Category: Book review

“A Life to Kill” By M.R. Hall Review

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The garrison town of Highcliff is on tenterhooks waiting for the return of the last British soldiers from war-torn Helmand. Meanwhile, as one of the last remaining platoons prepare to leave its isolated post for the final time, 19-year-old Private Pete Lyons is taken hostage during the night. A patrol sent to rescue him finds itself in a bloody and disastrous fire-fight.

This book is easily the worst mystery book I’ve read so far. And I gotta say as well that I ended up DNF-ing this book because it was pure torture trying to read this book.

The plot of this book was really weak and it didn’t feel like a mystery book but rather as a tragedy book. Because every chapter was from someone else’s perspective and every single chapter had million bad things happening in it. Which really pissed me off because it totally drained my energy.

The plot was really weak and not engaging at all. It just felt like the author wanted to write something to get some money from the sell of it and nothing more than that.

The writing style was pretty good but of course the plot of it made it hundred times worse and the writing style just couldn’t make it better because there were so many things bad with this book. 

The characters in this book were super bad as well and it felt like the author just didn’t bother to make characters which the readers would care about. All of the characters in this book were like “this character is named so and so and lets move on to the other characters because this character doesn’t have anything special with it and the character is just the same as the rest of the characters in this book”.

I give this book 1 / 5

“Death in a Strange Country” By Donna Leon Review

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Early one morning Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice Police confronts a grisly sight when the body of a young man is fished out of a fetid canal. All the clues point to a violent mugging, but for Brunetti the motive of robbery seems altogether too convenient. When something is discovered in the victim’s apartment that suggests the existence of a high-level conspiracy, Brunetti becomes convinced that somebody, somewhere, is taking great pains to provide a ready-made solution to the crime.

This is my second book in the Commissario Brunetti series which isn’t the best mystery series. It is in fact very far from it but it has something to it which makes it special at least to me. The fact that it happens in Venice, Italy aka a small town in Italy makes this series very special because I never come across a mystery series taking place in a small town in Italy. 

The plot in this book was good but there were a lots of moments where the author had trailed off and focus on things which wasn’t important for the plot. But the overall plot and the main mystery was very good, but there were a lots of moments which should have been removed from the book because they were just taking us away from the main problem in this book. 

The ending here really ruined the entire book because it pretty much went like “that is the guy who killed these people but don’t ask how and with what”. The ending pretty much gave us the killer without explain how he killed people or when or where which really ruined this entire book for me and I know that it will ruin the book for many other people. 

There were no twist at the end because it was obvious who the killer was from like page 150 or so. 

When it comes to the characters here I really like the main character here which of course is Commissario Guido Brunetti which really makes me want to continue reading this series even when it isn’t good. There are some other side characters which work with the main characters which I also enjoy because they feel like real people in a way but not complete real. However there are some characters here which just seem like they were made to just fill up the page with something.

I give this book 2 / 5

“Love Is for Losers” By Wibke Brueggemann Review

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Fifteen-year-old Phoebe thinks falling in love is vile and degrading, and vows never to do it. Then, due to circumstances not entirely in her control, she finds herself volunteering at a local thrift shop. There she meets Emma . . . who might unwittingly upend her whole theory on life.

This one is a typical YA book about romance, teens and high school drama. Which really disappoint me, because I was hoping for something not just generic. 

The entire book has an huge British narrative to it which really was fun in an away but I also kept forgetting that this book is sett in London which I was being reminded of pretty often. But also I had troubles understanding high school terms like “GCSEs” which apparently are big deal in England. 

The writing style here could have been much better than it was but it was super easy and super lame.

The love story between Emma and Phoebe was kind of cute in an away but it was super original which I meed to give it points for.

I give this book 3 / 5

“A Storm of Swords” By George R.R. Martin Review

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Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. And as opposing forces manoeuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords.

This one is the third book in the famous “A Song Of Ice And Fire” series. Which is the fantasy series which everyone should read before they die. 

The plot here is so fucking good that there aren’t any words to describe it in a good way. In this one we have the “Red Wedding” which for me is the most epic moment in all fantasy history ever. The plot here is so deep and easy to connect with that it will take you to a whole new world and you will forget everything around you will you read it. 

Because of the plot this book might be the best fantasy book I’ve read so far at least, which really speaks for itself here don’t it?

The more books you read in the “A Song Of Ice And Fire” series the more the plot gets deeper and deeper but also better and better. Which makes it to the best fantasy series so far for me at least. 

There are so much happening in this book that it won’t keep you uninterested, which makes this book as this whole series to a masterpiece. 

The twist in this book are the best twist I ever read or seen in any fantasy book or movie. Which really says a lot don’t it? This book has endless amazing twist which really made my day every time I’ve read this book.

The writing style seems to improve with every book in this series. And the writting style in this book is just so fucking good which makes this whole book come to live in your head and you can see everything which is happening in this book.

The character here are getting better and better. But also the original characters get fewer and fewer. Which makes this book so traumatising because you connect with all the major characters in this book and when they die you just want to continue reading this book. 

I give this book 5 / 5

“The Way up to Heaven” By Roald Dahl Review

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Mrs Foster has recently begun to suspect her husband of purposely exacerbating her pathological fear of missing a train or plane. She is continuously badgered by her husband, Eugene, who makes a habit of waiting until the last minute to leave the house.

This short story by Roald Dahl was okay for the most part it wasn’t the greatest thing written by him nor was it the worst thing written by him. This short story is really a dark and morbid tale.

The plot in this short story wasn’t the most entertaining and interesting but it was enjoyable for the most part there were couple of moments while reading this one where I wanted to DNF this short story because it began so boring and uninteresting .

The characters in this short story were okay for the most part. It didn’t dislike them but I also didn’t like them. I didn’t care about them at all so I didn’t bother to have any specific thoughts about them.  But the main character really made it impossible for me to even try liking her because she submissive to everything and she allowed everyone especially her husband treat her very cruelly.

The ending here was really the biggest problem for me with this short story because it really ruined it for me. 

I Give Story 3 / 5

“The Saga of Gunnlaug the Worm-tongue and Rafn the Skald” By William Morris Review

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The first time I’ve read this short story if you will was in high school couple of years back and I was reminded of it while talking with one of the people I went to high school with. So I decided to re read it and see if my opinion about it will change after re-reading it. And it did change. 

This story comes from Icelandic mythology about vikings who have settled in Iceland in 8th century. And for the most part it talks about the golden ages of vikings sagas which I personally am a huge fan of. 

At the beginning there is a ton of different names which really made the beginning very confusing and a little bit boring especially if this one is your first saga from the viking time or your first mythology about vikings. 

This saga is a part of stories of the old families living in Iceland and for the most part is about their adventures, their rivalries, their romance and their friendships which I personally enjoy reading about. 

The characters in this saga are mighty warriors as well as skilled poets which is an interesting mix to say at least. And I enjoyed to getting to know them and see what will happen to them throughout this saga. 

The writing style here was good for the most part but there were moments when it turned to being very doll especially at the beginning of this saga. 

I Give Saga 4 / 5

“12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” By Jordan B. Peterson Review

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What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson’s answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research.

I had this book for a very long time on my TBR list and I finally took the time to read this one. And I gotta tell you that this book is complete worth reading it and the time you will spend reading this book.

I personally am a huge fan of Jordan B. Peterson and I’ve been on couple of his lectures and on his book tour. 

This book has many good outlook at the problems people might have in their lives. And it does go deep into some of these problems and it gives us clear solutions on what we can do to make our lives better. 

However this book has couple useless examples like the lobster example in Rule 1. Which really didn’t need to be there and it wouldn’t change the book in any way. 

Jordan B Peterson is a christian and believes in God but the huge talk about religion talk in this book really annoyed me because I am a huge atheist and I’ve been that for my whole life. All these religion talks in this book really made me stop reading this book and read something else instead so this is way it took me weeks to actually finish this book. 

This book is super enjoyable and you will learn a lot from this book, and it is a really quick read overall. 

The writing style here was very good and it felt more like sitting down with Jordan Peterson and hear him talk rather than reading a book. While reading this book I’ve heard Jordan Peterson’s voice somehow which I really didn’t mind. 

I give this book 4 / 5

“Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff Review

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With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the country―and the world―has witnessed a stormy, outrageous, and absolutely mesmerizing presidential term that reflects the volatility and fierceness of the man elected Commander-in-Chief.

This book gives us amazing details about Trump’s first 9 months presidency, which was far from the best presidency’s in the history in the world. Not because of his politics or his showmanship but because there was pure chaos in the white house these 4 years, people staff all over the place without any purpose, people not doing the work which they were assigned to do and so on. 

This book made me realise that Trump’s presidency was more terrifying than I’ve expected. But it also lets us know what we all expected which of course is the incompetence of the Trump administration.

The writing style in this book was amazing, like someone was telling me this instead of reading a book. Which I give this book points for. But there were times where I felt like the writing style was very heavy especially with all the information which it was giving us about the tragedy of Trump administration and Trump himself as president at times. 

I gotta be honest here and say that this book doesn’t challenge your assumptions. Because it told us everything we pretty much assumed about Trump’s presidency and his staff and all the dramas. 

It was a fun, interesting and super knowledge read. And it gives us many behind the scene information about how Trump’s mind work and how he was like the president who didn’t knew what he was doing for 4 years. 

I gotta also give credit to Sean Spicer who really concluded in a perfect way Trump’s presidency by saying “you can’t make this shit up.” Which is true in the case of the 45th president on the USA.

I give this poem 4 / 5

“Dracula” By Bram Stoker Review

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A rich selection of background and source materials is provided in three areas: Contexts includes probable inspirations for Dracula in the earlier works of James Malcolm Rymer and Emily Gerard. Also included are a discussion of Stoker’s working notes for the novel and “Dracula’s Guest,” the original opening chapter to Dracula. Reviews and Reactions reprints five early reviews of the novel. “Dramatic and Film Variations” focuses on theater and film adaptations of Dracula, two indications of the novel’s unwavering appeal. David J. Skal, Gregory A. Waller, and Nina Auerbach offer their varied perspectives. Checklists of both dramatic and film adaptations are included.

I had high expectations for this book because it is a classic and I’ve heard dozens of good feedback and reviews about this book. And I gotta say that this book lived up to my high expectations.

The writing style was amazing. And the old English really helped to set the mood for this book and made the whole plot even better. 

The plot here was just amazing, I felt like a real life story in a way which I love when this happens in horror stories especially with Draculas and other classic monsters like mummies, Frankenstein and the non than the count Dracula himself.

The victorian horror is the thing I love the most in books and TV shows. And the fact that this is a classic made this entire book and plot even better.

This book is a masterpiece which everyone should read at one point. Because many horror books and TV shows have been influenced by masterpieces like this one.

I give this book 5  / 5

“Gałęziste” By Artur Urbanowicz Review

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Don’t believe anything you see or hear. There is a house where you don’t want to spend the night. For some reason, the darkness in it is different. Even more sinister than anywhere else. There is a lake where the undead live. Their advantage over you is simple – they don’t need to take a breath. There is a demon that you wish you didn’t know existed. An immaterial personification of evil that cannot be escaped. There is a place where this house is located. A place in the heart of which this lake is also hidden, and where this demon has always been. It’s a forest. A forest in which you would not want to get lost for anything in the world. Once you enter it, it won’t let you leave.

To be fair here I didn’t have any exceptions for this book. Which really made me enjoy this book more. All I knew about this book was that it had a cool cover and that it was written by an author which work I’ve read once before and I completely loved the book.

The plot in this book was just wow. It was amazing, it was like a regular horror story taking place in the woods but it had a very unique new perspective to it which I truly loved. And that it takes place in Poland makes it even more fun for someone like me who is from Poland. But there were times where the plot was too predictable which didn’t go well with me.

The writing style could have been better, which brought the atmosphere in this book down. Which really sucks because if the writing was better then this book would have been a banger. 

The most annoying thing with this book is that it was so slow, and true action didn’t really happen until the second half of this book. It really annoyed me because the first half was many times so boring and it was nothing but drama between the 2 main characters.

The characters were okay here. I don’t like them at all. The main characters really annoyed me because there were making so stupid choices some times. And I couldn’t really relate to them, because the main female character was to hardcore religions and the main male character was acting like a child for 90% of this book. But there were few times were I could relate to them. The 2 main characters are adults but in the fist half of this book were acting like teenagers who are in relationship but don’t want to break up because they have been together for couple of years. 

The ending had some good twists there. Which I truly loved in this book. But the main twist at the end was so god damn an obvious that even a child could have seen it coming. 

After all it was an okay read but nothing too extraordinary. There were couple of things which didn’t work for me and there were couple of things which I enjoyed a lot. 

I give this book 3 / 5