maverique's reviews
69 reviews

This has to be the best book I've read in a while. Not only is it the first French book I'm completing but I was also able to do it without looking up any word (that's not to say that I understood everything though).

I really loved the main point of the story that was revealed to the readers at the end. I'm not one to write long or excellent reviews but to summarise all the emotions I'm feeling right now, I think I'll be more mindful of how I treat others around me... especially my loved ones :)

I loved how Chinua Achebe wrote this — very insightful and informative. I plan to read more on the Biafra War and how it affected Nigeria + other incidents that have happened that led to how Nigeria is today.

I think it's sad how this civil war is not taught in schools and is just buried. Most don't even know about it. It's a shame to see how tribalism played (and plays) such a huge role in Nigerian politics and daily interactions. I do agree with Achebe on his final words though: we can't progress if the leadership at every level does not have the people in mind. As he said, it is currently led by the rich ruling class and so many things are done in order to keep it that way. We really need to not only keep asking ourselves the hard questions, but backing it up with necessary action.

Ranging from the descriptions of the pogroms to details of massacres and harassment, it is a hard read in certain parts (and rightfully so considering it's about a genocide) but completely worth it in the end.

I've seen a lot of reviews critiquing the book, saying it was too flat, that it was a disappointment, yadayadaya. But for me, I personally found it very very worth my time. I was one of those people who kind of understood the silence of the people during the Holocaust and them not speaking out but I also believed that such a thing couldn't happen again and that times had changed. Reading this book showed me how dead wrong I was. Even if the leader might not intend for the movement to get super serious, the followers can make it do without realising either.

However, I do kind of agree on the part of the characters being flat. A part of me wishes we got to know more about the students, at least the main ones, besides "Oh here's your typical jock who's a bully and whose brain is only filled with football. Watch him become brainwashed by this experiment." But the same time, I understand that the book isn't fictional (i.e. it's based on something that actually happened irl) and that they had to make the book short and succint but detailed enough to get the point across to many people really quickly.

All in all, it's an awesome book and I'd recommend it to others.

5 stars out of 5

I LOVED ITTTT. Okay I'm not even going to lie, I would give this book 4.5 stars instead of 5 because the beginning was sooooo slow. There were periods of peak interest for me like when Addie met Luc and made her initial pact, when Addie met Henry and also parts letting us know more about Henry's backstory and how he came to make his own pact with Luc.

BUT those were just moments of interest and the story quickly went back to being pretty meh for me after the that. The real fun part was when we found out when Henry was going to die and that was like in Part 6 (if I remember correctly) of the whole book. Part 6!

All I'll say is, if you're the kind of person who wants all the drama served upfront and doesn't like to wait, this book will absolutely not be your cup of tea. I'd say that if I read it in English, I probably wouldn't have spent so long reading it and would have gotten through the slice-of-life parts faster. That being said, I can see the necessity of the slice of life parts because they showed Addie's life with the curse and made her more real. They showed her experiences and thoughts, the dynamics of her relationship with Luc and everyone else she met, her family life prior to the curse. It just made it all the more real. A classic example of "show not tell" in writing (something I still struggle with

I LOVED this so muchhh. This might just be my nerd side speaking but the multiple studies and experiments and anecdotes were just *chef's kiss* From "dépouillement" to the idea that our circle can define who we are, every chapter was just filled with something funny and insightful.

I think my favourite study was the one where they simulated a burning building and gave a time limit to escape. However, nothing was particularly new to me as I have already watched alllll the videos on his (Mehdi Moussaïd's) YouTube channel. I liked the deeper insights I got from the book though. Very very educational.

I found the final story a bit weird but I think everyone is allowed to imagine what the year 2055 will look like from whatever lens they please. In general, I'd say it was a fantastic read and I'd recommend this to as many people as humanly possible.

(repost because I put this on the wrong version before lol)

This book wasn't bad at all and I was able to understand more than I thought I would. Surprisingly, the passé simple did not pose as much of a problem to me as the archaic vocabulary but it was still very comprehensible overall.

That being said, the stories were fun to read but I mean it kind of got repetitive after a while. I did find each one engaging and super interesting and turned it into a game of guessing who Lupin was disguised as each time. I didn't guess correctly each time but it was fun regardless. Also, I did not fully like how women were written (as scared, little, helpless creatures only there to be look pretty and be admired by men) but I did love Nelly. Scared as she might've been her morals were in the right place :)

It's a classic worth reading that's for sure.

I've already read one of Alice Oseman's books (Loveless) so I wasn't so surprised to see that this book was so so so so cuteeeeee! I'm looking forward to reading the next volume and everything! I honestly cannot believe I finished this book in an hour and a half. I planned to read it over the course of two day but here I am