It's always great to return to Hogwarts! I read it every year for a blast of nostalgia.It's always great to return to Hogwarts! I read it every year for a blast of nostalgia....more
Very good read! Quick and easy, it's a fairytalesque story with adventure, romance, and magic! Very well written.Very good read! Quick and easy, it's a fairytalesque story with adventure, romance, and magic! Very well written....more
Most of the time, after seeing the villain's backstory and understand why and how they became they way they are, it's hard to hate them as much. It's Most of the time, after seeing the villain's backstory and understand why and how they became they way they are, it's hard to hate them as much. It's easier to sympathize with them, to understand that "it's not their fault" for the monster they became. "Fairest", however, is not one of those situations.
Yes, we learn Levana's childhood was hard, unfair, cruel, and yes, she wasn't loved despite trying to please those around her, and yes, we see that she was a desperate lonely girl who was misused and that is why she made certain decisions that led to her role as the villain in The Lunar Chronicles. But it doesn't excuse that everything she does, every motivation, justification, action and decision is undeniably wrong. From the moment we first see her in "Fairest" and start to understand where she started, it is easy, yes, to feel sorry for her, but difficult to be sympathetic; I think that's the point, though. Everyone has always pitied her, never loved her, and as painful and unfair it is, it doesn't justify anything she did or does in the future.
I love backstories like this, side plots or explanations that give you that little bit of extra reason to love or hate a character. It adds so much to her character, and thus to her story and role as a villain. She's still loathsome, more even after this, but I also feel sorry for her pain and the unfairness that was and is her life....more
I read this a few years ago, shortly before reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (which I didn't like at all) and wasn't really fond of it; I, howeI read this a few years ago, shortly before reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (which I didn't like at all) and wasn't really fond of it; I, however, have always been fond of the Keira Knightley movie version and decided that since I'm older and more mature to try it again, and guess what? I really love it now. I can appreciate the writing style, the characters, the diction... It really is a beauty story and a great capture of the world Jane Austen knew and lived in. Very beautiful and charming. I, at first, do not particualry like Darcy, but my fondness for him grows as the book progresses, whilst my like for Elizabeth decreases a little; not sure why. Overall, nice story, drama, romance. Interesting and fun!...more