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stuckinthebook's Reviews (248)
It was the one we’ve all been waiting for and I was lucky enough to read an exclusive proof copy of the most highly anticipated reads of 2022! And here is what I thought…
SYNOPSIS: Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth.
These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: They've all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up--Valentine's Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they've all been stood up by the same man. Is there more to him than meets the eye? And will they each untangle the truth before they all get their hearts broken?
REVIEW: I am obsessed with the characters that Beth O’Leary so cleverly creates so you can imagine my excitement when I realised that with The No-Show, we are treated to three very different characters whose paths cross unexpectedly.
I was actually lucky enough to go to Beth’s Manchester Q&A event and during this event, Beth was saying how this book is her most exciting book yet because it was her most challenging book to write. Which obviously opens the book up to have some sort of plot twist, and I literally spent the whole time guessing what was going to happen which had me hooked from page one. I actually ended up guessing the plot twist about half way through but I thought that Beth executed it excellently and even though I guessed it, I didn’t know how she was going to do it so the pay-off was still incredibly good.
Like usual, we are treated to well-developed and three-dimensional characters who I instantly fell in love with. Even Joseph Carter who I changed my opinion of throughout the book but ended up loving him and his character development when I finished the book but I’ve been seeing so many different opinions of Joseph and his story so I’ll be interested in hearing yours if you end up reading this one!
Overall, I think this book is Beth’s best book yet and would compare it to Flatshare in the way it had me hooked and completely invested in all of the characters. I loved the execution of the big twist and it's no surprise that with this twist, the characters and the emotional rollercoaster this book took me on, it took me less than a day to devour this story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
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SYNOPSIS: Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth.
These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: They've all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up--Valentine's Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they've all been stood up by the same man. Is there more to him than meets the eye? And will they each untangle the truth before they all get their hearts broken?
REVIEW: I am obsessed with the characters that Beth O’Leary so cleverly creates so you can imagine my excitement when I realised that with The No-Show, we are treated to three very different characters whose paths cross unexpectedly.
I was actually lucky enough to go to Beth’s Manchester Q&A event and during this event, Beth was saying how this book is her most exciting book yet because it was her most challenging book to write. Which obviously opens the book up to have some sort of plot twist, and I literally spent the whole time guessing what was going to happen which had me hooked from page one. I actually ended up guessing the plot twist about half way through but I thought that Beth executed it excellently and even though I guessed it, I didn’t know how she was going to do it so the pay-off was still incredibly good.
Like usual, we are treated to well-developed and three-dimensional characters who I instantly fell in love with. Even Joseph Carter who I changed my opinion of throughout the book but ended up loving him and his character development when I finished the book but I’ve been seeing so many different opinions of Joseph and his story so I’ll be interested in hearing yours if you end up reading this one!
Overall, I think this book is Beth’s best book yet and would compare it to Flatshare in the way it had me hooked and completely invested in all of the characters. I loved the execution of the big twist and it's no surprise that with this twist, the characters and the emotional rollercoaster this book took me on, it took me less than a day to devour this story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
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Blindness was a book I had never even heard of before it was picked as the April read for my book club. Written by Portuguese author, Jose Samingo, Blindness was actually a dystopian novel we can all relate to.
SYNOPSIS: A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" that spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations, and assaulting women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides her charges—among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears—through the barren streets, and their procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. As Blindness reclaims the age-old story of a plague, it evokes the vivid and trembling horrors of the twentieth century, leaving readers with a powerful vision of the human spirit that's bound both by weakness and exhilarating strength.
REVIEW: From the first chapter of this book I was hooked and it completely took me by surprise. With its Sally Rooney writing style, I was expecting this book to be a difficult read but the language was so easy to follow and I became obsessed with the new, dystopian world I had stepped into.
The book is written in third-person and from the get-go things hit the fan. You’re completely transported into this world where a pandemic is breaking out and since having lived through that exact time of paranoia and unknown knowledge, I could completely relate to how the characters were feeling.
However, in this book, instead of being told to stay at home, if you’re infected with the blindness, you are put in a hospital and basically forgotten about and made to fight for yourself. I was actually not surprised that there was some violence and I thought what this book did excellently was how humanity deals with panic, uncertainty and fear. I thought it was completely believable and I actually enjoyed reading the story, which shocked me because I thought it would have brought back bad memories of the start of the pandemic when we too experienced the panic, uncertainty and fear of the unknown.
Overall, I thought it was such a great depiction of humanity - humanity at its worst but also humanity at its best and although I felt like the third-person narrative didn’t fully allow me to feel a personal connection with the main group of characters, it did spark so many emotions and feelings toward how we treat our eyesight, memory and loss of loved ones. Not the easiest topic to read but executed so excellently well and I was so pleasantly surprised as I had never heard of this book before it was picked for book club but now I’m glad I gave it a go.
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SYNOPSIS: A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" that spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations, and assaulting women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides her charges—among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears—through the barren streets, and their procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. As Blindness reclaims the age-old story of a plague, it evokes the vivid and trembling horrors of the twentieth century, leaving readers with a powerful vision of the human spirit that's bound both by weakness and exhilarating strength.
REVIEW: From the first chapter of this book I was hooked and it completely took me by surprise. With its Sally Rooney writing style, I was expecting this book to be a difficult read but the language was so easy to follow and I became obsessed with the new, dystopian world I had stepped into.
The book is written in third-person and from the get-go things hit the fan. You’re completely transported into this world where a pandemic is breaking out and since having lived through that exact time of paranoia and unknown knowledge, I could completely relate to how the characters were feeling.
However, in this book, instead of being told to stay at home, if you’re infected with the blindness, you are put in a hospital and basically forgotten about and made to fight for yourself. I was actually not surprised that there was some violence and I thought what this book did excellently was how humanity deals with panic, uncertainty and fear. I thought it was completely believable and I actually enjoyed reading the story, which shocked me because I thought it would have brought back bad memories of the start of the pandemic when we too experienced the panic, uncertainty and fear of the unknown.
Overall, I thought it was such a great depiction of humanity - humanity at its worst but also humanity at its best and although I felt like the third-person narrative didn’t fully allow me to feel a personal connection with the main group of characters, it did spark so many emotions and feelings toward how we treat our eyesight, memory and loss of loved ones. Not the easiest topic to read but executed so excellently well and I was so pleasantly surprised as I had never heard of this book before it was picked for book club but now I’m glad I gave it a go.
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Having fallen in love with Du Maurier and her most well-known novel, Rebecca, earlier last year, I have been desperate to read her other work ever since. I’ve heard such great things about both Jamaica Inn and My Cousin Rachel, that I decided to delve into another one of her most loved stories.
SYNOPSIS: Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent older cousin, Ambrose. Resolutely single, Ambrose delights in Philip as his heir, a man who will love his grand home as much as he does himself. But the cosy world that the two construct is shattered when Ambrose sets off on a trip to Florence. There he falls in love and marries - and there he dies suddenly. Jealous of his marriage, racked by suspicion at the hints in Ambrose's letters, and grief-stricken by his death, Philip prepares to meet his cousin's widow with hatred in his heart. Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious Rachel like a moth to the flame. And yet... might she have had a hand in Ambrose's death?
REVIEW: Reading My Cousin Rachel has further confirmed that I absolutely love Du Maurier’s writing. Her storytelling is like no other and is so original in its crafting. The plot of My Cousin Rachel keeps you so hooked, whilst also making you second-guess yourself at the end of every chapter. Every time I tried to guess the truth/plot, Du Maurier led me down a different path.
I could vividly picture every single character and the setting which allowed me to become so invested in the story that I didn’t want it to end. I felt so close with all the characters and even after finishing the book, I was still thinking about Phillip which is always a sign of a good book to me. I absolutely loved that letter writing/reading was such a prominent part of the book and Du Maurier was so clever in how she used letters to build tension and twists. I absolutely loved this book and I would say it felt very similar to Rebecca so if you enjoyed Rebecca, you will definitely enjoy My Cousin Rachel.
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SYNOPSIS: Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent older cousin, Ambrose. Resolutely single, Ambrose delights in Philip as his heir, a man who will love his grand home as much as he does himself. But the cosy world that the two construct is shattered when Ambrose sets off on a trip to Florence. There he falls in love and marries - and there he dies suddenly. Jealous of his marriage, racked by suspicion at the hints in Ambrose's letters, and grief-stricken by his death, Philip prepares to meet his cousin's widow with hatred in his heart. Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious Rachel like a moth to the flame. And yet... might she have had a hand in Ambrose's death?
REVIEW: Reading My Cousin Rachel has further confirmed that I absolutely love Du Maurier’s writing. Her storytelling is like no other and is so original in its crafting. The plot of My Cousin Rachel keeps you so hooked, whilst also making you second-guess yourself at the end of every chapter. Every time I tried to guess the truth/plot, Du Maurier led me down a different path.
I could vividly picture every single character and the setting which allowed me to become so invested in the story that I didn’t want it to end. I felt so close with all the characters and even after finishing the book, I was still thinking about Phillip which is always a sign of a good book to me. I absolutely loved that letter writing/reading was such a prominent part of the book and Du Maurier was so clever in how she used letters to build tension and twists. I absolutely loved this book and I would say it felt very similar to Rebecca so if you enjoyed Rebecca, you will definitely enjoy My Cousin Rachel.
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Since reading Shuggie Bain, I have been waiting very impatiently for Douglas Stuart's next book so as soon as Young Mungo was released, I just had to get my hands on a copy and read it immediately. And it did not disappoint...
SYNOPSIS: Growing up in a housing estate in Glasgow, Mungo and James are born under different stars - Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic - and they should be sworn enemies if they're to be seen as men at all. Yet against all odds, they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds. As they fall in love, they dream of finding somewhere they belong, while Mungo works hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his big brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. And when several months later Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to try to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.
REVIEW: First of all, I strongly suggest that you read the trigger warnings for this book before going ahead and reading because some parts of the book are heartbreakingly graphic.
I thought that Young Mungo was very similar to Shuggie Bain in terms of setting, characters’ struggles and some parts of the plot but I also found it very unique/different too. When I went to see Douglas Stuart talk about this book he compared Young Mungo to Shuggie Bain by saying that ‘Shuggie Bain was a book about a mother and son relationship whereas Young Mungo is about a boy coming of age’ and I would completely agree. I love the parallels that Stuart creates in the book and when I finished reading, I even said to myself that the plot was just the right balance between love and hate, bad and good. This push and pull that Stuart creates both within the story and between the characters make this book even more heartbreaking because as a reader, you’re full of hope but Stuart doesn’t always give the reader what they want. I absolutely adored the book and I really enjoyed the exploration of young, teenage love especially between two boys; one Protestant and the other Catholic. Mungo and his family will stay with me forever, much like Shuggie Bain and Agnes. I’m so intrigued to hear what the rest of you think about this book in comparison to his debut…and I’m excited for what Douglas has next. Hopefully, the wait won’t be too long.
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SYNOPSIS: Growing up in a housing estate in Glasgow, Mungo and James are born under different stars - Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic - and they should be sworn enemies if they're to be seen as men at all. Yet against all odds, they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds. As they fall in love, they dream of finding somewhere they belong, while Mungo works hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his big brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. And when several months later Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to try to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.
REVIEW: First of all, I strongly suggest that you read the trigger warnings for this book before going ahead and reading because some parts of the book are heartbreakingly graphic.
I thought that Young Mungo was very similar to Shuggie Bain in terms of setting, characters’ struggles and some parts of the plot but I also found it very unique/different too. When I went to see Douglas Stuart talk about this book he compared Young Mungo to Shuggie Bain by saying that ‘Shuggie Bain was a book about a mother and son relationship whereas Young Mungo is about a boy coming of age’ and I would completely agree. I love the parallels that Stuart creates in the book and when I finished reading, I even said to myself that the plot was just the right balance between love and hate, bad and good. This push and pull that Stuart creates both within the story and between the characters make this book even more heartbreaking because as a reader, you’re full of hope but Stuart doesn’t always give the reader what they want. I absolutely adored the book and I really enjoyed the exploration of young, teenage love especially between two boys; one Protestant and the other Catholic. Mungo and his family will stay with me forever, much like Shuggie Bain and Agnes. I’m so intrigued to hear what the rest of you think about this book in comparison to his debut…and I’m excited for what Douglas has next. Hopefully, the wait won’t be too long.
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I had heard so many great things about this book before it was published here in the UK, and with the Waterstones special edition being published with periodic table sprayed edges, I could not resist getting my hands on a copy as soon as possible.
SYNOPSIS: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with--of all things--her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. This is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking ("combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride") proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook. She's daring them to change the status quo.
REVIEW: I found the story to be so much more emotional than I thought it would be and I have to say there were some real moments of this book that broke my heart and had me tearing up on the bus home. I found the lead character, Elizabeth Zott, to be an incredible protagonist and I could envisage her so vividly. However, I found the plot line and writing to be a little too simplistic for my liking. Although I’m a huge fan of an easy read, don’t get me wrong, however, I found some of the writing and sexism in the book to be quite cheesy and therefore, I don’t think that for me it succeeded in having the profound effect it should have had.
Overall though I enjoyed the story and believe me, there are some fantastic characters in this book which I have no doubt you too will fall in love with, especially Elizabeth’s dog, Six-Thirty.
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SYNOPSIS: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with--of all things--her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. This is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking ("combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride") proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook. She's daring them to change the status quo.
REVIEW: I found the story to be so much more emotional than I thought it would be and I have to say there were some real moments of this book that broke my heart and had me tearing up on the bus home. I found the lead character, Elizabeth Zott, to be an incredible protagonist and I could envisage her so vividly. However, I found the plot line and writing to be a little too simplistic for my liking. Although I’m a huge fan of an easy read, don’t get me wrong, however, I found some of the writing and sexism in the book to be quite cheesy and therefore, I don’t think that for me it succeeded in having the profound effect it should have had.
Overall though I enjoyed the story and believe me, there are some fantastic characters in this book which I have no doubt you too will fall in love with, especially Elizabeth’s dog, Six-Thirty.
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I’ve now read all of Sally Rooney’s novels apart from Conversations With Friends and with the new television adaptation hitting our screens recently, I thought it would be a great time to read the novel before watching the television series, which is exactly what I did when Normal People hit our screens back in 2020.
SYNOPSIS: Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed, and darkly observant. A college student and aspiring writer, she devotes herself to a life of the mind--and to the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi, her best friend and comrade-in-arms. Lovers at school, the two young women now perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin, where a journalist named Melissa spots their potential. Drawn into Melissa's orbit, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman's sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband. Private property, Frances believes, is a cultural evil--and Nick, a bored actor who never quite lived up to his potential, looks like patriarchy made flesh. But however amusing their flirtation seems at first, it gives way to a strange intimacy neither of them expect. As Frances tries to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally even with Bobbi. Desperate to reconcile herself to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances's intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new: a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment.
REVIEW: I found this book to be the best Sally Rooney book that I’ve read. Not that I didn’t enjoy Normal People or Beautiful World, Where Are You but I found Conversations With Friends to be so much more dramatic and I was absolutely hooked. I was utterly obsessed with all the characters but especially Frances and Nick. However, I did find myself questioning whether I actually liked the characters. I found them all to be quite irritating but I was so invested in their story. In typical Sally Rooney style, the characters were hard to love and I found myself being let down by them over and over again but there was just something so encapsulating about each individual character that I just kept going back for more.
I really enjoyed how each character was dealing with their own quite tragic stuff but not necessarily handling it well either. My opinion of Frances changed throughout the story and it wasn’t until I saw Frances’ behaviour through the eyes of another character, that I realised how much I had been rooting for Frances from the very start. If you’ve struggled with Sally Rooney's books before but are still interested in giving this a go, I would definitely recommend Conversations With Friends because although similar in some parts, I would definitely say that, unlike her other books, so much happens in this plot compared to her others. And get ready for a whirlwind of emotions…
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SYNOPSIS: Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed, and darkly observant. A college student and aspiring writer, she devotes herself to a life of the mind--and to the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi, her best friend and comrade-in-arms. Lovers at school, the two young women now perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin, where a journalist named Melissa spots their potential. Drawn into Melissa's orbit, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman's sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband. Private property, Frances believes, is a cultural evil--and Nick, a bored actor who never quite lived up to his potential, looks like patriarchy made flesh. But however amusing their flirtation seems at first, it gives way to a strange intimacy neither of them expect. As Frances tries to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally even with Bobbi. Desperate to reconcile herself to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances's intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new: a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment.
REVIEW: I found this book to be the best Sally Rooney book that I’ve read. Not that I didn’t enjoy Normal People or Beautiful World, Where Are You but I found Conversations With Friends to be so much more dramatic and I was absolutely hooked. I was utterly obsessed with all the characters but especially Frances and Nick. However, I did find myself questioning whether I actually liked the characters. I found them all to be quite irritating but I was so invested in their story. In typical Sally Rooney style, the characters were hard to love and I found myself being let down by them over and over again but there was just something so encapsulating about each individual character that I just kept going back for more.
I really enjoyed how each character was dealing with their own quite tragic stuff but not necessarily handling it well either. My opinion of Frances changed throughout the story and it wasn’t until I saw Frances’ behaviour through the eyes of another character, that I realised how much I had been rooting for Frances from the very start. If you’ve struggled with Sally Rooney's books before but are still interested in giving this a go, I would definitely recommend Conversations With Friends because although similar in some parts, I would definitely say that, unlike her other books, so much happens in this plot compared to her others. And get ready for a whirlwind of emotions…
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I had never heard of this book before but after listening to Scarlett Curtis talk so excitedly and positively about the book on the Women’s Prize for Fiction podcast, I just had to get my hands on a copy and see what all the hype was about. I also had no idea that the author, Dodie Smith, also wrote 101 Dalmations, which made me even more excited about reading this modern classic.
SYNOPSIS: Through six turbulent months of 1934, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain keeps a journal, filling three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries about her home, a ruined Suffolk castle, and her eccentric and penniless family. By the time the last diary shuts, there have been great changes in the Mortmain household, not the least of which is that Cassandra is deeply, hopelessly, in love.
REVIEW: I thoroughly enjoyed this rags to riches story but I will warn you that the book is over 400 pages and my copy was THICK! The book is divided up into three sections and is written in diary style. Through each book, we go through different seasons and I absolutely loved the depictions of how the castle changed with the seasons. Since reading I Capture The Castle, the Mortmain family will always hold a special place in my heart because each member of the family are so unique and loveable in their own way. I especially loved Cassandra, our protagonist, and I felt like because it was written in journal style, I managed to develop a very personal connection with her because of how personal she spoke in her diaries. I adored how within her journal entires she details her surroundings and the behaviours of the people around her. It’s how I would imagine myself writing a journal when I was a child. I think the part of the book I enjoyed the most was the witty humour and sarcasm which came through Dodie Smith’s writing and I felt like through Cassandra and her melodramatic family, she was really making fun of the rich in society.
Overall, I really enjoyed I Capture The Castle and I thought it was true escapism at its finest. I wish so much that I could be part of the Mortmain family because there really would never be a dull day. A lovely, memoir-style, love and family story.
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SYNOPSIS: Through six turbulent months of 1934, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain keeps a journal, filling three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries about her home, a ruined Suffolk castle, and her eccentric and penniless family. By the time the last diary shuts, there have been great changes in the Mortmain household, not the least of which is that Cassandra is deeply, hopelessly, in love.
REVIEW: I thoroughly enjoyed this rags to riches story but I will warn you that the book is over 400 pages and my copy was THICK! The book is divided up into three sections and is written in diary style. Through each book, we go through different seasons and I absolutely loved the depictions of how the castle changed with the seasons. Since reading I Capture The Castle, the Mortmain family will always hold a special place in my heart because each member of the family are so unique and loveable in their own way. I especially loved Cassandra, our protagonist, and I felt like because it was written in journal style, I managed to develop a very personal connection with her because of how personal she spoke in her diaries. I adored how within her journal entires she details her surroundings and the behaviours of the people around her. It’s how I would imagine myself writing a journal when I was a child. I think the part of the book I enjoyed the most was the witty humour and sarcasm which came through Dodie Smith’s writing and I felt like through Cassandra and her melodramatic family, she was really making fun of the rich in society.
Overall, I really enjoyed I Capture The Castle and I thought it was true escapism at its finest. I wish so much that I could be part of the Mortmain family because there really would never be a dull day. A lovely, memoir-style, love and family story.
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I had never heard of this book until it was picked as my book club’s read for May. I immediately fell in love with the cover, as well as the blurb which I know is wrong, but I love a good, messed-up book, which is exactly what I would call this. I can’t tell you how many people reached out to me after I posted I was reading this book to tell me that it is the strangest and most horrific book they’ve ever read, as well as the film which doesn’t seem like a popular choice for my fellow bookstagrammers! However, I was so excited to give it a go, especially because it was Kurt Cobain’s favourite novel too!
SYNOPSIS: In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift—an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odours of Paris and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.
REVIEW: I found this book to be addictive. I found myself wanting to pick the book back up whenever I had a spare moment, which is always a sign of a great book for me. However, as much as I loved the story, I’m still unsure how I feel about the main character and murderer, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. At moments, I felt sorry for him and I found myself rooting for his success in becoming a great perfumer but my thoughts and feelings quickly changed once his behaviour became malicious and dangerous. Yet I also can’t picture him in my mind, which is also strange for a protagonist who I’ve invested so much time in reading about. I think perhaps because it was written in the third person, we weren’t allowed to make a personal connection with him, and maybe that was for the best too.
There were so many great moments in the book, especially in the final third part of the novel but I did struggle with some of the book, especially when Suskind goes into great, intricate detail about how perfumes are made and how smells are captured. I felt like although interesting at first, it became very repetitive and didn’t provide anything to the story/plot. However the overall story was so well written and it was interesting to think about the 18th century in the way Suskind wrote about it - smelly, foul, impoverished and superstitious.
The ending was BIZARRE and although shocking, kind of made sense to me. I definitely felt like the book was leading up to something BIG and my god, Suskind came through with one of the most bizarre endings to a book I’ve ever read but so worth it. I would urge anyone thinking about reading this book to go into expecting nothing and enjoy the ride. A fantastic, f*cked-up modern classic.
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SYNOPSIS: In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift—an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odours of Paris and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.
REVIEW: I found this book to be addictive. I found myself wanting to pick the book back up whenever I had a spare moment, which is always a sign of a great book for me. However, as much as I loved the story, I’m still unsure how I feel about the main character and murderer, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. At moments, I felt sorry for him and I found myself rooting for his success in becoming a great perfumer but my thoughts and feelings quickly changed once his behaviour became malicious and dangerous. Yet I also can’t picture him in my mind, which is also strange for a protagonist who I’ve invested so much time in reading about. I think perhaps because it was written in the third person, we weren’t allowed to make a personal connection with him, and maybe that was for the best too.
There were so many great moments in the book, especially in the final third part of the novel but I did struggle with some of the book, especially when Suskind goes into great, intricate detail about how perfumes are made and how smells are captured. I felt like although interesting at first, it became very repetitive and didn’t provide anything to the story/plot. However the overall story was so well written and it was interesting to think about the 18th century in the way Suskind wrote about it - smelly, foul, impoverished and superstitious.
The ending was BIZARRE and although shocking, kind of made sense to me. I definitely felt like the book was leading up to something BIG and my god, Suskind came through with one of the most bizarre endings to a book I’ve ever read but so worth it. I would urge anyone thinking about reading this book to go into expecting nothing and enjoy the ride. A fantastic, f*cked-up modern classic.
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