brittmariasbooks's Reviews (1.45k)

Because of a Halloween deal, I started listening to audiobooks again! When I saw that She Who Became the Sun was available I knew that one should be the first audiobook to pick up since it's the bimonthly book pick for Ro's (wandering through worlds) Patreon buddy read of September and October. I'm very glad I ended up listening to it because I really enjoyed it.

In She Who Became the Sun, Zhu steals her dead brother's identity and with it the pursue of his destiny of greatness. She refuses her destiny of nothingness. Set in Mongol-occupied imperial China, it has more historical fiction vibes than fantasy, to me. But since I love some history I really did not mind. I also loved the queerness of the book.

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I really enjoyed Zhu's time at the monastery and the bond she forms with her 'brother'.

So while I did enjoy reading The Matzah Ball reading some reviews like this one have brought to my attention some problematic dialogue. In one scene, the main character Rachel jokes about being part of the Israel Defense Forces and having killed 76 men in a childish headband. At the time I was reading it I did not see what was implicated here.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, however, if I'd known what the banter was and that it was not challenged in the book, that would have impacted my enjoyment.

The author does have ME/CFS which was what brought it on my radar by an Instagram mutual who has ME/CFS. The book learnt me something about the chronic illness as well as life as an Ashkenazi Jew in New York. But -- and this a big but -- there are probably similar books who do not have problematic jokes.

I like to read books like What a Time to Be Alone every now and again just as a reminder and to see where I am at, like a check-in with myself. I listened to the audiobook which was really nice and narrated by the author herself. I do believe the actual book is illustrated as well I did miss out on that aspect.

"Echte" Nederlandse literatuur is misschien gewoon niet aan mij besteedt. Ik las deze voor de FNL challenge. Ik vond er weinig aan.

Ik ken Thomas en Rutget van YouTube. Ik keek ze vroeger vaak, dus toen ik De avonturen van Rutger, Thomas en Paco: De magische halsband op Storytel zag, wilde ik er graag even naar luisteren.

Het is vooral leuk om een niet-heterokoppel in de hoofdrol te zien van een Nederlands kinderboek, want dat komt helaas niet vaak voor. Het is een aardig boek en ik denk dat veel jonge lezers Paco, maar ook Rutger en Thomas, geweldig vinden.

Ik was verrast hoeveel ik nog van het verhaal wist. Pluk van de Petteflat is echt een boek uit mijn kindertijd. Dit jaar viert het boek zijn 50ste verjaardag(!) ondertussen. Overigens voelt het ook nog relevant. Hoe Pluk in het begin geen huis kan vinden bijvoorbeeld, haha.

Normaal ben ik dol op de boeken die De Correspondent uitgeeft. Wat doen we met de spullen? is de eerste die ik wel aardig vond, maar niet inspirerend of iets dergelijks zoals de andere boeken. Dat vind ik zelf erg jammer. Misschien komt omdat ik nog jong ben en niet erg bezig ben met erfenissen. Aan de andere kant, vond ik [b:Beginnen over het einde|52037453|Beginnen over het einde|Henk Blanken|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569241176l/52037453._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73495768] wel erg goed. Verder is dit jaar mijn opa overleden dus wat dat betreft, zou het een redelijk relevant moeten zijn.

Wat doen we met de spullen? volgt één familie waarvan de laatste ouder is overleden. Het volgt ze door het proces van nalatenschap en wat er bij komt kijken als je je laatste ouder verliest.

Just like Love & Gelato, Love & Luck surprised me. The book is much more about sibling relationships than romance, as I was expecting because love is in the title The book focusses on a different type of love, the one between family. There is a cute Irish boy, though. Addie's story is more focused on getting over a boy who did her dirty back home and mending her friendship with her brother Ian. And I really enjoyed it!

I spontaneously picked up Not Forgetting the Whale because of a summer challenge at the Fanatieke Nederlandse Lezers bookclub. A lot of people were talking about the "whale book" and it piqued my interest as well. (And the ebook was cheap at the time. But I already read it! So definitely worth the €1.99 I spend). The book starts when a stranger washes up on the beach of the small town of St Piran. A day later a whale beaches.

I loved the atmosphere in the book and in the writing. The writing reminded me slightly of the movie The Grand Budapest HotelThe village and its people just brought me joy. The parts about economics, selling shorts and Cassie might not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed that as well. Sometimes it was a bit confusing when a flashback started but after a while I got used to this writing style.

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Furthermore, it was so interesting to read about the flu pandemic in this book while an actual pandemic was still going on outside. The COVID-19 pandemic probably made me appreciate some details of this story that I otherwise would not have, like the stockpiling (though, it turns out not stockpiling toiletpaper is unrealistic but the author could not have known that in 2015), the quarantine but also the community aspect. And the strong community of St Piran really brought tears to my eyes a couple of times. And also how the kindness was shared with the people of the other village. I don't think they will forget about whale anytime soon.

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World was a very precious read overall. It is a nice sequel for those who fell in love with Ari and Dante.

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I really did not like the end though with the classically annoying miscommunication when Dante goes to Paris. It was just very unnecessary and it annoyed me.

I did cry when Ari's dad died. Their father-son relationship developed so wonderfully in this book and it was just so nice to read. His death made me tear up and especially when Ari got to read his dad's journal entry about their trip together.