maiko_lenting | Narrative Muse

Maiko Lenting

This is Maiko. She’s liked books since forever, which is how she ended up working in publishing. Her favorite author is now, and forever will be, Tamora Pierce (and not only because Prince Jonathan was her first book crush). She’ll read anything (unless it’s Austen) and especially loves folklore and myth. Her current addictions are radio-drama podcasts, movies starring Domhnall Gleeson and going for extravagantly long walks. She’s based in London and currently works for Hachette.

Reviews by Maiko Lenting:

Image: The Choice

This is a phenomenal memoir. It was Edith’s choice not to give up on life while in Auschwitz. Instead, she chose to fight and to live.

Girl with fairy wings

This Is How It Always Is

This is how children change…and then change the world. Reading this book will change you, and the publication of this book has the potential to change the way that the world thinks.

Grape vines

The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna

Epic is the word that describes this book best. It is epic in scope, in physical size, and in vision, and I savored every moment I spent with the Fortuna family.

Woman's eye

This is not just a book about mathematics. Catherine Chung uses mathematics as a lense to look at topics far more poignant and pressing.

Boys in love

Heartstopper: Volume One

I loved the comic drawings and the way the boys interacted but what I loved the most was that this is a book about two boys having a relationship.

Book cover art detail of headphones and a heart

Love, Music, Madness

This books is filled with characters who just feel so damn real. Sparks fly, but sparks create fires and boy does this book come to an explosive conclusion.

How Do You Like Me Now book cover

How Do You Like Me Now?

How Do You Like Me Now? really was an eye-opening book. This was not what I expected to get from an author whose previous works were all YA.

Normal People book cover

Normal People is exactly what this book is about. Just two very ordinary people who make mistakes, make up, break up, and then some. And it’s flawless.

Y: The Last man book cover

Y: The Last Man

What I loved about Y: The Last Man was the humor. I wouldn’t have thought that an apocalypse could be so entertaining, but Vaughan et al. make it exactly that.

An Ocean of Minutes book cover

An Ocean of Minutes

An Ocean of Minutes was sold to me as The Time Traveller’s Wife meets Station Eleven. With that, I knew that I had to read this book, and I was not disappointed.

Adrift movie poster

This is a movie about the lengths some people go to in the name of love and the power such feelings hold. The chemistry of the two leads is palpable.

Tomb Raider movie poster

It’s not exactly original, but just like the original Tomb Raider movies, it is the biggest bunch of fun that the price of a cinema ticket can buy.

From Twinkle, with Love book cover

From Twinkle, with Love

I was drawn to the book for the Indian-American set of characters but I stayed with the book for the will-they-won’t-they-oh-come-on-they-must-get-together moments.

Image: It Only Happens in the Movies

It Only Happens in the Movies

This whole book is a delightful critique on the media whilst also nailing what it’s like to be a teenager. I’d laugh on one page and be near tears on the next.

Image: Wild Magic (Immortals Quartet)

Wild Magic (Immortals Quartet)

There’s a reason that Tamora Pierce is listed as an inspiration for the fantasy YA queens of the now. She is a master. I love everything she touches.

Image: Almost Love

Jeanette Winterson once said that “O’Neill writes with a scalpel,” and that could not be more appropriate for this book also.

Image: The Greatest Showman

The Greatest Showman

If you loved the bright and colorful opening number of La La Land the most, then you are going to absolutely love The Greatest Showman.

Image: The Immortalists Thumbnail

The Immortalists

The premise is simple; what would you do if you knew the exact date of your death? Would you continue on as normal or embrace a reckless future?

Image: Saga

It’s space at its best, with a diverse cast of characters and love, blood, sex, and robots. But, most of all, it’s the most fun read ever. Period.

Image: The Wrath and the Dawn

The Wrath and the Dawn

In its simplest form, this is a reimagining of the tale of The Thousand and One Nights. In its more exciting form, it’s a beautifully realized love story.

Image: Atomic Blonde

What a kickass cast starring Charlize Theron, such action, what a soundtrack and, man, that fashion.

Image: When Dimple Met Rishi

When Dimple Met Rishi

Dimple is 100% true to himself. Rishi is still discovering who she is. Ah, the perfect breeding ground for ferocious debates and a beautiful infatuation.

Image: The Natural Way of Things

The Natural Way of Things

A group of women is kidnapped and left to fend for themselves in the wilderness. Yes, this novel is dark and harrowing but it's also completely compelling.

Image: Dracula

found it interesting that a book written in 1897 would have such a woman focus. Pop culture had me believing that Van Helsing was the hero of this book.

Image: The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett

I read a lot of young adult books and many have blended into one story arch. I had no idea where this plot was headed. It was a breath of fresh air.

Image: Sabriel

This is one of the only books to ever give me a day-mare. I was sitting in class when a bunch of Dead Hands burst through the door and attacked the teacher.

Image: Tomorrow When the War Began

Tomorrow When the War Began

An Australian town has been invaded by a faceless enemy and everyone has been taken captive except a group of teens. They need to stay safe and stay alive.

Image: The Sun Is Also A Star

The Sun Is Also A Star

PICK UP NICOLA YOON RIGHT NOW! Her characters are beautiful, flawed but filled with hope and perfectly written.

Image: Thin Air

The perfect mix of atmospheric claustrophobia and historical tidbits. I was transported to 1935 and could feel, taste and smell the Himalayas.

Image: Small Great Things

Small Great Things

“Finish this sentence; I am… Maybe you’d answer shy. Or blond. Friendly.... But the majority of you wouldn’t say white. Why not? Because it is a given.”

Image: The Wonder

It’s not a story of science vs. religion. It’s a tale about people, people who have faced much trauma and have been deeply changed because of it.

Image: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

It was a great Hogwarts-hit for me and I felt like a relapsed junkie when I was done. It filled me with a Hogwarts euphoria that I hadn’t felt since 2007.

Image: Station Eleven

Magical, heartbreaking, eerie and magnificent. Stunned with my heart full to the brim, I was tempted to flick back to the beginning and start all over again.

Image: The Secret History

The Secret History

Tartt kept dropping foreboding pieces of foreshadowing that I would read, pass and flick back. Wait…what did I just read? What was going to happen?!

Image: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

Frankie is the most kickass YA character ever. She strives for what she wants, not what society tells her she should want.

Image: Under the Skin

Isserley, our sort-of-heroine, is awkward and odd but also strangely alluring. This adds to the secrecy and danger of Faber’s novel.

Image: I'm Still Here

There really is something about a really nice book that makes you happy and keeps making you happy long after the last page has been turned.

Image: Asking for It

A book that needed to be written about a subject that needs to be talked about. It is an utterly mesmerising and powerful book.

Image: Girls on Fire

It’s dark, poisonous, tough, and unpleasant but it’s also powerful, brimming with love and a story that needs to be read to be understood.

Image: The Grisha Trilogy

The Grisha Trilogy

Image: An Untamed State

An Untamed State

I read An Untamed State in two sittings. It was utterly impossible to put down. Mireille is a marvel. She is fierce. Yet, she is terrified.

Image: Song of the Lioness

Song of the Lioness

I looked up to Alanna. She was who I wanted to be: fearless, kind, hard-working and she’s a redhead! Now, as an adult, I go to her when I need a pick me up.

Image: Everyone Brave is Forgiven

Everyone Brave is Forgiven

If you only read one book this year, let it be this one. I know that is a BIG statement to make but it's breath-taking and lingers far beyond the last page.

Image: Only Ever Yours

Only Ever Yours

“Mean Girls” meets ”The Handmaid’s Tale”. How could you not be intrigued by that? And, can I just say, that is a damn accurate description.

Image: The Fireman

It is a book about human nature and how this changes when something devastating threatens to destroy everything we know and hold dear.

Image: Marguerite

It's odd but loveable. Watch it for Catherine Frot. She is a vision. Watch it for the incredible costumes and maybe try and forget the bearded lady.

Image: Marguerite

Love & Friendship

Austen’s frustrating standard of completely talking around the point was hilarious instead of irritating. I was stunned.

Image: The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train

Rachel's a severely unreliable narrator. Her memory, and therefore the story, is alcohol-addled. It has gaps. You're drawn into her web and compulsively read on.