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eloise_bradbooks's Reviews (801)
THIS REVIEW IS IN FRENCH AND IN ENGLISH.
EN : 3.5 / 5. This is what made me pick up this book: Magical Realism + ‘Beautiful writing’ + Beautiful cover. And Oh My Goodness this book truly was beautifully written. And I loved the magical realism aspects: from the winged girl to the prophesising almost-mute kid, without forgetting the ghosts at the end. However the first half took me ages to get through…
I understand how some people would love this book, hearing from so many different characters who all have had an impact on the Lavender family's life, it’s really quite beautiful, but sometimes I just really didn’t care as much as I should have.
The characters, I really liked. I got attached to quite a few, really quickly, but then we moved onto another person’s story as each character ends up dead or heart broken, which shocked me at first. I wasn’t expecting this book to be as dark as it was! And I’m not complaining, I do like dark stories at times, but I must admit I thought I was getting into a lovely beautiful story when in fact it was pretty sad. Beautifully written, but sad. So as I was saying, you feel for the characters, who are often such nice people, but to whom so many awful things have happened. As much as they are strange and beautiful, I wouldn’t want to be a part of the Lavender family.
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FR : 3.5 / 5/ Voilà ce qui m’avait fait acheter ce livre : “magical realism" + “c’est magnifiquement écrit” + la couverture est magnifique. Et waou, qu’est-ce qu’il est bel et bien magnifiquement écrit ! Et j’ai adoré les aspects de Magical Realism tels que la fille ailée, le garçon prophétique, sans oublier les spectres qui apparaissent vers la fin. Néanmoins je trouve que ce livre, surtout la première moitié, m’a pris trop longtemps à lire…
Je comprends pourquoi certaines personnes adoreraient leur lecture : lire à propos d’un grand nombre de personnages qui ont influencé la vie des Lavender, d’une façon si magnifique, et pourtant je n’ai pas réussi à m’y intéresser autant que j’aurai dû.
J’ai beaucoup aimé les personnages, auxquels je me suis attachée bien trop rapidement puisqu’on est rapidement passé à d’autres en les tuant ou en brisant leur cœur. Cela m’a choqué puisque je m’attendais à une jolie histoire, alors que celle-ci est loin d’être joyeuse. Je n’ai rien contre les histoires sombres, au contraire, mais celle-ci était simplement triste et donc pas particulièrement ce à quoi je m’attendais. Bien qu’ils fussent tous étranges et magnifiques, je ne voudrais pas faire partie de la famille Lavender.
EN : 3.5 / 5. This is what made me pick up this book: Magical Realism + ‘Beautiful writing’ + Beautiful cover. And Oh My Goodness this book truly was beautifully written. And I loved the magical realism aspects: from the winged girl to the prophesising almost-mute kid, without forgetting the ghosts at the end. However the first half took me ages to get through…
I understand how some people would love this book, hearing from so many different characters who all have had an impact on the Lavender family's life, it’s really quite beautiful, but sometimes I just really didn’t care as much as I should have.
The characters, I really liked. I got attached to quite a few, really quickly, but then we moved onto another person’s story as each character ends up dead or heart broken, which shocked me at first. I wasn’t expecting this book to be as dark as it was! And I’m not complaining, I do like dark stories at times, but I must admit I thought I was getting into a lovely beautiful story when in fact it was pretty sad. Beautifully written, but sad. So as I was saying, you feel for the characters, who are often such nice people, but to whom so many awful things have happened. As much as they are strange and beautiful, I wouldn’t want to be a part of the Lavender family.
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FR : 3.5 / 5/ Voilà ce qui m’avait fait acheter ce livre : “magical realism" + “c’est magnifiquement écrit” + la couverture est magnifique. Et waou, qu’est-ce qu’il est bel et bien magnifiquement écrit ! Et j’ai adoré les aspects de Magical Realism tels que la fille ailée, le garçon prophétique, sans oublier les spectres qui apparaissent vers la fin. Néanmoins je trouve que ce livre, surtout la première moitié, m’a pris trop longtemps à lire…
Je comprends pourquoi certaines personnes adoreraient leur lecture : lire à propos d’un grand nombre de personnages qui ont influencé la vie des Lavender, d’une façon si magnifique, et pourtant je n’ai pas réussi à m’y intéresser autant que j’aurai dû.
J’ai beaucoup aimé les personnages, auxquels je me suis attachée bien trop rapidement puisqu’on est rapidement passé à d’autres en les tuant ou en brisant leur cœur. Cela m’a choqué puisque je m’attendais à une jolie histoire, alors que celle-ci est loin d’être joyeuse. Je n’ai rien contre les histoires sombres, au contraire, mais celle-ci était simplement triste et donc pas particulièrement ce à quoi je m’attendais. Bien qu’ils fussent tous étranges et magnifiques, je ne voudrais pas faire partie de la famille Lavender.
“And so she cut out her heart and offered it as a sacrifice.” UGH. This was so good !
I wasn’t sure if I liked Lada or not at first, that ruthless princess-murderer is an uncontrollable hurricane! I loved all the aspects of her dealing with her femininity and how she wants to be just as – or even more – powerful as the men who control the world in which she lives in. The complete reflexions on what it means to be a woman and to be free and/or powerful were ace.
She decides to become a cold-hearted murderer but it doesn’t take away the fact that she DOES care, sometimes, a little, tiny weeny bit. Although… we know that she darkens, and darkens more and she hasn’t finished darkening and I cannot wait to see that darkness play out even more in the next book (am I evil?).
From his first day Radu was my little gem I wanted to protect and hug and send all my love to him. He grows up unloved, unwanted and lost, he moves and finally finds a home but even there he remains all kinds of lost. And he cares so very much. My Precious.
Mehmed? Yeah, I guess I care for him (with the way the siblings feel so drawn to him it’s difficult not to), but I don’t feel as attached to him as I am to the other two.
Because really, the important relationship in this book remains the one between Lada and Radu. They are so jealous of one another, their hate grows but they still care for each other and have very different ways of showing it, making it even more interesting.
I must say, the first half was okay but it got really good once they started to age a bit and their minds and actions were believable and even more focused on emotions. The ending was bloody brilliant!
I cannot wait to get more from these characters. When’s the next one out???
I wasn’t sure if I liked Lada or not at first, that ruthless princess-murderer is an uncontrollable hurricane! I loved all the aspects of her dealing with her femininity and how she wants to be just as – or even more – powerful as the men who control the world in which she lives in. The complete reflexions on what it means to be a woman and to be free and/or powerful were ace.
She decides to become a cold-hearted murderer but it doesn’t take away the fact that she DOES care, sometimes, a little, tiny weeny bit. Although… we know that she darkens, and darkens more and she hasn’t finished darkening and I cannot wait to see that darkness play out even more in the next book (am I evil?).
From his first day Radu was my little gem I wanted to protect and hug and send all my love to him. He grows up unloved, unwanted and lost, he moves and finally finds a home but even there he remains all kinds of lost. And he cares so very much. My Precious.
Mehmed? Yeah, I guess I care for him (with the way the siblings feel so drawn to him it’s difficult not to), but I don’t feel as attached to him as I am to the other two.
Because really, the important relationship in this book remains the one between Lada and Radu. They are so jealous of one another, their hate grows but they still care for each other and have very different ways of showing it, making it even more interesting.
I must say, the first half was okay but it got really good once they started to age a bit and their minds and actions were believable and even more focused on emotions. The ending was bloody brilliant!
I cannot wait to get more from these characters. When’s the next one out???
You know what I was thinking throughout this book? ‘Hmm… I don’t know, it’s a bit flat, not much is going on’, but that was just so dumb of me, I’m sorry. It’s not meant to be an action-packed story, it’s a short, simple book about a long standing and important problem of everyday life for too many people:
Aimed at young adults, this book demands from us that we realise that police brutality, especially towards black people, is not okay and should be fought against.
As well as having the POV of Rashad, a black kid who was badly hurt by police for basically no other reason than his looks, we also get the POV of Quinn, a white guy from his school realising, like quite a few of us realised I’m sure, that he has been part of systemic racism all his life and that that systemic racism should be deconstructed, even when friends and family seem to be parting with the wrong side.
This book was made to be a conversation starter (or continued conversation I should say) on racism, white privilege and injustice around all of those themes. As the author says, “We all live here. There are no bystanders. We all have a role.”
Dear authors, I will try and speak up more about this injustice and pass around this book, articles and so on in order to keep the conversation going so that we get to a point where we deal with them better.
Aimed at young adults, this book demands from us that we realise that police brutality, especially towards black people, is not okay and should be fought against.
As well as having the POV of Rashad, a black kid who was badly hurt by police for basically no other reason than his looks, we also get the POV of Quinn, a white guy from his school realising, like quite a few of us realised I’m sure, that he has been part of systemic racism all his life and that that systemic racism should be deconstructed, even when friends and family seem to be parting with the wrong side.
This book was made to be a conversation starter (or continued conversation I should say) on racism, white privilege and injustice around all of those themes. As the author says, “We all live here. There are no bystanders. We all have a role.”
Dear authors, I will try and speak up more about this injustice and pass around this book, articles and so on in order to keep the conversation going so that we get to a point where we deal with them better.
3.5 – 4/5: This is Patrick Ness, of course my heart ended up being shaken around all over the place.
Now, I was a little disappointed at first because I expected so much from the beginning. And although I really liked the idea of how this world worked, I just wasn’t getting attached to the main character (Okay, I got attached to a coupla characters but we ain’t seeing none of ‘em in the next book, are we?). Not until I got close to the end that is.
Just when I thought it would be a 2 or 3 starred review, Ness brings out more of his heart squeezing moments I love him so much for, and I realise that the book was building up to something I was really loving. There’s room for character and world development so you should NOT consider stopping after only a few pages.
I understand how some people might not enjoy the writing but I actually loved reading in this very unique way.
And if a couple of things bugged me (really, Aaron doesn’t know how to give up, does he?), I’m now into it enough to be excited about the next book that I need to pick up very quickly.
Now, I was a little disappointed at first because I expected so much from the beginning. And although I really liked the idea of how this world worked, I just wasn’t getting attached to the main character (Okay, I got attached to a coupla characters but we ain’t seeing none of ‘em in the next book, are we?). Not until I got close to the end that is.
Just when I thought it would be a 2 or 3 starred review, Ness brings out more of his heart squeezing moments I love him so much for, and I realise that the book was building up to something I was really loving. There’s room for character and world development so you should NOT consider stopping after only a few pages.
I understand how some people might not enjoy the writing but I actually loved reading in this very unique way.
And if a couple of things bugged me (really, Aaron doesn’t know how to give up, does he?), I’m now into it enough to be excited about the next book that I need to pick up very quickly.
3.5 / 5 – You know what? It’s good to just read short, fun, very fanfictiony books sometimes. It’s a quick read and even with the writing, which really I found not that great (it was obviously meant to be a first person narrative that got put into the 3d which does not work here, especially with the present tense), I really got into it.
I particularly liked parts about ‘adulting’, how someone who is the same kind of age as me is also struggling to find his place in the adult world, what he wants to do and who he is meant to be. I always get attached to them as they are basically… me.
I particularly liked parts about ‘adulting’, how someone who is the same kind of age as me is also struggling to find his place in the adult world, what he wants to do and who he is meant to be. I always get attached to them as they are basically… me.
I think the word “disappointed” is unheard of when it comes to this lady. V. E. Schwab impresses me EVERY SINGLE TIME. Her ideas just blow me away and I love them so much. It’s EXACTLY what I need, even when I didn’t know that what I need it. Thank you!
There’s not much to say : really. Great characters, a fantastic world – or should I say fantastic worlds – and although this book ended pretty well, I cannot wait to get into the next one in the series. I want to know what else this author’s mind is going to give us.
There’s not much to say : really. Great characters, a fantastic world – or should I say fantastic worlds – and although this book ended pretty well, I cannot wait to get into the next one in the series. I want to know what else this author’s mind is going to give us.
THIS REVIEW IS IN FRENCH AND IN ENGLISH.
FR : Ça m'a pris très longtemps pour finir ce livre mais au final j'ai beaucoup aimé la dernière partie de l'histoire. C'est beau, j'en ai versé des larmes mais j'en ressors contente, tout en étant déçue que le livre ne m'aie pas envoûté un peu plus tôt.
EN : It took me ages to get through this book but in the end I really enjoyed the last part. It's lovely, I cried, but I came out of it happy, even though I was disappointed I couldn't get into it sooner.
FR : Ça m'a pris très longtemps pour finir ce livre mais au final j'ai beaucoup aimé la dernière partie de l'histoire. C'est beau, j'en ai versé des larmes mais j'en ressors contente, tout en étant déçue que le livre ne m'aie pas envoûté un peu plus tôt.
EN : It took me ages to get through this book but in the end I really enjoyed the last part. It's lovely, I cried, but I came out of it happy, even though I was disappointed I couldn't get into it sooner.
3.5 - Sometimes it's just nice to read a bit of light funny gay romance. Read in an afternoon (when I should have been revising... Oops) and I really enjoyed it.
It was fun, it was sweet, and most of all I really appreciated seeing a character who figures out he isn't straight, but still hasn't figured out exactly who he is, and that's just fine.
Also liked how the friendships were really important in this story.
I don't think it will be a particularly memorable story - as I do read quite a few books like this one - as even though I enjoyed it, the characters didn't stand out as much as ones in other books.
And I had to take away at least half a GR star because I read quite a few terms I can't stand ("don't be such a pussy", "grow some balls", "he blushed because he's such a girl") and they were never corrected.
It was fun, it was sweet, and most of all I really appreciated seeing a character who figures out he isn't straight, but still hasn't figured out exactly who he is, and that's just fine.
Also liked how the friendships were really important in this story.
I don't think it will be a particularly memorable story - as I do read quite a few books like this one - as even though I enjoyed it, the characters didn't stand out as much as ones in other books.
And I had to take away at least half a GR star because I read quite a few terms I can't stand ("don't be such a pussy", "grow some balls", "he blushed because he's such a girl") and they were never corrected.
THIS REVIEW IS IN FRENCH AND IN ENGLISH.
FR : Ooooh je ne pensai pas que ça me plairait autant !!!
Lu en seulement quelques heures, j'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé lire à propos de Simon, et du mystérieux Blue... Je n'étais pas tellement surprise par qui c'était mais ça ne semblait pas m'importer. J'ai aussi vraiment aimé Leah.
Les personnages étaient si facile à apprécier et l'atmosphère était tout ce que je recherchais.
MERCI !!!
Je l'ai relu très rapidement après l'avoir terminé.
EN : I didn't think I'd enjoy this book as much as I did !!!
I read it in only a few hours. I really loved reading about Simon and the mysterious Blue... I wasn't surprised by who he was but I didn't feel like that mattered. I also loved Leah. The characters are so easy to like and the whole atmosphere the book gives out is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you !!!
I quickly picked it back up to read it a second time.
FR : Ooooh je ne pensai pas que ça me plairait autant !!!
Lu en seulement quelques heures, j'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé lire à propos de Simon, et du mystérieux Blue... Je n'étais pas tellement surprise par qui c'était mais ça ne semblait pas m'importer. J'ai aussi vraiment aimé Leah.
Les personnages étaient si facile à apprécier et l'atmosphère était tout ce que je recherchais.
MERCI !!!
Je l'ai relu très rapidement après l'avoir terminé.
EN : I didn't think I'd enjoy this book as much as I did !!!
I read it in only a few hours. I really loved reading about Simon and the mysterious Blue... I wasn't surprised by who he was but I didn't feel like that mattered. I also loved Leah. The characters are so easy to like and the whole atmosphere the book gives out is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you !!!
I quickly picked it back up to read it a second time.