Ginny-Lily's Book Reviews

I’m stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with Earth. I’m in a Habitat designed to last 31 days. If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah. I’m screwed.

Rating: ★★★★☆

A really, really good book! Mark Watney is amazing; I laughed so much reading his log entries. Also he's the person I'd chose to save me in a zombie apocalypse. (On Earth as well as on Mars.)

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home. But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced. When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before...

Rating: ★★★★☆

!! mild spoilers !!

not to boast but me being a vet tech helped me to solve the case about 200 pages before Strike did...

The novel itself was marvellous. I loooved the writing, even though the story was absurd. Then again that was the point, wasn’t it? And I loved the denouement!

Yes, there is @lumoonn!

Chapter 3 – The Letters from No One

Sassy Harry: “The poor toilet’s never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick.”

Sassy Harry #2: “O,h I didn’t realise it had to be so wet.”

Sassy Harry #3: “Make Dudley get it!”

Dudley was a terrible child. Got everything he wished for and then wrecked it 😝

I just love that Harry stepped on Vernon face 😂

“No post on Sundays!”

Chapter 2 – The Vanishing Glass

This chapter really illustrates Harry's downright abusive living conditions with the Dursleys before he goes to Hogwarts. This is the first time I really paid attention to what was actually going on and it's so much worse than I remembered it!

There is absolutely no sign anywhere that Harry lives in the house.

Harry sleeps in a cupboard.

Petunia screams and raps at the door to wake him up.

He has to make breakfast for the rest of the family – bear in mind, he's only 10!

There are spiders in his cupboard (thank Merlin Ron's the one with the phobia... :p)

Dudley gets 39(!) expensive presents – Harry doesn't get anything for his birthday.

Harry refers to himself as “Dudley's punching bag”. Vernon & Petunia don't do anything about that.

He has to wear old, ill-fitting clothes that once belonged to Dudley.

His glasses are held together with Sellotape.

He is not allowed to ask question (he's a kid, every kid asks questions!!)

No “Good morning” from his uncle. Just more shouting.

Harry has to stay with Mrs Figg while Dudley has a nice birthday.

“The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.”

Petunia suggests to take Harry with them to the zoo – but leave him in the car. Dudley's birthday is in June. It is extremely hot in the car?!??!

Vernon threatens to lock Harry in his cupboard until Christmas if something odd happens.

Harry often gets punished for things that aren't his fault, like growing his hair back. (Yes, technically that was him but he didn't know.)

They buy Dudley and Piers ice cream and only reluctantly buy Harry one as well, when the lady asks what he would like.

“Go – cupboard – stay – no meals.”

“then miserable years”

Chapter 1 - The Boy Who Lived

Vernon actually shooes McGonagall 😂

Dumbledore is wearing high heels 😅

Sirius! So many feels...!

And even more feels 💘

Rating: ★★★★★

OH MY GOD

This book is so good! It's just perfect!

“Plötzlich Shakespeare” started out as slightly weird and super funny, got weirder and funnier with every page and finally culminated in a gripping, funny, weird, happy and moving ending. This novel deserves all the stars because of its story and even more for Safier's incredible writing.

Rosa is a relatable protagonist and I love how Safier includes various little side blows to today's society through her and her opinions.

Shakespeare is fantastic. At the beginning, Safier warns the reader of the historical inaccuracy but nevertheless has he created a somewhat realistic 16th-century England, with Shakespeare right at the center, being weird and funny and just totally awesome.

I read this books within two days and putting it down even for an hour seemed hard. The writing is funny (a little earthy at times, but hey, that's my kind of humor!) and really makes the reader part of the journey of these two people. It ends happy but with an important message, something not all comedic writers can do: Love yourself.