Katie

she never finds out

I really liked this book in theory, but I guess at this point Tremblay books are just a hit or a miss for me. Like, it was good for sure, but not the good I was hoping for (if that makes sense)?

The ending was horrifically sad, though. I will give it that.

Wasn’t so sure about this one at first, but then the stories started to play with formatting and language and all that stuff and I was hooked.

THEN I had a CBD soda over the weekend and decided that the best, most smartest thing to do would be to keep reading this book, and I got to the House of Leaves-like story about the barn and it scared the absolute shit out of me. Got jumpscared by a footnote. Ran up the stairs because I was afraid of the dark. Luckily I’m pretty sure my cats fight ghosts.

This one was a tough read. I still really enjoyed it, especially after the plot started to pick up a little bit, but I was not expecting the book to take the tone that it did toward the end. It’s interesting.

Plus, I don’t know if it’s me or the long-gone social conventions of the book, but I often felt like the Prince in not understanding what was going on. Why did everyone laugh at him so much, especially when he was often feeling a real concern or emotion. I still don’t really understand some of the scenes, but I think that’s because I’m taking them at face value? But what other way is there to take them?

I think this one would do with a re-read eventually, especially with the context of the ending.

Really sweet. I still unfortunately remain a day one stan of Odysseus, but I think part of the reason I love Homer so much is that so much has spun out from him. Miller is just the next in a long lineage, and her place is well deserved.

Picked this up after reading Buffalo Hunter Hunter, and I really, really enjoyed it. I’ve always been a massive fan of short stories, especially ones that are more ambiguous, because I can roll them over in my mind for hours after I’ve finished them.

This one might be worthy of picking up in print. I think these stories could do with a rereading in a little while.

local warlord discovers organized religion

Real talk though I’m so sad. So so sad

Really starting to feel like all these little stories could have just been one book but go off queen

A cute little book. The ending really saved it for me - I very much thought it was going to be doom and gloom about marriage LOL

now let me say I’m the biggest hater

HATED all the violence in this one. I HATE Lysander. I HATE what happened to Ephraim. I HATE mercury. I HATE the Obsidian. I HATE the Red Hand. I HATE!!!

Easily my least favorite book in the whole series.

heard lightbringer was not as bad so alas, I forge on

Really, REALLY enjoyed this one. It was pretty slow to start, but once it gets going, it's really good. I don't read a lot of horror, but this one was right up my alley. Very atmospheric and emotionally devastating. A book that will linger.

Feels stupid rating this honestly, because it is literally a foundational text. Euripides made myths human. Medea is one of my favorite tragedies. 

Not really one for “action movies in book form” (Klune's words, not mine), but aside from that it was very cute. Liked that it took place in the 90s, liked the references, and really liked the characters and the ending. There just could have been less helicopters in it, IMO.

Very cozy! Not the biggest fan of the translation, and reading this right after finishing Dungeon Crawler Carl was not the best choice LOL, but it's still very cute and a good break in between more intense books.

This one was one of my favorites. Dinniman is really excelling in his character building, and it’s been really cool to see just how da we’ve come since the first book. I teared up reading this one - some of Carl’s inner dialogue and past just hits so close to home for me.

I always find this one to be a bit of a tough read. I love a good revenge story, mostly because they keep my own thoughts of revenge at bay. Maybe this one now hits too close to home for me to be able to form a logical argument on why this argument was so great. I guess I'll say that the portrayal of grief and anger in these plays really highlights how similar we are to those long gone. It's comforting that way. 

This book was incredibly good. I kept getting whiplash. The ending was WILD though. A child??? A whole ass child???? Mustang gave birth to a child??? And just kept it a secret??? Maybe I just can’t hide anything from N. but there is NO FUCKING WAY. And Darrow was just cool with it?? How? Why? No critical thinking there.

After everything, I am really glad I stuck with this one. It was very long and meandering at times, which did not make it a good bedtime read, but I have a feeling that the ideas presented in this novel about the ideology of Justice, total forgiveness, and the corruption of obsession are ideas that are going to stick with me for a while.

Plus, on most counts, the ending was just really cute.

Chat these books are getting less funny and more sad

I have decided that I hate first person narratives because the character can keep secrets from me!!! and i don't like that!!!!!

But also yeah the internet was right (gross). I'm hooked.

4.75
-.25 because I'm too stupid to understand the trains fully

I knew a lot about this book going into it simply because N. had told me so much about it. It sounded silly but sad if you thought too long about it, and very heavily inspired by the Hunger Games. But, I wanted to give it a shot myself, so I loaded up the audiobook and gave it a crack.

I'm really glad I did. It IS everything I mentioned above, but it also has a real soul to it. Are some parts pop-lit/Marvel type cringe? Yes. But it's not the whole book. There's so many situations in this book that there's probably a FEW that will make you laugh. I don't know what Matt has gone through while writing this book, but he is truly the guy who loves to make characters and then put them in fucked up situations.

From someone that mostly enjoys more literary-based writing, this book rocks. I'm really glad I took a chance on this book, and I'm especially glad I picked the audiobook to listen to.

Carl is just a dude in a really shitty situation. And while it may have not been as extreme as whatever the hell he's going through next, I think we can all relate to that sentiment.

Still very cute and good and excellent but it didn't hit the same as the first book.

The exception to this is the scene where Dex goes to see their family with Mosscap. That made me ache for a family I never had.

Needed a break between all my “tougher” reads and this one was perfect. A nice short novella that is very sweet and cute. Evokes the same feeling as meeting up with an old friend or dozing off watching reruns of your favorite TV show.

The only thing that makes me a bit sad is that I know I will never be alive to see a world like the one depicted in this book, or anything like it. Maybe solarpunk is too hopeful to be realistic.

A pretty basic first entry in any 2014 series, but more brutal than I expected. Based on what others have said, I have high hopes for the rest of the series.

This book was a fun ride, and I look forward to the coming complexity of the rest of the series.