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irina_sky's reviews
229 reviews
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts I and II by Jack Thorne
4.0
"J.K. Rowling herself once said that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child needed to be a play, rather than a book, to give full life to her creative vision. Many of the play's reviewers were impressed by the staging and tricks that brought the magic to life before the audience's eyes. No script is ever going to be able to offer those things. Indeed, anyone who reads script before seeing the play will find their brows twisted in disbelief at some of the stage directions and wonder how on earth such a thing would be possible."
Yes, it is NOTa book, it is a script, and we have to treat this work as one. It was not written by J.K. Rowling, as many people may assume. This book would have received much more praise and love if the readers had known the mentioned above facts straight from the beginning.
Is it worth reading it then? If it's your first experience with the wizarding world of Harry, you should definitely leave this book on the shelf in the bookstore and grab and devour the first 7 books about Mr.Potter. Otherwise, "the cursed child" won't make any sense to you at all.
All in all, it was great to enter yet once again this beautiful magical world, escape from reality, join the great company of my favourite childhood characters and see this story from a different angle.
Yes, it is NOTa book, it is a script, and we have to treat this work as one. It was not written by J.K. Rowling, as many people may assume. This book would have received much more praise and love if the readers had known the mentioned above facts straight from the beginning.
Is it worth reading it then? If it's your first experience with the wizarding world of Harry, you should definitely leave this book on the shelf in the bookstore and grab and devour the first 7 books about Mr.Potter. Otherwise, "the cursed child" won't make any sense to you at all.
All in all, it was great to enter yet once again this beautiful magical world, escape from reality, join the great company of my favourite childhood characters and see this story from a different angle.
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
5.0
A terrifying story about a family trying to survive through the Cambodian Civil War. The book depicts the horrors of that time so vividly, that you literally painstakingly live the story and shudder from all the atrocities that were taking place during so many years.
After reading this book, the first urge was to visit Cambodia and learn more about its history and politics. This must say a LOT about a book.
Totally recommended.
After reading this book, the first urge was to visit Cambodia and learn more about its history and politics. This must say a LOT about a book.
Totally recommended.
The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz
Q.:
― “Closure is just as delusive-it is the false hope that we can deaden our living grief.”
― “Being present, whether with children, with friends, or even with oneself, is hard work. But isn't this attentiveness -- the feeling that someone is trying to think about us -- something we want more than praise?”
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Frankly, I expected a bit more from this book. After all the hype that it received, I was prepared that this book was going to change my way of thinking in some way. But it didn't.
The patients' stories were too short for my liking and didn't reveil the depth of human psychology. The analysis that Mr. Grosz provided within the stories was just not enough for me. I know that it's not a scientific work, nor a even a university lecture, but merely a set of short stories of human experiences seen through the eyes of a psychoanalyst. But somehow I was waiting for a more detailed and thorough insight.
The writing itself was very smooth and easy to follow. Grosz avoids the use of psychological terms, (I only came across a couple of them), which makes this book incredibly readable.
3.0
Q.:
― “Closure is just as delusive-it is the false hope that we can deaden our living grief.”
― “Being present, whether with children, with friends, or even with oneself, is hard work. But isn't this attentiveness -- the feeling that someone is trying to think about us -- something we want more than praise?”
--------------------------------
Frankly, I expected a bit more from this book. After all the hype that it received, I was prepared that this book was going to change my way of thinking in some way. But it didn't.
The patients' stories were too short for my liking and didn't reveil the depth of human psychology. The analysis that Mr. Grosz provided within the stories was just not enough for me. I know that it's not a scientific work, nor a even a university lecture, but merely a set of short stories of human experiences seen through the eyes of a psychoanalyst. But somehow I was waiting for a more detailed and thorough insight.
The writing itself was very smooth and easy to follow. Grosz avoids the use of psychological terms, (I only came across a couple of them), which makes this book incredibly readable.
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
3.5/5
The first 40-50 pages were a rollercoaster ride, I kept turning pages like a madman. The beginning really sucked me in and I thought the rest of the story was going to be as jaw-dropping as the first pages. Unfortunately it wasn't.
All of a sudden, the suspense and mystery vanished without a trace and I found myself rather bored in the middle of the story.
Nevertheless, I liked how Shari Lapena switched between different narrators to unfurl the twists. It made the story a bit more dynamic.
The plot itself is fairly predictable at times, with a couple of twists you can really see coming. However, it somehow keeps your attention till the end.
3.0
3.5/5
The first 40-50 pages were a rollercoaster ride, I kept turning pages like a madman. The beginning really sucked me in and I thought the rest of the story was going to be as jaw-dropping as the first pages. Unfortunately it wasn't.
All of a sudden, the suspense and mystery vanished without a trace and I found myself rather bored in the middle of the story.
Nevertheless, I liked how Shari Lapena switched between different narrators to unfurl the twists. It made the story a bit more dynamic.
The plot itself is fairly predictable at times, with a couple of twists you can really see coming. However, it somehow keeps your attention till the end.