literaryjunarin's reviews
469 reviews

Well I thought this would be lovely and filled with passion and yearning. I remembered loving the movie but this one is just them admiring buttocks and pubic hairs.

"You know, one of the hardest things to admit is that we weren’t loved when we needed it most. It’s a terrible feeling, the pain of not being loved.”

I knew Alex Michaelides from his other work, The Maidens, and when I dived into this book, I knew the twist would be a bomb. I loved it. He knew how to keep readers on the edge of their seats. 

I loved the usage of Alcestis as a plot device. Nothing entices me more than Greek mythology. However, what irked me is that Alicia feels just that, a plot device. She did not come across as a real character.

There's just one thing that hurts me the most about books that include art in the plot. I can only imagine the paintings! I want to see them, too!

The movie was better.

Damn! What a story! The dark and gloomy atmosphere was well-described and the author managed to keep the suspense up. The last 30% was a blast of terrifying horror which I did not see coming at all!

"Roscille wonders how many women have stood precisely where she is standing, watching their husbands disappear. Roscille wonders how many of them have imagined the sword-thrust that will make them widows. She wonders how many smiled at the thought."

Okay, I havent read Shakespeare's Macbeth yet so I cannot judge the reimagining of Lady Macbeth but this is such a gorgeous book! I'm in love with the prose! The gothic vibe is just perfect. The stony walls, sea waves, the puddle in the floor, the clanging of swords, I had witnessed and heard them all! This is glorious. 

I support women's rights and women's wrongs, but not the wrongs in this one.

Gorgeous, gorgeous writing! Incredibly sad and miserable story.

More detective story than horror.

 “We find ourselves in a bewildering world. We want to make sense of what we see around us and to ask: What is the nature of the universe? What is our place in it and where did it and we come from? Why is it the way it is?” 

I bought this book because I was fascinated with black holes. The concept was explained in length but very simply without bombarding the reader with mathematical formulas. However, I am an idiot so I did not absorb anything. One point that stuck with me was Hawking said that even though black holes are known to draw anything that comes close and nothing, even light, can escape it, black holes actually emit something, radiation. 

I had a hard time understanding his explanations of space, time, entropy, quantum mechanics, hmm, maybe most of it. HAHAHAHA.

I devoured chapter 3 The Expanding Universe even though I can't wrap my head around it.

And if you thought the universe was vast, you should know that it is still expanding.

I recommend this to really, truly, smart people, unlike me.

Sad and boring