fathima_ashab's Reviews (159)

Spoiler free part: In the beginning, I was so interested to read this because of it's different idea to explore African mythology unlike the usual American YA novels and it started out really good and promising. And the best part was, it is written from two different perspectives and both combines at the end. But after the 1/3 of the book, it didn't feel like a original plot or with extraordinary characters.
1. As usual like all other female protagonist in YA novels, this Zélie was annoying too. She was immature and throwing her tantrums for stupid reasons. If it's not for Amari, I would have closed the book long before. Unlike other characters, there was a proper character development in her part (and honestly character development is what I expect most in a book). Other characters were really boring too. Nothing new or special about them.
2. Insta love! God! I love proper development in a relationship. It was instant and within a night they were planning to build a new Orisha! Seriously? That was way too dramatic.
3. It is full of African based characters because the author wanted to honour them. So all of the descriptions about their look was black. But the plot wasn't. It was no different from the characters in American YA novels. Their life isn't easy that was supposed to be the point. But it failed terribly.
4. If you have read any Sarah J Mass' books, you would find so many similarities. I guarantee you that.
5. And there are too many killings in the book for no reason!
6. The only thing I love about the book was the writing. It was really awesome and I did enjoy the book apart from all the negative things I mentioned. And I am really looking forward to her next book. Because she is capable and I expect more effort from her.
7. Generally, I don't like a magical world with the difficulty in doing magic. But in this one, it had a meaning and I loved it. The dilemma Zélie had about magic was really good.

And now here comes the. .

Spoiler-y section: 1. I would like you to compare Zélie and Inan with Feyre and Tamlin. See the similarities? Isn't Inan same coward like Tamlin?
2. And. . . Did you get any hint at Roen's character at the end? Is he going to be another Rhys? Possible!
3. And honestly, all along the story, I expected Zélie and Amari to be together. They had that chemistry man!
4. And I don't know if Amari is aware of her feelings with Binta. It wasn't just a friendship. I really loved that. I am telling you right, Amari is such a sweetheart and if I care about any character in here, it is Amari. She became a badass in the end. And I need to see more of her than that stupid Zélie and her hopeless love.

I have given the rating 3.5/5 actually!

Imagine if Harry Potter wasn't introduced into the magical world. What would have happened with his life. Well, Theo's story gives an idea of how it would have been. I tell you this because the narrative style was so much similar to that of Harry's. That gloomy, self blaming, careless, over thinking, but at times smart of Harry Potter is what Theo is. The book is quite slow paced and I love those kind of books because of it's taking time to introduce us into the settings and it's characters. I loved Donna's writing style so much. She has written only the best part of all characters. And I would say Boris character was kind of interesting and that's what made the Las Vegas scenes lively. Most people didn't like the Las Vegas setting but tbh, I loved it. That was needed for explaining the friendship between Theo and Boris. But I felt that Donna gave some useless hope between those two characters in the end of that scene which was really disappointing. I expected more between them. And the another thing I was disappointed was the blurb at the back of the cover. This book isn't what they have mentioned in that. There is more to the story. This is a coming of age story, there are so many emotions, friendship and love. Because of that blurb I was keep on expecting more actions but there were nothing except some 20 pages in the last chapter. I would have still read this book if they have written a proper blurb. But overall, I enjoyed reading this book so much.

Rating : 4.5/5

Lolita is the story of a middle-aged man named Humbert Humbert who hopelessly fall in love with a 12 year old girl, Dolores Haze who reminds him of his long lost adolescent love. He is completely obsessed with this girl and he can go to any extent to get a hand on her. He would even die to have just a brief moment with her. This whole plot is totally insane and will make us uncomfortable in many places. Because I felt really uneasy in most of the lines but the craziest part is I totally loved the prose style of it. It feels strange that I could really empathize with a paedophile rapist murderer by the use of his deceiving word play. He is unreliable and you could see he is lying to our face but still you will allow yourself to deceive by his sugar coated words. What I am slightly disappointed is that I couldn't see from Lolita's point of view. But also that's what made him more monstrous than the usual. Before reading the book I thought he would be apologetic for being a paedophile but no, not at all, he accepts it completely. And that's what made it real even when he was unreliable. Also, you will learn how to not trust anyone by how they behave in front of us because inside they could be anything. Trust me this is such an awakening read. This book is totally for those who expect very good writing style with a message to take in the end. This is such a classic read man!

the thing I loved most about this story was how relatable Cath's character as a reader, a part of a fandom and how much she is obsessed with it. She was relatable even in the most trivial things and even when she worries like, 'What if I am late to class?' 'How will I enter without anyone noticing me?' 'Where is the dining hall?' 'I don't want anyone to start conversation with me. Not now at least.' 'How will I reply back?' 'Should I ask him to come or just go running until I reach the campus.' Things like this made it so real and relatable. The characters were adorable and cute. It was a story of family, friendship and fanfiction. There's no overdoing of romance or anything like that. Everything was just perfect. It made me cry, laugh and love them so so much. You should definitely read it if you haven't already.

This is the story of a twin flame lovers, woven together in the form of poetry. And like all other relationship, this too has the stages of first attraction, love, breaking, longing, awakening, waiting and the union of two souls.
It was a pure kind of love and everyone would love to have one like that. I couldn't relate to it in the first part of the book but as the poetry proceeded it became familiar and heart breaking at times. The best part about the book was illustrations. I loved them so much. It definitely added beauty to his poems. The language was simple. It will be very easy for the beginners who want to read poetry books but don't know where to start. But if you are more into metaphorical and more poetical verses type, I am afraid this may not satisfy your need as you would like. It was worth reading though. I really liked it.

Minuscules is a collection of small poems, micro tales and very short stories. But the awesome thing is, it is not just about cheesy romantic relationship as every poetry book we come across these days. There is more to think about in this. It kind of deals with mental health regarding separation, death, motherhood, betrayal, murder instinct, nightmares and everything dark that comes with it. It was so deep. I liked few poems and loved some stories. It made me think of so many things. But it was a quick and easy read. It took me just couple of hours to finish it. And it was refreshing in the end. I would definitely recommend this to everyone.