Book reviews

You'll find here my appreciation of books I read during my free time or for school. I love reading all styles of books, so those reviews are going to be fair. Most of the books are available in English, but the ones that are French only will be in a section apart. Enjoy!

= Reading this book will waste your time and your money. It was so boring that I nearly fell asleep. A cup of coffee will be needed to stay awake until the end of the book.

= I don't really recommend this book, but I guess that if you have time to kill, you can still read it without dying of boredom.

= This is a great book, in the average. Some parts of the books were entertaining, but others were long and I was tempted to skip a couple of pages. However, generally, I enjoyed reading it!

= This is a very good book, not exceptional, but I had a very good time reading it! It was nicely written and very entertaining!

= Exceptional book! If you haven't already read it, you should definitely buy it or rent it! I was captivated page after page and I finished it quickly! Turning the last page was a sad moment...


And Then There Were None / Ten Little Niggers- Agatha Christie

Type: Crime novel

Summary: Eight people that have never met before receive an invitation from Mr and Mrs U.N. Owen to go to their house on an island. When they arrive on the island, they are told by the butler and his wife that the hosts are not there. A gramophone accusing the ten guests of murder, ten little niggers figurines on a table and a silly song called "Ten little soldiers boys"... What was supposed to be a pleasant getaway will turn into a serie of murders following the childish and spooky rhymes of the song...

Comment: Forget the cheap predictable horror books. If you want to be scared and intrigued, then I highly recommend you this crime novel. I was breathless from the beginning to the end. You can feel the tension of the characters and how they are scared to death. The way the murders follow the rhymes of the song is brilliant and creepy at the same time. The end is ingenious and surprising! A fantastic book, overall!

Rating:


Animal Farm - George Orwell

Type: Satire, allegory

Summary: One day, the animals of the Manor Farm rebel against Mr. Jones, their master. They create seven rules called "The Seven Commandments" that represent the principle of Animalism. One of the commandment is "All animals are equal". However, as time goes by, the rules are changing mysteriously and some animals stand up... What if they were not that equal? Will animals become worse than humans?

Comment: This novel can look like a children book, but it isn't. If you read between the lines, it's about the Soviet totalitarianism. When I first read the book, I only saw it as a tale about society. However, after reading on Wikipedia and listening to my teacher, I fully understood what the book was about and it became much more interesting. If you know who are Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Molotov, Hitler and other important leaders, then I will recommend this book. If you have no clue of who they are, then the book might be less interesting. It's still a good allegory and I had fun reading it.

Rating:


Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

Type: Science fiction

Summary: In this book, you can read the progress reports of Charlie Gordon, a man who has a low IQ and is described as "retarded". One day, some scientists offer him to increase his intelligence by having a special surgery. They hadn't try it yet on a man, only on a laboratory mouse called Algernon. Charlie accepts. His intelligence increases, but then he starts to remember his past...

Comment: This novel is a real masterpiece! You will have all sort of feelings while reading the novel: anger, pity, shame, sadness, disappointment, joy, fear... It was really touching! It seems like the story could be real... It makes you realize how the people with a lower IQ are feeling and if it would be a good thing or not to increase their intelligence. Because it looks like a journal, you'll feel really close to the character and that's why I fell in love with that wonderful story!

Rating:


The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger

Type: Chick lit

Summary: Andrea Sachs, a young woman who knows nothing about fashion, becomes the personal assistant of the editor of the fashion magazine Runway. The girl is constantly working to satisfy the capricious needs of her tyrannical boss, Miranda Priestly. As time passes, the requests become more and more difficult... Will Andrea stay or will she be fired?

Comment: I really loved reading that novel! It was fun and easy to read. The characters were well described, especially their attitude. As I was flipping pages, my desire of punching Andrea's boss in the face was constantly increasing. Also, the fact that Andrea is always busy and running everywhere made me stress sometimes, as if I were her. Feeling such emotions means that your interest level will rarely go down while reading the book.

Rating:


The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

Type: Philosophical novella

Summary: Gregor Samsa is a traveling salesman who wakes up one day as a disgusting insect. At first, the family members are feeling pity, then repulsion for Gregor. Grete, Gregor's sister, visits him and feed him in his room where he hides himself. He never had a good relationship with his father, but now it is even worse. Gregor's condition will get worse and worse as the story progresses. Note that the novella is a metaphor.

Comment: When I first saw the cover and the title of the book, I had the feeling that it could be interesting. However, it was probably the weirdest and most boring book I have ever read. The author had problems with his father and that novella is supposed to represent it, according to what my teacher said. Ok, so the whole thing is a big inside? That was my impression. The story was just a huge metaphor and luckily, our teacher told us that Gregor wasn't really an insect. Don't worry, this wasn't a spoiler. If you don't know this, you'll just finish the book with the feeling that you didn't understand the point of the story, if there is one. To leave covered with dust on the library's shelf.

Rating:


More coming soon!