— 4 stars —

There were some cute and really adorable moments, others that broke my little heart in thousand pieces and made me cry.
However, I didn't liked this book as much as the first one... I found it quite slow paced, and unfortunately, I felt myself getting bored at times.
Nonetheless, it was still an enjoyable read.

— 4 stars —

— 3.25 stars —

"But sometimes, August got tired. He stopped wanting to control things and started wanting to follow. And if he wanted to follow, then Jack had to lead. There was no one else around to take on that responsibility."

Interesting insight on The Wicker King, from Jack’s point of view. I appreciated having a direct glimpse into the world he lived in for so long, as well as his ever growing feelings for August. I like the legend as well, but maybe a bit less than Jack’s perspective.

— 4 stars —

It was a cute and emotional story, heartbreaking at times. I really liked it.

**********

— 3.25 stars —

That was one long but pretty intense book, filled with many plot-twists. If the beginning was a bit slow for me, the second half was a rollercoaster, with new revelations at each turn.
I also enjoyed going back and forth, between past and present: I thought it was going to be confusing, but surprisingly, it wasn’t and I got used to it pretty quickly. It made the story more dynamic, and I appreciated that.

It was an enjoyable read. Not the type of story I’m usually going for, but I liked it.

— 3.25 stars —

Well, this book is a big question mark for me.
I wanted to love this book. But I ended up feeling very conflicted about it.

Oscar Wilde’s writing is compelling. That only made me want to pursue my reading. However, the story felt a little bit flat for me, except for the last third of the book, which was both interesting and gripping.

I got into the story pretty quickly, but in my opinion, the pace was really slow, mostly in the beginning. Before

the death of Sybil Vane

, I was kind of… bored? I don’t know. There was no eagerness to read the book.
But then, it got a little bit more interesting, especially when the portrait started to take more space, to be more important.

 “For there would be a real pleasure in watching it. He would be able to follow his mind into its secret places. This portrait would be to him the most magical of mirrors. As it had revealed to him his own body, so it would reveal to him his own soul.”

The last five chapters are brilliant. I really loved them and that’s why I rounded my rating to four Goodreads stars instead of three.

I guess I felt a bit disappointed because I expected so much more of this book. It’s the first book of Oscar Wilde that I’m reading, and in terms of writing, I’m not disappointed at all. But I heard so many things about this book, so many good things that I might have hyped it up a little bit for myself, hence this impression of a let down. I do think a re-read will be necessary—and this time in English—to see if I like it better.

(there were many other quotes I loved, but they’re all in French and I’m too lazy to find them in English right now)

A Guide for Introverts on How to Be Normal.
Step One: Don't bother, because you're perfect just the way you are.

-

There's a lot of beauty in quiet strength.
It's perfectly fine to prefer thinking to talking,
To retreat into your inner world whenever you need some alone time...
And to do your thing and put your heart and soul to it.