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gimmebooksjoanna's Reviews (326)
This week I've been reading this as part of a readalong with a lovely bunch (tagged in comments - do give them a follow) with @tandemcollectiveuk.
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Quick overview of the synopsis (you can grab the full one on my earlier post):
Set in Stockholm, Bell works as a nanny for Hanna and Max's kids - Linus, Tilde and Elsie. One morning, she answers the phone to a doctor who tells her that Hanna's husband has just woken up out of a coma. Bell's all like, 'say what?! I've just seen Max.' MIC DROP - turns out Hanna and Max aren't actually married. Hanna's married to this other guy but whilst he's been in his SEVEN YEAR COMA (!!) she's shacked up with Max. Him waking up is about cause all kind of riptides.
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Ooohhh I LOVED this book. Loved loved loved it and I now need to go back and read @swannywrites entire back catalogue. It was written so well with just the right level of visual description (we know how wound up I get when there's too much description!) I was gripped at every twist and turn. I couldn't put it down. I read way ahead of schedule. I loved Bell. I want her as my BFF right now. I just love it. In case you didn't get that.
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Quick overview of the synopsis (you can grab the full one on my earlier post):
Set in Stockholm, Bell works as a nanny for Hanna and Max's kids - Linus, Tilde and Elsie. One morning, she answers the phone to a doctor who tells her that Hanna's husband has just woken up out of a coma. Bell's all like, 'say what?! I've just seen Max.' MIC DROP - turns out Hanna and Max aren't actually married. Hanna's married to this other guy but whilst he's been in his SEVEN YEAR COMA (!!) she's shacked up with Max. Him waking up is about cause all kind of riptides.
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Ooohhh I LOVED this book. Loved loved loved it and I now need to go back and read @swannywrites entire back catalogue. It was written so well with just the right level of visual description (we know how wound up I get when there's too much description!) I was gripped at every twist and turn. I couldn't put it down. I read way ahead of schedule. I loved Bell. I want her as my BFF right now. I just love it. In case you didn't get that.
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again, again | e. lockhart
⭐⭐⭐.5/5
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Again, again is the story of Adelaide, a young girl who's in the throes of her first ever major break up. She's living at boarding school where he Dad teaches whilst her Mum is at home with her brother who has a LOT of his own troubles. It's summer, and in amongst her heartbreak, she might have fallen in love with Jack.
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This story is different to anything I've ever read before. We're told the story, but we have interludes of 'what might have been' if she'd played situations differently. It's very sliding doors. It's about heartbreak and love, but it's definitely not a romantic novel either.
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I quite enjoyed this. It was an easy quick read. I have no point of reference for this in comparison to other books by the same author. I have many on my TBR pile that I've just not gotten around too.
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This was an ARC from @readersfirst and comes out 11th June. Thanks to Readers First for this ebook in exchange for this review.
⭐⭐⭐.5/5
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Again, again is the story of Adelaide, a young girl who's in the throes of her first ever major break up. She's living at boarding school where he Dad teaches whilst her Mum is at home with her brother who has a LOT of his own troubles. It's summer, and in amongst her heartbreak, she might have fallen in love with Jack.
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This story is different to anything I've ever read before. We're told the story, but we have interludes of 'what might have been' if she'd played situations differently. It's very sliding doors. It's about heartbreak and love, but it's definitely not a romantic novel either.
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I quite enjoyed this. It was an easy quick read. I have no point of reference for this in comparison to other books by the same author. I have many on my TBR pile that I've just not gotten around too.
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This was an ARC from @readersfirst and comes out 11th June. Thanks to Readers First for this ebook in exchange for this review.
This clever book is a love story told through poetry in both English and Spanish. As I don't speak Spanish (not even to a basic level) I was still intrigued as the format of the book is Spanish poem, followed by the English translation. I still found myself reading the Spanish versions as there was something quite exotic and beautiful about them.
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BUT....I didn't get this. I didn't get it all. It was an original idea, the poems as standalone pieces of work were beautiful, but I didn't get the underlying storyline particularly.
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This one just wasn't for me.
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This shouldn't be a write off for everyone else though. I've seen many reviewers that are learning Spanish really enjoy testing out their skills. I've seen others who have found it a really beautiful read. But it fell short for me.
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⭐⭐.5 / 5
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Thanks @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
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BUT....I didn't get this. I didn't get it all. It was an original idea, the poems as standalone pieces of work were beautiful, but I didn't get the underlying storyline particularly.
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This one just wasn't for me.
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This shouldn't be a write off for everyone else though. I've seen many reviewers that are learning Spanish really enjoy testing out their skills. I've seen others who have found it a really beautiful read. But it fell short for me.
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⭐⭐.5 / 5
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Thanks @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
SYNOPSIS
Set in 1962, 16 year old Evie has left school and is deciding what to do next. Soon to be step-mother, Christine, is hell bent on making sure she does something 'proper' whilst Evie dreams of escapism and a high flying career! Through the book we follow Evie attempt to find who she really is and wants to be, with lots of fun, incredibly vivid characters, battenburg and Yorkshire magic thrown in for good measure.
Where do I begin with this book? My word. I loved every single second I spent reading it. I laughed out loud so much (and I'm not someone who ACTUALLY LOLs at stuff in books...more an internal chuckle). I cried at the end because it was happy but SO DAMN SAD IT WAS OVER!!!! I've flown through so many books recently but this one was slower. I took my time and devoured every brilliant page.
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There's a lovely nostalgia and innocence to this book. Combined with Evie's razor sharp wit, it's just the tonic right now. And how can I not give Mrs Scott-Pym a mention? If I couldn't have my other grandparents, I'd have her. She's just . This book is 'uplit' personified. It's just like a warm hug. Honestly. Please just read it. It really is the best thing to come out of Yorkshire (and that's coming from a girl on 'the other side of the Pennines. If you know, you know!)
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is my book of the year so far and it'll take a lot to match up!
Set in 1962, 16 year old Evie has left school and is deciding what to do next. Soon to be step-mother, Christine, is hell bent on making sure she does something 'proper' whilst Evie dreams of escapism and a high flying career! Through the book we follow Evie attempt to find who she really is and wants to be, with lots of fun, incredibly vivid characters, battenburg and Yorkshire magic thrown in for good measure.
Where do I begin with this book? My word. I loved every single second I spent reading it. I laughed out loud so much (and I'm not someone who ACTUALLY LOLs at stuff in books...more an internal chuckle). I cried at the end because it was happy but SO DAMN SAD IT WAS OVER!!!! I've flown through so many books recently but this one was slower. I took my time and devoured every brilliant page.
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There's a lovely nostalgia and innocence to this book. Combined with Evie's razor sharp wit, it's just the tonic right now. And how can I not give Mrs Scott-Pym a mention? If I couldn't have my other grandparents, I'd have her. She's just . This book is 'uplit' personified. It's just like a warm hug. Honestly. Please just read it. It really is the best thing to come out of Yorkshire (and that's coming from a girl on 'the other side of the Pennines. If you know, you know!)
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is my book of the year so far and it'll take a lot to match up!
Before I give my review on the story, the first thing I want to talk about is translated fiction. It's something I enjoy regularly, but I never really gave how much work that must go into it a second thought. Honestly, I'm really ignorant on this one. I thought it would be a Google translate job and then re-editing it so it makes sense. So I took a bit of time to educate myself on this. And the work involved is unreal. And genuinely, I'm grateful that amazing translators such as Allison Markin Powell for making novels like this one accessible to people who don't speak the language it's originally written in.
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So now the story. I loved this. It had such a sweet simplicity and innocence to it. Both Tsukiko who is quite frankly hilarious and Sensei who is definitely thinking a lot more than he is saying are characters to love. It's just so beautifully written/translated and I felt so immersed in the story. I loved how so much of the story centred around food and drink. I loved the indirectness of it.
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Naturally, that yellow cover and being set in Japan, I made comparisons to Convenience Store Woman. And oddly, I have the same feeling I had from that. Just a lovely simple tale about normal people albeit very different stories.
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I'll definitely be reading more from Kawakami.
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⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 / 5
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Thanks to @tandemcollectiveuk and @grantabooks for the #gifted copy, and to all my fellow readalong buddies who are once again tagged in the picture
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So now the story. I loved this. It had such a sweet simplicity and innocence to it. Both Tsukiko who is quite frankly hilarious and Sensei who is definitely thinking a lot more than he is saying are characters to love. It's just so beautifully written/translated and I felt so immersed in the story. I loved how so much of the story centred around food and drink. I loved the indirectness of it.
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Naturally, that yellow cover and being set in Japan, I made comparisons to Convenience Store Woman. And oddly, I have the same feeling I had from that. Just a lovely simple tale about normal people albeit very different stories.
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I'll definitely be reading more from Kawakami.
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⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 / 5
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Thanks to @tandemcollectiveuk and @grantabooks for the #gifted copy, and to all my fellow readalong buddies who are once again tagged in the picture
