Patient H.M.

Patient H.M

Luke Dittrich

 

 *This review is based on an advanced reading copy. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read the book in exchange for an honest review*

Any psychology student will recall the name of one of the most famous amnesiac cases, Patient H.M. In this time, the lobotomy was a common procedure that William Beecher Scoville performed almost daily on psychotic people stuck in asylums for little behavioral changes. Decades later, Scoville's grandson researches into his famous neurosurgeon grandfather's life and 'psychosurgeries' leading up to, and including, his most famous patient Henry Molaison. 

Outlander

Outlander

Diana Gabaldon

I've been putting this one off for a while, due to the length and the fact that there are currently 7 more books in the series (at this time) that are just as long if not longer. I figured it was time to dive in since I've heard great things about this series, and I wasn't disappointed.

As usual, before I start my review I just want to make something clear. I was in no way 'okay' with and/or recommend the beating of any person. With that said, I know a lot of people could not get over that fact and resent this book for exactly that reason, but I forced myself through the rough spots with the perception that it was historically accurate. What would happen when someone needed to be punished for their actions in Scotland during the 1700s? They would most likely be flogged or belted or whatever was deemed fit. With everything that happened in this story, I don't believe that the author would have gotten away without at least one instance of this type of situation. I'm not saying that I just 'got over it', I'm saying that I tried to look past it in order to see the story clearly but it still affected me negatively to read these types of scenes.

Now, on to the good stuff.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, & Jake Thorne

 

This is going to actually pain me to write. I absolutely love the Harry Potter series, I can't tell you how many times I've read the books or watched the movies to return to this fantastic world, but some things should be left alone. I was happy with the way the series originally ended, and although I thought that returning to Hogwarts with the gang's children would be everything I dreamed, I was wrong.  

Neverwhere

Neverwhere

Neil Gaiman

 

"For a moment, upon waking, he had no idea at all who he was. It was a tremendously liberating feeling, as if he were free to be whatever he wanted to be: he could be anyone at all -- able to try on any identity; he could be a man or a woman, a rat or a bird, a monster or a god. And then someone made a rustling noise, and he woke up the rest of the way, and in waking he found that he was Richard Mayhew, whoever that was, whatever that meant."

  Now I know why everyone has been telling me to read Neil Gaiman.