I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. I thought this was a cute book with a great start. The illustrations were absolutely beautiful. However, the conclusion of the story felt rather flat. I feel like the author was trying to tackle a big subject - racism - and let a very simple thing - won't say because of spoilers - solve it. I would have loved to see more resolution here. I felt bad for Lila in the beginning, but then felt angry at the end because of how things worked out. This may just be me. There also could be a disconnect for me because I'm white and I've never had to face things like this. I'm not sure how a person of color would react to this book, but I won't be buying for this for anyone.
I had to read this book on my own in order to write a paper for my American Literature class this semester. I highly enjoyed this book. It's a memoir, written in the 1850s, about a woman who escapes slavery. The way she does it is amazing and shocking. The things she experiences before escaping are heartbreaking. She also describes what she sees other slaves going through. Even though I had to read this for school, which is often reason enough for me to not like a book, I couldn't put this book down because it was so interesting. I talk about this more in my February, March, and April wrap up on my channel, and I plan on doing a full review as well.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book for review from Netgalley. Thank you to Alcove Press.
Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this book. I got almost 60 pages in, and I had a lot of difficulty. I understand ARC's are not finished copies. They're not polished, perfect, and ready to go. However, this felt like a first draft. There were a lot of basic errors – punctuation, grammar, tense – but also more serious construction issues. It was hard to follow what was happening, and this was right from the opening scene. The narrator, Aki, jumps between current action and dialogue, her own thoughts, something that happened in the past, the history of the person she's talking to, and other things.
The premise of the book is interesting: an Asian teacher is working at a mostly white, rich, privileged prep school when racist graffiti appears. How will the school, students, and faculty respond to this? I love prep school and boarding school stories, so I was excited for this. What's more, Aki's daughter, Meg, attends the school since her mother is a teacher there, so that is an interesting dynamic as well.
However, I didn't expect this to be comedic, and the presentation of many characters and events seem to lean towards humor. I don't know if that was intentional or, frankly, bad writing due to being an underdeveloped story. I feel like this book just was not ready to be published. Highly disappointed.
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I loved this book from beginning to end, and it's taken me two days to sit down to write this little review because I'm not sure what to say here besides, “I loved this book!” It took me a whole month to read it since this was a big book, almost 600 pages, and lately I've been reading shorter books, and I'm also a slower reader, so please don't think that this is a slow read or a boring read. This book is intense in a lot of ways. Even though it's long, there are many scenes where a lot is going down and you won't want to stop reading. So what's it all about? Well, I guess I could loosely call this a period mystery, but it's more of just a character study. I don't want to say too much since this story has many many twists and turns, and all of it is highly enjoyable. It takes place in and around London in the late 19th century, which is basically my favorite time period. The writing is descriptive and layered. I loved every page of this story.
It's been a while since I finished a book, but I've started many. According to my Goodreads, I'm currently reading 9 books. A few I own, and a few are from the library (Libby). I don't read quite fast enough, so my loan usually expires before I finish. Then I have to put it on hold again. With Anne of Green Gables, I didn't finish within the allotted two weeks either, but no one else had it on hold luckily!
I've never read Anne before and I knew nothing about it. I thought it was about an orphaned, red-headed girl who got treated badly but had an imagination. That doesn't seem right at all after reading this book. Yes, she was badly treated in her past and she does have quite the imagination, but Anne is about something entirely different.
Anne is an orphan, and by accident she is adopted by siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables on Prince Edward Island. They are both loving in their own way, and Anne is raised in a remarkable way. She is free to be herself. Sometimes her temper or pride get her into difficult situations, but it all works out. This book isn't here to challenge the reader in any real way. It's meant to be pleasant and lovable.
For me, this book romanticizes childhood, but I don't mean that in any kind of negative way. I'm tempted to write that, “We all want...,” but I will only speak for myself. I desperately want to remember how it felt to be a child. The imagination and the dreams. The magic, fun, play, laughter, ambition, hope... How so many things were new and exciting. How the world seemed great and full of possibility. I think this book romanticizes all of that, but in a way that it should be romanticized. We, as adults, should try so hard to remember those feelings.
I haven't read up on any history of this book. I know when it was published, and that's about it. I'm afraid if I read about the book, I'll be spoiled for the rest of the series. I would like to continue reading it, and even the smallest spoilers usually bother me. So I'm unsure of any intent by the author, or history of the author herself.
The reason I'm not giving the book a full five stars is because roughly the last third bothered me. Most of the book was so detailed with how Anne was growing up between the ages of about 11 and 13. And then suddenly she's flying through the years, and I think the book ends with her being almost 17. The chapters dedicated to “young” Anne are darling. I couldn't stop reading. I enjoyed all of Anne's eccentricities, and Marilla's reserved amusement. Then all of sudden, Marilla remarks that Anne doesn't talk as much anymore. What happened between then and now?
I would have loved more time dedicated to those teenage years. Again, I don't know how the book was published – was it serialized? I don't know how the author wrote it – was she rushed in the end, or was a series planned from the beginning? In any case, it looks like there are eight books in total. I suppose the story from here will dedicated to Anne as an adult. I'm sure it will be interesting, but the two-thirds of Anne of Green Gables dedicated to young Anne was so special.
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I'm left feeling let down and frustrated. This was a reread for me, and going into it I remembered being in awe of the entire series. However, upon rereading Dragon Tattoo, Played with Fire, and Hornet's Nest, I've realized I'm really only in love with Dragon Tattoo. Played with Fire and Hornet's Nest are basically one giant story split into two books, and that story is all about the abuse Salander has faced and how she's going to continue to face it while all these evil authority figures keep trying to lock her up in an institution. Played with Fire was interesting, but it ended on a cliffhanger. Hornet's Nest felt really drawn out and full of filler. In the first two books, Larsson weaves boring exposition/scene/dialogue that gives the reader necessary information with other exposition/scene/dialogue that is really fascinating to read. It's an interesting balance. Hornet's Nest, however, has SO MANY instances of just boring boring boring exposition/scene/dialogue. Maybe this is on me because I love Salander and for the majority of this book she's unable to be at the center of the action. I'm not going to spoil anything, of course, but I just didn't care about all these other characters. This story was about Salander, and yet she wasn't really aroung. Like I said, I'm feeling let down and frustrated. I'm sad that Larsson wasn't able to write anymore in the Millennium series, and originally I thought I wouldn't be picking up the books written by Lagercrantz. However, I've changed my mind. I don't know when I'll pick up the next book, Spider's Web, but I'm now willing to read it if only to see Salander in action.
These are just my quick thoughts after just completing the book. A more comprehensive review will be coming on my YouTube channel (youtube.com/allisontheresa) and on my blog (allisontheresa7.wordpress.com).
The Salt Grows Heavy was recommended to me by a coworker, and they even brought their copy in for me to read. Even though it's such a short book, it took me a while, about two months, to finish it. I picked it up for a bit, then stopped for a long while. I finished the last half in the past two or three days.
Without looking at a blurb, it's hard for me to say exactly what this book was about. Maybe that's my own fault because I went so long between starting and finishing. After looking it up, I'm reminded that this is a story of a mermaid and a plague doctor who become more-or-less trapped in a village of children and surgeons. The story is full of gore and mystery. There's elements of fantasy and, I suppose, science-fiction, though nothing is fully explained.
I think my issue is with many novellas or short stories I read: the setup isn't there. I'm not oriented enough when I begin the story, so I don't understand how things work or where we are. However, I continue on, trying to enjoy it. By the end, the story felt flat, like the big flourish of an ending, or even a climax, wasn't there. I left disappointed, because I did really enjoy the writing of this novella. It's creepy and gory. The mythology of the mermaid here is terrifying, and the reader realizes it over time. That's the novella's strength. Everything else, though, seems like extras so the author could share this mythology.
The plot was uninteresting to me, and at the end something happens that seems completely out of left field. I don't know if the author was building to it, if it's not a spoiler, or if it's obvious. I'm not going to say what it is just in case, but it seemed so awkward and wrong for the story. Suffice it to say, I didn't like the ending.
I would definitely read other stories by Khaw because the writing was great. This was the first thing I've read from them, so of course I'd try again. Also, it has no bearing on anything, but this cover is absolutely stunning. I would hang this on my wall!
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It's taken me some time to finish reading this book, but that's because I wanted to savor it. It is a re-read. I first read it when I was young, and now this is my third or fourth time. I adore the Lord of the Rings films by Peter Jackson though I haven't read those books. In reading The Hobbit I became more interested in the Tolkien lore and looked up random histories, such us that of Wormtongue. I think I will soon read the Lord of the Rings books, but not right away.
I can't really give a critical review of this book since I love the Tolkien stories so much. They're so grand to me, and I guess personal since my father loved them and passed them on to me and my sister in a way. Perhaps it's because I encountered them as a child. Perhaps it's because they're simply wonderful.
The Hobbit is a very straightforward adventure with lots of obstacles, some quite violent, getting in the heroes' path. But the subtitle is There And Back Again, and even without that, we know the ending will be a more-or-less happy one. What makes this particular story something to return to is the deep qualities and senses of each character and the richness of the physical world around them. If we took away the great breadth of the mythology of Middle-earth, this one little book is imaginative and fun, and profound in describing the significance of simple things like home and comfort. I will always return to it.
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I enjoyed this one since it kept me guessing and wondering and going. I wasn't bored. I read it very quickly and just needed to know. I finished it just now and I may have to sit and think about it for a while. I wonder if it's worth re-reading.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. However, I decided I didn't like reading a graphic novel on my ereader, so I purchased the volume in hard copy. Trigger warnings should be noted for intense violence and gore. Overall, I thought this fantasy/horror story was somewhat muddled. There is a lot happening right from the beginning, and it wasn't until the third chapter/issue that I really felt stable in the world. Even so, by the end of this volume, I was confused and a bit annoyed. I haven't read many graphic novels or comics, but with the ones I have read, I run into this same issue: The authors seem to be holding something back so they have something for the next issue. But with telling a story, everything you want to say should be in the words you're writing NOW. I almost feel like it's a grab for money, to string the reader along. Can anyone recommend a comic that doesn't do this? With that said, I did enjoy MONSTRESS, VOL. 1 because the world did seem so vast, even if it was a bit confusing and muddled. I want to know more. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. The art was really beautiful. I particularly like darkness and horror and violence with my fantasy, so this fit me. Sometimes the gore seemed over the top, but I think the authors wanted to express how desolate this world is. I can't wait to find out more of the mythology within this story.
Merged review:
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. However, I decided I didn't like reading a graphic novel on my ereader, so I purchased the volume in hard copy. Trigger warnings should be noted for intense violence and gore. Overall, I thought this fantasy/horror story was somewhat muddled. There is a lot happening right from the beginning, and it wasn't until the third chapter/issue that I really felt stable in the world. Even so, by the end of this volume, I was confused and a bit annoyed. I haven't read many graphic novels or comics, but with the ones I have read, I run into this same issue: The authors seem to be holding something back so they have something for the next issue. But with telling a story, everything you want to say should be in the words you're writing NOW. I almost feel like it's a grab for money, to string the reader along. Can anyone recommend a comic that doesn't do this? With that said, I did enjoy MONSTRESS, VOL. 1 because the world did seem so vast, even if it was a bit confusing and muddled. I want to know more. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. The art was really beautiful. I particularly like darkness and horror and violence with my fantasy, so this fit me. Sometimes the gore seemed over the top, but I think the authors wanted to express how desolate this world is. I can't wait to find out more of the mythology within this story.
This story follows naive May Kimble who leaves New York when her mother dies to be with rich relatives in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century. The first part of the story has May being overwhelmed, and then bored, by all the glamour of society. There are a couple of big twists, so I'm not going to give much more away about the plot. May goes through a lot throughout the story, and the narrative tells me she's a changed person by the end, but I frankly didn't believe it. This book is a good example of plot driving the story, of plot happening to a character, instead of the character taking action. I found myself rather annoyed at several instances, and I can think of only a couple times where May makes a decision for herself. Still, the story intrigued me enough to want to know how everything would end. I admit I was rather let down. The end seemed to fizzle out in the third act. There was really nothing remarkable here, but it wasn't a bad read.
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I read Somebody's Daughter in about 3 days, which is amazing for me. I am a very slow reader, and I've been a horrible slump for years. Much of this is due to the fact that my mother died in 2018 and I'm still grieving. It still hurts. Her death was traumatic because it happened quickly, over a few weeks, out of nowhere. I didn't have a great relationship with my mother, and some of what I experienced can be found in these pages. Ford is my age and by hearing her interviews, following her Twitter, and reading this memoir, I feel like I'm not so alone. For me, childhood was a mix of good things and bad things, but I can really only remember the bad things. I feel guilty about that. I think Ford feels similarly.
Regarding the book itself: I loved it. I devoured it. I wanted more when it ended. I can't wait to read what's next. I've never read any of Ford's essays, but now I want to find them. The way it's written is so accessible and familiar. It makes you feel what she feels without pity or pride. Ford is writing about her experiences with the understanding of an adult. While the hurt is still there, she's not wallowing in it. In that way, I wasn't put off. There wasn't a wall. I could be empathetic to what was happening.
I struggled a bit between giving this memoir 4 or 5 stars because there was one thing that bothered me: I wanted more. Some questions weren't answered for me. Some things felt unsaid. Some things felt left out. But when I thought about it, I realized all the questions I had weren't about Ford herself. They were about the people around her. Allen, for example. What happened to him? Did he stick around or disappear? How did she grow apart from R.C. and why? Did her mother ever believe her about anything? This book is about Ford, her growth, her pain, her love. In it, we can see ourselves. We don't need fleshed out characters with their own backstories.
I don't read a whole lot of nonfiction. In fact, the last one I read was by Roxane Gay in 2017. Wow, that's a long time ago. But I haven't even read many other books between then and now. Ford's memoir made me want to read more memoirs, but I get nervous about being disappointed. However, it's important to take a leap of faith. I want to try to do that.
This review is a lot more personal than my others because this book feels so personal to me. I connected with it so deeply, even though Ford and I have very different lives. I learned a lot here, and the stories, the passages, the thoughts, the experiences, everything in this book made me want to keep going and keep trying and do new things. I am so happy I read this.
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TW: Attempted sexual assault.
I've wanted to read one of Moreno-Garcia's books for quite some time, and Mexican Gothic happened to be the first since I picked up a copy in a spooky, “haunted” bookstore on a trip for my fifth year anniversary. I'm interested in each of her titles, so I didn't have a preference which book would come first. However, I have to say I'm disappointed this was my first read by her since I was disappointed by the book.
The story is set in a Gothic, haunted house and has many Gothic themes and characteristics. I suppose that was my issue from the beginning. It was like being hit over the head: “This is a Gothic story!” I mean, it's right there in the title. I'm not sure what my expectation was. Perhaps some sort of subversion, or turning it all on its head? Instead, it became a runaway train. I think the story tries to lean in so hard, too hard, that it verges on ridiculous.
The story centers on Noemí Taboada who has come to this house to help her cousin, who lives with her new husband and his family. Noemí has no idea what she's in for. She thinks her cousin is simply unwell and needs assistance. But there is so much more going on, and the mysteries and horrors unravel quite slowly before coming down all at once, like an avalanche. The slowness of the first half or so of the book bogged me down a bit. I kept going to see what would happen, but I felt frustrated for most of this book.
Avoiding spoilers, I want to say why I'm giving three stars and not a lower rating. Obviously I haven't said many positive things here. While the face of the story didn't do much for me, the undertones, symbolism, and postcolonial lens all work powerfully here. The story takes place in Mexico, where Noemí's cousin's family has settled from Europe. They settled there long ago and opened a mine. That alone is not only symbolic, but plainly shows how white settlers come in and rip open indigenous land for their own gain. As the story progresses, there are many things the family does, and have done in the past, which parallel how white settlers have treated indigenous women, lands, wealth, children, economies, power, individuality, and freedom. Trying to defeat such a family, to right such wrongs... what could do it? How much would it take?
I can see, when viewing the story this way, how it works. It's like looking at a painting, and it's alright, but when the light changes, it's beautiful, because you can see things that were hidden before. I think, though, that the main story, or painting, or anything, should be done well and enjoyable. The events of Mexican Gothic were sometimes predictable and uninteresting. Great Gothic stories are classics because of the tension in the main character's solitude. I didn't feel that here. I felt bored. With the horror elements, how vulgar and gross they were, even then I wasn't moved since they felt over the top, but not in a camp way.
In writing this review, I've been trying to sort my own thoughts. I'm conflicted because I like what Moreno-Garcia did, but I suppose I don't like how she did it. Perhaps in the future I could read Mexican Gothic again, after reading some of her other stories, to experience the story again and hopefully enjoy it more.
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Libby can be very motivating when it comes to reading. I started Firekeeper's Daughter, but didn't finish before my loan expired. I had to put another hold on. When it came in again, I read so fast to finish in time! I also have about 4 or 5 other books right now because all of my holds came in at the same time. There's no way I'm going to finish more than one of those.
Anyway, let's talk about this book. Our main character, Daunis, is half Ojibwe, but because of a technicality on her birth certificate, she's not formally accepted by the tribe. She lives between her white family and her native family. The story blooms from Daunis' difficulty with her identity, family, and tradition. Interjected is a criminal investigation about meth being sold on reservations. Daunis is recruited to work undercover. She struggles because this is her community and she doesn't want to betray them, but she also wants to help them. Also, the story takes place in the early 2000s. This doesn't necessarily affect the plot all that much. I even forgot most of the time, until I realized how little technology played a part in the characters' lives.
I enjoyed this book and was interested in the plot. There are moments that made me a little emotional surrounding grief and loss. Daunis' relationship with her mother didn't exactly remind me of my own, but there are things they say to each other that moved me. Daunis' feelings about herself in relation to her parents' lives, however, felt personal to me. Living between parents who are separated for whatever reason is difficult. The book shows how it is to live with grief in many different ways, and those moments were very special.
However, in some ways it felt convoluted, convenient, and predictable. I found myself thinking, “I wish this written better,” meaning the structure of the mystery and overall story. There are many revelations and different characters. I do like that since the book is about Daunis' life, which is wide and varied. The book was rich in that sense. But working out the mystery could have been done more clearly. The two aspects of the book – Daunis' life and the mystery – simply don't mesh well.
I suppose on the one hand, they shouldn't exactly mesh. After all, this mystery is disturbing her life. However, what I mean is how the story is created. It felt messy and unresolved. I was able to predict several revelations. I wonder what it would have been like if Daunis' life was even more forward and the mystery took a complete backseat. For example, if Daunis only heard rumors and someone else was working undercover. If the book was a study on Daunis' identity, grief, family, etc., even more than it already is, I think this could have been a great book.
Additionally, the romantic plot almost made me angry. I don't read or enjoy romance, so most of the time a romantic plot needs to be done really well for me to like it. A lot of the time it feels like every book puts in romance just to have it there. With Firekeeper's Daughter, it makes sense to a degree. Daunis is undercover and having this boyfriend is her cover. But she then is distracted multiple times by how hot he is and how drawn she feels to him. It felt out of character and forced so it could lead to romance instead of just being undercover.
Overall, I might read this book again. It had its moments. I can't say the mystery was the most interesting part, though, so I do wish it was in the background more.
Trigger Warning for this book: sexual assault. It doesn't go into detail, but an assault happens on the page.
This book is the second in the Millennium series. The first book, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is basically a stand alone novel you could read, and then never read another Millennium book. Girl who Played with Fire, however, is a complete set-up, beginning to end, for the third book. That annoys me. I still love it, so my 4 stars is completely subjective, but just know if you're going into this for the first time that there is virtually no resolution by the end of this book. However, I love the series as a whole. (Well, I've only read the three books by Larsson, and I have no plans to read the other ones they're creating based on his notes or whatever.) I talk more about this in my review for February, March, and April wrap up on my channel, and I plan on doing a series review once I reread the third book.
I read this collection of short stories and vignettes for my American Literature course this semester. We first read the 1924 version, which only had the vignettes, and then read the 1925 version, which is this version on Goodreads that I'm reviewing. The 1925 version rearranged the vignettes and included longer short stories. I think I enjoyed the 1924 version better because some of the stories in the 1925 version were rather boring and didn't seem as powerful as other stories. However, there were still a bunch of stories and vignettes that I really enjoyed. Review to come in my wrap up for February, March, and April on my channel.
I've wanted to read more queer stories for a long while, so picking up this travel memoir was very refreshing. It's about queer people in “red states,” where many people probably don't think queer people are. Or if they do, they think they're miserable and oppressed. That's not an invalid idea, but Real Queer America shows that there are queer communities thriving in red states. Utah, Texas, Georgia. I'll be honest: I don't want to visit these places. But there are people there working hard for inclusion, community, and the right to just live. This book made me teary in many places, and I enjoyed reading it. It was an easy read, and though the writing felt disjointed in some places, I liked how Allen connected the lives she was learning about and the places she was exploring to her own life. That made it feel connected to me, that somehow I am also connected to these red state queer communities. I'm nonbinary, I'm queer, and I've been looking for community. It's hard to find for lots of reasons, but this book helped me see that it's out there. People are working for it. In the end, this book changed my perspective on queer people in red states. I don't want to just give up on red states altogether. I want to help them change and be more accepting. I want to help the people there who are already doing the work.
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It took me a very long time to read this very short book (about 65 pages), and I thought it was me. I'm a slow reader after all. But after finishing it, I realized there just wasn't enough story here to interest me.
I don't want to say too much about the plot since the book is so short, but essentially we follow a young teenage girl who is living on the streets of New Orleans. But this version of New Orleans is some sort of alternate history. I'm not sure of the specifics, and I'm not sure when exactly the story is supposed to take place. The world isn't fleshed out very much. There are also skyships and magic (more-or-less) involved.
It's an interesting premise, and it's a bit sad since, if this story were developed more, the world could be amazing. I've been reading short books to try to read more books, to experience more stories beginning to end, but this one really let me down.
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I read this book when it was first published while I was in high school. I remembered loving it before beginning this re-read, but I didn't remember much of the plot. I'm trying to get back into reading more, so I re-read The Hobbit, and now I've re-read A Great and Terrible Beauty, both easy, fun reads. This novel takes place in the late 1890s, and the late 19th century-early 20th century is my favorite period for historical fiction. There's gothic and queer themes here, and I do love girls' boarding school stories.
At the beginning of the story, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle's mother dies, and she leaves India, where she's lived almost all her life, to return to England. Her family is not warm, and they send her to a finishing school, Spence. Gemma takes some time to make friends since they're not very welcoming to newcomers. Most of the girls come from wealthy families and are, well, snobs. Gemma shares her room with Ann, the only scholarship student who, because of her status, is an outcast. Because of certain events, Gemma and Ann soon form a friend group with Felicity and Pippa. These two are the most popular and envied girls of the school, though they have their own issues and problems with family. Each of the girls struggle with their place in life, society, and what everyone expects of them.
“No one asks how I am or what I am doing. They could not care less. We're all looking glasses, we girls, existing only to reflect their images back to them as they'd like to be seen. Hollow vessels of girls to be rinsed of our own ambitions, wants, and opinions, just waiting to be filled with the cool, tepid water of gracious compliance.”
There is another element to this book, however, and that is Gemma's magical power. She begins by having visions and soon enters a magical realm. Most of the story involves this power and what it means for Gemma and her friends.
This is a young adult novel, so the writing is pretty streamlined. There are memorable and distinguished moments, though, both of writing and and plot. I read this book quickly, going to it almost every night, and sometimes during the day. Usually, I read once or twice a week at bedtime, which is why it takes me so long to get through a book. As I said earlier, I'm trying to get back into reading and read more books. Reading A Great and Terrible Beauty made me feel like I could enjoy the act again, not just try to finish a book.
This is a trilogy, and I intend to pick up the sequel, but not right away. I'm the kind of reader that can't read the same thing, even the same genre, back-to-back.
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This book was very intriguing and engrossing, but after finishing it, I've realized I didn't like it or enjoy it. I found myself disgusted by and scared of Joe. I wanted something bad to happen to him. That's what I kept reading for. Since it kept me so interested, I have to give this book a high rating. I can't give it five stars because it just didn't have that spark for me, but this story is definitely different and kept me turning pages.
Joe Goldberg is a stalker through and through. That's not a spoiler. The book begins because a girl walks into his bookshop, named Beck, and he becomes so instantly obsessed that the entire book is written in second person directed at her. The whole story is written from his perspective. Everything he does is for Beck in some way that he justifies. Very creepy, and very well done.
The best thing about this book is how Joe's emotions change his perspectives. One minute he's in love with Beck, then he realizes something, and she's a slut. He wouldn't say this out loud. He's very careful with what he says out loud. But the running inner monologue demonstrates how unhinged he is.
The book kept me turning pages to find out what would happen to Joe, or what he would do next. It was enthralling in that way. It's not slow, though there are some lags where time has to pass in the book. However, the last 20-30 pages is where a lot happens, and I'm not about to discuss it here since I don't want to spoil anyone. I thought the ending was done well and it made me have strong emotions. At first I thought I didn't like the whole book because of it. But then I realized... Well, I really don't want to spoil anything.
I know about the tv show and the sequels. I haven't watched the show and I don't know if I want to read the sequels. When this first came out, I swear I remember it being marketed as a stand alone book. Then it was popular, so then there was a sequel. That's one of my biggest pet peeves. It's either a stand alone or it isn't. So I kind of just want to enjoy it as a stand alone. If you've read the series, though, and think the sequels are just as good, please let me know.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the first book of The Murderbot Diaries, so I decided to immediately continue with the second book, Artificial Condition. I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed. This review will be shorter for a couple reasons: it's a short book, and it's a sequel. I don't want to spoil the first book.
We continue to follow the narrator, a “murderbot.” In this book, they give themself the name of Eden and they're trying to pass as an augmented human rather than just a murderbot. I won't explain how or why they got there.
The events of the book are rather slow, and virtually no action happens until the last few pages. Because of that, it felt like a real filler episode. Eden has to get from the end of book one to wherever they're going next once they do this one specific thing. That one specific thing is the goal of this book, but of course a few things get in the way. Once that thing is accomplished, and it takes about 150 pages to dance around it getting accomplished, the book has to end.
I guess you could see the goal, the reveal of certain information, was very important, and I could see why a whole book would focus on it. But overall, it just felt like a set-up between plot points. I have no idea what's going to happen in book three, Rogue Protocol, but it seems Eden had to do this thing in order for those events to happen. I don't see why Artificial Condition couldn't be tightened up and possibly combined with book three.
With that said, I obviously finished the book and wanted to see what would happen. I like our main character. I like how they think and act. I like the humor of the book. I was happy to follow Eden along. I'm not really one to ask for lots of action, but it really felt like nothing was happening except filler.
I will continue the series, but not just yet. I'm going to pick a different book to read next.
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Wow, this book blew me away, and I did not expect that at all. Our main character, 16-year-old Aza, lives with OCD and anxiety. I personally don't have OCD, but I do have depression and anxiety. Much of what Aza describes in this book - wanting to get outside of herself, away from her body, away from her thoughts - was extremely relatable for me, and I was on the verge of tears at many different points. It's been a long time since a book made me cry. I can't tell you how much I loved this book. I recommend this to everyone, but especially those who live with mental illness and those who want to understand what it's like to live with mental illness.
I read this book fast. It pulled me in and I loved the writing. But after the halfway mark, I realized it just wasn't going anywhere specific. I get what the book is trying to do, but it's basically, and I hate to use this word, propaganda. The author had a political message and wanted to convey that through this story. That's the point of this book. I think that takes away from any powerful statement it could have. The writing is great, though, and I'd love for her to dedicate her writing to a real story, plot, and characters. Everything in this book was just too vague.