"The Scorch Trials" by James Dashner || Book Review

The second book of the series was - for me - a much faster and easier read. I generally think that it was better than the "Maze Runner" - you can find a full review of it here and read it before this one, if you want - it sucked me right in from the first pages and kept my attention throughout the story up until the very end! I didn't get bored for a moment and I was always interested and intrigued to read on. The story is full of suspense and it has many intense moments that make you hold your breath. I also found the writing slightly better in this book.

Most of the descriptions - especially the descriptions of the storms - were excellent and transported me right into the place and moment! The images painted were so vivid I could see them in front of my eyes. My favorite descriptions were those of the places (the abandoned and destroyed Scorch and all the new places we saw) and those of the unexpected and wild weather phenomenons (all the rain, wind, the thunders). All these descriptions grabbed my attention and made the whole atmosphere incredibly strong and atmosphere is of great importance when it comes to this kind of book.

The pacing was great throughout the book it never got me tired or bored. Almost every chapter ends in a cliffhanger and it keeps you turning the pages, unable to stop.

One of the things that bothered me was that Thomas was always either falling asleep or fainting. I counted so many times that a scene ended with Thomas falling asleep or fainting or somehow losing consciousness that after a certain point it got kind of tiring. I can't tell if it was intentional or if Dashner missed noticing the repetition, but I certainly did and I did not love it.

 

****POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD****

I enjoyed the new character additions, mostly Brenda and Jorge but also the girls from GROUP B that we finally got to see, even though I kind of wish I would have seen even more of them. I even enjoyed some of the characters that were there for just a couple of pages, like the drunken cranks; I thought they were very funny. I have to say though, that I thought that some of the older side characters (like Newt and Minho were a bit neglected especially from the middle and on. I loved the existing interactions between characters, but I'd like to have seen a bit more with the neglected characters as well. Also I have to add that in this book Thomas seems to have much less of a personality than in the previous book as well as the rest of the characters and as well as the reader would expect him to have since he's supposed to be a leader and the chosen one and all.

I had been spoiled about Teresa's betrayal, so I was kind of expecting it, but I didn't know when or exactly how it'd occur, so I was still very anxious about it! I'll confess I was a bit disappointed when I saw that her betrayal was kind of justified (how she did it only because she wanted to save him) because this made it feel less like a betrayal, but in the end when it is implied that she is still with WICKED, still lying to him, or playing games, this made me think that she was - and still is - just lying and deceiving everyone all along and this really made me feel for Thomas and understand the betrayal better. So it was until after it all had happened and the seeds of even more doubt were planted that I felt the whole betrayal incident actually have an actual impact.

The only part that I didn't really like about the plot was Thomas getting shot and saved by WICKED, because this didn't make sense to me on many levels. I also did not love the ending, I thought it was just okay, but I guess this is how it should be, considering that there is one more book to follow. Even though the ending did not feel particularly satisfying, for the time being, I am quite confident that it has set a good foundation for the beginning of the next book which I expect and hope to be thrilling. It is a pivotal transition point in the whole story. 

I really liked the development in Thomas' character! He's finally done with it, he won't take more shit anymore, he knows what's happening and understands more now and he is fed up with the games. His character has gotten to a crucial point to his arc and I could really feel the change and the confidence that he will be stronger from now and eventually resolve all the problems that come to him. I also loved how he decided to get away from Teresa, it was a big and important decision for him, but it also felt normal and natural as if there was no other choice, as if it was the only thing he could do.

****END OF SPOILER SECTION****

To sum it up, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I liked it much more than the first installment of the series. It was suspenseful, intense, and interesting. The writing was overall improved; better pacing, slightly better vocabulary, stronger descriptions, better atmosphere... generally a much more solid story, stronger writing and more engaging characters and situations. There were only a couple of things I disliked about the book, but for the most part, I loved it. I rated this book 4* and I am very confident about my rating. I'm curious about the next one and I can't wait to get started!

"The Maze Runner" by James Dashner || Book Review & Book to Movie Comparison

I finally read this one after a very long time of having it on my tbr list. I had watched the movie before and I kind of knew what it was about. I have to admit that I preferred the movie and I think that the movie is objectively better than the book, however, I enjoyed the book quite a lot as well and went on reading the whole series.

I had heard many different reviews and opinions about this book, some were very good some were very bad, so I didn't know what to expect. The main problems that were pointed out to me were the simplistic writing style and the overuse of slang and made-up words. Personally, I didn't mind either one of these two. Surely, there's quite a lot of slang and made up curse words that are a bit annoying at first, but I could ignore them and by the end, I had gotten used to them. The writing style admittedly is simple and not the best you'll see, but it's easy to read and I didn't find it too bad.

Some of the strong points of the book... The set up is very good and the worldbuilding is great, you can see the Glade and the Maze right in front of your eyes, the world draws you in, the images are very vivid and the setting even if it is dystopian and fantastical still has a strong and strange sense of realism. The action/adventure scenes are very powerful and I believe that this kind of action-packed writing is probably Dashner's stronger point as a writer. He knows how to make it interesting but still easy to understand and not get lost into the craziness of the moment. It's probably his simple style of writing that also helps for such scenes, while the same kind of writing can be seen as extremely weak and lacking in scenes of dialogue or moments of character and relationship development where there's not much action.

One of my problems with the book had to do with the characters and how they were portrayed. Most of the characters seemed underdeveloped and one dimensional, while in the movies you get to see more of their personalities. It seemed to me that the characters in the books were always very angry, always in a bad mood and ready to curse or get in a fight -even in situations where there seemed to be no reason- and not much of a personality other than that. In the movie the characters are portrayed much better, you can clearly see that they are smart, strong, they take initiative and they move the plot forward rather than the plot moving them, which in my opinion is probably the biggest difference from book to movie. In the book, things happen to the heroes and they react to them and that's it for most of the time, but the movies are much more character-driven, the characters make choices and move the story. The movie gives the heroes more dimensions and angles and overall makes them more realistic and interesting. I also feel that the relationships were not as nicely fleshed out in the book as they were in the movie.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD***

Another thing that bothered me was that the plot as it unravels in the book doesn't make much sense, at least not as it does in the movie. In the book, it mostly feels that many of the problems magically disappear or they solve themselves, whereas in the movie the problems are solved by the characters who fight and make choices. Thomas just remembering what and how to do it was disappointing and even more the fact that he could talk about it while other Gladers could not talk about their memories. It doesn't make much sense and I much preferred the movie version. Also, I preferred the movie version of Teresa, how she wakes up, and how she acts rather than book Teresa. One thing I completely hated was the existence of the "telepathy" between Thomas and Teresa. Seriously what was that? No. No. No. It was horrible in every way I can think of and I was glad it was not in the movie. Gally's storyline was also much better in the movie.

The book definitely suffers from sagging middle syndrome. It starts very nicely with a good pace, very interesting setup, worldbuilding and descriptions that paint vivid images, it draws you in immediately. Around the middle, it gets very slow and a little bit boring and repetitive at times where they just talk over and over again about a solution that can't be found. At the beginning of the end, the solution is found within a couple of pages through Tom's memories. Thankfully, after this, the book picks right back up and becomes more interesting by each page and the pace from that point till the end is excellent. The last few chapters really grabbed my attention and I couldn't stop reading. The ending was very exciting and interesting and left me eager to start the next book.

***END OF SPOILER SECTION***

To sum up, even though I had my problems with the book, I still enjoyed it very much. It's an enjoyable read and the book is a page-turner. The world draws you in and you experience the adventure alongside the heroes. It is an exciting and promising adventure and I hope the rest of the trilogy lives up to my expectations. There were many moments that I didn't want (and could not) stop reading, the action scenes were well described and strong and the worldbuilding is quite good.  I hate that I compared it s much with the movie, but I just couldn't help it, the comparison of each book with the each movie as well as the comparison between books of the series were inevitable for me. I had rated it 4* when I first read it, but after I read the rest of the series I had to re-rate this one and give it 3*, since I found myself preferring some other books of this series to this first one. Now that some time has passed and I have thought about it I think that the actual rating stands somewhere in the middle of my two ratings, so more like 3,5*. 

I'll soon be back with the reviews and thoughts for the rest of the books in the series...

(...to be continued...) 😉

Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen || Book review

Long time no see... Hello everyone and sorry for being gone for such a long time, but I have now returned and hope to be more consistent with this blog from now on. Lately I've been reading quite a lot of classics and this was the reason why I decided to talk about one of them on this new post after my long absence, so here we go...

I read this book last year (2018) and it was one of the few classics I've ever read. I've had this misconception for a long time that classics are boring, or that I would not enjoy reading them and this is the main reason why I've been avoiding them for years. Another misconception that I had was that I couldn't possibly enjoy a book that is all about romance, or a love story. This book proved me wrong for both of those things and I am very happy for it.

At first I gave it 4/5 stars, because there were a couple of scenes that seemed boring and slow-paced to me, but I've been thinking of this book so much the past few days and decided to change my rating. I couldn't get this book out of my mind and I was thinking about the characters and the relationships. I think that this book definitely deserves a 5/5 * rating, because it has managed to stay with me and make me think a lot. Furthermore, I was able to figure out how I felt about the characters and I had really strong feelings for all of them, nobody was indifferent to me. Plus, I really loved the romances; the way that the two sisters fell in love, the way that their relationships evolved and changed, the progress of their feelings and characters, everything was flawless.

I didn't expect to enjoy this book, but I have to admit, I liked it way more than I thought I would!

First of all, I really loved Jane Austen's writing, it was flawless and I feel that it has taught me so many new things and words. Not only it was fun and easy to read, but it was also very educational. What I enjoyed more than anything else was Austen's character building, the strength and individuality of the characters' voices. Each one of the characters was unique and excellently portrayed. I felt like I could see them and their movements, like I could hear their voices, like I knew them. The story was interesting, mostly towards the ending, specifically the third part was my favorite and the pacing was better than the first two parts.

Ending up, I feel that this book has made me "richer" in every way and that I have earned and learned so much from it. It was very good and I'm glad to have read it, even though I was a little prejudiced with it before.

Thank you for reading!

Philosophy of "The Alchemist" || A guest post

“When you set your heart at something, the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it”

-Quote from the book

So you’ve got a dream eh? You want to achieve it but you don’t know how? You want to feel inspired and motivated to live your life, and to taste how beautiful life can be? Well then you Lucky twat, have I got a book for you, my friend!

The book by writer Paulo Coelho is world renown and is considered by many a ‘modern classic’ and a ‘publishing phenomenon’. This was the work that brought the writer into the literary genre and he is still best known for writing ‘The Alchemist’.

!Spoiler Ahead!

The story revolves around a simple shepherd named Santiago who has had a dream about searching the treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. He meets with certain people on his journey who guide him towards his dream and we follow Santiago as he travels from Spain to Egypt in search of his treasure all the while making new friends who teach him valuable lessons on life and we even see our titular character falling in love and having his love reciprocated.

The story starts with him doing his daily chores with his flock of sheep while discussing about the dream he had last about traveling to Egypt. He sells his wool to a local merchant and talks to his daughter with whom he falls in love but realizes that she might never reconsider having a future with him as he has low social standing.

We follow him through the night when he meets with a robed man named Melchizedek (Try saying that with a mouthful of sweets, I dare you)

And they both undergo a conversation that defines what this book is all about, following your dreams…

Through his journey he loses all his money, and earns it back by working alongside an old crystal merchant who teaches him the life philosophy around ‘Maktub’ or fate as we call it, meets an English traveler who later understands that to see your dreams come reality you have to work for it instead of simply hoping about it.

Falls in love with a desert girl named Fatima who loves him back and encourages him to follow his dreams averts a bloody war, finds an alchemist, and talks to the soul of the world.

And in the end, he finally finds what he was searching for which was… you know what, I want you to read the book, it’s beautiful so I won’t spoil this section for you, so happy readings!

The lesson:

There is just one main lesson that we can learn from the Alchemist, apart from various miscellaneous teachings, is that you should never, ever give up on your dreams, on your goals. Your methods may change, your fate may change, but your destination can never change because…

“Once you set your heart to something, the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it”

- Melchizedek

Thank you for reading and please check out my blog Sushrut Writes on Wordpress for similar content.

"A watched pot" by Mr. Blue || Book Review

OH, COME ON, IT'S NOT OVER, IS IT? I NEED MORE!

This short story was sent to me by the author, Mr. Blue, and I was requested to do an honest review about it. I'm very happy and excited because this was my first collaboration for this blog, I really enjoyed the whole procedure and I hope to do it again soon.

This book is a short read thriller about Graham, a desperate husband, and his much too annoying wife Cressida. Graham seems to have had enough of his wife's (and her friends') conceited (and deceitful, maybe?) behavior and crazy ideas seem to go through his mind. I really enjoyed this little journey. I loved the writing, it was really good. The plot is interesting, it keeps your attention and you can't stop reading. The writer can create some very vivid images and can really convey the feeling of the scene. Some of the descriptions made my hair stand on end and I felt like anything could happen at any moment. Like Graham could snap at any moment and do something crazy. I really enjoyed this feeling.

I could really get a good sense of the characters and their distinct voices, even in this short amount of pages, which was very impressive. I almost immediately connected and had feelings for all of them. I felt sympathy for Graham, while I felt the urge to slap Cressida and her friends. 

The ending was weirdly satisfying, it gave me evil laughter. The only problem I had with it is that I wanted more. I really wanted to know what happened with all of them afterward. How much did they freak out? How did they react? What happened later? Did they walk out of the house alive and well? Or maybe not? Did things take a turn for the worse? Because I would love that! It left me wanting some more and very curious.

I would rate this book with a 4,5 but since I can't, and since I enjoyed it very much, I'm going to give it 5 stars. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller story and I'd love to read some more of the author's work in the future.

Thanks for reading!

"Looking for Alaska" by John Green || Book Review

Hello friends!

Some time ago I read "The fault in our stars" and I really loved it, so I thought I should read something more by John Green. Back then, I decided to give "Paper towns" a try and I couldn't even get past the first couple of chapters, I found it bad and I was disappointed, so that kept me from reading anything else from the author for a while. Lately though, "Looking for Alaska" fell in my hands and I felt instantly curious about it. I didn't feel sure about it and I started the book with low expectations because I had heard that it is so similar to "Paper towns" they could as well be rewrites of the same story. I don't know if this is true since I've only finished one of them, but luckily this one sucked me right in and grabbed my attention. Not only did I finish reading it, but I thought it was quite good.

---POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD---

The story was not the most interesting that I've read; it is simple and a bit predictable, but at the same time it's not bad, or boring either. It keeps you reading, but it's not extraordinary, or mind-blowing by any means. Which I don't necessarily view as a problem, as long as a story conveys its message well and delivers the feelings successfully and this was definitely the case with this book. The characters were well-portrayed and I could get a clear idea of who they were and how they talked. I didn't really like Alaska that much, but Miles and the Colonel and Lara were all likable to me. I also found the Eagle pretty cool and funny too. 

What I liked most about this book was its humor. While it's not supposed to be a funny book or a comedy - as a matter of fact, the story is rather tragic - it still had its funny moments and made me laugh at many points (Their pranks, the basketball scene, and the bj scene were my favorite and made me laugh very much). Humor, by the way, is something that I truly appreciate in all books. I love it when I read a tragic story or even a very heavy and serious one and I can find some humor in it. It doesn't change the overall atmosphere or feeling, but it does add something to it. It feels like the existence of humor in a sad story helps me see and appreciate the sadness and tragedy even more, and on the other hand, the tragedy of a story will help me feel the optimism that the humor offers. If anything, this is a clue in the writing that both gives a more enjoyable read, and adds to its realism. Because, at the end of the day, this is how life is, sadness succeeds happiness and vice versa - a mix of happy and sad moments. John Green is very talented in that aspect.

I didn't cry while reading it, but I did find the story rather sad. It was not so much Alaska's death that touched me, because I saw it coming and the way that she died was very predictable even from the first pages. I knew that something bad was going to happen to her sooner or later and that there was probably going to be an accident since they were drinking so much. What did touch me and made me feel devastated was why she left. The revelation about her mother's grave devastated me. I got a peek from the inside of her brain before she died and being able to see the state of mind and psychology of a desperate person right before she dies is both painful and shocking. It is not cleared out if it was a suicide or not, but it still was heart-breaking to learn what she did or thought and how she was driven to her actions. The second thing that touched me was the revelation that Takumi knew some things all along and the fact that he didn't say anything. Their keeping secrets from each other was sad, but the forgiveness in the end was really cathartic. 

The ending was optimistic and left me with hope and I really liked this. It also got me thinking about all the things that Miles was thinking. Questions about life and death, about the afterlife and about the labyrinth... Life goes on and being able to forgive sets you free and helps you look forward. It's almost impossible not to think about all these while reading this book. One thing that I want to keep from all these thoughts is expressed in one of Colonel's quotes: "After all this time, it seems to me like straight and fast is the only way out- but I choose the labyrinth. The labyrinth blows, but I choose it.". The book had many beautiful and meaningful quotes like this one.

As for the rating, I did like this book very much, so I gave it 4 stars out of 5. I didn't like it as much as "The fault in our stars", which I also rated with 4 stars, but since I can't give it 3,5 stars or something like this, I will give it 4 as well. I do feel though, that the "fault" was slightly better than this one. To cut the long story short, I really liked it and enjoyed reading it and I would recommend it!

Thank you for reading!

Until the next time...

My bookish goals for 2019 || A book chat

Hello friends and a happy new year to everybody!

I never set bookish goals for the new year, I just go with the flow and let things take me where they take me. Even when I do set goals I usually fail them anyway, so I was reluctant to do this, but I thought that I could try it for a change. My bookish goals aren't going to be anything special and I am going to set the bar pretty low because I know that the amount of spare time I have is limited. But I am going to try to make it and do even better than I expect, if possible. So here are my 2019 small bookish goals:

1. This year I hope to read at least 15 books. This is the number of books that I set for my Goodreads reading challenge for 2019. I know it is pretty low, but I'm going to keep it the same with last year. I do hope though that I am going to read even more than that and do even better.
2. I really want to keep doing reviews of whatever I read and keep posting them on my Goodreads account as well as on this blog. I also want to get more serious with this blog and work more on it.
3. Read at least 2 classics.
4. Get back to the two books that I have DNF'ed the past year and finally finish them. They were both good books and I didn't intend to give them up, but I only did because I didn't have time, so I really want to get back to them.
5. Complete at least one out of the three series that I have on my Kindle and generally to read more from my Kindle.

So, that's about it. Small, manageable steps... Feel free to share with me your bookish goals for 2019 and tell me how you feel this reading year is going to be.

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful 2019!