Fiction and Crime

The Secret History

A must-read for every "Dark Academia" fan!
Donna Tartt describes the story of six young students from a Greek course, who are forced by a murder to deal with moral concepts and their future. In a nutshell: Dark Academia vibes meet structured lies, intrigue and fears. The individual characters and their actions are well thought out, making you feel part of the circle of friends and plot. Donna Tartt's writing style is sophisticated and thus sets just the right mood for the scenery she describes. Maybe I should re-dress and take a Latin/Greek class after all....

James

Everett's new novel arrives so highly accoladed that the expectations are through the roof, which can be a disadvantage. Having never really read Twain, I kind of feel like "James" isn't for me and I disagree with other critics proclaiming that this retelling is fully enjoyable on its own. You might not have any troubles following the plot, but you will miss some of the more subtle hints and literary tricks. Having said that, I still had a great time reading it - Everett is a terrific storyteller, and he smoothly jumps between humour and the darker themes. Compared to his other novels that tend to be rather cynical in tone, with this one he really leans into a warmer, more human and ultimately life-affirming direction. For me, "James" works as a heartfelt adventure story that effortlessly tackles some very important topics (and I could not shake off Moon River for weeks).

The Guest

Alex is a guest in other people's homes and lives - she invites herself in, takes what she can get and then disappears. Through Alex, the reader of Cline's new book takes on the role of a spectator, observing wealthy people's lives on Long Island from the outside looking in. Cline does a great job in conveying the uncanny feeling of long, hot summer days spent at your leisure, but there is more to it: something rotten lurking underneath the surface of all that decadence, a profound sense of unhappiness and aimlessness. We never reach the end of that already fading summer, though - "The Guest" is, like the Long Island vacationers, completely sealed off in its own world. Alex has no existence beyond this space, her thoughts and actions are not explicable by her past and remain inexplicable all along. This might be the real mystery at the heart of Cline's rich novel (in any sense of the word).

The Midnight Library

This book is all about regrets. Do you also sometimes catch yourself thinking: "I wish I had done that differently"? Nora thinks that about almost every decision she's ever made. So after a suicide attempt, she finds herself in a space between life and death; in her case: the Midnight Library. There she can pick any book containing an alternative life.
Though sometimes a little too cheesy and conventional for my taste this book made me consider my own life choices and whether it really would be a good idea to make changes - even if I could!
No matter which of Matt Haig's books takes your fancy, you'll always be taken on an emotional journey full of original ideas and valuable life advice.

Young Mungo

I might have slightly mixed feelings about this book but, let's be honest, I was always going to give it five stars - just look at that cover! Finally, no longer the tasteful outline of a male head to hint at the gay content within - this one just straight-up puts the snog on the cover!
Stuart's second novel is again a highly gripping and wonderfully alive thing- the Glasgow setting is captured thouroughly and lovingly, the characters seem to step fully formed from the page. Like Stuart's debut, it is set in a poor working class neighbourhood, peopled with an almost Dickensian set of misfits and a grim background indeed for the tender story of first love. My slight reservation here was the abundant (and I mean abundant) violence, primarily directed at Mungo. The tale of a horrifying fishing trip turned nightmare runs through the novel and ramps up the tension. Apart from that it's a gorgeous love story, a novel of class, sexuality and visceral beauty with an almost perfect ending

Normal People

Once upon time, people spoke about Sally Rooney's second novel as a kind of cult hit or a hot tip for those in the literary know. After a ratings-smashing BBC adaptation (timed perfectly for the start of lockdown) and several years of impressive sales, virtually the whole world has now heard of, if not read this novel.

If you do belong to the few who have not yet got round to it, do believe the hype. Rooney has achieved something quite remarkable with this novel by writing something that expertly handles and describes the very real angst of modern life for young people in an intelligent and literary way, and in so doing has appeal to readers across a broader spectrum than perhaps any other book I can remember. It's a very modern love story told with all the tension, boredom, humour and tragedy that such things entail and a book that has established its author as one of the most important voices in the English-speaking literary world. Don't be bloody minded, just read it!

The Maniac

Benjamín Labatut is an excellent writer, as proven by his second novel (and first translated into English) "When We Cease to Understand the World", in which he deftly manoeuvres between genres, perhaps even creating one entirely of his own - a fascinating kind of narrative non-fiction that explores parallels of scientific endeavours in the 20th century, and how they changed our world forever. That is mostly what he continues to do in his third book "Maniac", a story of the first computer to defeat a human in a game of chess and the scientists who were involved in building it, but I have to say that unfortunately it didn't captivate me as much. While it is an interesting and illuminating approach to the incredibly relevant topic of AI, Labatut choses to convey all of it in a style that I would describe as a fictionalized oral history: the scientists are depicted through invented personal accounts of their late contemporaries, looking in from the outside into their incomprehensible minds and lives. What might sound great in theory doesn't actually work that well on the page - there is too much exposition (again and again), and that kind of repetition prevents the reader from ever getting to the heart of things. I'm still looking forward to whatever he does next, but this one simply wasn't for me.

Funny Story

Read and loved! Emily Henry is the master of light reading, but she doesn't shy away from more unwieldy characters either. How something new can emerge from a completely ruined wedding and two totally shattered hearts is simply convincingly described. The right book for in-between times when you want to think about the good things in life.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

A story about a lifelong friendship and the making of computer games.
I very much liked Zevin's previous novel "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" already, but in "Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow" she really upped her game (pun intended)!
I recommend it to everyone who's interested in the interconnectedness of relationships in a millennial setting.
P.S.: No knowledge of gaming, IT or computers whatsoever required! ;)

The Thursday Murder Club

A lot of people seem to think that Agatha Christie is still the undefeated queen of crime fiction and to those people I always want to say: but where is the humour?! If you write cosy crime, surely the point is to be able to include a couple of jokes?
Since that is my point of view, I can't help but think, that Osman has possibly beaten her at her own game. This unlikely crew of sleuthing octogenerians trying to solve a string of murders in their posh retirement home made me cackle repeatedly. Of course it would be easier to solve crimes when your that age, just think how impertinent you can be! I'm taking one star off, just because the solution to the murders involved one soppy love story too many. Apart from that though, this is as delightful as cosy crime gets.

Not in Love

Ali Hazelwood never disappoints ... and finally we do get the man's POV in this STEM romance too - slow burni-ish, forbidden love, he falls first - in short do not miss this!

Blue Sisters

"Blue Sisters" von Coco Mellors ist eine emotionale Reise durch Schwesternschaft und Verlust.
Übersetzt wurde das Buch von Lisa Kögeböhn.
Es geht um vier Schwestern, deren Leben durch den Verlust eines geliebten Menschen aus der Bahn geworfen wird, aus vier Schwestern wurden drei.
Der Roman geht tief unter die Haut, es ist eine bewegende Reise durch die komplexen Beziehungen zwischen Geschwistern.

Jede der Schwestern ist einzigartig gezeichnet und wirkt unglaublich real. Ihre unterschiedlichen Persönlichkeiten und Lebenswege führen zu spannenden Konflikten und ermöglichen einen tiefen Einblick in die Dynamik ihrer Beziehung.
Trauer, Verlust, Schuldgefühle und Hoffnung - Coco Mellors gelingt es meisterhaft, diese komplexen Emotionen einzufangen und mir nahe zu bringen.

Neben den familiären Beziehungen werden auch gesellschaftlich relevante Themen wie LGBTQIA+-Repräsentation, Sucht und psychische Erkrankungen aufgegriffen.
Coco Mellors' Schreibstil ist bildhaft und poetisch, was die Geschichte zu einem besonderen Leseerlebnis gemacht hat.

Blue Sisters" ist ein Roman, der mich emotional mitgenommen hat und mir noch lange im Gedächtnis bleiben wird. Das Ende ist anders gewählt, als ich vermutet hätte. Wer die Danksagung liest, wird die Beweggründe der Autorin verstehen.

Wer sich für Familiengeschichten interessierst, die komplexe Beziehung der Schwestern ist ein faszinierender Aspekt des Buches.
Die aufgeworfenen Themen sind vielschichtig und bieten Stoff zum Diskutieren. Ich kann es definitiv empfehlen und glaube, wer Cleopatra und Frankenstein gut fand, dem werden die Blue Sisters auch gefallen.

Der Schreibstil ist gewohnt fantastisch, wie ich ihn bei Cleopatra und Frankenstein kennengelernt habe.
Frei heraus ohne ein Blatt vor den Mund zu nehmen schreibt Coco Mellors. Ihre Figuren dürfen sich frei bewegen.

Das Cover passt zur Autorin, es hat den gleichen Stil wie bei Cleopatra und Frankenstein. Ein trauriges Gesicht, welches den ganzen Kummer über den Tod von Nicky darstellt.

Cleopatra And Frankenstein

Mäßig. Nach den 500 Seiten habe ich mich gefragt, was mir die Geschichte jetzt eigentlich sagen will... OK, die Story ist gut und flüssig geschrieben - Coco Mellors hat bestimmt ihre 'creative writing'- Kurse alle mit bravour absolviert und sich sehr engagiert an ihren ersten Roman "Cleopatra und Frankenstein" gesetzt. Aber wo sind ihre eigenen Ideen? Großstadtromanze in New York, junge britische Kunststudentin ohne Kohle trifft auf älteren Chef einer Werbeagentur, Amerikaner mit Alkoholproblem ohne Geldsorgen, sie verlieben sich, es wird viel gefeiert und es werden Drogen eingeworfen, es gibt andere mehr oder weniger hippe Gestalten im Umfeld, in deren Leben ebenso ein Einblick gegeben wird, ohne dass immer alles zwangsläufig bis ins letzte mit der eigentlichen Geschichte zu tun hätte; die Liebe ist - was sich recht schnell nach der Hochzeit von Cleo und Frank herausstellt - zum Scheitern verurteilt, wohl weil 'Liebe auf den ersten Blick' im Kern eher eine Projektion eigener Wunschvorstellungen ist und gerade deshalb dem 'zweiten Blick' nicht standhält. Und wenn Frank an einer Stelle sinngemäß sagt, dass wenn sie ihrer beider dunkle Seite zusammentun würden, es am Ende zu Licht würde... dann war das wohl ein Irrtum. Ganz am Ende finden aber beide ihren Weg - ohne einander. Irgendwie vergleichbar mit dem vorzeitigen Ende einer Netflixserie mit beständig sinkender Zahl an Zuschauer:innen.

Good Material

Jen broke up with Andy, a part-time comedian, and he is wrestling with this, he is kind of sweet, whiny, relatable, a man-child, annoying, funny ... and in then we do get Jen's point of view, which makes this a completely satisfying and diverting read. Dolly Alderton did it again!

Baumgartner

This book is an engaging meditation on the twilight of our lives, how we confront our past, our future and our end, which might come sooner as expected. Reading it made me feel connected to Baumgartner and the author himself!

Funny Story

3,5/5âï¸

Funny Story von Emily Henry / Rezension ðð

Inhalt und Meinung:
Ich habe bisher alle Bücher von Emily Henry gelesen, dementsprechend hoch waren meine Erwartungen an ihr neuestes Buch. Darum geht s:

Daphne und Miles wurden verlassen und ihre Ex-Partner sind jetzt miteinander verlobt... Kurzerhand gründen sie notgedrungen eine WG und um ihre Verflossenen zu ärgern, beschließen sie auch noch so zu tun, als wären sie zusammen...

Wir lesen aus der Sicht von Daphne, es gibt einige Rückblicke, aber zum Großteil geht die Handlung einfach chronologisch voran. Ich persönlich habe mir eine ganz andere Geschichte vorgestellt, als wie die Geschichte schlussendlich gelaufen ist. Deshalb lese ich oft den Klappentext gar nicht, denn dann können die Erwartungen nicht enttäuscht werden.

Ich musste an sehr vielen Stellen laut lachen, das hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Auch die Beziehung zwischen Daphne und Miles war ein romantischer Slow burn, der nach meinem Geschmack war. Das angekündigte Fake dating habe ich komplett vermisst. Wenn überhaupt, dann war es friends to lovers und Freunde sind sie eben notgedrungen aus Zufall geworden.

Die Geschichte war typisch Emily Henry sehr lang und sehr detailreich, dadurch sind für mich die Gefühle etwas auf der Strecke geblieben, habe irgendwie Herzschmerz - Momente vermisst und deshalb konnte ich leider nicht 100% mitfiebern.

Habe viel zu lange gebraucht um zu verstehen, was das mit den Zitronen soll (für mich der beste und schönste Farbschnitt überhaupt) ðð - when life gives you lemons, make lemonade ð·ðð.

Empfehlung für Emily Henry Fans - das Buch ist vom Aufbau und Stil so wie erwartet, aber inhaltlich etwas anders als gedacht.

3,5/5 âï¸âï¸âï¸

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