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Sensitivemuse (246 KP) rated A Hero Born in Books

Sep 25, 2019

A Hero Born

Jin Yong | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry

5.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Great plot but translation isn't so good

Despite what you read on the covers (e.g. “It’s like Lord of the Rings”) ignore all of that. It’s nothing like it. There is no epic adventure to fight evil (at least not yet - this is the first book in the series). So before you get all disappointed in what the outside quotes say, completely disregard them.

Translation will always be an issue with these kinds of books. It’s hard to keep it true and coherent. Sometimes you get a good one that is completely comprehensible and makes the reading a journey well worth it. Then you get one like A Hero Born and it’s not the greatest translation. The writing style is dry and hard to get into. Sometimes it gets too descriptive, but other times it’s not descriptive enough. It can be a little long winded at times and it drags - I’m not too sure if that’s because of the run on writing style or the plot itself. Either way by the last third of the book it was getting to be tiresome.

Speaking of the plot, it was good! There’s plenty of action, a bit of intrigue here and there. If you don’t mind something akin to Chinese historical fiction movies with classic martial arts fighting then perhaps this is for you. There are small elements of political intrigue which keeps the story interesting, however keep in mind there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but luckily there is a cast of characters in the beginning of the novel so that should not be a problem. This isn’t a book to put down and turn back to later, this needs to be consistently read you will easily lose your place.

There’s also several plot arcs that happen throughout the novel so it’s best to keep track of them carefully. They are all intertwined at some point. It’s a great plot and if it wasn’t for the horrible writing/translation.

I don’t know if I could recommend this one to anyone. I would under normal circumstances but the writing just do the plot justice. It’s too bad, it would have been such a great series.

Kudos

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated When Polly Met Olly in Books

Sep 3, 2019

When Polly Met Olly

Zoe May | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry

6.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

I've seen this book on Goodreads quite often with friends rating and reviewing it so when I saw it on Netgalley as a "Read Now" and with me looking for good chick-lit writers that I'm going to buy again and again, I thought I'd give this a try.

So we meet Polly--a British ex-pat--who is being interviewed for a job at a successful dating agency. It turns out that Polly isn't so good at the dating thing in real life though, as shown in these quotes:

"Didn't you send him a peach and aubergine emoji with a question mark and a winky face when you were drunk?"
"What about that guy you called Mike for four dates then it turned out his name was Matt."

She gets the job and, quite quickly, she's asked to check out a rival firm who is stealing some of their clients. So Polly goes to the other firm as a possible client and meets Olly, the owner. They seem to have an instant connection, a spark, but Olly turns a little cold and clinical towards the end of her interview. They meet by accident a few more times as Polly explores the area surrounding her new office. We don't see him all that often in the book until near the end, to be honest. She's too busy trying to find the perfect partner and setting up dates for her clients.

As the books name suggests, they do end up together but not before hitting a few bumps along the way. It's on a really slow burn and does come a little out of left field when they finally admit they have feelings for each other but after that, the happiness they feel when they're together was really cute.

I loved the camaraderie between Polly and her friend Gabe, he teases her terribly at times but I had to smile. And her friendship with her boss, too, was pretty cool. They made quite a good team at the whole dating agency thing.

I think this was quite enjoyable and will look out for further releases to see if they're as cute as this one was.

Kudos

Becs (244 KP) rated 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four in Books

Oct 2, 2019

1984 by George Orwell, one of my favorite literary classic novels to this date! This was a monster to get through but once I finished, I was able to take the novel as a whole and learn from it. And man, what a loaded punch it throws at you. George Orwell is a favorite of mine and his writing style is just exactly what I expect from an author from his era.

1984 is about a government that controls everything a citizen of Oceania does, says, etc. If you rebel, you get kidnapped, tortured and then broken down to the point where they are able to rebuild you into the ideal citizen. That’s pretty much exactly what happens in this 328-page novel. But trust me when I say, this is worth a read through!

Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Literary Classic

Reading Level: High School +

Interests: Dystopian worlds, politics, science fiction, totalitarian systems.

Difficulty Reading: Like putting butter on a soft piece of bread. Not kidding, 1984 was difficult to read but the meaning behind it is what counts.

Promise: Dystopian, Sci-Fi world with a totalitarian system that runs your life until you are no longer a rebellious individual and instead under their complete control. A bit like being a slave.

Favorite Quotes: “Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.”

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”

What Will You Gain: Knowledge on what the world could turn into when the government decides to rule over all a certain way. Where everything you do is controlled and if you do anything differently or that goes against what the government says, you end up dead.

Aesthetics: The entirety of the novel. The cover. How Orwell pretty much has the real world mixed in with a fantasy world. I mean, you just have to read it to know.

“The best books… are those that tell you what you know already.”