whimsicallymeghan's reviews
1386 reviews

Isa and her best friend Gala just landed in New York City. By day they sell clothes in a market stall, at night, the city is their oyster as they take it by storm. Each night is a different location with a different crowd. The two live like they’ve got money, when it fact, it’s never been tighter and that puts a strain on their friendship. Chronicled through the eyes of Isa through her diary we get a glimpse of the high life and the low life the city can bare. The reader really wanted to like this, but it was too character driven for them. The plot felt very aimless in where it was going and it made it hard for them to want to like the characters because it just felt like they were going in circles with no end in sight. Then when it did end, it felt kinda abrupt. The reader gets that this was to take place over the course of the summer and when summer ends, so does the story, but it was like all these things happened to them and the reader just felt like, so what. They hoped it shaped them to becoming better people, but because it’s just over at the end of the summer, we’re just left to assume that. Also, this reader didn’t really care for all the things the characters were doing. Every day they were out for happy hour and going to clubs and out partying and the subject matter just didn’t interest the reader at all. The writing was good, and there was, tucked deep and hidden away, moments that the reader actually liked, but they were so far and few between that we wished we could have had more of it. There were moments between the two friends that were real and raw and the way the author talks about mother/daughter relationships, for all of five minutes, was so brutally honest and real, the reader couldn’t help but feel that in their soul. If we had gotten more moments like that, this reader would have probably liked this more, but that’s okay, this was not the novel for them, but it was still a decent reading experience.

Zainab’s lifelong dream is to become an illustrator and so in order to do that, she makes a plan to move from her town in Ghana to the big city that is New York. There she makes new friends and is reacquainted with old ones, shaping the way of her new life. To add to it all, her love life is chaotic and she begins to hear the voices of her ancestors in her head. These three distinct voices soon help her be her guide, if she chooses to listen to them. For a debut novel, this was really clever and well written. There were elements this reader really enjoyed, they just needed more of a polishing. The overall plot of our main character, Zainab, moving to the big city to find herself, only to be met with ancestral voices put such a fun spin on a story that has been told many times before. The reader really enjoyed getting to know, not only the three voices, but through them we got to know Zainab better, too. It led to some really entertaining scenes and great character development all while feeling really heartwarming. What the reader could have left behind was the insistent need Zainab felt for losing her virginity. It got to the point where the reader was like can it happen already so we can stop talking about it – but then it did happen and we were still talking about. Yes, this was a big turning point for Zainab, the reader understood that, but it didn’t feel like it was necessary to keep coming back to it. It was like the author was trying to write a romance, but the scenes were sprinkled in and they didn’t have a lot spark most of the time, so it was a little lacklustre to read. The reader will say though, some of it was very relatable. There were moments throughout that the reader found a little clunky to read, but as this was this author’s debut, it leaves room for improvement and to get better and this reader would love to see where Attah’s writing goes from here. As for the characters, they were fun and well developed. The reader liked how each of them had their own story and how their stories found their way being incorporated into Zainab’s story. The way they were all so connected and there for each other, even at the worst of times, sometimes. It was nice to read about this community of friends who they could all count on, who were trying to make a way for themselves, it was very uplifting to read. The different characters all had these little quirks to them that made them memorable, especially Zainab’s new friend Mary Grace, she was hilarious yet supportive. The reader wasn’t sure how this was all going to wrap up, but it did a good job of bringing everything full circle and in a happy way. It made it so that things were on the road to being better and brighter without telling too much or leaving it ambiguous. In the end, a well written novel that had a lot of heart and potential. 

Tom and his wife Isabel live on an island off the coast in Australia where Tom is the lighthouse keeper. When a boat carrying a dead man and a very much alive baby appear, Tom wants to report it, but his wife has other ideas. After suffering many miscarriages and a stillbirth, she believes this baby is a gift from God and that they should care for it. So they do, naming the girl Lucy. But after a few years and they return to the mainland, they start to realize the consequences their choice has made. This was a really well written and heartfelt novel. The plot was really well developed and had a lot of heart to it. The reader could see and feel both sides to each of the characters and that’s what really hit home; the author did an amazing job of painting both sides to each of their stories. It’s so easy to make one side feel like the villain, and there definitely were moments throughout where it could have gone either way, but the balance that Stedman used to ensure that didn’t happen was remarkable. There were moments throughout where the shifting of the different points of view took the reader out of the story a bit, but it was easy to fall back in with it and so that didn’t really deter too much from the reading experience; it was just a minor setback. The reader understood that there needed to be shifts in order to fully grasp what was happening. It did take a bit of time to warm up to this story so that’s why this isn’t rated higher than it could be, but that ending sure did take the reader and swept them away. As mentioned, these characters were wonderfully created; they had so much depth to them. The reader could feel all of their deep rooted pain and how that compelled them and made them do the things that they did. Their actions felt justified to themselves and the reader completely understood that, even if it wasn’t always the right thing to do. It was very riveting and fascinating to see what they would do next because they were all driven so hard by emotions. This made them come off as very human and very likeable, even when they did unlikeable things. In the end, the reader really liked how emotional this ended up being; how layered the characters got and how it all weaved together into an arc with a beautiful story.

Final thoughts: This novel had a good plot but at times it could get tedious with how stretched out it felt. There could have been some parts that were cut out just to keep things moving. That’s what really dragged the reader down, the unnecessary parts that could have been summed up better. The way this led up to the end was very well written and had the reader emotionally invested in both the plot and the characters; how it actually ended, leaving it open to however the reader wanted to interpret it was kinda lame. It would have been so much more powerful had both these authors just picked a way for this to end instead of leaving it to their readers. The characters were really strong; the fact that by the end we felt for Richard was pretty impressive because the whole time, this reader was not invested in his story or cared about him, but right at the end there was something about the way the ending was written that compelled the reader to like him. Jack was a really strong character from the start; for a 12-year-old he had to be really brave to do all the things he did; and even in the middle of the book it didn’t feel like he was a kid any longer and that was interesting to read. Getting to watch him grow not only up, but as a character was really well done. Sloat was also an interesting antagonist; at times he was kinda boring, but when he needed to, he stepped up to really mess things up and really shake up the plot. In the end, this wasn’t the reader’s favourite King novel, but it was decent.

In the small town of Smith, Alberta, Darrel grew up with his mother and siblings. Growing up on his mother’s stories and Cree culture, he idolized and admired her. This laid the foundation for his love for her and what helped him get through the hardest parts of his life. This memoir took the reader on a journey through the good and bad he had with all of his family and how he’d overcome adversity of the trauma and the societal barriers thrown at him and how it led to the adventurous life he’s led. This was an emotional and at times hard-hitting memoir, full of hope and despair with a lot of story to tell. Just when the reader thought there couldn’t be more to this family, there was more. It was all really interesting and definitely thought-provoking, but for how short this book was, it felt like there was so much content that we only just scratched the surface of everything. It also made this memoir feel over-packed with info and things to keep track of. The reader appreciated and understood that all of it needed to be said and shared, but at times it felt very overwhelming to read it all. Saying that though, this was still very well written and told in a way that was full of hopefulness and optimism, even when it wasn’t always very promising what would come next. The reader really liked reading about the author’s mother and how connected he felt to her, even when it felt like there was no hope left with her, he still used his love for her to push on and continue to be the better person; it was really inspiring to read. In the end, this was heartening story that found a way to be uplifting despite all the tragedy.

Over the course of one winter, this collection of short stories follows different Filipino families as they reunite in Canada. Some have been separated for a long time, some have never even met, but with each tale, is a real life experience about connection, family and the things people are willing to do and sacrifice for the ones they love. This novel was so beautiful, in so many ways. For such a short novel, it really packed a punch and hit the reader in the heartstrings. You don’t have to relate to this novel to feel any sort of connection, just being human is enough. This reader has no experience or relation to being an immigrant to Canada, but the stories within this and the way that the author wrote them were done in a way that really connected everyone. Each of these short stories were their own, but they also connected to the bigger picture and the overall theme of immigrating from the Philippines to Canada. The way the author was able to tell an emotional story in the short amount of time that she did, was incredible. She wasted no time; some would jump right into the action, while others had a bit more of a work-up, but either way, they all had the same magnetic power of creating these tender stories that the reader couldn’t help but love. The reader especially loved reading about Monolith and his journey as he weaved in and out of each of the stories. He was a beautiful soul who was just misunderstood and it didn’t help that the circumstances in his life caused for such confusion. Before we jump into the characters though, the theme around culture and culture identity was really strong in this, and the author did an amazing job of showing how the different generations felt about their culture. How the older generation could think the younger generation don’t care about it, or how the younger generation want to preserve it and the different ways characters thought it was either being lost or maintained. It was so interesting to read, and it was really touching when we could see characters who were so rigid in their ways start to crack as they realized that both viewpoints can be true. The characters are really what made this novel work so well because they were so memorable and worth remembering because they were so developed and human. While reading, it could get frustrating because the characters who were so stuck in their ways didn’t want to hear what anyone else had to say and that it could be a turn off. The further into each of these stories you got, the reader realized there are soft spots within each of them, you just have to search for them. The reader could see both sides of each of these characters, but it was so heartwarming and moving when the characters started to see both sides, too. Overall, this was such a well written and well told story that is going to stay with this reader for a long time.

The Great Abandonment has begun and it has created shear panic among the Fallen Isle. Mira knows that her connection to the dragons is the key to stopping the destruction to save her people, but first she must find the bones of the first dragon, which of course is easier said than done. This leads her stepping into enemy territory, the Algotti Empire, to hopefully gain what she’s in search of and to put a stop to all the fighting. For a final novel in a trilogy, this was done well; it was a little on the long side, which caused plots to drag a bit, but for the most part the reader enjoyed this. There were definitely more dragons than either of the previous novels and that’s what this reader has been waiting for, to see the dragons. The whole plot with our main character, Mira and her connection with the dragons really played out well. The reader had no idea where it was going to go and it went in a direction that didn’t feel predictable. The ending was a little predictable in how happily ever after it felt, but the rest of the novel was good with its high stakes and action. The reader could have done without the romance plots, as they didn’t really do anything for them; if anything they didn’t feel a connection or a spark between the two characters ‘in love’, so that made it feel forced. Apart from that though, the characters were well developed, by the end we really got to know them and understand their reasoning’s behind why they did the things they did. The new characters that were introduced in this helped shape the course of the novel as the main characters had to use them as guides to try and fight for what they believed in. Sometimes things were a bit of a deception, which made things interesting, but sometimes they were genuine, which made it wholesome to read. But all the while, it was always fast-paced. Like the first novel in this trilogy, it pulled a lot from the Mortal Instruments in terms of words and places used, which kinda bummed the reader out because it made this feel less original than it could have been. The second novel didn’t really mention much of it so the reader thought it would be a first novel thing only, but it turned up here. But that aside, this still turned out to be a good story; the reader wasn’t sure at first, but this was a decent trilogy full of twists, turns and eventually dragons.

This was a collection of three short stories that told very different tales, yet came together in a nice way. Each story had its own tale to tell, and each had its own political tie to it, which made them extremely interesting to read. Then, layered with the fantastical writing that Bolaño uses to write with and you’ve got really captivating stories. Some were more memorable than others, but overall they were all written really well. This reader didn’t exactly connect with these stories, but that’s okay because they could still appreciate what the author was trying to say, plus this had beautiful writing, so it wasn’t a bad reading experience. This reader isn’t into magical realism, and these short stories felt like they touched upon that genre a bit, so that took the reader out of the plots somewhat, but that’s a personal critic and not one of the author or his writing. It was really well done and the stories were so short it almost felt like we needed more. The pacing was great and the characters were pretty good, too. It felt like we didn’t get too deep of a dive on them, but from the length of the them, that worked well because there wasn’t enough time to truly get to know any of the characters; we were in and out, just enough time to get the gist of things before it was over. In the end, this was a well put together set of novellas, that the reader wished they had loved more, but they still enjoyed. 

While on the beach one day, Cora Bender stabs a man to death. She admits she’s guilty of the crime, it’s an open-shut case, but the police commissioner believes something else to be at play here. This begins the start of his own investigation on Cora and learning about her secret, dark past and everything in her life that has led up to this moment. This wasn’t a bad book, but it could get really confusing to read and there were parts that the reader just didn’t understand, but they thought that this had a decent plot that kept things interesting. One thing the reader can’t say was that this was boring because it wasn’t. There was always something new developing or changing; but even though it was entertaining, it could be very unclear where the direction was going, or why things were shifting so much. The author had a tendency to switch tenses and to switch up the timelines and so it made it very hard for the reader to catch up sometimes. We would get a good stretch in one tense and the reader would get invested in the story, but then it would shift and become slightly lackluster because it would never shift for the best. It would always go into a point of view and tense that the reader didn’t care about, nor did it really bare any real point to the overall story. The psychological part of the story was really interesting and so the reader appreciated the detours to get there, even if it was a bit of a long journey. The characters were alright; at times the reader really liked them because they made sense, they were developed and absorbing, but there were also times when they could be really frustrating and annoying to read. Plus, some characters went by different names and nicknames that made it very hard to keep track of how everything fit together. The reader didn’t fully connect with them, but they could see where they were coming from and understand some of their motives. In the end though, this was engrossing and captivating that told a very twisty tale.

This is my second time reading this book; I read it in high school and I enjoyed it, so now I’m curious what my adult-self thinks of it. So far I’m just shy of the halfway mark and it’s been a trip to read. Learning about this weird futuristic world where people are genetically made to be perfect and how everyone is made to be happy - it’s so bizarre, yet a powerful concept. But of course there always has to be one who doesn’t fit the norm and Bernard Marx is the one who’s unhappy with this life and is curious about how life used to be. He’s ok this quest to ask questions and break free. I don’t remember how this goes so I’m fully invested in this story to see where it goes. 

 

I feel like I got more out of this when I read it in school because we were going through it so methodically. Now, reading it myself I feel like I’m missing so much and I’m not getting it. Don’t get me wrong the concepts are interesting and bizarre, but I’m not captivated by them. Bernard started off as an interesting character, but recently I’ve just felt alright towards him. I feel like in the chapter I just read he learned about jealousy for the first time. I did think the whole plot with Lenina and Savage was fascinating. Instead of sitting with her feelings she just took a pill to rid her of feelings - if only sometimes! The Shakespeare references have been really well incorporated too; I find they give an extra layer to the story and give the characters something to relate to. 

 

I enjoyed my reread of this, even if some of the concepts were a bit over my head. I liked the discussions that were had at the end of the book, that have been the theme throughout the whole book, about living life in pure bliss without pain or hurt or bad feelings. I think Huxley did a great job of portraying this ‘brave new world’ and how flawed it still can be. When the Savage decides to take on all the feelings of the world and he proclaims he ate civilization was really interesting and I liked that, because he chose that for himself. I’d highly recommend this book because it really gives a sense of what we have, and really looks at life if it’s any better in a state of content happiness; very thought provoking.