2018 Wrap Up & Ranking

2018 is almost over, so I thought I would make an overall review of this year in books. I read 10 books this year, which I am not at all ashamed of. It hasn't been a magnificent reading year for me, but I feel like most of the books I read were sort of essential, if that makes sense? I say this because most of the books I read were classics, modern and old, and it feels good to have read them. 9 out of the 10 books were in English, and 7 were classics. Since there are only 10 in total, I thought it would be neat to rank them from 1-10, best to worst, and motivate the ranking. Why am I doing this? Because I like lists and I like books and I want to talk more about the books I read!!!! Yes!!!
Let's gooooo!

10

"Beloved" by Toni Morrison

I'm almost surprised to put this in last place. To be completely honest, I'd almost forgotten I read "Beloved" this year. However, there are good reasons for it being in 10th place. The characters acted unreasonably, the story was way too hard to follow, the plot had little intrigue, and the language was more confusing than pretty. The fact that I barely recollect reading this also means it had little impact on me as a reader. Sorry, Morrison, your modern classic was not for me.

9

"Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The book I first instinctively put in last place before remembering that "Beloved" existed in my life. This is a novel I had such high expectations for; expectations that I'd carried for years. When I finally picked it up early in 2018, those expectations were drowned. Drowned in what? Extensively long sentences, plastic language, a flat plot, and poorly constructed dialogues.

8

"Scarlet" by Marissa Meyer

The second book in "The Lunar Chronicles"! Oh, what high hopes I had after loving "Cinder". Truly, this book was good... well, maybe 70% of it was. The new characters and perspectives that were introduced in this novel almost completely ruined it for me. And what a disappointment! "Cinder" was such a lovely book, and what "Scarlet" offered was a relationship development that was so badly done, I can't even summarise it here without ranting for ages. Nope, huge miss there, Meyer.

7

"Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt

Another novel I had high expectations for. This wasn't a bad book; it simply wasn't what I wanted, expected, or needed at the moment. It's a sort of cute children's story, but certainly not the emotional and philosophical ride I'd braced myself for.

6

"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I don't have a lot to say about this except that I enjoyed it. The characters, the plot, and the language were all nice. That's pretty much it. Nice.

5

"Dr Jekyll och Mr Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson

My perception of this classic was without a doubt boosted by the fact that I wrote a psychoanalysis on it for a class.  By exploring the relationship between the novel and its author, I got a whole different picture of it than I would've if I'd simply just read the novel. It was dramatic, fun, and exciting to read, even if this Swedish translation seemed crudely simple in its language.

4

"A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess

Yet another book that I read for a class. What I liked about "A Clockwork Orange" was not so much the plot and the characters, alas those were satisfactory, but the peculiar language. I'm speaking of course of "nadsat", a made up slang language created by the author specifically for this book. Remarkable! What a fun experience. And a book with a lot of history to it, as well.

3

"The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov

Such a strange novel... and for it to originate from such a time and place as the 1930's Moscow makes it even more mind-boggling. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this Russian classic, with all its odd sides. The characters were simply charming, and the plot no less than entertaining. Who wouldn't want to read about the Devil having his way in Moscow?

2

"A Darker Shade of Magic" by V.E. Schwab

Schwab strikes again, this time with an utterly dashing cover and wonderful world building. In this novel, I had the pleasure of embarking on an extraordinary journey with some rather lovable characters. I look forward to continuing this series, maybe next year?

1

"Stoner" by John Williams

Stoner... oh, Stoner! It sounds strange to be written like this, but whoever has taken their time to read this book will understand my love for it. What a gripping way to tell the story of a simple man's life. There's not much else I can say, but it's position on this list should speak for itself. Please, read it.

Thus concludes my 2018 wrap up and ranking. I'd say I recommend everyone to read the books in places 1-5 at least, and I must say that despite "Scarlet", "The Lunar Chronicles" is a good series and deserves to be read as well. I hope your 2018 in books was a good year. Good luck in 2019! <3

2019 Reading Goals

2019 is fast approaching, and with it the new year brings a burning question: will Maja pick herself up and get out of her several years long reading slump? That's a good question! Truth is, we can't know until 2019 comes to an end, and that's approximately 365 days away. However, what could help me get the motivation I need to leave the slump is a set of goals for the upcoming years. Let's see what I have in mind!

Read 30 Books
This is a big goal for me. I've not managed to read over 20 books, much less 30, since 2014. I would be a big triumph for me. What I'd need to do to accomplish this is read a lot of fast paced YA novels, not many books over 400 pages, and read about 30 pages every day, and finish a book every 12 days. If I keep that up the whole year, I can do it!

Continue & Complete Series
I have a lot of series at home that I've started reading, but not finished. Examples are "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs, which I've started but not finished. I don't necessarily hope to completely finish many series, but I'd like to continue a fair few, for example "The Silver Trilogy" by Kerstin Gier, "The Reckoners" by Brandon Sanderson, "The Parasol Protectorate" by Gail Carriger, "Magisterium" by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, etc... My goal is to finish 5 or more series this year.

New Series
Another goal is to delve into new universes and new series. This, too, is a group of books that I have plenty of; namely first books in series. I'm talking "Shadow of Bone" by Leigh Bardugo, "The Immortal Rules" by Julie Kagawa, "Rebel Belle" by Rachel Hawkins, "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas, and more. My goal is to start 5 or more series this year.

Finish Books I Started
There are some books that I once started reading, got about halfway or even further, and then for some reason just never finished them. The ones I'm immediately thinking about are "City of Heavenly Fire" by Cassandra Clare, "Gone" by Michael Grant, "The Evolution of Mara Dyer" by Michelle Hodkin, "Emma" by Jane Austen, and "Witch Week" by Diana Wynne Jones. Some of those I'd probably have to reread from the start, so I'm most hopeful about finishing those that I still have relatively fresh in my mind. I have no number for this goal.

Read Books That I Already Own
Something I for some reason have had problems doing for several years, but it shouldn't be so hard considering how many books I've collected over the years. I own several complete unread series. If I feel the urgent need to buy more books, I have no doubt I'll let myself do that. However, I friendly remind myself that I have little space left in my room, and that my money is best spent on few hardcovers rather than many paperbacks.

Other Languages
I want to read books that weren't originally written in English or Swedish. The literary market is definitely dominated by English, and it being the original language most of the times, so I rarely end up reading something that wasn't originally in English. I'd like to read a few more books that have been translated from any language that isn't Swedish or English. Be that, Finnish, Russian, Japanese, Afrikaans, or any other language out there. I have a few novels at home that fit this description, so I'll set the goal to 5 books in this category.

Summary:
Read 30 books in total
Finish 5 series
Begin 5 series
Read 5 books that weren't originally written in Swedish or English
Finish unfinished books
Read books already owned

All in all, I'll try to make 2019 the year of the YA series. Also, hope nobody reads this, cause I don't really wants any expectations on me for next year, because that would probably make me more prone to failure... hehe.

Hey, me! I believe in you! You're the best hermit and you've got a cool library to explore! Right in your bedroom! Woop! And YOU! You, who are not Majazz. You'll do great in 2019. Whatever your goals are, you can definitely achieve them! I am doing a big belief in you!

Murrly Chrysmös and Haph Nuw Jar!

Covers in the World: Shades of Magic

English covers 1
Omggggg I'd marry these covers. For real, romance is failing me and these covers will make me happier than any douche on Tinder could.

English covers 2
Pow, smack, these covers hit you like a truck on a highway. Sharp, classy, stylish. Not as nice as the hardcover versions, but they hold up.

English covers 3

Special editions? Definitely necessary. While the white ones are prettier, these come with cool illustrations and mayhaps an autograph? Cool!

English covers 4

Audio books edition! Not too bad, but nothing compared to the others.


English covers 5
Was it necessary to have two versions of special editions? No. No, it wasn't. Stop milking it.

German covers
Meh, they're ok. I don't like the ugly stickers and they could've been more unlike each other.

French covers
Wow! Cool! These illustrated covers are badass and creative. They stand out from the rest of all these versions for sure!


Bulgarian covers
*gasps* have my children, dear Bulgarian covers <3 <3 <3


Russian covers
Pretty cool but idk if they fit the series? Feel too Halloweeny.


Persian covers 1
Nah you could've done better..


Persian covers 2
Interesting colour choices but yeah you can still do better.


Persian covers 3
Is this better? Idk, feels too much like middle grade.


Serbian covers
Nice! But not the nicest in the group.

Book reviews: Tuck Everlasting | A Clockwork Orange | The Great Gatsby

Title: Tuck Everlasting
Author: Natalie Babbitt
Original title: Tuck Everlasting
Genre: Fantasy, Middle grade
Series: --
Publisher: Square Fish
Format: Paperback
Pages: 139
Finished: 07/05/2018
Summary: Doomed to—or blessed with—eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing that it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.

My thoughts: For many years, I've wanted to pick this book up. After finding it in a second hand shop, I finally got around to reading it. The reason I wanted to read it was partly because the plot was supposed to deal with the ethical issue around immortality/eternal life, but also because when I first discovered that this book existed, I was very into plots about time travel (eternal life is kind of like travelling in time but at a normal pace idk?) and immortality overall. What I expected was something sort of magical, emotional and nostalgic, sort of like a softer version of the Narnia Chronicles (which I admittedly have yet to read). That's not what I got. I think my expectations were too high for this middle grade fantasy novel to have a decent chance. The characters were okay, but I didn't love them. The plot was exciting, but not special. The ethical issue was not brought up in an interesting way or from a new perspective. Most of the novel was spent building a relationship between Winnie and the Tuck family, and I almost think the novel would've been better off if they'd skipped the whole fantasy part and just made a book about a little isolated girl finding friends and solace with a kind family in the woods, and make some emotional plot around that with themes like family, belonging, love, growing up, finding oneself etc.
All in all, not a bad book, but it could've been better.

Rating: 3/5

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Title: A Clockwork Orange
Author: Anthony Burgess
Original title: A Clockwork Orange
Genre: Dystopia
Series: --
Publisher: Penguin Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 139
Finished: 21/05/2018
Summary: Fifteen-year-old Alex and his three friends start an evening's mayhem by hitting an old man, tearing up his books and stripping him of money and clothes. Or rather Alex and his three droogs tolchock an old veck, razrez his books, pull off his outer platties and take a malenky bit of cutter. For Alex's confessions are written in 'nadsat' - the teenage argot of a not-too-distant future. Because of his delinquent excesses, Alex is jailed and made subject to 'Ludovico's Technique,' a chilling experiment in Reclamation Treatment...

My thoughts: Read this for a work about censorship for literature class together with Karin and Emmy. "A Clockwork Orange" was such an interesting book to read, especially for this project, which motivated us to look up the story behind the novel and the impact it's actually had on people since its release in the 60's, as well as the movie release in the 70's. The plot takes a dive into a future scenario where the western world has been heavily influenced by Soviet and the Russian language (aka Soviet won the Cold War), and where the crime rate is through the roof and a treatment must be designed to make criminals be forcefully lawful. We follow a young man by the name Alex who is a young crook who rapes people and breaks into homes just for fun. He uses Russian influenced slang words and is loyal to no one but himself (maybe possibly his gang too). He is such an interesting character to be following in this dystopian universe that Burgess has created. The novel brings up some ethical issues and has the reader questions who they should be rooting for. The language used, though utterly confusing in the beginning, becomes natural with time, despite the fact that I'd never encountered all those made up words before. The plot is interesting and strange, Alex is a foul but intriguing protagonist, the language is fun, and the story behind the whole thing is fascinating. I admittedly had some issues with the book, but all in all I'll remember it as riveting and deliciously thought provoking. 

Rating: 3,5/5

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Title: The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Original title: The Great Gatsby
Genre: Classic
Series: --
Publisher: The Polyglot's Choice Series
Format: Paperback
Pages: 378
Finished: 08/07/2018
Summary: Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach. Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing, and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby---young, handsome, and fabulously rich---always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.

My thoughts: The cover of my own dear edition, which was published for The Polyglot Club in 1950 and is one out of 4000 copies, is nowhere to be found as far as Google and Goodreads are concerned. It is an edition that I thoroughly enjoyed, seeing as it translated certain words and phrases into Swedish and offered guidance in how to pronounce many of the words. Very clever and fun.
What did I think about "The Great Gatsby"? Well, this review shall be short, because this is one of those books which I did enjoy, but don't have a lot to say about. I liked the characters, the plot was good and had a bit of mystery to it, the language was nice etc.

Rating: 3/5

Book reviews: Dr Jekyll och Mr Hyde | A Darker Shade of Magic | Beloved

Title: Dr Jekyll och Mr Hyde (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Original title: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Genre: Classic
Series: --
Publisher: Bra Böcker
Format: Hardback
Pages: 95
Finished: 18/03/2018
Summary: In this harrowing tale of good and evil, the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll develops a potion that unleashes his secret, inner persona—the loathsome, twisted Mr. Hyde.

My thoughts: So I decided to read the Swedish translation of "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" for my novel analysis in literature class. I originally had my eyes set on a collection of shorter works by Oscar Wilde, but changed my mind about halfway through that novel. Instead, I pulled out my leather bound edition of this classic, that I had bought just a week or so before in a second hand shop. After finishing this short novel/short story (depending on who you ask) I decided to do a literary psychoanalysis of Robert Louis Stevenson's work. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to delve into the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, even though I sadly wasn't allowed to do it with a copy in its original language. My teacher strictly forbid analyses of anything that wasn't in Swedish. Nevertheless, I drew countless connections between Stevenson's life and the novel, as well as carefully researched the circumstances under which it was written. What my discovery was might not be important to you, but it truly was interesting to me, to realise that the characters and relationship between Mr Hyde and Dr Jekyll might very well be based off the effects of cocaine; the drug under which influence Stevenson was when he authored the classic. Stevenson was also inspired by historical figure; one by the name of William Brodie, who lived a devilish double life, and the other named Louis Vivet, one of the first ever mental patients to be diagnosed with multiple personality disorder.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. The characters acted in that peculiarly dramatic way that seems typical for 19th century literature. People seem to have flung themselves on a lot of furniture back then. I am saddened, however, by the fact that I did not read this in its original language, since I felt that the wording in my edition was heavily simplified by the translator. But all in all, it was a quick and enjoyable read, and certainly a fun analysis to write!

Rating: 3,5/5

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Title: A Darker Shade of Magic
Author: V.E. Schwab
Original title: A Darker Shade of Magic
Genre: Fantasy, Adult
Series: Shades of Magic #1
Publisher: Tor Books
Format: Hardback
Pages: 400
Finished: 26/03/2018
Summary: Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. 
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

My thoughts: I had this book on my shelf almost since the day it came out. It took me a few years to read it, though. Why? Well, first of all, I think I sometimes get intimidated from expecting a lot from a single book. I guess I'm scared of being let down in case it doesn't live up to those expectations. Secondly, I was in a reading slump that lasted for years. Thirdly, this is a very white edition and I barely dare to touch it in case I accidentally smudge it. So, there were a few things keeping me from picking this book up. Intimidation, laziness, and an impractical, yet beautiful, cover. When I finally picked it up, it was to read it along with some friends. This time, Emilia, Karin, and Emmy joined in on the reading, and I decided to read it out loud to Camilla, mostly over phone.
To give a quick review, as I usually do with books that I liked, I found that V.E. Schwab continued to deliver in her beautiful yet flowing writing style and magnificently detailed world building. The concept of the world isn't brand new, but it's certainly taken to a very interesting level and done incredibly well. The characters, likewise, were easy to get to know and equally easy to distinguish from each other in personality. What I will complain about was the plot, which was really good, don't get me wrong, but which seemed to lead to a somewhat anticlimactic finale that made me feel a bit nonplussed. Alas, I shall forgive it, seeing as this is merely the first novel in a trilogy, and as with many other fantasy series, the first book is mainly for world building and giving a steady ground for the plot. I'm therefore looking forward to pick up the next book, eventually.

Rating: 4/5

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Title: Beloved
Author: Toni Morrison
Original title: Beloved
Genre: Historical
Series: --
Publisher: Vintage
Format: Paperback
Pages: 324
Finished: 25/04/2018
Summary: It is the mid-1800s. At Sweet Home in Kentuckhy, an era is ending as slavery comes under attack from the abolitionists. The worlds of Halle and Paul D. are to be destroyed in a cataclysm of torment and agony. The world of Sethe, however, is to turn from one of love to one of violence and death - the death of Sethe's baby daughter Beloved, whose name is the single word on the tombstone, who died at her mother's hands, and who will return to claim retribution.

My thoughts: I read this book for English class this spring. My teacher's intent was for us to delve deeper into the subject of African-American history through the means of literature. My group, consisting partly of Matilda and Agnes, settled for this novel after not being quick enough to dive for "Gone Girl", which was the book everyone in class wanted. So although this was not my first hand pick, I was still excited to read it, just for the fun of reading something as a group project.
"Beloved" was first published in 1987 and became a movie in 1998, starring Oprah Winfrey as Sethe, one of the main female characters. All in all, there are five protagonists with varying amounts of time in the spotlight. There's Sethe, the former slave who fled together with her children, pregnant and in less than mint condition, so to say, having lost track of her husband in the process of escaping. Denver, who never had to experience life as a slave, was born while her mother was on the run and grew up in a relatively safe home with her siblings, mother, and grandmother, Baby Suggs. Baby Suggs is deceased when the story takes off, but we still get to follow her partly in the novel and see things that happened in the past from her point of view. She's the mother of Sethe's husband and Denver's father, and was bought out of slavery from that very one son of hers. A man who also used to be a slave is Paul D, one of several Pauls that lived on the same farm as Sethe and Baby Suggs. He manages to fin Sethe again after all these years, having also escaped slavery at last. Lastly, there's Beloved, the child which was slain by her own mother. Now she's coming back to face Sethe again, once and for all.
My overall opinion of the novel is mixed, to say the least, so I will divide it into sections, starting with the characters. I found that while each character was its own, they were all confusing. Sometimes I had a hard time understanding their decisions, thoughts, and the reason behind their actions, and sometimes when I thought I finally got the hang of a character, they did a 180 turn in their behaviour. Perhaps this was due to the peculiar layout of the story and unusual writing style. Due to sudden jumping between perspectives, tense and points on the timeline, I had a hard time keeping up with the novel at times. At first I had no idea what the plot-line even was about, and it wasn't made better by sudden inserts of bizarre and befuddling scenes. The writing style is also the kind that starts a sentence off in one way and ends it in a way that you'd NEVER anticipate. Sometimes I found it poetic, sometimes I found it beyond puzzling.
So my final opinion is that it definitely was an interesting read, but perhaps not something that I'd look at reading again. My motivation to keep reading it mostly surfaced from a desire to know what weird scenes and wordings would come up next. My rating is therefore low, but I will not look back at this novel with too strong of a dislike. Rather, I will look back at it with a wrinkled forehead and a strange inability to remember what the main point of the plot even was.

Rating: 2/5

Book reviews: Allt jag inte minns | Scarlet | Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Title: Allt jag inte minns (Everything I Don't Remember)
Author: Jonas Hassen Khemiri
Original title: Allt jag inte minns
Genre: Contemporary, mystery
Series: --
Publisher: Albert Bonniers Förlag
Format: Paperback
Pages: 334
Finished: 27/10/2017

Summary: A young man named Samuel dies in a car crash. Accident or suicide? An unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to piece together Samuel's story. Through conversations with friends, relatives and neighbours, a portrait of Samuel emerges: the loving grandchild, the reluctant bureaucrat, the loyal friend, the contrived poser. The young man who would do anything for his girlfriend Laide and share everything with his friend Vandad. Until he loses touch with them both.

My thoughts: Having read and pretty much despised Khemiri's other novel "Ett öga rött" ("An eye red", with the bad grammar intended), I can tell you that I was not thrilled when my literature teacher announced that we'd be reading yet another book by him. With the last Khemiri novel scarring me and my classmates for life with how much we disliked it, none of us wanted to get into another of his books. So to say the least, this whole journey didn't start out great.
Did it turn around? Actually, and luckily for my literature teacher, if she wishes for her students to like her, "Allt jag inte minns" was a whole different book than "Ett öga rött". The language wasn't stilted with that intentionally incorrect grammar, the characters were easier to understand and relate to, and the story itself had a better buildup with a distorted timeline, which I liked a lot. I've seen the same sort of jumping back and forth for every new chapter in a book in my favourite novel, "Vicious" by V.E. Schwab, so it was a plus for me. However, what exactly was it that made me enjoy this novel? Well, first of all, we see the story from the point of view of a character that we never really get to know. They are an author, who has decided to dedicate themselves to the mystery of the death of a young man by the name Samuel. It takes place in Sweden, and we follow this writer and he interviews the different people who played major or minor roles in Samuel's life. There's Vandad, who became close friends with Samuel, and Laide, who ended up in a turbulent and deep relationship with Samuel. The way we learn about Samuel and his faith is through the interviews. As the characters speak, we find out things not only about Samuel, but also about their relationships to each other and what each and every character has gone through. It's a very unique and gripping way of telling a story and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
On the other hand, the language wasn't the best I've seen. I guess it worked pretty well for a contemporary mystery novel like this, with the focus being on the story rather than a poetic and beautiful writing style, but it pushes the rating down a bit for me. Overall, this novel gave me an exciting little journey into these characters' world, and I have found some new respect for Jonas Hassen Khemiri (*cough* and maybe my literature teacher too). Considering my expectations, I'd say they were far succeeded.

Rating: 4/5

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Title: Scarlet
Author: Marissa Meyer
Original title: Scarlet
Genre: Sci-fi
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Publisher: Puffin Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 452
Finished: 08/01/2018

Summary: Spoiler alert! Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. The police have closed her case. The only person Scarlet can turn to is Wolf, a street fighter she does not trust, but they are drawn to each other.
Meanwhile, in New Beijing, Cinder will become the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive – when she breaks out of prison to stay one step ahead of vicious Queen Levana.

My thoughts: So this was the second book that we finished in the little book club that my friends Matilda, Emmy, Karin and I (yes, I am my own friend, shaddup) participated in this time. After loving the first book in the series, "Cinder", we were kind of in a rush to dig into the sequel of this action packed sci-fi YA adventure of a series. I was so excited to continue following Cinder's journey and to meet some new characters. While Cinder continued to deliver goodness, well... the others did not.
I'm not going to spoil too much of this novel for you, but let's just say, and this is predictable anyways and we all knew it was going to happen whether you've read the book or not, there's a certain relationship that develops in this instalment of the series and I did NOT like it. Okay, you don't agree? Well, allow me to explain.
WTF was that relationship development? Like, seriously??! Even if I did ship the characters, the way that was done was just so unrealistic and cringey and unprofessionally done by the author that I honestly had a really hard time getting through that last 25% of the novel. For real, Meyer? Really? Okay, I'm not gonna go too hard on her, but really, that whole thing just blew the book for me. Completely blew it. Nu-huh, I ain't taking that. Ish.
Other than that it was pretty cool, I guess. All I remember when I think about the book now, though, is that one relationship development. Nope. Doesn't work. Down goes the rating. Hoping for better writing in the next books in the series, if I get around to reading those...
Bleh.

Rating: 3/5

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Title: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Original title: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Genre: Contemporary, YA
Series: --
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 359
Finished: 16/02/2018

Summary: Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.

My thoughts: Okay, so... let's take a moment here, where I want to warn all of you out there who have read this book and liked it. If you loved it, liked it, or hold it close to your heart, beware of this review. I don't mean to upset you or start an argument. I know a lot of people adore this novel. I didn't. Now you know. Continue at your own risk.
Here's a quick list of things that I liked about the book:

• The length of the chapters (Very short, sometimes just half a page)
• Dante and his parents (Dante in particular I found to be the most, and maybe really the only, likeable character in the book)
• The dog (Always love the doggos)
• The cover (I am weak for nice covers)

Here's a slightly longer list of things that I didn't like:

• The plot (Didn't really follow the typical dramatic structure, which is fine, but it didn't turn out well)
• The majority of the characters (Which, despite the length of the novel, remained a bit stilted, shallow and unrealistic all the way through)
• The writing style (Will get in on that further down)
• The romance (Yeah, no...)
• The ending (Abrupt)
• The pace of the plot (Too hasty in areas that maybe should've been dragged out more)
• The dialogues (Stilted and unrealistic)

There we go. That's an overall view of what I liked and didn't like. I might add that I read this book out loud to my lovely girlfriend Camilla, who didn't like it either. So, moving on, here's a more elaborate summary of my thoughts.

This novel has gotten a huge amount of hype. I've been wanting to read it for years, but didn't pick it up until two close friends of my read it and started raving about how good it was. I immediately bought it and soon dug in. Regarding everything that I have to say about the plot, I was disappointed to find that some parts that seemed important, for example the beginning of Ari's and Dante's relationship, was rushed and almost skipped over, which made me feel distanced from their relationship from the start. I also didn't like the fact that the plot didn't follow the typical dramatic structure, which obviously is a conscious choice of the author and in some cases they can make it work, but it didn't with this book. What it resulted in was me, as a reader, feeling bored and unexcited for what would happen next or for the ending/climax and resolution. Sadly, that was something the book would have needed for a lift in rating in my eyes. Moreover, the ending itself seemed abrupt and forced. It kind of came out of nowhere. I won't spoil what happened, but what did happen seemed unlikely and it would probably was been best if the turnout had been different. On another note, that leads us to my opinion of the characters. We follow Ari through the book. Although we get to know him pretty well, I never developed any care for him or even a slight liking. To me, there wasn't much of his personality that I could really connect to, and to be honest I didn't feel like he had any depth, despite him being the main character. The character with most depth and likeable personality in the book was probably Dante and Ari's father. I feel like the author was trying too hard overall. The language was a poor attempt at being poetic, which resulted in slightly pathetic quotes all over in the book. Sure, some were good, but the majority was kind of... cheap. Like the author had a jar of pieces of paper, and he pulled out a handful and improvised a bad philosophical quote out of it. The sentences were short and awkward and not at all pleasant to read out loud. Sometimes it's a nice trick to end or start several sentences close together with the same beginning or end. I don't know if the way the author wrote was an attempt at this, but it was awful. He, for example, ended several following sentences with one word, like "again", and though it might not seem like such a mad thing when you imagine it, trust me, it is. The dialogues, too, were stilted, awkward, unrealistic and confusing. There were dialogues that were just speaking lines for almost a page without anything showing who was talking. I had to keep count of the lines in order to know who spoke, and even then he sometimes put two lines in a row where the same character was speaking. Some directions would have been nice.

So who would enjoy this book? This is the roasting part, btw. Look away, fans of this novel. Okay, here we go. I'd recommend this book to people who don't actually know what a good poetic language is, but who really try to pretend like they do. I'd also recommend it to those who want an LGBTQ+ YA contemporary novel that is classified as LGBTQ+ but which doesn't feature that a lot, even though it's a main part of the book's premise. If you enjoy novels with flat plot lines and failed attempts at deep characters, this is the book for you. Also, it has short chapters! Half of them could have been left out. That's it!

Please don't punch me for this <3

Rating: 2/5

Book reviews: Jam | Alla mina vänner är superhjältar | Niceville

Title: Jam
Author: Yahtzee Croshaw
Original title: Jam
Genre: Sci-fi
Series: --
Publisher: Black Horse
Format: Paperback
Pages: 398
Finished: 09/09/2017
Summary: We were prepared for an earthquake. We had a flood plan in place. We could even have dealt with zombies. Probably. But no one expected the end to be quite so…sticky…or strawberry scented.

My thoughts: Um... okay... So, this is an apocalypse survival story where, basically, the Australian city of Brisbane has been completely flooded by human eating strawberry Jam. We follow our main protagonist Travis, who used to be an unemployed, inactive young man that shared an apartment with two other guys. Now he's got his hands full with surviving the jampocalypse and he meets new people, like the angry and bitter Don, the curious and righteous Angela, and the hude and hariy spider Mary. Sounds bizarre? It is.
There is a fine line between humour/comedy and just plain weirdness. When does something go from being odd and funny to strange and perplexing? This book is a fine example for when that line is kind of blurred and sometimes crossed, but not always. The novel starts out better than it ends. There is a charm to the beginning that doesn't quite last for the 400 pages that it plays out on. So what's the beginning like? It's quirky, exciting, confounding, humorous and very, very weird. The characters are all eccentric and interesting, the jam is strange, and as a reader you are thrown over by how quickly the pace just picks up from page one and keeps going. I was not bored for a moment when reading this book, however even constant excitement can give a negative effect sometimes. At times I found it exhausting to read even 20 pages, just because it never slows down. We get no breaks. After a while you get used to it, but it can be tough during the first 50 pages or so.
The jam is fun and all, for about 100 pages. Then it started losing its quirky charm and became just jam. And with the charm of the jam fell the comedy of the plot as well. It sort of went from being a bizarre and funny adventure novel to a more serious dystopian/post apocalyptic type of theme. Even though a few characters really did grow on me, I stopped laughing out loud at the funny things they said or did. I guess I got too used to how the novel was written, and therefore it did not continue to surprise me anymore. A novel like this wins on surprising its reader over and over again, however since it's so long, it loses that effect about halfway through, even earlier for me.
However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it did indeed pick itself up again after that dip in the middle. I started falling more for the loveable characters, and when the Jam did not succeed to entertain me, they certainly did. So in the end, I did really enjoy this, even though I sound pretty negative talking about it. It was weird, true, but it was good even so. I would recommend it to anyone who's looking to enjoy a fun, exciting, and strange adventure.

Rating: 3,5/5

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Title: Alla mina vänner är superhjältar
Author: Andrew Kaufman
Original title: All My Friends Are Superheroes
Genre: Fantasy
Series: --
Publisher: Printz Publishing
Format: Paperback
Pages: 108
Finished: 10/09/2017

Summary: All Tom's friends really are superheroes. Tom even married a superhero, the Perfectionist. But at their wedding the Perfectionist is hypnotized by her ex, Hypno, to believe that Tom is invisible. Nothing he does can make her see him. 
Six months later the Perfectionist is sure that Tom has abandoned her, so she's moving to Vancouver. She's going to use her superpower to leave all the heartbreak behind. With no idea that Tom is beside her she boards the plane: Tom has until they touch down to convince her he's there, or he loses her forever...

My thoughts: This is a book that makes me go "oh, alright" and then that's it. I didn't dislike reading this book, but neither did it have me blown away by its awesomeness. It was pretty ok. The writing style was a bit different from what's common; short sentences and a repetitive language. Nothing spectacular. The premise is original, but the execution is ordinary. It was a bit quirky, but not strange, and it was a bit cute with the romance side of it, but not something to drool over. It was a good thing that it was so short. Not that I didn't like it, but dragging the plot out might have made it boring.
I guess I liked it alright. I probably won't remember it forever.

Rating: 3/5

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Title: Niceville
Author: Kathryn Stockett
Original title: The Help
Genre: Historical, contemporary
Series: --
Publisher: Forum
Format: Hardback/audio book
Pages: 407
Finished: 21/10/2017

Summary: Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who's always taken orders quietly, but lately she's unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She's full of ambition, but without a husband, she's considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town...

My thoughts: What a great book... Really, it did exceed my expectations. This review is written a rather long while after I finished the audio book (yes I listened to the majority of it, and it was great, still counts as reading it, yesyes), and I still remember it with warmth and hold it in high regards. I read this book for English class together with my friend Matilda. I'd owned the book since a while back, and I was really happy to get the opportunity to read it so soon.
So why did I like it so much? Well, to give a quick roundup, I liked the plot, which was at first divided between the different characters to then merge together into one. It was so interesting and you really didn't know what was going to happen. With most books, you can predict if the ending is going to be happy or sad, but I didn't know with this one until the actual end. Keeping on my toes from page one to the last, I had a hard time putting it down. Moreover, the characters really stood out to me. They were like actual people, and not only characters created with the purpose to be "the evil character" or something. To be fair, some of the characters did appear to be downright evil to me, but they were still like actual people. We follow three main characters; Aibileen, a black lady who's been working as a maid for white families for many years, Minny, Aibileen's friend with an attitude who has the same job, and Skeeter, a white young lady whose eyes are about to be opened. The writing was good, the dialogues were realistic, and the whole thing was just a downright pleasure to read.

Rating: 4,5/5