#heretherebebookreviews

[bookbeani]

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena

“Abdullah had told me about such girls. NATO, he called them. No action, talk only. The ones who kissed like whores and then cried like virgins.”

Goodreads Summary: Sixteen-year-old Zarin Wadia is many things: a bright and vivacious student, an orphan, a risk taker. She’s also the kind of girl that parents warn their kids to stay away from: a troublemaker whose many romances are the subject of endless gossip at school. You don't want to get involved with a girl like that, they say. So how is it that eighteen-year-old Porus Dumasia has only ever had eyes for her? And how did Zarin and Porus end up dead in a car together, crashed on the side of a highway in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia? When the religious police arrive on the scene, everything everyone thought they knew about Zarin is questioned. And as her story is pieced together, told through multiple perspectives, it becomes clear that she was far more than just a girl like that.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

My Thoughts: This is officially the worst book I’ve read, ever, which is not something I say lightly. It’s a contemporary young adult novel set in Saudi Arabia that’s supposedly meant to bravely expose rape culture, but all it does is expose the author’s own islamophobia and girl-on-girl hate. Now, it’s a subtle islamophobia, and I suppose a subtle hate if you’re not looking for it, and maybe that’s why it’s gone largely unnoticed so far. But if anything, it’s more glaringly harmful for its subtlety. Let me take you on a tour through this novel, across the dozens upon dozens of quotes and bookmarked pages, and maybe I’ll be able to make myself a little more clear.

Let’s begin with the fact that Tanaz Bhathena clearly did no research when it came to Islam – which is sort of concerning considering she wrote an entire novel set in an Islamic country.  Oh, sure, it seems she knows lots when it comes to the religious police, throwing around everyone’s favourite word, Sharia law, but the history? Apparently the accurate portrayal of that is beyond her. She seems to know a wonderful amount about bridges in hell and eternal damnation, but when it comes to common burial practices? No, not possible, sorry.

Okay, whatever, these are little things, right? Who cares if she doesn’t know that Muslims don’t get buried in coffins or that the three wise men were indeed Zoroastrian priests, that’s not harmful is it? Well, if only it ended there, I could have forgiven this book its shortcomings and moved on with my life.

Let’s move on to the actual Muslim characters portrayed in the novel, shall we? The main character, Zarin, is Zoroastrian, as is the love interest, Porus. The main Muslim characters you see throughout the novel are 1) the religious police 2) Mishal’s family and 3) Farhan’s family. And as far as fucked up representations go, these three really take the cake.  

The religious police: do I really need to say much about them? It seems pretty self-explanatory. They’re a constant threat lurking throughout the novel – reminders that girls must cover up their hair, that unchaperoned interactions between unrelated boys and girls are Not Allowed (funny, that this is only mentioned when Zarin is with other boys, but never when she’s with Perfect Porus), and… that’s pretty much it. Is there any talk of the Muslims who are oppressed by the religious police for their beliefs? The fact that the religious police don’t follow any religion, and are pretty much one step short of being ISIS? Of course not, that would be an almost… positive and accurate portrayal of Islam wouldn’t it? And we can’t have that, obviously. But, ultimately, the religious police are a background thing – they don’t really take centre stage in this novel. That’s where the two families come in.

Enter: the two Muslim families closest to the heart of the story. In one, you’ve got a man who abandoned his first wife for a second, because polygamy is a totally common and normal thing (spoiler: it’s not). You have Mishal, a sixteen-year-old girl whose marriage prospects are “limited to creepy grooms nearly twice or thrice [her] age.” (spoiler: this is also not common, despite what every wonderful portrayal of the middle east would have you think). Mishal, whose brother tells her, after his friend attempts to assault her, “Have you learned nothing about men and the necessity of a proper hijab? Or did you want his attention?”. A brother who says that “A woman’s honor is like a tightly wrapped sweet. If you unwrap a sweet and leave it lying around, you expose it to everything out there. If, by accident, it falls into the dirt – tell me, Mishal, will anyone want to eat it?” Mishal, who lives in a society that believes that sex is something that a girl should “[suffer] through like a proper virgin.” (spoiler: also not true). All this, while Abdullah reads porn magazines, smokes, dates multiple girls, and Mishal the prude watches, scandalized. Not to mention the fact that since their father moved out to live with his new wife, he’s legally the “guardian of the household” and this is something that’s not questioned, even once, by anyone. What a great, wonderful, functional family, right? What a fantastically positive portrayal. But it gets worse.

Farhan’s family is where things start to get properly disgusting. How is it first introduced? Here are the actual first lines of Farhan’s point of view in the entire book, no joke: “They were going at it like dogs, Abba and the maid. My father, who my mother said I would look like when I got older – tall, dark, and handsome – banging the maid so hard that he banged the headboard against the wall and left a mark in the paint.” Yeah, a great start, isn’t it? So aside from a cheating father (because the only two Muslim fathers portrayed in the novel have to be these disgusting men who can’t possibly have a healthy relationship with a single wife, it’s impossible), you have the disgustingness that is Farhan himself. Farhan, who’s most renowned as being the school heartthrob. But unlike your usual YA contemporary heartthrob, because all these characters are Muslim, and thus must be degenerate somehow, right, this one drugs girls to get with them, sexually assaults them, and rapes them. On a regular basis. How wonderful, right?

Thus ends the part where I talk about how terrible each of these characters are, and we can move on to more of the general horrors that make up this book. If my above description hasn’t been clear enough, I’m just going to say it: you have the female characters portrayed as these sexually repressed individuals, completely lacking agency, while pretty much the only reason any of the male characters (aside from Perfect Porus, who wants to get to know Zarin for who she is, like the great non-Muslim guy he is) live is for sex.

In general, this book’s obsession with sex is seriously ridiculous. The entire first third of the novel, the only things that happen are that different people have sex, think about having sex, or judge other people for having sex – that is literally it, I’m not exaggerating in the least. Yes, teenagers are hormonal. Yes, they think about having sex a lot. But that is literally the only thing these characters are characterized by. None of the girls have any hobbies, other than gossiping about boys and hating on other girls (and by other girls I mean Zarin). There is not a single healthy girl-girl relationship in the whole book. In fact, the only relationship in the whole book that can actually be termed healthy is the one between Zarin and Porus. Funny, isn’t it?

There’s a lot more I could go into, honestly – the astonishing relationship between Zarin and her aunt (who started shaming her niece at the age of four for “spreading her legs and sitting like a boy”), the slut-shaming rampant throughout the whole book, the idea that a girl has to bleed when she loses her virginity, the inevitability of arranged marriage for not only Mishal but all the female characters, the objectification of girls for their boobs (seriously, there is a concerning hyperfixation on boobs for some reason, you’d think this was written by a white man because this is almost titting down stairs level boobery), a debate that only seems to show domestic abuse as normalized in this society, and more.

I can hardly begin to explain how damaging something like this is – a book that’s being lauded as this brave exposure of misogyny and rape culture, but is written in such bad taste. The context of this book makes the whole discussion fraught with damaging implications, and the lack of any good, or positive, or normal characters in the whole book to counterbalance all the shitty ones is really inexcusable. 

In conclusion, this book is cancelled. 

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[bookbeani]

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

I usually put a quote here, to interest the potential reader in the book, but I refuse to do so here :) 

Goodreads Summary: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie? When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war. What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

My Thoughts: This book completely ruined Aladdin for me. Hell, I can't even sing A Whole New World anymore without this book popping into my head and haunting me. Yes, the original Disney movie wasn't perfect. It had its inaccuracies (because, really, where exactly is Agrabah meant to be and which culture is it based on?), its cliches, and its flimsy worldbuilding. But it's Disney. It's a twenty-year-old hour-and-a-half-long movie for kids - the characters are going to be cartoony, the fight scenes aren't going to be super serious, and the villains are going to be slightly ridiculous. A lot of the problems with this book came from the fact that so many of these elements were transferred directly into it, without modifying them a) for the new (longer and altogether different) medium and b) for the different audience. This is a young adult novel - it isn't geared towards palatable consumption for four-year-old kids. And yet the first quarter of the book was pretty much a word-for-word transcription of the movie. Everything felt two-dimensional and scripted, the dialogue coming off as incredibly awkward. "Oh boy, am I glad to see you!" might not sound extremely strange in the context of a Disney movie, but it sure as hell does when you write it down in a book. 

If I could sum up this book in one word, it would be lazy. Aside from the whole the-first-quarter-of-this-book-is-literally-the-first-quarter-of-the-move thing, this book relies so heavily upon tropes and cliches, it wouldn't even be able to stand up on its own without them. And it brings absolutely nothing new to the table. Every single part of this book is something I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of times in other YA novels. Instalove? Check. Royalty in disguise? Check again. Two-dimensional characters who have no personality other than things that are directly related to the plot? Check. Delicate female heroine and muscular hero who comments on said delicacy? Check and check. A completely unexplained magic system with no clear rules other than three things it can't do for absolutely no given reason? Check. Characters literally referring to themselves as, I quote, "the good guys", and the villains as "the bad guys" because how else would the undiscerning reader over the age of two and half really understand? Check. Impromptu revolution against an Evil Sorcerer who is defeated by people who he should logically be able to kill without batting an eye? Quadruple check. Oh, and the Evil Sorcerer's evilness being ascribed to mental illness? Disgusting problematic check. I could go on, you get the point. 

But you know what, I could forgive this book for all these things, just shove it in some dark corner and never think about it again, if it wasn't for the absolute butchering of the worldbuilding, and the blatant lack of research/fucks given that went with it. All through the book, I was scrambling to figure out what culture exactly this was based on, and came to the conclusion that the author herself does not even know. But okay, whatever, I’m nice, I am willing to ignore the fact that the Middle East is treated like one big giant country, because everyone is brown, so all their cultures must be the same, right? It’s been done before (just like everything else in this book), nothing new. But Braswell doesn’t even stick to actual Middle Eastern culture. Two more points, and then I promise this “review” is over and you can go on with your life and never think about this again. 

Point number one: the blatant mixing in of western culture into the book and the complete disregard of her (quite frankly overtired and overused) source material. These two go hand in hand, which is why I’m condensing them into one point. And it all really starts with one thing: a wedding dress. Now let me get this straight, wedding dresses are great things, ubiquitous to many cultures. White wedding dresses, on the other hand, are not. Also, please note my use of the word many. I don’t claim to be an expert on history or anything, but it doesn’t take an expert to know that white wedding dresses are a (quite recent) western tradition, and that they have no place being in this book that supposedly takes place at a time when people can be “as easy to read as a book in Aramaic”. 

But aside from the offending fact that this wedding dress is white (what a quaint symbol for white-washing, huh?), you have the Genie, who claims his own wife wore the exact same wedding dress on their wedding day. Oh, how cute, why would that ever be a problem? I don’t know, maybe because Braswell completely disregards the idea of djinn as another race/species/whatever and turns them into some form of magical human beings, complete with weddings and wedding dresses? I’m not even putting these words into her mouth, she says that. There is literally a part where she describes djinn as humans, but with magic. The Genie and his wife literally look like human beings, except for the fact that their skin is blue and purple, respectively. His wife even has freckles. Freckles. First of all, why would you call it a djinni or a Genie or whatever name you’ve chosen for it (she uses both), if you’re going to make it a creature of your own invention? And a boring-ass creature at that? It’s just, again, lazy – including a fantastical creature with so many fun possibilities for worldbuilding and I-don’t-know-what-else, and then reducing it to a magical human being? What’s wrong with calling it a wizard, huh, if that’s what it is? Because, get this, in the end, the Genie loses his magic and literally because nothing more than a blue-skinned human. Granted, a blue-skinned human with an abnormally long lifespan. But still. Oh, and probably the thing that I am saltiest about in this section of my rant? She doesn’t just include djinn, she includes ghouls. Why am I differentiated the djinn from the ghouls? Because according to Middle Eastern mythology aren’t ghouls a type of djinn? Yes, friend, you are correct, but those aren’t the ghouls that Braswell writes into her novel. She includes the western version of ghouls. You know, those undead creatures? That have nothing to do with djinn? At all? There is some incredible form of irony here, but at this point, I’m just too exhausted to delve deeper into it.

Now, on to point number two: I’m going to be succinct here, and just provide you with a single quote. It is only a single instance of this kind of thing throughout the book, but I think it suffices to drive home the point. You can take it however you will, make your own judgements, I won’t say a thing. Here you are: 

“And where is your headscarf you insolent woman? Go back to the harem where you belong!” 

And that’s my review for A Whole New World. There are dozens of other points I haven’t touched upon, but at this point, I feel like it would just be excessive to include them. My point has been made. I’m not sure if it’s been made well, but it’s been made all the same. 

[bookbeani]

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali

“FIDDA, HANA, HADIA - and, Janna, sweetie, if you want to - UPSTAIRS NOW!”

Goodreads Summary: There are three kinds of people in my world: 1. Saints, those special people moving the world forward. Sometimes you glaze over them. Or, at least, I do. They’re in your face so much, you can’t see them, like how you can’t see your nose. 2. Misfits, people who don’t belong. Like me—the way I don’t fit into Dad’s brand-new family or in the leftover one composed of Mom and my older brother, Mama’s-Boy-Muhammad. Also, there’s Jeremy and me. Misfits. Because although, alliteratively speaking, Janna and Jeremy sound good together, we don’t go together. Same planet, different worlds. But sometimes worlds collide and beautiful things happen, right? 3. Monsters. Well, monsters wearing saint masks, like in Flannery O’Connor’s stories. Like the monster at my mosque. People think he’s holy, untouchable, but nobody has seen under the mask. Except me.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts: Okay, first things first: ignore my star rating. There are approximately five thousand different factors that went into it, some subjective (okay, most subjective) and some not. The fact is, I want everyone to read this book.*

The rep in this book is wonderful compared to anything I’ve ever seen before. There were so many parts that were painfully relatable. But it’s not perfect - a quick glance at the goodreads reviews by muslims will tell you as much. And on the one hand, I want to share this story with other people, full of Niqabi Ninjas (positive niqab portrayal? that’s right), halal marshmallows, and the 1001 ways to style your hijab. This book breaks so many stereotypes - there’s no overprotective big brother, no domineering father, no woe-is-me-women-are-oppressed-and-can’t-do-shit nonsense. It’s your typical YA contemporary novel - the majority of the cast just happens to be muslim. 

This is great! you’re thinking, I’m going to learn so much about muslims! And while that is true, I feel like because this is an #ownvoices book, people are taking everything in it unquestioningly. 

The thing is, there is no ubiquitous muslim experience. Saints and Misfits tries to communicate this with its large cast of muslim characters, but it can only do so in a very limited way. Maybe I’m asking too much of this book, because in the end, the book boils down to a 300-page YA contemporary novel about fitting in, growing up, and facing your monsters. I would probably be a lot less critical if books featuring muslim teens were a dime a dozen. But the fact is, currently, they’re not. Saints and Misfits is just one book that portrays one person’s experience as a muslim in the west, and I really struggled with some of the characters for that reason, because I did feel there were some inaccuracies in the ways they acted. Not harmful inaccuracies, that might perpetuate the generally negative view on islam, but inaccuracies all the same. 

The two biggest ones were the arabic, and Janna’s attitude towards her hijab. 

About the arabic: Janna is meant to be half-Egyptian, half-Indian. Some of the characters are full-on arabs. But the arabic (and some of the transliterations of common islamic phrases) were pretty much butchered, and it was a little more than slightly painful. 

About Janna’s attitude towards her hijab: it is a thing that she very explicitly states she chose to wear - her dad even tries to dissuade her from wearing it. A choice that isn’t exactly something you make lightly, especially in the current political environment. It is very clearly a part of her identity. When a guy sees her without it, every hijabi’s first instinct would be to cover the fuck up because it’s pretty much the equivalent of being caught in your underwear, no matter how hot you may look. And yet she does n o t h i n g. Which is not believable. At all. 

And another thing: Tats. During the aforementioned no-hijab fiasco thing, she has absolutely no respect for her friend, and the book doesn’t even so much as call her out on it, like her general obliviousness, or thick-headedness, or complete disregard or whatever is perfectly normal. Instead of respecting her friend’s decision to wear the hijab, she encourages her to do up her hair and look attractive for the guy she likes. No real friend, no matter how misguided, does that. And it really bothers me that the book doesn’t even so much as address this, like non-muslim people are incapable of understanding and empathizing and respecting other people’s beliefs because that’s asking too much. Yes, her character takes a turn for the more conscientious and caring by the end of the novel, but I feel like that only makes it worse. As if the book is saying, look, she’s such a great friend, there’s nothing to call out about the way she acted earlier! Sorry, but no. 

Now, moving on to the book as a book, and nothing more (or, my explanation for the three star rating). I wasn’t a fan of the choppiness of the chapters, especially at the beginning, and there were some plot lines that were introduced and then dropped off without being resolved. But overall, Saints and Misfits was very standard YA contemporary. I happen to not be a huge fan of that genre, though. The romance doesn’t interest me, nor the high school drama, and I don’t really care for the particular narrative style rife in this genre. Highly subjective. If I were a fan of this genre, this would probably be a five star review. So please ignore my star rating because that thing is absolute BS, and go read this book, like, yesterday. There is no muslim rep like the rep in this book anywhere. Saints and Misfits is a deeply relatable experience for muslims, and an eye-opening one for non-muslims. Read it. 

*Along with a twenty page essay full of my commentary and annotations. 

[bookbeani]

Iraq + 100 by Hassan Blasim

"And to her, it seemed more attractive than anything this artificial world had to offer, this place where everything you touched became obsolete because you touched it, everything you said became a lie because you said it."

Goodreads Summary: In a calm and serene world, one has the luxury of imagining what the future might look like. Now try to imagine that future when your way of life has been devastated by forces beyond your control. Iraq + 100 poses a question to Iraqi writers (those who still live in that nation, and those who have joined the worldwide diaspora): What might your home country look like in the year 2103, a century after a disastrous foreign invasion?Using science fiction, allegory, and magical realism to challenge the perception of what it means to be “The Other”, this groundbreaking anthology edited by Hassan Blasim contains stories that are heartbreakingly surreal, and yet utterly recognizable to the human experience. Though born out of exhaustion, fear, and despair, these stories are also fueled by themes of love, family, and endurance, and woven through with a delicate thread of hope for the future.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Thoughts: This collection was largely disappointing. Although this short story collection is advertised as science fiction, most of the stories read more like literary fiction, despite the supposed futuristic setting, and others were undeniably fantasy. I think this had most to do with the fact that the advanced technology and other hallmarks of science fiction, when they were present, were often used in the stories more as a fancy backdrop than a tool to question and challenge and prod at the edges of reality. Also, I found many of the stories struggled to find a balance between the portrayal of the future and the inevitable discussion of Iraq's current state. Many employed the tactic of jumping back and forth between the future and the present/past, and I feel like this really detracted from the whole point of a depiction of the future, considering the already condensed form these stories were being written in. Aside from that, the writing often failed to capture me and the stories themselves were generally crude.

Not all of the stories in this collection suffered from these problems, though. The best, by far, was "Najufa", the story I felt best found the balance between the present and the future. It also integrated science fiction most flawlessly into its story in a meaningful way, and was definitely the most memorable. Others I enjoyed considerably more were "The Day by Day Mosque", "Kuszib", and "The Here and Now Prison".

Overall, this collection was definitely not what I expected, initially drawn by the fact that this was a bunch of #ownvoices stories written by Iraqis from around the world. Though I didn't end up enjoying many of the stories, there were a few that were well worth reading.

[bookbeani]

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

"How foolish to believe we are more powerful than the sea or the sky." 

Goodreads Summary: Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets. 

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

 As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

 Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope. 

Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts: This book is amazing. The premise, the writing, the characters - all of it is so beautiful and unique and memorable, and I enjoyed nearly every second of it. I loved learning about this lesser-known tragedy in WWII, about the stories of the refugees who were caught in the crossfire between Germany and Russia, who for so long have been overlooked. It was an incredibly touching, realistic - and tear-jerking - read.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book were the short chapters that flitted rapidly between multiple perspectives. It made for a very fast-paced read, and I loved following the storylines of so many different characters, each with such a well-developed narrative. It meant that this wasn't just one kind of war story, but all of them, from the craven Nazi soldier to the sort-of deserter, the persecuted Pole and the disabled, and all those in between.  

The writing itself manages to be both simple and rich, conveying a true sense of what it was like to live at the time, with a vivid realism that really brings the story to life.

This book was a five-star read for me up until the end. It was not how the story ended that bothered me, but rather the way it was written - it just seemed very rushed. I was expecting at least ten or twenty more pages, and the narrative just ended very abruptly, which really detracted from all the richness I had experienced in the previous nearly 400 pages.

So, all in all, Salt to the Sea is a wonderful read. It is a harrowing, realistic portrayal of the casualties of WWII, and a truly memorable book.

[bookbeani]

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

“‘I don't mean to worry you and all,’ I said, trying to keep my voice calm, ‘but have you noticed that you've been shot?’

‘Ah.’ Looking at him closer now, I could see he was clutching the counter to stay upright. ‘I'd almost forgotten about that.’”

Goodreads Summary: She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands. 

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.  

Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him... or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.  

Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts: This book wasn't brilliant, but it was entertaining. The story itself was rather typical, and the plot wasn't anything special, but the setting itself was unique and so was the writing style, which made for a rather enjoyable - if not amazing - read. 

So, the setting - the Wild West meets the Middle East. Unique? Yes. But I'm sort of conflicted on whether it really worked or not. At times, it seemed absolutely perfect, because what could be better than taking two desert-dwelling societies on opposite sides of the world and mashing them together? But at other times, they just seemed to conflict - like when the characters stayed up all night carousing and drinking, and then woke up the next morning for prayer… There was just an incredible sense of dissonance, and that didn't really work for me at times. Also, it sometimes almost felt like the Wild Western culture was just there to whitewash the Middle Eastern one.

Though I'm really enjoying the increasing number of Middle-Eastern inspired fantasy, I think it was blatantly obvious from this book that it was not #ownvoices. There were many things that were very stereotypical - sometimes harmfully so. From the offset, you get the feeling that it's supposed to be Arabian-inspired, but there were some elements in the book that were distinctly not Arabian. It felt like she just took a bunch of what she deemed "Middle-Eastern" cultures and threw them all together without being aware of the nuances - and it showed, even in something as subtle as the names of the characters.

As for the characters themselves, they were good, but ultimately forgettable. They're the average sort of characters you find in YA novels - the girl who wants to break free of the limits of an oppressing society, the handsome and enigmatic stranger, the revolutionary who wants to overthrow the government, etc. The same goes for the plot itself. It's a rather standard beginning to what I assume is a trilogy, and you can already see where the entire series is going. 

As I mentioned earlier, I did enjoy the writing style. I found it very engaging, and to be honest it was probably my favourite thing about the book. She writes the story in such a way that even though the characters and plot aren't exceptional, the book is still ultimately an enjoyable read.

So, all in all, while Rebel of the Sands may not be the most objectively amazing book, I did enjoy reading it. I just think it's important to be aware of the book’s short-comings, because it can be problematic if not taken with a grain of salt.

[bookbeani]

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

“To light a candle is to cast a shadow."

 Goodreads Summary: Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth. 

Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance. 

Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed reading this book. Not only was it just a great read on its own, but looking at it within the context of other fantasy novels I've read just made it so much more interesting. While reading A Wizard of Earthsea, I could see the seeds planted that would eventually flower into the fantasy tropes abundant in the genre today - from the idea of a magic school to a language of magic in which everything has a true name - and I just found it incredibly fascinating.

The plot itself is great in that it subverts a lot of the ideas you would normally associate with the traditional quest fantasy. This isn't a story about the absolute triumph of good over evil or light over dark, but more an exploration of the self that was reminiscent of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and I really enjoyed it. 

I did find the characters to be a bit distant, and overall there wasn't that big of a cast, so I wasn't very emotionally invested in the story. However, one of my favourite things about the characters, which I was not at all expecting, was that the entire cast is pretty much exclusively made up of people of colour, and it's the white people who are considered strange and other. I absolutely loved that subversion of stereotypes.

One thing that sort of bothered me was the lack of female characters, although I've heard Le Guin fixes that by introducing a main female character in the third novel of the series. Nevertheless, A Wizard of Earthsea was a great read.

All in all, I didn't have a lot of expectations coming into this book, but it definitely proved to be an entertaining, refreshing take on fantasy.

[bookbeani]

And I Darken by Kiersten White

"Let her be strong. Let her be sly. And let her be ugly."

Goodreads Summary: No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets. 

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point

Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts: This book was great. It explores a new culture and time period that for so long has been overlooked in YA literature. The premise itself is refreshingly original, and the world-building was wonderfully rich, really bringing everything about the setting to life. The book completely immerses you in a whole different world that is dark, beautiful, and brutal.

As for the characters themselves, they were all amazing - so complex and well-crafted, and brought to life by the writing. I especially loved Lada and Radu's relationship. It was loving yet strained, messy yet well-meaning - it was just so real. I think it is hands-down the most realistic brother-sister relationship (although far from the healthiest) that I have ever read in a book. I was originally a bit wary of Lada's character, because I've come across one too many "badass" female characters in books who end up running around in palaces wearing pretty dresses and fluttering their eyelashes. With Lada Dragwyla, that is not the case. She is not pretty, she is brutal. And she's not afraid to show it.

I did find the plot to be a bit slow and repetitive in the first half or so of the book, but things really picked up towards the end, and I loved seeing all the characters grow and change, especially Radu.

Also, this book is wonderful in its diversity and representation, and I applaud it for that alone. 

So, all in all, And I Darken was a unique, dark historical retelling, and I would definitely recommend this book everyone.

[bookbeani]

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

"Yes, she would have blood on her hands, but blood can be a cleansing thing." 

Goodreads Summary: Thou shalt kill. 

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. 

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

My Thoughts: I'll be honest - I picked up this book pretty much solely because of the cover (and the spoof of the Ten Commandments on the back, beginning with "Thou shalt kill"). I mean, what's there not to love? Unfortunately, I was in for a huge disappointment.

So, the first disappointment was this: I wasn't expecting a futuristic dystopian novel. I honestly thought it was fantasy, and so from the very first chapter my excitement was somewhat dimmed - what can I say, I've just read so many dystopian novels that I've kind of become tired of them at this point. Also, the dystopian world itself was not entirely to my liking. There were various things that I felt didn't make perfect sense, and were just thrown in there for the sake of the plot. For example, the fact that Scythes can kill using all manner of weapons. Why on earth would a moral, upright person with a conscience (the apparent criteria for choosing Scythes) choose to kill someone using a knife or by drowning, rather than just a simple pill? First off, it's messier. Second of all, it's a heck of a lot more painful. And thirdly, it's just more work. Why would you bother to spend so much time and effort teaching apprentices the art of killing, when all they really need to learn is how to calculate dosage ratios? Oh, right, for the sake of the plot. Because calculations aren't nearly as fun as learning martial arts and swinging clubs at people's heads.

Anyway, disappointment number two: the writing style. This book was written in third person, and often switched between the point of views of different characters. This is usually my favourite literary point of view, but I feel like in this book it just didn't work. I felt entirely detached from all the characters, and this is the main root from which stem all the other things I didn't like. Also, because the story takes place over a relatively long time frame (one year), a lot of events were merely glossed over and summarized - including the training of the apprentices. I'm sorry, but if the main character is learning to kill people in a hundred and one different ways for dubious reasons, at least make it entertaining. Instead, you just got a "Months passed, and then she learned to do this. And this." These summarizations were, first of all, boring, and second of all just worked to distance me even further from the characters. 

And this, friends, is why I was not a fan of the romance. You've got these two characters, who both seem vaguely interesting but I wouldn't know because I'm so detached from them, and we’ve been told that they've known each other for months now, even though we've never really seen any interaction between them aside from a vague "hi, hello" here and there, and then all of a sudden there’s a romance? I'm sorry. That's not the way it works - well at least, not if you want me to be emotionally invested in them. 

Okay, so now onto what I actually liked: the plot. While the first 300 pages or so of the book were rather meh, things definitely picked up in the last hundred pages, and there were a few twists in there that were rather entertaining, and the book definitely ended with a bang.

So, all in all, Scythe was a disappointment for me, though it did end well, and I guess serves as a lesson to not judge books by their cover.

[bookbeani]

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

“The greatest enemy is one that has nothing to lose.” 

Goodreads Summary: One boy. One dragon. A world of adventure.

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.

Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts: I first read Eragon as a kid and absolutely fell in love with the series. This was a reread for me in which I wanted to see if my perspective had changed, and if I would enjoy it as much this time around. Turns out, my perspective has changed, and the book wasn't as perfect and wonderful as I had originally thought. I think the main difference is that I have read so many more books between then and now that my standards have just gone up. A book that once merited all the stars I could ever give it now warranted less. Now, I think it'll be easier if I broke it down: 

The characters. I hold a certain fondness in my heart for each of the characters, because I loved them so much reading about them the first time around and revisiting them was like revisiting old friends. However, I did find Eragon to be extremely naïve, and a lot of his stupid decisions left me cringing. 

The plot. I think my biggest issue with Eragon was the pacing. A lot less happened in the first book than I remembered (I originally read the first three books back-to-back so I couldn't actually distinctly remember where one ended and the next began). There just aren't a lot of events and a lot of just traveling/nothing happening for the majority of the book that was rather reminiscent of traditional fantasy novels. 

The world-building. I don't know if this is because I already knew the world before reading it this time around, but I felt like the book was very info dump-y. There would be pages and pages of info-dumps cloaked under the guise of Eragon learning about the world around him for the first time. I, for one, wasn't fooled. But, again, it may just be that I felt this way because I was already familiar with the world and everything was already old news.

So, all in all, Eragon was not as great a book as I remember it being, but I still enjoyed it a lot more than I would have if this was my first time reading it, as this book has a huge element of nostalgia associated with it. Despite not objectively being particularly spectacular, this book will always hold a special place in my heart.

[bookbeani]

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

"To the stars who listen—and the dreams that are answered."

Goodreads Summary: Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts: I very nearly did not read this book. A Court of Thorns and Roses for me was an average read, with a few elements that didn't sit well with me (mostly pertaining to Tamlin's relationship with Feyre), and so I didn't see much reason to pick up this sequel, what with the seemingly nicely wrapped-up ending and all. But I am so glad I finally gave it a chance (thank you to everyone who insisted I read it).

A Court of Thorns and Roses was a flat, two-dimensional affair, and A Court of Mist and Fury took that narrative and added a whole new dimension to it. A lot of the things I didn't like about the first book were directly addressed here. It was like Maas took the usual problematic romance narrative often targeted at young teens, and then exposes it for what it is. I almost feel like she wrote the first book solely in order to laugh at it (and that type of narrative in general) in the second. Well, not laugh at it (as it wasn't exactly light-hearted), but at least tear it apart, bit by bit. Anyway, enough of my vague rambling. Let's get right down to the details. 

First off, the characters. From book one, Rhysand was my favourite, and needless to say I love him even more after reading this book. I loved learning about his backstory, as well as the backstories of the other characters. And the cast of characters introduced in this book were just as amazing, as well. They were so well-crafted, although diversity-wise I did find them to be severely lacking. They were all so memorable, though, and they really brought life to the story. 

I think my favourite part of this book was the world-building. In A Court of Thorns and Roses, you only get an itty bitty glimpse into the world, considering you're confined to the limited information that Feyre herself has. But in this book, Maas really built on everything and I loved learning about the different dynamics of the courts, as well as tons of history that adds so much more meaning to what happened not just in the last book, but also what's going on as this one progresses. 

The plot itself I also enjoyed immensely. It was intriguing and full of action, and just really, really great. I can't really say much specific about it without giving away spoilers, but I especially loved it towards the end, when a lot of things were revealed, and this book really ended with a bang.

So, all in all, this book was way better than A Court of Thorns and Roses, and now I can finally see what the hype has been all about (and may or may not add to it myself…). I'm sort of not regretful that I didn't read this sooner, though, as that means less of an agonizing wait until A Court of Wings and Ruin. This one, I will definitely be picking up.

[bookbeani]

The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson

"And now good-morning to you, my fine fellow, and the devil go with you for me!" 

Goodreads Summary: Offering an engrossing spin on a time-honored theme--the risky business of making a pact with the devil--this short story is a radiant jewel. It recounts the mercurial lot of Keawe, a Hawaiian who purchases a bottle inhabited by an imp capable of granting any wish. Yet this enticing object holds a dark curse: anyone who dies with it in his possession will burn forever in hell. And here's the rub: one can sell the bottle only for less than its purchase price. Keawe rids himself of the bottle after acquiring a palatial home. But when he needs it again to ensure his happiness with a newfound love, its cost is, chillingly, one cent, and the responsibility of ownership becomes a good deal more complex.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts: This short story came as a bonus at the back of the copy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that I picked up, so I didn't really have any preconceived notions coming into this. It was a rather short read, and while the writing style was not quite to my liking, I did find the premise itself interesting and the plot entertaining. It read a lot like a fable or a fairy tale. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the ending - let's be real here, I was expecting something darker - and this definitely isn’t my favourite of Stevenson’s work, but all in all it was a fun surprise read.

[bookbeani]

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

"All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone, in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil." 

Goodreads Summary: Published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll's strange association with 'damnable young man' Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde's true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts: This book, for me, was okay. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I not known the plot twist beforehand, because that really ruined it for me. Usually, with classics whose plots have become super pervasive in popular culture, there is still some essence of the narrative that you don't get unless you actually read the book - which means I can usually enjoy them even if I know the basic premise. That was not the case for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

I think the enjoyment of this book hinges on the suspense and mystery leading up to the plot twist - and that just wasn't there for me. I was hoping for maybe a more philosophical or scientific discussion that might have engaged me - it was advertised on the back as "a chilling exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil" - but I didn't really get that, mostly, I think, because this book was so short. I am glad that I finally got around to reading it, but in the end, this book ended up falling a bit flat for me. The basic premise itself is very interesting, but once you know that, you know the whole story.

[bookbeani]

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

"The blood never dies. The blood never forgets.”

Goodreads Summary: In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon. But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place. As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection...because one wrong move could lead to her death.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts: This book was disappointingly average. If you’re going into this book expecting a typical YA read that doesn’t bring anything new to the table, then you should be satisfied, but any expectations beyond that will leave you wanting more. 

First, the characters. While they were decently written they were, ultimately, forgettable. The relationships fell flat, from the typical YA romance that honestly wouldn’t have been a romance if a few kisses were left out, to the dynamic between Amani and Maram that could have been interesting if it had been written more consistently and realistically. 

The plot, while serving to add some relevant social commentary that I did find important, felt, otherwise, pretty derivative. The interesting premise of a body double got lost in the aforementioned romance, and a lot of it was honestly just really unrealistic in the way that YA novels can be sometimes. There was just a general lack of political intrigue and the danger you would expect, given the setting, and that was pretty disappointing. 

As for the general world building, I also found that to be lacking. It just wasn’t very rich, and while the Moroccan cultural influences were unique and refreshing, I found this older aesthetic often clashed with the idea of a futuristic sci fi world, which hardly made an appearance except for an oddly placed robot here and there.

Overall, I feel like Mirage is simply another mediocre book publishers haven’t bothered to put much quality into because ‘diversity sells’. It had so much potential, but the execution was just incredibly lackluster and disappointing, and I really hope this is something that changes soon. 

[bookbeani]

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

"The best lies about me are the ones I told."

Goodreads Summary: Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. 

The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.  

A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard. 

Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts: I fell in love with this book from the very beginning. About two chapters in I was already screaming internally at myself about how Patrick Rothfuss was such a freaking genius because this book was just so amazing. I love how he takes on the story of a hero from a different point in the character arc. You get to see this guy who is basically a living legend, and you have absolutely no idea how he got there or what went wrong, or what in the world is going on, and I loved it. 

One of my favourite things in this book was the entire basis of the magic system - my inner (more like outer) science nerd was totally geeking out - and all the descriptions of how it works were just so freaking interesting. It was just so different from your run-of-the-mill recite a spell and *poof* you have magic, and I absolutely loved it. You could just tell Rothfuss had put a lot of thought into it - just as he had put a lot of thought into pretty much everything about this book. I'm serious, the world building and characters and writing are just fantastic.

I'm not sure how I feel about the pacing of this book. Looking back on the nearly 700 pages I've read, I realise not as much happened as had I originally expected - I mean, I was honestly expecting this guy's entire life story. I don't know whether or not I'm actually disappointed about that, though. You could tell this book was taking its time, slowly setting up the pieces in the game it's playing, and I sort of like that. I like that it doesn't try to rush headlong into things and instead eases you in, giving little glimpses of what's about to come but never fully giving you what you expected.

So, basically, this book completely engrossed me, from the first silence of three parts to the last, and I absolutely cannot wait to pick up the next book in this series (and for Patrick Rothfuss to get on and write the third book so I can read that one too).

[bookbeani]

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

“It seemed to her such nonsense - inventing differences, when people, heaven knows, were different enough without that.”

Goodreads Summary: The serene and maternal Mrs. Ramsay, the tragic yet absurd Mr. Ramsay, and their children and assorted guests are on holiday on the Isle of Skye. From the seemingly trivial postponement of a visit to a nearby lighthouse, Woolf constructs a remarkable, moving examination of the complex tensions and allegiances of family life and the conflict between men and women.

As time winds its way through their lives, the Ramsays face, alone and simultaneously, the greatest of human challenges and its greatest triumph--the human capacity for change.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

My Thoughts: Whelp. Unpopular opinion time...

I had to read this book for an English course, and I will be completely honest here and say that if I didn't have to read it for that course, I probably would have put this book down at around page 2. This book was just not my thing. It's not that I need tons of plot - or any plot, in fact - to actually like a book. I found the concept interesting - the fact that Virginia Woolf is interested in simply portraying people and their relationships while throwing much of setting/plot to the background. But for me, at least, it just failed to do that.

The writing style was also something I had an issue with - sentences that go on and on and on, and blocks of text that never seem to end. Now, I do understand that this is supposed to convey the sort of stream-of-consciousness way that people think - and maybe it did, to a certain extent, but it was just so hard to focus reading this book. It was so much easier for my mind to just drift away, to check how many more pages were left (because, honestly, that was a large part of my experience reading this book), to figure out when something interesting would grab my attention.

 Another thing I didn't like: the characters. For me, at least, they seemed very caricaturized. Mrs. Ramsay was the nurturing, motherly figure who connected everyone together, Mr. Ramsay the brooding I-need-constant-validation type of guy, and Charles Tansley even more so with a touch of asshole thrown in for good measure.  And as for the other characters… yeah, I just really couldn't connect with them. And that was an especially big problem in a book that spends 100% of its time in their heads.

So now, what I did like: there were interesting parts, I will give the book that. There were interesting points that were brought up - concepts, ideas and the like. The prose, which as I already said didn't really work for me, I did find I actually liked at some parts. Basically, reading this book was pages and pages of when-is-this-going-to-finish scattered throughout with little parts of ooh-maybe-this-book-isn't-so-bad before reverting to the monotony that I was decidedly sick of by the end.

All in all, this book was an interesting experimental type of concept that I probably would have enjoyed much better as a twenty page short story rather than a full-blown novel. Two hundred pages driven solely on introspection and stream-of-consciousness thoughts just didn't work for me.