Nik
I was going to omit a rating, because I'm definitely not the target audience and I didn't want to unfairly affect its overall score. I thought maybe it just didn't age well, or something; but then I read a few reviews written by teenagers and now I feel better about my gut reaction: it's just bad. The main characters are slappable, the guy is gross, the parents are super-slappable, the dialogue is unbelievable. The supporting cast isn't terrible (I like Jamie), but honestly, the possibly-probably queer guy being suicidal and ending up in the psych ward isn't a narrative that needs to be encouraged or supported in this day and age. For that matter, the fat girl being promiscuous was also really gross and awful. It's way past time that these decades-old stereotypes were squashed.
I wanted to give this book five stars. It's a really beautifully told history of New York City—necessarily incomplete, since it's also the story of one man. But I was fine with that. I always get annoyed when I get this big-picture perspective of things in a book, when it's one person's story. I think, Wait, how do you know what was happening way over there, when you were way over here the whole time? I like also that the story is biased: we aren't told everything, we're told about what's important to the main character.
Throughout the book, there's a fetishisation of brown and black skin that made me feel a little squiggy, and nowhere is this more pronounced than where Delfina enters the picture. Further, I wish the same attention to detail had been given to all the Spanish bits as was given to New York's history. The verb conjugations, the vocabulary, and the idiomatic expressions were all wrong. It would have taken very little effort to actually talk to a Dominican woman and get them right. There were also a couple of instances where the prose was anachronistic; they were jarring and took me out of the story. For example, I remember a mention of Mars and thinking, Wait, what? I just didn't believe that a poor, Irish boy would have "Mars" in his headspace in the 1800s.
Strong, strong feels about including 9/11 in the narrative. I could see it heading that way and was really hoping that I would be wrong. While I was disappointed with the end of the story, I enjoyed the beginning and middle enough to make the whole thing a worthwhile read. If you love New York City, I recommend giving it a try. But it's really a whole lot about NYC, so if that sounds boring, I wouldn't bother; for me, it was the best part.
I don't believe in guilty pleasures. The way I see it, if it makes me happy and I'm not hurting anybody, there's no cause for guilt.
That said, I feel like I shouldn't have enjoyed this collection of stories as much as I did. But I did! So very much! I have a soft spot for fast, fun reads, and this is one. Normally, the story we get is the story we get. If we want something more, we have to turn to fanfic. And then, it's not like we know that's what the author originally imagined.
But this! In this collection we get to revisit the slice of life to which we were introduced in Divergent and go behind the scenes with Four. And that's just so freaking cool!
Favourite thing: references without any elucidation to stuff that happened in Divergent. If you've read the book, you'll go, Oh, yeah, I remember that! If you haven't, there's no effort made to include you or catch you up on things. I love that. It feels like the continuation of a conversation between an author and her readers.
2.5
There isn't enough here to get excited about. After “Four: A Divergent Collection,” it's a little difficult to justify this story's existence. It's not revelatory and is quickly finished. I really like Four, so his perspective is always welcome, but there was a lot of telling and not showing going on and I felt unmoved by the meh of it all.
4.5 story
2.5 storytelling
3.5 overall
Great story unnecessarily dragged out with hyperbole and repetition. Most of the time the author doesn't even bother saying the same thing with different words—they're the same words and phrases over and over again. And the hyperbole! For the first time ever... No, actually, you said the same thing last time. A few other problems are signs of the time: the ableist language, the patronising sexism. A few years ago they might have been better tolerated, but the increased awareness with which we try to behave these days means they instead result in much jaw clenching and teeth gnashing.
The end of the eternaut's adventure was unexpected, but in retrospect it made a kind of sense. And while I know that the point was the story, the journey, its conclusion was so quickly and summarily presented that it felt a bit abrupt and anticlimactic. That said, I really liked the last few panels that focused on the listener. I'd hate to be in that poor guy's shoes.
Definitely the most ambitious graphic novel I've read so far, which is a good thing. I plan to look for more like this: longer and thought-provoking stories.
My favourite part was the story of how Japanese bees deal with being attacked by a Japanese hornet. That and the description of the journey from lump to runner were great and, on their own, would've made for a five-star book. What lost my interest and appreciation were the condescension, ableist language, and unnecessary snark. I'm not about insulting others to make myself feel better and at times that's what I felt was happening (e.g., tanning bed baked potatoes. I frequently really like The Oatmeal but this is the first time I've read one of the books. Maybe I'm just meant to take it in small doses. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
That story about the Japanese bees and hornets is really great, though.
Fun read. A couple of things irked me, so I docked a star. I didn't find it slow going or dull, but I'm not a connoisseur of the genre, so I haven't had the same exposure as some of the other reviewers.
If Hala can make people see what she wants them to see, and she can sustain the illusion for a while, why not simply make the enemy soldiers turn on each other? If Izz and Maz can turn into any creature, why not a massive and indestructible one that could stomp the enemy?
I didn't even know that the film was based on a graphic novel. That's so cool! It felt just a bit disjointed at times and for the first time I felt that having watched the film helped me to understand the progression of the story a little bit better. It's a moving story that is fundamentally different from the film. Well worth a read as it's a wholly different experience, really. I think I might try reading it in the original French.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway—thanks, Goodreads! <3
The story of Mr. Fuzzbuster's uncertainty about his place in Lily's heart when other animals join their family is cute and the illustrations are lovely. This strikes me as a book that children might read with their grownups rather than on their own, because a lot goes unsaid. We are left to read characters' expressions and draw our own conclusions about what they're thinking. The story raises great family discussion points.
I was sad that at the end poor little Mr. Fuzzbuster was thrown for a loop again, wondering if in fact Lily's doll was her favourite. Also for a moment in the beginning I thought that King was a snake, since it's rare that lizards make a sound and I don't associate them with hissing.
Overall, a nice tale about sharing one's space, life, and love with others.
How do you rate a book you couldn't put down but wish you'd never read? A five for prose, drama, emotional impact. A one for existing. It's one of the most devastating stories I've ever read. I feel ... undone and I can't recommend it. But giving a low rating to a story that will likely stay with me forever doesn't feel right.
My problem with this is that it's a work of fiction. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I wish it were a factual account. I mean, given the world we live in, it probably is some unfortunate soul's truth. It reads like a memoir and had it been one, I would have felt like I was bearing witness, like I had an obligation to respectfully listen to every horrific detail.
But it's fiction! Gay made up this story! And for the life of me, with so many real atrocities in the world, I can't understand why.
“To what degree does even the most reproving representation of sexual abuse participate in the visceral thrill and habituate us to such treatment?”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/an-untamed-state-by-roxane-gay/2014/05/27/0ebe0f7c-e28a-11e3-8dcc-d6b7fede081a_story.html
I read a few interviews to try to understand why someone would choose to write something like this. Gay says that she saw another side to the Haitian paradise she knew and wanted to explore that.
http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/books/talking-with-an-untamed-state-author-roxane-gay-b99275236z1-260459921.html
I just ... I don't even know. I'm beside myself. I think probably I shouldn't have read this book. Holy moley.
I like to read books before I watch the film. In this case, though, I didn't want the play spoiled, and so I waited to read the book. And I was going to rate the book four stars, but then I realised that the only reason for that is that I was able to enjoy reading Scorpius whilst hearing the brilliant Anthony Boyle's voice in my head. And then I realised that it's quite difficult to read Cursed Child and separate it from the performance; but that if I do, it doesn't stand up so well on its own. Also I realised that unless I'm reading or memorising lines, I really don't like reading plays.
That said, the play is wonderful and Anthony Boyle is a marvel and the score is phenomenal and if you get the opportunity to see it I heartily recommend it.
Picked this up on a whim because I wanted to read it before watching the series on Hulu. If I'd read it before, it would have been just another dystopian tale; but, given the way things are in the States these days, it feels prophetic and is absolutely terrifying.
Docked a star for the writing style. I know everyone's got their own and I should probably be more appreciative, but it just didn't suit me. So many commas...
Diversity, accessibility, inclusivity—giggity! I can't squee enough about this book. It's been a while since a story grabbed me like this, holding on and pulling my focus from other things; all I wanted to do was get back to it and keep reading. And this is the author's first novel? Wow.
The crew of the Wayfarer reminded me a bit of the crew in Farscape: kind of a ragtag bunch who end up as family; it's fun getting to know them individually and as a group. The storytelling is straightforward and compelling. The writing is descriptive enough that I felt like I was reading a film; in fact, I began early on casting actors in the various roles, which isn't something I often do. But I never got mired in the prose.
It was beautiful to read about different species of beings, different cultures, physical attributes, gender identities. I've never seen an author use “xe” and “xyr” before, so that was pretty great. The whole thing just oozes personality and charm and—most of all—love. I would love to see this world and especially these characters come to life on the big screen, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
I needed something light after my last read; despite Divergent being dystopian fare, it did the job nicely. It's an action-packed, simple, and fast read, with a predictable story that's nevertheless enjoyable. Grammatical errors very occasionally irritated and pulled me out of the story, but for the most part it's a tightly woven tale. I appreciated the straightforward narrative and economy of words.
Not yet having seen Inside Out, I'm not sure the parallel I'm drawing is even accurate, but Divergent feels like Hunger Games meets Inside Out. In my head, personality traits as factions and emotions as sentient beings sound pretty similar. :D
Anyway. Good story. Not mind-blowing, but fun, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
(4.5 stars.) I had no idea what this book was about or what to expect. I knew only that it was on my “film” shelf, meaning, “Read it before you watch the film based on it”—because I like reading the books first.
The Book Thief is horrible and wonderful and intense and light-hearted and cruel and compassionate, all at the same time. It's fully cognisant of a horrible time in our history without focusing solely on the horror. Through telling the story of a coming of age among lives cut short too soon, we are shown a perspective that is sympathetic more than empathetic, but still gut-wrenching.
I sobbed through a lot of it. Which naturally earns it high marks.
(4.5 stars.) I read American Gods for the first time years ago and didn't think much of it. I decided to give it another try because everyone I know loves it, and I thought I must be missing something. I don't remember my initial reading, so I don't know what I missed, but it was definitely something; this time around, I found it to be an absorbing tale.
I feel like probably a tree did actually fully grow in Brooklyn in the time it took me to read this book. It's a really good story, and it was amazing to get a glimpse of Brooklyn's slice of life from a hundred years ago. But boy howdy was it slow reading. And just when it started to get really interesting, it ended. (This is not to say that it wasn't interesting throughout, only that I was more intrigued by Francie Nolan as a young woman than as a child.)