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