March Reviews

Hopefully, this will be the last of the monthly round-up/one-paragraph review posts. I haven’t got too much left of uni before the summer break and as I’ve caught up with reviews, it shouldn’t seem as daunting. However, let’s get on with what I read in March:

Selected Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

There are so many tales in this book and it was a little overwhelming. Quite a few of the stories I already knew which I think slowed me down a little more than I thought it would. It was also quite strange to read this almost directly after Charles Perrault’s fairytales and I was amazed by how many were almost identical stories. Overall, I gave this collection of fairytales three and a half stars.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Simon Armitage

I had already read Sir Gawain last summer in preparation for studying it. However, as I finally started to study the text, someone in one of my classes recommended listening to Simon Armitage read the audiobook. The poem was emphasised differently from when I read it, making the medieval-esque language easier to understand. I gave the audiobook three stars.

Fairy Tales: A Selection by Hans Andersen

Another book read for uni. I think this was my least favourite of the fairytale collections – that or I’d gotten very fed up with fairytales at this point which is very probable. The iconic Snow Queen story was great and the Little Mermaid was sadder than I realised. The only other tale that really stood out to me was The Steadfast Tin Soldier. Overall I gave it three stars.

I am, I am, I am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O’Farrell

This was easily my favourite book of March. Maggie O’Farrell is such a brilliant author generally, but her memoir is just as beautifully written. Each of the brushes with death is so written so well and are genuinely emotional. I found myself crying and laughing. I don’t know whether Maggie O’Farrell is the luckiest or the unluckiest person on the planet. I gave it four and a half stars.

Nothing More to Tell by Karen M. McManus

Once again, Karen M. McManus writes a murder mystery that I couldn’t guess the result of. I don’t think this was as succinct as her others as there were a lot of different threads that needed to be tied together, but it was definitely enjoyable and I was intrigued. I do wish some of the characters had a bit more development but it wasn’t something that the plot required. I gave it four and a quarter stars.

Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski 

 The Witcher books are dense and this was no exception. I found it a little bit easier to follow than Blood of Elves but that might be because I have immersed myself in more of the Witcher universe since then. I really liked how Sapkowski made the fantasy world kind of realistic by including things like Ciri having a tampon in her bag or Dandelion making up stories to sate Ciri’s curiosity about Geralt and Yennefer’s argument. I gave it four stars.