The ones I Binge Read;(yes, this is a thing)
Dark Academia is my new favourite genre. An academic setting but ‘they have murder on their on their mind’.
A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate by Naomi Novick follows Galadriel a half welsh half Indian sorceress with ‘unique’ power at the Scholomance Academy for magic where failure means certain death (literally). There are no teachers, no holidays (for the entire 4 years), and no friends; unless its a strategic alliance. There is only one rule survive…. or die! for there are monsters that lurk the school hallways, classrooms and graduation hall. However, Galadriel is uniquely prepared for this for she is a powerful dark sorceress that can move mountains, but also kill everyone in the school. And, its got and enemies to lovers storyline. I finished both in two days!
What is infinite is the universe, and the greed of man
The Shadow and Bone series is the embodiment of ‘clichés are clichés for a reason’ . A sassy, young unremarkable, girl (Alina) discovers she has a unique power (sun summoning), not seen in thousands of years and she has to save a dying world (Ravka) from the 1000 year old threat (The Darkling) and a love triangle (the Darkling v Mal). However, Shadow and Bone tells these stories in a new and refreshing way and is a very addictive series!
And my love for fantasy continues…
Mysterious society with magical libraries? Yes. Bickering attractive 20-something year olds? Yes. Every decade six magicians from diverse backgrounds and nationalities are chosen to be part of the Alexandrian society. For much of they novel, they flirt and bicker and request different books from the library and rather than a big obvious BIG BAD, they face threats from other societies and there is a mounting pressure on all of them. Atlas Blakely- the recruiter, isn’t telling them everything, like how far they will have to go go gain knowledge from the library.
What I love most is that the characters relate to their power based on their own background and upbringing: Calum, born rich, wants to stay rich, Tristan, born to a crook, wants to shed that image and Libby; she wants to save everyone for she couldn’t save her sister. The pieces are all here!!
For those who love mindfucks;
None of you will go to America, none of you will be film stars. And none of you will be working in supermarkets as I head some of you planning the other day. Your lives are set out for you.
There is no way around revealing the premise of this novel without spoiling it. All you know in the beginning is that you don’t know what is actually going on. We have a 31 year old narrator named Kathy who announces on the first page that she is a ‘carer’, who takes care of ‘donors’ and she has been doing it for 11 years. She then reminisces about a school called Hailsham and how lucky they were to be there. Their ‘guardians’ seem to be nice, but distant from them and they have to do artwork that determines their fate somehow and they have monthly doctor’s appointments. We slowly find out that they are human clones, raised and pampered in an isolated school and trained for a horrific post-graduate destiny.
And that is exactly what I wanted, my emotions passing away like headlights that shine softly through a window, sweep past me, illuminate something vaguely familiar and leave me in the dark again.
Our unnamed narrator decides to treat the dissociation she is facing from the death of her parents in a novel way; she will hibernate for an entire year. With the help of chemicals, of course; Neuroproxin, Valdignore, Seconol, Nembutal, Valium, Infermiterol(an invented drug, induces three-day blackouts), she doesn’t want to be conscious for her year of hibernation. All this with the help of a quack Dr Tuttle whose most useful advice was ‘call 9-11 if anything bad happens’ after she prescribed all of these drugs and emphasizes that ‘drugs are effective in curing mental health illnesses because they impair judgement’! This narrator is repulsed by herself and will surely repulse you at some point, it however very much still worth the read!
My Absolute Favourites;
Being alone with her is like opening a door away from normal life and then closing it behind him
This is a will-they-won’t-they love story that brings a fresh perspective on a coming-of-age narrative and it shows what it is to be young and in love. Marianne and Connell begin their complicated relationship muddled by anxiety, miscommunication and secrets in their last year of high school. Their relationship is tracked over a period of 4 years (2011-2015) as they finish high school and go through college. In high school, though both were academically gifted, Connell was also the star athlete while Marianne was the shunned athlete. In college, the dynamic shifts, Marianne is the social star while Connell becomes rich-adjacent, for hanging out with her. Although it is sometimes heart-breaking, both always try to remain hopeful of future endeavours.
I now Knew that all of us were prostitutes who sold themselves at varying prices, and that an expensive prostitute was better than a cheap one.
before #MeToo there was Firdaus. This story is creative non fiction at its best. Firdaus is an inmate on death row, on her last night on earth she recounts the story of her life and the events that lead up to her being in prison. She recounts her story from her village childhood days to becoming a city prostitute and finally murdering a pimp wo tries to control her. Nawal’s writing makes this seem like a heart to heart conversation and when reading you can’t help but scream ME Too!!
Be crazy! but learn how to be crazy without being the centre of attention. Be brave enough to live different.
One cold November morning in her rental room in Romania, Veronika feeling that life is numb and pointless, decides to take a handful of sleeping pills and awaits death. However, she wakes up in a mental hospital and is informed that she has a week to live before she dies of heart failure. The story follows her through her days in the hospital and her interactions with the other patients. This book is for you if you wants to learn some new perspectives on society and mental health.
This book is insanely good and even more interesting as it is also creative non-fiction and the author Coelho has been admitted to a mental hospital three times!
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Very Interesting reviews. Will read all of them especially the Shadow and Bine series
Wow , great collection and interesting reviews, can't wait to read A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate by Naomi Novick