Ashley
At the start, I thought this book was going to be cheesy. An alien comes to Earth and points out all these inconsistencies in human behavior and it felt like an intro to anthropology course in college. But as the book went on and the alien has to struggle more with adapting to human life in order to remain hidden and starts seeing not only the inconsistencies in human life and behavior, but also the joys in it, it becomes much more interesting and challenging. Anyone can point out that the amount and types of clothing humans wear can be silly, but demonstrating the power of love is a much different concept.
3.5 stars rounded down. I will continue on with the series because I think the characters and the world is interesting, but this first book was pretty confusing. I couldn't keep all the characters straight between at least two people from each of nine different houses and a lot of them felt like fodder. I am pretty tolerant to not knowing what is going on in fantasy books, but if I am at the end of the book still trying to remember who is who, that's not a great sign for me. That being said, I liked the story, the relationship between Gideon and Harrow, and the narratives for the characters.
So many people have loved this book and I was afraid I was not going to be one of them at about halfway through. It was a good book and I was enjoying it, but I didn't understand what everyone was raving about. However, the last third of the book is so intense and really comes together in a way that I wanted to see. And yes, it made me cry...a lot. But in a nice way?
3.5 stars rounded up. This was like a collection of black mirror episodes that dove deeper into the science or technology that it would take to get to these points and then explored the limits of these scenarios morally and ethically. I enjoyed it even though sometimes I struggle with the science part of sci-fi and I can easily recommend it for sci-fi fans who enjoyed Black Mirror.
3.5 stars rounded up. The writing was beautiful and the narrators were excellent. I'm so glad I listened to this on audio, because it really brought the story to life. It is a pretty sad story about a family with great expectations for their children that doesn't work out as planned. I appreciated the incorporation of the land that was weaved throughout the book.
I had previously put this down and just recently picked it up again and I'm so happy I did! I have enjoyed Mary Roach's writing in the past and this was no exception. She is a curious person and instead of just looking something up on Wikipedia, she goes straight to the source to answer her questions. She is also funny and makes a subject matter that may be dry or uncomfortable and makes it approachable. I recommend any of Mary Roach's books, but if you read this one, know you will never think about eating or defecating the same way again!
This book was not what I expected at all and I really enjoyed it. At the outset, I wasn't sure why I would care about Evelyn, but as her journey went on, I got completely sucked in and was along for the ride all the way to the end. Evelyn was a very complex character and she reminded me that what you see presented from people is not necessarily accurate or even close to the truth in some cases. The book also challenges you to think about how you would handle these situations if you were in Evelyn's shoes. The multiple narrators in the audiobook was also a nice touch.
This book sounds like it is written for me; zombies, talking animals, general hijinks. Unfortunately, I could not get into it! I just didn't care about any of the characters or what they were doing. It was also trying very hard to be funny and the humor just didn't land for me. The premise behind the zombies was very silly, although not very important to the plot so not a big deal.
My other issue was the writing itself. I felt like half of this book was just a list of different animals and the names for groups of animals. That combined with all the adjectives, similes, and metaphors, made this read like a high school English paper that had a very specific science prompt.
I really thought I was going to love this book, but it just didn't work for me.
Fun and fast-paced listen. Is it breaking new ground? No. Is it diving deep into world building or a magic system? Also, no. But, I found it enjoyable and will continue with the series to see how the story and characters develop. I think listening to this with my boyfriend also helped my enjoyment, because he was really into it.
If you like Hunger Games, Battle Royale, or possibly Ender's Game, you may like this book.
3.5 stars. Interesting concept if a little repetitive due to the nature of Molly's situation, but it is so short that it doesn't drag on and become annoying. I am interested in reading the sequel, but I hope it takes the story and the concept in a slightly different direction.
I thought that I would feel uncomfortable or squeamish because of all the blood references (usually a no-go for me), but I had no issues here.
It's rare that I think the sequel is better than the original, but Evan Winter did a great job here. It was so exciting from start to finish and I could barely put it down. I loved Tau's character development, especially towards the end of the book, as well as his relationship with the other characters. Can't wait for the next one!
Wacky stories about love, not just romantic love, either. You have to listen to the audiobook version because all the narrators are different and excellent, many of them comedians and actors. I think you will enjoy this if you liked John Dies at the End, which is a weird comparison, but I promise, it does make sense.
This had a slow start for me, although I was intrigued and then picked up a third of the way through. I was also personally frustrated with the main character's gender role and relationship with her husband, because it felt so antithetical to how she started and how I think a smart, progressive woman would act. I give the author due credit for this, because there is so much nuance as to why she is behaving this way and it makes sense for the scenario, but I wanted to scream at some points.
The magic was really interesting and I think intuitively made sense so it was easy to pick up and the world isn't so different from ours that you struggle to understand what is going on. There is a fair amount of politics on the edges of everything happening that lends a lot of realism to the book and the scenarios in it.
The fight scenes and battles were excellent and the author pulls no punches in them (pardon the pun).
My biggest issue was how quickly a certain character changed their behavior; it felt so jarring, but eventually the change is further explored and explained which made that change make more sense.
Highly recommend.
Easy 5 stars and should be required reading. Chanel Miller is an excellent author and unflinchingly confronted and examined her rape and everything that happened after. I thought I knew a decent amount about how sexual assaults are handled by the police and the judicial system, but having to listen to Chanel navigate the entire process from start to finish brought out so many details that I have never thought about. People wonder why women and men don't report their sexual assaults, well, read this book and you will understand exactly why.
This book is centered on Chanel's particular case and experience, but unfortunately, her situation is not unique which means there are many takeaways on how we can apply the knowledge that we gained from this memoir to our own lives and how we approach the topics of rape, sexual assault, consent, victims, survivors, and the laws surrounding these issues.
3.5 stars rounded up. This was a fun read, although I did keep forgetting who was who with the large amount of characters, but I don't think it really made a difference. I think the premise was good, but I don't think the plot stuck to the premise very closely and I wish it would have brought in more of the witchiness. The conclusion was a bit of a jolt to the system, I was thinking I had accidentally skipped some pages and missed something, but it came back around in the end. I am trying not to spoil anything so this is a pretty vague review, but I liked the book and would read more from the author although I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to most people.
3.5 stars. I knew this was going to be funny, but I thought it would be a more genuine letter to her daughters. It was still enjoyable and very Ali Wong. I appreciated the discussion on representation in the media as your authentic and non-white self and not fitting into a stereotype.
Sidenote: I'm pretty good with raunchy topics, but even I got a little grossed out at times. I know this was the intention, but it still took me a little by surprise. This also may have been more dramatic from listening to the audiobook version.
I love the writing and the way the story is setup, just like the first book, but I didn't love the shifting perspectives on the same parts of the plot or that the focus of the story was a romance. If there are more stories in this series, I would absolutely read them and would still recommend this book to most people!
I think my review is going to be very similar to most others. The beginning of this book is so weird and confusing, but it is so weird and confusing that it makes you want to figure out what is going on. It also makes sense that it is confusing based on the circumstances that the main character is in. As the story developed it became more interesting to try to figure out alongside the main character what was happening and how he came to be in the situation he was in. I couldn't put the book down for the last 25%.
The setting was very interesting and I have never read another book with a structure like this. If you don't mind being in the dark and slowly having the story revealed to you, I would recommend.
I loved the behind the scenes nature of the book and getting a glimpse into a person's life who didn't choose to be a political figure, but happened to be married to someone who did. I had never put much thought into the experience of the spouses or other family members of political leaders and I am glad I got to see life from Michelle Obama's perspective. I appreciated seeing the struggles Michelle went through, not only because she married Barack Obama, the Senator and the President, but also just growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1970s.
I found the last quarter of the book to be more moving and inspiring than the earlier parts of the book, but I still very much enjoyed the beginning and hearing about Michelle's life prior to being Michelle Obama the political figure and I know that reading about her early life is critical to understanding how she came to be the positive, dedicated, and hardworking person she is today.
I highly recommend the audiobook as Michelle narrates it herself and I think that lends a lot of personality to the book.
I love witch books and overall I thought this book was okay and I can see why people would love it, but this had three issues for me. Two I think are unique to me and the other is a general criticism.
My first issue is that I felt this skewed too YA for my particular tastes. The main character is an older teen girl and I just don't care about reading the drama that comes along with that. This book didn't center on that teen drama, but is endemic to a teen girl growing up in a religious society in a household that enforces those ideals who happens to be interested in a boy from a different segment of society.
My second issue is the same issue I had with The Handmaid's Tale. I don't want to read fiction about religious societies that oppress women. It is too close to real life and I would rather read non-fiction with actionable items than have it incorporated into a fantasy book.
My general criticism is that I felt the book was kind of slow for the first 90% and then sped up and got real crazy in the last 10% and then ended. I wanted more witchcraft throughout the book and more world-building in that direction rather than reading about the Romeo and Juliet nature of her relationship with the secondary character.