I came across this bookish survey on Flip That Page and it totally appealed to me – partly because I just love surveys, and partly because… well, Harry Potter. Because there’s no way I can explain it better than the creator of the meme, here’s what Jasmine had to say about it:
“So how does it work? Basically, it’s a survey of sorts, where I give you a certain spell from the Harry Potter series, and you answer with the title of a book you’d like to cast the spell on.
The first one, Reparo, for example, is all about… well, repair. So you answer me with a book you’d like ‘repaired’ in a way—a book that you thought could have had more potential if it was just tweaked up a bit here and there.”
Simple, right? Right. Here we go.
A book that needs some serious fixing: The entire Hunger Games trilogy. Yeah, I know, most of you are gasping in shock and wanting to stab me in the left eyeball. It’s not that I don’t love the story. I do. It’s the plot flow that really bothered me. I’ve talked about this all before, but in a nutshell, they were badly edited and the climaxes were all frustratingly lacking – mainly because Katniss ends up unconscious for the climax of every book, and it’s written from her first person perspective, so we all miss it. Just bad writing.
A book that deserves more attention: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Seriously. I cannot say enough good things about this book. Also I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins.
An overhyped book: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I cannot even tell you how frustrated I was after reading this book.
A book I’m anticipating: Landline by Rainbow Rowell. Ever since reading Eleanor & Park I’ve been rationing my Rowell books. I waited around 6 months before reading Fangirl, and am still sitting on Attachments until I just can’t take it anymore. July feels like a really long way away.
A book I want to be more open about: I’m not really sure what this means. A book I wish I’d been more honest about in a review? A book I wish I could be more open-minded about? No idea. But if it’s the latter, I’d say Leigh Bardugo’s The Grisha series. Everyone’s talking about it, but the synopses don’t really grab me. I definitely feel like I should at least give it a try, though.
A book that made me cry, or at least want to: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, hands down. MAN did this book hit me in the feels.
A book I wish to mark as one of my favourites: The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. I loved the writing style, character progression and story arc. I got to the end feeling like the world around me was a little sweeter.
A book I wish to keep forever: The entire Harry Potter series. And Good Omens. These are the books I most frequently re-read.
An intimidating book I keep putting off: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. Also War & Peace and Les Miserables, but I’m pretty sure I’m just not going to read those.
A book with a deceiving synopsis: Eleanor & Park. The synopsis nearly made me pass it by, which would have been a tragedy of epic proportions.
“Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.”
It makes it sound like a boring, cookie-cutter teen love drama who’s only interesting element is that it’s set in the ’80s. When in fact it’s a beautifully tragic, heart-rending epic that takes your emotions hostage. Fangirl also under-played in the synopsis and had much more depth and range than I had expected.
A book I wish to burn out of my mind completely: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. I couldn’t even finish it, it was that terrible.
A book I wish to read: Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I’ve heard so many good things and have started it and was transfixed by the imagery. I’m looking forward to savouring this one.
Worst book EVER: Hmmm. I don’t tend to read a lot of books that aren’t well-reviewed and don’t grab me in the first few pages. So let’s maybe amend this to the worst book I remember reading at least half of in awhile, in which case we’re back to Fifty Shades of I-Don’t-Give-A-Fuck.
Phew! That was long! A lot of fun thought. Check out Part 2 – Spells Cast On You and share your own answers or links to your HP Spell post in the comments!
