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nhborg's reviews
378 reviews
Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
4.0
A haunting and beautiful novel that’s very well executed, especially for a debut. There’s a creeping horror on the surface veiling meditative depths of love, change and grief, in which the novel’s structure expertly reflects the parallel descent into the sea and into destruction.
What I like about this story is that you can choose your preferred level of metaphorical interpretation, whether you’ll emphasize the horror (the deep sea and the metamorphosis), the psychology (isolation and trust issues), the human relationships (growing distant, loss of a loved one), or something else entirely. What exactly is being destroyed? The body, the psyche, the bond? Writing this, I feel sure that these are only examples and that several other analytical paths can be taken through this story, and it would sure be interesting to deep dive (pun intended) into them!
I also found the exploration of grief in the lack of finality to be interesting and eye-opening. It made me think of how hope is usually seen as a human’s source of remarkable endurance and strength, but this showed how it could also be a weakness by disrupting a necessary grieving process, hence preventing closure. A double-edged sword.
As a short mention, Miri was an intriguing character even independently of the story. Sexual anxiety and hypochondriasis is something I haven’t seen in a lot of in other fiction I’ve read.
All in all, very good book that I’d love to read again sometime.
What I like about this story is that you can choose your preferred level of metaphorical interpretation, whether you’ll emphasize the horror (the deep sea and the metamorphosis), the psychology (isolation and trust issues), the human relationships (growing distant, loss of a loved one), or something else entirely. What exactly is being destroyed? The body, the psyche, the bond? Writing this, I feel sure that these are only examples and that several other analytical paths can be taken through this story, and it would sure be interesting to deep dive (pun intended) into them!
I also found the exploration of grief in the lack of finality to be interesting and eye-opening. It made me think of how hope is usually seen as a human’s source of remarkable endurance and strength, but this showed how it could also be a weakness by disrupting a necessary grieving process, hence preventing closure. A double-edged sword.
As a short mention, Miri was an intriguing character even independently of the story. Sexual anxiety and hypochondriasis is something I haven’t seen in a lot of in other fiction I’ve read.
All in all, very good book that I’d love to read again sometime.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
4.0
«Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.»
The truths of life can be excrutiatingly painful and unfair, and it is a human’s heavy task to endure and overcome. In the face of this, I hope everyone - young and old - can read «A monster calls» and receive the relief and forgiveness it offers❤️
The truths of life can be excrutiatingly painful and unfair, and it is a human’s heavy task to endure and overcome. In the face of this, I hope everyone - young and old - can read «A monster calls» and receive the relief and forgiveness it offers❤️
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
DNF at 33%
A cozy naturalistic fantasy set in Norway with a female professor MC. Sounds perfect, yet it gave me nothing. I just couldn’t connect to the story or characters at all:/ Figured it was better to stop here than finish it with a 2 star rating.
A cozy naturalistic fantasy set in Norway with a female professor MC. Sounds perfect, yet it gave me nothing. I just couldn’t connect to the story or characters at all:/ Figured it was better to stop here than finish it with a 2 star rating.
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
5.0
4.5
«This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they raise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great.»
I did it!!! I’m proud and happy to have succeeded over my reluctance to read this; I tried when I was about 14 and lost the will about 150 pages in (deep in the old forest and with the appearance of Tom Bombadil). This time around I could surely feel some of the slow parts, but I had such a fun time from start to finish. Andy Serkis has been my Samwise Gangee throughout this reading experience, i.e. an ever-loyal support that made the journey more enjoyable and achievable. Over the 5 days of reading you would find me with the headphones on my head and book in my hands as often as I could.
My reading was greatly colored by my familiarity with the movies, which at this point was inevitable. Although it was very interesting and cool to compare the two to look for differences in details and emphasis, I still wonder what it would be like to read this series without knowing anything about the world! Well, there’s no question why this work was revolutionary to the fantasy genre. The world-building, descriptions, characters and plotline are simply brilliant and mightily impressive.
As we all do, I have certain preferences in what I enjoy to read. As a reader, I’ve noticed that I love dialogue and inner reflections most of all, and that descriptive passages and world-building is less my jam. Resultingly, I’m not the perfect audience for Tolkien’s in-depth history and genealogy of his world, as I choose to skim through lore-heavy passages and focus on the aspects that I enjoy. It feels like a shame, but I have to take what I can from the book, and I certainly see the value this level of detail holds for readers who appreciate a well-crafted world! I’ve removed 0.5 star from my rating to express the lack of a «perfect match» between me and the book, so to speak.
So, how did the book compare to the movie? Obviously there’s a lot more depth in the written form. I can totally see why a lot of it had to be cut out from the movie to keep it at a reasonable length, and all in all they did an incredible job! However, what I realize is that part of what had to be simplified for the movie was the characters; to give them more impact on the screen with limited time for build-up, most of them are rather charicatured. I can see why, but I also loved seeing them come more to life in the book! I grew so fond of Merry and Pippin when they weren’t only jokesters, and I also had a lot more respect for book-Frodo (he’s actually kind of independent and cool, would you look at that). I also feel like Elrond and Boromir were a lot more exciting to read about, and I loved that Bilbo played a more active role later on.
There’s a lot I want to talk about, but I’ll try to wrap up this review now! I’m honestly so excited to get going with «Two Towers», hopefully after only a brief intermission. Until then!
«This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they raise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great.»
I did it!!! I’m proud and happy to have succeeded over my reluctance to read this; I tried when I was about 14 and lost the will about 150 pages in (deep in the old forest and with the appearance of Tom Bombadil). This time around I could surely feel some of the slow parts, but I had such a fun time from start to finish. Andy Serkis has been my Samwise Gangee throughout this reading experience, i.e. an ever-loyal support that made the journey more enjoyable and achievable. Over the 5 days of reading you would find me with the headphones on my head and book in my hands as often as I could.
My reading was greatly colored by my familiarity with the movies, which at this point was inevitable. Although it was very interesting and cool to compare the two to look for differences in details and emphasis, I still wonder what it would be like to read this series without knowing anything about the world! Well, there’s no question why this work was revolutionary to the fantasy genre. The world-building, descriptions, characters and plotline are simply brilliant and mightily impressive.
As we all do, I have certain preferences in what I enjoy to read. As a reader, I’ve noticed that I love dialogue and inner reflections most of all, and that descriptive passages and world-building is less my jam. Resultingly, I’m not the perfect audience for Tolkien’s in-depth history and genealogy of his world, as I choose to skim through lore-heavy passages and focus on the aspects that I enjoy. It feels like a shame, but I have to take what I can from the book, and I certainly see the value this level of detail holds for readers who appreciate a well-crafted world! I’ve removed 0.5 star from my rating to express the lack of a «perfect match» between me and the book, so to speak.
So, how did the book compare to the movie? Obviously there’s a lot more depth in the written form. I can totally see why a lot of it had to be cut out from the movie to keep it at a reasonable length, and all in all they did an incredible job! However, what I realize is that part of what had to be simplified for the movie was the characters; to give them more impact on the screen with limited time for build-up, most of them are rather charicatured. I can see why, but I also loved seeing them come more to life in the book! I grew so fond of Merry and Pippin when they weren’t only jokesters, and I also had a lot more respect for book-Frodo (he’s actually kind of independent and cool, would you look at that). I also feel like Elrond and Boromir were a lot more exciting to read about, and I loved that Bilbo played a more active role later on.
There’s a lot I want to talk about, but I’ll try to wrap up this review now! I’m honestly so excited to get going with «Two Towers», hopefully after only a brief intermission. Until then!
Autumn by Ali Smith
4.0
3.75
This is my first meeting with Smith, and I had a good time reading this opening of her Seasonal quartet. It was a rather experimental and complex novel with many different flavours, so here’s a terribly rambly review with my attempt at grappling its essence.
I found Smith’s writing style interesting, but in the beginning, it came across as somewhat pretentious and unsubtle. I remember thinking that the drifting between clarity and vagueness felt off-balance, and that certain wordplays and rhymes were superfluous and disruptive of the flow. However, I saw more and more individuality as the text continued. Although her style isn’t my all-time favorite, I definitely started hearing her voice.
The overall vibe I got from the book was a kafkaesque "Sophie’s World" at the border between a chilled reality and theatrical dreams (if that makes ANY sense at all…). At first I thought each chapter would be a separate story/moment since the first and second chapter were so different in tone, but I quickly found out that there was a common story at the foundation. Still, book was sort of like a chain of various moments from different viewpoints and historical time points. This structure was a bit confusing, but it felt like each moment contributed to a build-up of passion and uncertainty, mirroring a rich autumnal gradient heading into a winter of acknowledgement and stillness - «Daniel, as still as death in the bed. But still. He’s still here.» The end note was the hopeful belief that something persists even when everything seems to decay.
The inevitability of change is a core theme in the novel and works on various thematic levels. One message I interpreted is that although change is scary and ambiguous, it also carries hope, as not only loss is brought by seasonal change but also new opportunities. In correlation, there’s an undeniable element of time - passing, running out, separating, uniting - in the story. Again, this can be seen at both the individual level (e.g. friendship established between Elisabeth and Daniel across their generations) and at the societal level (e.g. old notions and fears getting renewed as a reaction to political shifts). This also ties into the autumnal/seasonal symbolism, and I wonder if the other installations in the Seasonal Quartet will hold a similar quality or if it’s mostly tied to autumn, being the most visible representation of change and time passed.
Ali Smith doesn’t shy away from getting political, and here dabbles into Brexit, immigration politicies, societal division, art as a medium of the social debate, feminism etc. Although many of the specific references went over my head, it was interesting to see the reflections between the individual characters and the society tied up to the novel’s central themes (as just discussed). I’ll probably give it a reread in the future to see if I can understand even more of it.
One of the things I liked the most about the book was the discussion about storytelling and the retention of imaginative, lawless thinking. Growing up, we are taught to think by the book and remember things as facts. However, this view is challenged in the book, pointing towards how made-up details of stories shouldn't automatically be considered "wrong" just because it doesn't correspond to the version you've learned previously. Rather, it can become a new story with equal value to the old one, as long as it is allowed to exist rather than neglected. Again, change doesn’t have to be a bad thing, and open-mindedness to variation and new influences is both healthy for the soul and likely to be beneficial in the long run. (In biological terms, why settle at the local peak in the fitness landscape if by exploration you’ll have the chance to find a much higher global peak?). I’m not a fan of the mindset that just because a solution has worked adequately for a long time we should continue in the same manner rather than experiment to try to improve it. In today’s world, we have to brace ourselves for the fact that there are many practices that inevitably have to change.
As forewarned, this became incredibly rambly, so let’s settle at a lighter note. Since I read this in late October (a month which has flown by as always), it’s only appropriate that I close off with this beautiful and pinpoint description of this time of the year:
«October’s a blink of the eye. The apples weighing down a tree a minute ago are gone and the tree’s leaves are yellow and thinning. A frost has snapped millions of trees all across the country into brightness. The ones that aren’t evergreen are a combination of beautiful and tawdry, red orange gold the leaves, then brown, and down.
The days are unexpectedly mild. It doesn’t feel that far from summer, not really, if it weren’t for the underbite of the day, the lacy creep of the dark and the damp at its edges, the plants calm in the folding themselves, the beads of the condensation of the webstrings hung between things.
On the warm days it feels wrong, so many leaves falling. But the nights are cool to cold.»
This is my first meeting with Smith, and I had a good time reading this opening of her Seasonal quartet. It was a rather experimental and complex novel with many different flavours, so here’s a terribly rambly review with my attempt at grappling its essence.
I found Smith’s writing style interesting, but in the beginning, it came across as somewhat pretentious and unsubtle. I remember thinking that the drifting between clarity and vagueness felt off-balance, and that certain wordplays and rhymes were superfluous and disruptive of the flow. However, I saw more and more individuality as the text continued. Although her style isn’t my all-time favorite, I definitely started hearing her voice.
The overall vibe I got from the book was a kafkaesque "Sophie’s World" at the border between a chilled reality and theatrical dreams (if that makes ANY sense at all…). At first I thought each chapter would be a separate story/moment since the first and second chapter were so different in tone, but I quickly found out that there was a common story at the foundation. Still, book was sort of like a chain of various moments from different viewpoints and historical time points. This structure was a bit confusing, but it felt like each moment contributed to a build-up of passion and uncertainty, mirroring a rich autumnal gradient heading into a winter of acknowledgement and stillness - «Daniel, as still as death in the bed. But still. He’s still here.» The end note was the hopeful belief that something persists even when everything seems to decay.
The inevitability of change is a core theme in the novel and works on various thematic levels. One message I interpreted is that although change is scary and ambiguous, it also carries hope, as not only loss is brought by seasonal change but also new opportunities. In correlation, there’s an undeniable element of time - passing, running out, separating, uniting - in the story. Again, this can be seen at both the individual level (e.g. friendship established between Elisabeth and Daniel across their generations) and at the societal level (e.g. old notions and fears getting renewed as a reaction to political shifts). This also ties into the autumnal/seasonal symbolism, and I wonder if the other installations in the Seasonal Quartet will hold a similar quality or if it’s mostly tied to autumn, being the most visible representation of change and time passed.
Ali Smith doesn’t shy away from getting political, and here dabbles into Brexit, immigration politicies, societal division, art as a medium of the social debate, feminism etc. Although many of the specific references went over my head, it was interesting to see the reflections between the individual characters and the society tied up to the novel’s central themes (as just discussed). I’ll probably give it a reread in the future to see if I can understand even more of it.
One of the things I liked the most about the book was the discussion about storytelling and the retention of imaginative, lawless thinking. Growing up, we are taught to think by the book and remember things as facts. However, this view is challenged in the book, pointing towards how made-up details of stories shouldn't automatically be considered "wrong" just because it doesn't correspond to the version you've learned previously. Rather, it can become a new story with equal value to the old one, as long as it is allowed to exist rather than neglected. Again, change doesn’t have to be a bad thing, and open-mindedness to variation and new influences is both healthy for the soul and likely to be beneficial in the long run. (In biological terms, why settle at the local peak in the fitness landscape if by exploration you’ll have the chance to find a much higher global peak?). I’m not a fan of the mindset that just because a solution has worked adequately for a long time we should continue in the same manner rather than experiment to try to improve it. In today’s world, we have to brace ourselves for the fact that there are many practices that inevitably have to change.
As forewarned, this became incredibly rambly, so let’s settle at a lighter note. Since I read this in late October (a month which has flown by as always), it’s only appropriate that I close off with this beautiful and pinpoint description of this time of the year:
«October’s a blink of the eye. The apples weighing down a tree a minute ago are gone and the tree’s leaves are yellow and thinning. A frost has snapped millions of trees all across the country into brightness. The ones that aren’t evergreen are a combination of beautiful and tawdry, red orange gold the leaves, then brown, and down.
The days are unexpectedly mild. It doesn’t feel that far from summer, not really, if it weren’t for the underbite of the day, the lacy creep of the dark and the damp at its edges, the plants calm in the folding themselves, the beads of the condensation of the webstrings hung between things.
On the warm days it feels wrong, so many leaves falling. But the nights are cool to cold.»
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
3.0
3.5
Yeah, I’m feeling pretty tripped out now.
I first heard of «Recursion» by Blake Crouch as a good book to read if you like the movie «Inception» by Christopher Nolan (one of my all time favorites). However, I’d had «Dark Matter» on my TBR for a long time and wanted to get that one first.
I’ll start by saying that although this story is described as surprising, I kept thinking that it is exactly what you would write when the topic is alternate realities. Blake Crouch did a good job, but yeah, I guess the enforced scientific phenomena just felt kind of basic/predictable, limiting my edge-of-the-seat excitement. That is, until the second half of the book which I finished in one sitting; here I definitely felt the goosebumps prickling. There were several themes which were interestingly discussed and contributed to the thrilling build-up/breakdown:
- Regret & the all-too-common «what if?» mindset
- The essence of individual identity
- Derailing sanity
- Paradoxical mindgames
This was a catchy thriller that will take you on a trip and will leave you questioning your existence:)
Yeah, I’m feeling pretty tripped out now.
I first heard of «Recursion» by Blake Crouch as a good book to read if you like the movie «Inception» by Christopher Nolan (one of my all time favorites). However, I’d had «Dark Matter» on my TBR for a long time and wanted to get that one first.
I’ll start by saying that although this story is described as surprising, I kept thinking that it is exactly what you would write when the topic is alternate realities. Blake Crouch did a good job, but yeah, I guess the enforced scientific phenomena just felt kind of basic/predictable, limiting my edge-of-the-seat excitement. That is, until the second half of the book which I finished in one sitting; here I definitely felt the goosebumps prickling. There were several themes which were interestingly discussed and contributed to the thrilling build-up/breakdown:
- Regret & the all-too-common «what if?» mindset
- The essence of individual identity
- Derailing sanity
- Paradoxical mindgames
This was a catchy thriller that will take you on a trip and will leave you questioning your existence:)
The Promised Neverland, Vol. 18 by Posuka Demizu, Kaiu Shirai
4.0
«At times determination is a cry for help»
The pacing has been uneven in the second arc, especially this quarter. I’m interested to see how it all will be wrapped up in the final two volumes.
The pacing has been uneven in the second arc, especially this quarter. I’m interested to see how it all will be wrapped up in the final two volumes.
Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius
3.0
3.5
This was a good book in many ways, but I had a hard time enjoying it. Here’s me trying to explain my conflicting feelings.
Note: I hate being left with the feeling that a book objectively deserves praise when I know that I fought my way through every chapter, but here we are:’)
I read this as part of my book club’s prompt «Indigenous peoples» and was intrigued about getting further insight into Sámi culture and societal status. Sadly, as expected from the synopsis, it was quite a depressing outlook. I’m glad that the book exists and has gotten national and global recognition (even as a Netflix movie adaptation) so that more people can learn about it.
In addition to the indigenous aspect, I’d also say that the book explores other social dynamics, such as those of families, Scandinavian countries in general. It was interesting to hear my Swedish boyfriend tell about how accurately Ann-Helén Laestadius depicted the oppressive social norms in Swedish society of avoiding conflict and not acknowledging or discussing what’s difficult, not even with your closest ones - the pressure of having to pretend like everything is perfectly fine. The combination of that with the systematic offence towards and neglect of Sámi people, even among the Sámi society depending on «how real» of a Sámi you were, made the story saturated with strenuous social relations.
Based on the description, I expected a thriller; instead of a page-turning suspense novel, I got a story of which darkness is rooted in reality. In my personal experience, this made it into a rather heavy and depressing read. I’m glad that people (incl. myself) can read this story and be able to somewhat place themselves in this difficult situation, but unfortunately, there was something missing for me to fully indulge in it. Therefore I’m left with an overall feeling of «This is an important and quite good book», but not any passionate emotions to go along with it.
During our book club discussion, one of the questions was «Did you find any of the characters frustrating?», and my immediate thought was «yes, everyone». But that kind of felt like the point. I believed in the characters Laestadius wrote and could easily imagine them as portraying real people, and most of the times they came off as convincing human reflections even in their occasional 1-dimensionality. Yet, there was something distancing me from their story. Maybe it was the writing style that wasn’t working? I suspect some of the magic was lost in the English translation; I experienced the language as cold and monotone, and I wish I could’ve read the whole thing in Swedish.
Another reason is probably the pacing/plot development. We start in the middle of action, with the murder of Elsa’s reindeer. We see the initial reactions and tension arising from it, then it levels out and there’s an attempted reversion to «normal» life. Then a long time passes until the next real plot point. This .——.——. structure is pretty much maintained throughout the book, making it feel dragged out - and honestly boring - to read. I understand that the point is to make it realistic; it’s not about dramatic things happening every day, but about the way it affects the day-to-day periods in between. I feel like a lot of the book is read between the lines in the shape of character nuance and societal dynamics. But again, there was a disconnection between my awareness of this and the way I wasn’t enjoying myself when reading.
I’ve put this in too many words already without reaching a clear point, so I’ll just stop here:P Anyway, I might check out the next books in the trilogy as they sound intriguing. This time in Swedish!
This was a good book in many ways, but I had a hard time enjoying it. Here’s me trying to explain my conflicting feelings.
Note: I hate being left with the feeling that a book objectively deserves praise when I know that I fought my way through every chapter, but here we are:’)
I read this as part of my book club’s prompt «Indigenous peoples» and was intrigued about getting further insight into Sámi culture and societal status. Sadly, as expected from the synopsis, it was quite a depressing outlook. I’m glad that the book exists and has gotten national and global recognition (even as a Netflix movie adaptation) so that more people can learn about it.
In addition to the indigenous aspect, I’d also say that the book explores other social dynamics, such as those of families, Scandinavian countries in general. It was interesting to hear my Swedish boyfriend tell about how accurately Ann-Helén Laestadius depicted the oppressive social norms in Swedish society of avoiding conflict and not acknowledging or discussing what’s difficult, not even with your closest ones - the pressure of having to pretend like everything is perfectly fine. The combination of that with the systematic offence towards and neglect of Sámi people, even among the Sámi society depending on «how real» of a Sámi you were, made the story saturated with strenuous social relations.
Based on the description, I expected a thriller; instead of a page-turning suspense novel, I got a story of which darkness is rooted in reality. In my personal experience, this made it into a rather heavy and depressing read. I’m glad that people (incl. myself) can read this story and be able to somewhat place themselves in this difficult situation, but unfortunately, there was something missing for me to fully indulge in it. Therefore I’m left with an overall feeling of «This is an important and quite good book», but not any passionate emotions to go along with it.
During our book club discussion, one of the questions was «Did you find any of the characters frustrating?», and my immediate thought was «yes, everyone». But that kind of felt like the point. I believed in the characters Laestadius wrote and could easily imagine them as portraying real people, and most of the times they came off as convincing human reflections even in their occasional 1-dimensionality. Yet, there was something distancing me from their story. Maybe it was the writing style that wasn’t working? I suspect some of the magic was lost in the English translation; I experienced the language as cold and monotone, and I wish I could’ve read the whole thing in Swedish.
Another reason is probably the pacing/plot development. We start in the middle of action, with the murder of Elsa’s reindeer. We see the initial reactions and tension arising from it, then it levels out and there’s an attempted reversion to «normal» life. Then a long time passes until the next real plot point. This .——.——. structure is pretty much maintained throughout the book, making it feel dragged out - and honestly boring - to read. I understand that the point is to make it realistic; it’s not about dramatic things happening every day, but about the way it affects the day-to-day periods in between. I feel like a lot of the book is read between the lines in the shape of character nuance and societal dynamics. But again, there was a disconnection between my awareness of this and the way I wasn’t enjoying myself when reading.
I’ve put this in too many words already without reaching a clear point, so I’ll just stop here:P Anyway, I might check out the next books in the trilogy as they sound intriguing. This time in Swedish!
約束のネバーランド 20 [Yakusoku no Neverland 20] by Posuka Demizu, Kaiu Shirai
4.0
It’s been nearly 2 years since I picked up the first volume, and I’ve now reached the end!
I loved the beginning of this series. It was the perfect balance between dark, brainy and exciting, and I had such a fun time with all the twists and turns. I grew fond of the characters and put all my effort into rooting for them. Although the first few volumes are my overall favorites, I had a really good time throughout the entire first half.
As the story progressed towards the endgame, I could notice my excitement levels never reaching the same heights as before. Personally, I saw some crazy Attack on Titan parellels that were impossible to ignore, which unfortunately made The Promised Neverland feel less epic and well-rounded in comparison. Nevertheless, I’m happy to have read it!
I loved the beginning of this series. It was the perfect balance between dark, brainy and exciting, and I had such a fun time with all the twists and turns. I grew fond of the characters and put all my effort into rooting for them. Although the first few volumes are my overall favorites, I had a really good time throughout the entire first half.
As the story progressed towards the endgame, I could notice my excitement levels never reaching the same heights as before. Personally, I saw some crazy Attack on Titan parellels that were impossible to ignore, which unfortunately made The Promised Neverland feel less epic and well-rounded in comparison. Nevertheless, I’m happy to have read it!