A real long time ago, I found Hester Browne out of nowhere and I could not get enough of her books. I read the Little Browne Agency and hunted down (after considerable difficulties) the rest of the books in the trilogy and completed all of them in less than a week’s time. So it was a no brainer when I saw The Finishing Touches by Hester Browne on the shelves that I made a grab for it ASAP.
Returning home to attend her adoptive mother’s funeral, Betsy Phillimore learns that her mother’s beloved finishing school is on the brink of being shut down. Saving the Finishing touches means having to fight the unfriendly headmistress, indifferent students and a former nemesis who is interested in her recently widowed father.
While she attempts to reconstruct their archaic syllabus and teaching methods, she realizes she is closer to finding her biological mother than ever before. Does she even want to open that can of worms?
Betsy has taken it upon herself to make a financially responsible adult out of her rich and spoilt BFF, Liv when her father absconds from the scene. Enter Liv’s brother and Betsy’s long time crush Jamie, who seems smitten by Betsy as well. Does the boy get the girl? Or will the entry of another handsome bursar distract her? Read The Finishing Touches to find out more.
Hester Browne’s books are usually straight forward love story with a strong female lead and an interesting back story. She didn’t fail this time as well, the plot was new and interesting.
Characters
While I liked Betsy’s feisty and complicated self, I loved Liv and Jamie more. They were witty and charming. The younger students didn’t make a mark but the cook and the housekeeper, Nancy and Kathleen did. Though there were lots of adorable characters none of them had an interesting sub plot except maybe for Liv.
Writing
I love Hester Browne’s writing that ensured The Finishing Touches stayed as a feel good, light hearted chick-lit just like her other novels. Her witty dialogues and funny scenes had me entertained throughout. The pace slacked at times and there were times that I was kinda distracted, as the sub plots didn’t hold my interest.
Bottom line
If you are looking for a light hearted chick lit set in the UK, you might try The Finishing Touches. Though it is no way as good as the Little Browne Agency trilogy, The Finishing Touches is worth a read.
Have you read anything from this author? Are you curious like me about a school that teaches etiquette and manners? Or do you find it sexist? Let us chat.
I read The Vegetarian a while ago as a part of the A-Z challenge 2018 and yet I couldn’t post a review as soon as I would usually. I can blame my erratic blogging schedule but the truth is The Vegetarian by Han Kang left me so confused and perplexed that I had to step back and mull over what to say.
Watch out for my 100th review!
Yet I can’t think of a better fitting book that I have read in the recent times than The Vegetarian to be my 100th review on my blog. Yes, you heard it right. This would be my ONE HUNDREDTH review on this blog.
The Vegetarian talks of how cultural and societal norms make or break a person’s individuality and define one’s perspective. The Vegetarian consists of three parts Yeong-Hye’s past, present and future, from the perspectives of her husband, her brother in law and her sister Kim In-Hye.
In a country where meat is a staple food, Yeong-Hye stops eating meat, a reaction to the bloody nightmares that she had been facing every night. Until then a passive and unassuming wife, Yeong’s decision is criticized by everyone in the family including her father who even tries to force feed her some meat.
My initial thoughts
The more I read, the more intriguing (bizarre, even?) the book became. And given that it is such a short book, I finished it fairly fast, even when I had to re-read some parts to make sure ‘that’ really happened. Let us get on with the review, shall we?
The Vegetarian is the winner of the Man Booker Prize in 2016 among many other awards. If this had gone by my usual luck with award books, I would have been bored by about 20% of the book and still be compelling myself to continue to struggle to the end. WELL, THAT DID NOT HAPPEN.
Just like that Yeong turns from ordinary, according to her abusive and shallow husband Mr. Cheong, to aberrant. What follows is the aftermath of her decision (to be become a The Vegetarian, rather a vegan) and how her family reacts to it. Watch out, The Vegetarian is not an easy read. It will make you question your fundamental assumptions.
The Vegetarian is on the surface a parable on how far can one go to stay put on one’s belief.
But it talks more about the sexism and status of women in a patriarchal society like Korea and other South Asian countries in a pliable and compliant role. The men in Yeong’s life, and thus the novel, are all disgusting in one form or the other and maybe that played a part in her decision to change her life into a ‘plant like’ being.
Bottom-line
If you want to read something that has a simple yet lyrical writing, yet will make you think about your judgmental self you should pick The Vegetarian by Han Kang. But be wary of triggering content – like sexual and physical assaults, extra marital affairs and mental illness. You won’t be disappointed.
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Let us talk
Have you read this book earlier? Does this book depict life in South Korea? Are there any other books set in South Korea that you have read? What books have you read this week?
What would do if you get to know you have about 24 hours before you die? Would you make your peace with it and get on with it? Would you amend your ways and be the best version of yourself? Read ahead to see how They Both Die at the End turned out to be in my book review.
Mateo is an introvert and is worried about everything he never got to do in this life. Mateo decides that he will stay inside his house after saying his final good bye to his comatosed father. Rufus Emeterio is reckless and a survivor. He has a long list of people to say goodbye to but these things are never easy.
Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio have almost nothing common between them except that they both are going to die sometime during the following day. They have received the calls from the dreaded Deckers informing him of their imminent deaths, thanks to the Deathcasters.
They meet each other through an app called “Last Friend”, designed especially to help meeting of people who have received their ‘End Day’ calls from the Deckers. Together they seek their respective closures and bare their souls before they could say the final good bye. Yes, they both die at the end (at this point, it is not a spoiler, it is the freaking title!).
Book review of They Both Die at the End
Adam Silvera’s writing style is full of witty dialogues and more than everything, his YA characters talk like one. They don’t launch into lengthy monologues about nerdy things (I am looking at John Green’s teens). I loved the linear story arc and the alternate POVs worked so well.
Set in the near dystopian future, a company is capable of forecasting one’s death. I know the whole thought of learning about death beforehand is creepy and too much for me.
They are fun, hardly depressing (even though it talks about death – a lot), and has the right amount of heart break (dude, They Both Die at the End).
Bottom-line
They Both Die at the End is the first book of Adam Silvera I have read and I should say everything I have heard about his books is true. And I will definitely not shy away from reading his books hereon.
Have you read They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera? Which other books of Silvera should I tackle next? Do spoilers in reviews bother you? Let us chat.
I reached Dubai yesterday and once again the city has reminded of how can never be prepared enough for its summer. Less than 24 hours in the city and I am already complaining about the heat, what is wrong with me right? Wait till YOU face 45 degree Celsius before you judge me.
What I read this week
Okay now that I got the steam outta my system, let me talk about the books that I read last week alright?
1 A Thousand Perfect Notes by C G Drews aka Paperfury – I love Paperfury. I started this with loads of expectations based on herself and her blog and she didn’t fail me. You SHOULD DEFINITELY READ THIS, if you read YA!
3 One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel García Márquez – I am almost done with this long saga and I honestly don’t know what to think of it. I hope I will form an opinion by the time I finish reading it, but bear with me as it is taking a lot of time.
Now that I am back I have my blogging, I have my schedule filled up and I am gonna post a lot. Don’t mind me!
Nothing screams a vacation like curling up with a cozy, sweet romance right? The title Love, Hate And Other Filters shouted out me as just what I needed to try and enjoy the hot, sultry summer in the southern part of India. And you what enticed me more – Love, Hate And Other Filters is an #ownvoice book with a Muslim representation, which is kinda rare. So how did it fare, read ahead to find out.
Book Name: Love, Hate And Other Filters
Author: Samira Ahmed
Genre: Fiction – Romance, Young Adult
Characters: Maya Aziz, Violet, Hina, Phil, Kareem
Setting: Chicago, The USA
Maya Aziz, a typical 17 year old American high schooler loves Indian food and making movies. Her Indian born parents do not take her aspirations to become a film maker seriously and want her to settle down with a serious guy soon.
Maya has a huge crush on Phil for years, who is already in a relationship. Meanwhile, her conservative parents set her up with Kareem who seems to be a safer bet given their common heritage and family background. Should she stand up against her parents’ wishes for just a ‘maybe’ guy? Or should she try to focus on career like her rebellious aunt Hina?
Her almost perfect world shatters following a terrorists’ attack on the USA. She and her family become the victims of Islamophobia. How does religion affect Maya’s life? Read Love, Hate And Other Filters.
Love, Hate And Other Filters is a witty and fast YA romance. I finished reading the book in one sitting and the setting reminded me so much of When Dimple met Rishi. When I am not such a big fan of lovesick female lead, I loved how the book spoke so much about Indian culture, even though it was a bit over the top at places.
I like my protagonists to be fierce, interesting – erm.. just not bland. Unfortunately Maya was just that. And her ‘relationship’ with Phil had no base except that they knew each other. where is the damn chemistry? Phil you can definitely do better.
I loved Violet, the protagonist’s friend and how fiercely loyal she was to Maya till the end. Phil and Hina were totally cool too. The other Indian characters, especially Maya’s parents were too stereotypical. I mean there is only so many of over dramatic Indian mothers one can read about without rolling one’s eyes.
Love, Hate And Other Filters did okay at being an American-Indian representation, but it is definitely not an accurate Muslim representation. Love, Hate And Other Filters doesn’t talk about Maya’s religion at all, except when it is used against her. Maya’s family might be liberal Muslims but even that message doesn’t reach clearly. If it were not for her last name, one might not even know she is a Muslim, which is definitely not a good representation.
If you are looking for a YA with light romance or an own voice book you can choose Love, Hate And Other Filters right away.
Have you read Love, Hate And Other Filters? What do you think about it? Have you read any other book with Indian or Muslim leads and you liked them better? Let us discuss, I love some books with better representations, especially #ownvoices.
Maya has a huge crush on Phil for years, who is already in a relationship. Meanwhile, her conservative parents set her up with Kareem who seems to be a safer bet given their common heritage and family background. Should she stand up against her parents’ wishes for just a ‘maybe’ guy? Or should she try to focus on career like her rebellious aunt Hina?