rozydozy's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ryoflame's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
My rating would have been lower only the last third or so of the book really resonated with me and I found myself thinking it over after it was done. The language used is reminiscent of the classics Firmin is used to reading, I assume intentionally, but it just didn't really work for me. The illustrations were adorable though, and added melancholy to the already sombre tone of the book.
pinkfluffygoat's review
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
juliemiaholmes's review against another edition
3.0
a very literary rat. I liked meeting him very much.
silvia10's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
bookworms_closet's review
4.0
Shoes: Lola Ramona
The Beginning: I had always imagined that my life story, if and when I wrote it, would have a great first line.
What a pleasant surprise this book turned out to be! It was an adorable read and a wonderful companion on my trip to London. We follow the rat, Firmin, who lives in a bookshop and develops a taste for books. Literally! He reads and eats books:
I had discovered a remarkable relation, a kind of preestablished harmony, between the taste and the literary quality of a book. To know if something was worth reading, I had only to nibble a portion of the printed area.
It’s a universal story about loneliness, friendship and the love of literature, but it’s wrapped in originality. I fell for Firmin (try saying that five times fast!) and his story. Firmin is a classic tale of wishing to be someone else. Firmin wants to be beautiful and smart. He wants people to take him seriously, to consider him human. He always imagines himself as a human, trying to copy what he sees in movies and read in books. I particularly loved the scene where he plays the piano for the human he lives with:
… sitting on the bench, swaying to the music, I looked exactly like Fred Astaire, and I sang like him too. Sure, I knew that this was true only from a certain perspective, and that all Jerry heard was a high ratlike squeak. But he loved it just the same. The first time I played and sang for him he laughed till tears ran down his cheeks.
I reacted just the same way and Firmin would have hated it. But I couldn’t help it. I never thought a rat would touch my heart. But there’s a true bookworm for you: throw in some books and I’m your bitch.
Lives in stories have direction and meaning. Even stupid, meaningless lives, like Lenny’s in “Of Mice and Men,” Acquire through their places in a story at least the dignity and meaning of being Stupid, Meaningless Lives, the consolation of being exemplars of something. In real life you do not get even that.
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yasmin69801's review against another edition
4.0
I mostly bought the book because of the cover design. I had honestly expected for it to be sort of a sweet story and an easy read. It wasn’t. I had stop at many sentences and just think about what I had just read. Fermin has a voice that belongs to all semi-crazy fucked up protagonists, in my opinion. He wines about all the same things, being left out, failing relationships because of a different image of the other person, and so on.
There is one freakishly cute feature of Fermin’s brain that I believe mine has too, the property of giving situations “names” or “titles”. I do it without thinking about it. I guess it happens to people who are used to think with words.
There is one freakishly cute feature of Fermin’s brain that I believe mine has too, the property of giving situations “names” or “titles”. I do it without thinking about it. I guess it happens to people who are used to think with words.
repixpix's review against another edition
3.0
Es tierno, pero también muy simple. Aún así, entretiene.