. A sea of blood, a red endless sea, crimson waves, carmine froth, splashing color … Micha was kneeling next to his legs and had laid her arms and her head on his knees, where there was no blood. And she was singing, very, very softly.

Just a tiny little pain,
Three days of heavy rain,
Three days of sunlight,
Everything will be all right.
Just a tiny little pain …

this broke me .. so sad..





I have been sitting for 2 hrs wrapped in my blanket .. and i am still grieving, my eyes hurt..



I added a new shelf for this: Bittersweet
cz it is..

now i doubt my review would be any productive due to my mind state.. but here we go..

This book is a story of a fairy tale of a story..
And every fairy tale needs a fairy tale teller..

A STORYTELLER. ABEL.

in the book there is this..


and this..


and ..


also..


then ..



and..



and..




BUT there is also..





Some love and heartbreak..



as for me when the story ended..





alot...


~~~ I really loved the creative idea of this book, and the poetic emotional brilliant writing with the metaphors and descriptions and imagination, the excellent weaving of the fairy tale that at some point i thought it was the reality of the story, that i can depend on what happens in the fairy tale to deduce some answers..

~~~ Abel did horrible things, but i couldn't get my self to hate him, i felt sorry for him, i even loved a part of him, the part that loved his sister unconditionally, the big brother that took care and held the burden of a six years old.. i love that Abel..

“I am not staying with the murderer," she said, her words muffled by his jacket. "I am not staying with the victim Abel Tannatek or the culprit Abel Tannatek. I am staying with the storyteller.”


Those are exactly my thoughts, and u can't ignore the fact that he is a corrupted kid, abused at the age of 10 for 2 years..
he was terrified that his sister might live what he had to live through, but then when he knew that his sister would be fine, he could finally rest, and found a way out...



Abel,, i wish he didn't do that, i wish he could have had a better life..

Some lines i loved:

“Everybody knew everything now. Or did everybody know nothing? Nobody knew anything... Nobody could know everything.”


“Where does someone go when he dies?', 'When does fear end?', 'Where are all the single socks that disappeared in the washing machine?”

“Possibly, she thought, the pool of answers was limited. There are fewer answers in the world than questions, and if you ask me now why that is so, I must tell you that there is no answer to that question.”


“There was the place where all the shouted words fall into the water. They’re too weak to make it from shore to shore. I saw the words underwater, millions of them; they’re lying there on the bottom of the sea, a whole load of wrecked sentences, sentences that never reached their destination, questions from one side and answers from the other…”


the end.. sorry for the long review :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thank u Zemira, love, thanx for recommending and telling me to be patient.. i love this book.. thank u <3

[Mags · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The wolf didn’t reply. ‘You’re shivering,’ he said. ‘Do you believe that you could spin a thread of my blood? To make clothes from?’”

Maybe that’s not the most dramatic-heart-wrenching quote of the book, but in my opinion, this quote holds the essence of the story, of Abel.

If you are looking for a New Adult book with the typical NA-Formula of
“HOT GUY + HOT GIRL + TRAGIC PAST + SMEXY TIME + HEALING OF A BROKEN HEARTH” then go read something else.

If you can stomach raw cruel realistic fiction, then go ahead and read this book. Ohh but don’t get me wrong, there is a beautiful bittersweet story behind, this book is about LOVE, SACRIFICE and the INJUSTICE in life.

One day, Anna found a doll, hidden at school, and Abel claimed it belonged to his little sister Micha. Anna was intrigued; she followed him, met his sister, and became involved in their lives. Abel’s mother disappeared, and he was desperate to keep Micha by his side, because he was underage. Anna helped him take care of Micha.

Anna

At first, I disliked her a bit. Anna is a girl that has had a comfortable life, but she also feels trapped by so much perfection.

“Who was she? A girl inside a bubble. The daughter of Magnus and Linda Leemann, from a nice district of Griefswald, from a house of blue air. High school student in her last year, musician, English au pair to be. Gitta’s squeaky-clean little lamb. No. She was someone who didn’t know yet who she was or would be.”

Maybe is that motherly instinct, we girls have, to fix something broken that made Anna get involved with Abel and Micha, maybe it was the amazing talent Abel had for telling beautiful stories based in an ugly reality, or maybe it was the need of adventure … what ever the reason was, Anna took an important role in the story, in their lives, and she was so involved in the swirl of fire that was Abel and Micha’s lives that it sucked her up completely, it consumed her ... and she got burned …


Abel

Oh boy … where do I start? How can I explain a character that … argh!!! He’s a protective brother, a drug dealer, an abused child, a selfless person, a great storyteller, a talented writer …. And he’s also so messed up that he makes bad choices, he has all that rage inside, he’s self-destructive, but also loyal, he’s violent, and tender, angry and intimidating, he’s afraid and he has hope and he had to grow up quickly and … and … and he’s blind to the other options around him, he’s vindictive … and … Just trying to figure him out drains me emotionally.

And that’s the thing with this book, it is a roller coaster of emotions and it challenged my moral and ethical principles, I was so immersed in the story that I found myself rooting for “unreasonable Anna”, I wanted her to make a bad choice, I was justifying Abel’s actions … and … NO … just … NO … as he said:

”There is a reason for what happened. I can’t be forgiven so I am not asking you for forgiveness. We lost each other, and we will never find each other again.”

Yeah!! That's what I say about the boat house scene!!!!


By the end of the book, I was a mess … I was trying to cope and process and order my thoughts … this book was recommended to my by a friend, when she finished, she called me and said something like “I just finished ‘The Storyteller’ and I need to go out, let’s go for coffee because … I need to process this” ….. not her exact words, but you get the idea. Well … sadly I couldn’t go for coffee with her, but after I finished reading … I called her and told her “I get it, I do …. WHY DID YOU MAKE ME READ THIS DRAMATIC BOOK!!?? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU!!?? THE PAIN!! SO MUCH PAIN!!”

Really, my reaction at the end was something like …








Now you are probably asking yourself ... should I read this???
YES!!! READ IT!!!!
.
.
.
I don't want to suffer alone ...



IG @cafecitoxlibros

[Literatures Movies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, ladies and gentlemen.

As we all have started to guess by now, if a book takes longer than a few days for me to finish, there's a high chance that it's gonna turn into a DNF for me.

And lo and behold, we have a fucking DNF.




Honestly, maybe this is my final call to steer off and clear of YA. Cause damn baby, I tried. I tried, and tried, and fucking tried again, and again, and a-fucking-gain. But YA is just not for me anymore I'm afraid. Other than a very few selected authors, that is.

Regarding The Storyteller, I don't have anything good to say about it, to be quite honest with you.

The characters –– Abel and (fuck I already forgot her name) Anna –– was boring as fuck all. It was literally like reading two bricks trying to communicate. One was a sheltered brick, one was a broken brick with hard edges. Ya know, the normal good girl bad boy trope.

Which is fine. We shall give it the benefit of the doubt, cause why not.

And then we get to know our beloved bricks. And guess what ?

THEY HAVE THE PERSONALITY OF BRICKS

Reading how to cook eggs would be more exciting and entertaining to me than this book.

They were supposed to be "in love" and "hot for each other". This book was listed under romance, but unless we're talking about how Anna's stalker was borderline obsessive with her (which isn't the main story at all), I don't see anything romantic about this story.

Another thing is the writing. Like, I get it. You want this book to be pleasing. So you set up to write all the long ass proses that was supposed to be "beautiful" and whatnot. But damn bitch, this shit is anything but.

It's so heavy with so much unneeded words and pretty proses and "supposed sexual tension" that I grew tired and sleepy after reading 2 chapters.

No, like literally. I have to fucking nap after reading a few chapters. That's how fucking draining this book was.

I forced myself to read 41% of it, and honestly, after reaching 41%, I can't say I learned anything new about the plot nor the characters. Other than the fact that our main female character Anna is tired of her pretty, sheltered, comfy life and wants to flirt with danger that is packaged in a broody yet sexy brick called Abel.




As for all the sad parts, or the traumatic parts, or whatever parts that were to come that managed to earn this book such high ratings, sorry to disappoint folks, but I didn't –– nor did I want to –– stay long enough to find out.

Now if you'd excuse me, I'm off to find some other good books that didn't take me fucking weeks to get through.



Blog : Me, in all of my writing glory

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[Kajal Nehra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a tiny little pain,
Three days of heavy rain,
Three days of sunlight,
Everything will be all right.
Just a tiny little pain...

5 STARS!!! Hell, 10 stars!

OH MY GOSH... I'm actually in a state of shock right now. Each time that scene (please do not click on the spoiler until you've read the book or else you'll loathe me FOREVER!!!) when Abel calls Anna's name, smiles and puts the gun's barrel in his mouth, doesn't even hesitate for a second... and its done. He's gone. Forever. No more... (Fuck! I'm crying all over again!)

Someone will never turn eighteen. All the plans someone had of a summer - of the day they'll be able to make something come true for which they'd waited SO LONG - will never be fulfilled.

Just one shot and its over. God, I know I'm being so effing hollow here, but I feel hollow dammit! Just think about it that way, and you'll be soon drowning in your own tears.

The Storyteller is a very realistic and heart-wrenching read, which will constrict your throat not just once but many times through it. You'll be begging for the oxygen which will refuse to come to you.

I don't even have words to say anything about it, so I'm just going to leave it here. Maybe later on, when I'm outta my shock I'll edit this and make the review sound more plausible, but for now this is all I can give you. Just one thing I'd like to tell you ALL: Read The Storyteller! Read it. Or else you'll forever be sorry for letting something as exceptional as this pass by.

The anemones:

[Ails · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STARS. (EDIT: With more details)

There are two kinds of a good book: those that you enjoy but will soon forget, and those that will linger in your memory forever. "The Storyteller" is the latter.

It's unlike anything you have ever read. Trust me.

This book is brilliantly, beautifully written by Antonia Michaelis. I'm completely mesmerized by her words and her ability to interweave magic and realism in an intricate writing. Below is just one of my favorites:

"That cloak of love you were wearing—he’s torn it to shreds, undoing the seams of trust that held it together. How can you ever wear those shreds?

Isn't it beautiful? Hello, the Beauty of Literature. I'm inlove.

The story, however, is painful, enchantingly dark, and depressing. Sounds like your not kind of book? Not my kind either. It's like I have a love-hate relationship with this book. The turn of events are truly devastating, Anna is as stubborn as she is soft-hearted, and Abel is.. well, he's entirely different from the person I thought he was. But oh God, no one can ignore the brilliance of this book. The author is a genius for writing TWO STORIES at the same time, paralleling them perfectly. Here's an example:

Abel telling a story to Micha (his sister) and Anna - "Come on, you must be hungry," a rose girl said, and the rose people led the little queen farther inland, till they reached a small pavilion filled with rosebushes.

That was a few days after they met Anna. Clearly, she's the Rose Girl in Abel's fairytale. Everything and everyone in his story matches up the reality with a hint of mystery. And it doesn't stop there, it goes on and on and on as they meet new people and continue with their adventure. I'm completely in awe!

It sort of reminds me of The Sea of Tranquility because it's written so well and the unfolding of events is slow yet so spellbinding. The only difference is, this book is so much darker and the romance is different in so many ways. It will certainly open your eyes to truths that are no fairytale.

Overall, this is magical realism at its finest. Truly OUTSTANDING!!!

[Parvathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good girl.
A bad boy.
A fairy tale that's true.
A truth that is no fairy tale.

Once in a while you come across a book that has a story to tell you, a story so alive that you feel you are living it with your every heart beat. A story where nothing else matter except the story itself. A story that stays with you every waking moment and makes you wish that it was just a story, You are not living it you are reading it, that makes a whole lot of difference. Why can't you come out the trance it created? Why can't it just tell you a story and leave it at that? Why follow you around refusing to release you from its grip? Will you ever come out from the world it has created?

THE STORYTELLER

The Storyteller is not an answering man. You can ask questions but don't expect answers because he weaves words to make a story but not answers. That's what Abel is, he is a storyteller who weaves magical tales for his little sister Micha. Not a polish drug dealer, not a thug but deep down a story teller. But no one knows this part of his tale, they see him for what he shows, an outcast in a military parka with a cigarette in his hands and an earphone in his ears that plays white noises to keep the world out.

THE ROSE GIRL

Living inside her very own bubble. In the house with blue lights and robin's, the rose girl Anna's life changes the moment she sets her eyes on a tiny worn out doll in the student's lounge. Who could it belong to? This tiny doll which she had the insane urge to protect. Could it belong to the polish drug dealer with icy blue eyes? The intimidating outcast who has a little sister to look after. Does she want to venture in to this world outside her bubble? A dark unknown world where Abel weaves his story. To the world of a story teller and his little orphaned queen. Was she suppose to be a part of their story?

THE LITTLE ORPHAN QUEEN

The little queen has lived on her tiny island of rocks and cliffs all her life. With her beautiful white mare, her a one room castle, her canopy bed and her pink jacket with artificial fur. She was happy and content. She had a diamond heart which shone as bright as the sun. In the stories that Abel created his little sister Micha was the queen, the queen with the diamond heart that others wanted. But the island was sinking and the queen had to reach the mainland before the man with the blond mustache claims her. The man who bears her name and will ask her to call him "father" when he meets her. He is not alone in his pursuits. There is the diamond trader who wants to take her away and trade her diamond heart. There is the diamond cutter who wants to cut out and shape her diamond heart to her liking. Can she out run them and reach the main land with the help of her sea lion protector, her rose girl and rest of her motley crew?. She has only has to hold on till her brother's 18th birthday to reach mainland.

BLOSSOMING LOVE

Why can't Anna leave the polish drug dealer alone? Why is she so determined to be a part of his story? Why is she following him around and listening to the stories he create? Is she willing to leave the island of roses to be a part of the little queen's crew? Because it is a journey that could never bring her back.

The sea lion never liked the island of roses. There was too many thorns and it was way different from their island. But the rose girl has found a place in their journey. She protected the little queen and in the process gave her heart to the story teller. Everything was the same in the island of roses. She was waiting for the little queen. But the story teller was wary, the rose girl did not belong here. She has a different path ahead of her. One with less perils and a happy ending. Why does she want to be a part of something so disastrous that even the story teller cannot predict the outcome.

THE ISLAND OF MURDERERS

The island of murderers is empty. Which means the murderer was with them all along. The one who was killing off the villains in the story and in real life, starting with the man with the blond mustache, Micha's father and then the diamond trader, the social services agent. Is the murderer really among them ? Is it the sea lion which can turn in to a giant wolf when the occasion calls for it? How far will the he go to protect his queen? Did the rose girl really fall in love with a murderer? The story teller who can weave magic with words, the one who has hurt her and gave her a scar which would never fade. Is he capable of murder? If so will their journey have a happy ending or will the selfless rose girl fade away like all the other characters in his story?

A single red rose in a sea of eternal winter. Will summer come for them? These broken characters trying to reach the mainland. Only time will tell. A story can be told in so many different ways but only a true storyteller can tell you a story in a way that touches your heart and leave a lasting impression. Antonia Michaelis is one such story teller and this story a single red rose. Tears are rolling down my cheeks while I say goodbye to them. Those wonderful characters that has enchanted me. Maybe I don't have to say goodbye after all, I could make up my very own story for them. If there is one thing that this book teaches you, then it is the power of a good story to captivate you.

I was in double mind about reading this book. After reading the synopsis it is very difficult to comprehend that there is going to be a happy ending coming your way and I am not a fan of sad endings. But curiously most sad ending books end up as my favorite. Antonia Michaelis "The Story Teller" is a different kind of an experience. Is there a novelty in the story?. At first glance the answer is no. There are a lot of stories out there with a tortured hero with responsibilities and a kindhearted girl who wants to show him some happiness in life. In the end either everything turns out happy or sad. But does it really make a difference? My answer would be no it is not the ending that makes the difference but the path that gets you there. If the path is contrived, boring and unrelated you would be happy that the characters had removed themselves from the face earth. The best decision they made in this whole story, by relieving the earth of their burden. But if the path is imaginative and wonderful, with moments that nurture your creativity and enlighten your mind then you end up with a different sort of nameless, confused emotion that leaves you fulfilled and incomplete at the same time. That leaves a whole in your heart that your never want to fill up and this quality is the novelty in this story. The in depth emotions, the strained relationships, the threatening secrets and a fairy tale that binds them all together. A fairy tale whose landscapes arise out of their doubts, the islands symbolic of their points in life and a path as treacherous as the frozen ocean in winter that can give away any time.

A story within a story but which do you prefer? Antonia's or Abel's. At times I thought Abel's was a distraction from the true story line but as the story progressed I began to realize that the story is not just a story but an insight in to the mind of a simple story teller. A mind so full of emotions that a simple rambling in between lines is not enough to bring out his true self but a beautiful story told in the simplest of words. A story where every one was trying to save the little queen. But was it the queen that needed the saving. Is she the victim here or is the subtlest of hints pointing to a different character altogether. The rose girl Anna, the one who wants to come out of her bubble only to realize that she was the only one without it in the first place. Everyone around her has created a small bubble around themselves which she mistook for her own. She saw what others couldn't see but was her sight a gift or a burden. After finishing this story I am still trying to find the answers to these questions but in this story there are no straight answers only more question because in this world there are more questions than answers. Sometimes even the right question has no answers. A truly imaginative and wonderful book that will leave you shattered in such a way that even if you pick up the pieces and arrange them in order you could never be the same. A must read.

[Fathima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a tiny little pain,
Three days of heavy rain,
Three days of sunlight,
Everything will be alright .
Just a tiny little pain .....

An hour and a half has passed , and the only sensible thing that i've done in that past hour is cry . Cry , because that seemed the only way to get rid of the pain . Pain , that this soul stiring , questioning your beliefs on love and forgiveness kind of feel this book leaves you with . I would be lying if i said that i've heard or read this kind of a story before , and i would also be lying if i told that i have cried this way for too long before . Never before have i felt an emotion so strong , so over whelming that i know i could move a mountain or control the waves of the ocean with it . The storyteller is a book with so many riled up different kinds of emotions , that i felt that its really upto the reader to either submerge oneself in the vast depthness of this book or just skim the surface . Either way it is impossible to walk away unscathed . A thorn of pain , a sprinkle of laughter , a touch of innocence , an hint of unspoken love , a trickle of tear , a spark of anger , its bound to touch you , bound to make you feel good or bad depending on the aura around the story .

Cover speak : Absolutely and whole heartedly love this cover . For me its meaning were simple , the rose there being the sign/symbol of love and hope . But one must not forget that along with the roses comes its thorns . Along with love comes its share of pain and heatbreaks . And sometimes hope crumbles too , giving way to agony and despair . The droplets of blood around are just that . One could also say that it symbolises 'Tainted love ' . Why do i call it tainted ? Well you will just have to read the story and find out .

Honestly , the blurb of this book already talks about what this book and its story line and everything is ... but , in no freaking ways does it prepare you for what you are about to get into once you actually start reading it . It basically gives you moments and memories , that tends to linger with you even after you've long finished reading this masterpiece .

When an author manages to bring out the most complexes of human nature by spinning a tale of loss , love , pain and sacrifice then i believe that author has managed to win and conquer the hearts of all those who've read their work . And Antonia Michaelis is one such author . She apeaks of the human nature , the human trait to protect someone near and dear more than protecting ones own life , to love someone deeply without conditions , to follow dreams to secure someone else's future more than yours , to kill or be killed without hesitation and regrets .
All these above mentioned points are just a part of this amazing story .
Another very inspiring point of this book was Abels story telling technique . How easily it could be called a work of imagination yet its full of reality and truth . Oh my i'm totally in love with the characters and this book ... Even now as i sit here and type out this review , i cant help but get all teary eyed .. * Sobs *

My playlist for this book :
1) Massive Attack - Paradise Circus . ( Overview of the entire book )
2) Florence and the Machine - Blinding . ( When Micah calls up Anna , telling her Abel's in trouble and Anna runs out to help them )
3) Deftones - Minerva ( Abel's song )
4) Cider Sky - Northern Lights ( Abel and Anna's intimate moments )
5) Massive Attack - Risingson ( In most of the scenes at the club )
6) Paper Route - Dancing on our Graves ( Abels song for Anna after their night at the boathouse )
7) Sade - King of Sorrow ( Anna's song for Abel )
8) Kings of leon - Closer
9) Florence and the Machine - Cosmic love
10) Civil Wars - Poison and wine ( For the end )

I would seriously recommend this book to everyone !! This was such a fabulous read , soooo glad i read it !! A story of life , love , death and everything in between !!