Učenici 4. razreda gimnazije imali su zadatak napisati kritički osvrt na pročitanu knjigu, i to na engleskom jeziku. Knjige o kojima su odabrali pisati uglavnom nisu na popisu lektire, pa vas to možda potakne da i sami posegnete za nekom od njih. Evo nekih prijedloga za čitanje.

A book review

            The book I chose is called “A Game of Thrones” written by a famous American writer George R. R. Martin. He is one of the best and most popular epic fantasy writers. His series of novels called “A Song of Ice and Fire” gained so much attention that HBO decided to make a TV show with the exact same plot. It now has a 10 000 000 $ budget per episode and is watched by millions of fans.

            I was first amazed by the show when my sister recommended it to me. I found myself lying in my bed for ten hours watching a whole season. When I finished watching all the episodes I simply wanted more. Luckily, the town library had the first novel and as soon as I came home I started reading. The plot was just so gripping in the beggining that you could not stop. It revolves around ancient and wealthy families that fight for the throne. There are also dragons, soldiers and travelling adventures. King Robert Baratheon dies and everybody claims they are the true heir to The Throne. This results in many exciting battles with swords and spears. Many characters die throughout all the events but one of them is clearly special. His name is Jon Snow. He is Eddard Starks’ bastard son who fights for justice and peace in the world. He realises soon that his task is much harder than he thought... As the plot progresses, the novel becomes very complex and requires a lot of patience and concentration. I like the insightful description of the pure truth about how  people used to live centuries ago. There is a lot of blood, love and tension. It checks all the boxes for me.

            To conclude, I really liked reading this book. It inspired me and kept me interested in history, wars, weapons and relationships. I recommend it to anyone who likes fiction, romance or adventures. If you are too lazy to read, at least watch the show, you will not regret it.

                                                                                                              Robert Đaković, 4.a

RUTA SEPETYS: BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY

- BOOK REVIEW

Between Shades of Gray, written by Ruta Sepetys, is a historical novel which tackles the issue of Siberian labor camps at the beginning of the Second World War.

Lina is a Lithuanian 15-year-old girl who lives an ordinary life with her family until one day Soviet officers (NKVD) knock on their door and ask them to pack their suitcases with basic necessities and to follow them. They take them to a labor camp at Trafimovsk in the Arctic Circle. There, they are hungry, cold and they are witnesses to unimaginable cruelty. Lina talks about her experiences through drawings and letters she is "sending" to her father. Those letters never really reach him. She burries them in a jar hoping that one day someone will find them and everything she and her family went through would not remain a Soviet secret.

The touching testimony will leave you speechless. The plot is not complex and it is easy to understand it, but such a moving story does not really need to be intricate. While reading, you can easily compare Lina with Anne Frank. The main difference is that we knew Anne was going to die from the beginning. Contrary to that, Lina gives indications about her end, but not that clearly. Lina shows that, even in the toughest situations, we need to stay strong and we mustn't ever lose hope. What made me so immersed in this book was the fact that Lina, even in such cruel living conditions, finds a way to enjoy every little thing that is offered to her: love, experience, fresh air, friends and family. This gripping novel left me thinking about human nature for a long time after reading it. The perceptive account of life in Siberian labor camps will challenge your views on the Second World War and its victims.

Between Shades of Gray is a perceptive representation of the inhumane conditions camp inmates were kept in during the Second World War. Also, the novel highlights the problem of not knowing who to blame for all that happened there. The novel is a must-read because the truth has to be known in the whole world and it must never be forgotten.

                                                                                         Maja Dražić, 4.A

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

    Set in France during the Second World War, this is a story of two brave women, two sisters who went through the unimaginable to save their family, friends and country. Written by an American author Kristin Hannah, this riveting historical romance will keep you awake all night up to the last page.

    The plot begins in 1995 with an old woman packing her belongings before leaving for the retirement home. While packing she finds an old identity card from the fourties with the name of Juliette Gervaise. Her son, Julien, asks her who Juliette is. This question awakens many long forgotten memories in the old woman whose indentity will be revealed later. The story then moves back to the Second World War. Isabelle lives in Paris with her depressed father still heartbroken from his wife's death and the terrors of the Great War in which he served. When the Nazis come to Paris, he tells Isabelle to go to her sister Vianne who lives in Carriveau. During the journey she meets Gaetan and falls in love with him. Gaetan is a Resistance member and he invites Isabelle to go to war with him. After arriving in Carriveau, Gaetan leaves Isabelle, thus breaking his promise of fighting together in the war. Vianne lives with her daughter Sophie and a German officer called Beck. Her husband Antoine is fighting somewhere on the eastern front. Isabelle, disappointed by her sister for housing a Nazi, decides to join the Resistance by distributing anti Nazi propaganda pamphlets. Beck asks Vianne for a list of communists and Jews in Carriveau. Unaware of its meaning, Vianne gives it. Later on, realising what she has done, Vianne decides to save as many Jewish children as possible by making false identification papers and sending them to a catholic orphanage. Meanwhile, Isabelle becomes so skillful that she takes on a new challenge of saving fallen Allied pilots by taking them across the Pyrenees to Spain. During the following years many tragic events happen  in Carriveau bringing the story to a complex peak followed by a touching and insightful ending.

    When I read the blurb, I expected a plain love story during WWII, but what I got was something much deeper and more perceptive. Never have I realised what war meant to women. How they suffered through unbearable tragedies, being raped and humiliated by the Nazi soldiers. Vianne had to stay strong for her family. Being the rebel in the family, Isabelle fought for France in every way she could, never realising how much she contributed to winning the war. I like how the story is written, how the plot jumps from 1995 to the 40's and back. Also, there are not many descriptive passages that would be considered boring by the majority of people. The whole book is written so interestingly and in such deatil that it helps us to live the story together with the characters.

    This book is a must-read for every WWII themed book lover and also for those who like a good non-clichéd love story, not just based on two lovers but on an emotinal story of two sisters learning the value of the family. The Nightingale won the 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards and has been announced to become a movie in 2019. I highly recommend reading the book before the movie gets out.

                                                                                                              Lorena Žinić, 4.A