A truly average month for reading.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Sunday, March 31, 2019
march madness
A month with its highs and lows but overall not a bad month for reading.
March Book Reviews
Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)
6.5/10 Let me start this review off by saying that I don't like thrillers, and I especially don't like domestic thrillers. Unfortunately, Gone Girl didn't really make me change my mind. It's not a bad score compared to what I've given to other thrillers I've read, but it's not a book that I especially liked. I didn't feel very invested in either of the characters. They weren't realistic enough for me to feel empathy or closeness and I found myself not really caring what happens to either one of them. Part of it might be that I already knew the big twist, that Amy is the one framing Nick, but at the same time if I hadn't knew that twist was coming, I wouldn't have read this book either. I'll probably check out the movie, but at the very least, for the book alone I give it a: meh.Wenjack (Joseph Boyden)
7/10 A short novella heavily centered in Indigenous culture and history. I think this is what I expected Split Tooth to be honestly. It has a story that focused on a watershed event in Indigenous history, the death of Chanie Wenjack. It features spiritual elements taken from Indigenous culture, as chapters told from the POV of animals watching over the boy's journey. But more importantly, it was told in a way that was easy to read and follow along with. I understood what was happening, and for a short story, it did a good job of setting the scene and drawing you in. Short, simple, but full of possible discussions.Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in That Order) (Bridget Quinn)
9.5/10 When I picked up this book I thought it was another one of those feminist compilation books about women overlooked or forgotten in history. You know the ones, with a Wikipedia entry page and an inspiring quote. They aren't bad, but they don't leave too much of an impression. Instead I found myself constantly emotional while reading through it. Part of it comes from its focus on art history specifically rather than just general 'feminist' icons in history. But the larger credit goes entirely to its author, who loves her subjects and whose love bleeds through on every page. It really works especially since art is so subjective that I might not feel anything about a piece of art but when the author puts herself into her descriptions, and is upfront about it, you can't help but feel moved too. The entries are just short enough not to be boring, and long enough for each subject to come to life in a way that humanizes them, as if the author imagined telling a story about a friend she knows. But what would a feminist piece be without an inspiring quote? And this is mine for this book, talking about the controversy surrounding the 'disappearance of Ana Mendieta': "Where was [she]? She was everywhere, if you knew what to look for." And so is art, so are women making it, and making history: they are everywhere, if you know what to look for. They are all around us.I've Been Meaning to Tell You: A Letter to My Daughter (David Chariandy)
6/10 This book is...not bad. But honestly, it made almost no impression on me. I remember when I read it that I thought it had some good points here and there, but I struggle to recall any specific passage or quote that really got to me. I'm writing this review a few days after I finished the book, and let me tell you, I just don't remember anything other than a vague feeling of 'it's not terrible'. It's not just because it's short but it definitely didn't help that it was. There was some anecdotal parts, but none that stood out vividly in tone or content. It's fine. It's not bad. Maybe it's more relevant to someone who's a father, or someone who's experienced something more similar, but for me, it was a Tuesday.The Westing Game (Ellen Raskin)
9/10 This was actually a re-read for me. I remember reading this during elementary or middle school and really loving it, but I'm always hesitant to add old books to my "Read" list now because I'm aware that opinions change as we grow up (and leave the target audience age). But I'm glad to say that nothing has changed, and I still really liked this book. The characters are so interesting, and despite having 16 major characters in a short junior level book, all of them have distinct and really memorable personalities. I especially loved the main character, Turtle, who's spunky and smart but also insecure and awkward - a great portrayal of a 13 year old girl. Which is what made the ending and epilogue so lovely to read, to see her naturally coming into her own. The ending is probably my favorite part, for the great resolution to a brainy mystery, and the heartwarming way each of the major characters' story went. All in all, a great book that's perfect for younger children and still enjoyable for older ones.Magpie Murders (Anthony Horowitz)
6.5/10 This one had a pretty interesting 'book within a book' kind of concept which I always love. Unfortunately I only liked one of those 'books'. Half of it is a Agatha Christie-style, 1920s, classic English village mystery featuring a fictional detective called Atticus Pund. The other half deals with the editor of that mystery, trying to figure out the real life mystery of how its author died. The Atticus Pund mystery I really enjoyed, I felt like the writing style was totally spot on. While it wasn't mind blowing or anything (it's no Orient Express) but I felt like I was enjoying a familiar Golden Age mystery. The modern mystery is what I had most of my issues with. The lead character wasn't very compelling, and her progress towards solving the mystery was so slow and boring to read through. The worst though was the climax of said mystery, when she confronts the culprit. Not only was the motive completely dumb, but what she did while confronting them was even more dumb. I just didn't care for the modern parts, which was regrettably half the book. But I will give it points for having half a solid mystery in it as well as a pretty interesting concept.Throne of Glass (Sarah J. Maas)
7/10 Alright, time to see what all the fuss is about. I've been hearing about this series of books for ages, and I'm pretty sure it had a fair hand in kickstarting the current YA trend of royal intrigue with a dash of fantasy. And at the end of it...I mean, it's alright. It's a pretty standard YA honestly. It had all the typical tropes played to a T. The protagonist is a strong female character with hints to a mysterious origin that she's unaware of. There are two primary love interests, one is a flirty, charming one and the other is a serious, hidden heart of gold kind. She gets chosen by a supernatural force to stop a mysterious threat. There's a scene where she dresses up really fancy. Like literally, it could not get more standard YA than that. Still, I got what I expected, which isn't a bad thing. None of the characters stood out to me, but I liked them well enough. The love triangle wasn't unbearable. The mystery wasn't super engrossing but it didn't feel like it dragged on either. It's a good book for people who like these books. What can I say?Thursday, February 28, 2019
lots of love
February is truly a month full of love, surprisingly! After the bleak prospects of January I was all set for another year of 'okay' reads but most of the books I read this month were solid, enjoyable reads! Ironic though, that the only romance book I read had the lowest rating.
4.5/10 You know how for most movie adaptations people always claim the book is better? Not in this case. The movie did a really great job of having a well rounded story line with a proper (if predictable) arc, whereas the book ends and I'm kind of like 'so basically nothing was solved'. Honestly? It makes sense. Rachel breaks up with Nick because she wants to have a family that loves each other and it's a reasonable expectation! The book wrote about the rich families in so much detail and was so much more exaggerated than the movie that I genuinely don't see how they'll resolve the issue because it just kept reinforcing what a whole different society it was. If it ends up being something like 'oh she was just so nice she changed his entire family's minds rooted in centuries of tradition and social norms' I'm gonna flip. Also another thing the movie did well was make the characters actually likable. There are really problems with all of the characters in this (except maybe Peik Lin), and even Astrid didn't have the same satisfying conclusion. Rachel and Nick's chemistry was basically told instead of shown to us and I really wish male characters like Nick and Charlie would stop thinking about how pretty their love interests are. Like when Astrid and Rachel are crying their POV is always about how they hate to see tears on their faces. I could honestly go on but I really didn't enjoy this book very much. I did enjoy the name dropping of various brands and imagining the lavish lifestyles, but wish I had the visuals to match them up. Overall, a shallow quick read that's okay for passing the time but ultimately left me feeling satisfied.
The parts I liked least was again, probably Lazlo and Sarai's romance, which is so over the top soulmate-y that I want to roll my eyes. Still, I really enjoyed seeing the development of the rest of the characters and the focus on Sarai. Her role in resolving some of the big conflicts really helped push her character in the forefront. I was disappointed the reaction from Lazlo's friends was so brief, but the interactions between the different groups when they finally meet were great. It just took way too long to get there. Some things I felt like could be taken as a hand-wave or too easy to resolve, but honestly for me I didn't mind at all. I really liked the ending, both the final confrontation and the feel good epilogue. There are definitely shortcomings, but overall I had a surprisingly pleasant reading experience.
February Book Reviews
The Fifth Season (N.K. Jemisin)
8.5/10 I'll be honest, this book took some time to get into for me. The first quarter or so had me struggling just to understand what was going on. Granted, a part of it is attributed to the incredible world building in its setting. It's full of different terms, societies, geography, and of course, powers. The author doesn't take her time trying to explain anything, instead throwing you right in the middle. To make things more complicated, the book tells three different stories in different timelines, and tells it to you in two points of view: third and second person. Interestingly, the lack of a narrative explanation helps make the setting feel more organic and natural. The downside is that it does take most of the story to get used to. I also didn't mind the second person style of narration, I appreciated that it was doing something different. The story itself I also really enjoyed, with its themes on racism and slavery, as well as a diversity in sexuality and race. It had a hint of sci-fi as well which built on a mystery surrounding the history of the land. The main plot focused on telling the story of the female leads, and while I thought it was interesting, I didn't really feel super attached to any of the characters. Still, I did enjoy reading it and discovering the world and seeing what happens next. I liked the characters, even if I wasn't super emotionally invested in them I did want to root for them. Overall a solid, well written fantasy book!I'll Be Gone in the Dark (Michelle McNamara)
8.5/10 "He loses his power when we know his face." I haven't really read a lot of true crime, so I'm not sure how it stacks up as a representative in that genre. For me, there were some parts of the point that lost me in its detail and disjointed narrative. There were multiple names for the GSK, and the author also sometimes referred to other cases that he wasn't responsible for and I couldn't keep up. It also tended to jump around in time, sometimes going to the author's past, then to the present investigation, then to casework done 30, 40 years ago. Still, the amount of detail in this book really showed just how invested and thorough the author was. The parts where she describes the GSK's crimes were unnervingly gripping in its telling, made especially so because it's a piece of nonfiction. I think a big part of what makes this book is the context of it all. Knowing not only those things could happen, but that they did happen. That they affected real people; the victims, the community, the detectives both professional and amateur. Most of all, what had the biggest impression on me was the letter she wrote to the killer at the very end of the book and knowing that he was finally caught: "Open the door. Show us your face. Walk into the light."Crazy Rich Asians (Kevin Kwan)
4.5/10 You know how for most movie adaptations people always claim the book is better? Not in this case. The movie did a really great job of having a well rounded story line with a proper (if predictable) arc, whereas the book ends and I'm kind of like 'so basically nothing was solved'. Honestly? It makes sense. Rachel breaks up with Nick because she wants to have a family that loves each other and it's a reasonable expectation! The book wrote about the rich families in so much detail and was so much more exaggerated than the movie that I genuinely don't see how they'll resolve the issue because it just kept reinforcing what a whole different society it was. If it ends up being something like 'oh she was just so nice she changed his entire family's minds rooted in centuries of tradition and social norms' I'm gonna flip. Also another thing the movie did well was make the characters actually likable. There are really problems with all of the characters in this (except maybe Peik Lin), and even Astrid didn't have the same satisfying conclusion. Rachel and Nick's chemistry was basically told instead of shown to us and I really wish male characters like Nick and Charlie would stop thinking about how pretty their love interests are. Like when Astrid and Rachel are crying their POV is always about how they hate to see tears on their faces. I could honestly go on but I really didn't enjoy this book very much. I did enjoy the name dropping of various brands and imagining the lavish lifestyles, but wish I had the visuals to match them up. Overall, a shallow quick read that's okay for passing the time but ultimately left me feeling satisfied.
Men Explain Things to Me (Rebbecca Solnit)
8/10 "What doesn't go back in [Pandora's] jar, or the box, are ideas. And revolutions are, most of all, made up of ideas." Finally, a feminist essay collection that I really enjoyed. It had just the right mix of anecdotal but broad, topical but with examples from history. It also included themes of gender equality and toxic masculinity, as well as LGBTQ+. The only part I didn't like was the chapter on Virginia Woolf. It was a bit too literary and long-winded for me and I struggled keeping my attention while reading through it. I'm always cautious about over-idolizing historical figures and I wasn't very familiar with Woolf either so that part was a bit boring. I also didn't feel like there was a lot of focus on POCs, but I also didn't get a vibe (as I did from "Text Me When You Get Home") that it was overly focused solely on the white female experience. I mostly really enjoyed that it had a right mix of optimism and realism, it felt like the author had a good grasp on today's reality. It's a good, short read that's a helpful overview of feminism today. "Here is that road, maybe a thousand miles long, and the woman walking down it isn't at mile one. I don't know how far she has to go, but I know she's not going backward, despite it all - and she's not walking alone."Muse of Nightmares (Laini Taylor)
7.5/10 Finally....a sequel to a YA novel that I didn't completely hate. Sure I also didn't like it as much as the first one, but just the fact that I enjoyed it at all is amazing. There's some more worldbuilding in this one and I have mixed feelings on what they introduced.The parts I liked least was again, probably Lazlo and Sarai's romance, which is so over the top soulmate-y that I want to roll my eyes. Still, I really enjoyed seeing the development of the rest of the characters and the focus on Sarai. Her role in resolving some of the big conflicts really helped push her character in the forefront. I was disappointed the reaction from Lazlo's friends was so brief, but the interactions between the different groups when they finally meet were great. It just took way too long to get there. Some things I felt like could be taken as a hand-wave or too easy to resolve, but honestly for me I didn't mind at all. I really liked the ending, both the final confrontation and the feel good epilogue. There are definitely shortcomings, but overall I had a surprisingly pleasant reading experience.
A Darker Shade of Magic (V. E. Schwab)
8.5/10 I've heard really great reviews of this one and I'm glad it met most of my expectations. I loved the setting and all the world building that went around it. There were rules that it adhered to and the way it was presented was very natural. The atmospheres of the different Londons were nicely contrasted, and I really liked the history behind it. Everything was simple but effective. As for the characters, it honestly took me until the last arc to really like Kell and Lila's dynamic, but I really liked Kell's relationship with Rhy. Each character themselves wasn't anything super unique or standout, everyone was a pretty standard trope kind of character but it isn't anything against the book. Again, simple but effective. All in all, a super solid fantasy book with an interesting setting, a plot that kept me reading, and characters that are easy to like.Thursday, January 31, 2019
have an indifferent new year
So, it's not exactly off to a great start. The best book I read was one about funerals so as far as indications on how the new year will go, on a scale of one to ravens cawing under a blood moon, I'd give it a finding the Grim in your tea leaves.
Then, as if to make up for the constricted setting, the book decides to introduce apparently all 100 something people living in the town. People keep getting introduced even halfway through the book and I stopped caring somewhere around the first 30 pages. Then the highlight of the book, the look at gender issues, was so heavy handed that it lost all believable nuance. Like wow, men angry monkey brain, women group motherly brain. Any male characters that aren't total creeps are bland as bread, including the so-called hero we're supposed to be cheering on. Not even the supposed genre tag helped. There was nothing horrific about this book, not the exaggerated violence at least. The most tense I felt the entire time was probably trying to finish it before my library hold was up.
I will give it this, I like how it combined Shakespeare's iambic meter, ye olde English with modern ways of speech. It was mixed together organically and didn't feel off and I enjoyed the originality of its writing even if I hated its contents.
Also the author uses a lot of gendered names with opposite gender pronouns, e.g. Paul is the name of the 'daughter' in a retelling of Cinderella, the youngest daughter in the story of the Frog Prince is referred to as 'he', etc. Honestly, I can't really think of a real reason why this is? If the author was trying to make some kind of commentary on gender roles in folklore, I don't think just changing around the words made any kind of point. The only thing they served to do was to distract me. So really, in summary: this book didn't make me scared, it just made me confused.
January Book Reviews
Sleeping Beauties (Stephen King, Owen King)
4.5/10 This is the first Stephen King book I read and it's probably an understatement to say it wasn't the best first impression. The premise sounded like it had potential: a mysterious illness turns women into cocoons after falling asleep, if disturbed from their rest they become inhumanly violent and while they rest they are transported to another place. So it sounds good! A disease that affects only women allows a chance to explore important gender issues and societal dynamics! The inhuman violence sounds like a good taste of the horror that King is so well known for! Oooh transported to another place has a hint of sci-fi and mystery as well! Unfortunately not only did I not think any of those were done well, even if they were I think it would've been bogged down by the mind-numbingly boring amount of filler this book has. It was an absolute slog trying to get through this book. First of all, while I'm understanding that King usually focuses his story in small towns in America, the implications of the illness are so large that I feel somehow cheated of a better story by only showing the effects of it in this random US town.Then, as if to make up for the constricted setting, the book decides to introduce apparently all 100 something people living in the town. People keep getting introduced even halfway through the book and I stopped caring somewhere around the first 30 pages. Then the highlight of the book, the look at gender issues, was so heavy handed that it lost all believable nuance. Like wow, men angry monkey brain, women group motherly brain. Any male characters that aren't total creeps are bland as bread, including the so-called hero we're supposed to be cheering on. Not even the supposed genre tag helped. There was nothing horrific about this book, not the exaggerated violence at least. The most tense I felt the entire time was probably trying to finish it before my library hold was up.
Fool (Christopher Moore)
4.5/10 So. Apparently this book is supposed to be comedy but I didn't laugh even once while reading it. Like there were some parts I thought was pretty witty? 'There's always a bloody ghost'. I like that kind of self-referencing, fourth wall kind of in-joke. Unfortunately for me, most of this book's humour seemed to be based on just dirty jokes and....that's pretty much it. It won't stop describing people's naked bodies or how clearly ready for sex most of the women are (except for the main love interest because OF COURSE SHE'S GOTTA BE PURE). Like I guess it's supposed to be outrageous, raunchy humour? And I'm just not a fan. But even if I were into sex jokes and making every woman a whore, I don't even like the actual plot. So it drew me in because it was supposed to be a retelling of King Lear from the Fool's perspective. It's a fantastic story and I loved the idea of telling it from the Fool's point of view given that he's one of the very few people who survive the play. But this book made Fool less of a wry, meta commentator and more of a traditional protagonist. He's the one who sets the play's events in motion! He gets with all the women! He's a jester but gets to take down the nobles! It just loses the novelty of the idea that got me interested in the first place.I will give it this, I like how it combined Shakespeare's iambic meter, ye olde English with modern ways of speech. It was mixed together organically and didn't feel off and I enjoyed the originality of its writing even if I hated its contents.
From Here to Eternity:Traveling the World to Find the Good Death (Caitlin Doughty)
8/10 This was a really interesting book to read! The author, the director of a funeral home, travels around the world as well as within the states to look at different ceremonies for the dead. It was fairly short, so not really comprehensive, but I enjoyed the size of it. It offered a good variety of different cultural practices while still feeling just long enough for it not to get overwhelming. I also liked how the author lent her expertise in standard American funeral processes as a comparison especially since it's not common knowledge. The comparisons included both the technical details (e.g. cremation vs burials) as well as more philosophical questions (i.e. how we treat the dead, the topic of death in different cultures). Not only was this entertainingly informative, but it also gives us food for thought on a topic relevant to us all.The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror (Mallory Ortberg)
4.5/10 Listen, I'm not being lazy when I keep giving the same score to all these books. I just genuinely don't care for them. This book was promised as a dark re-telling of familiar fairy tales which of course, I'm always interested in. The subtitle being 'Tales of Everyday Horror' was interesting in its use of 'everyday'. But what the book gave me was stories that weren't fantastical enough to be engaging and not everyday enough to be sinister. The endings are often abrupt, leaving me with less a sense of tension than a sense of confusion. There wasn't a purpose, just a meandering sort of mix of whatever the stories are inspired from (which judging from the footnotes, is really just a complicated clutter of everything from the actual fairy tales themselves to Shakespeare and the Bible). The story I liked the most was probably 'The Six Boy-Coffins' and really only because that one was the most faithful, and followed the format of an actual story. I also kind of enjoyed 'Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters'; the idea of a sensible mom in a fairy tale who knows that her son is getting tricked by a mermaid wanting to drown him has some pretty good potential. But of course, that's just potential.You know, sometimes a lot of stories seem to follow a similar structure, like having an introduction, rising and falling action, a climax etc. Don't you feel like there's a reason for that? Trying something new is all well and good but...let's just say Rome wasn't built in a day.Also the author uses a lot of gendered names with opposite gender pronouns, e.g. Paul is the name of the 'daughter' in a retelling of Cinderella, the youngest daughter in the story of the Frog Prince is referred to as 'he', etc. Honestly, I can't really think of a real reason why this is? If the author was trying to make some kind of commentary on gender roles in folklore, I don't think just changing around the words made any kind of point. The only thing they served to do was to distract me. So really, in summary: this book didn't make me scared, it just made me confused.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Monday, December 31, 2018
tis the season
I spent the last half of this month, and most of the holidays, sick so...let's just say I didn't get very far with my reading this month. Still, having read only four books means that I highly enjoyed 50% of the books I read!
December Book Reviews
Shrewed: A Wry and Closely Observed Look at the Lives of Women and Girls (Elizabeth Renzetti)
5.5/10 A collection of essays on feminism. Actually reading this kind of made me appreciate Women & Power more because honestly? I don't really like it when non-fiction feminist works get too personal. I know it sounds weird, but I'd rather read about a larger, more macro view on things, with data and research instead of personal anecdotes. And even when it is more micro examples, I prefer it to be about other subjects instead of the authors themselves. Still, this book really put the essay in collection of essay because it had a ton of references. I'd say it's a good book for people either wanting to expand more on their feminist bibliography, or someone who's already pretty well-read and can enjoy seeing someone putting it all together.
Circe (Madeline Miller)
9/10 "I cannot bear this world a moment longer." "Then, child, make another." I loved this book, and I loved Circe. The style of writing is absolutely my kind of thing, and mythology is even more my kind of thing. It was really great seeing all these famous figures of mythology and how they tied together. Honestly, it was really kind of amusing seeing just how related everyone is in Greek mythology when I had only heard of them in their separate stories. Unsurprisingly, I loved all the female characters. They were well-written, complex, with each their own stories and motivations. It kind of reflected on the real world, how even with all their powers, much of their world is also determined by men, usually with even more power. But the story goes on to show that women have their ways of living within that world, and outside of it too. I think my only complaints are kind of conflicting. On one hand, there were points where I wished she could show off her power a little more and do more, but on the other, the whole 'witch' thing felt a little like a special protagonist power. I understand why they use this trope but I can't help but see it as a trope. Still, I really enjoyed the story that came from all these different myths and the narratives it took. And above all, I was just deeply absorbed in Circe's life, this goddess witch who was daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, lover, wife and legend. "I will eat these herbs. Then whatever is truly in me, let it be out, at last."Text Me When You Get Home: The Evolution and Triumph of Modern Female Friendship (Kayleen Schaefer)
3/10 This was a whole book of talking a lot but not really saying anything. I thought there was going to be a lot more focus on the title premise, of a society where women have to create their own support networks, where women do this naturally because there are real concerns that a woman might not get home safely. The book barely touched on this. Instead it was more about brunches and Sex and the City. Like it's fine as a short opinion piece or whatever, but an entire book about female friendships as experienced by young, upper middle class, white women?? It's pretty disappointing. In the first place, I was hoping for, again, a lot more empirical writing instead of anecdotes from various people that I could not care less about. This is even worse than "Shrewed" because at least the anecdotes were from prominent people that the journalist author was interviewing. This one was just people the author knew like, privately. The whole 'evolution' is just comparing her friends to her mom's friends. What is the point? This could make it as 280 word post on Tumblr but not as a published book thanks.Strange the Dreamer (Laini Taylor)
8/10 This was a fairly long book and while the plot moved a bit slowly, I never got bored of it. I really enjoyed the world building in this. The idea of framing the city of Weep as a fantastical legend ironically made it seem more believable. It's easier to accept its strange features when the characters in the story also react in a believable way. Speaking of characters, I really liked the mix of them. I would've liked to see a little more of everyone else on both sides, but the main characters were fairly well developed. I liked Strange and Sarai but I also liked Thyron acting as a foil, though he seemed to be in a weird grey area of being a POV character but only a little bit? My least favourite part is probably the romance. It's just such a typical idea, and I know it had to be rushed and implemented in order to further the plot and eventually the ending/sequel but I felt like the book was just telling me they were madly, deeply in love. Like I get it...they're super into each other...they'd die for each other...they're soulmates...I GET IT. I enjoyed the overall story and mood of the book and I'm kind of interested in the sequel. Not so much for the burning mystery of those missing godchildren, but how the main godspawn and the rest of the outsider party react to Lazlo's new powers. Fingers crossed!Friday, November 30, 2018
no book november
November Book Reviews
Pachinko (Min Jin Lee)
8.5/10 In all honesty, this should've been a 9+ book for me. It had everything I loved; themes of family and identity, a sweeping narrative that takes us through 70 years of history and four generations, thoughtful in-depth looks at social issues...and don't get me wrong. All of that was great. But unlike similar books like Homegoing, it didn't leave as much as an impact. The later generations failed to grab me as much as the earlier ones, and there were parts that seemed rushed or not elaborated on enough. Still, I really appreciated how it highlighted the social issues of the time, which still echo down today. The issues of race, identity and homelands is of course at the forefront, but also interesting to me was the casual way the misogyny of the times were portrayed. I really liked how natural it felt, that things were expected of women and no one really questioned it, especially the women. The ordinary way it was a part of the world made it even more extraordinary and I really appreciated the lowkey approach. While it still was a good book, it just lacked that extra factor for me to consider it one of my favs.