2 Mini book reviews (“Not super mini but I tried” Part #4)

 

Book: “The Tenant of the Wildfell Hall” by Anne Brontë

   

image source: Goodreads

  Dear friends, do you have a son? If yes, then if there is only one Victorian classic you’d nudge him to read, let this is the one.  

“No means No” has become the anthem of our time.

  And it’s very important that sons (I’m being blatantly gender-specific here) reads literature teaches the value of consent, like “The Tenant of the Wildfell Hall” did.   Here, our hero Gilbert Markham waits (and not pursuing, probing, gaslighting,  irritating the crap out of ) our heroine Helen Graham for a considerable period of time-  

to make up her mind about their relationship/ whether she’d like to continue it further.

  So what if-   she is self-righteous to the point of gagging?   Or   He- the archetypal Victorian gentleman (yawn), the embodiment of virtue  (presumably, trophy- hunting was not on the “vice-radar” in early 19th century)?  

Recommended for:

   

•   Readers who are on the lookout for a refreshing ‘feminist’ tale (taken the “era” into consideration) that encapsulates- i) rebuking a debauch husband, ii)feeling attracted to another man out of wedlock, iii) becoming self-dependent ‘woman’ and v) single parenting by will etc.

         

• The charming, charming writing of Anne Brontë (the underdog among the Brontë-sisters)

   

•  Readers who love- i)their heroine feisty in her righteousness, ii) sprawling mansion, iii) English countryside and v) Victoria-era gossip.

Recommended “not” for:

 

• You find all of the above points boring and the stiff language put you to sleep.

       

Book: “Sadie” by Courtney Summers

   

image source: Goodreads

    I was not expected to like “Sadie”. I was in the mood for a quick -read that won’t press too much time and picked this one up. And “Sadie” kinda got under my skin. The premise is pretty simple. It plays up between POVs of two persons-  

a girl who is hunting down the killer of her little sister across cities, and an investigative journalist of a PodCast- unearthing her traces.

    Technically, “Sadie” has nothing new that you’ve not already read countless times before if you’re a fan of contemporary YA mystery genre.   It has-  

• supremely effed-up families helmed by incompetent- parent,
• being bullied,
• complicated sibling relationship etc.

    But I must sing paeans to the way Courtney Summers writes.   She kept everything fast-paced, tidy and creepy enough to crawl your skin. And infused a sense of doom.   And loads of sadness over the lost potentials of innocent kids.   And built up the protagonist Sadie– one of her kind.  

She is by far one of the most unique female leads I’ve read in contemporary fiction in recent times. Absolutely loved her.

Recommended for:

       

• “Sadie” is one of the hottest new releases this season. So if you want to be a braggart, go ahead.

 

• If you want to feel  punch in the gut at the end,

 

• want your book to keep you on your toes and won’t let you rest till you finish it off.

 

Recommended “not” for:

         

• If reading about fictions dealing with child abuse, pedophilia makes you nauseous.

     

• If you don’t want to know about the lives of society’s bottom of the barrel and much prefer the white picket fence bubble.

     

• If you’re looking for profound, life-altering quotes that you’d like to grace your IG, Twitter wall with.

              Have you read any of these two books before? Or planning to read them? What do you think about their premises? Let me know in the comments.      

      Related post: 3 mini book reviews (part#3)

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