An alternate history of three stories throughout time. In the 1890's in New York, the US was split into several countries by the Civil War, resulting An alternate history of three stories throughout time. In the 1890's in New York, the US was split into several countries by the Civil War, resulting in the Free States in New England being a haven for queer people. A young heir to a fortune is set up by his grandfather to be courted by an older man, but at the same time meets a young musician he falls for. In the 1990's, a young man married to a much older man attends a living wake while reflecting on the troubled life of his ailing father far away in Hawaii. In the 2090's, pandemic after pandemic has raged, leading to New York being locked down into a police state. We flip between a young woman raised in the state and her grandfather who created it.
I was so hyped for this book because of A Little Life that I bought it on its release date. I then didn't hear anything about it from anyone... and now I know why. I was expecting interconnected stories: they were barely connected at all. I was expecting to be emotionally wrecked: I wasn't super attached to any of the characters.
I liked the mix of narrative styles, and of course Yanagihara's signature writing style. I liked how the world building was done very subtly. I liked the messages that I could gather from this. The first story was the one I was most emotionally connected to. I was curious about the world and would've liked to have seen more of it. I fully didn't understand the second story, the shortest of them and also two stories in one. I didn't think I saw enough of either the son or the father to *get* what was happening. The last story, the longest, I thought was fairly well constructed. I liked piecing things together. I wish there were more connections between the stories besides the themes and the bizarre decision for the characters to share names (all the male protagonists are named David, there's several Charles's, etc.). The connection is that these characters are all reaching to get to paradise.... and that's it. I wish each of these stories had more of a resolution to them - it was purposefully ended at those points, but it ultimately felt unsatisfying. It's way too long of a book for one to leave it feeling unsatisfied.
Overall, I didn't fully understand the purpose of this book. While it was well-done for what it was, I didn't grasp what it was going for....more
Following the events of Crier's War, Crier faces her impending wedding to evil Scyre Kinok while Ayla is headed to Varn to try to find her brother in Following the events of Crier's War, Crier faces her impending wedding to evil Scyre Kinok while Ayla is headed to Varn to try to find her brother in Queen Junn's court. When Crier discovers a darker secret and runs away, she is forced to flee the country and pose as a human orphan. When Ayla arrives at court, she is immediately taken in as an honored guest instead of needing to spy. Now in reversed roles, the girls must fight for a world in which the two Kinds can live in peace.
If you don't want spoilers for my vlog in which I read this (coming some time in August, once I get my hands on the last book I'm reading for it!), don't read ahead!
Crier's War got me out of a slump last year after I was going through some emotional slump and I will never forget it for that. It was easy to get through and fun, with a great mutual pining relationship to root for and a really interesting world that's a combination of fantasy and sci-fi. This had a lot of the elements that I liked of the first book, but unfortunately wasn't quite as enthralling.
Crier and Ayla are a super cute couple. You gotta love WLW "wait does she like me? do I like her?" angst. The two of them are also distinct from each other in their thought processes and actions, which is often something that debut authors miss entirely. I really like the historical inserts/ letters/ documents that get put in between the chapters, I think they really expand the world and it's one of my favorite things in a fantasy book. I liked the Shadows, where we see the outcome of using Nightshade. However, this was just not as well structured as the first one, particularly for a finale. This series definitely could have been three books if you really needed to separate the two of them AND have a "war." They don't meet up until halfway through the book, which sucks because the strongest part of the series is the relationship. The plot, which was super interesting in the first book, just wasn't as strong in this one. The pacing was a bit weird and it felt like the evil was too easily defeated. That said, I still had a fun time reading this and it was super easy to get through. I can't wait to see what Varela comes up with next, even if this wasn't my favorite yet of hers....more
A man wakes up from a coma surrounded by robotic arms caring for him and two dead bodies. It's hard to move around - and he discovers that's because hA man wakes up from a coma surrounded by robotic arms caring for him and two dead bodies. It's hard to move around - and he discovers that's because he's on a spaceship going close to the speed of light. With absolutely no memory of who he is or why he's there, Ryland Grace is humanity's one and only hope.
To anyone wanting to read this book: I think you should go in ENTIRELY BLIND. I've tried to keep my review with as few specifics as possible, but if you don't want to read it at all, just know that I loved this dearly! Definitely on par with my love for The Martian.
Wow. Andy Weir has done it again. Few books I've read have captured the emotional roller coaster of lives being at stake like his books do. The entire book, I was on the edge of my seat desperately wanting everything to be okay! Whenever anything succeeded, I was cheering. Whenever anything failed, I was upset. I genuinely teared up from joy at one point. I didn't want to put this book down for a second. I had to read this over a long period of time because my life got hectic but that didn't disturb my enjoyment at all. There's so much cool science in here, where Ryland is attempting to do different experiments and we see how they pay off. Sometimes the science felt a little spoon-fed, but I am an engineer so maybe to a layman it wouldn't! Everything about this I was incredibly invested in, particularly Rocky, the undisputed best part of this already great book. I think that some of the flashback sections messed with the pacing a bit and the pacing of the ending was not at all what I expected, but that last page just really hit it home for me.
Overall, this was one of the most invested I've been in a book all year and will likely be making my best of the year list. I can't wait to recommend this to everyone I know, particularly my fellow aerospace engineers!...more
Twenty-some years ago, a virus made its way through the animal kingdom, making all meat poisonous to humans. All too quickly, humanity made its way thTwenty-some years ago, a virus made its way through the animal kingdom, making all meat poisonous to humans. All too quickly, humanity made its way through the "Transition", where governments everywhere began legalizing the consumption of "special meat" - people, though nobody calls them that anymore. Marcos works at a special meat processing plant and is struggling through the reality of his job, the loss of his infant son and consequently his wife leaving, as well as his father being at the end of his life. When Marcos is gifted his own live female, which changes things for him.
MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNINGS! Don't read this book if you are not ready to read about people being processed as meat in EXTREME detail. It was truly sickening to read even when I thought I was prepared. There is also sexual abuse.
This book felt to me like a sibling of books such as 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451. The style, the type of protagonist, the plot, and the pacing all reminded me of those stories assigned in high school, and in a positive way. We have our lonely everyman who is part of this society but secretly holds within himself doubts about if society is right in its actions and attitudes, who is then introduced to a new person that gives him a new perspective and exacerbates these thoughts. This book is a commentary on capitalism, the meat industry, and the human capacity to justify one's own cruelty. The government and media pump out information about how vegetables are insufficient in nutrients and how meat is essential, which leads me as a reader to believe in the government conspiracy reading of this book. Everything about this book kept me on my toes, particularly the last chapter and the last line.
Overall, this book was positively disturbing. I can't think of what I would rate this, and likely will leave it unrated. I cannot rightfully recommend this to any one person because it was so upsetting, but if you have a strong stomach and commentaries such as 1984 have worked for you, this may be something to pick up....more
In a distant future where ubiquitous robots suddenly have gained consciousness and left humanity so they could live in peace by themselves, Dex is a tIn a distant future where ubiquitous robots suddenly have gained consciousness and left humanity so they could live in peace by themselves, Dex is a tea monk who has spent their days easing the pain of others. Now, Dex goes on a trek to find themselves and accidentally comes upon the first robot humanity has seen in decades—the two journey together while learning about the other's culture.
This sweet novella to me feels like a sci-fi Little Women. I finished this in one sitting for Realmathon Peace Talks, and I'm glad a readathon finally pushed me to come back to Becky Chambers. These two characters are very sweet and are bumbling in their connection with one another, eventually forging a cute friendship. Each chapter feels like Little Women in that they each have an individual message about something that has been troubling Dex in their life. This book is perfect for someone who is struggling with existential and identity crises, as Dex is working through the same issues.
Overall, this novella is going to the top of my short book and feel-good recommendation lists and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!...more
In a far future, robotics has advanced so far that society has radically changed. The subjugation of robots has snowballed into a class of human slaveIn a far future, robotics has advanced so far that society has radically changed. The subjugation of robots has snowballed into a class of human slaves. Late-stage capitalism has made it so everything is intellectual property, making life of those without resources infinitely harder. A scientist who deals reverse-engineered drugs deals a ripoff productivity drug, which starts killing people. We follow that scientist trying to shut that drug and big pharma down and the human/robot duo trying to stop the scientist.
Newitz consistently has some of the most unique fiction I've read. I've now read all three of their books, and this one was probably the least unique, but that's like being the shortest giant. I really like the themes they decide to tackle in their books; each is very different. This one covers anti-capitalism, big pharma, and intellectual property. I liked the cat-and-mouse aspect of the plot. While I liked the discussion around this pill, those scenes felt very redundant. The same pieces of information were given to us in the same way multiple times. I was intrigued by the worldbuilding we got but ultimately felt like we didn't see enough of it. I was less engaged in this than in their other books; I kept wanting to put the book down. Lastly, I really, really didn't like the romance between the robot and a human! Not because they're different species, but because the human treats the robot like crap and the robot just goes along with it. Their other books focus on characters being accepted for who they are, and that felt like the opposite of what happened with the robot.
Overall, I could tell that this was their first novel. I liked the messaging, but I felt disconnected, and much of this felt redundant instead of building the world out more....more
Junior and Henrietta live on their farm alone, mostly cut off from the rest of this near-future world. When a strange man come to their farm 3.5 stars
Junior and Henrietta live on their farm alone, mostly cut off from the rest of this near-future world. When a strange man come to their farm and announces that Junior has been chosen for a special trip he was entirely unaware of and has no power to turn down, their world is rocked. Especially when the man reveals that Henrietta will not be left to be on her own...
Last year, I read I'm Thinking of Ending Things and it quickly became my favorite book of the entire year. Iain Reid is writing the type of horror I've really been loving, with a highly dissociative main characters and plots that keep you on your toes as to what to horrifying element will be. Unfortunately, this was not a five-out-of-five-stars-new-favorite-ever like IToET, but I still enjoyed it. I think you should go into this book knowing nothing so continue reading at your own discretion!
What did I like? The same dissociative nature of the writing was present, which made me really excited. I liked the arc of our main character trying to determine what is going on with this situation - where he is going to be ripped away from the only place he's ever known, his wife is acting suddenly distant, and a stranger has commandeered a place in his home. I also liked that there wasn't necessarily every single answer given to us in the end. There was nothing I actively disliked, but a few things that I thought could have been stronger. The dissociative element I mentioned earlier was weaker than in IToET in my opinion, likely because of the confusion about what this world actually looks like (vs. knowing what a car trip looks like). I also guessed the plot twist for the ending very quickly in, which made the ending more anticlimactic.
Overall, this was a solid horror story that I'd recommend to those who would like to read some horror but claim to be too scared to be able to handle it - this book isn't scary, but it is horrific....more
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher, HMH Books for Young Readers, for allowing me to read this as an e-ARC in exchange for an honest reviThank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher, HMH Books for Young Readers, for allowing me to read this as an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Delta of Dead River lives in a desert wasteland with her pack, struggling to survive day to day. Every generation, her pack burns a map into two of their young members' backs, in hopes of one day finding the promised land of the gods, Verdant. Delta is one of them, and her best friend, Asher, was the other, before him and the other half of their pack were slaughtered. When Delta is sent off on a mission to save her sister, she comes back only to find the members of her pack killed and the rest kidnapped. To help save her family and possibly bring them to Verdant, Delta will have to trek across the dangerously barren landscape and face dangers even worse than dehydration.
I think the main draw for this book is the setting. Bowman does a great job creating this atmosphere of an absolute wasteland. You can feel the sand whipping in the wind and the sun beating down. This type of setting is something you don't really see in YA scifi/fantasy, so it's cool to see. (Note: as much as this is definitely a science fiction/dystopian book, I would argue that it has some elements that give it a fantasy feel, so I would categorize it as SFF.) Delta is a really interesting and determined character; she's a bit impulsive and headstrong like many YA protagonists, but she's clever and she's got a good head on her shoulders. She's got her priorities in order which I can really respect. I also thought that the reveals toward the end were really fun and original. I liked how the history of these people is established and then the peek behind the curtain we get. As for what I didn't like as much, there was a bit of a drag in the middle. There's also several locations and characters that we meet briefly, and I think a bit of establishment with any of the side characters would have done this a bit more justice. Overall, this was a fun ride and I'd definitely recommend this to fans of dystopian fiction!...more
... prisons and cemeteries are well populated with women who thought they knew the men in their lives until it was too late.
Kelly is a single ar
... prisons and cemeteries are well populated with women who thought they knew the men in their lives until it was too late.
Kelly is a single artist living in Chicago - performing less well than she'd like, but still doing what she loves - when suddenly, on her 29th birthday, she steps into another life. She's married to a boy she barely knew in high school and gave up her art career to be with him. How is it possible that she remembers both of these lives, and how will she investigate if anybody she tells will think she's crazy?
This is just a super cool concept for a book, let's start there. Y'all know that I love anything that has to do with alternate timelines/universes/etc, and this scratched that itch for me. Although it didn't take a very long time for me to figure out the truth, it was still such an interesting idea that I didn't mind it being predictable. I like that Kelly isn't entirely adverse to her new life, since she does have a lifetime of memories of this one as well. I liked the tension of her not being able to really talk to anybody and not knowing who to trust. I also appreciated the conversation around women being expected to settle down and not have a career of their own. There wasn't anything that I straight up disliked in this book, but I thought it had plenty of room for improvement. I would have liked more connection to her previous life to give us more emotional investment. I wish the thriller aspect of this went a little bit further, either on a grand or small scale. Were neither of those things to be changed, I think this book could have been a little shorter and retained everything essential.
Overall, this was a really cool idea that I'll be recommending to fans of my favorite scifi thriller, The One!...more
Oona Lockhart is at a crossroads in her life going into her 19th birthday: January 1st, 1982. However, just as the clock strikes midnight, she finds hOona Lockhart is at a crossroads in her life going into her 19th birthday: January 1st, 1982. However, just as the clock strikes midnight, she finds herself in a different body - her own on her 52nd birthday in 2015. Oona finds out that every year on the New Year, she lives a different year of her life out of order. Can Oona ever figure out how to live an ordinary life?
I love time travel stories; it's my favorite trope of all time for a reason. There's so much potential, especially because it can be implemented in so many different genres. Oona Out of Order is inspired by one of my favorite books of all time, which is also about time travel: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. This takes Vonnegut's idea of time traveling within your own life and explores what a regular life would be with that restriction.
I really enjoyed this. Oona is thrown into such a tricky situation; it is nearly impossible for her to live a stable life without any continuity. She's thrown from being 18 to in her 50's to her mid-twenties in what feels like a blink of an eye. Almost all her relationships she doesn't remember forming because she hasn't lived them yet, and almost all her previous relationships aren't present in her life anymore. It really shows how much one's life changes over the years and the different roles one fills. Oona leaves a note for herself every New Year with only the barest information so that each year is a surprise and her choices are still her own. She has to confront whether her actions are really her own or whether everything is set in stone. I enjoyed reading about her relationship with her mother and how they have to catch up with each other at different points of their lives. I thought the author did a good job of cutting any fat and also making the years that she jumps to seem random. Oona could be a little frustrating at times but she is in a frustrating situation! I also liked that this didn't have a cut-and-dry lesson and that we don't see the entirety of Oona's life. It left me with just the right amount of content and questions. Also - I guessed one of the twists in the very first jump, haha.
Overall, this was a really fun time travel story. I think this could make a good movie, were it not for the problem of multiple characters having to age. This is definitely something I'd recommend to others!...more
2.5 stars Evelyn Caldwell has fulfilled her lifelong mission of perfecting adult cloning. Her infertile specimens live short lives that improve researc2.5 stars Evelyn Caldwell has fulfilled her lifelong mission of perfecting adult cloning. Her infertile specimens live short lives that improve research in all fields. Unfortunately, her husband has left her and gone behind her back and created a clone of her, Martine. After Martine meets up with Evelyn to tell her she's pregnant, something goes wrong at home and the two have to work together to keep their secrets safe.
Well, this was disappointing. I was really looking forward to this, I love thrillers with speculative elements and this seemed like it would get really deep. Unfortunately, it did not. First off, the things that I liked: Evelyn is a really interesting character, and definitely not one I've read a lot as the main character. She's cold and analytical and doesn't care about other people's illogical feelings. She has a lot of emotional family trauma. Secondly, I liked the conversation around cloning. Evelyn and Martine are both very biased characters on this subject and the evolution of the languages around clones throughout the book was fascinating. However, this book has so little plot I could sum it up, spoilers and all, in four sentences and you'd get the full idea. Nothing else happens in this book. There are so few stakes; it never once feels like any of the characters are in danger of being found out, etc. There was so much filler; there were multiple times where Evelyn would just describe the passage of time. There doesn't seem to have been a point to this. I kept listening because I wanted to find out what happens next, but nothing ever did. This should not be pitched as a thriller at all: there are no on-screen, present-action thriller scenes. Overall, I'm just so disappointed about how a book with this awesome of a premise could have so little inside of it. I'm still interested in reading another of Gailey's works, possibly Magic for Liars, but I'll be more hesitant now....more
Years after the events of book 2, the new-wave Scythedom has more control than ever over the world, and the Thunderhead is doing everything in its (noYears after the events of book 2, the new-wave Scythedom has more control than ever over the world, and the Thunderhead is doing everything in its (now limited) powers to stop them from destroying humanity.
My original review was deleted, so I'll be more brief! Book 1 is one of my favorite books, I thought it was very mature and thoughtful for a YA book. Book 2 was a letdown in my opinion and lacked a lot of what I liked about the first. Luckily, I think this was a return to the first book's maturity, even if the plot is a departure.
The best part of this book is the expansion of the world. We are less focused on Citra and Rowan than in the previous two books as we - much like the Thunderhead - bounce around from disparate character to character to put the whole puzzle of this story together. There are lots of moving parts, and the timeline can definitely get confusing because it's not entirely linear, but I believe it pays off. The Thunderhead makes a surprise decision for humanity, an option which has been ruled as impossible because of various Scythe conspiracies, and it made the book turn very differently than I expected, but in a good way. While it is a more scifi answer, it made more logical sense with the political happenings. I liked that since the definition of race has been changed in this series, in this book we address the definition of gender as well. I love this series' exploration of death and how the meaning has shifted by this society. The Scythes show that human hatred is a force that must always be combated, and how privileged people try to use that hate to their advantage through systemic means, from small laws to eugenics.
Overall, I think this series does a great job introducing teen readers to more complex storytelling and serious horrific discussions found in dystopias and the real world....more
Area X is a mystery to the world. The site of an "environmental disaster" - or so it's been advertised - it has strange properties that have 2.5 stars
Area X is a mystery to the world. The site of an "environmental disaster" - or so it's been advertised - it has strange properties that have changed the eleven teams of scientists and specialists that have been sent inside to explore. After her husband returns severely changed by his time on the eleventh expedition, our main character, a biologist, volunteers to be a part of the twelfth.
Jeff VanderMeer has been recommended to me several times because of my love of strange fiction, so I had to pick this up when I saw a perfectly good copy for dirt cheap at my local used bookstore. I picked this up specifically for my readathon, Friendathon, for the prompt where my friend Brooke picked a book off of my physical TBR.
So, this book. What to say? Let's start out with that I really want to watch the movie and am not at all opposed to continuing on in the series, despite my rating. I think the concept was interesting and there was definitely potential in this enough that I'm not ruling out reading more from the author. However, this was dull. This was one of those books that a) all of the words left my mind almost as soon as I read them and b) a science fiction where the male author has this disconnect between the characters/plot/etc. and the reader. I love weird books, Mona Awad is now an official favorite author of all time for me, but I think the type of books I love tend to be character driven, or at least more so than this was. There were definitely a few plot points that intrigued or surprised me(view spoiler)[, namely the biologist becoming infected and then finding the stack of journals (her husband's journal was much more interesting than hers imo) (hide spoiler)]. But I really couldn't shake my boredom while reading this. I did realize near the end that I did really like the author's diction, it was really specific, so again, I won't rule out reading more of his stuff. Annihilation, unfortunately though, was not for me. ...more
This political military sci-fi follows a world where humanity has mastered light speed travel by breaking people apart at the atomic level and turningThis political military sci-fi follows a world where humanity has mastered light speed travel by breaking people apart at the atomic level and turning them into light. Mega corporations have replaced nations, and there are only six left. Our main character Dietz, after everyone in Sao Paulo disappears suddenly, joins the military in the war against Mars to avenge their family. However, when Dietz enrolls, they find that they may be one of those who comes back differently after traveling - one of the Light Brigade.
I really never thought I'd hate a book that has time travel, and one partially inspired by one of my favorite books at that, but here we are. I also love confusing books, but this didn't do it for me! Every word of this book went in one ear and out the other. I couldn't absorb a single thing. I just didn't gel well with the writing style at all, which made me sort of zone out while reading. I thought it was cool that the author went out of her way to not use gendered language about the main character. The idea itself had potential for me. I liked the ending (but am confused by it). But could I tell you what happened in any amount of detail? No. The general corporation military plot was as hard to follow as it was uninteresting to me, so I had no draw to keep reading except that I wanted to get it over with. I saw a 5-star review by Rebecca Roanhorse, which makes sense because her writing style was the same way for me where I couldn't absorb it. I understand that this is definitely a book that other people would like (it was StarlahReads' favorite of 2020, whose taste I trust), but it was overwhelmingly not my thing. I'd most recommend this to those who gave This Is How You Lose The Time War 5 stars.
Also, this is not the author's but the publisher's fault, but who in the world decided to have the interviews be written in such a hard to read font with such small margins? I can't imagine a dyslexic being able to get through those chapters....more
Thousands of years ago, a small race of aliens came to Earth, with only one born each generation, and only two alive at a time. They've done their besThousands of years ago, a small race of aliens came to Earth, with only one born each generation, and only two alive at a time. They've done their best to subtly influence humanity over the years, with one goal in mind: take them to the stars. Now, it's the beginnings of the space race. Mia is working in Europe to push scientists in the right direction, but also is beginning to resent the path laid out for her by her ancestors.
All of the opinons below are those of an actual rocket scientist! (Aerospace engineer, same difference)
This is one of those reviews that I'm giving a middling rating but the whole review is only about critiques - that comes down to me believing that this had a really good skeleton but could have expanded on these ideas so much more than the author felt necessary. Probably the most engaging part of this book is slowly learning more about the aliens, both what our main characters learn and in the engaging flashbacks where we discover the past generations and their lost knowledge. It was also cool to see our main characters interact with important historical figures, but I wish we saw so much more of it. Mia is secretly expediting the process of the space race single handedly, but we see so little of the actual science and history. I want to see her connections with Russia's greatest rocket scientists, see the frustration of them running into walls. Alas, we're told instead of shown. This means that we speed through years super fast without much grounding. I wish this went after the style of 11/22/63; it didn't need to be 1000 pages, but really going into the specific details of science and history and their intersections. I also wish the reader was more connected to the main characters; there's a distance in the narration style that make them harder to care about and less fleshed out. While this was a short enough read, I wish Neuvel would've made this at least twice as long to do the amazing ideas due dilligence.
Overall, this had fantastic potential as an alternate history story, but didn't always execute it to its fullest extent....more
Hundreds of years in the future, when humanity has mastered faster than light travel and colonized the stars, Kira Navarez is a xenobiologist on a resHundreds of years in the future, when humanity has mastered faster than light travel and colonized the stars, Kira Navarez is a xenobiologist on a research mission with her crew on an unpopulated planet. When a routine unlikely check for life goes wrong, Kira is swept up in a conflict involving multiple new alien races and new allies, hoping to keeps safe the one thing she holds sacred: life.
I recommend this book to people who liked: - AIDAN from Illuminae - The key from Foundryside - the movie Arrival - The Hero of Ages - the video game INSIDE - the space opera genre
I've never read any of the Eragon books so this was an introduction to Paolini for me. I was impressed, this definitely did feel adult all the way through. I really loved a lot of the scientific elements in this. For example, Kira asks a ship for directions and arrows appear on the ceiling to guide her. That's obviously not the most out-there example I could give, but I thought Paolini did a great job of immersing the reader in the universe without handing everything to them. For instance, there is a specific plot twist that is only for the reader - the characters have known this their whole lives, but the full extent of it isn't mentioned until halfway through. The cultural differences that have to be worked through and around in this reminds me of Arrival (my favorite movie) and it was so well done. The last 50 pages or so, just the general conclusion, was fantastic. There was definitely a cheesy scene in it, but there really wasn't any other ending that would have felt right, props to him. I also enjoyed how it didn't feel like Paolini was pulling any punches - Kira's actions in particular always had consequences that lasted for most if not the rest of the book. As much as those things were great, this definitely wasn't a new favorite of mine. I never - and I mean never - complain about this in books, but I felt that this was a little too long. Some sections felt kinda redundant, some felt like a wild goose chase put there for no reason. I also had some tonal problems, particularly around when Kira first boards the Wallfish. The rest of this book is really serious but then occasionally the author would try to be funny in a way that felt really out of place (why is there a pig on a spaceship?). I wasn't a fan of the romantic relationship in here, but that's probably chalked up to my last problem: underdeveloped side characters. Science fiction, for some reason, seems to be the genre that I notice most where the author just hands us a character and expects us to root for them without giving enough individual background. This is also my problem with the "found family" trope - if there's too many people, it feels fake (to me). I mean, I spent 75% of this book convinced that a specific character was a traitor (and they weren't, which was almost disappointing). Maybe I just have trust issues, who knows. Overall, I definitely get why this is making the rounds and will definitely look out for any more adult novels from Paolini, I just got bored in the middle of this one!...more
Sometime in the late 1700s, a crew of men are sailing to be the first to reach the North Pole. On their journey, they run across a strange man, frozenSometime in the late 1700s, a crew of men are sailing to be the first to reach the North Pole. On their journey, they run across a strange man, frozen and maddened. This man is Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant chemist whose determination to be an amazing scientist lead to his current miserable existence. Before I go into my review, a couple of things: first, I played Justine in my high school's production of Frankenstein, so I was extremely familiar with the entire plot of this before ever reading it. Second, can we talk about how Mary Shelley came up with this when she was NINETEEN? There's just no aspiring to such a talent. Back to your regularly scheduled review. I can tell by reading this how revolutionary this text was. A book written at the same time that Jane Austen's works were published, before the first person was even popularized, created an entire genre. My main surprise about this was how much the focus was on Victor's anguish, rather than what I would deem the plot points of the story. Another surprising thing was how short the chapters were! That's something you don't see from books this old, ramping up the pacing with short chapters. Overall, this was a fun revisit to a story near and dear to my heart, and I was not disappointed by finally reading the original words. ...more
I received an eARC of this in exchange for an honest review. My thanks go out to NetGalley and the publisher! All around the Boston area, seven completI received an eARC of this in exchange for an honest review. My thanks go out to NetGalley and the publisher! All around the Boston area, seven complete strangers wake up to find that the rest of humanity has seemingly disappeared. The power's out, everything is overgrown, and huge wild animals roam free. As these seven people struggle to survive, they also have to figure out what has happened to them and the rest of humanity. From the very first pages of this book, I was hooked. The mystery surrounding these seven characters mixed with having to survive the heightened elements led to it being a very fast-paced and compelling read; I read the second half of this in practically one sitting. The anticipation for the reveals at the end was well-built and paid off very well by the end. I thought there was just the right amount of explanation at the end as well. A specific mystery that one character investigates reminded me very much of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, a favorite book of mine. I was also surprised at how humorous this book could be - I laughed at several lines of dialogue. In regards to what I didn't like, the copy that I received had no indents and sometimes paragraph breaks in the middle of sentences, but that says nothing of the content of the story. My main complaint is directed at the characterization in the novel; once the characters are introduced and their stereotypes and basic beliefs laid out, they are left static and undeveloped to focus on the plot. If this book had taken the final steps of developing the main characters beyond their original parameters, going in-depth into their backgrounds and philosophies through flashbacks or inner monologues or the like throughout the novel, this would have been a five-star for me. All in all, The Apocalypse Seven was an extremely fun ride from beginning to end that I'll definitely be recommending to sci-fi/dystopian fans!...more
My lengthy review of this book from 4 years ago was deleted and I can't find it. I absolutely adored this book - it's one of my favorite scifi storiesMy lengthy review of this book from 4 years ago was deleted and I can't find it. I absolutely adored this book - it's one of my favorite scifi stories and has so many plot twists you won't see coming. Can't recommend it enough!...more
3.5? 3.75? 4? Andrew Martin, a Cambridge professor, has solved the Riemann Hypothesis, the greatest unsolved mystery in mathematics. Unfortunately for 3.5? 3.75? 4? Andrew Martin, a Cambridge professor, has solved the Riemann Hypothesis, the greatest unsolved mystery in mathematics. Unfortunately for him, a more advanced race of aliens has decided that humans are not ready for that advancement yet, so our main character is sent down to Earth to replace him and delete all evidence of his solution and kill anyone who may know about it. Although he initially finds humans repulsive and humanity violent and greedy, he slowly comes to warm to his surroundings as he, an alien, discovers what it truly means to be human. I'm not sure how I feel about this one! I don't even know what genre I should put this in in my spreadsheet which stresses me out. I've never read a Matt Haig but this was the first of three of his that I've put on my TBR in the last couple of months. There wasn't a whole lot of plot, as one might expect from a quaint British magical realism-type book. It was mostly just the main character's observations and trying not to fail miserably at being human (while failing miserably a lot of the time). I really liked some of the things that the main character said about humanity - I was crying unrelatedly while reading this so it was consoling - but it didn't hit home every time, and when it missed it felt fake. I will say that there was one misunderstanding due to the main character being an alien that was a major plot point that felt extremely contrived and impossible that it would not be something he would have learned in his time on Earth at that point. Overall, I didn't know how to feel while reading it or after reading it. Definitely recommend for fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea, which was a 4-star for me....more
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