alex

7/10 rounded up.
Would re-read and maybe reccomend.

I really liked Wallace.
Oh yeah, I read it on my phone, something I'm not used to doing, so I might have missed some things. Because of that, take the rest of the review with a grain of salt!
Katey, I found, was inconsistent. Her personality failed to be strong enough to make the narration interesting, but she had some very nice moments of reflection sprinkled in that meant I couldn't despise her. An ineffective narrator, but if her personality had been sharpened a bit I think I could have liked her.
Eve was a constant reminder of the setting, and I think she is a nice reflection of 1930s ambition, but she was lacking a lot of depth.
Tinker. Idk.
I'm not sure what drew me to the character of Wallace, but he is easily the most memorable part of the book to me.
The setting was nicely developed and the plot never felt detached from it like some historical novels end up being. With the whole female authors thing, I felt like Mr. Towles was trying to make a point, but it just ended up being so weak and underdeveloped :/. It contributed to the feeling of the 1930s for sure, but something about it just felt... eh. It's a small nitpick anyways.
Now the writing style was amazing. Beautiful. Amor Towles is such a talent, I can't compliment his writing enough. Sometimes it felt like there was a bit of a style > substance thing going on in the book, and I felt like lots of plotlines weren't wrapped up properly or seemingly went nowhere.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed this a lot, and while it was nowhere near as good as A Gentleman in Moscow (which I read two weeks ago and is quickly becoming one of my favorite novels), there was a lot to love. Go read this if you haven't :)

4.5
I've been a fan of the first Cottons book since it was released, and this did NOT disappoint.
The art style is amazing, the worldbuilding is one of the best from any middle-grade series I've read, the characters are AMAZING as well, and the political systems within the series are so well-done. I'm so excited for Book 3!
The dialogue is the only somewhat weak part, but since this is middle grade and has a fairly complex plot and world, the amounts of exposition make absolute sense. It's been a while since I've read book 1 soo yeah
Also I checked my clock and I read this is 25 minutes?! So engaging throughout. Might read it again. HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS

I generally do enjoy the writing style, despite some odd passages which I'll provide the benefit of the doubt due to translation. There's an incredible gothic atmosphere, elevated by the often lovely descriptions and utter commitment to the goofy ass plot. But on that topic... this had zero grip on me aside from aesthetic appreciation. While cliches are not an inherent issue, this felt quite uninspired. And it should be telling that I'm a sucker for many of the devices here - like, the idea of the cemetery per se is completely up my alley. I just didn't enjoy the characters I guess? The protagonist was uninteresting enough plus some side characters made me want to chuck the book at the wall, in simple terms. Plus if my thick head can easily predict the “twist”, you know it's incredibly blatant.

In short - superficially quite neat yet the melodrama and storyline don't work for me. Feel like if I read this a while back I could've loved it, so I'm disappointed I didn't leap at the bandwagon sooner. Oh well.

read for english class

it's always difficult to attempt a more cursory statement on a work you've been picking apart for weeks, even a relatively short one such as this. but if anything i have to commend how this dissects traditional war fiction, beyond being obviously unglamorous it's a really incredible subversion if you're familiar with the genre. a lot of this lies in tralfamadorian philosophy, ie how it is juxtaposed over the war via billy pilgrim's perspective to convey how powerless the individual pawns are in the scale of global conflict. there are no heroes, not the apathetic billy nor the vengeance driven paul lazarro. the closest thing to a hero we have, at least a wholly patriotic and seemingly good-natured figure, is executed for taking a teacup from the crumbling remains of dresden.

there is a debate about what constitutes “anti-war” media, one i believe to be more prominent in cinematic discussion circles - the topic is inherently glamourized and/or aestheticized in a lot of films, and while i think it's more difficult to inadvertently do so in the written medium it's still a possibility. nonetheless i think this is one of the most potent anti-war works i've come across, in part due to the sentiment being clearly embedded in vonnegut's own experiences as a prisoner of war. he seems to be very conscious of how general media glorifies the topic. a recurring and utterly horrifying statement is that the soldiers of these wars are truly just children. not heroes, but children dehumanized, reduced to tools for conflict. in a novel full of incredible ideas, i believe that is what will stay with me the longest.

3.5 rounded upwards

a grand portrayal of a small town, a bit of a mess yet so sincere and so committed to the stories it tells. for every questionable or unnecessary bit of writing (or lack of writing - seriously, why was there so little focus on amat?) there's two moments that flat out made me want to cry. very clearly the middle child of a trilogy, there's a lot of set-up that is never acted upon which is quite clearly intended for book 3 (leo, alicia, etc etc). and for how blunt the metaphors and foreshadowing can be, i also find them incredibly effective. there's a certain implication about benji's fate, for example, that's been frequently set-up from book one and it still hits hard.

in short: some things could be chopped off or toned down a bit, yet it's ultimately a very cohesive and poignant piece of fiction. maybe the sort of thing that i won't love in a few years, yet for the time being it's really clicked.

i have a million things to say and no idea how to say them. don't think i can formulate an actual review, but a few things i want to take note of right now

-this book fucked me up in a way that nothing of the medium has in memory. the concept is already scary enough and the medium is utilized to the fullest to convey each part. the descents into the house are terrifying but there are two other things that come to mind. one is the very concept of the minotaur, the ominous red strikethrough, how it remains entirely enigmatic and no tangible explanation is given. if i had to give a guess as to its inclusion i'd wager it has something to do with johnny and his heritage, but i'll delve further into that later. the other is the letters from johnny's mother. those later letters are some of the most disturbing things i've ever read, especially once the book's signature typographic quirks are used.

-i have a plethora of theories but the one that intrigues me most is the idea of pelafina writing the entire novel while at whalestoe. my theory is that it spawns from her grief over johnny's death (two possible details about johnny's childhood support that), especially if she caused it herself. zampano could be representative of johnny's father - one idea that came to mind is pelafina cheating on her husband with this zampano parallel, rendering johnny a sort of bastard (minotaur theory ahem) child and the entire novel a sort of letter to johnny's father in itself. that explains the pelafina/karen parallels, the often haphazard style and inconsistencies of the book, and perhaps how johnny's nightmares mirror pelafina's choking of him - although that was likely just intended to convey the longstanding trauma. i wish i'd thoroughly read the letters before the novel, it makes johnny a much more compelling figure.

-something about this novel feels so distinctly... evil, even in the more positive interpretations of it. even after finishing the novel the dread still lingers, and i don't think it will dissipate for ages.

-the house in itself can be seen as a sort of rorschach test, and i believe the same goes for the novel per se. some people interpret this as a horror novel, a simple academic satire, or even a love story. i am finding myself very conflicted as to how i interpret this but there's a very personal story at the heart of both the navidson record and johnny's escapades, tedious as i sometimes found the latter. speaking of which, that may be the only thing which keeps me from proclaiming this my favourite novel. that and the amount of content i feel i may have missed the point on. this is such a dense work, and even still i feel kind of overwhelmed. but i don't know, i think it very well could be the best thing i've had the honour of reading.

oh also! this marks the end of my reading goal for 2023, a measly twelve books. we're not even halfway through may so i obviously underestimated myself a bit, but i really wasn't expecting to get back into reading the way i have recently. new goal is a tentative thirty novels, but if i am going to tackle pynchon, joyce, mccarthy, etc as i'm planning to the goal may reduce due to difficulty of the material.

I read it in sixth grade and it's been often drifting into my thoughts ever since. The beautiful writing, vivid imagery, the memorable characters, the unusual plot? I'm not sure what makes this so memorable. Is it Mimus himself, the jester heavily lacking in empathy, a twisted personification of the jokester trope, so resentful of the very ruling class he's entertaining? But anyways, judging from my veryyy reliable recollection, this is a flawless book. I'll reread it soon then but it'll probably end up on my favourites shelf. READ IT.

every book should end in the fashion this one does.
the second half is monumentally better than the first. the remainder is both blessed and (more so) cursed by the youthful idiocy of our protagonist, which works to an extent but just ended up as an annoyance. while the converging plot threads and extreme levels of drama made it feel like something out of a soap opera, the second half is honestly beautiful. gave me “a gentleman in moscow” vibes and that's like the highest praise I can give a work of writing. it still has its flaws but damn good book :D

So impactful that I can pardon the odd overwrought moment and the occasional overly-blunt line - if anything is the major flaw here I'd wager that a few moments seem too... simple, I suppose? As if they're being spoon-fed? But that's a pretty small complaint considering that this had me holding back tears a few times

A few other notes:
-A whole lot less about hockey itself than the town's mentality surrounding the sport, which made for a truly interesting read
-Love the characters! Benji, Maya, Amat, and Ana have a very special place in my heart
-Looking forward to books 2 and 3, though I don't enjoy a certain implication...
-The ending is incredible, simply

(reread)
I'm not sure what to rate this. The sparse writing style and the uncomplicated plot are clearly a product of the target audience, so with that in mind, it's really not bad. Thomas is annoying (a common flaw in books of this kind), but otherwise I really like the plot and worldbuilding. The drawings are a definite highlight.