When Zeno follows wealthy Catherine Steiner one evening his whole world changes. After following her to Budapest, they embark on a love affair which escalates beyond what either of them imagined. The struggle they have only becomes more dangerous when the Nazis come to Hungary and they have to face a country of people whose views have changed. Friends become enemies with anti-Semitism, and no one can be trusted.

At its heart, this is a love story, though definitely not easy-reading or relaxing. Reading this brought my attention to many little details that are often forgotten when we view large events such as WWII, breaking it down into individual lives and the struggles against changing perceptions. I don’t have any knowledge of Hungary which I felt did diminish the story for me a little as a lot of it felt like the author expects the reader to recognize the places. This is unfortunate as this particular story is tied very strongly to the country and the characters’ attachment to it which simply wasn’t shown as much as, I feel, it could have been.

While there is the backdrop of WWII, the majority of the story happens before major political changes suddenly happen. For me this was very important, as while WWII interests me, that isn’t why I chose to read this book. Honestly I wasn’t sure what I was expecting other than a detailed vision of a character or two which was definitely provided.

My main issue with this novel is the languid pace of the story-telling itself. I can see how this style complements this particular story; however I often found myself not wanting to return to the book due to its slowness and lack of excitement. I feel it would have benefited from including a few sections where the speed of the story picks up a little, as, while it is definitely a bonus to take time reading a book, I feel The Skin of Water took it to an extreme that most people will struggle with.

In particular I loved how the main character, Zeno, sees the world through filming it and how this clearly came across in the story. For me, it added interest and allows the reader to see certain scenes as he sees it when watching back over his edited films. In a way this means that the most important scenes are ‘seen’ twice by the reader which allows us to really get to know Zeno from seeing his creative reaction to what is happening to him.

This isn’t a book for those looking for a quick read or a happily-ever-after romance. I think that people who love to explore characters and countries would likely enjoy reading The Skin of Water, as well as those who really want to slow down and experience another time and place.

[Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

This review is also published on my book blog Captivated by Books

As I now live in an Islamic dominant area, and I don’t really know much about the religion or the culture, I wanted to learn a bit about it. Islam Today wasn’t what I expected. I was hoping to learn the religion’s rules and values, and while this book does touch on them, it was more like a (very long) history lesson. In one way this is good as it shows how different areas of the world have affected the religion, as well as explaining the differences among Muslims. However I finished this book still not sure about much of the religion.

My main issue with the book was how defensive Akbar Ahmed is about Islam. He is constantly reminding us that we shouldn’t judge a community based on the actions of a few etc. To me this seemed a little redundant to keep repeating as presumably the reader who chooses to pick up this book is aiming to learn and understand, rather than to judge. Unfortunately, Ahmed then undermines everything he says about judging by assuming that ‘the West’ have x opinion of Islam. This irritated me as, as I’ve said, the chances are the reader wants to understand, and by being hypocritical in this way the author makes it a lot more difficult to believe and trust him.

Another reason I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who knows nothing of Islam (such as myself) is that the writing is very dense. It is difficult to follow and the fact that many new terms are thrown at us at once makes it much harder to understand what the author actually means.

Personally I feel this book is aimed at someone with a clear understanding of Islam as a religion, but who wishes to learn more about it as a culture. Ahmed not only explains how Islam grew across the world, but also brings up the many issues Muslims face today (though it has to be taken into consideration that Islam Today was republished over 10 years ago), going as far as giving suggestions on the perfect way to integrate all societies (though I doubt any of his suggestions are actually feasible in reality, as they seem more like a child’s simple answer of assuming everyone can accept each other – but that’s just my opinion). Therefore I would recommend this book to those who are looking for a more in-depth look at the history of Islam; however I doubt this is the best book out there on the subject, though it is one of the more available ones.

This review is also published on Captivated by Books.

Fiona was born invisible, yet in a world of strange mutations and powers she is the only invisible girl. Her father heads one of America’s leading syndicates, and so she is brought up in a world of crime, often working alongside her mother. When they do escape, Fiona is fully expecting to be caught and taken back, but until that happens she decides to appreciate the chance she has at being a normal teenager. At school she is still seen as a freak, but as she starts to let her guard down, she realises there are others who understand and are willing to accept her.

I didn’t know anything about Transparent other than the main character is invisible – I chose it because I used to read Natalie Whipple’s blog long before she got a publishing deal and I wanted to support her. Transparent wasn’t quite what I was expecting as it is bordering on dystopian YA rather than set in the current world, but that didn’t stop me from racing through the story and desperate to continue reading the series.

Lately I have read too many YA books written in first person, but in Transparent Fiona’s voice is so strong it’s impossible not to feel you’ve lived her life right alongside her. Not only does Fiona come across as a unique teenager, but most of the other characters are also well-defined and interesting to read about. Despite many of them having special and unusual powers, they all come across as people I might know/have known at high school. I would say though, many of the adults in this book had so little background shared with the reader that it’s difficult to understand them and their actions. I am hoping those characters are explored further in the next book.

As well as interesting characters, Whipple succeeds in creating an intriguing and unexpected story with what could be predictable scenarios and plot points. For me, the fact that I was continually wondering what would happen, right alongside the characters, is what made this book such a wonderful read. My main issue was it felt far too short and I reached the conclusion much earlier than I would have liked. Of course, being the first in a trilogy means there is still more to come and I am sure I will continue reading Whipple’s books.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a clean teenage story with a few twists. It isn’t quite dystopian, so for those who are unsure of the genre, Transparent is a good choice as it has many of the page-turning qualities of a complete dystopian YA, without having to consider an unimaginable world (even the ‘mutations’ and ‘powers’ are explained and we could imagine it as a very similar society to Western society today).

Unfortunately I chose to 'read' this as an audio book which ruined my whole experience of it due to the awful attempts to speak in character, and the general grating of her voice. If I do continue the series it will definitely not be via audio book.

Very difficult to get through

After reading 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' I found that this sequel was greatly lacking. I felt that the characterisations had become stereotypes and the plot was boring and predictable. Although I own quite a few of this series, I am no longer sure if I can be bothered to read the rest of them as this one was a waste of time.