Review of Cut (author: Patricia McCormick)

(TW: self harm)

I first read this book in English at High School when I was around 13. I remembered it being about a girl called Callie who cut herself and was in a mental health place. I wanted to read it again because I couldn't remember why Callie did it. 

I enjoyed my re-read as an adult, but I wasn't convinced by the ending: the reason of why Callie started talking as the trigger didn't seem real, and the overall reason for her mental illness didn't feel that it fit her age. The story itself was interesting, compelling, but very short and lacking in some areas. The girl, Callie, stopped talking and resorted to cutting herself as a form of relief. Her therapist was trying to get her to talk but nothing worked. 

I enjoyed the other characters but wanted more from them. Their personalities did show but it was mostly through their illnesses and not through their hobbies and other details. Although it is a short book, this could have been done in a few sentences. 

There were a couple of editing issues: some of the pages have designs which made it hard to see the words, and there were a few typos which is normal but for such a short book it felt lazy. 

Lastly, I was underwhelmed by the ending. We found out why Callie stopped talking and cut but it didn't feel like something a girl of her age would react to the way she did. 

3/5 Rating.

Review of Wheel of Time: Eye of the World (author: Robert Jordan)

Overall, I did enjoy this book. It was long and slow but was a fun read. There were some similarities to The Fellowship of the Ring where Jordan no doubt took inspiration (he's known to have been inspired by Lord of the Rings), such as the village being attacked, a stranger with powerful magic leading them on a quest in a group with the MC's friends, and heading for a ferry. It was a fun allusion and worked.

I enjoyed Rand, the main character. He had a good starting for character development for the beginning of a series and is a nice person to get behind. 

Mat was a lot of fun and his cheeky, mischievous nature made him an excellent character who I loved to read about interacting with Rand. It was also interesting watching him change. I managed to work out what happened because of his nature. 

I wasn't as keen on Perrin. He had an interesting journey but I didn't enjoy his POV as much. 

Egwene was annoying in many ways. Whilst she seemed to be a nice character overall. she was quite harsh to Rand and didn't always give him a chance to explain something. She was similar with Perrin. 

Moiraine was a good character for introducing and explaining the magic and the world. She was a confusing and nice character. You can't be sure of her motives because of numerous warnings but she seemed trustworthy. 

Lan was similar to Moiraine in introducing word knowledge characters. They were both good as powerful protectors for the group. 

Nynaeve was a complicated character. She was very good for showing the extend of magic from the village compared to the rest of the world. She was quite annoying for being so stubborn but she had good reason for it seeing as she had little to no reason to trust Moiraine but learned through the story. 

There were a lot of side and one time characters who worked well for the story. I found it added to it without being confusing. 

The ending did feel rushed. The title of the book had hardly any page time and didn't feel significant to the climax of the story. 

The revelation was interesting and promised far more character development, world exploration and magic. Even if it was quick. 

I've heard people saying that certain chapters and parts of the story didn't need to be in it. Whilst they weren't vital to the plot, they did give fun character interaction and showed just how long their journey was. 

I'd certainly recommend this book to fantasy lovers who want a long journey and I look forward to reading more Wheel of Time. 

4/5 Rating