Review: Freshwater, by Akwaeke Emezi

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Fantasy

Goodreads

Ada’s father wanted a girl child so much he prayed – and his prayers were answered. By another god altogether than the one he prayed for – and thus the children of the snake goddess Ala, bloodthirsty and merciless, were born in the body of Ada, driving her insane little by little.

This is a dark, gritty and delicious fantasy. I was hooked from the beginning! There are several fantasies out there with gods, but a lot of times the stories are rather tame. Freshwater is not tame at all – it makes you feel like you are going through all the dark thoughts Ada is going through, like you could understand the limitation a god feels in human flesh. It was so, so interesting a read.

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The Sunday Snuggle Week 22 2019

Hello readers!

I didn’t write a Sunday Snuggle last week because I wanted to read and post as soon as possible all the books I’ve been reading for the Women’s Prize Longlist. Since I didn’t want to be late and have still books being read by the time the result came out, I’ve been prioritizing posting those reviews.

By the way! I am in the middle of moving from two different apartments in two different cities to a third one in a third city… so the posts in the blog will probably be a lot of pre-scheduled reviews I’ve been saving up, and fewer Sunday Snuggles, discussions and other posts that I normally write closer to the posting date… a lot of reviews of books I’ve read months ago, too. And I will be late with answering comments, I think… so please be patient if my content becomes a little boring in these next couple months! It’s because I’ll be only able to use my hands to pack boxes and will be covered in paint all the time, probably.

Review: Remembered, by Yvonne Battle-Felton

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Literary fiction, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction

Goodreads

This is such a beautiful literary work, I am so glad to have picked this up!

It’s 1910 in Philadelphia and Edward is in the hospital. His mother has no idea if he will make it through the night, although it does not look likely – so his other mother, his biological one, insists that it’s time he knows of the story of his family. She is a ghost, but a very outspoken one who will not rest until her family’s history is passed on and Remembered.

Practicing Self-Love vs. Losing Weight

Hello readers!

This is a complicated topic, so I took a while to write about this, but I thought it would be nice to start a discussion.

It is no secret that I have been trying to lose weight for the last year and half. I struggled with the idea of actually telling you guys that I have weight loss as a goal, because I think most women have been worrying about their weight since forever (I remember first thinking I was too fat at 10 years old) and I didn’t want to add to the discourse. But the more honest approach is to say that I did want to lose weight among other fitness & health goals, and as much as I would love to not engage in this weight-loss-for-women discourse, I also feel it’s important to make my decision clear.

Review: The Silence of the Girls, by Pat Barker

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology

Goodreads

The Silence of the Girls is a retelling of the Trojan War, in which Achilles is the godlike hero everyone remembers, told by the ones everyone forgets: the women. When her city falls, Briseis is given as slave to none other than Achilles himself and she is determined to survive.

It is quite inevitable to compare Circe and The Silence of the Girls, especially with both making it to the Shortlist of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019. Of the two, I loved Circe very much, and was rather lukewarm about this one.

Review: Lost Children Archive, by Valeria Luiselli

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Contemporary Fiction

Goodreads

Lost Children Archive tells the story of a family on a road trip across the United States during Summer. As they go through what might be the last trip they take as a family, heading towards the area known as Apacheria, where the father tries to capture the echoes of the last people to give in to the white invaders, while the mother works on a collection of sounds that will, hopefully, together tell the story of the refugee children that are lost.

On the surface, this book is about a family trip, and with gorgeous writing the author takes us through the hot days, the slow pace of the story mirroring, I think, the pacing of something that is already a memory, a Summer day from years ago. But the story is truly about family, refugees, history, how documenting is important and the different ways of documenting. Quite fascinating!

Review: Normal People, by Sally Rooney

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Contemporary Fiction

Goodreads

Normal People tells the story of Connell and Marianne, who go to school together and have a complex relationship – in school, they pretend they hardly know each other, but at home, they have a quiet friendship with underlying, barely disguised desire. It follows them throughout the years as their relationship changes, ends, starts, develops and constantly threatens to break.

If you have feelings and want them squashed into a sobbing mess, well, this is the book for you! Let Sally Rooney break your heart and she will quietly and brutally do so.

Review: Bottled Goods, by Sophie Van Llewyn

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genres: Literary fiction, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction

Goodreads

Bottled Goods is one of the most interesting and unique books in the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019 Longlist! It tells the story of Alina, who lives in Romania in the 1970s and is suffering the aftermath of her brother-in-law running away from communist Romania and leaving her and her husband to deal with the suspicion, interrogation and violence.

A bit under 200 pages, this took about a couple hours to read, and I highly recommend it to people who love a bit of magical realism! This was my favorite part about the book, how seamlessly the author managed to add magical elements to an otherwise heavy story, adding some whimsical and funny moments.

The Sunday Snuggle Week 20 2019

Hi book lovers!

I got a bit sick again this week, which gave me a bit of extra reading time (and a lot less working out time). I started and finished 2 books during my day off, giving me an extra boost on my Women’s Prize Longlist reading. I have now 4 books to finish until June 5th… let’s see how it goes!

Mini-Review: My Lovely Wife, by Samantha Downing

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Psychological Thriller

Goodreads / Amazon

I love a good cold-blooded murderess story – they’re hard enough to come by, but what My Lovely Wife does is something I hadn’t seen before, with a couple who decides to spice up their marriage by kidnapping and murdering young women.

It’s difficult to stand out among so many new thrillers coming out all the time, and by now I’ve read so many that they become predictable. But My Lovely Wife really stands out, and for good reason: it’s addictive, it’s fascinating and the main characters are so unapologetically cold and not trying to justify their actions. I am obsessed with this book and highly recommend it! I was stuck in traffic for a really long time and this got me through it without a hint of irritation. A sign of a really amazing book.