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Word Revel

Celebrate the love for books

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May 9, 2019

STEPSISTER by Jennifer Donnelly

May 9, 2019

Book cover & and 4.5-star rating for STEPSISTER by Jennifer DonnellyThe first time I heard the term “retelling,” I expected it to refer to reimagined fairytales. I didn’t exactly expect these to be simply be stories inspired by fairytales. Stepsister, however, is exactly that which I had originally expected of a retelling. It builds upon the well-loved fairytale of Ashputtel, blood and all. It was entertaining with its dark humour as it continued to tell the story of how it might have continued. Stepsister was more detailed since it’s a novel rather than a short story but stylistically, it still very much read like a fairytale.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: abuse, ambition, american authors, betrayal, bravery, death, despair, fairies, family problems, fate, feminism, forgiveness, friendship, gender, grief, hardship, hope, horses, jealousy, life, loss, magic, on love, poverty, relationships, retellings, romance, royalty, self discovery, self-esteem, single parenthood, sisters, stepsiblings, villains, war

February 26, 2019

HOW TO FIND LOVE IN THE LITTLE THINGS by Virginie Grimaldi

February 26, 2019

Book cover & and 4.5-star rating for HOW TO FIND LOVE IN THE LITTLE THINGS by Virginie GrimaldiDepending on how you look at it, quarter- and midlife crises books can add to the disillusion or be rather cathartic. Personally, I thought How to Find Love in the Little Things tended towards the cathartic.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: amnesia, break-ups, choices, dating, death, family, french authors, friendship, grandparents, grief, hope, life, mothers and daughters, psychologists, quarter-life-crisis, reconciliation, relationships, relatives, retirement-homes, romance, self discovery, siblinghood, sisters, translated into english, weddings, work life

August 9, 2018

SUICIDE CLUB by Rachel Heng

August 9, 2018

Book cover & rating - SUICIDE CLUB by Rachel HengIf you could live for hundreds of years, if not, forever, would you want to? In Suicide Club, those who deserve it are given immortality. In exchange, they have to take good care of their health — eat well, exercise and all that jazz. What I liked about this premise was that it plays on our contemporary obsession with health and wellness. Food diet movements abound from “clean eating” to keto to paleo, claiming to detox, strengthen the immune system, etc. Rachel Heng pushed these ideal to the extreme in her futuristic science fiction novel set in New York City.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: death, diverse authors, diverse books, euthanasia, fathers and daughters, health, inequality, life, memories, mental institution, on the run, secrets, singaporean authors, suicide, utopia, violence, work life

February 14, 2018

SUNFLOWERS IN FEBRUARY by Phyllida Shrimpton

February 14, 2018

Book cover & rating - SUNFLOWERS IN FEBRUARY by Phyllida ShrimptonSunflowers in February is at its core a morbid book. Lily was in a car accident and woke up dead. Death is never an easy topic to face. What comes after death though, is a question I’m sure many of us do wonder about. Sunflowers in February grappled with exactly that, as Lily was in limbo, unable to move on.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: accidents, alcoholism, british authors, bullying, car accident, conduct of life, dating, death, despair, dreams, drink-driving, drug abuse, drugs, dysfunctional families, existentialism, family, family life, family problems, forgiveness, friendship, funerals, gratitude, grief, guilt, high school, hit-and-run, hope, life, life-after-death, on love, relationships, remorse, siblinghood

January 5, 2018

EVERLESS by Sara Holland

January 5, 2018

Book cover & rating - EVERLESS by Sara Holland

Premise-wise, Everless was one of the most original books I’ve read in a long time. It was very intriguing, to say the least. It presented a world where life and blood are currency. I loved this idea and really enjoyed how it was integrated into the story. It was ruthless. I think the details were very well thought-out, especially when it came to how the rich exploited the poor. I also liked the legends that were incorporated and how they pulsed through the lives of the characters.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: adoption, american authors, betrayal, brothers, death, deceit, dreams, fathers and daughters, friendship, hardship, inequality, life, magic, memories, murder, orphans, poverty, royalty, secrets, time

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About

Joséphine. Word reveller. Loves books. Reads books. Talks about books. Photographs books. When she’s not blogging, she can be found on Instagram under @wordrevel.

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