Le Magasin des Suicides (The Suicide Shop) by Jean Teulé

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Has your life been a failure? Let's make your death a success With the twenty-first century just a distant memory and the world in environmental chaos, many people have lost the will to live. And business is brisk at The Suicide Shop. Run by the Tuvache family for generations, the shop offers an amazing variety of ways to end it all, with something to fit every budget. The Tuvaches go mournfully about their business, taking pride in the morbid service they provide. Until the youngest member of the family threatens to destroy their contented misery by confronting them with something they ve never encountered before: a love of life.

My Thoughts

I had read great reviews regarding this book and the fact that it had such an interesting concept really grabbed my attention. A novel about a suicide shop where everyone could - literally - pick their poison (among other means to end their life) written by someone with a real knack for dark humor seemed like a great finding.

I really loved the idea of having a shop where people could find everything they needed to end their life. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in suicide but it was so different and out of the ordinary that it really sparked my interest. Also, this setting, the items sold in this store and its customers provided for a lot of funny moments.

As for the characters, I think it's impossible not to sympathize with the Tuvache's. Yes, they are peculiar and a little eccentric but they end up being funny, despite being always so down and defeated. I loved Alan and the fact that he never stopped trying to change his family and their ways. He was always so optimistic and always tried to see the best in the world and in people. 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. I love dark humor and the fact that it was so well incorporated in this story was, in my opinion, on of its strongest points. However, I have to admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending. Even though the characters developed as I expected them to, I was also a bit surprised with the way things ended. It was unexpected and I'm not really sure it was necessary to go that way. In spite of all of that, I really loved this book and I liked how different it was.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Read in September

These are the books I read during September

First half of A Clash of Kings (original version) by George R R Martin

My review is publish on a forum and you can check it out here

 Last book of the Trilogia de la Niebla. Out of all three, this was my least favorite
 

Book Haul (1)

My first book haul on this blog! yeyey

First of all let me just say that, usually, I don't buy that many book each time I go to a bookstore. I don't like to accumulate a lot of unread books on my bookshelves so I try to control what I buy. For this reason I don't think I'll be doing monthly book hauls because I rarely buy an amount a books that would justify doing them regularly. However, I'll try to do them whenever I have 3 or more new books to show you ;)

I've recently been to Barcelona and I took that opportunity to buy some Spanish books that I've been eying for a while  but that I didn't want to order online.

Las Luces de Septiembre (The Watcher in the Shadows) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón is the third and final installment of the Trilogia de la Niebla. I've already read the other two books and even though I've read trilogies that were a bit more interesting, this has been a great introduction to this author's work and writing style.

 

This might sound a bit weird but I hadn't bought this book before the trip because I really wanted to buy it in Barcelona. I though that it would be a different experience if I only read it after visiting the city because that way I would (hopefully) be able to recognize some of the places mentioned in the story

I read great things about this book and its synopsis intrigued me from the start. So far it has only been published in Spanish, but I leave a small synopsis in case you're interested in checking it out

Corre el año 2012. Iago del Castillo, un carismático longevo de 10.300 años al frente del Museo de Arqueología de Cantabria, se ve arrastrado, en contra de su voluntad, a dirigir una investigación genética: sus hermanos Nagorno —un conflictivo escita de casi 3.000 años— y Lyra —una huidiza celta de 2.500 años—, cansados de enterrar durante siglos a sus familias efímeras, están obsesionados con identificar su rara mutación y tener hijos longevos.

Adriana, una joven y resuelta prehistoriadora, regresa a su Santander natal, contratada por el museo, dispuesta a aclarar el extraño suicidio de su madre, la psicóloga de cabecera de la alta sociedad cántabra, ocurrido quince años atrás.

Iago y Adriana chocan desde el primer momento, aunque entre ellos surge una intensa atracción que ambos intentan ignorar. Pero poco imaginará Adriana que la muerte de su madre tuvo mucho que ver con lo que le ocurrió a “la vieja familia” en el pasado y obligó a Iago a entrar en la investigación del gen longevo. Cuando descubran la cruda realidad y reaccionen, las consecuencias de sus actos les dejarán marcados para siempre.

Read in August

These are the books I read in the month of August

Animal Farm by George Orwell. Amazing book!

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Update

I know I haven't posted in a while but the fact is I haven't been reading that much and I went away for a week and I didn't have much time to just pick up a book. 

But now I'm back, I'm reading and I hope to put up a review this week and I might even do a haul, but I still have to give it some thought ...

See you soon ;)

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

(I'll keep this review short and free from spoilers since this is a sequel to Uglies)

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I did Uglies.I still had some issues with Scott Westerfeld's writting style but I felt that he developed the story quite well in this second installment. So, I'll just summarize the main ideias I took from this book:

• Even though Tally's development was somewhat expected, it was nice to see that she still managed to remain true to what she thought during the first book (even if some of her memories were blurred)

 

• Shay became one of those characters that I actually "liked" hating; I knew she was immature and didn't seem to have a mind of her know but I never thought would rebel in her own way and make herself special in a peculiar way

 

• This book was a lot more dynamic than the first one. There was a lot more going on and I really enjoyed how the characters interacted with each other

 

• Loved the fact that we got to know a bit more about the world created by Scott Westerfeld and the twists he incorporated took me by surprise

 

• I missed David in this book .... I thought he would have a bigger role in this sequel

• Loved the ending! Blew my mind and left me wanting more!

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and I thought it was more engaing than the first one. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait for the operation that turns everyone from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to party. But new friend Shay would rather hoverboard to "the Smoke" and be free. Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The "Special Circumstances" authority Dr Cable offers Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

My Thoughts: 

This book had been on my wish list for a long time. The reviews I had read were quite positive and it seemed to have an interesting concept - somewhat different from what I had read so far. Needless to say, my expectations were relatively high and I was really excited to start this series.

Starting with what I loved about this book.

I really enjoyed the whole concept and the idea that people needed plastic surgery to enter the different stages of their lives. Yes, it was a bit weird that everyone kind of looked the same and that they were so focused on their appearance - something that I (personally) find quite unhealthy and excessive -  but in their world it made perfect sense to be like that and to basically bash the way they looked before the surgery.  The idea that was promoted by this society was incredibly wrong and appalling but I enjoyed it because it made me think about it and because it made the story a lot more captivating.

I also liked its messages and how the book tried to educate the reader through its story. However I couldn't help but feel that some of them were targeted to a younger audience (maybe between the ages of 14-16) but I was still able to appreciate them and understand what they conveyed.

Unfortunately, there were some things that didn't sit that well with me.

I felt that it's pace was somewhat irregular. The beginning was fast; Shay and Tally became best friends instantly and soon began the drama. Then it dragged for about 50 pages and when Tally arrived to a new city, again, it all seemed to happen too fast. It annoyed me and it actually compromised my connection with the story.

The characters weren't (in my opinion) that relatable and I felt that they weren't that well written. Shay didn't seem to have a mind of her own, was a bit childish and easily influenced by others. Tally was smart but too brainwashed by the society's ideology (I can't really blame her for that) but I liked her transformation throughout the book and the fact that she started to see things differently. Finally, there was David; he seemed a lot more rational than the other characters and I liked how knowledgeable he seemed to be. Unfortunately this is all I can say about this characters; they didn't have much more going on ...

I also didn't like the fact that this book was written in a way that was actually distracting and confusing. I wouldn't always gather what was actually going on and it wasn't sufficiently engrossing - I even got sidetracked a couple of times.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I felt that it set some interesting foundations for the following books. It's a bit juvenile but I was able to appreciate it, its story and messages. I just hope that the next books are more enthralling and that the characters have a bigger development. 

I give it 3,5 out of 5 stars