Katie

• Rated 5 stars

“Warning: This review may contain spoilers.

The deaths of certain characters in Harry Potter brought tears to my eyes. Moments in 'A Little Princess' made me well up and a number of other books have caused me to feel like crying. However, no other book has made me feel the way that this book did. I don't think I'll ever forget this book for that reason.

I must have burst into tears on three or four occasions. I honestly did not think I was that attached to the book or the characters up until I just couldn't hold back the tears any longer. This was when I realised that I loved the characters, Gus and Hazel, and because they were hurting - I was hurting. My throat hurt, my eyes were so blurry from tears that I couldn't read and tears were streaming down my face. At one point, I had to close the book and I swear I muttered 'it's too much' as I just put my face in my pillow and had a cry. It may seem a little pathetic but read this book, then you'll know.

I don't think this book will be my favourite book as I still had perhaps a couple of reservations which I noticed after finishing. The second half of the book is so emotionally charged that I couldn't put it down and I just read late into the night because I felt that I absolutely had to finish. This was perfect. I simply cannot fault this. The one thing that bothered me was Hazel's desperation to find out what happened to the characters in her book after it was finished. Yes, Van Houten was a top notch douche but I feel like the point of cliffhangers or unfinished stories to certain characters meant that the reader was able to decide what happened to them. Sometimes an open ending enables the reader to continue to think about the characters even after they've turned that last page. I don't know, that's just me. Maybe Hazel needed that closure. It just irked me while I was reading it.

But I do applaud John Green on the best book I've read in a while and, in my opinion, the best he's ever written. It is truly a thing of beauty that words on a page can be so powerful as to make someone feel such strong emotions just by reading them.

Those who don't read are seriously missing out.”

Katie wrote this review Sunday, February 3, 2013. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“A book that probably features on all 'must read' book lists, I've been meaning to read this for a while. It follows 17 year old Holden Caulfield over a few days after he has 'flunked' school.

It cannot be denied that Holden is an annoying character; his vocabulary and self involved behaviour might put people off enjoying this book but for some reason I actually really liked reading this.

I almost didn't want to like this and I don't know why I did. I'm finding this so hard to review because I genuinely struggle to know why I liked it. I just did.

It's a good book. Read it, appreciate it.

This review was rubbish.”

Katie wrote this review Friday, June 22, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Two of my favourite things combined: Stephen Fry and the USA.
A complete pleasure to read. If I'm honest, I'm a little sad to have finished.”

Katie wrote this review Sunday, June 17, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“This was so very helpful for my English Literature A Level. I would recommend this to anyone studying the novel.”

Katie wrote this review Tuesday, June 14, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“Studied this for A Level for Gothic Literature.

I believe that this is the first 'classic' novel that I've read properly, all the way through and somewhat enjoyed.

I generally enjoyed reading Dracula and was genuinely scared in places, there's times where it really is chilling.

However, I have a couple of criticisms! Firstly, Van Helsing. His speeches in broken, confusing English are tough. I often got lost reading them and my focus definitely wandered. I understand the reasons but I just kind of wanted it to be a little easier to follow what he was saying at times.

My other criticism is how the narrative worked. I think that the parts with actually exciting action were rushed. I think that this is because of the way it's written through journals/diaries and so the characters are looking back on what has just happened to them and are reciting it, leading to lack of detail.

There are times when little happens and there is plenty of internal monologues of feelings etc. But then when they are actually hunting Dracula or something it's all very rushed and quick to finish.

In this way, the final chapter was disappointing. If it had been written from a third person narrative it could have been better. So much happened that could have been elaborated on and it was just all over so quickly. Vampire ladies, done. Battle, Dracula, finished. Far too fast.

However, I did find Quincey Morris' final moments very touching. The ending and the final page did compensate for the rushed climax.

Overall, Dracula has been one of the few novels I have studied for school and actually quite enjoyed reading. I didn't LOVE it and it won't go down as a favourite, but I wanted to read it and I concede that I liked it.”

Katie wrote this review Friday, May 27, 2011. ( reply | permalink )