The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Book Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Title- The Midnight Library

Author- Matt Haig

Series- N/A

Published- 2020

Page Count- 288 pages

Publishing House- Canongate Publishing

Genre- Modern Literature, Magical Realism

Rating- 3/5 stars

Trigger Warnings- suicide, depression, mental health, death 

About the Author

Matt Haig is an author for children and adults. His memoir Reasons to Stay Alive was a number one bestseller, staying in the British top ten for 46 weeks. His children’s book A Boy Called Christmas was a runaway hit and is translated in over 40 languages. It is being made into a film starring Maggie Smith, Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent and The Guardian called it an ‘instant classic’. His novels for adults include  the award-winning How To Stop Time, The Radleys, The Humans and the number one bestseller The Midnight Library.

He has sold over three million books worldwide.

Taken from Matt's website. 

Plot

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”

A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Taken from Goodreads.

Opinions

I think it goes without saying that this book is very hyped. It felt like this book was everywhere and you couldn't escape it. I had heard nothing but good things about this book. The blurb and premise sounded like something I would enjoy. So I decided to get it, to see what all the hype was about and if it was something I would love. 

I really wanted to love this book, but for multiple reasons it fell flat for me. I do think the hype factor was one reason it fell flat. I hadn't heard a single negative thing about it. Friends had read and loved it. I finished and I just felt that it was okay. I thought the premise sounded incredible, yet it wasn't for me. 

I will say that this was a very easy book to read. Matt Haig's writing style meant that you bounced from chapter to chapter at a nice pace. It was engaging and you didn't want to stop reading. Every time I picked this book up, I just wanted to find out what happened next. The series of lives that Nora ends up living through were interesting and it was a treat to find out where she would go next. I do think that Matt Haig is a solid writer.

Now let's get into the nitty gritty about why I didn't like this book. I thought the premise was amazing, but the execution frustrated me to no end. Each time Nora started a new life from the library, she would have no idea what she was doing and it got irritating. I would have found it more engaging if each time she started a new life, she knew who she was and the details of her life. It just meant that each life she tried was a train crash as she didn't have the necessary information to live it to the full. I found the repetition of Nora starting these new lives over and over with no information frustrating. I wanted more from this book and it just did not deliver. I haven't seen many reviews like this, so there is a chance this is just my personal preference. It could also be that I read this during my assessment period for uni and my brain was focused on how to craft a story and other writing things. 

I have a feeling that I picked this up at the wrong point in my life. I think if I was maybe to read it again at a later point in my life, I might enjoy it more. The uni assessment period has got me very stressed so this might not have been the best book to take my mind off things. For now, despite the problems I had with this book, I am going to hold onto my copy to give it another chance in the future.

What did you think of The Midnight Library?

My Experience Using CAWPILE To Review Books| Carenza Bramwell

 Last week, I shared a post all about my different reading tracking methods. One of the ones I mentioned was CAWPILE. Today's blog post is going to be talking about my experiences using CAWPILE so far. 

What is CAWPILE?

CAWPILE is a book review/rating method created by G from Books Roast on YouTube. The acronyms stands for the seven elements in a book that can determine your enjoyment. They are characters, atmosphere, writing, plot, intrigue, logic and enjoyment. When you have finished a book, you input your details and for each category you give it a score from 1-10. It is then divided by 7 to give you an overall star rating. G has created a CAWPILE template spreadsheet that does all the maths for you, that you can download and use.   

Why did I decide to start using it?

I've been trying to give my ratings more analytical ratings rather than just enjoyment. Sometimes when I give a book fives stars, I look back and think, that book wasn't worth five stars. With this method, I can rate individual themes/categories and see what I feel about them individually. It's helped me think clearer about how I rate my books. 

My thoughts so far? 

I've been using CAWPILE for nearly two months. My thoughts so far are that it's a great way to review books. It helps you think about them with clarity. I'm more keen to read so that I can add the data to my CAWPILE spreadsheet and see how I feel. That being said, I do have some issues with this rating system. Firstly, and this is entirely personal, is that it uses 1-10. I struggle with 1-10 as I very rarely give books low scores. I mostly give them 6-7 (and that is low for me). I would prefer 1-5 as that's what's used on Goodreads. My other issue, is that sometimes I can input the data for a book and I know the star rating it comes back with isn't quite right. It's very hard to get 5 stars on CAWPILE. I will admit that I have cheated and changed ratings for when I know a book should be 5 stars. Overall, I have really enjoyed using the CAWPILE method and am planning on continuing using it. I've been able to see which areas of a books writing, plot etc stand out to me when I'm reading. It's also been informing me of what I prefer so I can include that in my own writing. I've tried so many different ways of rating books over the years and this one does feel like it's the right one for me. 

Have you tried the CAWPILE rating method?  

Promising Young Woman Film Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Taken from Google Images

Title- Promising Young Woman

Creator- Emerald Fennell (writer and director)

Cast- Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie plus ensemble cast

Genre- black comedy, comedy thriller, drama

Length- 2 hours

Platform- Now TV/Sky (in the UK) 

Rating- 3.5/5 

Trigger/Content Warnings- sexual assault/abuse, rape, murder/violence, sexist views  

Plot

A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path. 

Taken from IMDb

Opinions

Promising Young Woman was a film I had wanted to watch since January 2020. I had seen a trailer and thought it looked incredible. I was sad when it was delayed due to the pandemic and desperately waited for a UK release date. Finally, that date came in April 2021, when it was released on Now TV in the UK. I could finally watch this film.  

Taken from Google Images

Normally, I start my reviews with something positive before diving into what I didn't like. I can't do that with this one as I feel I should open and say I was ultimately disappointed by this film. I had waited for so long, had such strong expectations and it just fell flat for me. I will say I adored this film right up until the last 10-15 minutes. I am going to discuss the ending separately, but my thoughts are that when I watched it, this was not the ending I had wanted. I'm not sure what the ending I would have wanted would have looked like, but this felt wrong to me. I was so disappointed as up until this point, Promising Young Woman looked like it could be a favourite film of mine. Everything had been progressing in the right direction and then the ending happened. 

Taken from Google Images

While I was disappointed with the ending, I would like to take a moment to talk about the "aesthetic" of this film, for want of a better word. The sets, costume design and music (and so much more) were incredible. It really added to the atmosphere. I've seen a few comments from reviewers calling it bubblegum or neon noir and feel that describes it perfectly. Yes, this film is incredibly dark at its core. But the aesthetic made it feel welcoming. The music used, particularly the use of Toxic by Brittany Spears was great. The costumes Cassie wore were incredible. Huge props to the behind the scenes design team as they nailed it. 

Taken from Google Images

The cast for this film were also amazing. Carey Mulligan is a fantastic actress. She excels in this role, it would have been hard to see anyone but her taking on this role. Bo Burnham and Alison Brie's casting was such good choices as these are people that have "nice energy", yet their characters were not great. Bo Burnham in particular, you were tricked into this false sense of security that he was actually a nice guy and then it turned out what he had done. I think the casting for this film was one of the best I've seen in a while. 

Now, let's talk about the ending. I found it very unsatisfying to watch this film about a woman getting revenge for her friend only for them both to die. It made me so angry. As soon as I had finished watching the film, I went online and looked at some articles and discussions online. This was not the original end for the film. It was supposed to end when Cassie died, but test audiences and the studios found that too bleak. One option was Cassie going on a murder spree, which I think would have been a bad choice. The option they went with was because Emerald Fennell only saw this film ending with both women dead. Victims of sexual assault and rape have called it out, saying it is particularly harmful. I've seen comments on how by having Cassie plan her death and get the police to save her, it creates this false sense that the police are in fact saviours. Most reports of sexual assault and rape don't get reported and very few get convictions. The title of this film was taken from a quote about the Standford rape case, in which the perpetrator was called a Promising Young Man. There were some comments about how it takes, in these cases, the victims to die for them to be taken seriously. I was planning on rewatching this film in prep for this review to decide on how I felt, however I'm going to stick with my initial thoughts and that is that I was sadly let down by the end of this film.      

I would like to rewatch this film, now knowing all these things and see if I think this is still a good story. I did win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. I've also managed to find a copy of the script, which I would love to read as I have heard good things about the script. I think it goes without saying that I am very conflicted about how I feel. I don't think this was a bad film, but I do think the ending wasn't the right one. 

What did you think about Promising Young Woman? 

How I Track My Reading| Carenza Bramwell

I want to talk about how I track the books I've read. This is something very important to me as reading is such a big part of my life. Over the years, I have accumulated methods for tracking my reading. I currently have five methods of tracking my reading. Yes, I have five, which is excessive. I will be talking about these methods. This is kind of a sister post to a blog post I wrote last year, in which I talk about my book rating system. You can read this post here.  

My Methods

My current methods for tracking my reading are as follows: 

• Goodreads
• Reading journal
• Instagram highlight
• Twitter thread
• CAWPILE 

I am now going to break down why I use these methods and the pros and cons of each.

Goodreads

This is the method I have been using the longest. I first discovered Goodreads back in 2015/16 and have been using it constantly since February 2016. I go through phases with how I feel about books. Back in 2018/2019, I was using it to post mini reviews on each book I read so I'd have a record of what I thought of the books. I stopped towards the end of 2019 as I had so much on my plate. One of my goals for 2021 was to start posting reviews on Goodreads again. I use Goodreads to set a reading goal, to put my unread books and what I've read. Despite Goodreads flaws, I don't see myself stopping using this method. It has over five years of books read in one place.  

Pros

Has everything in one place

Large database 

Cons

Ratings aren't always accurate 

Reviews are difficult- it can be hard to gage what the general consensus is on a book. I also find I am easily persuaded to feel a certain way about a book due to the reviews. 

Reading Journal

This is a much more private method of tracking my reading. I started doing this in 2020 when I needed a notebook to track my blog ideas and it expanded into a place where I write all my creative thoughts. It has my personal thoughts, some of which I keep just for me. It has every book I've read since January 2020 in one place. I like having something physical when it comes to my reading. I really like handwriting things, I don't connect as well with digital methods for some reason. I can tailor this exactly to how I want to track my reading and the only person it impacts is me.

Pros

It's personal to me

Only I will ever see it

Cons  

It's a lot of work

I often have to catch up on it- as much as I enjoy physical things and handwriting, it is easier just to put my thoughts in Goodreads etc

Instagram Highlight

For 2021, I created a highlight of mini reviews of every book I read. I thought it would be a nice way of documenting what books I've read and for people who follow me to see what I'm reading. I've seen a few content creators do this. This is often the first place I share when I've finished a book and has my immediate, unedited thoughts on a book. It's a bit messy, but contains a lot of information. I have conflicting feelings on this method and my Twitter thread. They're going to be on the internet forever. Do I keep the threads once the year is over? I'm not sure how I feel about them.

Pros 

Nice, easy way to engage with what I'm reading

Has pretty pictures of each book

Cons 

It's a lot of work

Sometimes feels very rushed

Twitter Thread

This is my second attempt at a Twitter thread for what I've been reading. I had one back in 2019 that I ended up giving up with. My Twitter profile has the least amount of followers and is the place where I get the least engagements. This thread is purely for me. Similar to the Instagram thread, I'm unsure how to feel about it. I think it's mostly for my benefit and is one I get the most engagements out of (personally). 

Pros

Nice way to document things

Gives people a thread of what I'm reading

Cons

It's a lot of work

Not really sure if I'll keep up with it

CAWPILE Spreadsheet

My latest method for tracking what I read. I had heard of this method for a while but finally decided to try it out. I am going to be writing a whole blog post about my thoughts and experiences, which will be coming out later this month. This is a method created by G from BookRoast on YouTube. It's a data driven method of tracking your books, which is something I have become interested in. I'm going to keep my thoughts short because I will be writing a whole blog post about it.

Pros

Love seeing all the data

Very easy to manage

Cons

Sometimes the ratings don't reflect how I feel

There are some features I would add if I could 

That concludes my post on how I track my reading methods. What sort of methods do you use to track your reading?

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo Book Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Title- The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Author- Nghi Vo

Series- The Singing Hills Cycle

Published- 2020

Page Count- 118 pages

Publishing House- Tor

Genre- High Fantasy, Feminist 

Rating- 3/5 stars 

About the Author

Nghi Vo is the author of the acclaimed novellas The Empress of Salt and Fortune and When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind. The Chosen and the Beautiful is her debut novel.

Taken from Nghi's website. 

Plot 

A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully.

Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

At once feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.

Taken from Goodreads 

Opinions  

I picked this up as it had a really interesting premise. I've been trying to read more feminist books and as the Goodreads description says this is a "feminist high fantasy". I also don't tend to read novellas, so this felt like something I would be interested in. I've been trying to expand what I'm reading as I don't want to read the same type of book over and over.

Personally, I ended up wanting more from this book. It's only 118 pages long. I just wanted some more information on the world building. It might be that I missed something as I read this when I was recovering from being ill. I was confused as to why these archive people wanted information from Rabbit. A little bit more information there would have been great and would have helped with my understanding with the story.

Despite wanting more from the story, I actually really enjoyed how it was told. I liked the dual narrative of the young Rabbit and the old Rabbit. The twist at the end with Rabbit being revealed to be the mother of the new Emperor was really good. I think the thing I found the most compelling about this novella was the characters. We have a non binary protagonist, something I've read very little from and would like to read more. Then there are two powerful women, Rabbit and the Empress. It was nice to see women and non binary people at the centre of a typically male dominated genre. 

I know there is a second one in this series, which I am interested in reading. I would like to know where this story goes and if we stay with Chih, the non-binary character. The writing style was beautiful. I wonder if the second novella will fill in some of the gaps and things I wanted from the first one. I will say that this novella is worth the read. If you like high fantasy books, then this is one you should add to your TBR.

I didn't realise this at the time but Nghi Vo was already someone I had on my radar as she has written a fantasy Gatsby retelling. I have heard mixed things about it, but I am still excited to read it as The Great Gatsby is a book I adore. Her retelling is called The Chosen and The Beautiful, I'll link to the Goodreads page on it, which you can read here.    

That concludes my short review of The Empress of Salt and Fortune. What did you think of this book?  

Grisha Magic Book Tag| Carenza Bramwell

After watching the Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows, I knew I wanted to make some content inspired by it. I went and did a quick Google search and came across this tag, you can watch the video I found it in here. Don't worry, there won't be any spoilers for the show here! This tag uses the magic system from the Grishaverse (which I plan on rereading). 

1) Heartrender- A Book That Made Your Heart Race   

For this prompt, I chose The Diviners by Libba Bray. I choose this because I remember listening to the audiobook and being genuinely quite scared at some scenes. I would listen to it while I was walking, in the middle of summer, and I knew I was perfectly safe, yet I still felt scared for some reason. The atmosphere built in these books was great.  

2) Healer- A Book That Made You Feel Good

I recently reread the first three volumes in the Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman as I needed a feel good, fluffy book. While these books do deal with some heavier topics such as mental health, coming out and bullying, these books always make me feel happier. The story is adorable and so is the art style. I have a feeling these will be my go to comfort books. 

3) Tailor- A Book That Perfectly Matches Its Cover

Taken from Google Images

I realised that all the books I chose for these questions were quite popular books, so for this question, I decided to pick a lesser known book. So I'm choosing Let Me Tell You About A Man I Knew by Susan Fletcher. The blurb and cover for this book were the reason I picked it up. I read it a few years ago and I still adore it. The story was beautiful. The cover is beautiful. I wish more people would read it as it's such a good book. 

4) Squallers- A Book With A Death That Made You Gasp

I struggled to pick an answer for this question as I didn't want to spoil anyone. So I had a look at my Goodreads and I think the last time I was shocked by a death was in The King of Crows by Libba Bray. I didn't want to pick the same author more than once, but this was the last time I remember being "shocked" and it was more annoyed than shocked. 

5) Inferni- A Book With A Steamy Romance

A classic answer for this would be the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas as those books are well known for their steamy romance. I didn't want to choose them, so I chose another steamy romance and that was House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas. I remember that there was at least one quite steamy scene in this book. I don't tend to read books for their steamy scenes. 

6) Tidemakers- A Book Or Book Series With An Unpredictable Plot

I spent more time than I'll care to admit looking at my bookshelves thinking what book or series had an unpredictable book and I couldn't pick one. So I've decided not to pick one. I don't try and guess the plot as I'm reading. I like to be in the moment. I know this is cheating, but it's my blog and I pick the rules. 

7) Durasts- A First Book In A Series With Incredible World Building

Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin 

I decided to go with Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin as I felt the world building in this book was really good. It was one of the things that hooked me in when I was reading it. I've read this book twice and I always enjoy learning more about the magic or the world. Shelby is really good at writing these worlds. 

8) Alkemi- A Book With An Explosive Ending 

This was another question I struggled with as I don't remember the last time I was wowed by an ending. So I've decided to pick a classic and one of my favourite books, Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. I have read this book so many times and every time it makes me cry. I am someone who is very picky (probably not the right word) when it comes to what makes me cry in literature and fiction. It takes a lot. But this book will destroy me every time I read it.  

Those are my answers to the Grisha Magic Book Tag. You can probably expect a Shadow and Bone review from me at some point in the future. What would your answers to these questions be? 

What I've Been Reading Recently- Spring Edition 2021| Carenza Bramwell

I refuse to believe that we are already a third of the way through the year. This year is going insanely fast, which is both a good and bad thing. Like everyone else, I want to go back to normal and we're getting one step closer to that. However, I finish my degree next month and don't have anything planned, which is causing me a lot of anxiety. So if time could slow down, that would be great. Between March and April, I read 12 books. 

March

In March, I read four books. This was quite a slow reading month for me as I was very busy with uni work and wasn't very well for most of March. Here are the books I read in March.

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

The first book I read in March, I decided to pick this up after adoring the TV show. You can read my review of the Netflix adaptation here. I did spot that there were some changes from the book to the show, which I think have been changed for the best. I still think that Beth is a great protagonist and I really enjoyed reading about her. Personally, I do think I prefer the TV show as the descriptions of chess were a bit lost on me. With the TV show, you had the visuals to help you. I enjoyed my time reading this book and gave it 4/5 stars.  

Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare

I was so excited for the release of the second book in the Lost Hours series. I do have a whole review of this book, which you can read here. Without discussing any spoilers for this book, I will admit that I was unsure how to feel about it when I finished. I read it in three days, which I think was a mistake. I ended up finding it a bit underwhelming for what I was expecting. I still enjoyed reading it and am interested to see where the series goes. I gave it 4/5 stars.  

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

This was an impulse purchase before the shops closed in December and I'm glad I decided to get it. The writing style was beautiful. I have never read a book by Maggie O'Farrell before and I would be interested in reading from her again. This is a retelling/ fictionalised version of William Shakespeare's life. More specifically, it's about his son Hamnet and how he is supposed to have inspired Hamlet. I felt that this book required a basic knowledge of Shakespeare's life and Hamlet, which I have. I think if I hadn't had that knowledge, some of the story would have been a bit lost on the reader. I also gave this one 4/5 stars. 

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh   

I haven't had the best experience with Renee's books and sadly this was no exception. I just found this underwhelming. There were too many characters and POVs for my liking. I did like the feminist message at its core, but this book just ended up not being for me. I have one more book by Renee to read and that is The Wrath and The Dawn. I've heard such good things about it, so we'll have to see if I get along with this book. I gave it 3/5 stars. 

April

In April, I read 8 books, 3 of which were rereads. I'm very happy with the books I managed to read this month as I started the month not feeling well and swamped by uni work. 

The Binding by Bridget Collins

I actually started reading this in March, but didn't finish it until April. I think the best way to describe my thoughts on this book were that they were all over the place. The plot, the characters, the writing, it was just all over the place. It was split into three sections and I did actually really enjoy the middle section. Apart from that, this book just wasn't for me. I do have Bridget's other book, The Betrayals, which I am not unsure about how I'll feel going into it. I gave it 3/5 stars.   

Through the Moon- Dragon Prince by Peter Wartman

I recently watched The Dragon Prince on Netflix and was very happy when I discovered there were graphic novel spin offs. I thought this one was okay. There were some odd character decisions, which felt a bit off for them. The artwork was stunning. I am going to continue with this series and can't wait to see where they take the characters. I gave it 3/5 stars. 

If We Were Villains by M.L Rio

This was by far my favourite read of the month (excluding the books I reread). I was hooked. I couldn't stop reading this. I do have a full review for this book, which you can read here. I loved the story and the characters. The atmosphere was wonderful. This book made me miss the theatre with every fibre of my being. I will say that the Shakespearean dialogue did get a bit annoying after a while and I did start to skim read it in places. Asides from that, I adored this book. I gave it 4.5/5 stars.  

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

This was a lovely little feminist novella with a non-binary protagonist. I enjoyed reading it. My only issue with it was that I needed a tiny bit more information about the world as at times I felt a bit lost. There is a second novella in this series, which I am going to read when I get it. I gave this one 3/5 stars.  

The Call by Peadar O'Guilin 

I bought this back in 2017 after seeing it on a BookTubers channel. I think if I had read it in 2017, I would have really enjoyed it. However, reading it 2021 it just wasn't for me. I felt that the author built a wonderfully creepy atmosphere, which this book needed. I struggled to connect with the characters, partly because they were all 14-15 (and I'm nearly 21) and partly because of how they were written. There was something in the writing style that really bothered me. I have decided to part ways with this book and that I won't be continuing with the series. I gave it 3/5 stars. 

Heartstopper Volume One to Three by Alice Oseman

I decided to reread the Heartstopper comics in a spur of the moment decision. I needed something a bit lighter and fun for various reasons. I also wanted to refresh myself of the story with the fourth volume coming out this month. Alice is so good at creating interesting and complex characters. I adore these comics. I can't wait to see where the story goes. I gave them all 5/5 stars.

That concludes my spring what I've been reading recently. What have you been reading recently?