other books i’ve read –>

the alchemist

– paulo coelho

probably on my top favorite books of all time. the narration and the story- telling fits the fantasy theme so perfectly. i tend to enjoy the rather poetic narrations, and i seem to have a bias towards books where the setting is somewhere in the desert! if i can recommend one book that you read from this list, it would be this one 100%!

the little prince

– antoine de saint-exupéry

another fan favorite! also has a rather poetic narration. what i love the most about the book is that in its whole its a symbolism; the children’s book appearance supports its theme and makes the message a lot more meaningful. i wish i knew french as i believe reading the original words might leave a different impact!

the ocean at the end of the lane

– neil gaiman

i admit that i picked up this book because i enjoy neil gaiman’s work and this one was another one of those children horror books (though i wouldn’t particularly recommend this book to kids..) it kept me hooked and i ended up speeding through it! the open-ended conclusion left me wondering, and that’s usually a sign that i liked the book!

the book of lost things

– john connolly

i found this book while looking for books similar to coraline, but i did not expect it to be another nostalgic-themed book. it had reimagined “horror” versions of fairytales which was cool but i also kind of got bored of that trope. however the original fantasy stories of the book were nice and the ending was quite a twist!

the tainted cup

– robert jackson bennett

i have a lot of critique for this book honestly, and apart from the f-bombs, i really think this is a young adult’s book. the pacing was too slow and after reading the resolution i dropped it. i was just no longer interested in the story, there’s apparently a second book but i doubt i’ll read it. spoilers: the main character is literally gojo :sob:

i who have never known men

– jacqueline harpman

i could have finished this book in one sitting, but i did in two :p it was nothing like i expected it to be, very intense dystopian themes and i loved the storytelling. this might be spoilers but i kinda hoped for a different ending, because there was no closure and i think that was what kept me hooked. the fact that i was hoping at the end i will understand everything but nope.. still deserves five stars!

strange houses

– uketsu

i think this was a fun new book to try and i like the unique themes it had. however, i feel like the translation was not the most interesting which makes me recommend this book to people who don’t read as much since its easy and there’s a lot of pictures :p im not a big fan of dialogue and direct translations, i also did not appreciate that the translator mixed in his own ideas which the author was against!