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booksandbotanics's Reviews (492)
There’s nothing like reading a Zafón for the first time.
I absolutely LOVED this book. Not only the lyric writing style from Zafón, but the story as well. It’s the perfect ending for the quadrilogy, that answers all the questions of the first three books and that wraps up all the storylines. It contains all the excitement, tension, romance and cruelty you expect and more!
I absolutely LOVED this book. Not only the lyric writing style from Zafón, but the story as well. It’s the perfect ending for the quadrilogy, that answers all the questions of the first three books and that wraps up all the storylines. It contains all the excitement, tension, romance and cruelty you expect and more!
Review – The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami (Dutch version)
This was one weird book. It’s kinda like a Delvaux-painting. It’s It’s surrealistic, which means you don’t get it entirely, or maybe I didn’t get it entirely. I looked up some analyses about the short stories, but that didn’t clear much up for me. It’s a real special genre, but I like it. Maybe you don’t HAVE to get it.
So, the book contains 6 short stories (the English version contains more)
The secondary bakery attack: a woman suspects there’s a curse on her husband. They wake up in the middle of the night and have the worst hunger in their lives. He once (when he was young) tried to rob a bakery, but in the end he didn’t really. So they decide to make it right: they are going to rob a bakery right now.
TV people: a man is at home and suddenly a few little people walk in and put a tv on the dresser. When his wife comes home, she doesn’t see they have a tv now. He meets the “TV-people” some times more, but he seems to be the only one that notices them.
The dancing dwarf: a man dreams about a dwarf who is an incredibly good dancer. He wants to impress a girl from his work, who is a good dancer as well, and he makes a deal with the dwarf. He lets him take over his body to impress the girl and if the man can hold his mouth fort he entire time, the dwarf promises to leave his body again afterwards.
Barn burning: a man befriends a much younger, adventurous woman. After she leaves for Beirut for a couple of years, she returns with a boyfriend. One afternoon, they come and visit the man. The smoke some weed and after the girl went to take a nap, the boyfriend confesses to the man that he likes to burn barns from time to time.
The elephant vanishes: a city took over an elephant after the local Zoo goes broke. The main character is obsessed by the elephant. He visits him every day and collects every newspaper that’s about the elephant. After a year, the elephant disappears.
The wind-up bird and Tuesday’s women: a man gets a phonecall that is sexually tinted and he hangs up the phone immediately. Afterwards he does some chores his wife gave him. He goed to look for their cat who disappeared. He winds up in a garden with a young woman.
Most of the stories are quite unsettling, even though you don’t know exactly why.
I especially liked Barn burning, The dancing dwarf and The elephant vanishes.
The last short story (the wind-up bird) is apparently the first chapter of another book of his, which I’m definitely going to read.
This was one weird book. It’s kinda like a Delvaux-painting. It’s It’s surrealistic, which means you don’t get it entirely, or maybe I didn’t get it entirely. I looked up some analyses about the short stories, but that didn’t clear much up for me. It’s a real special genre, but I like it. Maybe you don’t HAVE to get it.
So, the book contains 6 short stories (the English version contains more)
The secondary bakery attack: a woman suspects there’s a curse on her husband. They wake up in the middle of the night and have the worst hunger in their lives. He once (when he was young) tried to rob a bakery, but in the end he didn’t really. So they decide to make it right: they are going to rob a bakery right now.
TV people: a man is at home and suddenly a few little people walk in and put a tv on the dresser. When his wife comes home, she doesn’t see they have a tv now. He meets the “TV-people” some times more, but he seems to be the only one that notices them.
The dancing dwarf: a man dreams about a dwarf who is an incredibly good dancer. He wants to impress a girl from his work, who is a good dancer as well, and he makes a deal with the dwarf. He lets him take over his body to impress the girl and if the man can hold his mouth fort he entire time, the dwarf promises to leave his body again afterwards.
Barn burning: a man befriends a much younger, adventurous woman. After she leaves for Beirut for a couple of years, she returns with a boyfriend. One afternoon, they come and visit the man. The smoke some weed and after the girl went to take a nap, the boyfriend confesses to the man that he likes to burn barns from time to time.
The elephant vanishes: a city took over an elephant after the local Zoo goes broke. The main character is obsessed by the elephant. He visits him every day and collects every newspaper that’s about the elephant. After a year, the elephant disappears.
The wind-up bird and Tuesday’s women: a man gets a phonecall that is sexually tinted and he hangs up the phone immediately. Afterwards he does some chores his wife gave him. He goed to look for their cat who disappeared. He winds up in a garden with a young woman.
Most of the stories are quite unsettling, even though you don’t know exactly why.
I especially liked Barn burning, The dancing dwarf and The elephant vanishes.
The last short story (the wind-up bird) is apparently the first chapter of another book of his, which I’m definitely going to read.
~ For the first time in a hundred years, I was grateful to be what I was. Every aspect of being a vampire was suddenly acceptable to me, because it was what had let me live long enough to find Bella. The decades I had endured would not have been so difficult had I known what was waiting for me, that my existence was advancing toward something better than I could have imagined. ~ (pg 436)
The plot of Midnight Sun is ofcourse, exactly the same as in Twilight. Bella and Edward meet, they are attracted to eachother and fall in love. In Twilight we watch through the eyes of Bella, in Midnight Sun, we watch through Edward’s. I actually really liked seeing things through Edward’s eyes and mind.
Edward’s thoughts aren’t the happiest place to be in. He’s very negative and he sees himself as the greatest monster there is. It’s actually really sad that he sees himself this way, if he could only read Bella’s mind, he would feel a lot better about himself I think.
It was nice to read about the stuff Edward did when he wasn’t with Bella or while Bella was sleeping. Some of the parts were quite long, but most of the time I found it very interesting. Especially the part at the end when Edward, Emmet and Carlisle are hunting down the tracker.
It was also very fun to read about the other Cullens. I like Emmett, Jasper and Alice even more now. Rosalie is still a jealous stubborn piece of shit. I didn’t like her in Twilight and now that I’ve read her thoughts I like her even less. Also, how cute is Esme?? She’s just one large piece of (maternal) love and I adore her and how she just accepts every new Cullen as one of her own, even if they aren’t officially a Cullen yet.
What I didn’t realize when reading Twilight was how certain Edward already was of leaving Bella at some point. I just can’t get why he would do that, because he has seen what Bella would go through in Alice’s visions...
Even though this was a very large book, I never thought that it was too long or boring to read. It just read very fluently and I enjoyed it immensely.
I liked how the thoughts of everyone were described and how it gave much more insight in their personalities.
I also liked how Stephenie Meyer portrayed Edward’s behaviour as problematic through his own eyes. He knows he’s too controlling and stalking her, but he just can’t help himself (which isn’t an excuse ofcourse, but at least he realises his problems).
To summarize: I liked the insight Edward’s thoughts and mind-reading gives to the story. The story we know from Twilight gets much more deepening. It’s a long book, but I enjoyed it very much.
The plot of Midnight Sun is ofcourse, exactly the same as in Twilight. Bella and Edward meet, they are attracted to eachother and fall in love. In Twilight we watch through the eyes of Bella, in Midnight Sun, we watch through Edward’s. I actually really liked seeing things through Edward’s eyes and mind.
Edward’s thoughts aren’t the happiest place to be in. He’s very negative and he sees himself as the greatest monster there is. It’s actually really sad that he sees himself this way, if he could only read Bella’s mind, he would feel a lot better about himself I think.
It was nice to read about the stuff Edward did when he wasn’t with Bella or while Bella was sleeping. Some of the parts were quite long, but most of the time I found it very interesting. Especially the part at the end when Edward, Emmet and Carlisle are hunting down the tracker.
It was also very fun to read about the other Cullens. I like Emmett, Jasper and Alice even more now. Rosalie is still a jealous stubborn piece of shit. I didn’t like her in Twilight and now that I’ve read her thoughts I like her even less. Also, how cute is Esme?? She’s just one large piece of (maternal) love and I adore her and how she just accepts every new Cullen as one of her own, even if they aren’t officially a Cullen yet.
What I didn’t realize when reading Twilight was how certain Edward already was of leaving Bella at some point. I just can’t get why he would do that, because he has seen what Bella would go through in Alice’s visions...
Even though this was a very large book, I never thought that it was too long or boring to read. It just read very fluently and I enjoyed it immensely.
I liked how the thoughts of everyone were described and how it gave much more insight in their personalities.
I also liked how Stephenie Meyer portrayed Edward’s behaviour as problematic through his own eyes. He knows he’s too controlling and stalking her, but he just can’t help himself (which isn’t an excuse ofcourse, but at least he realises his problems).
To summarize: I liked the insight Edward’s thoughts and mind-reading gives to the story. The story we know from Twilight gets much more deepening. It’s a long book, but I enjoyed it very much.
First of all, how is it even possible I never read this book untill now???
I enjoyed this book very much!
The book is about Matilda, who is very bright for her age. She learned herself to read at 3 years old and knows how to do complicated math when she’s 5. She grows up in an abusive, neglecting home, with parents who don’t see her value and basically ignore her.
When she’s five and a half she goes to school for the very first time. Her teacher, Miss Honey (juffrouw Engel in het Nederlands), is a perfect teacher who sees Matilda for who she really is. The school’s principal, Miss Trunchbull (juffrouw Bulstronk) is a real nightmare. She tortures the children and the teachers as well. No-one dares to stand up against The Trunchbull, until Matilda sees this as her personal mission to defend Miss Honey.
This book is so delightful. I truly wish I had read this as a child. I definitely would have looked up to Matilda. I never saw (my) brightness as a strength. I was (and still am) very shy and not half as adventurous as Matilda is. So I would’ve definitely learned something from her.
I loved Matilda’s pranks and how she stands up for what she believes in. I loved Mrs Phelps to be the first person who sees Matilda for who she really is and how she contributes to her love for reading. I loved Miss Honey for believing in all her students and because she tries to challenge all of them, including Matilda. Miss Honey is the kind of teacher every kid deserves.
It’s actually a miracle Miss Trunchbull got a job as a headmistress. Why would she even pick that job?? Just to torture the children?? She might be even worse than Umbridge!
To summarize: it was a truly marvellous story, with excellent, very fluent writing. I definitely would have LOVED it as a kid, seeing how much I liked it now!
I enjoyed this book very much!
The book is about Matilda, who is very bright for her age. She learned herself to read at 3 years old and knows how to do complicated math when she’s 5. She grows up in an abusive, neglecting home, with parents who don’t see her value and basically ignore her.
When she’s five and a half she goes to school for the very first time. Her teacher, Miss Honey (juffrouw Engel in het Nederlands), is a perfect teacher who sees Matilda for who she really is. The school’s principal, Miss Trunchbull (juffrouw Bulstronk) is a real nightmare. She tortures the children and the teachers as well. No-one dares to stand up against The Trunchbull, until Matilda sees this as her personal mission to defend Miss Honey.
This book is so delightful. I truly wish I had read this as a child. I definitely would have looked up to Matilda. I never saw (my) brightness as a strength. I was (and still am) very shy and not half as adventurous as Matilda is. So I would’ve definitely learned something from her.
I loved Matilda’s pranks and how she stands up for what she believes in. I loved Mrs Phelps to be the first person who sees Matilda for who she really is and how she contributes to her love for reading. I loved Miss Honey for believing in all her students and because she tries to challenge all of them, including Matilda. Miss Honey is the kind of teacher every kid deserves.
It’s actually a miracle Miss Trunchbull got a job as a headmistress. Why would she even pick that job?? Just to torture the children?? She might be even worse than Umbridge!
To summarize: it was a truly marvellous story, with excellent, very fluent writing. I definitely would have LOVED it as a kid, seeing how much I liked it now!
This was such a fun book! It’s a contemporary, but it’s an alternative version of our world. What if the United States of America didn’t have a president, but a king? What if George Washington said yes when they asked him to become king?
The book is full of royal drama and intrigue, but it shows the downsides to being royal as well.
We read from 4 different POV’s: Beatrice, the crown princess, Samantha, the younger sister of Beatrice and third in line to the throne, Daphne, the ex-girlfriend of prince Jefferson (Samantha’s twin brother) and Nina, Samantha’s best friend and a civilian.
It starts when Beatrice has to choose someone to marry. Her list of potential lovers is quite small, but the biggest problem is her love for someone else… Someone who would never make that list. Princess Samantha falls in love with Lord Teddy Eaton, but he’s also one of the candidates of Beatrice. Guess who Beatrice will choose from her list. Nina, Samantha’s best friend realises she’s in love with prince Jefferson. But she’s a civilian, which makes her a ‘bad’ candidate as a girlfriend. And can she handle all the paparazzi and media-attention once she becomes his girlfriend? Daphne, who is from (recent) noble decent, has only one goal in her life: become a princess. The only chance to achieve that is through prince Jefferson. But he broke up with her and found someone else. How can she win him back? And is that truly what she wants? One thing is clear: nothing will stop her at achieving her goal.
What I really liked about this book was its humour. There were different allusions on what a world it would be if America had a president and they were so funny (and spot-on). The view into a royal family is always fun, even if it’s a fictional one.
The writing style is very good, it reads very fluent and easy. It tackles some hard topics, like sickness, racism and bullying, … while still feeling like a light read. There was also some LGBTQ-representation, which I really liked!
I’m definitely going to read the second one!
I got this book as a review-copy from Young Adult België and Uitgeverij Fontein: thank you so much for this copy!
The book is full of royal drama and intrigue, but it shows the downsides to being royal as well.
We read from 4 different POV’s: Beatrice, the crown princess, Samantha, the younger sister of Beatrice and third in line to the throne, Daphne, the ex-girlfriend of prince Jefferson (Samantha’s twin brother) and Nina, Samantha’s best friend and a civilian.
It starts when Beatrice has to choose someone to marry. Her list of potential lovers is quite small, but the biggest problem is her love for someone else… Someone who would never make that list. Princess Samantha falls in love with Lord Teddy Eaton, but he’s also one of the candidates of Beatrice. Guess who Beatrice will choose from her list. Nina, Samantha’s best friend realises she’s in love with prince Jefferson. But she’s a civilian, which makes her a ‘bad’ candidate as a girlfriend. And can she handle all the paparazzi and media-attention once she becomes his girlfriend? Daphne, who is from (recent) noble decent, has only one goal in her life: become a princess. The only chance to achieve that is through prince Jefferson. But he broke up with her and found someone else. How can she win him back? And is that truly what she wants? One thing is clear: nothing will stop her at achieving her goal.
What I really liked about this book was its humour. There were different allusions on what a world it would be if America had a president and they were so funny (and spot-on). The view into a royal family is always fun, even if it’s a fictional one.
The writing style is very good, it reads very fluent and easy. It tackles some hard topics, like sickness, racism and bullying, … while still feeling like a light read. There was also some LGBTQ-representation, which I really liked!
I’m definitely going to read the second one!
I got this book as a review-copy from Young Adult België and Uitgeverij Fontein: thank you so much for this copy!
Even though there wasn’t much of a story, I enjoyed it.
I like how they are all healing from the war, everyone at a different pace and in a different way.
I felt really bad for Tamlin though. He did some nasty things, but he didn’t deserve this... I hope Feyre will forgive him one day.
They planted a few seeds for the next book and I will be happy to read it.
I like how they are all healing from the war, everyone at a different pace and in a different way.
I felt really bad for Tamlin though. He did some nasty things, but he didn’t deserve this... I hope Feyre will forgive him one day.
They planted a few seeds for the next book and I will be happy to read it.
