Alexander the Great
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Posts posted by Alexander the Great
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Epica's new single, Universal Death Squad.
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Emily's Ghost review
This is a novel about the Brontë sisters - but really, mostly about Emily Brontë. I've seen the BBC adaptations of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, but haven't read them yet. I have copies, though, so I surely will!
I know almost nothing about the private lives of the Brontë sisters, so I couldn't get annoyed because of previous knowledge.
As a novel, I felt it built up for a long time and then it deflated. There was a long slow burn, but no climax. I also feel most characters were presented in a very one-dimensional way. Only Emily and Weightman escaped this fate, but not terribly so. I suppose as a rebound book, it was okay. I don't regret reading this, but wouldn't read it again or especially recommend it.
The Stepmother review
I picked this book up from the library because I was intrigued by the premise. A woman is on trial for the murder of her husband's first wife, accused by her stepson. Did she do it or not? This novel was presented as a legal drama.
There are different timelines in this novel - the happier times, the time of the murder and then the court case. It took a while to get used to jumping around, there didn't seem to be much of a pattern or reason to why the time jumps were made. As if the author wrote each time set, then cut them up and mixed them up.
While the stepmother definitely wasn't presented as a holier-than-thou person and the author went out of his way to point out her darker side, I found myself rooting for her at times, hoping she was innocent and would also be found not guilty. I think that's a pretty strong feat, for the author to write this character in a complex enough manner to accomplish that - since it would have been all too easy to make a caricature of her.
The characters were pretty fleshed out and I felt that the characters were stronger than the plot.
The atmosphere in this novel also felt unique.
But overall, it didn't convince me enough to really recommend it to people.
May We Be Forgiven review
The blurb spoke of two brothers, the younger of which has always been troubled. He makes a fatal mistake and both brothers have to seek absolution.
The novel itself was very different than I expected, but I went with it.
It was absurd and a lot of parts felt almost too good to be true - almost every woman he meets, wants Harold badly, even though he's not supposed to be handsome and his personality is rather mellow, nothing to inspire such passion. Everything seems to work out too well for him at times. I think it has to do with the structure - all the grisly drama happens in the first thirty pages or so and after that, things only go up. I almost wished for them to come down again.
I liked the overall silliness, the black humor, but at times it was just too much, required too much suspension of disbelief.
I also felt that Harold dealt with emotions in a strange way, kind of ignoring or dismissing them, and I'm pretty sure nobody could do that without falling apart at some point. Certainly not in these circumstances.
This review might seem negative, so I do need to add that I enjoyed this in general. It was quite unique and I would recommend it, but not to everyone.
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@Athena: I was very surprised too! It's indeed lovely to be surprised by books.
Het huis met de geesten review (English: The house with the spirits)
This is the first novel I'm reading in Dutch this year - obviously in a translation from the Spanish original.
Allende's writing style is unfamiliar for me and the slow, meandering story-telling took a little while to get into. But from the moment I was trapped in the novel, it didn't let me go. The characters are brought to life on every page and feel like very real people. It felt impossible to completely love or completely hate any of them, though I do have to admit Clara was the highlight for me.
It had a light fantastical touch, but that fitted in the story very well. I also came to appreciate the lack of any clear plot and the fact that the drama was in all the little dramas life offers.
I'm definitely going to be reading more from Allende, but this novel is one that needs a rebound to be read after it, since not any book could ever live up to it if read immediately after finishing this.
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Bloodline review
Bloodline is a Star Wars novel I read by accident.
My best friend is a fan, but Star Wars is not my cup of tea. I was in London and my friend asked me to buy the novel if I found it there, because she couldn't find it anywhere and really, if you can't find a certain book in London, where will you find it?
So I searched and I found... and then, quite unexpectedly, I read. It started as mere curiosity, but I was unable to put it down. I haven't seen any of the Star Wars films and know nothing about that entire universe. Nevertheless, I had no problems understanding this book - which goes to show how good the author is. The story was entertaining and there were some very unexpected reveals that made it an exciting read.
I'd definitely recommend this. I love being surprised by a book!
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I just got back from a trip to London and of course, I bought some books. Not only is there the flabbergasting Foyles and wonderful Waterstones, there are also the smaller bookstores. I really shouldn't be buying more books, so I had told myself I wouldn't purchase any books. Knowing myself, I added that if I did end up purchasing books, I would allow myself a maximum of three.
I didn't get a chance to get lost in these bookstores the way I love to because I was with my sister and brother-in-law and while my sister's also a reader (not as much as me, but still), my brother-in-law doesn't read books at all, so I didn't want to inconvenience them too much. I'm still very glad they went into all these bookstores with me, though!
Now, for the books I did end up buying:
- Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. I'd been looking for this one for a while, but wanted to get the edition just right. I found a lovely one in Foyles, but it was too damaged for me to buy as a new book and I'm too shy to ask them if they have other copies of the same edition. I later found a different version I also loved - the Vintage Classics edition - and bought that one.
- The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. I have these in Dutch, but wanted them in English as well. I bought these around 9.15pm-ish in Waterstones on Piccadilly as my sister and brother-in-law got themselves a drink upstairs and it was so amazing to be strolling through a bookstore at that hour. I bought the movie edition because the other edition had a slightly smaller print.
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Mockingjay review
Mockingjay, the final instalment in the The Hunger Games trilogy, is vastly different from its predecessors.
Catching Fire ended in a cliffhanger and I felt it took a while for that to deliver. Katniss spends a lot of time not knowing what is going on and I felt it was dragged out a bit. I understand that the protagonist not knowing what's happening makes it easier to let events unfold, but the strength of the previous two novels was that we have a protagonist who knows how it all works and as a reader, you would find out as you read along.
The war felt a bit far away because Katniss was being kept far away from it and there were times where I really found myself waiting for something to happen, only it never quite did. But then I suppose that it what a war is like.
That said, Mockingjay is still a powerful novel with some thought-provoking lessons to be learnt. I can't elaborate on that without giving away too much, but I definitely appreciated it.
The characters develop even more, some in unexpected but very realistic directions.
I've enjoyed the trilogy and would definitely recommend it to others!
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Catching Fire review
This is the second installment in the The Hunger Games trilogy and it's just as good, if not better, as the first.
We meet some of the same characters, only the 74th Hunger Games have changed them all in their own way. Collins does a marvelous job of exploring how everyone is affected and how they all deal with that, while adding a suspenseful plot that is never too contrived or too complicated.
The characters we know all show personal growth without changing who they are essentially. We also meet new characters, and none of them are who they seem to be.
The end leaves me with a hunger for more.
I've really enjoyed this second part in the series and while I look forward to reading the final part, I'll also be sad when it's over - and that's when you know you've got yourself a good book.
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@athena I generally love going to Het Boekenfestijn. Usually, I go with my sister or mother or a friend. This time, though, I decided to go last-minute and it was so great to just go by myself after a long week at work.
@Frankie If London is my first love, Finland is my second. I've considered studying Swedish-English for a long time, because in the third year you could take Finnish and I really wanted to do that. I ended up studying to be a teacher in English and history, then ended up not teaching but doing an office job (one that I like, though). So it's so great to hear how these titles are in Finnish.
The Hunger Games review
I'm impressed. I've seen the films and because it's a series, when a new film would come out, my sister and I would watch the ones before that. Consequentially, I've seen the first film a couple of times and while I enjoyed it, out of all the films it was my least favourite. I thought the first book would be sightly boring since I've seen it so many times and because I knew in general what was to come.
I was wrong.
From the second I started reading, it was a struggle to put the book down. It's amazing how Collins manages to introduce this universe as we go along with Katniss. There's never an overload of information, the descriptions are good enough that you can imagine it, but general enough that you're not preoccupied with exactly what it looks like. That offers a lot of freedom to the reader. I thought the balance between character development and plot was very good as well.
Definitely a read I'll be recommending, and on to the second!
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I read the first one back in 2014, the second one in 2015 and the third one in March this year. I've also just finished a re-read of the first and it was definitely an interesting read when you know the outcome (I remembered the big reveal, just not exactly why or the details leading up to it). Also cool to read these characters' interactions and feelings/thoughts when you know more of their background.
The third one is definitely different from the first two, but I still enjoyed it a lot and look forward to the next. I've become quite invested emotionally!
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frankie, I love your bookshelf! I like how it allows for different sizes. Can you reach the highest shelves, though? Also - if that is indeed an Ikea head scratcher I spy, I own the same one! Who needs a spouse when there are head and back scratches, right?
This is my bookshelf as a whole, the left part and the right part, and then the entire wall, because in the first picture it looks bigger than it really is.
Generally, I've tried to arrange them by language, then by fiction and non-fiction, then by general genre - classics and modern novels, fantasy, history, crime/mystery/thriller. I try to keep loyal to that, but as I keep adding books, it can become challenging and not all books are entirely where they're supposed to be. There are books behind the visible rows of books as well.
Last year, my room had to be rearranged entirely and I had to move all my books. I took the opportunity to start a record of all the books I own and I've kept adding to it as I've kept buying. If I haven't forgetten any books, I own 387 books. So, still a long way to go! (Although I'm sure whoever ends up helping me move out of here at some point will curse the boxes and boxes of books.)
Edit - I see I've posted pictures back in February 2015 as well
Probably still looks the same, but I'm pretty sure over 100 books have been added somehow.
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Thank you frankie and Athena for making me aware I can do this!
On Friday, I went to the Boekenfestijn in Kortrijk. There's a story behind it - isn't there always? - but it comes down to a grand hall filled with all kinds of books at very, very low prices. Basically, any reader's heaven. I'm pretty sure my Room of Requirement would look an awful lot like the Boekenfestijn (translatable to "Book Fest".
I bought these titles:
- The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins: I've been wanting to read these books for years now. I bought them for my sister and as I finally get around to reading her copies, I see these babies standing there, telling me the time has come, beckoning me to take them home. I am not one to refuse poor books of company, so I'm glad to say they have joined my shelves!
- The Tsarina's Daughter by Carrolly Erickson: the idea behind this novel is that Grand Duchess Tatiana, one of Tsar Nicholas II's daughters, lived on after the Revolution. Obviously, this is fictional. I have an interest that some might call a slight obsession (others might call it an not so slight one) in the last Russian Imperial family. I don't particularly take a side in the politics, but their story just speaks to me in ways I can't possibly resist. I have made it one of my life goals to have a personal library of anything fictional and non-fictional related to the Romanovs and I bought this book hoping to read a good story and adding to that library.
- Zomerhuis met zwembad by Herman Koch: Herman Koch is a fairly well-known author to those wo care to be informed on such matters (at least he is in Belgium, he might be more famous in his native country, The Netherlands). His novel "Het Diner", translated to "The Dinner" in English and also published in many other languages, was a break-through for him. This novel, translated to "Summerhouse with swimming pool" was hyped as "the new novel from that guy you all loved so you'll love this too, well really you must". I'm usually quite wary of hypes, but I couldn't resist. Owning "The Dinner", I felt the need to own this book as well. Both are on my TBR list, pleading me to be read on a far too regular basis. A bird called frankie has shared her opinion on these novels, so they might have moved up urgency-wise, but don't tell these two novels that, or they won't leave me alone for a second!
- Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough: London has a special place in my heart and I look forward to my 5,5th visit next month. Victorian times were probably quite ghastly to live in, but they do tend to make an excellent backdrop to stories. Add Jack the Ripper to the mix and I'll buy this book. I love me a good mystery. Naturally, since I purchased this one, the blurb promises me all of these things.
- The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper: I've read other works by Andrew Pyper and that was a good reference to me. Pyper writes mystery/crime novels that always surpass the genre to me, they get a touch literary, but not annoyingly so. Demons, the occult, university, professor going to Italy you say? Yep, I'm in. I'm a sucker for this stuff.
I also bought a beautiful little book called "The Victorian language of flowers" - in Dutch, for my mom. She's very interested in flowers and knows quite a lot about them. The illustrations are wonderful as well and she was very happy with it. Happy mom = happy son!
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frankie - thanks for the link! "The Dinner" and "Summerhouse with swimming pool" are definitely on my TBR pile. At the moment, I'm reading books my sister owns and I have nothing from the library, so I hope to be reading some of my own books soon! The problem with books I own on my TBR is that I'm forever in the library and when I bring back books, I see another one I want to read and I don't ever get around to reading the books I actually own.
Do I post the books I bought in my reading log or is there a separate topic for that?
Athena - It was Het Boekenfestijn! I saw "Zomerhuis met zwembad" at the last Boekenfestijn I attended in December, but didn't buy it because it was more expensive then and there were too many other books I wanted as well. I usually go when it's in Kortrijk and Gent, but I admit I've skipped a few editions because I've noticed that if I go in April (Kortrijk) and June (Gent) and December (Gent), there's not enough of a change in what is offered. Which is no complaint, they can hardly be expected to have new or different things all the time! But I love the Boekenfestijn - I went on Friday after a busy work week and it's so calming to just walk around really cheap books in good condition.
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I just have bookmarks lying around everywhere, really. I'll use the same one for a while, then randomly grab another.
At the moment, I'm using a Book Fest bookmark. It's a regular one. I also have a bookmark from a bookstore called Limerick and it's very simplistic, but beautiful. I love using them, but worry when they get worn. Luckily, I must have been there more than I can remember when I was a student (this is a bookstore in the city where I went to college), because I keep finding new ones all around my room!
I do own magnetic bookmarks, but I'm always scared they'll be too heavy and ruin the pages or the book will get stretch. I know this won't happen or they wouldn't sell them, but I'm just neurotic about my books.
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I prefer physical books, but have no issues with electronic copies. I own an e-reader and I'm happy with it.
Whenever possible, I try to get a physical copy. This works for books in Dutch, I can usually get them from the library. But I much prefer reading in English and getting physical copies can be challenging. I love my library for having a fair amount of English books, but there is just so much more I want to read than my library, or another one nearby, can offer me. Especially with more recent novels, this can be an issue.
My rule is that if the library doesn't have it and I can't find it in a store, I'll get the e-book. Of course, it also depends on how much that costs - I'm not going to spend a lot of money on a book if I don't know whether I'll enjoy it.
What I also like to do is read a physical copy, but have a copy on my e-reader as well for travel. It's always a bit of a search to the page I've reached since numbers rarely correlate, but that's the least of it
My only real issue with e-readers is - and this'll sound stupid - that they get dusty. I'm not a neat freak, but when there's a fleck of dust on my screen, it keeps catching my eye and I keep wanting to get rid of it, then accidentally turn pages and such.
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I just saw that you've read "Summerhouse with Swimming Pool" by Herman Koch back in January. I bought this novel yesterday at a book fair - I bought the Dutch version, though, since I'm Belgian and Dutch is my first language. Whenever possible, I like to read a novel in the language it was originally published in.
This'll probably sound stupid, but I'm a little confused whether this is a sequel to "The Dinner"? I feel like it was hyped as a sequel to that succes novel when it first came out, but my memory might be playing tricks on me. Also, I'd be interested in reading your thoughts on "The Dinner", do you have a link to that?
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@Kylie Thank you! I hope you'll get to the series soon, it's mind-blowing in more ways than one.
Muidhond review
Reading this book, I didn't quite know what to think. Finishing this book, I still didn't quite know what to think, so I decided to let it settle a bit before writing a review. It's been a couple of weeks now and I still have no clue what my opinion on this book is.
Plot-wise, the book is very slow. Knowing the author's background, however, I don't think the plot is really the focus here. I kept waiting for something to happen, the tension was palpable on every page. The protagonist is a paedophile who'd been released from prison because of a lack of evidence. He returns to his very narrow world in a small village, where he has nobody who cares for him (or who he cares for) but the mother he lives with. A child is living next door and the protagonist is very intent on being a better person, applying all the coping strategies he was taught in prison, but still he is slipping. He slips slowly, he struggles, he fights his desires and still, he can't stop himself from being trapped.
As a reader, I kept waiting for something to go horribly wrong, since you could just sense it was heading there. There's a constant feeling of dread and wonder to how blind people can be, regarding their loved ones and themselves. The book also makes you wonder to what extent you can really fight yourself and what's inside of you. I think as a reader, you are meant to be left with a bad taste in your mouth, feeling torn between having sympathy for the protagonist and knowing that you shouldn't, you really shouldn't. And then the sympathy's not even entirely there, either. You get a feeling you learn the innermost of the protagonist, but then you can never fully understand him or why he does what he does. In all honesty, I couldn't fully hate him, but I couldn't love him either, or forgive him for what he did. It was so confusing, so intense, that I was actually glad to finish the book without having had a bad reading experience. So, good job, author!
The Gathering review
This book won the 2007 Man Booker Prize.
I don't know why. Maybe it's not the book for me, but it never really gripped me. The entire first half seemed pointless, wandering through what possibly may have perhaps happened long before the narrator was born - and then a million variations on that. Over and over again. Not even the very elegant writing style could chase away the annoyance I felt at what seemed like showing off.
The second half was better, since the narrator was actually facing what happened and talking to the reader about it. But overall, it's a book I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I also thought sex was too dominant a topic, was on almost every page, which took away its meaning. That might have been the point - if so, good job, I guess. But this wasn't for me.
The Cuckoo's Calling review
Here's what you need to know: I almost never re-read books. The only books I have re-read in my life were Dance on my grave by Aidan Chambers and the Harry Potter series by Rowling. I re-read the first because I remember being blown away by it when I was 15 and naming it for years as one of my favourite books. I re-read it when I was 20 and was left sorely disappointed and with a feeling it took on epic proportions in my mind while the second time around, I couldn't discern the appeal of it.
The Harry Potter series? Great, no matter how many times I read them.
So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that re-reading TCC, written by Rowling under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith, leaves me with much the same feeling. I read TCC in 2014, so I remembered who had ultimately done it. It speaks to Rowling's incredible skill that one can re-read and re-love a detective, knowing throughout who the culprit is.
It was a thrill going back to this first book, having so recently read the third installment. Knowing more about these characters and their backgrounds definitely adds to the experience. I love the descriptions of London, the vibe of the city, I love the characters. I love everything, really. I remember that after the first read, I was disappointed with the final reveal and that cast a bit of a shadow on the final reveal. Knowing who did it took that away and that makes room for a glorious re-read.
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@frankie: I'm glad I'm not alone with the experience!
Career of Evil review
As with the previous two novels, it's difficult reviewing these without giving away too much.
I loved reading The Cuckoo's Calling and Silkworm, the two predecessors in the Cormoran Strike series. Reading Career of Evil felt like coming home, a feeling all Rowling novels tend to give me. I found myself thinking about it at work, wanting to go back to the characters and spend time with them. I made the fatal mistake of reading in the morning before work and having to put this down at really intense points in the story.
The character development is astounding - these people feel so real, with their quirks, their positive and less positive traits, their ambitions and needs, etc. I'm not entirely a fan of where Rowling's going with Strike and Robin, but nothing happens too fast or suddenly.
The story itself was less straightforward than in the previous novels. In TCC and Silkworm, Strike was investigating cases while in this installment, Strike was the main subject of investigation. It was interesting nevertheless, also because it allowed a more profound look into the personalities and histories of the characters.
I'm definitely suffering from a book hangover. I had it in my head that there were 494 pages and when the story finished on page 489, I was astounded at first. I suppose the ending could have left us with more questions, that it is pretty reassuring in its own right, but my first thought is "but I want more". I can't wait for the next Galbraith novel.
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Thank you both!
A Visit from the Goon Squad review
Breathless. That's how I feel after turning the last page. This novel covers such a wide array of styles and genres, yet the author does it effortlessly. A myriad of characters gives us a glimpse of parts of their stories and they're all connected somehow, but the reader doesn't need a complicated graphic to figure out how.
Reading the blurb in the library, I wasn't even going to take this novel home. The aging punk rocker with young assistant-thing the blurb made this novel out to be didn't appeal to me very much, yet something made me take it with me anyway and I'm glad I did. I only read about the prizes this won after finishing it, and I'm not surprised.
I've quite simply never ready anything like it. It's so many things at once, goes into the past, offering short glimpses of the future, complete lives in a couple of sentences. I liked that a lot, knowing what would become of everyone. All the characters are also so different, the settings and their stories are so different that at times it feels like reading several novels at once.
5 stars. Hands down.
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Thank you for the nice comments, everyone! I know it's late, but I hope you all have a great reading year as well.
A Tale of Two Cities review
English is not my first language and while I read about 95% of my books in English, this was obviously more of a challenge.
It took me some time to get used to the language and I'll admit it was a bit of a struggle at times. Luckily, I was able to look up the modern text if there was a sentence I really didn't grasp. (I know, I can derive the meaning from the context, but I like to know exactly what I'm reading). I think if I read this novel again, I might enjoy it more because that barrier wouldn't be there so much.This is my first Dickens novel and I really appreciate his sense of humour - it's not in-your-face, but that makes it even more enjoyable. I look forward to reading his other work! -
I made an account on Shelfari just this year, but it didn't add anything for me. It was basically just another website to keep track of my books - I keep a list on tumblr and I'm much more active on Goodreads.
I deleted my account when I heard they were about to close - everything on there was already on my Goodreads account anyway.
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Under The Dome review
I bought this novel in August 2013 after having seen the first season of the television showed based on this work, but only got around to reading it now. It's definitely very different to the show and I gave up any comparison pretty early on.
I like a populated novel every now and then and I think that despite its length, the novel still felt quite fast-paced for the most part due to the different points of view. The characters were pretty well though through - there are obviously stereotypes in play, but I still had the idea that each character had their own story, their own background, their own personality, traits, habits, etc.
It's a bit hard to believe that so few people stood up to Rennie, hard to believe that he really had that much power over so many people when one can reasonably assume that in such a population, more people would have more common sense. But then I didn't grow up in a small town in the USA - perhaps even in my own country, people in little towns would behave this way, or be so used to this.
Toward the end, however, the story wasn't moving forward. The two main plotlines seemed to drag on and I mainly kept reading because I wanted to know what the dome was, why it was there, if they'd get out, etc. The ending was a bit disappointing - I'd have liked a more clear-cut ending. This was definitely too vague and out-there - too easy, almost. But overall, it was an enjoyable reading experience.
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Currently Reading
Het verborgen leven van Eurídice Gusmão, by Martha Batalha
Read in 2016
- Under The Dome, by Stephen King
- A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens
- A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
- Career of Evil, by Robert Galbraith
- Muidhond, by Inge Schilperoord
- The Gathering, by Anne Enright
- The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith
- The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
- Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
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Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
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Bloodline, by Claudia Gray
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Het huis met de geesten, by Isabel Allende
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Emily's Ghost, by Denise Giardina
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The Stepmother, by Simon Tolkien
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May We Be Forgiven, by A.M. Homes
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The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
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World Without End, by Ken Follett
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Enchantments, by Kathryn Harrison
- The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- De truc, by Emanuel Bergmann
- Hersenspinsels, by André Aleman
- The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by J. K. Rowling
- The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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The Last Romanov review
I picked up this novel because of my interesting in and fascination with the Romanov dynasty and its end in particular.
This novel is written mostly from the point of view from a fictional character who was charged with caring for Alexei, Tsar Nicholas II's only son. She has magical powers she draws from ambergris, but it's unclear just how far those powers reach.
The story felt a bit jumbled at the beginning because of the many time jumps between 1991 and the early 20th century. After the messy start, the storytelling was more linear. I don't know exactly what I think - the characters are definitely flawed and the author doesn't shy away from showing the reader these flaws, but I don't think I really buy how forgiving they all were. I also think Darya was really too naive - especially when she had Avram open her eyes. I think this story could really have done without the mysticism and would have been a better read.
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Wij en ik review
This is the first novel in Dutch I've read this year and it's been almost two years since I've read a novel written by a Belgian author.
Prior to this, I've only read Dit is van mij by Saskia De Coster, which I had mixed feelings about. I've enjoyed Wij en ik far more. It really captures the spirit of the mentality I know so well in in the story of a single family. The characters aren't easy to identify with, but I'm not sure the reader is really supposed to. After all, these people put themselves at a distance from the world.
I thought this novel was gripping and very hard to put down. De Coster writes fluently, elegantly changing perspective and narrative voice. The ending was too open to my taste, though. I feel like as a reader, I've been left behind in the middle of the story. But I do get the hype in this case.
The Girl on the Train review
I really liked reading this novel. Rachel, the protagonist, was definitely flawed but I still wanted things to work out for her. The other characters were interesting as well and I liked getting a different perspective on everyone from different women's points of view.
The ultimate reveal wasn't very surprising - I'd seen it come for quite a while and I'm usually not great at guessing who did it - but it didn't feel like that was very much the point. You can read this novel as just a thriller, but I feel it can also be read as more and that multi-layered aspect of it was appealing to me.
Alexander's Reading 2016
in Past Book Logs
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The Pillars of the Earth review
Magnificent. Truly an epic novel. I'm still blown away. This is very hard to review - so much happens, entire lives are described.
We get to know these people when they are young and we see them grow in life, achieve their ambitions, build on their own happiness.
Everything felt a bit rushed at the end, but it's still a great read I would recommend to any history fan.