Govind

I have seen The Martian, but this is the first time I am trying a work by Weir. Given the high acclaim, I had high expectations, but it fell flat, and the writing quality leaves a lot to be desired. I was surprised at the amount of cringy, unfunny jokes and bad jokes based on stereotypes. It's 2021 and it's sad that we still doing the bit about foreigners working in sciences not speaking good English. They can figure out all this hard science, but apparently English Garmmar is insurmountable. I just can't with bad grammar to show accent.

I personally didn't enjoy the ending, as I felt it could have been fleshed out more. The last paragraph read just like the last scene from a screenplay. However, even with all its flaws, it's a quick enjoyable read and the plot is way too Intresting to make you stop reading. The middle part in space is really enjoyable.

I will definitely watch the movie (I am sure it will be fantastic) and try more works from the author. I just can't rate it higher though. The writing quality is just not there.

The book starts off heavy. The first chapter is a bit grim and violent (non-graphic). This might put some people off, but it then mellows a lot from there and balances despair and hope very well. We follow the story of two souls that are reincarnated as five different animals (some endangered). Even though the stories are connected, they all could stand on their own also .My favourite one was that of a sea otter.

On the surface, the book is a heartfelt tale about hope, the environment, and the future, but it also goes deeper than that. The book can be seen as an allegory for the population decline crisis in Japan. The novel explores the different ways one cam deal with or approach this issue. One of the stories shows how a person can have a hard time finding personal happiness when facing immense societal pressure to help the species as a whole. I am not going to explain more and ruin the joy. It’s much better to go in without too much information beforehand. This is a fantastic read, and you won’t regret giving it a try.

Thank you Kodansha and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

This was my first foray into horror comics/manga, and it turned out to be an interesting read. Except for one story (Family Portrait), there was a fair bit of creativity, and the shock elements went along with the story well. It's written in a way that makes you want to keep on reading. Family Portrait was uncomfortable to read due to some forced elements. It felt tropey and shoehorned in. But the others were written better.So overall, it was a decent read. If you aren't put off by shock elements when they fit the narrative, it's a book worth checking out.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the advanced review copy.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! The art is great, and it's a quick read, but the story has some major drawbacks. There is a totally unnecessary rape subplot, and the character is shown as apologetic to the rapist. They could have avoided that and focused on the relationship between the leads. The book would have been so much better that way. The Russian historical setting, while interesting, is confusing and half-baked. Characters are sometimes shown living longer than they did in reality, mixing fact and fiction without clarification. The presence of a character profile area that doesn’t point this out adds to the confusion. A part near the end explaining the changes made versus reality happened would have helped a lot. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend going out and buying this book, but it’s an alright to read if you are borrowing it from someone.

This is a fantastic book. It's as entertaining and engaging as short-form etymology videos, but it keeps that energy from start to finish. From the way the chapters are divided to the way each chapter starts and ends, you can kind of get into a rhythm. The way the author transitions from one topic to another is also done very gracefully. There are a ton of references and jokes to keep you company. The history of a word, rather than being told in a matter of fact way, is kind of told like a story, with all these little trivia pieces thrown in. It really is an enjoyable experience.

I also liked that we get a brief look into some newer Gen Z terminology and its history. I was also really happy to spot words with Indian or Sanskrit origins pop up. My own mother tongue, Malayalam, also makes an appearance in one of the sections (see if you can spot the etymological feature “Malayalam” has). You also don't have to know anything about etymology to start this book. It's very accessible. So, in conclusion, this book is an easy recommendation from me.

Thank you NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy.