Among Others

3.5 stars out of 5.0 (I round down)I actually really liked this book, despite my low rating. Mori, the protagonist, was amazing! And the magic was so realistic to me. It was very subtle (except for the ending) and it just fit (if that makes any sense). I'm a believer, although I know that some may read this and think that Mori was just mentally ill or something (which is fine–I mean, I found myself questioning Mori a lot and, at some point, the reader just has to decide what they are willing to believe [don't be boring, choose magic!]).Things I did not like about this novel: all the book references. I have read a decent amount of SF and I am a big fan of the genre, but Mori reads so much! Almost all of her book references went over my head, especially because most of the novels she read were published before I was born ([b:Among Others 8706185 Among Others Jo Walton https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1317792367s/8706185.jpg 6449955] is set in 1979-80 and I would say about 75% of the books I read are post 1985). I felt like I was missing out on something because I have not read most of the 60+ books she refers to. That feeling happened so often it was kind of distracting. I think people who have a read a lot of SciFi from this era will really appreciate all of these nuggets that the author weaves into the narration, but having so many was off-putting for me (although it really stayed in character as far as Mori is concerned). I also did not enjoy the journal/diary format that Walton uses. However, I think that's more of my personal preference than anything else. I just don't seem to enjoy novels that use journal entries to tell a story. The plot tends to drag on for me. Anyways, all things considered: I would recommend this to people who enjoyed reading [b:The Time Traveler's Wife 14050 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1274656075s/14050.jpg 2153746] or [b:Dragonflight 61975 Dragonflight (Pern, #1) Anne McCaffrey https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320425845s/61975.jpg 2467422]