Reviews and Comments

This is a book that was recommended to me by my therapist, owing to the problems that I was having with life. It is most likely a combination of therapy and the desire to change/improve that had me reading this book.

The title of this review is deliberately provocative - we see so many things that say they're the 'cure' to things, and every single time we scoff at them because it's so not true, we have this problem and the only thing that can 'cure' this problem is for all of our problems to be fixed, for us to have what we currently do not have, and so on.

But is it true?

I realised recently that I've been going about life judging myself and defining myself not by what I have, but rather what I don't have. I don't have lots of friends, therefore I am a failure. I don't go out each week socialising, therefore nobody likes me. I don't have people reaching out to me, therefore I am simply unforgettable. There is no happiness to be had until I have these things.

However, this book (and by extension, my therapy) taught me that we need to stop thinking like this - and make a conscious decision to actually do so. By doing so, we realise that what we have is actually worth having, and there is a happiness in the ordinary things we do, see, hear, and feel.

Consider the people you know that you like - do you judge them by what they don't have, or do you judge them by what they have (which you also probably want)? The people you're thinking of probably also aren't necessarily happy, but you only see what they have and figure they have a decent lot in life.

This book gives extremely relateable anecdotes, stories, and studies to help us see that how we externally judge others (which is generally done with kindness, compared to ourselves) is how we need to start judging and treating ourselves. Catherine Gray herself is also supremely funny throughout the book, and I couldn't help just feeling a sort of happiness at the enjoyment of the ordinary things - because when you see them written down, you realise those are good, happy things, and they are present in your life too.

So, is this book the cure to depression and anxiety? Not really, but it's a great tool to help you overcome them, and the path to overcoming depression and anxiety is not to have our problems fixed - that's probably not possible - but rather to make peace with them and be grateful for what we do have, which surprisingly, is a lot more than you probably think you do.

This is a short story collection, so this isn't a novel of a murder mystery that needs resolving.

The format works like this:

• 6 people gather for a meeting (including Miss Marple, of course)
• Each one tells a story without giving away the 'answer' of the mystery
• Each character guesses or tries to solve the mystery

Of course, each time, Miss Marple is the one who deduces it, and always manages to completely dot the Is and cross the Ts.

While I'm personally a bigger fan of the full novels, these were fun stories to read and try to solve yourself, and like every good mystery novel, you're always kicking yourself for not seeing the obvious answer presented to you at the end. Each story is quite unique as well, and none of them feel like the same one as before, so you're always on your toes trying to figure it out.

Being a video-game tie-in, I wasn't really sure if this was going to be worth the time, but I can say for sure that it most certainly was.

The book is faithful to the game itself in terms of lore and consistency, writing characters referenced in ancient texts and dialogue, and does a good job explaining how the world of Gielinor is at it is today (i.e. what the game has).

The book makes use of various twists and turns, and always has you trying to figure out and think what's going to happen next, and who is up to what. Admittedly the subtlety of the "main villain" is perhaps as subtle as a brick, but it's still entertaining attempting to weave the web yourself before the book does it for you.

The characters are likeable and you feel for them as time goes on, and despite the different allegiances and factions in the universe, the book does a good job to not paint any of them as 'the evil', and rather the story is kind of a tragedy of people not working together past their differences.

All in all, a worthwhile read if you're a fan of RuneScape and the lore of Gielinor.

The Eye of the World is not a particularly gripping book at first - pretty much nothing of major note occurs for the first 500-600 pages, but instead spends its time having the characters travel through the world to introduce the reader to all the many factions and groups that populate the world.

The prose is very detailed, perhaps a little too much, but makes it easy to imagine you're there seeing and feeling what the characters do. I didn't realise how attached to the characters I felt even early on, but the writing is fantastic.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would - staying up until 1am to finish it off without realising - and will definitely be reading the rest of the series! The payoff towards the end leaves a lot of room for whatever will happen next and will make you want to get the next book.