I would say I enjoyed this book. It's about a small group of people, but mainly a young Nick Carraway and a Jay Gatsby. One thing I like about the book is the complex relationships across the characters. Their interactions with each other as the story progresses become more interesting as you learn more. There were some parts during the reading when I got confused by the plot, but that was probably just me. I also feel that towards the end, the plot moves way quicker and intensifies in drama. I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it because it's just a classic American novel.

Ten strangers, all holding secrets are invited to an island together. No one knows the man that invited them and soon they will all reveal that they are trapped there. They will have to find creative approaches to make sense of what will happen on that island before all of them are gone. And Then There Were None by world-renowned author Agatha Christie is another great murder mystery. Throughout the entire book you will be thinking of who the murderer is, and every twist and turn will put you on the edge of your seat. This is an amazing book and murder mystery lovers would really enjoy this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book! Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' is a classic novel that everyone knows. It's a tale about Victor Frankenstein, a scientist, and how he creates life. Except it's made from body parts. What I liked about reading this is that this is the original. Young readers don't really know about all the other complex parts of the story. It was so interesting to read and learn about a narrative I never knew before. More on the plot, it's about how Victor creates a creature and then the seemingly endless and terrifying consequences.
However, this book is incredibly hard to read. The old way it's written makes it easier to get lost or not completely understand what happened. There's a lot of words I had to look up, but the context also helps decipher it. One of my favorite parts of the book is the building suspense. Ultimately, I think this book has so much beauty, because of all the emotions I had while reading it and the message it carries about human nature.

Written in the “stream of consciousness” style, this book is very interesting, but honestly hard to read. There are 6 characters who we follow. Starting when they’re pre-schooler age, to their deaths. Each character has definitive characteristics. I believe each character is supposed to be relatable to in some way, as many of them battle with insecurities, self-comparisons, passions, depression, etc. The writing itself is very good, but it just wasn’t my favorite.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a masterpiece! I definitely see why it is such a well known novel. However, it is a Victorian gothic novel, so it does explore uncomfortable themes such as incest and abuse. However, it doesn’t delve into them in a way that’s triggering or uncomfortable. This novel focuses on the Earnshaws, a wealthy family that owns the manor Wuthering Heights. While the family of four once lived happily, one night their father returns home with a new child named Heathcliff. A darker-skinned child from unknown origins. As the child adapts to his new environment, facing abuse and belittlement, he begins to slowly take over the manor. This story is super interesting if you’re interested in dramatic stories! I’d definitely recommend, just be wary of any uncomfortable themes. :)

I first read this book for a school assignment, but quickly fell in love with the outstanding novel Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. Hatchet is a perfect survival book for nature lovers. Paulsen writes about a boy named Brain Robeson. With parents divorced, and a secret eating him from the inside, Brian’s life is in turmoil; However, his life changes the moment his plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness on a flight to his father’s house. Can Brain survive, or will he succumb to the sheer power of nature? Hatchet is a top notch book and will please any reader.

When smoke emerges from the house of the wealthy Samuel W. Westing and he is found dead, his sixteen heirs are invited to the reading of his will. Soon they will find themselves involved in a game to win his fortune, divided into pairs they must use nonsensical clues to win the game. No one is able to trust any of the other heirs, so when a huge snowstorm traps some of them together tensions are high. With unexpected twists in every corner of the book Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game is a must read for any mystery lover. Every character is crafted brilliantly, with unique backstories and great character development. This book keeps you on your toes the whole time, with great vocabulary and a unique plot it is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. The Westing Game is a perfect mystery novel for people of many ages and keeps you wanting more.

Matilda was one of those books I didn't grow up with. I have no nostalgia for this story, so when I finally got around to listening to the audiobook version, it disappointed me. I know I'm not the intended audience, but what exactly was the lesson being taught here? The main villain was so over the top with her cruelty that I legitimately wondered what Roald Dahl's home life was like when he was growing up. Sure, sticking up for yourself is a great moral, but come on.

I think the biggest issue I had with this book comes down to how they narrated the audiobook. There's the way normal people narrate audiobooks, then there's how people narrate audiobooks for children. The overacting made it difficult to listen to, but not for the reason you'd think. Matilda was such a soft-spoken character that all her lines were whispered. In contrast, all the villainous adults were voiced with shouting. This gave the volume dial on my car whiplash as I kept turning it up to hear what was being said, only to have the narration turn around and blow out my speakers.

As for the plot itself, only one character was likeable. Since everything was from Matilda's point of view, all adults were bumbling buffoons, and all her peers were slobbering idiots. The kind teacher was the only one who gave the precocious child a chance to prove how extremely intelligent she was, but her backstory was so eye-rollingly tragic as to be laughable. Honestly, most of this book felt like I was a witness to child abuse, and that's with its somewhat happy ending.

A too quiet and too loud audiobook about an annoyingly precocious child, I give Matilda 2.0 stars out of 5.

“The Giver” is a book that really stands out in a crowd. In this enchanting tale by Lois Lowry, a two-time Newberry Medal winner, a young boy named Jonas lives in a perfect society. There is no pain. No sickness. No hunger. However, when he is assigned to his job in the Community, he is singled out and given a special job. Suddenly, everything is different. Jonas is able to see things- feel things- in a way that he never has before. Can Jonas find the flaws that he was blind to before and restore life to his Community? For those who like slow, thought provoking stories, The Giver is a gem to keep on your bookshelf. Plus, it is one of four moving chapters in a quartet that avid readers are sure to enjoy.

The Portrait by Nikolai Gogol is one of his best short stories centering around a penniless artist, Chartkov, struggling to make his name in the art world and finds himself entranced by a portrait he buys at a merchant shop. With a steely face, build of a giant, and eyes that seem to pierce the soul, the portrait that he buys on an impulse at a run-down shop carries a mystery with it that haunts Chartkov both in his waking hours and in his sleep. As he is overcome by his financial difficulty, the strange portrait that he stashed away for fear of its gaze changes his life forever. With flowing imagery and an intrinsic description of human nature and its afflictions, The Portrait latches onto the reader’s heart and presents them with a fascinating account of Chartkov and his peculiar encounter with the portrait with uncanny realism and blended fantasy.