Ryan

This was an incredibly powerful read. Trey is an interesting, flawed yet idealistic character, and his coming of age against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis was very moving. Despite being fiction, this feels like a powerful historical document of the zeitgeist of the 1980s. Some of the historical cameos were a little overwrought, but not in a way that took away from the narrative or the themes.

There's a lot to love about Mistborn - the setting is fascinating, Sanderson has developed a really interesting system of magic with allomancy, and the backstory of the rise of the Lord Ruler were all really enjoyable. They form a really great core of the novel. I was less impressed with Vin's story - it seemed like a cliched YA plotline that's been done many times before and, honestly, more interestingly.

There's enough that appealed to me that I'll definitely be checking out the remainder of the trilogy to see how the story develops.

This was a nice fill-in fic to show where Ahsoka was between the end of the Clone Wars cartoon and her reappearance in Rebels. Having listened to the audiobook, hearing Ashley Eckstein narrate the story was really nice as well.

If you're not a dedicated fan of Star Wars in general, and Clone Wars specifically, this probably would not be an enjoyable read. This is meant to be connective tissue, and it does that job well, but someone not already well-versed in the story would find it almost incomprehensible at times.

This was a nice fill-in fic to show where Ahsoka was between the end of the Clone Wars cartoon and her reappearance in Rebels. Having listened to the audiobook, hearing Ashley Eckstein narrate the story was really nice as well.

If you're not a dedicated fan of Star Wars in general, and Clone Wars specifically, this probably would not be an enjoyable read. This is meant to be connective tissue, and it does that job well, but someone not already well-versed in the story would find it almost incomprehensible at times.

I've always liked the idea of Red Sonja as this badass warrior lady, but I never really would have considered myself a big fan of her. Reading this has definitely changed that opinion - Simone's exploration of Sonja's background does a great job of grounding her in reality, while also presenting a deeply fantastical story. That combination of sweet and savoury makes for an incredibly engaging story. The audiobook performance by Felicia Day adds a great additional layer to the story as well.

Some books are interesting because of their plot, engaging characters, or because of unique insight the author has. This is not one of those books. HOWEVER, I would still defend it as an interesting read for the thoughts and conversations it sparks about the value of work and how we define it, what it means for someone to have "value" to society, and the complicated obligations that our relationships with each other create. By doing nothing Morimoto becomes a mirror through which we can study each other.

This is a strong, bold, scary look at mental illness, isolation, indigenous culture, and the struggles of motherhood. Objectively, it is a very well written book.

Subjectively, this was not the book for me.