literatureaesthetic's Reviews (540)

No one talk to me.

This book was going SO WELL. The Greek Mythology influences were everything, I loved the dark academia vibes. But that plot twist. That god damn plot twist. It made me uncomfortable, it wasn't necessary, I don't like it. I'm so irritated because this book was amazing, up until the twist. The last 40 pages let me down SO BAD

This was a deeply moving story, I'm at a loss for words.

Wow. I was not expecting to love this book as much as I do.

First of all... that cover! It's absolutely stunning. I had very high expectations due to the premise of the story paired with that cover!

I have so many mixed feelings about this book! Because I'm so conflicted, there's no way I'd be able to write a coherent review. So instead I listed a bunch of things that I liked and disliked about this book

Things I loved:
▪ James. James is literally the only character I enjoyed reading about in this book. For me, James carried this whole book and made up for all of the other unlikable characters. Other than Wren maybe, I liked her as well.
▪ I really enjoyed the last 50 or so pages of this book. These last few pages were very intriguing and had finally captured my attention. I couldn't put the book down during those last couple pages.
▪ I appreciate what the author was trying to do. This book is an ode to Shakespeare. Through incorporating his plays, and having the events in Shakespeare's plays correlate with the actors lives (the characters are studying drama and so are "actors") is a very original and interesting concept which I enjoyed.
▪ Super quick read

Things I disliked:
▪ Almost all the characters were irritating. Not just unlikable, but irritating. (I know that they're supposed to be unlikable, but they just pissed me off, I'm sorry)
▪ I guessed all of the "plot twists". I thought the plot twists were weak and not surprising at all.
▪ There's a specific storyline in this book that I didn't care for at all (*SPOILER* I couldn't care less about Meredith + Oliver getting together. That whole plot point was just dull and bland in my opinion. It could've been great, but it wasn't and I found myself not caring at all about their relationship).
▪ imagine writing a story where the characters are obsessed with Shakespeare..... only for them to quote Shakespeare incorrectly multiple times. Embarrassing.
▪ cliché

4.5 Stars.

10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in This Strange World, is one of those books that rip your heart and make you sob uncontrollably, yet the message is so important that you have no choice but to push through and keep reading to the end. To say this book destroyed me is an understatement. It crushed me. It dealt with so many difficult topics from child abuse, rape, self-harm, abuse towards transgender women etc. I am an idiot, and I didn't look up the TW before reading this, and when I came across the scene about the child abuse, my heart fucking broke. I hate that parts of the world are still like this, that in parts of the world it's okay to treat women like this. No woman deserves to go through what Leila and Nanan go through.

Although this book destroyed me, I'd still recommend it. I think we owe it to everyone who suffered the same life as these characters, I think they deserve to be acknowledged, even if it is through this book.

I ғᴇᴇʟ I ʜᴀᴠᴇ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴠᴇʀʏ ꜱᴇʀɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴜʀɢᴇɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴀʏ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ, ᴍʏ ɴᴏɴ-ᴇxɪꜱᴛᴇɴᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ, ᴀɴᴅ I ғᴇᴇʟ I ꜱʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ꜱᴀʏ ɪᴛ ᴀꜱ ᴜʀɢᴇɴᴛʟʏ ᴀꜱ ɪғ I ᴡᴇʀᴇ ꜱᴛᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴏᴏᴍ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ. Tʜᴀᴛ ʟɪғᴇ—ᴡʜᴀᴛᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴇʟꜱᴇ ɪᴛ ɪꜱ—ɪꜱ ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ. Tʜᴀᴛ ғᴀᴛᴇ ɪꜱ ᴄʀᴜᴇʟ ʙᴜᴛ ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ʀᴀɴᴅᴏᴍ. Tʜᴀᴛ Nᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ (ᴍᴇᴀɴɪɴɢ Dᴇᴀᴛʜ) ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ᴡɪɴꜱ ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴏᴇꜱɴ’ᴛ ᴍᴇᴀɴ ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙᴏᴡ ᴀɴᴅ ɢʀᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴛᴏ ɪᴛ. Tʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ɪғ ᴡᴇ’ʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ꜱᴏ ɢʟᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʜᴇʀᴇ, ɪᴛ’ꜱ ᴏᴜʀ ᴛᴀꜱᴋ ᴛᴏ ɪᴍᴍᴇʀꜱᴇ ᴏᴜʀꜱᴇʟᴠᴇꜱ ᴀɴʏᴡᴀʏ: ᴡᴀᴅᴇ ꜱᴛʀᴀɪɢʜᴛ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ɪᴛ, ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴇꜱꜱᴘᴏᴏʟ, ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴋᴇᴇᴘɪɴɢ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ ᴏᴘᴇɴ. Aɴᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴅꜱᴛ ᴏғ ᴏᴜʀ ᴅʏɪɴɢ, ᴀꜱ ᴡᴇ ʀɪꜱᴇ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏʀɢᴀɴɪᴄ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱɪɴᴋ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ɪɢɴᴏᴍɪɴɪᴏᴜꜱʟʏ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏʀɢᴀɴɪᴄ, ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴀ ɢʟᴏʀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ᴘʀɪᴠɪʟᴇɢᴇ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴡʜᴀᴛ Dᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴅᴏᴇꜱɴ’ᴛ ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜ.

Overall, I'm quite disappointed. The Goldfinch just didn't live up to the hype for me (Don't kill me). I absolutely loved the characters and the plot. Most of the time, the writing style was amazing, poetic and enchanting. However, I found the story so boring at parts that I was literally skipping whole pages. I found the author often went off on tangets, and gave details that just weren't necessary. Unfortunately, these huge descriptions dragged this book down for me. Saying this, there were paragraphs within this book that were just beautiful. The last couple of pages were stunning, if only the whole book was written like that! I'm infuriated and conflicted because I loved so much about this book, but there were just so many descriptions that just weren't needed and sucked out the fun when reading it. I'm mad, but also happy because this was beautiful, but only if you block out the hundred or so pages of description that could've been deleted and it would've made no difference to the plot. I don't blame the author, I blame the editor.

3.5 Stars ☆☆☆.5

'I wept because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.'

This book follows the perspective of four different people and their journey through World War 2. The paths of these four people converge as they head towards the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

My Thoughts:
I've never felt so angry and unbelievably sad whilst reading a book. I was left heartbroken, and I cried a LOT after finishing it. The thing that shocked me the most, is that despite this being the worst disaster in maritime history, I had never heard of it before. I never even knew of the thousands of lives lost in this particular event alone. The things people face in this book, at the hands of the Nazi as well as the men opposing the Nazi, is horrible. And the fact that this was millions of people's reality in the second World War is terrifying. This war isn't set in a fantasy, fictional world. It was in this world. And this book reminds us that there simply are no winners a war.

Okay. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. This is a book that follows Theodora from childhood to adulthood. We witness her journey into prostitution, and her journey out of it. The story begins with her father dying, and to help fund for the family, Theodora and her sister are offered a position with the dancing master. It's safe to say, it doesn't work out.

I loved that this is a book about female liberation and independence. It's about Theodora's journey into realising she doesn't need a man for power. Her story is disturbing and difficult to read at times due to the horrific events she's exposed to, but her fierce nature as she overcomes these hardships is inspiring, and is the reason her story is so important in history. We see her battle against constraints created by a patriarchal society, and this fight for female rights, for human rights, is why this book is amazing and why I think every woman should read it.

I do recommend this, however please search up the trigger warnings before reading it. I'll list a few, but there might be more that I've forgotten.


Trigger warnings for this book: rape, prostitution, sex, abuse, violence.