Adult

When I paused for the first time on page 118, I was a little scared. I thought I was getting old, mature, more grown up – whatever you want to call it. Why? Well, this wasn’t the first time I picked up Where Rainbows End. I tried to read it when I was 17 or 18. Tried, because I trudged through the first 80 pages and then gave up. I was bored to death. This time, however, I flew through those 118 pages and actually really enjoyed myself. Who would have thought!

Damn! This is by far the best (and worst) dystopia I’ve ever read! Best, because it’s exactly what I’m looking for in a dystopia. Worst, because it’s so eerily topical I had to check the copyright page several times because I could not believe this was first published in 1985 …

I really enjoyed Mistborn: The Final Empire. It made me smile, laugh out loud, scream, tear out my hair, and cry rivers of tears – and yes, these are all good attributes in a novel. And yet, I’m not as crazy about it as everyone else I know. Maybe my expectations were a little too high with all the buzz around me. Maybe I was too wary about becoming yet again the odd one out. And as much as I tried to love it, somehow I felt distant. I wasn’t able to completely immerse myself in this fantastic world and really connect with the characters. I see the beauty of the novel, I see why everyone else loves it. I can write a raving review – as an onlooker. Unfortunately, for me personally, it just didn’t click (which isn’t as bad as it sounds. It just means that it didn’t have that certain something for me).

I can’t remember how I first learned about this novel. I can’t remember what made me buy it. However, I remember that I ordered it at my local bookshop one early summer shortly before I went on holidays in France with my Mum and my sister. I remember, because I started this novel when we hit the road and couldn’t put it aside. I read it while we drove through Germany, I read it at that strange and blazing hot hostel in Freiburg, I read it on our way through half of France, and I finished literally the second we arrived at the campsite in the Gorges du Chassezsac. It was the magic of the novel that glued me to its pages. Since then, including this one, I reread it three times . . .

Nerd alert! If you are a fan of The Lord of the Rings, this might interest you. I compiled a list of 9 fun facts about the characters, the storylines, and the writing process I learned in The Treason of Isengard…

Thank God, it’s over. Finishing this was a nightmare; I made it through eventually but not without heavily exercising my eye rolling abilities. Either I fail to recognise the literary value or this book is completely mental. There are so many aspects that drove me crazy that I don’t even know where to begin. It was almost unbearable to read, especially since I knew from the very first page on that I would have issues with this novel . . .