Let me start off by saying ever since I can remember, I have been obsessed with anything to do with Queen Cleopatra. I read everything about her life Let me start off by saying ever since I can remember, I have been obsessed with anything to do with Queen Cleopatra. I read everything about her life that I could get my hands on when I was at school and when I came across this book in a thrift store last week, I thought “omg here’s my new addiction�. I was so wrong. This book isn’t bad and the author should be commended for writing an almost 1000 page book simply on one person’s existence but holy crapppp I just had to abandon this. What I loved about Queen C when I was young was the image of a ruthless teenage Queen, Roman leader lovers, blood, guts and glory. What this book tells me of is pages (and pages and pages and pages) of dresses, perfumes and getting ready. Which, to be fair, is kindaaa relevant - I mean, she WAS a Queen and everything but seriously. The descriptions of everything she ever did, said or presumably thought went on for what felt like years. Which I found so weird because why emphasise things that mean nothing and delay the stuff that made Cleo, CLEO? When I finally got to the interesting things I was so over reading about her going for swims and choosing dresses, I simply didn’t care anymore. The ultimate thing that really ruined it for me was the narrative of Queen Cleopatra. She’s jilted, adolescent somehow and I just was really not impressed with how weak of a character she came across. I know there are millions of people that love this novel and I salute you... but this just wasn’t for me....more
I wanted so badly to like this... I mean... the opening chapter had me HOOKED, a girl wakes up in a graveyard surrounded by body wearing latex gloves I wanted so badly to like this... I mean... the opening chapter had me HOOKED, a girl wakes up in a graveyard surrounded by body wearing latex gloves with no memory??? HELLO YES HI. Except... villains with tentacles? Secret spy agency? A bit too Men In Black for me. And I’m sad because I literally thought this would be my next favourite of 2018 ...more
Started out great - this bookstore sounds like the Restricted Section of Hogwarts library and its customers frequenters of Diagon Alley. I’ll forgive tStarted out great - this bookstore sounds like the Restricted Section of Hogwarts library and its customers frequenters of Diagon Alley. I’ll forgive the elementary level writing, the 2 dimensional characters and the awful mix of “old books and new tech� because this bookstore sounds awesome. Until, 100 pages in... even that wasn’t holding it up for me anymore. DNF....more
Is it the translation or did Herman Koch just "gloss over" everything that I wanted to read about in this novel and OVERTALK the un-necessary details Is it the translation or did Herman Koch just "gloss over" everything that I wanted to read about in this novel and OVERTALK the un-necessary details ie: the price and exact origins of the food the characters are eating. I so badly wanted to like this, I mean, parents discussing their psychopathic sons?? Hello yes. Instead... It was more of a slow burn about the difference between doing what you know is right and what you want to be right. It's a brilliant morsel of a book but... I didn't love this like I wanted to. So I skim read the last third. DNF....more
DNF at 48%. I hate myself for not loving this book - I mean, The Secret History is my ultimate favourite book of all time so... what happened with thiDNF at 48%. I hate myself for not loving this book - I mean, The Secret History is my ultimate favourite book of all time so... what happened with this one? I tried to read it 2 years ago. Tried again last year. Tried again this year. I have picked this up over and over for the last 3 months and I’m finally pulling the plug on it. It’s intriguing, for sure, but HOW AM I SO BORED. I can’t. I can’t push through. Not when there’s so many other books that are waiting for me out there! So... I apologise, Donna. I really did try. ...more
Oh god, no. CRINGE. This was so so cringe. The story was good... until the "plot twist" which was beyond unbelievable. The way this was written was veryOh god, no. CRINGE. This was so so cringe. The story was good... until the "plot twist" which was beyond unbelievable. The way this was written was very basic and it annoyed me incredibly how the author is a defense lawyer IRL but fabricated something so unbelievable law-wise as a plot twist. I've watched enough SVU to think that this ending was ridiculous. ...more
SO MUCH INFORMATION. If this book was condensed, it would have been great. I couldn't finish it, I kept get the end of a paragraph and thinking "relevSO MUCH INFORMATION. If this book was condensed, it would have been great. I couldn't finish it, I kept get the end of a paragraph and thinking "relevant but only if I was OBSESSED with this case... When really I just wanted an intelligent evidential insight"...more
Everybody loved this and I couldn't get past 60 pages. Ew I know, I should have persevered. But life is short, you know? Everybody loved this and I couldn't get past 60 pages. Ew I know, I should have persevered. But life is short, you know? ...more
I really really REALLY wanted to love this. But the analogies. And the (references to essays and papers, 1956) drove me nuts. Marisha wrote one of my moI really really REALLY wanted to love this. But the analogies. And the (references to essays and papers, 1956) drove me nuts. Marisha wrote one of my most favourite books, Night Film. And this was one of my least? I gotta admire the ability to be so completely different....more
ughhhhh I just don't care anymore. After L. moved in with Delphine I just thought "I don't even care if she kills you, I'm so done with this book". Soughhhhh I just don't care anymore. After L. moved in with Delphine I just thought "I don't even care if she kills you, I'm so done with this book". So I sped-read the ending. NOTHING WORTH WAITING FOR THERE. Yes, it's creepy. Yes, it's odd. No, it's not worth reading because of the horrible way this is written. Grammatically, that is. I strongly blame the editor. I feel like if this was translated correctly and "L." was given a psuedonym or even just written "L" with no FULL STOP after her initial, I think this would have been on par with GOTT creepy, main-character-loathing, psycho thriller where its not too gruesome but its totally addictive. Instead, the translation was poor, bringing odd pauses in the novel where my brain would interject "that sentence just doesn't sound like it flows, it doesn't sound right". And to ADD to that, they placed a full stop after L.'s initial every time she was mentioned. Which was always. So, in my head, I would stop the sentence after L. was mentioned. Which was, after about 200 pages, inexcusable. For example:
"I'd like to describe how L. came into my life. I'd like to describe the context that enabled L. to invade my private sphere, but it's not that simple."
These stars, this DNF shelf I've put this book on is 100% my point of view.... but I just couldn't. Life is too short for broken up sentences and translations that suck....more
The first story was good, a bit intermediate, but still good. The others? meh. Meh. Meh. I skimmed past a few (which is why its on my dnf shelf). Ones tThe first story was good, a bit intermediate, but still good. The others? meh. Meh. Meh. I skimmed past a few (which is why its on my dnf shelf). Ones that I started and didn't get into and the ones I did read to completion I wasn't absolutely AMAZED. But whatever....more
This was such a well written book about horrible disgusting disturbing things. I have it three stars, because A.m.homes does and ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC jThis was such a well written book about horrible disgusting disturbing things. I have it three stars, because A.m.homes does and ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC job of writing a male character, when she is a female. I don't want to sound like I only think men can write about male pedophilia but, I guess... I did think that. This freaked me out and grossed me out beyond ALL REASON, I attempted to skim-read the sex scenes but after about page 100, to skip sex scenes was to skip the whole remainder of the book. I skimmed the rest because I think NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND should ever find this book entertaining. But. It did make me want to wash my eyes out with bleach and scrub myself clean with a steelo pad. And I think for a novel to make me feel that particularly heinous, then a.m.homes deserves credit for that. It's just, if I were a.m.homes?? I wouldn't be proud of that....more
You know when you skip to the back of a book and see the authors picture and for a small while after you can't shake the thought that they don't look You know when you skip to the back of a book and see the authors picture and for a small while after you can't shake the thought that they don't look like you imagine they do?? Yeah, well, this book is a comic strip... With random spasmodic selfies of the author put in between the pages. Which is totally fine, except, it's also super strange. Because I'm IMAGINING what you look like and now BAM there you are in real life. Over and over again. Also, her "trip to Paris in a tale of drawings" was really just small cartoons of her meals and people looking at art, it was super disjointed, hard to read and ugh, I'm sorry author, it was boring. If I write a book one day, I give you full permission to one star it and say my book was boring too. But this... This was zzzzzzz....more
I wanted so so so badly to like this as it's on so many "If you liked The Secret History you'll like this book..." lists but OH MY GOD THIS WAS TERRIBI wanted so so so badly to like this as it's on so many "If you liked The Secret History you'll like this book..." lists but OH MY GOD THIS WAS TERRIBLE. Oh, poor you Marina. Your BF left you and "..she went from being the most settled among her friends - none of them, twenty-five, had been close to marriage, whereas she and Al had already bought a queen-size bed - she suddenly became the least rooted. She had no apartment of he own, no money with which to procure one.." Because boyfriends equal apartments. Look, I know what Claire was trying to portray here... Marina is annoyingly spoilt with no real goals in life except having a boyfriend, which is fine, I get it - lets have a character that we all roll our eyes at but SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME why after 10 pages of introducing her to the story, I'm still bloody reading about her mindless point of view????????? I really wanted to be the one to find the 5 star goodness in the 2.9 rated book but seriously, that will take someone made of stronger stuff. I worked out that I can read about 8,000 books in my lifetime and your book, Claire, will NOT be one of them....more
Eleanor's descriptions were insanely detailed, some would say amazing... I say skip-worthy. I don't need half a page describing the intricacies of a mEleanor's descriptions were insanely detailed, some would say amazing... I say skip-worthy. I don't need half a page describing the intricacies of a man's beard. And she DEFINITELY did her research with this - her written history on Hokitika and Gold Mining is incredible, it's almost history lecture status. Wait wait, its EXACTLY like a history lecture on Gold Mining in Hokitika. I fell asleep in that class in school and I fell asleep reading this book....more
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