Ingo - Helen Dunmore

Criticism:

This magical adventure will take its readers, which would ideally be girls between the ages of 9 and 13, to an exciting, colorful world under the sea. This series of books is extremely fun, and it is very easy to

The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Criticism:

This book hides, in a story of love, scandal and guilt, the relationship between society and the individual. It tells the story of a woman who becomes an adulterer while her husband is missing and is discovered because, as a consequence, she has a child. This woman is then publicly shamed and separated from society; and the story is about her reaction

Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant - Veronica Roth

Criticism:

This is a trilogy plagued by the feeling of power that emanates from the main character in The Hunger Games, and the heart-stealing romance of the Twilight series. The first book, Divergent, is by far the most pleasing and the last one, Allegiant, is the one which displeases the most; although this doesn't mean that the first one is the best of the three. Simply, the first one is the happiest one and, as the trilogy advances, the books become sadder. Nevertheless,

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

Criticism:

The story told by this novel is extremely moving and unpredictable. It hooks the reader and fills him with curiosity and excitement. Nevertheless, I must comment that, for me, it is in too

The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway

Criticism:

This book, of a style similar to the one of The Catcher in the Rye and of The Great Gatsby, is a prefectly written masterpiece. The reading of it is very dynamic, and it portrays wonderfully, with an abundance of physical, very easy to capture, feelings: when you read this book, the feelings seem real; the sounds, the smells, the colours... This liveliness helps to convey the great angst felt by

East of Eden - John Steinbeck

Criticism:

East of Eden is an intricately written book for experienced readers. In its philosophical sense, it talks mainly about the past, destiny, and predestination- and the falseness of it all. It talks about how if you think that something conditions you, it will end up doing so; but if you

Wuthering Heights

Criticism:

This book, as its title suggests, is dark, gloomy... It is a book written for people with literary experience who at the same time are willing to take a walk around the craziness museum. This novel, which brood so much over the themes of love and the effect that

Pellinor- Alison Croggon

      Criticism:

Pellinor is a series of four books: The Gift, The Riddle, The Crow and The Singing, which are very similar to The Lord of the Rings but much lighter and less dense, and with a more feminine focus. Therefore, I especially recommend reading them to any girl between 12 and 20 years old who liked The Name of the Wind and at the same time the Twilight series.

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Criticism:

This is probably one of the greatest literary works in american history. Maybe, this is due to the way in which the language used in it is so lyric and beautiful that reading the book sometimes feels like reading a poem. Or to the way in which

Wolf Moon - Julio Llamazares

Criticism:

This is a pessimistic and depressing novel which is nevertheless extremely realistic and credible. The characters and their words seem real, and the descriptions are so visual and detailed that the reader discovers, by reading how the main character sees his surroundings, which are his feelings and his moods. I think that the use

The Prince - Niccolò Machiavelli

Criticism:

This book, written by Niccolò Machiavelli to Lorenzo de Medici as a "gift of peace", is a guide to any prince of what steps he must take to be able to maintain a territory under his power once he has conquered it. Therefore, it talks about the end of

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Criticism:

This book, by Aldous Huxley, is an incredible classic which is marvelously written and wonderfully thought of. Both the story and the style in which it is told hook the reader and make him dive into an unconscious meditation about the world in itself, its people, and everything. It is a criticism of society told in a way that

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

Criticism:

This novel, written by Oscar Wilde, is as pessimistic as it is philosophical. But although an oppressive pessimism lives throughout the whole book, and the ending- and mostly everything that happens in the story- is predictable, this doesn't abate the reading's value as, in this book, the importance of this book isn't in these

The World's Wife - Carol Ann Duffy

Criticism:

This book is full of poems which retell the reader a myth in which the females have normally been overshadowed by male figures, but this time from a female's point of view. Carol Ann Duffy does this because she wants to transmit a very active feminist perspective, and uses a brusque, direct and

Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel García Marquez

Criticism:

This book, which is one of the most recognized of the spanish language literature, is a mysterious reading matter which turns "liquid" for anyone who reads it. It is perfect as much for readers without a wide literary maturity as for very experienced readers who want to read something easy, quick and entertaining, but that at the same time isn't too simple but instead a piece of art which flows all by itself. Therefore, I would recommend it to

City of Lost Souls - Cassandra Clare

Criticism:

Once again, Cassandra Clare uses her imaginative bestseller series, the Mortal Instruments, to grab the reader until the end. Although not too deep, this series remains extremely addictive and is one of these books that feels like water, running wild until its end. It absorbs the reader completely, and I must say that the perfect readers would be girls between the ages of 10 and 25.
However, I will warn that

The Boy with the Cuckoo-clock Heart - Mathias Malzieu

Criticism:

This book, I have to admit, wasn't very much to my liking. It is original and interesting, and quite gripping; but its story set my teeth

Aura - Carlos Fuentes

Criticism:

This book is really well written. When you read it you can feel the tension perfectly, the smooth oppression of the plot. Although you are perfectly aware of what will happen in the next page, and the ending is implied all through the book, the tension is in that

East Wind: West Wind - Pearl S. Buck

Criticism:

This book is the first book written by Pearl S. Buck, but it impressed me very possitively. It seemed to me extremely delicate and beautiful, written in a very poetic and fluid style. At the same time, it is easy and quick to read, without

Bloodtide - Melvin Burgess

Criticism:

This is one of the few books which I, sincerely, regret having read. I started it because a friend of mine recommended it to me, telling me that the tension was touchable, and I thought that she referred to tension in common with the main character, or something of the sort. I was wrong. At the start I found an imaginative, interesting story... but slowly- or rather suddenly- I started to become hooked. But this type of interest was not the same as in any book; instead I got hooked because I feared that when I stopped reading without having finished it I would be turned into what the book itself transmits. It is macabre, twisted, overflowing with an infectious madness. Sincerely, it disgusts me and when I was reading it I feared that my mind turned as dirty as it was. I had to finish it so that it ended well and so that I could therefore recover a normal mental state, not so unsetteled and deranged as the one infected by the book. I, personally, wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but if someone wants to read something which is not a terror book but rather unpleasant, disturbing and twisted, this is their book.

Author's official webpage: http://www.melvinburgess.net/