afreen7's reviews
1201 reviews

"Where do you look for someone who's never really there?
Always on a staircase but never on a stair"

I liked this book more than I thought I would when I started reading it. Ellingham academy is a school dedicated to providing free education to, especially talented individuals. It was started by Albert Ellingham whose wife and daughter were kidnapped and supposedly killed by someone who makes riddles signed 'Truly, Devious'. Many years later Stevie, a budding crime enthusiast, is invited to join the academy. She hopes to not only receive special training in this remote and mysterious institution but to also solve the case of the Ellinghams. But with such a strange set of characters that make up the student body things are sure to go astray especially when theres another unsolved death along with another chilling riddle.

The characters all took time to grow on me. Cause the whole lot of them were introduced in such a short space of time, not to mention their relationships with each other. The plot is generally just fast enough in pace that it doesn't get boring. I liked the back and forth shifts between the older case and the current story. And the brief reports and police interviews definitely made the writing more interesting. But that ending though. That changed things for me; so much left hanging, so much to look forward to in the next book!

"The Quran’s main emphasis reflected the character and the call of the Prophet: to be kind and compassionate. The Quran declares of the Prophet (S.A.W.): ‘We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures.’ (Quran: 21:107) In an age of warfare and tribal rancour, the Quran was a call to peace."

This was probably one of the most fascinating books I've read in a while. 'House of Islam' does a great job of covering many of the pivotal topics regarding the rich history, and the political and societal issues of the Muslim people whilst bringing out the nuances. Ed Husain's writing accentuates the beauty of Islam, the Holy Quran, and the peaceful and wise teachings of the Prophet (S.A.W.) whilst also highlighting all the injustice being propagated today by those extremists who err in the name of Islam. They must definitely be shunned in order to achieve unity amongst the Muslim nations.
When it came to other subjects in the book, I may not agree 100% with everything but it still came very close to my personal opinions. As a Muslim myself, the book was very enlightening to read and I urge anyone who wants to know more about this religion and its people, besides the media perception of it, to pick it up. Not to mention Husain's writing is just brilliant to read.

“The thought was this: that all my life had been murk and depths, but I was not a part of that dark water. I was a creature within it.”

Greek myths are complicated and twisted at their best not to mention morally ambiguous.
And despite me having a vested interest in them I, unfortunately, knew very little about Circe. So it was very interesting to read about someone who was born with divinity but never grew into it, who was wholly apathetic to it, who was banished to an island for not being as ruthless and cold as her kin.

Circe is the daughter of Helios, a titan, but she possessed none of the powers, or cunning or charm like the rest of her godly family. She is shunned by her community and an outsider for most of her life. Despite that she is persistent, bold and very human in her naivety and genuinity.

I've heard of tales of Jason and Odysseus and other heroes but never from the perspective of an someone encountering them, never from someone who didn't care if songs were sung about them but performed great deeds anyway.

The writing was beautiful not too pretentious as is seen in many epic retellings but very poetic which also made the audiobook lovely to listen to.

I honestly did not expect to like this book as much I did. The storytelling in this is so deftly done that it'll keep you guessing till the very end. Minnow Bly is a brilliant narrator. She's brash and a liar and she doesn't hide the fact from the reader. In the end, I feel, just like Dr. Wilson, the reader needs to earn her trust as well. The whole book is her story of being in a cult, escaping some very very traumatic events and learning to make sense of herself and her beliefs.

There are some very heavy topics in this book that are rarely handled with the sensitivity that Stephanie Oakes does in this novel. All of the characters are so well written that in the beginning, I didn't think that they would get the justification hat they deserved. All of the events were all also crafted to allow Minnow to grow and helped keep the focus on her. And I initially thought a romantic subplot would be out of place in this kind of novel but it really wasn't. Because that subplot also lends itself to Minnow's character development outside of her partner.

This is fast-paced, gut-wrenching and raw and I am glad I picked it up because it was completely worth the read.