anulekha
i LOVED it so much. it was so well paced, beautiful writing and great story. I can't wait to read the next two books.
More like 3.75 / I usually don't give 4 or 5 stars to chick lit just because I don't think it's fair to compare them to more intriguing and complex novels but this books definitely was a step forward from other ya romances. I am in love with ALL of the characters, especially the four lovebirds. They were all hilarious, romantic, sassy, awesome and just straight up gorgeous yo. What is up with these soccer players. I definitely found myself laughing at a lot of places in the book especially in the beginning. Liam is a total sweetheart. He is simply perfect. And oh the winking and the lip licking...
maybe a 3.75
proper ozark vibes. a short novel about a widowed french-arabic translator for the ministry of justice, who decides to become a drug dealer!! lmao.
i loved the writing. the author does a great job in creating a very real and honest character with all the complexities of being a single, middle aged woman with a troubled background.
there's very raw and unapologetically honest opinions on topics like immigration, healthcare, politics and compassion for drug dealers.
the pacing was a little bit inconsistent
The title is so misleading. it's not science based and more a recollection of the author's scientific pursuits and achievements
“But a loving woman, idolises even the vices, even the villainy of her beloved being.”
I picked up this book simply on the single sentence description on the back of the book: Based on a St. Petersburg news report, Dostyevsky's searing tale of a man who drives his wife to suicide.
Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. This quick read was so eery and gripping. It's a story about oppression, emotional abuse, freedom (or lack thereof), and suicide. The narrator is a 41 year old narcissistic pawnbroker who marries a 16 year old girl because “the idea of our inequality pleased me”. he wants a silent subordinate beside whom he can feel powerful. but this subordination is an oppression of her young, curious and excitable spirit. eventually she believes she can only find freedom in death.
the wife's character is somewhat of an enigma, but I guess that's the point. The narrator himself couldn't understand her, didn't know why she killed herself. We see the entire story through the narrator's eyes, even feel empathy for him when he feels it for himself.
you gotta cherish this one. take your time with it, read every sentence, every word with the utmost tenderness. because then it'll treat you with the same tenderness.
“This world has a higher meaning that transcends its worries, or nothing is true but those worries.”
Not a full review but I just wanted to talk about this sentence that really stuck with me. I guess because it's a little scary. I am agnostic (or an atheist since people don't like the label of agnostic), so to believe in a higher power/meaning doesn't come as naturally or comfortably to me. At the same time, the alternative, that my worries are the most real thing in the world, is frightening and somewhat disheartening.
I definitely don't believe this sentence to be the ultimate axiom of life but I do believe that there's some truth to it. so the question holds: do I want my worries to be real and indispensable, or do I want to believe that there's a meaning far greater?
3.5
i finished this book a couple days ago, and have been postponing a review until I can properly compose my thoughts. I've still not been able to do so but i'm going to attempt to review it anyway.
Identity is an exploration of individuality and identity within a relationship. How much of your identity is yours and how much of it is defined by your partner's (or even strangers') perception of you? The transience of beauty, attraction, desire is a recurring theme in kundera's work and this novel also explores that.
spoilers ahead
this idea of a fleeting reality is perpetuated by the “and then she woke up and it was all a dream” ending. While an ending like this might get you a B- in english class, it kind of works in this novel, because it was definitely premeditated and thought out. Kundera even inserts himself into the story at the end, having us question the entire novel. Who's dreaming? Was it always a dream or did it start during? If so, when did it start being a dream?
This whole notion intrigued me but also frustrated me to a certain extent. It was missing something. It needed a little more depth perhaps.
Definitely not Kundera's best work but it sure holds its own as a literary work.
“Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?”
Lady Macbeth was one of my favourite parts of this play. People can question her morality all they want but I personally admired her ambition and bravery in acting out her desires, and staying loyal to her husband. Meanwhile, Macbeth was initially too much of a coward to work towards his desires, killed his loyalty to the king, murdered his friend, went on a crazy killing spree, and then simply shrugged off his wife's death. Lady Macbeth is a freaking badass. I mean just look at this:
Come, you spiritsThat tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,And fill me from the crown to the toe top-fullOf direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.Stop up the access and passage to remorse,That no compunctious visitings of natureShake my fell purpose, nor keep peace betweenThe effect and it!
6/10
I have (very fortunately) never lost someone close to me so it was a little difficult to relate to Didion. I also felt there was way too much of medical jargon and locations specific to Cali and NY, which meant nothing to me.
Nonetheless, I could tell that she's a great writer and I'm looking forward to reading her other work. This just wasn't the best first book to read.
Easily one of the best chick lit series I have ever read. LOVE everything about the series. The Fisher brothers are just BAE.
i want to rate this higher, i really do but...
Firstly, let me commend Ratajkowski on her writing. There is no doubt that she is an intellect and a brilliant writer. She is able to beautifully convey her own complex nature; it is raw and candid. She knows how to tell a story.
The problem lies in the marketing of the book as a feminist work. It is not.
Ratajkowski seems to be so out of touch with reality and completely unaware of her own privilege. I don't mean to minimise her struggles at all but she never addresses her privilege as a conventionally attractive, skinny, relatively wealthy, cis white woman. She doesn't take into account the struggles of any other marginalised groups of women, which would've been totally acceptable if only she didn't dub this is a “feminist” book. Non-intersectional “feminist” books are essentially just self serving and relatable to few. Books addressing body image and body positivity are good but feminism should never stop there.
Ratajkowski doesn't write much in terms of critiquing the current harmful capitalist systems, she simply talks about how she found success within these capitalist structures. The book doesn't condemn the modelling industry as a whole but rather her own mistreatment within the industry.
Her lack of awareness surrounding her own privilege is especially evident in the way she talks about money, complaining about buying back a picture of herself for $80k, which she can't afford because she's only 23 so she had to split it with her boyfriend. What 23 year old has $40k lying around to buy their own photo that's already out on the internet. I understand that it was her way of reclaiming her body and more power to you but to not even regard the privileged position she's in, felt extremely insensitive.
She also often universalizes her own experiences, not realizing that most people -women- lead lives that are diametrically different.
All that being said, her personal experiences of objectification, sexual assault, exploitation are all still very real and traumatic, and so as a memoir, this is a powerful and well written book. It's just not a feminist book.
Emily, please keep writing.
this book does not have to be 700 pages. And it's only part 1??!!? I can see it being inspirational for high school or uni poli sci kids but I personally could not care less.
it was very self righteous and maybe I'm wrong to expect more from the former POTUS but still it was very “ah I love the smell of the roses in my garden and I always say hi to my gardener”
im not one for memoirs, but this was brilliant. and matthew mcconnaughey's voice is pure butter. definitely listen to the audiobook.
i was surprised at how much of a mature writer he is. just so beautiful
A little slow at the start but quickly picks up. It's a very mellow fantasy, magical realism novel with mild discussions about religion, philosophy, and identity. It's best to go into this completely blind so I won't say much but that it's best to approach it as a mystery rather than a fantasy.
I don't think I did this book justice as a reader so I will reread it at some point.