The Harry Potter series took a distinctly darker turn after the fourth volume, and this next installment more than rises to meet expectations. Elegantly crafted suspense, heavy themes, dazzling characters and a magical world glowing with detail all combine to enchant readers once again.

One of those books that, at first glance, are so deceivingly simple, so unassuming, that they are dangerous. It carries a message so subtle yet so powerful: that the world lies constantly, and people who dare to speak the truth, people who do not pretend, people who live for themselves, become strangers. Outcasts. Outsiders.

I'm blown away, just blown away.
The sheer storytelling powers used to create an atmosphere so bleakly dreamlike and yet so REAL had me constantly pausing and going back to read certain passages again and again. Every detail is perfectly thought out and yet not exposited right away, rather revealed slowly, as the story progresses. And as everything falls into place, as the characters interact, Atwood's bleak and terrifying world of Gilead sort of...builds up around you. (Yeah, I'm eloquent.)
The story is basically that of a society in which women are divided into categories based on their biblical roles in the house: Wives (status), Marthas (Housework) and Handmaids (sex and childbearing). They are deprived of any power and most rights. But it's not exactly a walk in the park for men, either; they're not allowed to love and marry whoever they like, they are assigned a woman, and that only upon achieving some sort of social status. The book is formatted as a "reconstruction" of the experiences of a woman living in this society, known as "Gilead".
It's so real and so frightening and I'm still shook. Dystopia is usually not one of my favorite genres, for this very reason, but the power of the message expressed in The Handmaid's Tale makes it a must-read imo.

Don't kill me, but I felt like of all the Harry Potter books, this was the weakest - not exactly a quality desirable in the finale to so grand and massive a series. I don't mind it all that much, but after the high expectations I'd harbored based on the other books, I was just a little underwhelmed. Still good, though, of course, and Rowling's knack for unexpected plot twists is undiminished.
SPOILER ALERT
By the way "All was well" is the only possible ending line the series could have. We readers have seen Harry through so many struggles, so much pain, that I just about burst into tears reading it. It's exactly what he deserves. ^-^

This is the last straw. I now desperately need to read every single sentence Neil Gaiman ever wrote. Sheesh, the man's a freaking genius.
Neverwhere is, as all Gaiman's books are, magical, crazy, fantastically perceptive and charmingly eccentric. I couldn't get enough of it, couldn't put it down, and couldn't stop thinking about it once I'd finished. I cannot scream about this book enough. It's just glorious. I can't find a single thing I disliked about it. Everything is glorious. The concept, the setting, the characters, the descriptions the action, the witty dialogue... I'm obsessed. Neil Gaiman's a star and I need all his books. Now. *screams*

Now this is an example of respectful representation of neurodivergents.
The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-time is well-paced, unpretentious, and thoroughly binge-able. Id really love to hear what somebody with, say, Asperger's syndrome thinks of this book; i found it nothing short of delightful to see the world through the eyes of our protagonist, Christopher, an eccentric 15-year-old whose brain, we come to understand, is simply wired differently than the average person's. I honestly feel like I'm less estranged from the world of neurodivergents, like I'm more aware of both the struggles and the beauties, and like none of this was preachy or shoved in my face - it was, in a word, elegant.
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A quick contemporary YA with plenty of humor, Mark Haddon's novel is perfect for a vacation, and it's so simple in its message that it's a pure pleasure to read (I did it in one day!) It totally hits its mark and I recomend it to anyone.

My dear friend lent me this book, recommending it to me as one of her favorites. Therefore, I was determined to like it (even though crime novels are not something I read a lot of).
Now, I wasn't disappointed. I didn't dislike it. I was actually pretty immersed (finished it in one day), enjoyed the pacing, liked the characters and shipped the main couple so dam' hard (and that's pretty rare for me!)
However, (there's always a 'however') after my friends who'd already read it assured me that I'd love the twist at the end and I'd never see it coming, I really was expecting to be surprised. I thought I'd have to suck in my breath and read the paragraph again, shaking my head and marveling at the mastery of the suspense, foreshadowing, and suchlike... instedad, I actually figured out who killed Simon about 150 pages in. To all the fans of this book, please don't crucify me, I know it's considered to be a very good twist by many. My friend, for one, enthusiastically praised it, and was amazed when I told her I'd figured it out far before the end. She reads a lot more crime and detective stories than I do, so there's an interesting thing.
To sum this all up, One of Us Is Lying wasn't at all bad, just a tad... underwhelming? I still enjoyed it a fair bit, it just wasn't really my thing. I nevertheless feel confident recommending it to fans of The Breakfast Club, Heathers, Pretty Little Liars, or anyone interested in a high school-centered murder mystery.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved the stark contrast between the beautiful poetic style and the gritty realism of the events described. I loved Kya's character. But the story is a tad sentimental, to say the least, and it does rather drag on... even I, who prefer slow-moving stories, had to put it down at times because there was literally nothing to keep me interested. Not to mention the plot twist at the end was so, so weird. I think that alone knocked off a star from me. I mean, what? If you've read the book, you know what I mean

Definitely one of my favorite books as of right now. Neil Gaiman manages to fit sooo much world building into such few pages that it's honestly amazing. I had a few minor issues with the story but they were all personal so I won't bore y'all by stating them here. Neil Gaiman is brilliant!!

I have mixed feelings about this book... on the one hand, I loved the creativity of the main character. On the other hand, many of the other characters felt stereotyped. Especially the male ones. I couldn't tell Nick and Levi apart. But then again, I'm not much of a romance reader and love triangles are so much not my thing that the mere hint of them can make me dislike a story. So if, for some strange reason, you're going with my opinion to help you decide whether or not to read it, take this review with a pinch of salt. (Respectively, if you're already a fan of the book and you're reading my thoughts out of mere curiosity, feel free to mentally crucify me for that one.)
While reading I remarked lots of other small things, tiny details of description and dialogue, that made me snort, raise my eyebrows, roll my eyes or even cringe, but eventually they were all lost in the sheer force of the storytelling. I can't recall them. So much of Rainbow Rowell's style is so beautiful and left me speechless. So many perceptive and relatable passages. Such a sweet and bingeable story (not quite light-hearted, though. I don't wanna spoil, but you will feel all the feels. That'sone of the many things I love about Fangirl - it's not afraid to be emotional, dramatic, heartfelt). I especially liked the character of Cath and Wren's father. My heart ached along with our protagonist's concerning him, and I fumed and screamed internally at Laura whenever she was mentioned. I kid you not, this book makes you feel.
Definitely a keeper. I really love it. (And I kinda feel bad for that mean stuff I said at the top, but I'm leaving it in because disagreeing with hype makes me feel superior and that's just who I am as a person.)