KJ's Book Reviews

  Animal Farm   Written by George Orwell Originally published in 1945 ~130 pages Rate 4/5 Majority of my friends told me they had to read this book for English class and I was somehow not apart of that majority.  I was one of the "lucky" few who only had the watch the animated movie in history class. However, much like this book shows, as time goes on you realize how unlucky you truly are when you are robbed of education. Though this book is short, the story is mighty. I took a long time to get through reading the book. Animal Farm was good, but since I was already familiar with the ending it felt like it dragged on for longer than it should have. The last line of the story was still chilling regardless of knowing about the ending.  It's a well known fact that this book is an abstract version of the history of communism. Despite focusing on animals on a farm, the story perpetuates the idea that leaders can always become corrupt even if at first they appear to care ab...

The Picture of Dorian Gray Written by Oscar Wilde Originally published in 1890 ~170 pages Rate 4/5 It's been a few years since I read a book from the 1800s.  I can't say that I enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray the whole time I was reading it. There was a few chapters in the book that I got bored with, namely when Dorian is talking about a book he feels poisoned him. Every other scene in the book was interesting. Overall, the book made me contemplate how we view beauty and women. Regarding beauty, the whole book was about how looks can kill (pun-intended)! As a society we have deemed beauty to be far more superior than brains even though both can fade away as we age. We are so consumed with looking beautiful and gaining attraction rather than learning who we are. Nothing has changed since the 1800s in that regard.  Regarding women, Dorian and Henry had many conversations about their thoughts on women. In one conversation they state "no woman is a genius," in another ...

  The Women Written by Kristin Hannah Originally published in 2024 ~480 pages Rate 5/5 Despite having watched Forest Gump at an old enough age to understand the plot of the show I didn't realize why Lutetian Dan was treated so terribly if he was a veteran. This book opened my eyes to a dark part of American history. It shouldn't be a spoiler alert to find out that America should not have been apart of the Vietnam War.  Not long after a close relative of Frankie's passes away in the War, does she enlists as an army nurse. However, since she is a woman, her parents aren't proud of her in the same way they were proud of her brother. In her parents eyes, she should be worried about getting married, serving her country in that way, not by enlisting. In short, this book is about a woman's perspective on the Vietnam War. A time where there were protests upon protests namely, the war protest, the feminist movement, the gay rights movement, the human rights movement, among o...

  Everything Sad Is Untrue Written by Daniel Nayeri Originally published in 2020 ~360 pages Rate 4/5 If you asked me what this book was about I'd probably tell you it was about a kid who was forced to grow up to fast. However, I'd also like to mention it's a story about hope. " The hope that some final fantasy will come to pass that will make everything sad untrue."  The story follows Daniel as he experiences life as a refugee alongside his older sister and his mother as they make their way from Iran to Oklahoma. In Oklahoma despite being safe from the potential danger in Iran, Daniel experiences discrimination from the kids at school. Despite his classmates disdain for him he continues to share stories about his life using writing prompts from the teacher; for most of the book it appears as though these are merely his assignments. Through Daniel we as the readers learn about legends, his family history, his current family situations, food, religion, and poop. Yes...