Navždy by Maya Sinay 3/5

Dovoľte mi hneď na začiatok povedať, že ja nie som romantická duša. Neverím v lásku na prvý pohlaď, alebo na ‘naveky vekov amen’. Ja som z tých praktických a triezvych žien, ktoré vedia, že čo príde môže odísť, veria v rovnoprávnosť, sebaisto bojujú za svoju individualitu a odvážne hovoria o svojej menštruácii. Ani jedna z romantických kníh, ktoré som čítala nekorešponduje s týmito mojimi charakteristikami a preto sa mi len ťažko stotožňuje s postavami v romantických príbehoch. Prečo nemôžeme mať romantickú knihu o silnej žene, ktorá sa vie postarať o seba, usporiadať si život a dosiahnuť svoje ciele? O žene, ktorá miluje muža nie preto, že ho potrebuje, ale pretože ho jednoducho ma rada? (Ak takúto knihu poznáte, určite mi napíšte.)

Ako som sa teda dostala k čítaniu romantickej knihy? Vyhrala som ju v hashtagovej súťaži organizovanej na Instagrame #citamenasich. Dlho ležala na poličke, pretože fantasy a young adult mali prednosť. No ako to býva, tuším som sa týmito dvoma žánrami predávkovala a ostala som úplne znechutená.

Vtedy prišlo na lámanie chleba, už som nechcela ani vidieť víly, elfov či fae. Mala som ich po krk, a stále mám. Takže som stála asi pätnásť minút pred mojou knihovníčkou a pozerala som bezradne na knihy. Nevedela som sa rozhodnúť, ktorú mam čítať. Po tých dlhých minútach som sa teda rozhodla pre experiment: zoberiem do ruky neprečítanú knihu, prečítam prvú stranu a ak ma zaujme čo i len trošičku a budem mať náladu pokračovať na stranu dva, tak dám knihe šancu.

No a kniha Navždy sa takto dostala do mojich rúk. Nemyslite si, že prvá strana je niečo nevídane, pravé naopak, po prečítaní som nebola nijako ohúrená, alebo užasnutá. Jednoducho sa to dobre čítalo. Ľahko napísané a nič svetoborné bolo čo som v tom okamihu potrebovala. Ak mám byť úplne úprimná, prvá myšlienka, ktorú som pri tejto knihe mala bola: “Moja sestra a ja sme zvykli písať podobné veci keď sme mali našu fan fiction mániu.”

Po prečítaní knihy som názor nezmenila, ale sú v živote čitateľa chvíle, keď pravé takáto kniha dobre padne. Príbeh Funny ma nič nenaučil, nič nevyriešil, nedonútil ma zamyslieť sa … jediné, čo som z tejto knihy mala bolo relax a pobavenie a úprimne som prekvapená, ako dobre mi to padlo.

Hlavnou postavou je Funny. Mladá slečna alebo žena, ktorá je profesionálna basketbalistka a študuje na vysokej škole. Zo začiatku som nad ňou prevracala oči. Bola úplný opak všetkého v čo ja verím. Potrebovala, aby sa o ňu vždy niekto staral a zachraňoval ju. Bola nemotorná, dostala sa do problémov, nevedela si veci vyriešiť sama, klasická „Bella Swan“. Už-už som to čítanie chcela vzdať. keď sa udialo niečo so som vôbec nečakala. A vďaka tejto jednej udalosti som čítala ďalej.

Teraz po dočítaní knihy mi je jasné, že sa autorka knihy snažila o vývoj postavy. Funny sa časom zmenila. Vývoj jej postavy nebol tak úplne podľa mojich predstav a bol úplne minimálny, ale bol. Funny dospela a niektoré veci si zrazu vedela vyriešiť sama a to sa mi na tejto knihe páčilo.

Bohužiaľ, tak ako som očakávala kniha bola plná klišé a presladených scén. Keby môj priateľ urobil niečo také, asi by som to v tomto vzťahu nevydržala. Nekonečne telefonáty typu: ‚Si v poriadku? ‘ mi prišli trochu prisilné. A hlavne v prípadoch napríklad ak Funny zaspala a niekto sa jej snažil dovolať a potom z toho robil veľké haló, že nezdvihla telefón. Toto ja naozaj nemusím. Napriek tomu, že je niekto vo vzťahu môže mať chvíľku pre seba. Nemusíme byt pod úplným drobnohľadom partnera.

Mám pocit, že pointa romantických kníh je v tom, že počas čítania by som mala túžiť, aby aj môj reálny vzťah bol taký ako ten literárny. Ale u mňa je to väčšinou naopak. Väčšinou som šťastná že neradím s takým človekom ako je v romantickej knihe, lebo asi by som ho nahlásila polícii.

Romantické knihy proste nie sú pre mňa...

Nechápte ma zle, ja mám rada romantiku v knihách, napríklad Aelin a Rowan alebo Manon a Dorian z Trónu zo Skla. Agneška a Drak z Uprooted. Zachraňujú jeden druhého, ale vedia sa postarať samy o seba. Sú rovnocenní partneri a nepotrebujú, aby sa ten druhý o nich staral. Sú spolu z jedného jediného dôvodu: Pretože sa majú radi.

Ak toto nie je to najromantickejšie čo existuje, tak potom neviem. Ak toto je skutočná, nezištná láska prečo o takýchto vzťahoch nečítame v romantických knihách?

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The Language of Thorns - Leigh Bardugo 4/5

Leigh Bardugo is one of the authors who is hyped up in the bookstagram community and one of the authors who I haven’t read yet. I haven’t read any SJM before 2018… I know, I lived under the rock before bookstagram. But I am slowly catching up and getting through books and authors that all of you love. I didn’t want to start a series so I picked up Language of Thornes thinking it is a stand-alone. I found out that this book is a part of Grishaverse a little bit later. Never the less, I think it was very enjoyable despite the fact I haven’t read any other books from this fantasy world.

The book consists of six short stories, all resemble some classic fairy tales and all contain a strong element of magic. This read was very exciting. I loved to read short stories; feels like I finished six books in just two weeks. So here are few thoughts about each of the stories: 

Ayama and the Thorn Wood
- I love how easily was a girl of colour integrated into the story. I wish it was always this easy and natural. I also love that she become a monster herself, proving that monsters are nothing to fear of. The maze felt a little bit useless and not important. The repetition of the events in the story was a nice reference to the classic tales, but also a bit boring towards the end.

The Too-Clever Fox
- I didn't believe it was the woodcutter at the beginning of the story and I automatically suspected the girl. As the story progressed I started to trust the girl more and more just to find out, it was her all along!
- I loved that the main character was an animal - a fox. Reminded me strongly of Ezop's fables. I left like I should learn something from this story too. Trust your first judgement and guts, maybe? I also felt that the fox was beyond saving at the end so I was very surprised he lived, but I was happy he survived. I also really loved that he lived with his friend, the nightingale, at the end. This story felt very cute and very dark, I loved that contrast.

The Wich of Duva
- This was a very unique story. The Wich was a good character and I love to break the superstitions and cliches. What I admired about this story was how easily can a bad character change into a good one and vice versa. Looking at the facts from another point of view made so much difference and the horrible step-mother suddenly turned into a protector. There was a hint of sexual abuse at the end - a total shock to me - but well written and incorporated. Very subtle and smooth. Lovely done in the way it will shock you but if you don't focus you might miss it.
- I have to noten here that I loved the little bear cub.

Little Knife
- A great way of integrating feminism in the story; the pretty girl asking all essential questions & men not listening to her is an amazing demonstration of how it should not be. The girls also have brains not just looks. I also loved that she ended up with a woman at the end. Was this intended LGBT+ hint? Again it was naturally included in the story and so well written. I wish more books were like this.

The Soldier Prince
- My least favourite story from the book. It was very confusing. Very unusual, it felt like a mix of the Nutcracker and Prince and Ballerina story by Hans Christian Andersen and the Piper and the rats story. But I was confused with how he got to be alive. How did he make any of the wishes or decisions? And most of all how did he swap the place with the maker? Did I get it right that the toy maker killed people to somehow include their soul into the toy?
I didn't like the main female protagonist, she seemed weak and soft and too self-centred. This was, of course, intended and I think she was a well-built character but I still didn't like her.

When Water Sang Fire
- The best was served to us at the end. This story was clearly the little mermaid inspired. The story of Ursula and... I loved every single word! It was perfectly thought through! The details of the spells and dialogues were well balanced. The character development in the short story is sometimes hard to do but it was simply amazingly done. Again, Leigh mastered the change from good to evil and vice versa which will probably stun me every time. The world in this story felt complete and the background for the setting had so much detail, history, legends. Just perfect, five-star short story.
- Magic spell with mirror at the end gave me goosebumps for days! It was incredible.

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Time Crawlers - Varun Sayal 2/5

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

The blurb I read on good reads was very interesting and I love sci-fi even though I don't read it often enough so I decided to give a try to this offer. Let me stress that this was the first time ever I accepted such offer via Instagram or email and I am not sure I will do this again.

The book has six short stories and only approximately 120 pages. Which is the first red flag that popped in my head? How can you start, elaborate and solve six stories in such a small space? But as they say, don't judge a book by its cover. I simply just started reading without overthinking this and here is my opinion of the book.

The overall feeling was: the book was poor. The fantasy of the author surprised me. I liked the core thought behind each story, although the enjoyment from the reading was torn apart by the writing style. It was the first book by the author and I have to say the writing style was making it clear. There were basic and silly beginner writer errors which could be easily avoided if more attention and time was put into the writing and drafting process.

I have few words to say about each story so I decided to split the review into a few parts and give you the official GoodReads blurb and then my thoughts.

1. Nark-Astra, The Hell Weapon

The weapons he possesses make him the destroyer of worlds, and he burns for revenge. A high-tech take on ancient Indian mythology.

My thoughts: The first short story had a great background, the characters were well written and they all had an amazing backstory. The relationships between them were thought through and the connections were perfectly explained in the story. The names of the characters were very confusing. the names of the weapons were too complicated and so very hard to remember. The ending was very disappointing.

2. Death by Crowd
The dark desires of the masses; darknet websites fueled by a crypto-currency. What lurks in the background – an advanced artificial intelligence?

My thoughts: Great idea! Shocking, disgusting and cruel!

3. Genie
He rubbed a lamp alright, but what he got was the shock of his life. An entirely sci-fi take on the djinn myth.

My thoughts: I think this was the weakest link in the chain. The genie didn't have any backstory and what was drafted didn't make much sense. There was no connection to any bigger world. The main character found a lamp in the old house but the reader never found out where is this house, why was this person in there? It felt like he was lost but then he just walked out. Surely if you are lost the first wish you have is to go home or someplace you know. This story just didn't make much sense to me and the writing style here was also very disturbing. It was written as a play, I don't think it matched the setting of the story at all. 

4. Time Crawlers
There are individuals who exist in multiple time periods at once, and there are those who know about them….

My thoughts: Good idea but poorly written. I felt like the same thing was explained over and over in different words. This short story felt like cut out of the context and setting and it was missing background. 

5. Eclipse
No attacks, no blood-shed, yet there was an invasion and a conquest. Who are these shapeshifter aliens being hounded by an eclipse?

My thoughts: The short story didn't carry any new idea, but it was still quite interesting, unfortunately, it ended without an end. It was opened and the conclusion was missing.

6. The Cave
The fate of an advanced imperial race hangs in balance as a dark celestial entity meets a legendary protector.

My thoughts: The background of the story was simply just not there. The idea of the legendary protector was great, but this should also make sense why is this person protecting civilizations, what do they get from it? There was some general who was in charge but during the story, we learn that he doesn't know anything at all. He needs to be told what to do by another character. Why and how did this person become a general then? It makes no sense to me. The characters in the story acted irrationally. 

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