The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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Society merging could be a hard to process: the Bexley & Gamin now has two directors (who hates each other) and each of them has his/her vice, and for this reason Lucy shares the office with the so hated Joshua Templeman.

Every day the purpose of Lucy is to annoy her meticulous colleague, a merciless head-cutter, so different from her, always kind to everybody.

Like similar novels, it’s easy to guess the ending of The Hating Game, but nevertheless it’s nice and entertaining.  It’s a good novel to spend some relaxing time, the hottest scenes – a little bit graphical – are not so recurring as it happens in other romance novels.

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* The Hating Game by Sally Thorne ★★★★☆

*I read this book in english

A Glove Shop in Vienna and Other Stories by Eva Ibbotson

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A glove shop in Vienna & other stories is a collection of 19 tales by Eva Ibbotson.

Eva Ibbotson’s stories are romantic and positive, a true panacea when I’m sad or dejected. I did not like all the tales the same, but every collection has its highs and lows.

The best tales are the ones a friend defines “concentrated novels”, where the protagonists meet, are separated and then get together again in the most romantic ending; in this category belong the following:  A rose in Amazonia, Sidi, Theatre Street. Other tales have some funny elements, or near-paradox situations, A little disagreement where an old lady uses to act frequently the day of her death, The great carp Ferdinand where the main dish of the Christmas Eve dinner refuses to die, or The Magi of Markham Street and The Little Countess where respectively we have a Christmas play with unexpected ending and a governess is exhausted by the customs of the Russian family she attends to.

Other tales I liked are: Vicky and the Christmas Angel, Osmandine, A Glove shop in Vienna.

The tales have beautiful plot, but the narrative style should be mentioned, too: Ibbotson’s style is beautiful, using few words a scene becomes alive, and the background is full of characters reflecting culture and life style of the period.

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* A Glove Shop in Vienna and Other Stories by Eva Ibbotson ★★★★☆

*I read this book in english

[ARC] Blackmail Boyfriend by Chris Cannon

Blackmail Boyfriend non è un capolavoro della letteratura, ma resta allineato alle aspettative generate dalla quarta di copertina.

Haley, studentessa modello, costrince il bello e ricco Bryce a fingere di essere il suo ragazzo (il come e il perchè sono abbastanza ridicoli), ma la loro storia finta sembra diventare sempre più reale.

Blackmail Boyfriend ha l’impianto del melody: la protagonista cenerentola, il protagonista ricco e meraviglioso ma emotivamente scompensato, lei che riesce a raggiungere il di lui cuore. E come melody – ma per ragazzi – fornisce quello che il lettore si aspetta, una storia leggera, un lieto fine (non si può considerare spoiler viste le premesse), insomma una lettura gradevole per passare alcune ore di svago.

Ringrazio l’editore per avermi fornito la copia necessaria per stendere questa recensione.

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Blackmail Boyfriend clearly is not a literature masterpiece, but it is aligned to what it is promised by the back cover.

Haley, an honor student, forces the beautiful and rich Bryce to be her fake boyfriend (how and why are quite hilarious), but their fake love story seems to become more and more real.

Blackmail Boyfriend has the structure of a melody: she is like cinderella, he is rich and wonderful and emotionally broken, she is able to get to his heart. And as a melody – but for YA – provides what the reader is waiting for, an easy story, a happy ending (considering the premises it’s not a spoiler), overall a nice read to spend some hours relaxing.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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Blackmail Boyfriend by Chris Cannon ★★★☆☆

[ARC] A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery

Kelsey e Michelle sono due gemelle, estroverse e molto diverse, non solo per gli interessi artistici: Kelsey ama la danza e il movimento, Michelle invece ama dipingere.

Poco dopo aver presentato a Kelsey il nuovo fidanzato, Peter, militare destinato all’Afghanistan, Michelle muore in un incidente d’auto. Straziata dal dolore per la perdita della sorella, e decisa a risparmiare a Peter la sofferenza fino alla fine della missione, Kelsey finge con il ragazzo di essere la sorella.

Mi aspettavo onestamente un romanzo sul romantico – patetico, invece A Million Miles Away si è rivelata una lettura gradevole che non si concentra solo sul meccanismo della storia d’amore (ah, la finzione tra sorelle/fratelli gemelle) ma soprattutto sulla mancanza di Michelle.

L’inganno verso Peter nasce anche dall’assenza dei genitori nella vita di Kelsey, troppo occupati a superare la morte dell’altra figlia con gruppi di supporto, mentre Kelsey si ritrova a capire di conoscere pochissimo gli interessi di Michelle, la menzogna quindi la aiuta a mantenere il suo ricordo.

Ringrazio l’editore per avermi fornito la copia necessaria per stendere questa recensione.

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Kelsey and Michelle are twin sisters, extroverted and different, and not only concerning their artistic interests: Kelsey loves dancing and moving, Michelle instead is fond of painting.

A few hours after the meeting between Kelsey and MIchelle new boyfriend, Peter, recently deployed to Afghanistan, Michelle dies in a car accident. Teared apard for losing her sister, and willing to avoid the same pain to Peter, Kelsey fakes in his eyes to be her sister, with the purpose to tell him once back from war.

I honestly foreseen a kind of lame romantic novel, but A Million Miles Away turned out to be a pleasant reading that does not focus only on the love story mechanism (ah, the faking among twins), but mostly on the absence of Michelle.

The idea to deceive Peter comes also from the absence of her partents in Kelsey’s life, they being too much focused on overcoming the loss by themselves and with support groups, while Kelsey founds herself aware of how little she knew about Michelle, and the lies helps her in maintaing Michelle alive with her.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery ★★★☆☆½

Gli anni dolci by Jirō Taniguchi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gli Anni Dolci è un romanzo grafico di Jirō Taniguchi, che ho già molto apprezzato per La vetta degli Dei, In una lontana città e Uno Zoo d’inverno .

Devo dire che rispetto a questi altri titoli Gli Anni Dolci mi ha coinvolto meno, per quanto sempre molto curato nello sviluppo e nello stile preciso del disegno.

La storia, divisa in due volumi, racconta dell’incontro tra Tsukiko e uno dei suoi professori del liceo. I due, accomunati da una delicata sensibilità e dall’amore per il cibo, faranno degli incontri sporadici la base per costruire un’amicizia e anche sentimenti più profondi.

Rispetto ad altre storie dello stesso autore mi ha colpito proprio questa attenzione all’alimentazione, elemento quasi sempre presente negli incontri tra Tsukiko e il prof.

La storia, tratta da un romanzo, trasmette la difficoltà di un rapporto tra due persone così distanti in termini di età, ma anche le incertezze sentimentali e non di Tsukiko, il cui punto di vista è quello che il lettore segue per tutto il racconto.

Come dicevo è ben realizzata, ma non mi ha particolarmente emozionato, forse anche per la difficoltà nel comprendere le emozioni della protagonista.

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Gli anni dolci by Jirō Taniguchi ★★★☆☆

 

Dead moon by Luis Royo

Più che una graphic novel questa è una storia illustrata (stile fiaba): le immagini sono belle.

La storia ricorda i racconti – leggenda orientali con però una buona dose di harmony (tanto da farmi pensare a Leonora Forneris), nel complesso la trama è banalotta: due famiglie opposte che combattono da secoli e i due principi (lei, Luna, lui, Marte) che sono attratti da una sconvolgente passione (poi nelle quarte possono parlare quanto vogliono di Romeo e Giulietta, ma sminuiscono Shakespeare).

Vale sicuramente più la pena per le immagini.

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This is not a graphic novel, but an illustrated story (like children fairy tales): the images are beautiful.

The story is similar to the oriental tales – legends with a consistent dose of harmony, and overall is quite banal: two enemy families and the two ruling (she, Moon, he, Mars) who are attracted for a great passion (and in the summary they talk about Romeo and Juliet, but they are diminishing Shakespeare work).

It’s good only for the images.

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Dead moon by Luis Royo ★★☆☆☆½

[ARC] Soppy: A Love Story by Philippa Rice

In questa graphic novel l’autrice, Philippa Rice, decide di condividere con i lettori alcune scene della sua vita quotidiana e di quella del suo fidanzato, Luke Pearson (autore della serie di graphic novel Hildafolk).

In Soppy seguiamo i due personaggi nei momenti di condivisione, di affetto ma anche nei litigi, in un vero e proprio quadro di vita di coppia.

Soppy è un insieme di vignette in rosso e nero che parlano di una storia particolare, ma in cui ogni coppia può immedesimarsi, perchè ogni coppia che funziona si litiga le coperte, condivide il divano e fa pace dopo aver litigato.

Ringrazio l’editore per avermi fornito la copia necessaria per stendere questa recensione.

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In this graphic novel the author, Philippa Rice, chooses to share with the readers her day by day life with her boyfriend, Luke Pearson (author of the  Hildafolk series).

In Soppy we follow the two character in moments of sharing, of love but also during fights, their life as a couple.

Soppy is a collection of red and black frames talking about a particular story, but every person belonging to loving couple can identify him/herself in the story, since every loving couple competes for the blanket, shares a couch and makes it up after a fight.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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Soppy: A Love Story by Philippa Rice ★★★★☆

Horns by Joe Hill

Neil Gaiman – Sandman

[ARC] The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

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When I made a request for this ARC I expected a cheesy YA, instead it resulted better than this: despite the centre of the novel is the meeting of Lucy and Owen, the two main characters, and the beginning of their relationship, the novel focuses also on other themes that determine the characters behaviour.

Lucy would like to have a stronger relation with their parents, always busy travelling without her, while Owen travels with his father trying to forget the recent death of her mother.

Lucy and Owen meet in New York during a general blackout but soon they have both to leave New York: Lucy for England due to her father new work, and Owen for a long travel without specific destination, direction California. That single night was enough to create a bond and a passion for postcards, useful to fill the geographic gab between them.

It’s a nice novel with main normal characters and normal parents, overall well-built and less cheesy than its cover.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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* The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith ★★★☆☆

*I read this book in English

Persuasion by Jane Austen

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I have authors and novels impossible to comment on, for example The lord of the rings and Jane Austen (or at least Pride and Prejudice). This is a completely personal issue, I honestly think I’m unworthy to analyze and carelessly talk about great and wonderful works (see Tolkien) and/or novel I love unconditionally.

In the case of Jane Austen novels I end in comparing them to Pride and Prejudice, and this was also the fate of Persuasion. I skip over the plot details, if interest there is a