Nathan H

me before: oh cute, a fun book about travel

me after: the world is dying and it’s all our fault and there is no hope for us and love is dead and we’re all just boiling water from geysers turning into snowflakes, floating in the wind

Lot of a great information and excellent ideas.

Some parts were hit and miss, but overall, a very fascinating book!

Did not know a single thing about the plot going into this and-- Wow, this was not what I expected. Vibes of Manchurian Candidate and Looper.

Sometimes King books feel like a first draft and this was definitely on par with that.

Also, the undertones of Trumpism before it ever even existed are, uh, toning...

Way better than I remember it being. A very mature book that I really had no business reading at such a young age. Appreciated the way that Katniss’s father death was handled in conjunction with Rue’s, as well as the difficulty of being elevated to a motherly role at such a young age. I’m sure this book meant a lot to young folks dealing with similar situations.

The kind of book that makes you struggle each page

Don't know why I'm surprised that a book about people I despise was not an enjoyable experience

I appreciated the "down to earth" approach of trauma and talking to folks dealing with trauma. Great quotes scattered throughout.

If you've been following my recent journey through the Percy Jackson books, you may have noticed how little my enjoyment has been. These were beloved books from my childhood that I have, unfortunately, really not enjoyed this time around. Both Titan's Curse and Labyrinth were the best of the series by far, but that isn't exactly high praise.

The fact that this series culminated in such an odd, anti-climactic way didn't help. None of the characters (outside of Percy or Annabeth) had much depth to them and both Luke & Kronos have really weak motives or strong decision making. The fact that the entire series hinges on Luke, a character that was in a brief supportive role in book one and only really present for two scenes max each book thereafter, is really shitty. He is a boring, fill-in-the-blank character who only has ties to Annabeth, who tells him that she never even loved him during his final moments. Cool.

To show some "positivity", I really appreciated the way that Riordan wrote about absent parent relationships and how strongly that can impact a young person. The final two chapters were nice as well, as Riordan tied up loose ends (though he did create another one because $$$).

Fine book, decent series. Disappointed nonetheless.

Usually find case studies to be annoying, but this was fantastic. Excellent flow and “conversation” between Oprah and Dr. Perry. Really, really excellent breakdown of childhood trauma and development.

Very important text, though reads like a textbook.

"If you are homeless or unemployed, a person with disabilities on a fixed income, if you have been exploited and excluded, incarcerated or evicted, this is your fight. If you are an undocumented immigrant, giving this country your sweat, your very body, but receiving few rights in return, or a worker shortchanged and kicked around by your company, this is your fight.

If you are one of the tens of millions of Americans scraping, pinching, living paycheck to paycheck, floating somewhere between poverty and security, this is your fight. If you are a young person fed up not only with impossibly expensive cities and $100,000 college degrees but also with polite excuses and insipid justifications for why things are the way they are, this is your fight.

If you have found security and prosperity and wish the same for your neighbors, if you demand a dignified life for all people in America, if you love fairness and justice and want no part in exploitation for personal gain, if all the hardship in your country violates your sense of decency, this is your fight, too."

Interesting premise that quickly falls off a cliff. Really dull, annoying characters and oh so dragged out & boring.

Read the first half of this book in my IB English class back in high school, then never finished it (Sorry Mrs. Russell). It's been weighing on me for years having never finished it. Glad I finally did!

Really funny and I enjoyed the crew of characters. I did find myself lost in the storylines at times, but I think that's an "audiobook while multi-tasking" problem...

Great introspection and quotes. Call me lame, but I find breakdowns of case studies to be really boring. Those chapters were a bit tough to get through. Maybe it's the school burn out (lol).

There is a mental-barrier I have when I encounter political books between Trump's 45th and 47th administration... The events of January 6th-- as significant as they felt at the time-- had more precedence in 2022 than they did in 2025. Unfortunately, people didn't care then and they definitely don't care now. There's a naive innocence to many of these post-1/6/21 books that just loses all messaging and severity in the 47th administration.

This book, specifically, falls victim to that naivety. It focuses on the radicalization of the Latino population, but offers no insight to improve the situation. It uses January 6th as a morality check, despite the corrupt pardons that took place at the beginning of the year.

I think back to The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory, an excellent book by Tim Alberta that uses personal experiences to investigate the radicalization of the American Evangelical Christian community. That book carries personality and stakes, spanning the early '80s to beyond the 2024 Presidential race. Defectors does the opposite. It's solely focused on Trump-ism and lacks the personality and emotional depth that I was searching for, in addition to offering little insight to solving the problems it highlights.

Not as good as the Titan's Curse but still better than the first two books of the series. For a penultimate finale, I was disappointed by the lack of stakes... The new characters in this one don't really get to shine due to the constant flip-flopping of timelines and locations.

Damn… Tough read! Was not prepared for the utter hopelessness that ensues in this. Intriguing characters and mysteries that never fully blossom, though I guess that’s the point.

Updated Ranking:

1. The Shining
2. Finder’s Keepers
3. The Outsider
4. It
5. Holly
6. Mr. Mercedes
7. ‘Salem’s Lot
8. Carrie
9. Cujo
10. End of Watch
11. The Running Man
12. Later
13. 1922

Yes, the misogyny, hyper fixation of sex, and cringy humor does seriously dampen many aspects of this book—

*But*

I enjoyed the concept and the world building enough that I will give future installments of the series a try. I’ve heard that the series and writing matures with each book, so I’m hopeful that this is true. Otherwise…

Due to the high amount of characters, I sometimes felt like I was drowning in keeping track of who’s who. At times, it was tough to shake the repetitive nature of the story. Regardless, really great exploration of adolescence under tyranny, innocence, and sexual identity.

This was a tough read, but still worthwhile! Didn’t connect with the characters as much as I’d hoped. I kinda appreciate the ending, even if it’s a bit anticlimactic.

Absolutely insane to think this isn’t even King’s magnum opus. Solid novel with great world building and character development.

Written in a somewhat chaotic, loosely detailed retelling of a story-- Almost like a talking head documentary. Very interesting!

Despite being my favorite book series as a kid, I’ve been quite iffy during this re-read. I’ve found the first two books to be genuinely awful, borderline unenjoyable.

This, however, was definitely a step in the right direction. A really interesting new set of characters are introduced to the story and puts Percy on an accelerated track to true leadership and personal growth.

Not to be a negative nelly, but I’m beginning to wonder if my dislike of the book is tied to the narrator… Very much dislike the artistic choices they made for voices, accents, and annunciation.