默读/Mo Du/Silent Reading by priest [SERIES REVIEW]

 

Synopsis

-from novelupdates

Childhood, upbringing, family background, social relations, traumatic experiences...

We keep reviewing and seeking out the motives of criminals, exploring the subtlest emotions driving them. It's not to put ourselves in their shoes and sympathize, or even to forgive them; it's not to find some reasons to exculpate their crimes; it's not to kneel down before the "so-called complexity of human nature"; nor to introspect social conflicts, much less to alienate ourselves into monsters.

We just want to have a fair trial—for ourselves and for those who still have hope for the world.

Ratings

• Book 1: ★★★★+(.5) (4.5/5)
• Book 2: ★★★★★ (5/5)
• Book 3: ★★★★+(.75) (4.75/5)
• Book 4: ★★★★★ (5/5)
• Book 5: ★★★★+(.75) (4.75/5)

Overall Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (4.8/5)

Trigger/Content Warnings: violence, drugs, suicide, self harm, bullying, psychological abuse, domestic abuse, child abuse, human trafficking, child prostitution, pedophilia, mentions of rape, loss of loved ones, death, murder, violent accident, torture, animal abuse

The Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare [SERIES REVIEW]

Synopsis

-from Clockwork Angel

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London's dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them.

Ratings:

• Clockwork Angel ★★+(.5) (2.5/5)
• Clockwork Prince ★★★ (3/5)
• Clockwork Princess ★★+(.5) (2.5/5)

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ (2.67/5)

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston [BOOK REVIEW]

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

When his mother became President of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millenial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with an actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex/Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family and state and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Stage a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the presidential campaign and upend two nations. It raises the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through?

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller [BOOK REVIEW]

Genre: Romance, Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something deeper—despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus journeys with Achilles to Troy, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear. Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)