Book Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Book Review
“What had human beings become? Did war make us evil or just activate an evil already lurking within us?”



Title: Salt to the Sea
Author: Ruta Sepetys
First Published: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 391

Summary:
It's early 1945 and a group of people trek across East Prussia, bound together by their desperation to reach the ship that can take them away from the war-ravaged land. Four young people, each haunted by their own dark secret, narrate their unforgettable stories. Fans of The Book Thief or Helen Dunmore's The Siege will be totally absorbed.
Review:
I stood in front of my bookshelves thinking “What do I feel like reading?”. I picked up Salt to the Sea and put it back down. 2 minutes later I picked it back up and plopped on the couch and started reading not knowing how this book would change a crucial part of my thoughts on history.

Man, this was intense. Where do I start? How do I put my feelings about this piece of art into words? Let me say one thing first, no matter who you are, where you are, what you enjoy reading, you WILL cherish this book upon finishing it. I believe it’s extremely important to acknowledge what happened in the past. What people had to endure. 

What grabbed my attention the most was how unknown this disaster had been to me. I am a history teacher who graduated a year ago and who enjoys spending a great amount of time researching the past and yet, I have never heard of the wilhelm gustloff ship and what had happened to it. This is hard to understand, how could I never have heard about it? It made me realize that there’s a great possibility that what we believe about the past, may not be the entire truth. That worries me. 

What else have I not heard of but is crucial to be known?

Rating:  ★★★★★


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Book Review: Schaduw van de nieuwe maan van Lynn Van Puyenbroeck

Book Review
'Ik vervloek je, met schaduwen en nacht. Met tanden en ketenen, met dood en ijs. Schaduwen zal je zien, en een schaduw zal je worden. Dat is de prijs voor het tarten van de Hoedster!' 

Dit boek werd door de auteur aan mij verstrekt. Mijn gedachten over het boek zijn hierdoor niet beïnvloed en mijn eigen.

Titel: Schaduw van de nieuwe maan
Auteur: Lynn Van Puyenbroeck
First Published: 2016
Taal: Nederlands
Pagina's: 744

Samenvatting:
Dit is het verhaal van Bojan, de jongste zoon die in een poging om zijn stervende ouders te bewijzen dat hij de troon waardig is de amulet van de Hoedster breekt. Zo roept hij de woede van de Hoedster op, die hem een gruwelijke vloek oplegt. Elke nacht opnieuw strijdt hij tegen haar schaduwen, terwijl hij overdag een wankel politiek evenwicht moet bewaren.

Dit is het verhaal van Suniyah, een dienstmeisje dat haar ware afkomst moet verbergen om aan vervolging te ontsnappen. Wanneer ze de gruwelijke waarheid ontdekt over haar familie komt alles waarin ze geloofde op de helling te staan.

Dit is het verhaal van Ban, de schimmenjager die zijn diensten aanbiedt om Jaromir te bevrijden van de nachters. Zijn eigen demonen zijn echter veel duisterder dan degenen die het land teisteren. Hij moet ze het hoofd bieden en beslissen waar zijn trouw ligt, of iedereen die hij liefheeft is voorgoed verloren.

Dit is een verhaal van moed en liefde, van onmogelijke offers, verraad en pijn. Maar boven alles is dit een verhaal van hoop en vergeving.


Review:
Schaduw van de nieuwe maan, geschreven door Lynn Van Puyenbroeck, was één van de eerste Nederlandstalige boeken die ik in jaren heb gelezen. Ik heb vaak getracht om Nederlandstalige boeken te lezen, maar ben er nooit in geslaagd om deze ook uit te lezen. Dit boek, dat 744 pagina’s bevat, heeft me in de ban genomen en er was geen ontsnappen aan. Wat een formidabele rit was dit! Van Puyenbroeck is erin geslaagd om een magnifiek boek naar voren te brengen.

Wat me het meest bijbleef waren de personages. De groei van Suniyah haar karakter was zonder twijfel prachtig behandeld. Als lezer apprecieer ik het enorm wanneer ik merk dat over elke stap is nagedacht. Dit was ook het geval in dit boek. Ook de relaties tussen de personages koesterde ik enorm. De relatie tussen Suniyah en Edi was ongetwijfeld zeer kostbaar. Ook tussen Ban en Suniyah zag ik de relatie groeien. Wat ik in een boek altijd op prijs stel is de langzame, maar krachtige groei tussen personages. In meeste boeken is dit niet het geval en vallen de personages op eerste zicht op elkaar. Dit was, gelukkig, niet het geval in dit boek.

De setting van het boek was meesterlijk geschreven. Ik wilde steeds meer leren over deze wereld vol met verassingen. Het voelde alsof ik, samen met Suniyah, Ban en Bojan deze rijke wereld verkende. De magie was dan ook ongetwijfeld op een aangrijpende manier beschreven. Na het uitlezen van het boek, dacht ik nog steeds aan dit merkwaardige universum.

Naast het positieve, waren er eveneens een aantal zaken die mij een beetje stoorden aan het boek. Deze zijn echter zeer miniem, maar wel waard om te vermelden naar mijn mening. Hoewel ik de relaties tussen de personages zeer goed vond uitgewerkt, was de relatie tussen Bojan en Brick een beetje geforceerd naar mijn mening. Het enige wat Brick de hele tijd deed was praten over zijn vriendin. Ik vond hem maar een irritant personage met enorm weinig karakter om eerlijk te zijn. Hiernaast leek me soms ook dat bepaalde gebeurtenissen te snel vorderden. Hoe Bojan zijn oom, Kauran, zo snel vertrouwde begreep ik ook niet. Of hoe Eras zijn plannen bekendmaakte aan Suniyah en Edi terwijl ze nog niet echt een band hadden leek mij ook enorm onnatuurlijk.

In het algemeen kan ik wel zeggen dat Schaduw van de nieuwe maan zeker een waardig begin is van een interessante fantasie-reeks en naar mijn mening zeker een aanrader voor iedere fantasie liefhebber.


Rating:  ★★★★☆


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Book Review: Unfiltered by Lily Collins

Book Review
"Storytelling is one of the most universal tools we can use to relate to one another. Through stories we convey emotions, communicate ideas, and connect with people all over the world." - Lily Collins


Title: Unfiltered
Author: Lily Collins
First Published: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 256

Summary:
In this groundbreaking debut essay collection, featuring never-before-seen photos, actress Lily Collins―star of Mortal Instruments and Rules Don’t Apply―is opening a poignant, honest conversation about the things young women struggle with: body image, self-confidence, relationships, family, dating and so much more.   
For the first time ever, Lily shares her life and her own deepest secrets, proving that every single one of us experiences pain and heartbreak. We all understand what it’s like to live in the light and in the dark. For Lily, it’s about making it through to the other side, where you love what you see in the mirror and where you embrace yourself just as you are. She's learned that all it takes is one person standing up and saying something for everyone else to realise they’re not alone.

Review:
When I saw that Lily Collins was publishing a book about her life, I was incredibly excited about it. Well, to be honest, I was excited because I thought we’d finally know what Jamie and Lily broke up. I know it’s her decision to share that part of her life or not, but honestly I admired them so much as a couple. All their amazing photos together and stuff… Then it suddenly stopped and we never knew why. Which was incredibly confusing. That’s why I hoped she’d write about that in her book.

Well, she didn’t. That’s totally fine though. Instead, I have learned more about this powerful woman. I never knew much about her aside from the fact that she enjoys art a lot. (Her Instagram is very interesting!) I never knew how driven she was/is about chasing her dreams. She showed me once more that people aren’t just born with the perfect lives. They work for it, even people in the acting business. 

If there’s one thing I can take from reading this book is that no matter what, you should love yourself. Never give up on yourself. That’s exactly what Lily is doing and I love her for it. 

I’d recommend this book to anyone. It’s also a very quick read as well! 

 Rating:  ★★★★☆
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Book Review: The Disgrace of Kitty Grey by Mary Hooper

Book Review
“... most of the vast space about us remained in darkness, with who-knew-what lurking in the depths of its murky corners. The stench of filth was indescribable, and a faint, cloying mist hung in the air.”



Title: The Disgrace of Kitty Grey
Author: Mary Hooper
First Published: 2013
Language: English
Pages: 282

Summary:
Kitty is living a happy, carefree life as a dairymaid in the countryside. The grand family she is employed by looks after her well, and she loves her trade, caring for the gentle cows and working in the cool, calm dairy. And then, of course, there is Will, the river man who she thinks is very fond of her, and indeed she is of him. Surely he will ask her to marry him soon? Then one day disaster strikes: Will disappears. Kitty is first worried and then furious. She fears that Will has only been leading her on all this time, and has now gone to London to make his fortune, forgetting about her completely. So, when Kitty is asked to go to London to pick up a copy of Pride and Prejudice, the latest novel by the very fashionable Jane Austen, Kitty leaps at the chance to track down Will. But Kitty has no idea how vast London is, and how careful she must be. It is barely a moment before eagle-eyed pickpockets have spotted the country-born-and-bred Kitty and relieved her of her money and belongings.

Review:
I didn’t expect much when I started reading this book. It certainly has a rather low rating on Goodreads and I hadn’t heard of it before either. I went in completely unaware of what was awaiting me. However, I must tell that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel.

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres to read even though I don’t get around to read those kinds of books as much as I would like. I’ve been studying about the era this story took place and know quite a lot about it, but I still learned new things. That shows how much research went into writing this book and that’s certainly something I appreciate. The best part of this book was the plot. It was so entertaining that I had trouble putting this book down. One of the themes dealt with within this novel was the famous “rich vs poor” theme. It was depicted in a great way in my opinion and was pivotal when discussing this era.

However, even though the plot was perfect, the book did lack certain things in my opinion. One of the things I missed was the emotional aspect of the story. Many issues took place, and being an easy crying, those things were certainly cry material, but I didn’t even get emotional when reading these parts, let alone tearing up. That’s why I believe that the story is not as moving as it could be. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a page-turner though.

Another issue I found when reading the book is the language. Now, I believe this is rather a preference of mine, but when I read dialogues, I like it when it’s written in a way that that person is speaking. Kitty was a milkmaid but at times was speaking as if she were a lady of high class. I did sense that the writer was trying to depict the fact that she was a milkmaid, but it wasn’t quite there yet in my opinion.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction and romance.

Rating:  ★★★★☆


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Book Haul: December

Book Haul
The end of the year is near and I'd like to show you my last book haul of 2016. This month, I went to a book fair with a friend (Gina) and bought a whole lot of new books. 

This fair is called "De Boekenfestijn" and they sell new books for a really great price. What's even more amazing for me is that there is a wide variety of English books. Living in Belgium, I can't seem to find many books written in English. I usually buy books on the internet. 

















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