zatannacomic's reviews
115 reviews

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

I think this story tries to show two different lives, each with a connecting feeling of not have closure from something in the past. Both characters in this book are at their core unhappy. 

Honestly the Mrs Dalloway parts were not the sections of the book I cared about. They felt really drawn out, which makes sense considering the stream of consciousness style of writing. I kind of missed a bit of depth or action going on. I had hoped to see more of the party, its guests and like the gossip or conversations that came out of that (

which did happen, but only in the last 20% of the book

). 

Now the part I loved reading were about Septimus and Rezia. They were interesting, full of emotion and depth. It was very sad to see this character suffer while not being helped correctly. I had probably liked a book on these characters alone better. 

How to Be Invisible by Kate Bush

medium-paced

4.75

Kate Bush is fantastic. I love her music. It's so creative and she's not afraid to experiment and make her music loud or weird. On top of that she is an amazing lyricist. This became even more clear after reading and analyzing some songs. There are clever references and poetic lines in her songs, which you don't even notice until you take the time to read the lyrics.

Broken April by Ismail Kadare

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.25

This book started off interesting, but it felt like it never got off its feet. The whole book felt like the introduction to the story. There was little that made the characters really interesting. I liked the explanation about the way society was built, but sadly it didn't make up for the fact that absolutely nothing happened. 

I get that this book was supposed to show how lives get ruined by these laws, but I still want to find a story or something to care about and that was not there for me. 

How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division by Elif Shafak

hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

Elif Shafaks writing always touches my soul. No matter what she writes about, it just hits me somewhere in my being. This was once again the case. In these short pages she managed to articulate thoughts and views I have better than I ever could.

Vaders en zonen by Ivan Turgenev

slow-paced

3.75

This was an insanely slow book to read. While I enjoyed about 75% of the story, the other 25% really dragged along, mostly in the middle of the book. This book is about generations and their differences, but I felt like it tiptoed around the subject sometimes. I found it lacked a bigger story line or some event that had an impact on the characters. There were a lot of conversations between people, whose names I always forgot. That being said, I did like these conversations and the love story. 

Sex and Lies by Leïla Slimani

hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

4.25

This was a meaningful book. I'm always trying to learn more about feminism, the way people treat each other and how life influences people, specifically women. So this book sounded like a perfect book for me to read. And it was!

 The writing was easy to understand, which I'm happy for, since non-fiction writing can get complicated quickly. The different perspectives really helped getting a full view of how women are treated in Morocco, but also their thoughts and opinions. It's important to me to diversify my reading and broaden my own knowledge. This book was one of the ways to do this. It treats the topic with respect and the author also lets her thoughts shine through. 

Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman by Stefan Zweig

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

I enjoy Zweigs writing style a lot. There were multiple lines I had to highlight, because they were so meaningful or made such a clever comparisons to art or nature. 

The two books I’ve read by him both have dealt with obsession, and I liked how both have ended so differently. The plot of this story focuses on 24 hours, a woman’s single day spent with a stranger. Her story is full of emotions, passion and confusion. 

This read a bit slower than Chess and I was not as hooked on this story. However I did enjoy it a lot and Zweig is for sure one of the authors I want to read more from. 

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

 This has to be one of my favourite books I’ve ever read. I’m obsessed with everything phantom of the opera related, so I just had to read the original story and what a story it was. It’s just so good. After finally getting my physical copy I read 200 pages in 2 days, because I could not put down the book. I love it when stories are tragic, sad and a bit dramatic. 

Somewhere in me it was not hard to pity and sympathize with the phantom, but other adaptations of Erik got that feeling more out of me (mainly the musical and the 1990 TV-special Erik were easier to sympathize with). This book does make him more of a bad person, especially when you read more about his past in the epilogue. Still I liked reading about Erik a lot. 

Thie plot is fantastic. The writing style is unique as it’s written like a historian recounting the events. There are some beautiful lines in there. There is a great set of characters. I mainly liked how Raoul was allowed to feel and how Christine was portrayed as a kind, but also smart person. 

It’s absurd that this book isn’t seen as a bigger classic, because it deserves it. It’s such a fantastic book I can’t wait to reread it and annotate it in depth. 

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.25

A collections of letters that showed me the passion in poetry and how it's an art to appreciate and inspire. There are beautiful lines and sentiments incorporated in this writing. It's a short read and I am glad that I have read it. 

Bluets by Maggie Nelson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.

Not for me, couldn't keep my interest