My favorite books

Hello friends and enemies! I’ve been in this Amino for a while and I just realized that I never made a post about my favorite books, so that’s the reason we are here. Before we start I want to say that none of the following books are ranked, they are all number 1 and 5/5.

Six of Crows

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price, and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction, if they don’t kill each other first.

-Goodreads

I had no expectations going into this book, but it blew my mind. The worldbuilding was amazing, every location they visited felt so real, with its own individual culture. The magic system was very well constructed, it never contradicted itself, I feel like the author really made use of the magic present. The consequences in-universe of being capable of using magic were also there and it made sense.

The best part were the characters. All of them were so complex, realistic and had lots of diversity. There were so many moments in which a character could have followed the author’s wishes and acted out-of-character, but it never happened. All of them had so much character development and their interactions were so fun to read. My favorite character is definitely Kaz, I love how dramatic and smart he is.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator.

-Goodreads

Frankenstein is the first science-fiction novel in history. It brings some very interesting moral questions and concepts to the table. For example, the fact that someone is capable of doing something doesn’t mean they should, or what kind of moral restrictions science and investigation should, or could, have. At what extent are we responsible of someone else’s actions?

The main character, doctor Frankenstein, is a horrible person, but he is so interesting to read. Most of the problems he faced in the book were his own fault, but because of the way the book is written you feel bad for him. He is not even a doctor, but a college drop-out. Doctor Frankenstein is my favorite character, not because he is a good person, but because of the incredible characterization. The monster was also really great, he also turns evil at the end but you feel bad for him because all of the stuff that happened. Both of them are very similar, at that just makes it better.

V for Vendetta

Set in an imagined future England that has given itself over to fascism, this groundbreaking story captures both the suffocating nature of life in an authoritarian police state and the redemptive power of the human spirit which rebels against it. Crafted with sterling clarity and intelligence, V for Vendetta brings an unequaled depth of characterization and verisimilitude to its unflinching of oppression and resistance.

-Goodreads

My favorite graphic novel of all time. I usually don’t like dystopias, but this one is the exception. Many of the things that happen in this book have inspiration from real life event. For example, the book explains that there was a huge war that killed millions, England was chaos and the totalitarian government that is now in power raised as a response of all the disorder that was happening in the country.

These kind of stuff happens in real life, the reason Hitler became so powerful is because was in shambles after WWI and the people were so desperate that they saw Nazi ideology as a salvation. This is actually addressed by V in one of his speeches, he says that the people traded their freedom for security, and most minorities were persecuted because of it There are so many powerful concepts and ideas all over V for Vendetta, I’m not going to go into details about it because that would be too long and I want you to discover them by reading the book.

Even with all the restrictions that a dystopia this book is filled with amazing characterization, they are all so complex and unique. I loved the master/student relationship between V and Eve and all the character development that came from it. My favorite character is V, I love how smart and dramatic he is all the time. I have some theories about his identity, but that’s for another blog.

Chronicles of a Death Foretold

A man returns to the town where a baffling murder took place twenty-seven years earlier, determined to get to the bottom of the story. Just hours after marrying the beautiful Angela Vicario, everyone agrees, Bayardo San Roman returned his bride in disgrace to her parents. Her distraught family forced her to name her first lover; and her twin brothers announced their intention to murder Santiago Nasar for dishonoring their sister.

Yet if everyone knew the murder was going to happen, why did no one intervene to try and stop it? The more that is learned, the less is understood, and as the story races to its inexplicable conclusion, an entire society, not just a pair of murderers, is put on trial.

-Goodreads

One form of storytelling that I really enjoy is when there are many individual stories that are somehow connected to a bigger one and you learn what’s happening through them, this book is a perfect example of that. The main message of the book is that the truth doesn’t matter as much as what people believe. Think about that for a second. What matters the most in an election? The fact that a person is qualified enough to be president, or that people believe that he is? Another example, it doesn’t matter that vaccines prevent diseases if people don’t believe, because that means that they will not get vaccinated.

Another great thing that the book does is that you feel bad about Santiago Nasar death even if you know from the first sentence of the book that he is going to be killed. The book makes you hope that he is going to be alright but you know that it’s not true. There is this other book with a similar concept named They Both Die at the End, and I think if you liked one you are going to like the other.

enger 23

With no police to investigate and no escape, could it be the perfect setting for a crime? Martin Schwartz is an undercover detective who is recovering from his wife and sons' bizarre disappearance from a cruise ship 5 years ago. He is a desperate man willing to take big risks. Martin never wanted to step onto a cruise ship again until he receives a call which can't be ignored. On average, 23 people per year disappear without a trace from cruise ships. Never before has someone come back... until now.

-Goodreads

Wanna know the perfect place to commit any sort of crime? A cruise ship. Think about it, if you are on international waters no country is going to want to be responsible, the owners of the ship are going to stop any sort of investigation to avoid bad publicity, and you have the whole ocean to get rid of evidence. The author saw a great opportunity for a book here and knew how to take advantage of it.

The mystery was complicated, horrible and messed up and that’s how I like thrillers. The plot twists was really great, I didn’t saw that coming and it shocked me to the core. There was this also an underlying message about how people perceive certain types of crime, but I’m not going to explain it because that would be a huge spoiler. It wouldn't call it social commentary, more of a call-out.

American Gods

Days before his release from prison, Shadow's wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

-Goodreads

I had lots of expectations going into this book and it didn’t disappoint me. I love the main concept of this book, that the old gods are real because humans believed in them. It’s technically a universe where anything can happen, as long as people believe in it, but it all makes sense at the end, there are not plot-holes. The author did lots of research for this book, and it really shows, all the mythological creatures that appear come from real life myths.

Through the book there are smaller individual stories that help the reader know more about the world and how certain characters became what they are now, I really enjoyed them and it wasn’t like they were just there to make space.

Shadow Moon was a really great character, he spend time thinking about everything that was happening and asking the right questions, not every character puts effort into analyzing all the magic stuff that they learned. I also liked how easily he accepted the existence of gods.At first he was eetic, but the moment he learned it was real he just went with the flow. Mr Wednesday is also great, he is so smart and clever. He knows exactly what to do to get what he wants and is not afraid to do it.

The Shinning

Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.

-Goodreads

The latest addition to my favorites list. It had been in my TBR list for years, and when I got it I didn’t expect to like it so much. The characters were great, it really felt like each one of them had their own voice and personality. My favorite POV was Danny’s, he is a little kid but, because of his abilities, he has a more clear image of what’s going on with his parents and the hotel in general. He is supposed to be smarter than the average kid, so its not weird that he notices lots of stuff. On other books/movies/Tv shows there are kids that are supposed to be normal but act much older than they actually are. Danny has an excuse to act that way and its great.

The best part of the book was definitely Jack’s descent to madness. It’s not something that happens from one day to another, but it gradual and totally in-character, not like Daenerys from Game of Thrones. Through the book you can notice all the little changes that Jack goes through, and he notices too but there is nothing he can do about it. There is a really good movie, but the book is definitely better.

There you have it guys. What do you think? Have you read any of this books? Did you liked them? Can you recommend me others that are similar? Let me know in the comments.