Originally I had planned to post a different book review today but I finished The Bone Season this afternoon and am brimming with thoughts. Even though I enjoyed most of my time reading the book, I walked away with conflicting feelings. The more I think about the things that bothered me, the more I feel like I need to get them off my chest. While I can’t say I hated the book, there are parts that made me uncomfortable and I wish I had known about these things before buying the The Bone Season. As it is, I already bought the next two sequels before starting the series (I should’ve learnt my lesson by now), and I do plan to read The Mime Order next.
THE CALL by Peadar Ó Guilín
Before receiving a review copy of The Call, I hadn’t heard of it. Reviews on Goodreads were few and vague. The synopsis didn’t give much away either. All I knew was that this would be a book of horror — a genre I generally avoid. In any case, with Halloween around the bend, I thought I should at least read one creepy book this month.
INSURGENT (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth
After re-reading Divergent, I knew that chances were I wouldn’t like Insurgent anywhere near as much as I did back in August 2013. What I didn’t expect was to walk away feeling oh so cold. There were so many things about Insurgent that made me want to chuck it. As early as the 96th page, I feared I would mark this re-read a DNF. The book had already annoyed me a lot within those pages alone.
THE BIG LIE by Julie Mayhew
Set in Nazi England, 2012–2014, The Big Lie is premised on one question: What if the Nazis had won World War II? With this in mind, The Big Lie is a speculative work of alternative history. While nobody can say for sure how things would’ve turned out, I think the world that Julie Mayhew imagined is a rather plausible outcome. She evidently did her research and wove together the fascist ideals and lifestyles of the 1940s with contemporary ones.
DIVERGENT (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth
The first time round I read Divergent in 2013, I devoured it. I loved it to bits. For most of my teen years I read contemporary fiction and to finally delve more into science fiction, specifically dystopian fiction, was exhilarating. Since then I’ve read more dystopian books, some of which impressed me more and some less. Also, this time round I tabbed the pages with post-it notes, annotated and cross-referenced. This close reading forced me to be more critical (in the analytical sense) as I read.
