Earwen
This is the second book in the Lady Trent series. I rated the first one, like this one, 3 stars. If you haven't heard of them this is historical fantasy about a woman who really wants to study dragons even when society tells her no. She is a great character, and the book excells when it focuses either on her ordeals trying to pursue her passion or discussion of the actual dragons. When it goes more into the adventures she has in foreign lands I find it much less impressive. The author puts a lot of thought into developing a wast world that feels real beyond the scope of lady trents memoir but I find it hard to care about beyond the dragons (much like lady trent herself). These thoughts apply to both books though I think I liked this one a little better.
This was fine. I enjoyed the revenge stuff. I wish it wasn't so heavy on the sex. I'd argue even the story itself could rely less on sexuality and be stronger for it - but at least stuff from jane's personal life might be spared. I loved her as a character, didn't enjoy her budding relationship (I hesitate to call it romance). I thought it was out of place.
This is one of the rare books I dreaded to finish because I was loving it so much. I really expected so little from this book but it gave me so much. It was perfectly paced and every pov character (3 of them) was so perfectly realized, even if they might seem stereotypical at first.
This is NOT ya I don't know why people shelved this as such. One of the 3 povs is a teen but this is definitely an adult book. It's also very very dark and rather depressing so keep that in mind if you're interested.
Not as good as the first volume. The focus shifted from the main characters, and while it never was a super character focused story it still weakened the volume and made it hard to be invested. The general plot was interesting, but it would have been better without the final twist which was needlessly confusing.
Not as good as the previous volume edited by Joshi. This one was actually a struggle to finish. There were some stories better than others, but even they were not as good as the standouts in the previous volume overall. Not to mention, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, which is the bulk of the book I couldn't stand. I actually dropped it 1/4th of the way which is a shame because I thought I liked Lovecraft's longer form fiction better, and this one is one of the longest.
Stuff I enjoyed:
The Tomb (this was hilarious Germans really be like that)
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Under the Pyramids
Pickman's Model
At the Mountains of Madness (I'd consider this the weakest in this list but I loved the arctic setting)
The Thing on The Doorstep
I didn't regret reading this but not sure if I'll pick up the next and last volume of his works in this set edited by ST Joshi. Though there is at least one more story I definitely want to try out.
This was exactly my kind of atmospheric gothic horror. Well, perhaps I shouldn't call it horror. It really is more of a historical fiction with some elements of horror - I don't think anyone would get genuinely spooked by it, except Stephen King apparently but at this point I'm convinced he blurbs everything with a variation of “This was so scary I peed my pants 3 times”.
I feel that I was too young to appreciate this book, which isn't something I thought I would say about any book before reading this. I think a lot of what the book was doing flew over my head. I found it difficult to relate to themes and characters as I am now but it was beautifully written, and I really wish I could have gotten more out of it. I didn't think I cared much about the characters until the last chapter, which I found very hard hitting despite it all. I didn't exactly enjoy this book - sometimes it felt a chore to be honest, but I'm still glad I tried it. Maybe someday I can reread and understand it better - though when I think about it, I hope I will never experience such loss that will make me relate to it.
Oh the main character happens to be a lesbian which is probably how this ended up on my to be read list. (It's not a romance, or an Issue Book - or at least not a Lesbian Issue book but you know, it's there even if you might miss it if you blink too hard)
e: when i wrote this review i had rated it 3 stars it's been 2 years and I still think about this book a lot and barely remember the parts that have dragged. at some point i changed the rating to 4 stars which reflects my views now better.
At one point of the book I was sure I would drop it. The main character would not stop complaining. About “picky eaters” (which definition includes people with allergies and vegetarians), her teenager not wanting to waste plastic and buying clothes secondhand, modern medicine, vaccines, anything. The book was also very repetitive, it's used to for effect but for the most part the effect was exasperation on my part. It had a strong start, and a strong end, but the middle is way way too long. Overall it's still a shorter book, so I'm glad I stuck with it. The ending was satisfying, and made interesting points about adoption and motherhood.
This book made me experience the complete range of human emotions. Obviously it was hilarious - it's Douglas Adams- I didn't expect to laugh out loud multiple times which is rather rare for me. Obviously I need to reread hitchhikers guide. Perhaps a little less obviously it is very sad as it deals with endangered species - some of which have died out some have flourished after the books publication -. And it is infuriating because it is our fault that they did. Humans are kind of dicks to our fellow animals. But there is also hope in it and seeing the men and women who try so hard to help those species is heartwarming.
The spooky bits were good, everything else put me to sleep, at one point literally. This book reads like a reddit nosleep post if they had those in [whenever this book is set, I don't care, I have forgotten]. Non-descript mandude who constantly insist he's a rational intelligent man is spooked by spooky shit yet insist on seeking out the spooky shit and then proceeds to shitting his pants. I didn't care about what happened to him. I wouldn't have cared about him even if the book wasn't written by an older version of him and therefore we know he survives More disappointing I didn't care about the spooky stuffs backstory either - it was pretty predictable and not terribly interesting. And then - the book ends. It literally ends with him going “enough”. Enough! The end. I at least expected something to happen in his present or I don't know what the point of the framing device was. Why'd I spend the first chapter remembering his family's names when they never show up again! Whatever. Came for the creepy bits, stayed for the creepy bits, so, a rather weak 3 stars for the creepy bits.
This is a lesbian supernatural gothic horror book, yes but this is a power fantasy more than anything else. Not something I'd usually go for mostly because I find them often to be too...cutesy? try hard? Whatever the right word for it is, it doesn't apply to insexts. It's gritty and it doesn't shy away from showing the worst what the world has to offer to women. Of course, as said it's a power fantasy so our heroines do prevail. The satisfaction I felt in the scenes where one (or both) of them turn into fucked up bug monsters to ruin some guy -who deeply deserves it- life are paralleled with little else I read. Looking forward to the next volume.
(To note there are really weird sex scenes and I could have done without them - But whatever both the writer and illustrator are women at least)
What an exciting book. I had very little knowledge CRISPR, or genetics as a whole going into this book. I felt a little lost at times -more so in the first part of the book detailing the history - but never enough to lose interest. I really appreciate that Doudna herself took the time to write this book and lead the conversation. Especially because I read this right after [b:Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup 37976541 Bad Blood Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup John Carreyrou https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1525180824s/37976541.jpg 59699437] I needed seeing someone who is so obviously conscious of the work she does and so interested in actually helping people.
Fascinating book. My one complaint is that I find it baffling that the book implies if not outright states multiple times that Holmes got away with it for so long because she is a woman, and people wanted a “female steve jobs” which seems hard to buy (source: I've been a woman for 23 years and counting). Also I kept waiting for the book to say more about corporate culture but there was maybe one line about “startup culture”. I don't think Holmes is much different from her idols, or rather I think the main difference is that she was a scammer that put peoples lives in line, of course - But her treatment of employees (which arguably resulted in the death of one), her obsession with success I find it hard to believe that is unique to her.
Well. At least the covers' gorgeous!
I think this had some really cool worldbuilding ideas but due to it's length couldn't really get those ideas across without hurting characterization and plot. Overall it was hard to care what was going on. Even at the ending when it ended what is the most obvious sequel hook ever my only reaction was, well “I'm glad that was over with”. I might check out to sequel when and if it comes out, but only if it's longer than 150 pages.
Just read Baru instead.
Beautifully written, but if there was a point to those stories I missed it. All of the stories ended the exact same way, with a twist or new development at the last sentence and no resolution. Open ends are one thing, this is another. Also I'm unsure why this is packaged as a horror collection when it's dark literary fiction at best.
I wouldn't have picked this up if I realized how short it was. These “lectures” barely cover anything. Even considering how short it is it's just bafflingly empty. I'm not even quite sure who this is aimed at. Everything inside this is common knowledge. Like, at one point the author explains who Stephen Hawkins is. Like, who exactly is picking up popular science books up and doesn't know who he is?
The whole book is the author traveling with his son and having dialogues about philosophical questions. It made me think of Sophie's World a little but unlike that it feels genuine and not like a textbook with an awkward framing device. It's also not about philosophers, barely any are mentioned.
Though this didn't really teach me anything significant - it is aimed at children after all - it was still super enjoyable. The audiobook has the kids lines read by the actual kid which was cute. And seeing a parent talk seriously about “stupid” kid questions made me happy. I think it'd be a great book for a child but an even greater book for a parent to see how to talk to your children thoughtfully.
Pretty generic YA contemporary. When it actually focused on the two leads it was very good but more than that it was focusing on the various men in their lives, and I get that it's important but surely not more so than the main relationship. Also, there was a lot of (het) sex which I find very weird in YA stuff but that's what I get from going to HS in a small turkish town I guess.
Also I loved the subplot of the mc gradually warming up to her step-family, kind of wish there was more focus on that also.
The end was super abrupt but not terrible I suppose.
(the stuff about blue is the warmest color is really gross if you know some background about the movie but I assume the author didn't so whatever)