paper towns & and the mountains echoed & a commonplace killing

16 February 2014



Since my last book review, I've made my way through these three books - 

Paper Towns by John Green
I loved The Fault In Our Stars, liked but was not wowed by Looking for Alaska, and this one sits somewhere closer to the latter. I loved the first half of the book, I liked the characters, and I enjoyed the overall plot and message, but the last quarter of the book didn't really convince me and I wasn't sure what to think of it. But I do think very highly of John Green's books in general - I think that although his books are possibly aimed for young adults, it's one of those things that you read once you're a little older, and get that "I remember what that was like" feeling. 

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
I am a huge fan of his other books The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, and this one absolutely did not disappoint. He is such a unique, engrossing story-teller, you can't help but get sucked into the narrative and feel connected to the characters. The plot itself was expansive, and I thought it held the thread from beginning to end brilliantly. I think that A Thousand Splendid Suns may still be my favourite, but this one isn't far behind.

A Commonplace Killing by Sian Busby
Don't skip the forward - it's beautifully and touchingly written by her husband, as the author sadly passed away in September last year. He completed the last chunk of the book from her drafts, and I thought it was very well done as I would never have known. It's a fairly subdued story, an understated novel set in post WWII London, a crime/mystery at the core but I don't think it's necessarily the focus point. The setting is bleak, the characters not exactly loveable, but it portrays the scene and the fragility of those times and people that stays with you beyond the last page. It's not a five star book for me, but it was different and thought-provoking and well worth a read.


9 comments:

  1. I've been interested in reading And The Mountains Echoed for some time, so I'll have to bump it up my wish list a bit!

    Nicola // pink-confetti.co.uk

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  2. I wanted to read "And the Mountains Echoed" since quite awhile ago, but I haven't read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" yet!

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    1. you should read both, but maybe a thousand splendid suns first x

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  3. I've already got a stack of about five books I need to read, yet I need to add a couple of these to it now too :)

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    1. it's a problem having an endless supply of amazing books isn't it?! x

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  4. neat! i should check out and the mountains echoed!

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  5. I loved TFIOS too and I feel the same way about Looking For Alaska, it was good but not 'wow'ing and I can't wait to read Paper Towns sometime soon and definitely adding those two other books to my read list, I love discovering new authors and reading new books :) <3 plus I really need to expand on my book genre so these 2 books might just head me into the right direction :)

    http://amelodyofdiaries.blogspot.co.uk/
    http://www.youtube.com/marieljanina

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  6. Omg I super want to read that third one now, that really sounds so touching. And I finished the Kite Runner and it was amazinggg and I have A Thousand Splendid Suns and I want to read that this year too and now I have another of his to read! Thank you :]

    Marla @ A Weekend Crossing

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