Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Basics:

Title: Fangirl

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Originally published: 2013

Pages: 433

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Plot:

Cath and her twin sister Wren are off to the same college. Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Along with the whole world. She and her twin sister, Wren, devoured the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving. Cath also writes Simon Snow fan-fiction. Wren used to be a part of it, however, since Wren grew out of the fandom they do not collaborate anymore. Wren and Cath are almost opposites. Wren is outgoing, confident and loves partying. Cath is quite introverted, has social anxiety and mostly spends her time in her room, writing fan-fiction. Fangirl is about Cath’s college experience and how she deals with her roommate, among others, while still taking care of her father.

My thoughts:

Forgive my casual language today, it’s just one of those days.[1]I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. I have read Eleanor and Park and loved that book (maybe not the ending) so it should not come as a surprise. Rainbow Rowell has a quirky writing style and the way she portraits these characters is just so relatable and makes the reader care for them. I felt some king of connection with every character except for Nick. Read the book and we can discuss that further. I think the last time I actually had a crush on a book character was Edward Cullen from Twilight back in 2009. It has been 6 years and I thought I had grown out of crushing on characters but Rainbow Rowell just threw me back on that band wagon when she created Levi. Normally, I would find it annoying how impeccable he is, but Rowell finds a way to make him so likable. That goes for all the characters.

I think what makes me likes this book so much, except for the characters, is how you I can relate to all of the characters in some way. Especially Cath. I too struggled with social anxiety as a kid and I could recognise myself in her thoughts and I totally understood what she was going through. Still, this novel is very fast-paced, up-beat, with both humorous and serious elements. This may one of the best contemporary novels I have ever read (although I don’t read much contemporary). I’ll have to think about that. However, I can’t recommend this book enough.

/Ingrid

Next review coming up: A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

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[1] Limp Bizkit – Break Stuff (if you’re having one of those days)

Miss Peregrin's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Basics:

Title: Miss Peregrin’s Home for Peculiar Children (#1)

Author: Ransom Riggs

Originally published: 2011

Pages: 379

Genre: Fantasy, spooky

Brief Plot:

A boy who suddenly loses his grandfather under mysterious circumstances goes on a journey to a isolated island across the Atlantic to find out what has happened, while meeting some most peculiar characters.

My thoughts:

As with “The Pianist” I went into this book with high expectations, which were well met. I decided to read the book when a friend used it as a reference in a school presentation, saying that it was the scariest book she’s read. More on that later. I loved that the book was so full of old pictures. It really set the mood and gave the book a spooky feeling. I have to admit, I did not fancy reading the book in the dark, because of the pictures. Some were quite harmless, other were simply terrifying. However, the plot was not what I had expected. From what I had heard a thought this was going to be a sort or horror story, and all the characters were to be a sort of ghosts. That was not the case. In a away, I was disappointed because of the lack of horror that I was expecting, nevertheless, I still loved the way the book turned out to be. I fell in love with the characters. I wish we’d know more about the side characters since I found them the most interesting. But this is the first book in a trilogy so I take it there is more to come.

SPOILER SECTION!!!

I will start off by just writing some meaningless words just so that if anyone accidentally reads the first few lines, they will not be spoiled. So if you’re for some reason STILL reading this, stop right now. I didn’t fancy the love sequences between Jacob and Emma. I found it very weird and not necessary. It seemed obvious that she only fancied him in the first place because he looked like his grandfather. Other than that I found the book amazing.

Summary

I really liked this book. It was fast-paced, the writing style was simple but not boring and I really liked the way the story developed. I loved the characters and I’m very excited to continue the series and hopefully witness some serious character development! I heard that the up-coming books will introduce some new characters which I am all for! To to summarize, I recommend this book to anyone who is out to read a moderately creepy book and explore new worlds!

Next review coming up: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

/Ingrid

The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman

Basics

Title: The Pianist

Author: Wladyslaw Szpilman

Orginally published: 1998

Pages: 222
Genre: Biography

Plot

The Pianist is a book based on the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman and his survival during WWII in Warsawa. I don’t want to go into too much detail since I prefer not knowing too much of a book before I read it. I will tell you the basics. Wladyslaw is a Jew who works at a radio station as a pianist before the Germans invade Poland. As they do, the Germans “wipe out” the Jews from the city, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. As mentioned earlier, the plot surrounds Wladyslaw as he moves around the city, to live in various absurd conditions as he tries to hide from the Germans. There is an Academy Award-winning movie based on the book which I highly recommend watching after you finished the book.

My Thoughts:

I went in to this book with high expectations. I had seen the film a few years earlier and still consider it to be one of my favourite films about the holocaust and second world war. I originally read the book for a school assignment. We had a list of works to choose from and The Pianist immediately caught my eye. So I read it. To be honest, I’m still not sure what my final thoughts on the book are. Despite its heavy topic, it was a fairly quick read. The plot goes on quite quickly, and the language was easy-read, yet still sophisticated.  Szpilman is great at describing environments in a raw form and does not exaggerate with pro-longed sentences to create an unnecessary dramatic effect. Sometimes, that is beneficial for the writing style, however, I liked that Szpilman kept it simple. You still get a good view of what is happening.

We have mainly two characters in the novel, Wladyslaw himself, and a soldier who is unnamed. I expected the soldier to be featured more in the novel, since he plays such a big part in the movie, however, it is not until the end of the book that we meet him. I found the side characters to be quite dull, not much of description, nor do we know much about their personalities. I understand that you can’t “connect” to a character in this situation, however, the only character I cared about was Wladyslaw. Perhaps that’s the whole point.

As a whole, I really liked this book. I had never read anything about the holocaust before and it is a great starter. It isn’t too long, nor too graphic. I find it hard to rate this book and I feel like I should read it second time before doing so, but for the sake of the review I will place my current rating below.

Next review coming up: Miss Peregrin's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

/Ingrid

A brief introduction

Well hello there!

Let me start off by introducing myself and what this blog is about. I'm an 18 year-old girl who adores book. Quite simple. I've had a few blogs in the past but it never really worked out. I figured it was because I was not writing about something I cared about. However, I did enjoy the concept of blogging. Therefore, I have come to the solution that a blog about books would be perfect! I may or may not restrict myself to only writing about book, but it will be the major topic. Reviews, mainly.

So, what kind of books do I read?
It varies depending on what I'm in the mood for, however, consistent genres include contemporary YA, fantasy and classics. I do occasionally take up a horror, or mystery-based book, HOWEVER, no crime novels. I just never got those books and I find them quite repetitive. Anyway, I will start off this blog by writing a couple of reviews on books I've read recently. A history-based book during the second world war, and a YA mystery book I guess you could call it. So keep an eye out!

/Ingrid