sandaru's reviews
191 reviews

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I hate romance as a genre but this book I loved to pieces for its writing style. Murakami's writing style has always been very smooth and entertaining. I did not find it hard to read any part of this book regardless overly explained sexual content, the parts about suicide and death and the raw description of women's bofy parts. It was such a smooth read for me. There were great quotes all through out but my favourite was  “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” I couldn't agree more with this line.
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For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
I wanted to continue this book but unfortunately the writing style was not for me. Had I been 10 more years younger I probably would have liked it but the writing style seemed too forced. Like the imagery and symbolism of the color red was pasted all over the story. I understand it is not easy creating a spin off with an existing fairy tale I believe the storyline so far was really good and had formidable foundation and interesting story line. However the writing style how this was presented was unfortunately was not my style. 
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

What an absurd sad story. I really hated everyone in the story except the main character. The way the characters acted felt like a stage play characters act. Very weird and unrealistic yet so good. Only if you think deep enough you understand what Kafka has been trying to convey through the behaviour of the characters. 
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

My first Rilke's work to read was this and I actually loved the first few letters so so so much. The ideas and the offices he had for his correspondant were totally magical writing pieces. However I would have preferred to see Mr. Kappus' replies to these letters as well. It would have given it easier for me to understand the context of the corresponding letter Rilke was writing. Towards the 7th letter I kind of lost the pace but overall this has been a great read!
A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is what I call clever story building style. Written from a question asked by Matt Haig's 6 year old son about how was Father Christmas when he was a boy. It is amazing to see how he infused the actual facts about father Christmas (chimneys,where the magic came from, why he became a gift giver, the sleigh and even the laughter of Santa) as either part of the plot or immersive world building into this story. I couldn't help but give five stars! 
Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Read this in the midst of watching HOTD and boy oh boy you can say GRRM wrote this by how seeing how raw the storyline is and how detailed long this book is. I listened to the audiobook which was around 24 hours long. One sad thing was this was written not in fictional form. Genuis of GRRM but I miss the fictional element of GOT. In a way it was a smart way to record the historical events from not just one witnesses but a several. Like how folklores are made of. 
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

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adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Loved reading this. Had I read this when I was a kid I would have loved thos book extremely how I loved Pippi long socks, Malory Towers or St. Clare's. Judy's character reminded me of Anne of Green Gables. This is a very cozy book if you love country life and Literature. 
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

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challenging dark funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The purposeless and the time as main themes. Short but absurd. I loved reading it through. I am aware a lot of people found it too absurd to like this but when you think deeply about how the characters behave. It is exactly how us humans are walking on earth. Not remembering the important details of life but always waiting for something. Godot could be intercepted as the God or even as the good things that we all wait for. We always have something better we wait for. Humans would never be satisfied but they would never give up on that waiting as well. Samuel Beckett is an amazing playwright. 
The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami

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challenging mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Surprisingly I didn't like a book from Murakami for the first time. The stories had more absurdity than I expected from Murakami. I prefer his novels over the short stories. Some stories in the book I actually loved. For example 'Sleep' was my favourite. There was so much I could rely on and the Murakami witty writing was evident there. Barn Burning, The Elephant vanishes and Family Affair were good as well. The problem for me with this collection was the incoherent of the other stories. Some were utterly boring and some were just meh. Usually I am able to relate and understand the absurdity of Murakami's stories but here I saw the lacking in such. 
I would like to give this a re-read next year.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5