literatureleaf's reviews
14 reviews

Age: 15+

Reading time: 2 days
 
Difficulty level: 3/5
 
Overall Rating: 7/10
 
 
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski is the second novel in The Witcher series, but it serves as an excellent starting point into the world of the beloved Geralt of Rivia. Told in short story format, with hints of a longer, overarching plotline in between, this book introduces the reader to who Geralt is, what makes him tick, and the characters who will eventually come to play a much larger role in his story.
 
The bite-sized tales featured in this novel are entertaining, easy to follow, and manage to keep the focus on Geralt while honoring the uniqueness and differentiation of the other characters in the story. Each one feels distinctly separate from the rest but remains in keeping with the overall mood and tone of the book. 
 
Sapkowski excels at taking the short story format and doing something larger than life within it. He maintains a masterful plot, that contains hints of mystery, romance, and an origin story, despite the appearance of a book that, at first glance, seems to be comprised of separate, contained stories that have little to do with one another, aside from the main character.
 
Where The Last Wish struggles is with dialogue. The conversation is often stilted and repetitive, and many of the side characters felt like carbon copies of one another because of this. Much of the dialogue gave off the impression that it was not well thought out, and that it was written because Sapkowski felt like it needed to be there, rather than for an actual literary need for conversation.
 
Repetition in general was an issue throughout this book. Lines of prose were repeated quite often, to the point that it made focusing on the story itself difficult. Many passages felt clunky and, much like with the dialogue, as if they were written simply to fill blank spaces on the page rather than to enhance the story. This book was originally written in Polish, so, admittedly, some of these gripes may result from things that were lost in translation.
 
At its core, The Last Wish is a beloved fantasy novel with cherished characters who have earned well-deserved video game and television adaptations. Packed with action, fight scenes, and fairy tale parallels, it weaves the riveting narrative of a being who is finding his place in a world where he was created to kill. Hidden within the gory battles and captivating fights are bits of perfectly timed sarcasm and dry humor, expertly penned political and class commentary, and not-so-gentle reminders that real evil can be found lurking within humanity, not monsters.

Age: 15+
 
Reading time: 5 days
 
Difficulty level: 3/5
 
Overall Rating: 9/10
 
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a beautiful book that weaves a splendid tale about growing up, friendship, love, and the things we carry with us throughout our lives. Told against the backdrop of the unique world of video games, both playing and designing them, Zevin brings the story of Sam and Sadie, friends, then foes, then friends again, to life. The characters are rife with strengths and flaws, and each player in the story is both lovable and infuriating, much like the ones we hold near and dear to us in our own lives.
 
A beautiful depiction of deep suffering and genuine happiness, reading this book without feeling raw, untethered emotions for Sadie and Sam is impossible. Their joy, sorrow, pain, humor, grief, and love are so vivid that they reach up and grab you by the throat, unleashing a torrent of nostalgia so thick that, soon, you’ll be calling up lovers and friends past, asking them where it all went wrong.
 
Zevin paints an unfiltered picture of all the things, both small and large, hilarious and tragic, beautiful and ugly, that make us who we are. Her powerful imagery and witty dialogue elevate the story to new heights, and she tackles tough subject matter with a poise and grace that brings a tear to the reader’s eye. Everything feels effortless, and the story flows so seamlessly that you’ll find yourself wishing for such excellent pacing in your own life.
 
Despite being a near flawless story, the one area in which this book missed the mark is in the characterization of Marx. When compared to Sadie and Sam, Marx lacked much of the depth and dimension lavished upon his comrades. He was largely without fault, and his main purpose in the story seemed to be as a catalyst for many of Sam and Sadie’s antics. When put up against characters who are so incredibly complex, Marx’s shallowness is hard to miss, and being that he ends up playing such a large role in the story, seeing a bit more from him would have been the icing on the cake of a wonderful book.
 
With Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Zevin has penned a haunting ode to the human experience. She takes the mundane and traumatizing aspects of life, and the emotions that we sometimes wish we did not have to feel and uses them to pay homage to all the things that make for a life well-lived, reminding us that we are never as alone as we think we are.

Age: 18+
 
Reading time: 1 day
 
Difficulty level: 1 out of 5
 
Overall Rating: 5.5/10

The best part of this book was the suspense. The plot was entertaining and easy to follow, and each chapter did an excellent job of keeping the reader guessing and wanting to read “just a few more pages” to find out what would happen to Verity, Lowen, and Jeremy. The pacing was relatively well done, and there were several jaw-dropping, visceral moments that were depicted so vividly, it was as if the words were jumping off the page and onto a movie screen.
 
This book’s best moments are in the sections that comprise Verity’s autobiography. Hoover did an excellent job of distinguishing Lowen and Verity’s individual voices, and the quality of Verity’s sections outshine Lowen’s in every way. If this was intentional, it was executed nearly perfectly. Even though the sections detailing Lowen’s experiences were not on par with Verity’s, there were some shining moments there as well. Lowen’s thoughts and feelings when she was struggling with imposter syndrome, anxiety, and depression were well written, and were the only times that she felt genuine.
 
Unfortunately, this book is lacking in several arenas. The writing style comes off as overly simplistic, which is not necessarily a bad thing if done for the ease of reading, but the feeling that the book was intentionally “dumbed down” permeated the story. There were several sequences and sub plotlines that, well written well, felt like they were shoehorned in. In the book, it is explained that Lowen struggles with sleepwalking, and familial trauma that stems from her episodes of sleepwalking as a child. This would come up at seemingly random times, and did not seem to have much to do with the overall story, leading to these scenes coming off as a bit unpalatable.
 
The characterizations in this story also missed the mark. Lowen feels unlikable and unrelatable to the reader, and her character feels fairly one dimensional. She tends to express certain feelings towards her situation and the people around her that do not make sense, and this aspect of the book ends up feeling like a poor attempt at foreshadowing. This carries over into the other characters in the story, including Jeremy and his son, Crew. The dialogue between them feels flat, stilted, and, frequently, plainly unrealistic. The pacing of Jeremy and Lowen’s romance, especially when considering the circumstances that brought them together, feels untrue to life. Some stories call for characters and situations that feel fantastical when compared to typical everyday living, but sadly this is not one of them.
 
Undoubtedly, Verity is a flawed book, but it has redeeming qualities that make it worth reading. It’s fast paced and suspenseful, and the unique story and thrilling cliffhangers make it a relatively fun and enjoyable read, even in the face of bland, unrelatable characters and, at times, subpar writing.

Age: 18+

Reading time: 2 days

Difficulty level: 2 out of 5

Overall Rating: 7.5/10


All the Ugly and Wonderful Things follows protagonist Wavy as she comes of age in a small midwestern town where the most lucrative business opportunity is dealing, and by default doing, drugs. Her parents are caught up in this lifestyle, and the raising of her younger brother, Donal, falls to her. That is, until she meets an unlikely savior in the form of Kellen, a beefy biker who does business with her father. As Wavy ages, her relationship with Kellen deepens into something seen as wrong and broken by the world, but beautiful to them.

This book had more than a few moments that caused me to stop reading and gasp, or even throw the book across the room. I alternated between feeling visceral disgust, complete shock, deep sadness, and genuine compassion for what I was reading. The writing was raw and inspiring, yet easy to digest. The plot was solid, and, again easy to follow without feeling too simplistic or childish. The characterizations were executed extremely well, and the author was able to invoke genuine feelings of empathy for characters that, by and large, society sees as inhuman and disgusting in the real world. 

The story is told through the viewpoint of many different characters throughout the book, including Wavy herself, Kellen, Wavy’s cousin Amy, and several adults who witness different aspects of Wavy and Kellen’s relationship throughout the story. I thought these differing perspectives added a lot of depth to the book, and the contrast between how Wavy and Kellen viewed their bond, and how it appeared to the rest of the world, was painfully realistic and raw. It also served to remind the reader of the innate inappropriateness of the relationship that they may have found themselves beginning to root for. 

Despite how much I enjoyed this book, I must admit that it was not perfect. Overall, the first half of the book was much stronger than the latter half. There is a turning point in the story that results in the separation of Wavy and Kellen, and from there the story moves through time at a much faster pace. The overall chapter length becomes shorter, and much of the beautiful prose and stylistic character and setting depictions from earlier in the book become scarce. I felt rushed while reading the second portion of this book, as if the author was just hurrying through events to get to the end.

Character development was also lacking in the latter half of the book. I thought that Wavy and Kellen became stagnant, almost as though they were stuck at the same ages they were when they first separated. This felt unrealistic to me, as the amount of time that passed during their separation would almost certainly result in neither character feeling the same when they finally reunite. The second part of the book also has a much more dramatic feel to it than the first half. Certain sequences feel dramatized for dramas sake, and the actions and feelings of the characters did not reflect how the author had set them up to think, feel, and behave throughout the course of the story. 

Regardless of the flaws of this book, I would wholly recommend it to anyone looking for a quick and easy read that will leave you thinking about it for weeks to come. This book toes the line between order and deviancy, love and hate, and empathy and disgust, while simultaneously taking the reader on a beautiful ride of lyrical prose, genuine dialogue, and thought-provoking interactions that will leave them questioning everything they thought they understood about life, love, and growing up.