The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

“It is the blight man was born for.
We are not idealized wild things.
We are imperfect mortal beings, aware of that mortality even as we push it away, failed by our very complication, so wired that when we mourn our losses we also mourn, for better or worse, ourselves. As we were. As we are no longer. As we will one day not be at all”. 

Joan Didion is a Writer . It is evident in every paragraph, every sentence. The way she can describe a situation, a thought, a feeling.

In ‘The Year of Magical Thinking’, Didion relives a trying period in her life: the sudden death of her husband, the hospitalization & eventual death of her daughter. The insanity of grief and the hard road towards acceptance:

“I had been trying to reverse time, run the film backward.
It was now eight months later..and I still was.
The difference was that all through those eight months I had been trying to substitute an alternate reel. Now I was trying only to reconstruct the collision, the collapse of the dead star.” 

I enjoyed reading this – it’s naturally compelling.

But sometimes it read like a research paper and there were times were it felt repetitive, hence my 3 stars.

 

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

My rating: 4.5/5 stars

“We are all children of blood and bone.
All instruments of vengeance and virtue.” 

I am fully invested in this story. I need the movie and the sequel, right now!!! I need more African fantasy. I need more of Zelie and Amari.

In a land where magic has been banned, all descendants of magic (maji) are either enslaved or targeted at the commands of the king. When Zelie (a maji) goes into the city to sell some fish it suddenly turns into a mission to restore magic to the land of Orisha; and so begins our epic story.

This is a story about bravery and fighting for what you believe in. It is a story about oppression, suffering and sacrifice. A story about unwavering hope, strength and determination.

I truly appreciated the pace of this book. It was absolutely perfect. The storyline was captivating from beginning to end, and I cannot wait to find out what happens next.

 

Red Hood and the Outlaws, Vol 1; Dark Trinity by Scott Lobdell

My rating: 5/5 stars

“The world might have just enough heroes Jason. Maybe we can do with a few outlaws.” – Batman

– Bat Dad
– Jason Todd is bad ass
– Great storyline
– Red Hood & Artemis have such a great working chemistry and their sarcastic comments literally had me smiling so hard.
– Also, Artemis is such a god (i mean that as a compliment but she’s also quite literally a god so)

 

Little Big Man by Katy Regan

My rating: 4/5 stars

“There are loads of different kinds of love, you can’t even believe how many. I thought love was just one feeling but it’s not.” 

More than half of this book is narrated from the point of view of a 10 year old boy and he is a freaking precious gem of a character. Adorable, selfless, kind, unintentionally and intentionally funny:

“Teagan screwed her face up. Her nose looks even smaller when she does that, and she’s already got the smallest nose you’ve ever seen. It’s no wonder she finds it hard to breathe sometimes.” (He’s referring to her asthma lol).

Zac has been told all his life that his dad left before he was even born. Everyone (his mom, grandad and grandma) have failed to give him a good reason as to why he actually left. With his 11th birthday approaching, Zac is determined to find his dad – he’s convinced that if his dad could only see him, he would want to get to know him.

With the help of his best friend Teagan, the Find Dad Mission is born. The determination of these two friends will have you cracking up, fighting back tears and wondering how a couple of 10 year olds could be so brave, hilarious and inspiring.