Review: Wintergirls

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



This did not do it for me. The writing style is distracting, and the character portrayal of Lia does not encourage any empathy or sympathy. I simply did not care about Lia whether she lived or died. Lia knows she has a problem. Lia doesn't want to get better. Lia blames everyone else for her problem, her parents, the divorce, Cassie, etc. Lia actively lies and cheats and manipulate people for her own ends. Lia is selfish and spoilt. Lia is a cry for help because she doesn't really want to die, she just want to see if anyone notices her if she hurt herself enough. But she doesn't see that people DID notice, and people DID want to help, but she's in too deep to get herself out again. So she aggressively fights everyone else in order to STAY ill. She WANTS to be ill 98% of the book.

I feel if a book is written in a first-person POV, we shouldn't be left feeling that Lia is selfish, spoilt, manipulative and unreasonable because Lia won't see herself that way. It needs to be written in Lia's voice and Lia's reasonings, but I just don't get that feeling. I didn't get to know Lia. I didn't know how she thought. It was all very superficial. The author did not step into Lia's shoes - she simply wrote a fiction about ED as an outsider, with a pinch of judgemental lightly sprinkled through in the book, whilst pretending it's a first-person POV. It probably would've worked better if the author had written a fiction about a parent dealing with a child with an ED.

Her sister Emma, however, is very loveable, as little as we read of her.

I'm not attacking ED in general, it is a real problem, I just did not care much for the book and how it was written. Portia de Rossi's book on her battle with anorexia, Unbearable Lightness, reads much better, feels real (probably because it IS real), and I could actually sympathise with her. She made one understand the mindset of a person suffering from, and battling with an ED.



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Heart.

Early Christmas present. :)

Review: A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



The book started out really slow for me and didn't really draw me in until around 40% into the book. Up until then, I was wondering what the fuss was all about.

I really didn't want to compare this book to Twilight, but I can't help it when throughout the whole reading of the book, Twilight keeps flashing through my brain. It's better than Twilight, but that's not saying much since I didn't like Twilight.

I love how this book has explored more into the history and lore and I wish there is a bit more of that. But again, there's too much similarities to Twilight on the romance department that I had to make myself keep reading and not lose faith (or upchuck my dinner). It's a good thing that the main character Diana, whilst a bit stupid at times, is not as depressing to read about as Bella. And Matthew is very much more interesting than Edward. The characters in A Discovery of Witches is better drawn out than Twilight, the plot is better, however being better than a terrible book doesn't make it great.

What I cannot stand though is how Diana, despite all her "I can protect myself" or "I can do it myself" so-called feminism ended up as a damsel-in-distress anyway 80% of the book, who turns into a shivery mess when her vampire boyfriend/husband is not about. I feel as though I've been missold a strong character. The romance is predictable from the start and didn't get anymore interesting at the book went on.

I might be suffering from Twilight PTSD and in need to join a help group before I read another vampire novel, but regrettably I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. Two stars because I really did like the history and lore bits.

I may read the second book (as I understand this is part of a trilogy) if it's told from Matthew's perspective, because it would be interesting to see what he feels revisiting an era he has lived through before and what he will do differently compared to the younger Matthew.



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