Jordan

This book is like A Quiet Place. It's entertaining and an interesting concept, but if you give it 30 seconds thought, it falls apart. Needed to be about 100 pages shorter. 

She can't get a haircut, but she can get drunk. She can move a sapling but can't stack up some stones. She has a perfect memory but is it Spain with the clear water or Portugal? The fact that meeting Henry isn't even happenstance (admittedly it's more realistic that it was orchestrated, cause what are the chances) takes most of the romance out of the story really.

It's written like she was shopping it to CW. Some smug Chuck Bass lookin dude to play Luc. 

The first half is 5 stars for me, but the second half felt more like 3. Don't go in expecting action or a traditional arc. This book is about perspective and reflection. The writing is really lovely, it just didn't stick the landing.

It's entertaining and informative, but the author's snarky schtick gets a little tiresome. Makes for an easier read than something more stuffy though.

This is the funniest book I've ever read but I can't tell if it's supposed to be. 

“I didn't know my­self well, and still don't. But I did know, and know now, the few peo­ple I loved and trusted. My feel­ing for them is one part of me I have never quar­reled with, even though my re­la­tions with them have more than once been abra­sive.”

I really liked this, but I was lost by the literary and cultural references that I was not familiar with. The writing is really lovely and I will definitely read more of his work. 

I am fascinated by spaces. Exploring abandoned houses or buildings is a favorite activity. Thinking about what happened in that space. The christmases, the fights, the parties, the heartache. This book conveys that feeling through layered images of different time periods and it's quite effective. I read the ebook but immediately ordered the hardcover.

It didn't really do much for me. I'm ok with the premise, I just don't think it added much value to the emotional impact. Throwing part 2 in right as we MIGHT get some of the emotional weight was totally unnecessary. The epilogue had more heart than the rest of the book by far. 

And for those who say this is some of the most beautiful writing you've read...where? It wasn't bad writing, but for something consistently praised for its writing, I was left a touch disappointed. There were some downright cheesy lines.

Groooooooan. I originally DNFd this but I was bored and persuaded to finish it. This was so dumb. The decisions made by characters were beyond my ability to suspend my disbelief. And I just read Pet Sematary. I kept waiting for something. Some twist, some reveal. The closest thing we get is so eye rolley it's insulting.

Hoo boy. Not scary like I expected but scary on an existential level. Definitely check the content warnings if you're unsure. 

Edit to add: I re-listened to some of it as my gf was listening to it and now I'm even more mad about how bad this was. So I lowered my rating. 

The premise is interesting but she didn't really say much. If she hadn't taken our current reality and just replaced any of the current struggles with equality and division with the strings, I could have been more on board. The Crash like ending was eye rolly and the lack of any meaningful arc left me unsatisfied.

A strong 4. Having just read East of Eden, I needed me some more Steinbeck. The introduction to the books says he wrote this to play out like a film and it absolutely does.  Speaking of the into, if your copy has it, wait to read it until after you finish. It gives basically the whole book away.

Many of my favorite stories center around what it means to be a good person, redemption, and ethics. Upon finishing a quote from The Good Place (of all places) popped into my head. 

“It turns out life isn't a puzzle that can be solved one time and it's done. You wake up every day, and you solve it again.” 

I would die for Lee, and I would happily read an entire book of him and Sam chatting about life.

 I think this is an instance of the movie being better than the book. Though I saw the movie first. So that's likely skewing my opinion. The movie is also fairly vague and inconclusive. Which doesn't bother me too much. It leaves room to take what you will from the story. 

I felt themes of divorce and/or loss. I didn't immediately made the connection. When I got divorced I remember seeing “dissolution of marriage” on the final paperwork. Only then did it really set in. I think the final part of the book being named “Dissolution” put me in that frame of mind. So maybe I was looking for meaning when there might not have been. 

The biologists journey through the tower and past the crawler reminded me of pushing through grief, seeing all the permutations of it and deciding that you will go on. There were a couple quotes I neglected to highlight to support my theory. I'll try to dig them up.

I had a hard time focusing on the audiobook for whatever reason. I enjoyed the book when I could focus, but it took me a long time to get through it. The cast of characters, geographic details, and info about magic and houses felt like it was spewed out endlessly. 

The biggest reason I'm knocking the rating down is commits one of my least favorite storytelling sins. Loooong exposition by the villain laying out everything in detail while the protagonist records it all.

A really fun break from some of the heavier stuff I've been reading. I would love to see a series made of it. The meta meta thing would be really interesting.

Loooved this. The sprawling timeline, the way the language and mood of the characters evolved to match the more modern settings and sensibilities. The narration shifted perspectives so seamlessly. I was never confused about whose perspective we were getting even amongst a scene with multiple characters. In the first couple chapters, the cast evolved so quickly that I didn't think I'd care about anyone by the end, but that is not the case. I'll think about these characters for a long time.

I'd heard Murakami didn't write women well, and perhaps I started with the wrong book of his. Among the lovely stretches of writing there were random bits that felt like incel fan fiction. And every time such a line would occur, I'd ask myself “is this because the characters are all supposed to be deeply flawed?” But I don't think that's the case.

I liked enough of the writing to try another of his books.

I liked this book quite a bit more than the first. The message of both is extremely heavy handed, but it's a really great reflection of humanity. Both your own and as a whole. 

There's no central conflict and no traditional arc. I found myself worrying when something would happen that would traditionally lead to something to be overcome. It was refreshing to have a drama-free story.

It was a reminder to be present. It shows how simple it is to be inclusive and conscientious and how universal some experiences are. I think the heavy handedness works in this case.

I gotta stew on this. I liked it, I'm just not sure how much I liked it overall. I liked the writing quite a bit. It's just...does the story work for me?

Really charming and easy. Don't let my two week reading time fool you, it's a short read. 

Look, I'm a logic guy. If you examine this book closely you're going to see a lot of issues with the “science” and there are some odd decisions that characters make that a real person wouldn't, but the themes and the method in which the themes are told are right up my alley and I had a good time. Gets surprisingly dark for a moment.

A fun summer read and different enough from the movie that there is some fresh surprises.

edit to add: there are some problematic aspects to this book given its age. They weren't plentiful or egregious enough to prevent me from being able to enjoy it though. Just a heads up for the more sensitive among you. 

I think I was looking for something that was there. In no way the fault of the book, just my own misunderstanding of what the book was. I can definitely see my rating going up upon reread.

It's so short it's hard to complain. I definitely got 45 min of enjoyment out of it. Would have loved to see this fleshed out to 100 or so pages. Even 80 pages. It needed a little more time to stick the landing. 

She creates great atmosphere and puts you right into the settings. It drags a little here and there. I think the “haunting” mentioned on the cover is not so much about the darkness of the story, but more that the story will linger with you long after reading. At least I suspect it will for me.