Casa de Sare și Amărăciuni de Erin A. Craig | Recenzie

Număr de pagini: 400

Editură: CorinTeens

An de apariție: 2020

Limbă: Română

Rating: 5 / 5 steluțe


Orice blestem poate fi rupt, cu destulă îndrăzneală. Aceasta este una dintre numeroasele lecții pe care le-am învățat din basme. Este oare posibil ca toate acele povești să se fi înșelat?

Casa de Sare și Amărăciuni este un roman înfiorător și tulburător care urmărește povestea lui Annaleigh și a familiei sale despre care se zvonește că este atinsă de un blestem teribil: una câte una, fetele încep să moară în accidente suspecte.

Sunt oare simple coincidențe sau este ceva mai mult la mijloc?

Cu intenția de a evada din conacul încărcat cu amintiri dureroase, fetele se strecoară noaptea pentru a participa la baluri grandioase și a dansa cu pețitori chipeși. Annaleigh este însă nesigură dacă este o decizie înțeleaptă să cadă pradă ispitei. Până la urmă, cu cine - sau cu ce - dansează ele de fapt?

Romanul este o repovestire a Celor Douăsprezece Prințese Dansatoare, iar repovestirile se numără printre preferatele mele.

Anul trecut am citit To Kill A Kingdom de Alexandra Christo și am iubit acea carte. Eram convinsă că nicio altă carte de acest gen nu îmi va plăcea atât de mult, dar se pare că o poveste întunecată mai târziu, mi-am schimbat părerea.

Annaleigh este una dintre surorile mai mari și este foarte determinată să afle adevărul. Îndoieli încep să îi întunece mintea și întrebări fără răspuns îi alungă somnul. „Și dacă totuși” îi devin cei mai buni prieteni până când decide să pună piciorul în prag și să investigheze accidentele dintr-un alt unghi: sunt într-adevăr accidente, un blestem tragic aruncat asupra lor, sau este, de fapt, crimă?
Cere ajutorul surorilor sale, însă acestea îi întorc spatele, convinse că dorința de a găsi un vinovat este doar o fază din doliul tinerei.

Acest lucru nu a oprit-o totuși și sinceră să fiu, nu m-ar fi oprit nici pe mine, dacă aș fi fost în locul ei. Sunt de părere că intuiția noastră știe întotdeauna mai bine decât mintea.

La începutul romanului, familia Thaumas este în doliu. Au pierdut foarte multe persoane importante și după cum este tradiția, doliul durează un an de zile. Mai întâi mama lor, apoi 4 surori, iar fetele Thaumas se simt prinse într-un carusel al pierderii. Când se va termina?

La scurt timp după decesul celei de a patra fete, Annaleigh gasește, împreună cu surorile sale, o ușă ascunsă despre care se spune că este folosită de zeii care doresc să călătorească în lumea muritorilor. Nerăbdătoare să evadeze din monotonia insulei, acestea se pierd în muzica ce le ghidează fiecare mișcare, întorcându-se acasă după fiecare noapte de dans cu pantofii distruși, lucru care îl înnebunește pe tatăl lor în încercarea de a-și da seama care este cauza.

Ce se înâmplă totuși, atunci când frumoasa fantezie încărcată cu rochii colorate și parteneri chipeși se transformă într-un coșmar? O să vadă Annaleigh adevărul la timp, sau un pact cu diavolul făcut în taină va fi sfârșitul lor?

Cartea are și puțin romance, însă nu este prea reușit, după părerea mea. Este cam grăbit și sinceră să fiu, nu prea mi-a păsat ce se întâmplă cu personajele pe plan romantic. Mi s-a părut că le lipsește chimia, potrivindu-se mai bine ca parteneri de investigație decât ca și cuplu.

Există și un lucru pe care mi-aș fi dorit să îl zăresc mai mult în roman, acela fiind o descriere mai amplă a personajelor. Avem câteva elemente descriptive: culoarea ochilor, a părului și culoarea pielii, însă sunt destul de vagi și nu sunt menționate pentru toate personajele. Eu una am nevoie de mai multe detalii pentru a putea să îmi formez în minte imaginea personajului.

În final pot doar să spun că această carte este foarte bună, unul dintre cele mai bune mistere pe care le-am citit până acum. Ador cărțile care mă țin cu sufletul la gură, iar aceasta a avut doza perfectă de supans, aromată cu fiori de care nu veți scăpa până la final.

Cartea poate fi achiziționată aici.

Lectură plăcută!

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus | Review

Paperback: 384

Publisher: Penguin Books

Published: 2017

Language: English

Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars

Five students are sent to detention and only four walk out alive. 

Now that sounds like a great start to a mystery, doesn't it?

I believe that a good mystery is one that keeps you on your toes the entire time, unable to put the book down until the truth is revealed. And One of Us is Lying did just that for me. 

I will be honest and admit that I did not have high expectations going into this one and thought it will be a quick painfully obvious read.

It was quick, but not obvious, for it kept me guessing and changing my mind about the killer all throughout the book. And I still did not figure it out in time for the big reveal. 

The book is told in four perspectives which is not my cup of tea, because I usually find it hard to keep track of who is narrating after a while. However, I do not think this one would have been as good a mystery as it is if it were told by one person alone, for alternating the chapters in four POVs raised a burning question: if all claim innocence, which one of them is lying?

“Unless one of us is lying. Which is always a possibility.”

The story is engaging, the writing is accessible and the characters are amazingly written. 

Bronwyn is the brain, future valedictorian and Yale-bound, Addy is the beauty, the perfect homecoming princess, Nate is the criminal, on probation for dealing, Cooper is the athlete, the all-star baseball player and Simon is the outcast, the creator of About You, Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

When Simon dies while in detention, the four remaining students become persons of interest in a murder investigation. Questioned time and time again, carefully kept secrets are revealed and their lives change forever.

”Six hours and five minutes from then we were heading to detention. An hour later, he died.
Seventeen years, gone just like that.”

While there is diversity present throughout the story, I do have to point out that the book is not cliche-free and I did roll my eyes quite a bit at that. We have the good girl falling for the bad boy, the high school princess dating a jock and so on. 

Even so, this book was a great remedy for my two month reading slump. 

The romance was predictable due to the hints the author kept dropping, but I was pleasantly surprised at how she developed it. I may also have added a new bookish crush to my ever growing list, but I never mind that.

I cannot say too much for it would ruin the story, but I will say this. One of us is lying is a very entertaining read and I had a marvelous time playing detective and trying to piece together the bits of evidence revealed by each chapter.

I am very excited to read the sequel and delve into a new mystery. Hopefully it will be just as good as this one was. 

If you enjoy the thrill only a good mystery can give, then this is the book for you!

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare | Review *contains spoilers for The Infernal Devices*

Hardback: 624 pages

Publisher: Walker Books

Published: 2020

Language: English

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

I've been waiting for this book for so long and it was so worth it. It turned out to be everything I have ever wanted from Cassandra Clare.

Chain of Gold is the first installment in The Last Hours series, which is a sequel to The Infernal Devices. Now, the latter is, and always will be my favorite series of the author's and one of my favorites of all times, so getting a sequel to that is like Christmas day came early this year.

The story is set in Edwardian England when fancy suits and dresses were still a thing and I love that so very much. There is a certain elegance to such formal clothes that I wish was still going on today.

The book follows the children of the characters from The Infernal Devices (so you should definitely read that one first) which, in my opinion, is not something we get to see in books often.

They are the next generation of Shadowhunters who, weirdly enough, don't have that much shadowhunting to do. I mean, demons don't just go on holiday for a couple of decades all of a sudden, right?

Cordelia Carstairs, our protagonist, comes to London with her family for a fresh start and to be closer to her future parabatai. Upon her arrival, she is swept into a world of glittering ballrooms and supernatural salons, all the while fighting to keep her secrets hidden.

James Herondale, one of my favorite characters ever written, has a special power due to his heritage: he can travel to the realm of shadows and demons. I really liked the idea, found it made him so much more interesting. 

However, as much as I would love to talk about James this entire review, the girl power is what I live for, as Cassandra Clare never fails to rock that aspect. So it really bugged me that Lucie Herondale, his sister, who has the same heritage, was left out of the supernatural special club. After all, it is not Cassie's style to do that.

My little fit over that was short lived though, seeing as the author had not abandoned Lucie as I initially thought, but had other plans for her. And I must say, Cassandra Clare never disappoints. 

One thing that I found very interesting about this book was that every so often there were chapters titled Days Past which told us little bits and pieces from our main characters' early lives. They were a great deal of help in explaining some aspects of the story that may have otherwise been overlooked.

A surprising part of the book is the female-female parabatai aspect, Lucie Herondale and Cordelia Carstairs. According to the Shadowhunters Codex, the parabatai are not just warriors fighting together, but warriors sworn to lay down their lives for one another, to travel where the other travels and be buried in the same place. The Marks the parabatai put on each other are so much stronger than the rest, the bond linking their souls enhancing their power. 

I might be wrong, but I do not recall, in any of her earlier books, a female-female pair, only male-male or male-female and it is nice to see a change. 

Cassandra Clare is a true artist when it comes to writing characters. While detailed descriptions are not my favorites, the author had me devouring every page of this book, searching for those very parts.

The characters' descriptions had me swooning and I am certain no others will ever have that effect on me. 

"He was beautiful, so beautiful that she forgot to breathe when she looked at him. He had wild, tumbled black hair that looked as if it would be soft to touch, and his long, dark lashes fringed eyes the color of honey or amber. He (...) was sleek and lovely all over, perfectly put together, like a marvelous bit of architecture."

I believe there is no better way of saying it than the author creates painfully beautiful characters. Though, they are not only beautiful, but brave, intelligent and creative as well. Determination hums with each heartbeat and recklessness might just be a common thing.

"I see you have decided to follow in the long Herondale tradition of poor decision-making."

They also feel everything so very deep, which I think might be a shadowhunter thing,

"'We do not get to choose when in our lives we feel pain,' said Matthew 'It comes when it comes, and we try to remember, even though we cannot imagine a day when it will release its hold on us, that all pain fades.'"

as well as their never-ending sass:

"'Obviously, I am sure,' she said. 'Which aspect do you think I am confused about?'"

I honestly think Cassandra Clare might secretly practice some sort of dark magic, for she always finds new ways of torturing our poor souls by playing with the protagonists' destinies the way she does. 

Chain of Gold shattered my heart into so many pieces and put it back together just to break it once more, leaving a bitter joy behind.

"He had never thought that the heart could hold a full measure of sorrow and happiness at the same time." 

I currently relate to that, after finishing this masterpiece of a book. There were no parts that I did not enjoy, which happens so rarely, yet it is so welcomed. The story was so captivating that I had a hard time putting it down. All I wanted was to know what happens next. 

It is by far my favorite read of 2020.

Cassandra Clare is truthfully the queen of fantasy and if you haven't read her books yet, I strongly encourage you to try them out, you will not be disappointed.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo | Review

Hardback: 391

Publisher: Atria Books

Published: 2017

Language: English

Rating: 4 / 5 stars 

Where on earth to begin?

I'll start by saying that The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the most frustrating book I've ever read in my entire life, but I loved it with every fiber of my body. It was a whirlwind of emotions, good and bad alike, but oh my God, did I want to punch Evelyn in the face half the time!

She is infuriating and manipulative, but so real.

Thinking back on every book I've read with a female protagonist, this one seemed so much more real than most. She is heavily flawed and so conflicted when it comes to love.

Evelyn Hugo is 79 years old and she outlived every person that she loved. Now, she is finally prepared to share the whole truth with the world: the reasons she married 7 times, the significant other she loved the most and everything she did and gave up to be a famous Hollywood actress.

She will do so, however, on one condition: Monique Grant, an unknown magazine reporter, has to write the story.

Monique is as shocked as everyone else in the journalism community. Why her? 

Nevertheless, she does not let this unique opportunity slide.

Over the next few days, the journalist does a thorough research on the actress, digging up each and every article ever written about her, as well as watching her every movie.

”Evelyn always leaves you hoping you’ll get just a little bit more. And she always denies you.”

The actress is beautiful and she learns to use that to her advantage from a very young age. That, however, turns into a life lesson:

“People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'you're safe with me'- that's intimacy.”

What I loved most about Evelyn is the complexity of her character. She is a determined young woman, who knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to cross moral lines to get it. The character development is remarkable, the starlet growing from a girl scared of what people are going to think about her and her actions into a fearless woman and a doting mother, tired of hiding her true self.

“Don't ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box. Don't do that.”

The book has a great LGBTQ+ rep in my opinion which adds another layer to the story.

While I enjoyed reading all about Evelyn, Monique Grant was a completely different story. She is a dull character who can hardly make up her mind about anything and always feels sorry for herself, her chapters being very slow in my opinion.

 

All in all, the book was amazing and I adore the author's writing style. I felt like I was reading about a real person the entire time and even felt the need to google Evelyn Hugo to reassure myself that the book is pure fiction. I'm excited to read more of her work in the future. 

If historical fiction is your cup of tea, then I cannot recommend this book enough!