I absolutely adored A Mad, Wicked Folly. It is hands down the favourite book of mine thus far this year. The Victorian setting of Trouville, France, followed predominantly by London was glorious. There was such a great mix between history and fiction, I felt like I could see myself as an observer right there by Vicky’s side; at the same time, immersing myself in stunning storytelling. Victoria Darling could be such an impossible main character — rather naïve, really — and yet I found myself caring a great deal for her plight.
MATCHED (Matched #1) by Ally Condie
Matched was a fairly mellow book for a dystopian fiction. In fact, it started off with a markedly utopia society in which peace reigned. Cassia looked forward to her Matching ceremony, where she would meet her Match. She fully trusted the Society to determine her ideal partner whom she would marry four years later, when they were 21 years old.
AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES by John Green
For once I’m not entirely sure if my dislike for the book purely stems from the book itself or from the expectations that arose prior to reading the book because a very popular author wrote this. An Abundance of Katherines is the first full-length novel of John Green that I got my hands on. The first sentence had me totally hooked but no single sentence can sustain a whole book. No matter how good that sentence is. Despite my growing reservations, I decided to continue reading, even staying up till 3 a.m. one night just to complete it. Sleep would’ve been time better spent on my part.
LET IT SNOW by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
Even though Let it Snow was published as a single book, it contains three stories told by each of the three authors. In that sense, it’s more like three novellas but with a twist. They’re not entirely stand-alone, even though they could be. One can in good conscience choose to read just one of these stories and forgo the other two but I wouldn’t recommend it. I say, read all three, and be taken in by some Christmas magic! And why pick it up now that the 25th of December has passed? Take it from Mayzie (you’ll meet her in The Patron Saint of Pigs.
