Tuesday 23 January 2018

Review of 'A Question of Power' by Bessie Head

Review of 'A Question of Power' by Bessie Head

I'm officially into 2018 in my reviews now. I'm only a *couple* behind, so here we have it: the first book I completed this year. A Question of Power is a book that's now on a course I took at uni, and I really wanted to see why they chose it, how it was integrated, and how I felt about it in relation to other books on the course. Because, y'know, I miss studying. 

I found this book pretty heavy going. It's been a couple of months since I've read something that I would class as literary fiction, and it was honestly tough to get back into. A Question of Power is a story told in two parts. One part of the book is told by a narrator who knows what's going on. Elizabeth is a mixed race woman from South Africa who has recently moved to Botswana. In the day time she works first as a teacher and then in a communal garden growing food. But, ever so gradually, at night she begins to lose her mind. Elizabeth loses her grip on reality, and is plagued by three different presences: Sello, a monk, Medusa, an angry spirit, and Dan, a symbol of all that is bad. As we move through the book, the sane Elizabeth starts to lose hold of the narrative, and more and more of it becomes confused.

I found it so hard at times to keep track of where things where in the novel. It was hard to tell what was 'real' and what was a hallucination. But, I'm pretty sure that was part of the point: as Elizabeth became more confused, so did I. When she couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't, neither could I. 

I was absolutely fascinated by this tale of mental illness that was manifested as a real problem, not some kind of female hysteria. For a book published in 1973 it came across as genuinely progressive, and I definitely think it's a valuable read.

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Sunday 14 January 2018

Review of 'The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily' by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Review of 'The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily' by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

I'm finally (sorta) catching up on my backlog of book reviews now, and this is the very last thing that I finished in 2017. I feel like everyone needs a feel good book at Christmas-time, and this was perfect. I was a little apprehensive at first because of how short it was (just over 200 pages), but the authors managed to cram so much depth into the characters; I was impressed. 

Lily resonated with me on a profound level. This was the first year that I didn't get totally overwhelmed by my excitement for Christmas, and I still haven't quite put my finger on why yet. It was the first year that Lily hadn't either. Usually she kicks off the twelve days of Christmas with a tree-putting-up ceremony, and from then on launches into full on Christmas mode.

This year, everything was changing for Lily. Her granddad, who she had been caring for after he got ill, decided to move away to her aunt's and receive more around the clock care. Lily was gutted, and Christmas didn't feel worth celebrating anymore. 


Dash loved Lily, and though he hadn't said those three little words out loud yet, he was keen to make his girlfriend enjoy her favourite time of year. So, he decided to create 12 days of activities to make Lily happy again. Although things went wrong more than once, Dash wouldn't give up. But could Lily overcome her sadness in time for Christmas?

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Saturday 13 January 2018

Re-reading 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'

Re-reading 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'

I finally did it: I got through this massive 700+ page book. I've always ranked it as my least favourite in the series (largely because of its size), but now I'm not so sure. I absolutely loved the depth that Rowling goes into in this one. There's a lot more action than I remembered, and I honestly think it's a shame that it's so goddamn long - a lot more people would read it if it wasn't! 

The Order of the Phoenix is where things really start to get dark. Just a prewarn here: there are going to be a whole load of spoilers coming up, so if you haven't read it (why?!), then stop here. 

First, politics really enters the stage. The ministry really want to pretend that everything's okay, and my GOD it made me angry. They bring Umbridge into the castle, discredit Dumbledore, and make everything a whole lot easier for Voldemort to return. Nice one guys. 

Umbridge is one of my favourite villains I've ever come across. She's just so hate-worthy. With her sweet voice and innocent demeanour, she's so unvillainous in her outward appearance that I'm somehow even more angry that she turns out to be harbouring some kind of demon inside her. 

Just pipping the post in things I love in this was the DA. Finally Neville starts to come out of his shell and we see him really step up his game. The outright bullying of Luna's mental state is something I definitely wasn't here for in these scenes, but I loved the fact that Harry and the gang played on Fudge's biggest fear by calling themselves Dumbledore's Army.

Now let's get on to the heartbreak. Sirius. I'm just not okay with it. I'm still pretty much raging that Harry was fooled into thinking his dream was a reality, and let's not even talk about how much of a bellend Kreacher was, but losing Sirius was downright upsetting. It was so avoidable and Harry's pain was genuinely touching. Life would be great if authors didn't kill off the good ones, ya know?

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Tuesday 2 January 2018

Review of 'When Dimple Met Rishi' by Sandhya Menon

Review of 'When Dimple Met Rishi' by Sandhya Menon

If you want a feel-good book to kick start your January, then this is your gal. When Dimple Met Rishi is funny and heartwarming and eye-opening and just incredible. I'm trying not to sound too much like one of those newspaper reviews, but oh my gosh it's hilariously delightful and will having you laughing and crying along with the characters. Okay, okay, I totally sound like one of those reviews now, but this is how the book makes me feel.

Dimple really wants to become more independent. Her parents are a little overbearing and she's more than thrilled when they finally let her go to a summer program for aspiring web developers. That is until she meets Rishi on her first day - and he thinks he's her future husband??? As it turns out, Dimple's parents really want an arranged marriage with the 'Ideal Indian Husband' aka Rishi, and that's why they let Dimple attend the same summer program that Rishi's at. After throwing her coffee all over him, Dimple is gutted that they've been paired to work together all summer long.

Rishi on the other hand is ... well confused. He dreams of finding the ideal wife and pleasing his parents. Up until the coffee incident, he thought that Dimple knew about the arrangement, and was happy with it too. He's lost all hope of finding a wife over the summer, but there's one small problem: he's in love with Dimple. 

Honestly this book is so  lovely to read. It's been a long time since I've read a YA romance that's been this genuine and realistic. I would love to read anything that Menon brings out in the future; her writing was incredible and I *think* I'm a little bit in love with Rishi.

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Monday 1 January 2018

Review of 'One of Us is Lying' by Karen M. McManus

Review of 'One of Us is Lying' by Karen M. McManus

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2018 has got off to an incredible start! I'm excited for all the new reads I'm going to be starting, and I'm setting my new Goodreads target! I'm a little behind on catching up with my reviews, so the next couple will be ones I've read in 2017, and I can't wait to share them with you.

One of Us is Lying is one of my favourite YA reads of 2017. It's a YA thriller loosely based on the Breakfast Club. Five teens enter detention, and four teens leave. Simon has a deadly nut allergy and is poisoned from his water glass. The obvious culprit would be Nate, the one with the criminal background, drug addicted father, and general lack of desire to be at school. But what about Yale-hopeful Bronwyn? Or prom Queen Addy? Or athlete Cooper? Simon runs a gossip site, and all four of them have a big secret that they don't want coming out - but who would kill for it?

This novel had me up late into the night reading 'just one more' page to find out everybody's secrets. I realised who the culprit was a little before it was revealed in the book, but it still made for a great read. I would definitely recommend this if you're into thrillers. 

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