lory_enterenchanted's reviews
537 reviews

I do love lettering, so I enjoyed geeking out on the graphic design elements. The math whiz love interest was also geeky and cute, if somewhat too good to be true. I could have done without the graphic sex scenes. Otherwise it was rather adorable and instantly forgettable.

It's a decent enough fairy tale but not really an Oz book! 

I enjoy this Wimsey mystery because of the setting and the snarky commentary about advertising. 

This has gotten much acclaim, but I thought it was just okay. I liked Tova a lot as a character, but there was so much that was unbelievable, and I don't just mean the octopus who could read English and count past 1000. The "mystery" was also implausible.

Well done historical fiction with a thread of myth. Alenka and Jack were wonderful characters, but the Teddy character was not convincing to me. Too much about him was just designed to provide an impediment to the meant-for-each-other couple, and it was irritating how Alenka allowed him to act like he owned her. The interpretation of the "minotaur" was interesting, although I was also not convinced that he wouldn't have been killed long ago as an informer.

I learned a lot about how awful the war was for the Cretans. I am surprised they could ever again allow Germans on their shores. Truly monstrous.

France revealed a wild and dangerous side, in the days when it was mapless and only partially civilized, that I had never encountered before! Really interesting explorations.

The first half was rather exceptional, well written and insightful in exploring the emotional trajectory of a girl displaced and in mourning after WWII. This included tensions with her older sister and the difficulty of moving in with an aunt in an abusive marriage. The second half -- in which the "secret" comes to light -- I found less compelling. As soon as the story just became about killing off scary external monsters it lost its appeal for me.

The later Moomin books have much more mature themes and command of language and imagery as well. This is an odd little fable in which Moominpappa pulls everyone along in his dream of living on an island and taking care of all of them (without regard for whether they actually want this). There are challenges, there is growth. There are mysterious transformations and a bit of magic. I especially love what happened with the Groke, and with Moominmamma's garden. 

 This was better than The Sea Fairies in terms of having a plot, but the unpleasant people of both sides of Sky Island were not much fun to be with. 

I found this first Moomin novel to be a somewhat weird combination of whimsy and horror ...  Helpful to read for the origins of some characters and relationships, but I think Jansson settled more into her stride with later books.