jellybeexo's Reviews (450)

Too much of a children‘s book than YA

I breezed through this book, surprised by some plot twists I definitely didn't see coming. The teenagers in the community are struggling with lgbtq issues in a country where being different is not only frowned upon but also puts you in danger. As Vivek and his friends' stories slowly get revealed I felt really drawn into their lives and felt for them.
The ending was a revelation for
me but I am sad that Vivek's
cousin decided to not to share
his secret with Vivek's parents; I think it would have given them more closure to know Vivek wasn't alone.

Sadly I will never become a fan of the high fantasy genre.
While parts of the book were interesting I found the songs really annoying after a while and the family history presented at the Council of Elrond was a total bore.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Rob Inglis and I must say he made it a very entertaining listen.
As far as the story itself is concerned, I liked the beginning but
as the group’s journey progressed I sadly got bored with it. And the chapter where Bilbo encounters Gollum was so annoying I almost
considered skipping it.
I'm a bit sad because I really wanted
to like this book with it being such a
popular high fantasy classic but
apparently I'm really struggling to like this genre.

It just wasn't my world. I couldn't
get into it and the characters meant little to me. I'm not into Warhammer myself so I had to google some of the species to understand the story better which is fine, but I figured I'm just not the target audience.

I really enjoyed reading ding this book as it isn’t just your average romance drama; Coelho dives into
the human psyche portraying the deep emotions and struggles people go through in their everyday lives, often unnoticed by others,
and why we do the things we do.

I found myself relating to Linda;
the everyday routine just not being
enough, becoming bored and lacking a purpose and eventually slipping into a depression was all too familiar.

I have to deduct one star for the ending though; while the rest of the book was very deep the ending feels mismatched and left me rather unsatisfied. Nevertheless I would definitely recommend this book.

Paula is Isabel Allende’s daughter, and she is in a coma. Allende starts writing this book as a letter to Paula, for her to read when she wakes up. She tells stories from their past mixed with what
is happening in the present.

I feel really bad for saying this since this book is an emotional memoir, but it's going on my DNF list.
I fought my way through until page 186 but it just didn’t touch me. A lot of the stories from the past are very political, which just isn't my thing
and I found the abrupt jumps between past and present stopped me from really getting into the past
storyline. Allende also talks about her sex life which I found really out of place; I would definitely not want to know those details from my mother.
In general, this book has me wondering why Paula doesn't know many of the stories already; she’s a grown-up woman so surely the Allendes have talked about their past before?
Overall it was just a very dull read so I would give it 1/5⭐️

I listened to the audio book, Gemma Whelan is a great narrator who made the book a fun and entertaining listen.
I would recommend it more for children and teens though, I just felt a bit too old for it. Nevertheless, tge characters were diverse, interesting and likeable and I found myself rooting for Morrigan throughout the trials.
I could see thus as a good book to read to/with your kids.