fathima_ashab's Reviews (159)

OMG!!! T H I S. W A S. S U C H. A. B R I L L I A N T. M A S T E R P I E C E. Damn! Oh, I loovveed this sooo much. It was a story about a girl named Xiomara whose fists and fierceness do all the talking. She has secrets, love and all the unimaginable thoughts which she make into words and nail it in a slam poetry club. She is not willing to shut her mouth even when the whole world is telling her to.

This novel stands out from everything else because it's in fucking verses. And it is sooo good that you can't stop reading them. It is a quick read but you will not want it to end. The character development was bloody good that the protagonist stood up for her and for the people she cared all the way through and she fucking made it till the end. The way she opened up, changed and came out all of it that was pulling her before. She is strong, fierce, can't keep her mouth shut but also soft and so thoughtful inside. She is so matured for her age and I loved that so much. Like, she stood out separately from all the other characters there.

And the perfect thing about the book was that it was a representation of so many things like race, LGBTQ, slut shaming, body shaming, toxic parenting, and so many other stuffs that made me so emotional and I got attached to her so easily. At certain point, I saw myself in her and that's what made me feel more connected to her.

This made me decide that I am not going to give up on my writing for anyone. Not ever. I am going to continue fight like her. She is such a inspiration. I can't wait to reread it again and again until all the words get tattooed in my heart.
I wish I could give more than 5 stars.

This is a book that focuses mainly on the character development more than the plot. At first it was kind of confusing to learn about more characters at once. It was all junked up but when the plot starting taking it's pace, I happened to grow an attachment to them. The whole thing narrowed to just three characters afterwards. They are Nanda, Khusru and Rekha. And this story is about them with many background stories as well. And it starts when they happen to work in the same project which is the construction of a dam at Dhauladhar in Himalayas. You could see people from different parts of India and their class and behaviours through their stories. The author has really done a good work of research. But the only problem I had other than too many characters was that I felt the book was little bit lengthy than it was supposed be and I got little bored in the middle around 100 - 180 pages. The length could have been little short. Overall, it is really a good book to read to know more about India and it's culture.

Unlocked silences is a collection of poems and excerpts with deep emotion and insights in a positive perspective towards life. It is a self-help come poetry book. The attitude of the author was super positive and he has written it in a beautiful, cheerful, spiritual but in a simple way. There were many poems I could relate to and understand it in different levels. I have dog-eared my favourite poems and that's the best part of my book. He has used only simple language yet with deeper meaning. For a debut book of an author, this is so good. I loved it. And he is really good as a person too. I would have given it full 5 stars if the writing wasn't so monotonous. And he has used few words more repeatedly. Otherwise everything was really good.

OMG!! it was fucking awesome. The first part was pretty slow and boring so I put it down the first time I took the book to read. Then I wanted to give it a try 2 days back and again I felt the same with the first part but I pushed myself to read and it got better after 150 pages and the next part of the book was boom! it was like riding a fucking rollercoaster. I couldn't put it down literally. I kept on reading and reading even at work. I badly wanted to know what happens next and it fucked the shit out of me.
I absolutely adored Amy. she is one fucking smart badass psychopath I have ever read about. And I loved her so much. I pitied her in the first part and in the second part I fuckin wanted to be like her. I didn't like Nick much tbh from the beginning till the end. Even after things got different in the end. he really deserved all those shocking treatments from Amy. 'Because anything can be forgiven but not cheating. no never.'

Gillian has written an amazing book full of twists and turns and there were many oohs and aaaas. I loved her writing style so much. The complexity of the characters were so fuckingly nailed. every Character had their own back stories and views and roles and it was amazing.
I so much loved this book ❤️

This is a love story of Saeed and Nadia but also about a terrible situation that was happening in their country due to violence (name of the country wasn't mentioned. It wasn't important also because the tragedy was happening everywhere in the world so we can assume whatever place we want). So in the middle it, they were trying to save their life by going through portals to different places like Spain, London and America. But due to the rapid swelling of refugees every minute everywhere, no one is ready to accept them. So they are, along with others traveling through portals to different places to find somewhere to live. It is coming to a situation where they don't feel safe anywhere. And this is not a romantic love story but something sort of a very raw love. It was just plain. Maybe that's why I loved it so much. The story was brutal yet beautiful. It was kind of dystopian slash magical realism slash love story. It was critical and hopeless. And it was totally different from all the books I have ever read before in this genre. It was heart warming but also heart breaking. They didn't deserve all those things that happened to them but that's what the story is about. It was an emotional ride. And I loved both Saeed and Nadia's characters so much but loved Nadia's a little more. And more than that, I loved how the author has used technology as a tool in the story which many YA novels usually fail to do. So it was more realistic and I could actually to empathize with them more. I think everyone should definitely read this book at least once in their lifetime. It's totally worth it.
4 stars because it's one of my favourites now and I loved it no doubt in that but also less than those on my top favourite mind blowing ones. Also, I felt that author could have gone in depth about the situation without rushing too much.

This books is not at all like anything I have ever read before. So I don't know how to weave my feelings together in words here. And I am sure that it's one of his masterpieces! This book has little of every genre. This is about two long lost lovers finding their way back to each other in a parallel universe where two worlds merge together and you cannot differentiate one from another.

The main character here was Aomame who goes into the alternate 1984 called 1Q84 (which resembles mostly of Orwell's 1984). Her work there is badassy thing. She has to kill men who involves in domestic violence under the guidance of a dowager. And Tengo on the other side gets involved in the rewriting of a novel originally written by Fuka Eri who is an another weird character. And the story is about whether Amoame and Tengo would survive all the problems and get back to each other.

This is mostly a character driven story but also with plot that will blow away your mind while reading but will not make any sense if you think back later. And there are some things unanswered at the end. But that's what I love about Murakami. He will let readers find their own possibilities of plots. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves magical realism and want to read something out of the ordinary. Murakami reminds me mostly of Gabriel Marquez but also very unique. He is something different. He is my favourite find of this year. And tbh I wouldn't even mind to read his grocery list. I will do it happily!! Stop Fangirling now!