mariebrunelm's Reviews (478)

In a series of delightful vignettes, Tove Jansson tells about the summers a grandmother, father and daughter spend on an island off the coast of Finland. This had the feel of my favourite moments in Ghibli movies - no tension, day-to-day activities made magical by the careful attention devoted to them, and the colourful character of the grandmother, who has passed the age to worry about what people might think.

A perfect, light read between two more epic ones!

Finally! I finally read The Book. This started with a month-long hesitation between this one and Shadow & Bone. I read Shadow & Bone in 2019, wasn't impressed, and thought I wouldn't bother with Six of Crows. Then the series was announced and tickled my fancy (LOVE that phrase). The reviews made me think perhaps I hadn't started with the right book. And they were right! I was swept into Ketterdam alongside this troop of misfits and followed hungrily their wacky adventures. As the blurb says, it's Ocean's Eleven in a fantasy world, but in addition to that it's queernormative and diverse and amazing. One thing, though, is that I decided early on that I couldn't believe these kids were 17, so in my head they're more around 25 years old. It did make me look twice when their age was mentioned, but nothing terrible. I'm so glad the ebook I bought also has Crooked Kingdom.

I hadn't read a book by Jane Austen in a looong time. Last year I contemplated re-reading Emma but I had hated it so much the first time round that I couldn't bring myself to the task again. I remembered feeling really sad while watching the BBC adaptation of Persuasion, but a few friends convinced me I should try reading it, and they were right. Mind you, I felt it dragged quite a bit, and I couldn't care less about the endless discussions and social niceties for most of the book, but I did enjoy the fact that the heroin wasn't a very young woman dazzled by first love. I found her and Captain Wentworth quite endearing, and while I wish the book had been half as short, not so fatphobic and elitist, I'm glad I finally read it.

When I opened My Brilliant Friend, I literaly recoiled from the list of characters, ha ha. But I was curious to read this immensely succesful book and to dicsover for myself what it was about. I was curious to read about Naples in the 1950s and the two friends, Elena and Lila, who had captivated so many readers.
Eventually, I was lost among all those characters, I didn't enjoy the writing style and I was tired of reading again a story about children growing up. However I kept reading because the pages turned themselves and because I liked how the author described a friendship like many others - in which the members grow together, apart and close again, without knowing how to define the bond that tie them together but without being neither able nor willing to cut it.
 

One night, young Adam hears a voice calling him. A girl on the beach asks him to help, but when Adam arrives there, he only finds a mysterious key. A storm is coming to his island, and strange things keep happening. Can the girl, the key and the storm be linked? Can Adam save his island?
This is another lovely middle-grade novel with a close-knit group of friends, on an island off the coast of France. The setting is slightly Gothic and eery, and although the prose was simpler than in Les Guerriers de Glace, I found the characters more original. I would have liked a little more character development, though, but that's because I'm not used to reading middle-grade (and I'm changing that in 2021).

In a post-apocalyptic Paris, Chet, a jazz singer, merely survives from singing gigs to shady jobs. He is haunted by the memory of a lost love the echoes of which he searches or misses in his fleeting conquests. Meanwhile Paris is in the thrall of a new drug, one that makes its victims forget the stifling heat, and Chet is dragged against his will in a conflict well above his grasp. 

Estelle Faye's second novel is elegant, sensual and dark. Her prose is absolutely beautiful, and clearly makes up for the slightly repetitive scenario, scanned by Chet's various injuries. Another of her strong points is her transvestite protagonist whose singular voice rings long after the book is closed.
Rep: bisexual MC, gay secondary character. 

Alduin and Lena live quietly in their mountain village, oblivious to the threat of the terrifying Ice Warriors who pay the villagers a visit every 8 to 10 years, taking captive a woman each time. To the children, they are a thing from the past. But when Lena  is chosen as a tribute to ward off the creatures, the two of them have to find courage to defy the authority to save their lives.

Estelle Faye has crafted a lovely story of friendship. While a little cliché at first, it has some really nice twists in store for readers of all ages. Plus, it's largely illustrated with two-tone pictures that breathe even more life into the narrative. The vocabulary is rich and balanced with simple grammar, so it's a lovely way for children or people learning French (wink wink) to enrich their vocabulary!

Sweet Eru, this book was *good*. I was a little wary going in since, you know, reading about an astronaut stranded on Mars and living in a confined space wasn't exactly the type of escapist literature I was craving, but I had a good feeling about it, and Andy Weir flew by my expectations. This is a story of hope. Defiant hope despite the odds. Yes, the hero can't go out - at least not without the proper suit. Yes, he faces death on an almost daily basis while being away from his friends and family. But there is so much hope, with a dash of humour, that I felt energised rather than anxious. I even laughed out loud at one of his jokes, and let me tell you it had been a long time I hadn't laughed out loud while reading. Mark Watney isn't perfect. He's human. And while some characters have internalized sexism, the book in itself isn't sexist in my opinion - looking at you The Grace of Kings. If you're in need of a pick-me-up, let me suggest this story of a man doing his best not to die.

First of all, I want to praise the diversity and plotting in this book. It is a perfect Asian alternative to G.R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Now, let's turn to why I nearly threw this book out the window, shall we? Rant ahead!

How fitting that when I tried to find again one quote from this book involving women, I couldn't get my hands on it? I'll paraphrase. At some point in the story, soldiers (men) insult other soldiers (men) by implying they are women. The scene goes on for some time before one of the characters says something like "women are half of the world's population. Why should we be embarrassed to be compared to them?" And honestly, that's something I wished the very author of the book had kept in mind. I don't believe anymore in novels that present to me a fantasy world with lovely worldbuilding but fraught with sexism. Why can you imagine a world with flying, silk-sailed ships and gorgeous air battles between kite riders, but not one in which women are treated as equals to men? Why should women in a fantasy world be reduced to tending babies, cooking or selling themselves? Why should women die to give men reasons to fight? These problems aren't specific to The Grace of Kings, of course. But if an author is praised for their creativity, I expect more. More than what fantasy stories have always told their women readers. In a 620-page book, you can't imagine an interesting woman character on page 466 and hope the last 150 or so pages will make up for the first 466. In my opinion, that's not how it works. If you want to imagine a world of political intrigues and epic battles, have women be generals, soldiers, rulers. Have men tend babies and cook and mend things. And don't ever, ever tell me that your story is inspired by history like G.R.R.M. does, because if you put dragons and gods then clearly you're the one making the rules.

"My only worth to them is my proximity to *him*" says one female character. The author keeps telling us what the problem is, but does he try to solve it? No! I'm sorry for the rant, but that's infuriating. 

Now I'll go back to reading The Priory of th Orange Tree or Le Chant des Cavalières.