APSingh

I'm not the fastest reader; I like taking my time and really absorbing a book. But I couldn't put this one down. I read this nearly 400 page book in two days. Without getting into spoilers, Ahmed builds an eerily plausible world (relying heavily on the fact that, historically, such events have transpired and, presently continue to do so). the characters are generally well written, though the villain does border on the cusp of 2-dimensional. But with what we have seen with the comically 2-d pres #45, I'm not sure if this qualifies as unbelievable, or shockingly accurate.. great story! Edge of my seat the entire time. Proud to see desis rising!

This book is a Nonfiction deep dive into how our modern life is destroying our attention spans. If you, too, have noticed an uncomfortable downward slide of your attention span, especially after Covid lockdowns, you are not alone. The scary thing is, as Hari posits, is that this downward trend has been ongoing since the late 1800s, around the Industrial Revolution. As our society values economic growth more and more, tech companies will fight to get ever last second of your mind, equaling less sleep and more screentime, and more profit. This book is a wake-up call for every wired person on this planet. No, Hari doesn't offer easy solutions; he wants to start an Attention Rebellion. Let's fight back and do our part.

I have no problem with a dark story where a rookie Batman makes mistakes but this was poorly written.

First, while I can totally see Batman having regrets at the loss of a life and turning to drugs to cope, it undercuts his detective persona when a) he isn't suspicious of the chemist whose daughter just died having no emotional reaction; b) dude... You're just going to take random pills? Not going to look into it?

Second, glossing over his recovery process sends the message that if you go cold turkey you'll kick the habit, without talking about the potentialy fatal consequences of going cold turkey. Considering he's been taking these for quite a while in the story? But sure. Lets chalk that one up to fiction. But at least give us some time in the cave and show us more of Bruce's perspective? That could've been an entire issue into itself.

3) there are 3 female characters and they're all disposable for the purpose of the plot. The misogyny took me out of the story. Plus the army general almost makes a homophobic remark (he doesn't... But it's implied).

4) this is supposed to set up the island of Santa Prisca, and Bane. While I get the need for that, it does perpetuate stereotypes of Latin American countries as dangerous. This particular island is entirely run by drug cartels. On top of that, O'Neil writes the dialogue for Consuela (yes that's the name of the only named Hispanic person in the entire story) with her accent. Ex. Instead of saying “Tim, I don't think I want to see you no more”, her chooses to write “Teem, I don' theenk I wan' see you no more.” It just feels racist. Plus, Consuela falling in love with Tim right away pushes that false motion that a white American can just swoop into a foreign country and have women just falling at his feet.

5) the fact that they don't decide to kill Batman right away nor reveal his identity (for more gross reasons) but rather put him into a James Bond style slow death trap. Sure it's under the pretense of having him take a more addictive formula of Venom, but it just feels campy. The tone is all over the place.

Those are just some of the issues I had with this story. It's not a Dark Knight that you'll recognize. Sure, he's early in his career, but it's no excuse for him being so naïve.

I feel like I'm being pranked/gaslit by the internet. This book is so-so. What drew me in was the promise of being drawn into a rich literary world, filled with cities with a rich literary history. Initially there was some promise of that: Paris and Dublin are beautiful backdrops with the aforementioned ambience. There is a hint of magic that kept me intrigued.
As I was reading it, I was torn between “I'm not the target audience for this” and “just hold on... There might be just enough intrigue and mystery for me to enjoy this.” Sadly, by about halfway, I realized I'd been duped.
The characters are boring (save for one minor character who seemed to only serve as a catalyst for romance to bloom and then there was no mention of them).
The author wants opaline to be written as a struggling suffragette, but always seems to be under the thumb and influence of other male characters. Her most interesting story is the climax between her and her brother, which, I'll admit, was a page-turning section for me.
Martha is a marginal step up, but seems unrelatable due to her emotional distance from the reader and vague backstory from which she all too neatly overcomes.
Henry is just a Hugh Grant-esque awkward English boy with all the cliches that come along with it.
As I mentioned above, the one character that I truly found interesting was a minor character: Madam Bowden. But we learn nothing about her. Was she the spirit of the house personified? Was she another past owner? Was she the daughter of Opaline? Who cares! The author just flicks her away to the side. At least make her sing and dance around like Tom Bombadil if you're going to treat her as a throwaway mystery.
Anyway: I don't understand why so many ppl are raving over this book. It's barely a “cozy bookstore read” as some have said. There's very few sections that even deal with the cozy bookstore atmosphere. One really nice scene is where Opaline is first decorating the store when she initially moves in. I would have loved more of that and less cliched cheese.
I'm still giving it three stars, because, as I said, there was enough there to keep me going toward the finish line. But I would not revisit this again. I'll likely forget about it in the weeks to come.

Irreverently funny, suspenseful, and epic: this is a great book from the mind of one of the best authors of today. I love the cast of characters, and how they play off each other. Please read this ASAP!