2017 was a good reading year! Now time to set some reading goals for 2018....
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2017 was a good reading year! Now time to set some reading goals for 2018....

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First and foremost, I must try my best to convey to you the truly hypnotic sense of this novel. Itâs unbelievably difficult to explain, but this book is so astoundingly complex and atmospheric that I canât help but think about it all the time, even after Iâve finished it. Itâs slightly bittersweet, though, because nothing else I read even comes close to The Secret History. More often than not I struggle to put into words why this book is so unique to me. So here is what some others have come up with which I feel do a decent job of describing such a fascinating book: âA huge, mesmerizing, galloping read, pleasurably devoured... Gorgeously written, relentlessly erudite.â -The Times (London) âI adore the slow, building tension and the sense that I, as a reader, was being skillfully manipulated.â -Maggie Stiefvater â...the novel certainly hit me hard, hard enough that I found myself on Google at 4:30AM searching for articles, comments and others enchanted by this wonderful work of art.â - Micheal Cater Essentially, this book is about Richard Papen, a young man from a small suburb in California who, with much financial aid, is able to attend Hampden College in Vermont. Richard finds his entire life to be rather pathetic, and upon moving across the country, begins to build a new identity for himself. Particularly through his acceptance into a very exclusive, cult-like Greek class with 5 extremely pretentious students and one enigmatic professor called Julian, Richard creates an entirely new life for himself. Even more interestingly, in the very first page of the prologue, two things are revealed: One of the members of the group has been murdered, and the rest of the group is responsible for his death. Donna Tartt tells you exactly who kills who in the first page. The story becomes not a whodunnit, but a whydunnit. Interestingly enough, it makes the novel incredibly more suspenseful. Richard begins telling the story starting from when he met the rest of the group, taking us through all the events which lead up to the murder, and then the second half, Book II, follows the aftermath of the killing. To my surprise, this approach was so much more powerful than any other mystery Iâve come across. As we follow Richard through his first months at Hampden, he becomes absolutely infatuated with everything around him, simply because it is so different from his lackluster upbringing. From the Greek lectures to his new group of peers to the college campus itself, Richardâs narration almost seems as if he observes everything through a rose-tinted lens. He even admits that his recollections are blurred in this way: âIt is only here that the stilted mannequins of my initial acquaintance begin to yawn and stretch and come to life. It was months before the gloss and mystery of newness... would finally wear off.â Each description is borderline dreamlike, and yet there is an ever-present foreboding feeling constantly looming in the back of the mind, because Richard and the readers know that one of them ends up dead. Donna Tarttâs decision to name the murderer and murdered on the first page, I think, gives the same powerful anticipation like that of The Iliad and The Odyssey, which tell exactly what is going to happen before it even does. This, along with potentially many other allusions which I am not well-read enough to catch, parallels the charactersâ obsession with Greek and the Classics, making The Secret History somewhat of a Greek tragedy in itself. The ending in particular is especially dramatic, and shows how this group was so obsessed with tragedy, that they turned their lives into one. The opening sentences of Chapter 1, on a basic level, sum up much of the book very well: âDoes such a thing as âthe fatal flaw,â that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didnât. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.â This exact idea is seen in countless ways throughout the book. It is in the groupsâ fascination with dramatic tragedy, in Julianâs decision to have an extremely small and selective class, even in Richardâs descriptions of Camillaâs âglowingâ beauty. The studentsâ obsession with aesthetic and beauty at all costs is seen even in their iconic physical appearances: the twins who often wear white, Henry with dark English suits and permanently carrying an umbrella like an accessory, Francis with French cuffs and fancy neckties. Their obsession naturally carries into their rather sophisticated behaviors as well, and it seems as though these characters are practically living in the wrong century. All of them, save Richard, have more money than they know what to do with, and are extremely privileged, living in their own little bubbles filled with ancient philosophy. Henry, at one point, is incredulous to hear that a man had actually walked on the moon, proving these charactersâ extensive and voluntary isolation to reality. It is understandable why some may find the characters intolerably pretentious, however to me, that is all the more reason to admire the book. The characters are not superficially likable in the slightest, and are rarely, if ever, relatable. But they are also pretty despicable human beings, and you arenât supposed to like these people. Theyâre murderers for crying out loud. But above all, theyâre realistic. Through their actions, they prove the lengths people are willing to go in order to save themselves. This book contains an unprecedented level of complexity, paired with masterful writing to create a true work of art. My words can never do justice to what experiencing the novel is truly like, and I could never have enough time to go in depth on every detail which inspired thought. This is one of those books you canât stop thinking about once youâve finished. For the first time in my remembered life, I can confidently say I have one favorite book.
I didnât know words could be so heavy.
I Am the Messenger, Markus Zusak (via thepaige-turner)
Miles Morales is a version of Spider-Man I haven't seen before, and I absolutely love his character. I was most intrigued from the beginning to see the differences between him and Peter Parker, and from there was completely invested in the story.
This book definitely focuses most on Miles' life, and isn't very action packed, but I really liked the representation of his mixed culture throughout the book. Seeing social issues tackled in a Spider-Man book was a pleasant surprise; I was left thoroughly impressed. And even though there wasn't as much action as I anticipated, I enjoyed the characters so much that I flew through this novel.Â
After reading this, I'm really hoping for a sequel and I'm excited to get into many more superhero novels. (Daredevil novels, wya?)
âThe world was hers for the reading.â - Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

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Gemina is the second book in the YA sci-fi Illuminae trilogy, taking place right where the first book left off, but focusing on a new set of characters.
I was scared that this sequel wouldn't be able to top Illuminae, since the first book set the bar so high, but I was not disappointed in the slightest. This series continues to fascinate me, and is one of the most expertly crafted stories I have ever read.
Format:
+ After reading Illuminae, I was a lot more familiar with this multi-media format, and so it was a lot smoother to just dive right into.Â
+The mix of chat logs, security footage transcriptions, and everything from the first book were included, as well as new illustrations and photos which added even more to the story.
Plot:
+The plot has so many exciting layers that make you want to keep reading until the very end +Unpredictable plot twists had me all kinds of shook +There's the perfect amount of action, science, suspense, etc.
Characters:
+It took me a tad longer to get used to the new characters compared to Illuminae's, but eventually I think I became even more invested in Hanna and Nik than I was with Kady and Ezra. (If that's even possible) +I loved the detail of their backstories, which added a lot of depth to their characters +Especially in chat logs, I loved the humor in this book. +also, Nik Malikov is swoon worthy +AIDAN is still the best AI I've read about
However, while these are fantastic characters, I had a few tiny issues.
- While the relationships were definitely very different, I felt that Nik and Ezra's sense of humor were almost indistinguishable from one another, and I wish that they were a little more different. -Similarly, in the beginning, Hanna's personality seemed very similar to Kady's, and it wasn't until about a third of the way through that I started to see them as two very individual characters. (I'm just nit-picking though, I love this book & all the characters)
Overall, Gemina was an intense and mind-blowing sequel, and I'm dying for the last book. If you still haven't read these books.... what are you doing.
hello!
My nameâs Nadia and I like talking about books. Sadly, I donât know many people irl who love reading as much as I do, so here I am!Â