Izaak

Please god have this man take a class on writing women as people

This is difficult to rate. A deeply frustrating and confusing read (via narrative necessity), but one that is well-executed on a story level. There is a pay-off. I imagine that this book is very good as a re-read.

I found myself decently visually challenged regarding characters in this novel; so many of them are described in mountainous quantities of superlative adjectives that a reader comes away with only a blinding aura of an idea of what they actually look like. Except G-Man, he's "normal," apparently. Locales and scenes are described in similar fashion, much akin to the "show but don't actually show just kinda describe the outline of it all"-not-tell worldbuilding that Muir has done well to corner.

Fantastically weird and tightly-written; just a really fun read.

This work, as much poetry as it is prose, chronicles the downward spiral of sophomoric teenage college student Esther Greenwood. Plath's voice creates Esther as sardonic and misfit, acting as both victim and brutal enforcer to the social and gender roles of her time.
While Esther's petty snap judgments and internal dressing-down of all those who surround her never truly ceases, her growth beyond obedience to absurd self-held maxims chronicles the most important of journeys that one makes in the transition from young adult to adult.

Ringing in from an era wherein sci-fi was still finding and discovering itself, Bester's view of a far-off future of telepaths and latent abilities carries his hallmark style of writing. Even if it's not the longest novel, it is enjoyable and fun as it jostles the reader through the ruins of century XX New York and Mars. For the weird teen-aged era of sci-fi, Bester is remarkably prescient. His grasp of the human condition and the way in which we conduct ourselves in regards to others, while pseudo-sciencey at times, holds true and is fascinating to watch unfold.
In addition, Bester's usage of technology is apt and accurate, even 60+ years later. The telepathic communications between characters could be pulled straight out of modern times.