The subtle art of not giving a f**k, by Mark Manson || Book Review

 

“Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.”

Not my usual kind of book (self-improvement, self-help books aren't my usual choice), but I wanted to give this one a try, mostly because of the title which I have always found funny. I didn't read the physical book, but I instead chose to listen to the audiobook, which I totally recommend.

The book is simply written and very easy to understand, but not simplistic. It is very original and surely different from others of the kind not what you'd expect. I liked some chapters better than others. Some of the points the book makes are really clever and spot-on. The book makes you think about your life, choices, goals, and values. I rewinded and relistened some of the chapters and I have to say they were even better the second time around.

The narration was absolutely wonderful! The narrator has a great voice and style and the way he reads it is both interesting and funny. It never gets boring. The narration was one of my favorite things in the book and I'm very glad I listened to it instead of actually reading it. I don't know if it could have held my interest as well if I was reading it.

It's probably the best book of this kind that I've ever read and I enjoyed it very much. It is quite different and it's set apart from others of the kind. The audiobook was awesome and I can't help but recommend it. I'm going to give it 4* because I liked it for the most part. It was a very easy and very fun read with a great narration and very refreshing and liberating views and ideas. It's worth the try and definitely worth your time.

Some of my favorite parts and quotes:

- “This is the most simple and basic component of life: our struggles determine our successes.”

- “It turns out that adversity and failure are actually useful and even necessary for developing strong-minded and successful adults.”

- “People get addicted to feeling offended all the time because it gives them a high; being self-righteous and morally superior feels good.”

- “But a true and accurate measurement of one’s self-worth is how people feel about the negative aspects of themselves.”

- “We are defined by what we choose to reject. And if we reject nothing we essentially have no identity at all”

Thanks for reading!

"The Fever Code" by James Dashner || Book Review & Book Discussion

This was probably my favorite book in the whole series. It was very enjoyable and interesting, I didn't get bored or lose interest even for one page. It goes by really fast, the pacing is great, the story is good and ties in with everything else in the other books and it seems like the writing is also better than the rest of the books. It's the beginning of the characters' journey, the memories some of them chose to never get back, the backstory we never got to see in the other books and it's a good pay off. Seeing the lives of the characters before the Maze helps you understand their choices and why their characters were shaped the way they were. You can understand some if not all of their choices and actions, and wonder if maybe even subconsciously in some hidden part of their brains they had some kind of memory or feeling from their past. This book also gives you more of an idea of how things were inside Wicked and you learn more of what was going on. 

Overall it was a very good read and I was pleasantly surprised after the disappointment of the "Kill order" (if you'd like to know what I thought of it, you can find a small review here). But, now, let's get on with my review for this book...

****POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD****

I mostly speed-read the "Kill order" so I didn't remember any mention in the previous book that Deedee was Teresa. I either completely forgot about it or it wasn't mentioned, whichever it was, I was shocked when I found out it was her. I was also shocked and sad when I read about Newt and his sister. I hated Paige and Wicked even more and I disliked Teresa more than before, even though I now understand more her beliefs and motives. Her actions are still inexcusable but somewhat more understandable.

The ending, for me, was half expected and half unexpected. I knew that Thomas would be betrayed and things would go wrong, but not really in this way. I had started to grow some faith in Teresa I thought and believed that she really was on his side this time and that she was betrayed too, but it turns out that all along she has never been any different. I also thought that it would be someone else's idea to swipe his memories, not Paige's. But the most shocking was the fact that she was the one behind the infection. She was so ruthless and unstoppable she did not hesitate to infect her co-workers with the Flare and condemn them to a horrible fate. And not only did she do that to accomplish her impossible-to-achieve goals, not only she did everything to keep torturing innocents, but when it was done she asked children, teenagers, to clean up the mess. She had children terminate her opponents, to take the lives of people, and on top of everything else, she distorted the truth about it. She then took over and screwed everyone's lives up for three more books.

I loved how the book ended with some of the words used in the first book (cold darkness and stale dusty air) and I also really liked how Teresa ended her message about the words she'd write on her arm ("Wicked is good"). I loved the way Thomas' swipe was described, it was a beautiful and poetic visualization of what was going on inside his head.

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

As I see it the main theme of this series is this "Do the ends justify the means?". I think that this question sums it up and it is, of course, answered many times throughout the stories. It is even mentioned in the book that this should be Wicked's moto that "the ends justify the means. The truth is that no end, no noble cause could ever justify the abuse of children, the messing up with other's minds, the torture and manipulating of young people, the destruction of families, the deception of people, and so on and so forth... All these are despicable acts done by people with great power in their hands that chose to shape not only their fates but everyone's. Their distorted beliefs and ambitions lead to outrageous actions and the chain of events that follows leads to a disastrous dead end that by the end of the book is unavoidable.

I gave this book 4* even though it feels a bit more like 4,5* to be exact. This book adds to the overall story in contrast with the "Kill order" which felt pointless and indifferent. This one is a nice addition and it contributes to the story and mostly to the characters. I'm glad I read this series and that I finished it with this book. It was a great trip with many adventures and I enjoyed it more than I expected! 

"The Kill Order" by James Dashner || A Mini Book Review

This one was my least favorite from the series, so this review is going to be short (indicative of how much I didn't care about it). If, however, you want to read my thoughts on the previous book in the series you can find my full review here.

It was very boring and I didn't like it very much. I couldn't care for the characters. I felt like I did not really know them and couldn't care what happened to them. Changing the set of basic characters and introducing new ones was a distraction for me. The story follows the same formula with the rest of the series and many of the scenes seem familiar and repetitive. I speed-read a big part of it and only read properly the interesting parts. The writing was not very good.

I didn't enjoy this book at all and I was tempted at many points to just give up and DNF it. It was a bit of a struggle to get through and it is definitely the weakest one in the series. I had first given it 2* but after some thought, I decided to give it 1*. Most important for me was that I could really just skip this book entirely and nothing would change about the overall story. Reading it didn't give me anything new or add anything to the plot. I could have gone through the rest of the books without knowing exactly how the first contamination happened and I wouldn't miss it at all. If there had to be a book about how it all started it should have at least been good with a solid plot and engaging characters. It should have something exciting and new to add.

"The Death Cure" by James Dashner || Book Review & Book to Movie Comparison

Out of the three books of this trilogy, this one was the hardest one to get into. If you want to know my opinion about the previous book in the series ("Scorch Trials"), before reading about this one, you can find it here. This one was still an enjoyable read, but not as attention-grabbing as the other two. My main problem was the first 2/3 of the book, while the last 1/3 becomes quickly and vastly more interesting. I thought the pacing was a bit problematic and I had to skim read a bit at the beginning, but thankfully it got much better after the middle and up until the ending and it did not disappoint me at all.

Once more, the worldbuilding, setting, and scenery was very well done. The characters have definitely developed since the previous 2 books. They have changed and it is obvious in this book and until the end, they continue to change as a consequence of all the horrors that have happened to them. The action and suspense scenes were as always written perfectly.

****POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD****

I loved the connection between Thomas and Brenda and how it slowly but steadily develops and unfolds. You get a few but strong interactions, the moments between them are not many but are evenly spread throughout the book and each one of them is strong enough on its own just as well as all of them combined together when you're finished. Their relationship felt natural and it made sense, so I was very happy they ended up together. 

I also liked Teresa's character development even though we didn't get to see much of her in this book. Her death was sad but not as impactful as I think it should and could have been. It felt sudden and weird when it could have been a much stronger scene. I much preferred the movie version of Teresa's death, because in the movie it felt shocking, strong, and impactful, but also much more real and believable. Then again, in the book, it was much more of a sacrifice, while in the movie it was less of a sacrifice and more of an accident, but I still preferred the movie version better. On the other hand, I hated the romance between Thomas and Teresa in the movie. I understand that they had to work and develop an already existing romance, rather than start a new one with a less familiar character, but I still much prefer Thomas with Brenda than with Teresa so in this part I preferred the book. 

The strongest moment in this book was beyond a doubt Newt's death. It was the most impactful, devastating, and heart-wrenching moment and it gave me tears. I kept thinking about it for a couple of days before reading on and I had to go back and reread it because that's how much I liked it. It was so sad and painful and it still shocked me even though I'd been spoiled about it and I knew it was coming. On the other hand, Newt's death in the movie was neither as powerful nor as sad and painful as it was in the book. Not even close. What I loved about the book version was that Newt's insanity was obvious, real, and very believable. In the book, he was completely paranoid with a few moments of sanity here and there, but in the movie, he was mostly sane with a few moments of slight madness. In the movie he wasn't completely lost and his death felt more like it had a physical cause, while in the book it's all about his mental decay and about how in this madness he had the sense to choose to die before he gets worse. The realization of his own situation and the despair he had and him begging his friend to free him from the pain; it's all so traumatic. Thomas' pain and remorse after he did it and how it all happened it was all so tragic. His final words to Thomas were heart-wrenching and strong! In the movie, it felt like they didn't give it as much attention as they should and as it deserved. It felt a bit strange and not nearly as sad and painful and it was really annoying because it felt like if they had rushed a little maybe he could have been saved!

I was really expecting Thomas' confession to Minho about Newt's death and I was a bit disappointed that it never happened and that Thomas decided to keep it a secret because I'd love to see them talk about it with all that this includes: they would get angry, they would fight, they would cry and in the end, they would probably forgive each other and understand.

Gally's comeback was also a strong and unexpected moment and I really liked that he came back and played his role on the outcome of the story. I felt sorry for what happened to him but also happy that he survived and changed and wanted to help. It was so nice that they made peace with Thomas.

The final battle and the escape was satisfying and left me feeling very well. The scene was action-packed and suspenseful. I really loved how Thomas finally killed the "rat-man", it was so satisfying! I really hated the guy and loved it when it happened. The ending overall leaves a bittersweet feeling as you see that they couldn't make a cure and save everyone, but at least they saved all the immunes and humankind still has a chance. The solution came from within WICKED which had been the cause for most of their problems and this was both ironic and meaningful and I loved it. The ending was bittersweet and contradictory and the outcome was better than I expected. It's not a typical happy ending but I liked it very much. Once more, I preferred the book version of the ending. The movie version didn't make as much sense to me, but still, it was done very well, it felt interesting enough and it was entertaining. It was beautifully shot and nicely directed but story-wise the book made much more sense.

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

I'm not sure how to rate this book since I struggled for about the first half of the book, but I loved the second half and especially the ending. I definitely liked it in the end and the overall feeling was positive and kind of unexpected. The first half feels like 2* and the second half feels like 4*, so I'll have to rate it somewhere in the middle. I'm going to rate it 3,5* because overall I really enjoyed it and the general feeling was positive and in the end, this is the most important for me. I'm going to get on with the prequels since I really enjoyed the trilogy so far. I hope the other two books will be as good!

"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!