Tuesday, 31 March 2015

My TVD Obsession [Part 1]

Book Review: Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins


A funny and colourful novel, full of parisian romance and solid friendships.

Describing a book is never easy. But I was fortunate enough to read this book and describe what it was with simple but truthful words, like the ones I wrote above.
Anna is a very american girl who doesn't speak a word of French. And where is she send to? France! From that, we already have so many things to work. Anna could be perfectely alone in Paris for nine months and we would love her adventures.

However, she is not alone: she immediately meets Meredith and trough her she meets St. Clair, the boy who is going to be there for her, who takes her to discover Paris. What starts as a friendship evolves to be something more. We see the events getting more and more complex, until both characters decide that they can't take it anymore. It was very interesting to see this.

The fact that I am also learning French helped to relate with Anna, who doesn't speak a word of the language of love. Chocolat chaud - I finally know what that is! Among other things, of course. This novel also made me visit Paris more than ever. I want to be in Poin Zéro and make a wish. I want to find a St. Clair for myself.

The humour never leaves the novel. It was almost impossible not to laugh in public while reading. I fangirled, laughed, clapped and made a huge amount of "aaaaaawn" while reading. I spent a whole day reading 200 pages of the novel, because I knew that I could not go to sleep without knowing the end of this lovely story. And when it was over... I had tears in my eyes and hugged the book because it made me happy and melancholic at the same time. That hug was sent to Stephanie, who made a wonderful job with this book. I wish I could hug her, so instead I hugged her book.

© Teresa Bars

Friday, 27 March 2015

Book Review: The House of Silk


This book is what every Sherlock Holmes fan was waiting for: Anthony capture Conan Doyle's writing essence, with a detail of the 21st century, which makes it easier to understand than the short stories written centuries ago.
What made me read this book was the fact that Anthony wrote as if he was Doyle. That immediately captured my attention because I thought "is that even possible?" Apparentely, yes. I was so surprised by this that I started investigating how this amazing author did it. He researched a lot about the Victorian period and even set 10 rules about the writing and plot, which I found quite interesting (you can read all of this in the end of the book - but that doesn't mean you can't read this part before you finish reading the story.)

The whole story is very complex, with amazing plot twists and excellent cliffhangers at the end of each chapter that made you want to read the following chapter. Eventually, I needed some sleep, but I could never do that at the end of each chapter, so I always left the chapters "unfinished" and continued reading it the following day.
A compelling story that is never boring, and the next book, called Moriarty, surely is even better than this one. I am looking forward to read it.

Book Review Video: If I Stay