Books With Lennon 📚

Babel by R.F. Kuang My rating: 4 of 5 stars I finally finished reading Babel. This book took me the longest time to get through due to lots of things going on in my personal life, but still it was a very enjoyable experience and I just couldn't give up on it. The story of Robin, Ramy, Victoire and Letty was fascinating, the plot twists were top notch. World building was great, but I feel like we could have gotten more about the magic system. As someone who has worked as a translator in multiple occasions I can't even begin to explain how fascinated I was by the whole concept of using translation as a magic system. The plot can drag a bit, but when it gets to the last 120 pages things happen fast and they are intense. I can definitely understand the hype behind this one and I am happy my Bookstagram folks voted for me to buy this book back in 2024. I did not have a lot of experience with Dark Academia, but I may give a chance to some other titles after reading this one. Excel...

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir My rating: 4 of 5 stars I enjoyed following the story of Gideon the Ninth and entering the universe of The Locked Tomb series a lot. It was complicated at first, with lots of names and worldbuilding, but after getting the hang of it, it was pretty nice. Excellent book for those who enjoy complicated worldbuilding, space adventures with fantasy, and a creative magic system. The way the necromancy worked was very interesting. I did not think I was gonna continue with the series when I first started the book, after the 60% mark, I put Harrow the Ninth on hold on Libby App, and I can't wait to start it. View all my reviews

Marine A un Secret (Lire Et S'Entrainer) by Margarita Barberá My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have finished reading my first book in French! I read this for my French language class, as suggested by my teacher. It was entertaining even though it was a simple middle-grade book. The story of Marine was simple but fun to read. Feels great to have faced the challenge of reading my first book in French, and now I'm ready to read more books in French. View all my reviews

Icefields by Thomas Wharton My rating: 4 of 5 stars Icefields was a great book to read during the cold and snowy first months of 2025. I finished reading this at least two weeks ago but have not posted about it yet. The book takes place in the Canadian glaciers near Jasper in Alberta. A researcher falls into a crevasse during an exploration trip, and when he is close to passing out, he sees something in the ice that he never forgets. It's a passionate piece of Canadian literature and excellent reading for anyone who loves winter and snow. I enjoyed it a lot. View all my reviews

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner My rating: 2 of 5 stars I finished reading Godkiller and wish I had liked it more. Unfortunately, for me, everything was really flat. The story occurs in a world where a king has banned gods, and some Godkillers chase and kill them by request. A girl is inexplicably bound to a small god and our Godkiller character is now afraid to kill the god which could end up destroying the girl. They end up going on a journey to a lost city where wild gods still roam to try to find a solution to this problem, and a knight who fought in the old battle that ended up banning the gods joins them along the way, with his own intention to save the king. The pace felt really awkward for me, everything moved too slowly or too fast at times. The plot was somewhat boring, the bit of romance was just atrocious. I read it because I made a poll on my bookstagram and this book got the most votes. I'd love to hear from the people who enjoyed this book to know more about what was th...

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami My rating: 3 of 5 stars Norwegian Wood is an emotionally distressing book! I did like it a lot, but I can't say it was an easy reading experience. The book tells a coming-of-age story from protagonist Toru Watanabe. We follow the end of his teenage years as he deals with grief and love. I was somewhat foreseeing what was going to happen at the end, but at the same time trying to stay very positive that things would just go well. I am happy I have read it, but I would advise anyone who's thinking about going into this to check the trigger warnings first and consider if you are mentally prepared to go into a dense, heavy emotional journey. After finishing the book, I literally stood up and went to my boyfriend to ask for a hug and to do something different right away to help me get my mind off those emotions. This was my third Muraki book and the second of his books, and it felt like it was destroying me inside. The other two were Wind/Pinball...

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White My rating: 5 of 5 stars I absolutely loved reading The Spirit Bares Its Teeth! This book is definitely not for everybody; it contains strong and intense body horror. However, that body horror made me feel more grounded than any other book I have read in a long time. There were moments when the reading experience was so intense I was literally hyperaware of the present and my own body. That was such a remarkable experience. I am someone who struggles a lot to get out of my own head, and having something that literally pulled me violently to the present moment was very rewarding. The main characters are so likable and relatable in so many ways. I will have a part of Silas and Daphne with me forever. Please check the trigger warnings before going in, but if you're okay with it, give it a shot, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is one of the most intense books I ever read. 2024 was a year full of 5 stars reads for me, I couldn't be happ...

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin My rating: 5 of 5 stars I just finished reading A Dance With Dragons, and A Song of Ice and Fire has officially become my favorite fantasy series. Finding words to describe such an intense and powerful reading experience is hard. Over the past months, I have lived the Song of Ice and Fire, experiencing each page with more joy than I could ever expect. I have never read such a long series, and it has been worth the effort. A Dance With Dragons was the best book of the series by far, and it's amazing how intriguing the plot has become. I now join the group of people who wait for The Winds of Winter, uncertain of when it will be released, but reassured that once it's out there, it will be great. Thanks, George R. R. Martin, for creating this world that pulled me in and made me find a place to escape where I could find joy in fantasy. Night gathers, and now my watch begins. View all my reviews

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin My rating: 5 of 5 stars I finally finished reading A Feast for Crows! 🤩 I really love this series more and more. A Feast for Crows is the slower book in the series so far pace-wise, but still a beautiful work of writing. I am completely in love with the ASOIAF universe, and this book helps dive into the minds of characters we had not explored before. Being inside Cersei's head was incredible, but if I had to go through another flashback to her visit to Maggy The Frog I think I would go crazy. This book certainly made me miss some of the POVs. I was a little tense when I noticed no Daenerys or Jon chapters, but it worked out just fine. It may be a little challenging compared to the other books so far, but it's definitely worth the investment. We did lose a character at the end of the book that I really liked, I had a rush of adrenaline and couldn't stop mopping and complaining about it for a long time. The character will be missed....

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a masterpiece! 👏🏻 This book made its way to my top favorite books ever. I started reading it with no expectations whatsoever. I first heard about it from Booktube and decided to put it on hold at the library. James Baldwin's writing caught me right from the start. I think the plot was okay, but the incredible writing turns this into an incredible book. I 100% decided to get a physical copy because it was painful to know everything I highlighted was going to get lost since I read it on the library app. “Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.” ― James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room View all my reviews

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book is sad! I spent the last few days reading Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart. It took me some work to finish. Not only to read it but also to process it emotionally. This is a very dark story, and I strongly recommend everyone check all the trigger warnings before diving into it. From a literary point of view, the book is wonderful. It feels like diving into the 1990s in a way that other art forms do not allow us to. As a queer boy who grew up in Brazil in the 90s, a lot of things in the book have resonated with my experience. It reminded me of times I prefer not to remember so well. However, I still fell in love with Mungo and his story. It was lovely, delicate, and harsh, just like real life. Violence is almost a character by itself in Young Mungo, it gives birth to characters and shapes them, their actions, and their bodies. It is a powerful reading experience that sometimes resonates with our own scars. I can only give...

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is one of my favorite books ever. I just finished a reread of Fight Club. The last time I read it was around 2012, and it was already a reread then. 12 years later and I still find it fascinating. It hits all the marks for me. The first time I got in touch with the story was watching the movie when I was still in high school, and I was so in love with everything about it. I made horrible decisions in my life because of the cheap philosophy contained in those pages, and I loved every moment and have no regrets. If you watched the movie, reading the book is still a great experience. Chuck Palahniuk has an incredible writing style that uses language in such a fun way. I love the use of repetition which creates a sense of rhythm and aesthetic throughout the whole book. The nihilism. The concepts, the ideas of destroying everything to achieve true enlightenment, all this crap has followed me through my entire adult life and reson...

Wolfsong by T.J. Klune My rating: 4 of 5 stars I just finished reading Wolfsong by TJ Klune! 🌈 This book was straightforward and easy to read. There was a strong YA vibe and the gay werewolf thing was fun, but I feel like the book could be at least 100 pages short. I read someone say they would have gone mad about this book if they read it when they were 16 years old. I feel like I would be the same and that's the reason why I liked the book overall. View all my reviews

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin My rating: 5 of 5 stars I can't believe I finished reading A Storm of Swords! 😮 First of all, this was the longest book I have read in my life so far. 1177 pages. It was absolutely worth it! OMG, the ending!! If you have only watched the series but have not read the books you are not prepared for the last paragraph in this book! I watched the series first, so as I progressed on the book series I noticed the differences, and sometimes I was very shocked. (Oh my god she is alive! 😱) I love how much more magic the books have compared to the series. (Coldhands 😲) My favorite povs: Daenerys, Jon, and Arya. The writing is beautiful, I am happy that I took the time to read this series. I know there may never be an ending to A Song of Ice and Fire, but the experience these books provide is unique and worth every minute invested. I can't wait to read the next book. “I crossed a thousand leagues to come to you, and lost the best part of me al...

The Son of the Prophets by Bryan Wilson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I finally finished reading The Son of The Prophets! Action-packed is the best definition for this book! The book starts with action, is filled with action, and finishes with action. There's no breathing room, it took me a long time to read it, but only because my personal life was absolute chaos, the book is super fast-paced and can probably be read quickly if you have the time to invest in the story. I had it since it was still unpublished as an ARC, but was only able to finish by now, as the book is already published. There was a huge evolution plot-wise when compared to the first book in the series, The Forsaken Planet. We have way more POVs, and the stakes are higher for every character in the book. A lot of things that were missing in the first book have come to make up for it in this one. We have a more diverse representation of characters and more POVs, which makes the plot way more complex, and those are g...

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk My rating: 5 of 5 stars Just finished reading this book and wow! I learned a lot from it! There were complicated bits, but going through them and experiencing the book in its entirety was definitely worth it. 5 stars for me. View all my reviews

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree My rating: 3 of 5 stars I finally read Legends & Lattes. I liked it, but I felt it was a bit overhyped. The book does a great job as a cozy fantasy, but nothing is too remarkable about it. I don't think I'll be interested in reading other books in this series, but it was worth checking what the hype was about. If you have already read Legends & Lattes, please let me know what you liked in the comments. Have a great weekend everyone! View all my reviews

Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung My rating: 4 of 5 stars I just finished my first book of 2024! And it was amazing. (4.5 stars) This is a powerful story about a boy who was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions. Please check the trigger warnings before going into it. I loved it and couldn't put it down, but it was intense. A real rollercoaster of emotions. Happy 2024! View all my reviews

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang My rating: 5 of 5 stars I finished reading Yellowface yesterday and... I absolutely loved it! I was going through a long phase of reading only fantasy/sci-fi and reading something so contemporary was a great refresher. June Hayward sees her talented writer friend Athena Liu die in front of her eyes while they are hanging out at Athena's apartment when June decides to grab the manuscripts from Athena's apartment before she leaves. June proceeds to publish Athena's last book under the name of Juniper Song, a book about a lost episode of Chinese history. The book explores the publishing process that takes books from an author's computer to the shelves of a bookstore. The book also debates racism, feminism, cancel culture, mental disorders, etc. All of that is in only about 300 fast-paced and extremely funny pages. No wonder this book won the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction 2023. However, I can definitely see that it may not be for everyone, s...

The Forsaken Planet by Bryan Wilson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I had a lot of fun reading The Forsaken Planet! Last night I finished this book, and I realized how much I was invested. I ate up the final 30% of the book. In a universe where different planets are inhabited by humans capable of controlling the power of the stars called Solara, Earth was the only human planet where these powers have been forgotten. An ancient prophecy claims that the one who wields the power of the stars on Earth is the Son of the Prophets and will lead humanity to Salvation. The MC Colton survives an attack of alien forces on Earth and is suspected to have wielded Solara in the night when the attack took place. The journey leads us to Vintara, a distant planet with a purplish tone to its atmosphere where most of the action will take place. The book is a very detailed sci-fi saga that brings classic and fantasy elements to the game, resulting in an immersive experience for the reader. The biggest quality...