Andres

This was an interesting read.

Can't say I've read something like this before, but also I'm not sure it's for everyone. Needless to say, I kept thinking about this weeks after finishing it.

You follow this woman as she “lives” her mundane life without any sort of excitement. She sleeps, goes to work, eats this energy-protein-mix to sustain herself, and repeats. It's only after she orders delivery from two brothers that everything changes for her. She starts a new hobby, she makes friends with them, she starts to think about new career choices, and she stopped drinking that f*ing sht.

Somehow, we find ourselves rooting for her, but then the story takes some “liberties” that could be interpreted as “magical realism”. Cutting it short, there's a point in the novel that (well, actually it was foreshadowed in the emails exchanged between the protagonist and the eldest of the brothers) catches you by surprise a little, but you just roll with it. Then something else happens, and you're like, “what?” in the surreal kind of way. Yet, I personally also rolled with it, even if I still can't accept certain characters disgustingly got away with somethings.

In the end, there's a lesson to be learned here (like with every book), but I feel this one only displays to the one who reads it; I feel the author quoted Rick Sanchez on this one: “There's a lesson here and I'm not going to be the one to figure it out”.

Not gonna lie, I struggled a lot getting through this book as its pace became dreadfully pedantic at certain points of the story.

I found the protagonist to be rather bland and one-dimensional throughout most of the story, as it's made clear he is “The Chosen One” on top of the fact that he has an ability that almost strips him from being in peril. On the other hand, the construction of the antagonists and the way they executed their plans was enthralling, which gave you insight to what the protagonist would face in the future as well as providing the reader with worldbuilding (which is splendid, but at the same time challenging).

Yet (after pushing myself to continue reading), at around 78% into the book the protagonist does a complete 180 and surprised the shit out of me. All this build up, all the thoughts of people telling you he was incredible, all the people praising him, truly paid off. I say this because I couldn't believe he was the same character, as he suddenly delivers killer dialogues, takes smart and intelligent decisions, and completely destroys (verbally, spiritually, and physically) every single antagonist, person who tried to manipulate him, and those who underestimated or took him for granted; I mean, holy shit, it was EPIC, not because characters were telling you, but because you could see it; Suddenly, I could see just why the protagonist and novel are praised.

It turns out that many readers and critics also acknowledged that the book is hard to get through, mainly due to the surplus of themes that are delivered. So, after multiple readings, the novel improves. The prose itself was also quite challenging, as I found myself revisiting paragraphs many times to figure out what exactly happened, the more so whenever action “scenes” took place; it takes time to get used to. Nevertheless, I must say that Frank Herbert did create a phenomenal epic that definitely deserves the praise, but it's not one I would recommend to a casual reader unfamiliarized with the genre.

This is not a “love story” and I don't understand why it is held in that regard by word-of-mouth. Or at least from my perspective.

The prose was incredible, which I didn't expect; it had an excellent way of incorporating modern and “classical” eloquence that I found enthralling and kept me hooked. The way the author handled each character's introduction was great as well because by meeting them for the first time we had a general idea of their personality as well as how our expectations about them would be “distorted” or “emphasized” as the story continued. I loved the way Gatsby, in particular, was [formally] introduced because it defied my expectations about him: instead of presenting him with an almost regal light or with an imposing introduction that completely defined him (like the author did with Tom a.k.a Toxic #1), he simply appeared as a guy having a good time conversing with the protagonist in the most casual way possible. When he said “I'm Gatsby” I literally jumped and had to go back and read when he came into the scene (as by this point we were introduced to a bunch of characters in said party that we weren't going to see again, so I thought he was one of them).

One of the aspects I like about Nick, our narrator, is that he really didn't care for whatever lavish things Gatsby did or tried to impress him with: he simply looked and interacted with him just like when he first met him at that party. Thus, their friendship seemed palpable and probably the only honest thing devoid of any hypocrisy to come out of this story. Just the fact that he stayed with Gatsby on that long night until morning and said those words about him, about how he's actually worth more than what they made him out to be, was probably my favorite part of the book.

Having said this, Gatsby is an idiot. A lovable idiot (sometimes, especially towards the end) but an idiot at that. Meanwhile, I personally think Daisy is our Toxic #2, and no wonder she stayed with Tom: they belong with each other as they are, in fact, the same (minus the White Supremacy thing, as far as I know). I don't know if that's an unpopular opinion, but three people died in this book and even Nick pointed out their nature TWICE in the novel.

Oh, and I liked Jordan. She was very “grounded” and had a no bs air to her that made her such a compelling character in a way that I didn't understand how she became friends with Daisy in the first place. She and Nick are probably the best couple in the book and they are not given enough credit or attention by the author.

In the end, I really loved this book and story, and well, it's an “American masterpiece” that's deserving of said acknowledgment. Although, I'm picky about something that didn't come to be: when Nick met Tom for the last time before he left NY for good (and after he parted ways with Jordan, which made me mad because I wanted those two to be together but I guess I was asking for a lot), it was revealed that he pointed Wilson in the direction of Gatsby, and said that he got what he deserved for killing Myrtle. Now, I don't know what this says about me, but I wanted Nick (as he shook his hand saying his goodbyes) to pull him closer and say to his ear “Daisy was driving” and just walk away. It would've been satisfying AF.

The author does something interesting with Rand, as we as readers don't follow his perspective for 95% of the book but instead we see how the world reacts towards Rand and the ramifications that it entails. It's a pretty bold decision by the author, but he superbly pulled it off.

It's my favorite of the series so far because it handles the different perspectives and interwoven narratives so well that it allows you to have a clear picture of everything that goes on in the story; our protagonists are once again separated, but they inevitably converge once again by the climax of the story (following the established formula), yet I find it way more compelling this time around due to how the author manages to balance the perspective of each character and how it plays out in the world. For instance, we can have one of our parties encounter something that halts their journey, while another party encounters that same thing along the way, but they go about it differently; it allows each “cause & effect” (a recurring theme) to make the world seem more “alive”.

Mat became my favorite character and I can't wait to see more of him as well as the disadventures he may end up in; He brings something completely different to the table, as he doesn't necessarily aspire to be a hero, accomplish something grandiose or help save the world, but rather acts through self-interest and whether there is money involved...or does he? He might appear to act selfishly, but we learn throughout his journey that he truly has a heart of gold. Also, he not only brought us the best fight of the series so far but also almost every moment/interaction/dialogue coming from him is either hilarious, cool, or charming. To bad that almost everyone doesn't give him the time of day (and most often than not, it works for his advantage).

I really liked the ending, not because of the sheer epicness of it all, but because it served as the “closure” to the lingering feelings of the previous book, while also allowing Rand to overcome his fear and truly accept his destiny without being pushed to do so.