India Sonoma

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice was witty, emotional, compelling, and if the pacing had just been a little better, it would have been my first 5/5 of the year.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men.

Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone

The protagonist of Shadow and Bone lacks the depth necessary for first person narration, but the story was so much fun that I finished it in one sitting.

Rating: ⭐⭐

Weakness is a guise. Wear it when they need to know you’re human, but never when you feel it.

Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm

So little happened in Siege and Storm that it was nearly left on my did-not-finish list.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Better terrible truths than kind lies.

Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

The quality of writing was miles ahead of Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy, and it would have been a solid five stars if it had explored its characters further.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.

Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

The development of the main character throughout this novel was spectacular, and I particularly enjoyed how my assumption of who the title referred to changed as I read.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What if some questions can never be answered? What if that’s okay?

Jessica Brody, The Chaos of Standing Still

I read this in search of something light-hearted to recover from the endless drama of Wuthering Heights, but what I got instead was a surprisingly powerful story about a young woman coping with loss.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I wish I were a girl again, half-savage and hardy, and free.

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

I always assumed Wuthering Heights was about the doomed romance between Heathcliff and Cathy, but there was so much more to this classic novel.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then… explode.

Keith R.A. DeCandido & Joss Whedon, Serenity

Novelisations of sci-fi movies are rarely amazing, and although Serenity provided some enjoyable expansion to the story, it was no exception to the trend.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

If I’d read this book in high school, it would have made me excited about close reading – I feel like I could write essays about The Great Gatsby FOR FUN.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Acting responsibly is not a matter of strengthening our reason but of deepening our feelings for the welfare of others.

Jostein Gaarder, Sophie’s World

I thoroughly enjoyed this whimsical journey through the history of Western philosophy.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

For me, finding hope is not some philosophical exercise or sentimental notion; it is a prerequisite for my survival.

John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed

This thoughtful collection of essays is, in the words of the author, the kind of hope that doesn’t feel like bullshit.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The world doesn’t stop even though it feels like it should.

E.E. Holmes, Spirit Legacy

I got major Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes from this, but was left disappointed when the character most akin to Giles was only briefly part of the story.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I’m a coward. Only way I can do something this frightening is to tell myself I’m not doing it!

Diana Wynne Jones, Howl‘s Moving Castle

Studio Ghibli’s adaptation has a special place in my heart, and I was delighted to find that the original novel is just as endearing.

Rating: ⭐⭐

Moments of their secret life together burst like stars upon his memory.

James Joyce, The Dead

I know it’s a crime to give this classic novella anything less than 5/5, but I just didn’t feel that Joyce communicated the theme of the story as eloquently as he could have.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

But the thing that makes me really messed up is the contradiction: when I’m not hating myself, I feel righteous and victimized. Like the world is so unfair.

E. Lockhart, We Were Liars

The tension in this novel was incredible, making it easily one of the best novels I read in 2021.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

You can’t change the past and you can’t do aught but rue the way you sometimes acted back when you were young and stupid and thought you were immortal.

James Lovegrove, Firefly: Big Damn Hero

This spin-off novel of the cult classic sci-fi show had no idea how to handle certain characters, and it made for a clumsy experience.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Maybe forgetfulness, like a kind of snow, should numb and cover them. But they were part of me. They were my landscape.

Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

This extremely honest novel about a young woman struggling with her mental health was deeply impactful and one of the best books I read in 2021.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I go to die, you go to live. Which of us goes to the better lot is known to no one.

Plato, Apology

Apology was a surprisingly accessible dialogue, and a joy to read.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Then we ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to anyone, whatever evil we may have suffered from him.

Plato, Crito

There were times when the argument Socrates makes to Crito wasn’t as strong as I felt it needed to be, but there’s something very powerful about reading this through the lens of Plato losing his mentor.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The good and the bad are each very few in number, and those between both are most numerous.

Plato, Phaedo

Plato’s explanation of the abstract idea of equality BLEW MY MIND so much that I’ve had it saved on my phone ever since I read it.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Do not mock what you don’t understand.

Kathryn Purdie, Bone Crier’s Moon

The setting and plot both had so much potential, but the characters were unconvincing and let the novel down.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

I don’t want her to grow up trading on her looks, thinking she has to be pleasing to the eye to be worth anything. I don’t want beauty to be a currency for her.

Tracy Rees, The Little Christmas House

The Little Christmas House was very sweet, but possibly the most three-star novel I read all year.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Those who are willing to just start making something no matter where those steps are leading will go much farther than those who timidly walk a direct line, because every step of the journey amounts to something.

RISD, The Art of Critical Making

Some genuinely excellent design advice hidden within a glorified advertisement for RISD.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Mentors have a way of seeing more of our faults that we would like. It’s the only way we grow.

R.A. Salvatore, Attack of the Clones

Three stars may be more than this lacklustre novelisation deserves, but I am nothing if not extremely biased towards Star Wars.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

You’re easily distracted by the pattern of the cloth and can’t see the quality of the threads.

Maria V. Snyder, Poison Study

After reading countless five star reviews, I really wanted to like this book, but there were so many missed opportunities throughout the story that I couldn’t help my disappointment.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Once Arthur knew the grail existed, how could he not look for it?

Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Boys

Yes, I have read this excellent character-driven novel more times than I can count, yes, I will read it countless more times, and YES, it gets better with each reread.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

He was brother to a liar and brother to an angel, son of a dream and son of a dreamer.

Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves

The Dream Thieves was the book that made me fall in love with character studies as a teenager, and even on my millionth reread, the depth of Maggie Stiefvater’s characters is exceptional.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Adam was beginning to realize that he hadn’t known Ronan at all. Or rather, he had known part of him and assumed it was all of him.

Maggie Stiefvater, Blue Lily, Lily Blue

This is third instalment in Stiefvater’s series The Raven Cycle, and while it doesn’t quite beat The Dream Thieves, it is still one of the best young adult novels out there (a controversial take, I know, but I stand by it!).

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It was just that there was something newly powerful about this assembled family in the car. They were all growing up and into each other like trees striving together for the sun.

Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven King

An underwhelming conclusion to the plot of The Raven Cycle, but the story was always more about the characters, and it did not disappoint in that department.

Rating: ⭐⭐

How you rise above those obstacles is what separates you from everyone else.

Eliza Tilton, Broken Forest

Broken Forest was written as if for the younger half of the YA demographic, while the plot suggested it was aimed at the older half, resulting in – and this is the technical term – confusing vibes.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

I very nearly gave this 4/5 due to the entire chapter spent listing beautiful objects, but then every English teacher I’ve ever had appeared to me A Christmas Carol style until I actually thought for a second about what the chapter was trying to say and changed my rating to 5/5.