Books Are Jazzy

A reader lives a thousand lives before they die. The person who never reads lives only one.

Both me and Anna have previously talked about Tahereh Mafi's novel Furthermore, you can find the posts here and here. Not too long ago, I picked up my copy of the second book in the series Whichwood.

Another beautiful cover in this series!

I was excited to read Whichwood for a couple of reasons. Firstly I had obviously been a fan of the first book in the series, Furthermore, and wanted to read the next instalment. Secondly, Tahereh Mafi revealed the basic concept for Whichwood already at the Furthermore launch event, and the idea of a book heavily inspired by Persian mythology interested me. Finally, Whichwood promised to show more of the world of Furthermore, and to focus on a new main character.

Once I finished reading it though, I felt conflicted. Whichwood was a good addition to the series but I have a couple of issues with the novel. The new main character, Laylee, was absolutely amazing and her personal history was heartbreaking. However, I felt like the two main characters from Furthermore, Alice and Oliver, had a larger part in Whichwood than I had expected and felt to me like they were taking away the attention from Laylee. Moreover, including Alice and Oliver in such a large part made it seem as if Mafi was setting up a possible book 3 in a very heavy handed manner.

All of this is not to say that I didn't like Whichwood, it's just that after Furthermore I had very high hopes for the book. I'm still recommending these books to anyone who likes fantasy, just with the warning that the second book can be a bit of a let-down.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

Have you read either of these books? Let me know what you thought in the comments down below!

-Laura

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As promised, here's some actual thoughts on Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi.

There was so many things I loved about the book that I really don't know where to start. Maybe at the beginning? Well, from the beginning I got a strong sense of Alice in Wonderland vibes. I don't know wether that's for the protagonist's first name, Alice, the whole idea on venturing into a magic land or something more, but I found it gives the story a very cute childlike playfulness. 

This same colorful theme is very strongly present in the whole of the book, the setting, the characters, the plot and most delightful of all remarks, the language. I loved how the words played together like they were the notes that form a beautiful melody, and how the structure gave the music its nuances and dynamic. Altogether the text is very much like a poem. Personally, literature like this is something I admire very much and love to read. In this particular instance I fell for the use of synaesthesia. For example: the smell of sunshine, shoes so shiny one could hear them glitter. So beautiful! Such music"

A melody can't form a song and a poem can't form a point without content. The story, as I already mentioned was quite adorable. But even with the ring of childhood, I discovered some points of meaning. The most important being the most obvious one: selflove and acceptance. It is a topic that Alice struggles with throughout the plot.

Last note on this book before anyone gets bored reading this, is the narrator. She (he? it? I resonated with a she) tells the story like she had heard it from Alice and Oliver later, trying to remember and understand events, actions and thoughts. Most explanations are in fact her own interpretations of things. This was the cream to the cake for me (I mean this as a good thing though if you know me well you would have misunderstood since I don't like neither cake nor cream) and it gave the piece its final finish, the conductor of the orchestra of words.

All in all, long story cut short, I really liked reading Furthermore and absolutely think you should too.  If not for any other of my points at least for a joyful 400 pages.

-Anna
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Furthermore is the newest novel by bestselling author Tahereh Mafi. It's a cute middle school fantasy book. It follows the story of young Alice Alexis Queensmeadow as she explores the land of Furthermore in hopes of finding her missing father. Simultaneously it explores important themes of friendship and individuality.


It was released on August 30th, while I was traveling in New York. As soon as I heard I got myself a ticket to the launch event hosted by Books of Wonder at the New York Public Library. When the day of the event finally came, I stumbled in wild-eyed and nervous, not knowing anyone there. Within minutes I felt comfortable. Something about being surrounded by people who are like you makes it easy to strike up a conversation, and thus I spent the time before Tahereh showed up chatting with other fans.


The event was so well planned it was amazing! I got there quite early and thus got a good spot in the line to get your cop of Furthermore personalized. Unlike other similar events I've been to you were assigned a number and they only had 10 people line up at a time. Thus you didn't have to spend the entire event waiting in line and miss all the other organized activities. Beyond the autographing portion, there was an interview with Tahereh moderated by her husband and fellow author Ransom Riggs! The couple was so cute and I loved their chemistry. Beyond that, there was a lot of merch that was given out as well as an airbrush tattoo station. Finally, they were selling copies of all of Tahereh's and Ransom's books all signed, but Ransom wasn't personalizing any during the event. Overall it was a lot of fun and I'm extremely happy that I happened to be in town while it happened!

-Laura
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About Us

Hi! We're Laura and Anna, two twenty-something women who love reading! We originally met each other in Atlanta, GA, over 10 years ago. Since then, we moved back to our home country of Finland, and now that we are in university, Anna lives in Turku, Finland, studying medicine and Laura lives in Asheville, NC, studying literature.

We read in a wide variety of genres, including all forms of young adult fiction and some adult books as well. Laura tries to focus on fantasy, but sometimes her coursebooks get in the way, whereas Anna is happy to read anything other than her textbooks!

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