Book reviews: Emma | Macbeth | Frankenstein

Title: Emma
Author: Jane Austen

Original title: Emma
First published: 1815
Genre: Classic
Series: --
Publisher: Repris
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 578
Finished: 02/02/2021
Summary: Emma Woodhouse is the lovely, lively, willful, and fallible heroine of Jane Austen's fourth published novel. Confident that she knows best, Emma schemes to find a suitable husband for her pliant friend Harriet, only to discover that she understands the feelings of others as little as she does her own heart. Emma puzzles and blunders her way through the mysteries of her social world in a small town undergoing historical transition.

My thoughts: After thoroughly enjoying Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" last summer, I was eager to discover more of her works. I picked up "Emma" next, both because I already had it at home and because I soon wish to see the new movie adaptation. While I did enjoy "Emma", it did not charm me in the same way that Elizabeth Bennett's story managed to. This book seemed to drag out quite a bit and did not need to be over 500 pages long, in my humble opinion. Much focus was put on more or less annoying side characters, which I could have gone without, and the romance that I had to wait so long for was sort of sweet, but not as satisfying as I'd hoped. Some heart-warming relationships were explored, such as between Emma, her father, and her once governess. I will continue to seek out Austen's works, and the flaws I found in "Emma" will only be remembered as trivial as I'm sure I'll enjoy her next book very much.

Rating: 3,5/5

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Title: Macbeth
Author: William Shakespeare

Original title: Macbeth
First published: 1606
Genre: Classic
Series: --
Publisher: Longman
Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Finished: 13/04/2021
Summary: One night on the heath, the brave and respected general Macbeth encounters three witches who foretell that he will become king of Scotland. At first sceptical, he’s urged on by the ruthless, single-minded ambitions of Lady Macbeth, who suffers none of her husband’s doubt. But seeing the prophecy through to the bloody end leads them both spiralling into paranoia, tyranny, madness, and murder.

My thoughts: This play evoked very few and lukewarm emotions in me. Indeed it is a classic tale and one of Shakespeare's most well known tragedies, and the story truly holds historical and cultural value. However, it was not quite to my tastes and I will not remember it as a particularly pleasant or exciting read. The edition I read was helpful, with its added definitions of difficult words and explanations of what happens on each page.

Rating: 2,5/5

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Title: Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley

Original title: Frankenstein
First published: 1818
Genre: Classic, Sci-fi
Series: --
Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 116
Finished: 18/06/2021
Summary: Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear.

My thoughts: Seeing "Frankenstein" on the reading list as the first book to tackle in the sci-fi literature course I'm taking this summer, I was a bit surprised. I had never perceived this classic horror novel to also be a work of science fiction. With this perspective in mind, it was a very interesting reading experience and I was able to connect elements of this story to modern books in the same genre. However, while I definitely found myself intrigued by these elements, I was underwhelmed by other sides of the story. The narrative had a tendency to drag on and the eerie atmosphere that I had hoped to encounter was nowhere to be found. I understand this story was terrifying and uncanny when it was first published, but to someone who has seen or read modern horror stories, the tale of Frankenstein and his monster just can't compare. While the writing style was somewhat elegant and enticing, it couldn't make up for the boring whining of both Frankenstein and the creature. All in all, I'm glad to have read this novel and it really is interesting to see it as a work of science fiction, though it is not a book I think I'll ever feel the desire to re-read.

PS: I don't recommend this specific edition. The pages are rather large and the text is, regrettably, very small. What's usually nearly 300 pages has been compressed to a meagre 116 pages :(

Rating: 3/5

Book reviews: The Crucible | The Fifth Child | The Woman in Black

Title: The Crucible
Author: Arthur Miller

Original title: The Crucible
First published: 1953
Genre: Historical, Classic
Series: --
Publisher: Penguin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 143
Finished: 01/12/2020
Summary: The place is Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, an enclave of rigid piety huddled on the edge of a wilderness. Its inhabitants believe unquestioningly in their own sanctity. But in Arthur Miller's edgy masterpiece, that very belief will have poisonous consequences when a vengeful teenager accuses a rival of witchcraft-and then when those accusations multiply to consume the entire village.

My thoughts: I have very little to say about this play. I didn't care for any of the characters, I was mildly interested in the storytelling, and I was overall not particularly entertained. Sure, it was interesting to learn more about what happened to cause the witch trials in Salem, but this format did not entice me. I wish the author had gone deeper into his comparison of the Salem witch trials and the hunt for communists in America in the 1950's, but alas, only a page or two were dedicated to the topic. Perhaps if he had revisited the comparison more throughout the novel, I would have found it more interesting.  Instead, it was rather tedious to me and I got the characters slightly confused with each other. Despite the low number of pages, this book just went on and on forever. I'm happy to leave it behind.

Rating: 2,75/5

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Title: The Fifth Child

Author: Doris Lessing

Original title: The Fifth Child
First published: 1988
Genre: Contemporary, Horror
Series: --
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Format: Paperback
Pages: 159
Finished: 31/12/2020
Summary: Four children, a beautiful old house, the love of relatives and friends, Harriet and David Lovatt’s life is a glorious hymn to domestic bliss and old-fashioned family values. But when their fifth child is born, a sickly and implacable shadow is cast over this tender idyll. Large and ugly, violent and uncontrollable, the infant Ben, ‘full of cold dislike’, tears at Harriet’s breast. Struggling to care for her new-born child, faced with a darkness and a strange defiance she has never known before, Harriet is deeply afraid of what, exactly, she has brought into the world…

My thoughts: I'm almost surprised to see this labelled as a horror novel on Goodreads, but when I think about it perhaps I shouldn't be. "The Fifth Child" is certainly an uncanny work of fiction, where we follow a mother and a family deteriorating and gradually dissolving. Harriet and David are greedy in their pursuit of creating a large family together and when they produce a fifth child despite the warnings given by their relatives, things start to go wrong. The child is like an alien to them, and one cannot help but feel slightly unsettled by the character. Most of all, Harriet was a frustrating character to follow, since she has so many opportunities throughout the novel to really change what is going on and repair the bonds broken in the family. Instead, she pours all her energy into this fifth child and neglects her four other children. All the time, I was hoping for Ben to exit their lives, but at the same time I understood why Harriet held on to him. She did what she thought was right, which was to keep Ben and try to raise him to be a functioning member of society. However, she failed and simultaneously let down the rest of her family as well. This story truly is a tragedy and Lessing wrote it well. It was a little bit too depressing for what I wanted to read at the time, and it put me in a bit of a sour mood. Overall, it's a good novel.

Rating: 3,25/5

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Title: The Woman in Black

Author: Susan Hill

Original title: The Woman in Black
First published: 1983
Genre: Horror, Gothic
Series: --
Publisher: Vintage
Format: Paperback
Pages: 200
Finished: 25/01/2021
Summary: Proud and solitary, Eel Marsh House surveys the windswept reaches of the salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the house's sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a pale young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose.

My thoughts: I read this for a course in literary analysis in university. Despite not being a big fan of horror novels or movies, for the pure reason that they have little effect on me, I did quite enjoy this book. The writing was atmospheric and brilliantly descriptive and the mystery was suitably eerie. I became very interested in finding out how the story would evolve and end. The resolution was both satisfactory and the opposite. Spoiler alert (mark the following white text to read it): once Kipps was struck by the revenge of the woman in black, I had thought he'd try to finally return to Eel Marsh House and banish the ghosts for good so that the same could not happen to others. So, did I find it spooky? Was I creeped out? I cannot say I was frightened by this story. It was, as I said, fairly eerie, but it did not have me at the edge of my seat. I would have wished for more dangerous encounters, more supernatural instances, and perhaps even a little gore. Though in fairness, I do not know if such elements, either, could have stirred horror in me. Overall, I appreciated the writing style and the landscapes that Hill created in this novel. I wouldn't mind reading it again for an essay.

Rating: 3,5/5

Book reviews: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea | The Colour of Magic | Den sommaren

Title: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Original title: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Genre: YA, fantasy, horror
Series: Between #1
Publisher: Dial
Format: Hardback
Pages: 360
Finished: 2/1/17
Summary: Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. 

My thoughts:
Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Where do I even start with this? First things first, somehow this author managed to do everything wrong with this story. To start off with something, let's do a short summary of the main character, Violet White (silly, silly name), who quite honestly doesn't have much of a personality. I'm tired of authors portraying their female protagonists as stubborn, weak in the presence of good looking teenage boys, illogical, sensitive, and quite dumb, but then throw in a "she reads books" and that's supposed to make me, the reader, think she's intelligent? My point is, Violet talked in her inner monologue about how her personality was, but every decision she made and her every action went directly against the picture she painted of herself? Unprofessional.
Then we have the to main male characters; Violet's twin brother Luke and this story's male love interest River West (again, silly name). Luke, firstly, is a sexist bastard and he is extraordinarily open about it, and everybody is just okay with it?! To be fair, Violet and River express dislike towards Luke's sexism, but neither of them speak up when he goes on degrading half the Earth's population with his uneducated statements. The only time Violet speaks up is when Luke throws a bottle into the sea. Oh, so then he's doing something wrong? Nu-uh, I don't appreciate that at all, Sir Author.
So River, then. Lying, manipulative, murdering. He seems to be a manipulative liar, and I mean as long as Violet is okay with that in their relationship, then I guess it doesn't do too much harm, but the way he treats her is also so disgustingly sexist, I just couldn't stand it. I won't go into detail, but he was not very appealing.
And logic! Where did it go? They came to conclusions out of nowhere that made no sense whatsoever, and then the author tried to just explain it with some stupid logic, and it made even less sense. Also, the story was so predictable, not even the plot twist was very twisty. This was supposed to be horror? I wouldn't have noticed unless I'd looked at the tags on Goodreads. If this classifies as horror, then cotton could just as easily classify as iron.
Oh well, it wasn't all bad. A few select parts were good, I'm sure. I don't remember them, but I'm sure they were there, hidden behind sexism, plain characters, predictable plot, and long, boring, unnecessary environment descriptions.
The cover was pretty though!

Rating: 1/5

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Title: The Colour of Magic
Author: Sir Terry Pratchett
Original title: The Colour of Magic
Genre: High fantasy
Series: Discworld #1
Publisher: Corgi
Format: Paperback
Pages: 238
Finished: 14/1/17
Summary: On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There's an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet...

My thoughts: 
This is great. I loved this, and I don't know how it took me almost a year from start to finish. Reading slumps are tricky things. Anyways, storywise, this had everything. The world is well developed, the characters are unique and hilarious, the plotline is up paced, and the whole this is just to die for. I can't think of more things to say without spoiling it for you, but just GO READ IT!

Rating: 4,5/5

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Title: Den sommaren (That Summer)
Author: Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki
Original title: This One Summer
Genre: Graphic novel, Contemporary
Series: --
Publisher: Placebo Press
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 319
Finished: 6/2-17
Summary: Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. It's a summer of secrets and sorrow and growing up, and it's a good thing Rose and Windy have each other.

My thoughts: This was my first time reading a graphic novel! I picked this up at the library the other day. I usually don't borrow books, but I'm broke so I'll have to cope. I chose on of the heftier ones that I'd seen a lot of on BookTube a while back, and going into it I had no real expectations or knowledge of what is was going to be about.
Hands down, I adored the artwork in this novel. The illustrations were so beautiful, and although I thought I might end up confused with only drawings of what happens rather than worded descriptions, I found that I had no problem following the plotline. Regarding the plot, then, it was not as good as the artwork (the artwork being my favourite thing about this book), but it wasn't bad. Just rather boring. Some of the minor characters were pretty bland, and there was close to no excitement during the entire read, although I did finish the whole thing in one sitting. However, what I did enjoy a lot was the close friendship between Rose and Windy, and the summer vibes. For two hours, I was on a sunny beach rather than here in cold, snowy, grey Sweden. My favourite character was Windy. So charming and believable.
In the end, I loved the artwork and found the story ok. The art kind of pushes the rating up a bit, I have to admit ;p

Rating: 3/5

Book reviews: Dream a Little Dream | The Wasp Factory | The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Title: Dream a Little Dream
Author: Kerstin Gier

Original title: Silber
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Feelgood

Series: The Silver Trilogy #1

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Format: Hardback

Pages: 319

Finished: 20/07/2015

Summary: Mysterious doors with lizard-head knobs. Talking stone statues. A crazy girl with a hatchet. Yes, Liv's dreams have been pretty weird lately. Especially the one where she's in a graveyard at night, watching four boys conduct dark magic rituals.

The strangest part is that Liv recognizes the boys in her dream. They're classmates from her new school in London, the school where she's starting over because her mom has moved them to a new country (again). But what's really scaring Liv is that the dream boys seem to know things about her in real life, things they couldn't possibly know--unless they actually are in her dreams? Luckily, Liv never could resist a good mystery, and all four of those boys are pretty cute....

My thoughts:

I was obsessed with the Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier for a good while, but at the time no other books by her had been translated to neither English nor Swedish, so I was left with either learning German or just wait for some publisher to get the brilliant idea of translating something. And someone finally did! I got Dream a Little Dream for my birthday and read it in July. I'm happy, though not surprised, to say I was far from disappointed. This book was all I could've hoped  for and more. The characters, especially Liv and her sister Mia, were so easy to relate to and I felt at home reading from Liv's point of view.

As for the dream world, I found it a really interesting concept that I've never even heard of before. I always like originality in books! And the humour! Gier's characters are the funniest there is to find out there. Well, at least some of the funniest. The only thing I found was less good with this book was the romance. I liked it, but I felt it lacked something. I hope to see more development in the upcoming books. The sequel will be out in January!

Rating: 5/5

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Title: The Wasp Factory

Author: Iain Banks (1954-2013)

Original title: The Wasp Factory
Genre: Adult, Thriller

Series: ---

Publisher: Abacus

Format: Paperback

Pages: 187

Finished: 24/07/2015

Summary: Meet Frank Cauldhame. Just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least:

"Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim.
That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again.
It was just a stage I was going through."

My thoughts:

I am putting it mildly when I tell you I have mixed feelings about this book. It was very, very, very different from what I usually read. I'd say the writing style is kind of similar to Stephen King and Terry Pratchett, a little. I won't tell you too much about the actual plot, because I think it's best if you go in not knowing a whole lot.
I had problems connecting with the main character at some points in the beginning. He has some opinions about certain things that I strongly disagree with, and he does things that I didn't always really understand the reason behind. But this is the kind of story where you get to know the main character in a very personal and intimate way. It's just the way it's written, and unfortunately that's not something that a lot of YA books include. It's very clear that this is the story of Frank, and we get to know him so well it's like he's a real person. In the end, I felt sympathy for Frank, but I think he's a bit crazy.
On the other hand, I really liked his father. Such a weird and quirky character. And I really felt for Eric, the poor guy.
All in all, not a book for everyone, but a great book for somebody. It was a very special read.

Rating: 3/5

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Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Author: Neil Gaiman

Original title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Genre: Magical realism, Adult, Horror

Series: ---

Publisher: William Morrow

Format: Paperback

Pages: 178

Finished: 03/08/2015

Summary: Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

My thoughts:
I read and finished this book in one day as my first pick for BookTube-A-Thon. The Ocean at the End of the Lane went with the challenge to read a novel with blue on the cover.
I went into this book not knowing at all what it was going to be about. I like when I don't know, sometimes. It feels like I connect better with the characters if I don't already kind of know what's going to happen to them. So I won't talk too much about the plot, because I don't want to spoil anyone. All I'll say is it was a delightful adventure to read, and maybe just a bit magical.
Oh, and don't let the summary of the book mislead you as it did for me. This book is a lot more than it first may seem.

Rating: 4.5/5