Book reviews: Klara and the Sun | Wonderstruck | The Time Machine

Title: Klara and the Sun

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Original title: Klara and the Sun
First published: 2021
Genre: Sci-fi
Series: --
Publisher: Faber Faber
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 307
Finished: 21/11/21
Summary: From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.

My thoughts: It's been such a long period of time between me reading this book in November 2021 to me writing this review in May 2022. What I remember of my opinion on this book is that I enjoyed it, but that the story had an anticlimactic ending and a writing style that never quite managed to pull me in. It was the first book I ever read by Ishiguro and despite my somewhat lukewarm feelings for Klara and the Sun in particular, I still look forward to reading more of his work, especially the books of his that are more beloved, like Never Let Me Go.

Rating: 3,25/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: Wonderstruck

Author: Brian Selznick

Original title: Wonderstruck

First published: 2011
Genre: Historical, Middle grade
Series: --
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Hardcover

Pages: 629
Finished: 17/05/2022
Summary: Ben and Rose secretly wish for better lives. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.

Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories - Ben's told in words, Rose's in pictures - weave back and forth in symmetry.

My thoughts: I was lucky enough to find this in a pleasantly cluttered second hand in Morecambe on the coast of Lancashire. Having read Selznick's earlier book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which is presented in text and illustrations in the same manner as Wonderstruck, I didn't hesitate in buying it and immediately reading it. I knew it would be a quick and fun read to get me started if I wished to engage in more reading for pleasure this summer. Indeed it was a relatively fast read, for I bought it only three days ago. I'd summarize it as a fast, almost too fast, and enticing reading experience. The storytelling that is woven between Ben's text and Rose's illustrations is compelling as a format. I must argue, however, that the format needs the support of a strong story to reach its full potential. What I found with Wonderstruck was that despite finding the 400+ pages of artwork enjoyable, I was not so invested in neither Ben's nor Rose's tales. I hoped that Ben would achieve his goal, but I got no satisfaction in following his journey. With Rose, I found that the lack of textual storytelling created a gap between me and the character - a hole that was never filled. I didn't get to know her, didn't make a connection. The concept of deafness, both long-term and temporary, could have been explored at an even deeper level. I could have been prompted to feel deeper sympathy for Ben, or to share his panic even more. But I didn't, and that may in part be due to the relatively small amount of text in the novel as well as the writing style. The sentences are generally very simple and didn't invoke much emotion in me. The writing style felt flat and plain, which resulted in Ben sadly being a rather mediocre focalizer. In the end the novel achieved what I wanted it to, which was to offer a quick and interesting read to get my desire to consume literature on a roll. I appreciate the format and the artwork, but other than that this wasn't a great hit for me personally. I'd definitely recommend The Invention of Hugo Cabret over this.

Rating: 3/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: The Time Machine
Author: H.G. Wells

Original title: The Time Machine
First published: 1895
Genre: Classic, sci-fi
Series: --
Publisher: Fab Audio Books
Format: Audiobook
Time: 3h 36min
Finished: 30/04/2022
Summary: The time? 802,701 A.D. The place? An Earth stranger than you can imagine. The people? A pretty, childlike race, the Eloi-and their distant cousins, the Morlocks: disgusting, hairy creatures who live in caves and feed on the flesh of-what? Enter the Time Traveller, who has hurtled almost a million years into the future. After the Morlocks steal his machine he may be trapped there...and at their mercy.

My thoughts: The Time Machine was part of a Victorian Literature course I took this spring. I decided to consume it in audiobook format because I was running out of time to read it before the deadline and my brain was too tired to read text. Regardless of the format, I ended up really enjoying this short novel and the ideas that Wells presents in it. So much so that I wrote about its villains/monsters, the Morlocks, in an essay about the links between evil, physical ugliness, and contemporary Victorian issues. My focus while working with this novel was on class and the Victorian idea of degeneration in the lower classes of the UK. The Morlocks reflect that in that the Time Traveller imagines them to be the future evolution of the working class, whereas the beautiful but weak Eloi are a progression of the upper class. The description of the Time Traveller's panic in seeing what the future has in store for the human race was intriguing, and the way Wells presents his ideas was interesting and entertaining. I absolutely look forward to reading more or his work in the future, and will recommend this novel to anyone who has an interest in sci-fi and classics.

Rating: 4/5

Book reviews: The Young Elites | Nattens cirkus | This is How You Lose the Time War

Title: The Young Elites

Author: Marie Lu
Original title: The Young Elites
First published: 2014
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Series: The Young Elites #1
Publisher: Putnam
Format: Paperback
Pages: 355
Finished: 22/11/2019
Summary: Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever marked by a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Branded as a malfetto - an abomination - she is cast out from all she has ever known and loved. Adelina finds sanctuary with other malfettos and discovers that the disease has left her with more than just a scar - she has a mysterious and powerful gift. She is a Young Elite.
But Adelina's ability is stronger than any Young Elite before her. And unless she can control the vengeful darkness growing inside her heart Adelina could be a danger to them all.

My thoughts: I picked this up after struggling with another book for a solid 2+ weeks and getting no further than 60 pages. That book was "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs, and I ended up putting it down for now after realising that it just wasn't the sort of book I was in the mood for. Instead, I drew inspiration from the monthly theme of reading a book with a weapon on the cover and chose this.
This story started out good. I honestly had no idea it would be historical high fantasy fiction, but it turned out to be just that. However, for being a mix of genres that I ordinarily enjoy a lot, this didn't deliver. Yes, the story was promising (though perhaps a bit basic), and the main character started out interesting. However, as I kept reading, it quickly became clear what kind of style the story was written in, and that soon turned into an annoyance for me. What was the fault? Over-telling. The author was constantly telling the reader what they should be thinking, rather than letting the reader think and imagine on their own. There was also an abundance of telling rather than showing, which also put me off, as usual. These things alone made this book lose very much potential, which is disappointing since I'd started getting my hopes up.
What's more, Adelina turned out to be a self-pitying, sour, low-intelligent, and downright rude character. I understand that we're seeing the perspective of an "evil character", but I've read such stories before, like "Vicious" by V.E. Schwab, that actually make good work of that idea. "The Young Elites" didn't go in the same direction. I rather felt like the author was the evil character for writing such an awful protagonist. With that said, Adelina is not the worst I've read, but I often became very frustrated with her and had a hard time understanding her reasoning and course of action. I think she could've been written far better, and the same goes for most other characters in the book.
What's positive about this novel is that by actually following the perspective of an evil protagonist, it manages to break some of the YA fantasy norms. I also somewhat enjoyed the setting, especially since I dreaded a futuristic dystopian setting when going into the novel. It was also easy and quick to read, and I never really felt genuine hate for the book. It could still be enjoyed to a certain level, and I might read the rest of the series if I can get my hands on the second novel, and hope I don't forget this one until then.

Rating: 3/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: Nattens cirkus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Original title: The Night Circus
First published: 2011
Genre: Fantasy, Historical
Series: --
Publisher: Nordstedts
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 421
Finished: 27/11/2019
Summary: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

My thoughts: I had the absolutely wonderful pleasure of reading this novel along with two dear friends over the course of two months. It was about time for me to finally get through this book, I think. I've had it for years and I've been meaning to read it for half an eternity (only a slight exaggeration). So now that I've read it, what did I think?
Morgenstern managed to create an atmosphere that felt unique to this novel, and that's something I really liked when reading it. The circus is a mysterious and exciting setting that we get to see through the perspective of several different characters. The historical setting adds to the, almost, eeriness of the environment we find ourselves in as readers. It is this that I enjoyed most about "The Night Circus".
I found some pleasure in following the different characters, though I never really found myself rooting for or against anyone in particular. This was not because the characters were too morally 'grey' to like, but purely because I didn't feel that any character appealed to me much. Most of them were interesting narrators, though, I'll give them that. Otherwise, I find myself indifferent.
The plot could've been stronger. It's a slow burn and feels longer than the book actually is. The narrations teased me into thinking I was headed for a grand finale, but alas, I found the climax a rather anti such. The romance wasn't much for me, either. I wasn't blown away by the writing style. Still, despite that, I didn't dislike the book or the story. I simply found it lacked the elements that could've made this book as great as I thought it would be. I still enjoyed the story to an extent, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to read a decent historical fantasy with some engaging intrigue. Just don't expect it to take you on a roller-coaster ride.

Rating: 3,5/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: This is How You Lose the Time War
Author: Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Original title: This is How You Lose the Time War
First published: 2019
Genre: Sci-fi, LGBTQ+, Adult
Series: --
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 198
Finished: 30/11/2019
Summary: Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. And thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Except discovery of their bond would be death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right?

My thoughts: Along with "Wayward Son" by Rainbow Rowell and "The Priory of the Orange Tree" by Samantha Shannon, this novella was one of my most anticipated 2019 releases. I first found out about this book from Cece at ProblemsofaBookNerd on YouTube, and knew immediately that I wanted to read it. So when Book Depository included it in a campaign, I took my chance and bought it.
"Beautiful" is the word that comes to mind when I think of this story. For it is; beautiful in every way I could wish it to be. It's grand in a way that perhaps other novels aren't. The story of these characters is not written to be exciting, though it's in the setting of a time war. It's not meant to be funny or shocking or action-packed. It's meant to soften your heart when it needs comfort, to wet your eyes when they are dry, to embrace you when your body freezes, and to fill you with wonder at the way words can actually make you feel.
"This is How You Lose the Time War" is written in an utterly stunning way that I did not expect to find in something published in 2019. Reading it felt like being present, but also in the past. I guess it suits the theme of time travel well. I fell in love with the lovers and will do so again when I next read this book once more in the future. Until then, I hope you'll enjoy this novella as much as I did, if you get the chance.

Rating: 5/5