Alyse

Obviously this is a very well written book. But it was certainly not written for me. I don't typically like young adult fiction or magical fantasy. I'm bored with the “chosen one” troupe (especially when he can do no wrong), the wise/all knowing leader, the gentle giant, the cartoonishly evil “normal” guardians, the male Nellie Olson, the loyal but obviously inferior best friend, the neurotic girl, and the evil/oh-maybe-not-so evil teacher. And I HATE schools for precocious, misunderstood youngsters with gifts they were magically born with but did nothing to actually deserve. For me, Rowling doesn't really come up with anything new, she just compiles it all together and makes it accessible and shiny for today's market. And that's fine if you like children's fantasy in the first place, but I personally don't.

Ridiculous, silly, poorly written nonsense with incredibly annoying characters. It is possible to make a zombie plague and international espionage completely and utterly boring.

This is has got to be one of my least favorite books ever. Too much Chosen-One-can-do-no-wrong for my tastes. I had to stop when Our Hero was applying for Hogwarts and far surpassed all the older, much better educated boys, then gave a rousing and heartfelt speech, and then couldn't figure out the difference between a positive and a negative number.

First person narration isn't my favorite thing in the world, but I don't mind it if the narrator is in some way interesting or likable or at the very least has interesting thoughts floating through their head, but when your lead is a hardcore Marty Sue whose only conflicts come because the rest of the world doesn't instantly realize how wonderful he is, well, it's hard to listen to that guy blather on about himself for hours. I mean, maybe the entire point of the series is that if you give someone the chance to tell their story it's going to be long, meandering, purposeless, and self-involved, but that's a really frustrating moral to listen to through three long books.

I'm assuming in the last book we're going to learn that, oh my goodness gracious, he's not a reliable narrator and he's lied to us about key facts–who woulda thunk it. Or perhaps that set up is so obvious that the twist is he actually is a reliable narrator. Either way, it's boring and not nearly as interesting as the buildup wants us to expect. Unless Mr. God Man (I already forgot his name) turns out to be severely mentally impaired and the whole series is his fever dream there is no redeeming this one dimensional wish-fulfillment character

This is has got to be one of my least favorite books ever. Too much Chosen-One-can-do-no-wrong for my tastes. I had to stop when Our Hero was applying for Hogwarts and far surpassed all the older, much better educated boys, then gave a rousing and heartfelt speech, and then couldn't figure out the difference between a positive and a negative number.

First person narration isn't my favorite thing in the world, but I don't mind it if the narrator is in some way interesting or likable or at the very least has interesting thoughts floating through their head, but when your lead is a hardcore Marty Sue whose only conflicts come because the rest of the world doesn't instantly realize how wonderful he is, well, it's hard to listen to that guy blather on about himself for hours. I mean, maybe the entire point of the series is that if you give someone the chance to tell their story it's going to be long, meandering, purposeless, and self-involved, but that's a really frustrating moral to listen to through three long books.

I'm assuming in the last book we're going to learn that, oh my goodness gracious, he's not a reliable narrator and he's lied to us about key facts–who woulda thunk it. Or perhaps that set up is so obvious that the twist is he actually is a reliable narrator. Either way, it's boring and not nearly as interesting as the buildup wants us to expect. Unless Mr. God Man (I already forgot his name) turns out to be severely mentally impaired and the whole series is his fever dream there is no redeeming this one dimensional wish-fulfillment character

A perfectly wonderful historical event ruined by romance, sloppy writing, and silly magic nonsense.

A perfectly wonderful historical event ruined by romance, sloppy writing, and silly magic nonsense.

I usually love a story about a skeptical, stoic medical professional woman who sets out to disprove paranormal phenomenon, but this was boring as all get-out

I usually love a story about a skeptical, stoic medical professional woman who sets out to disprove paranormal phenomenon, but this was boring as all get-out

I don't understand why people love this book so much. The writing's so bad it makes 50 Shades look literate

As always, Reynolds puts the science back in science fiction, passes the Bechdel test like a champ, and does some strange things with semi colons

Voyager, if Voyager had dealt with real science and if it had focused on the intricacies of Janeway and B'elanna's relationship as they vied for power and colonized a bizarre alien planet

I love the things Jonathan Lethem can do with words, but sometimes I wish he'd remember to include a plot. Also, the last 200 pages are as horrible as everyone says

I have never read anything remotely like this book