Katherine

This is the second book in the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, and unfortunately I felt it was a step down from the first. The prose was still very beautiful, I liked how some of the plotlines set up in the first book paid off here in the second, and I was genuinely a little emotional over some of the events.

My problem with the series is one that might just be personal preference, but it has to do with fate. I don’t like when a character who has a certain fate ordained from previous stories, lives, or prophecy and that character seems to then have no agency or choice in what happens. Keeping this as spoiler-light as possible, there is a moment where Kevin makes a discovery about himself (somehow, it’s unclear) and he immediately accepts that it is now his fate or duty to do what he does. All of the characters are like this in some way. They simply accept whatever role the story is giving them and don’t seem to mourn their loss of free will. “Fate is inevitable” is a perfectly fine theme to explore in fantasy, which is filled with prophecy and destiny. But the characters accepting that because they are chosen for some role, they have to play that role out? That’s not something I particularly enjoyed.

Another, more minor annoyance has to do with fate as well. Specifically, GGK uses a lot of literary, mythological, and historical references that are extremely hard to follow at times. Sometimes, the lore in Fionavar is way overexplained for multiple pages. But in other times, it seems that it is assumed you will immediately know the reference to, for example, Arthurian legend or Greek mythology. It’s sometimes hard to understand why something is happening that way without going to look up the reference. Now, I am very ignorant of a lot of legends and stories, so this may just be me. But the specifics of being marked by some force or this person coming back are lost on me so often that I find it a little frustrating. And when it comes to Fionavar itself, the specific lore in *that* world is often woefully under explained. I want to understand it!!!

I still love the way it’s written and the world. The plot is genuinely interesting, even though it is the fantasy typical “big bad tries to destroy the world”. Some of the characterization is really, really good. I want *more* of that characterization. Sadly, it seems that isn’t likely.

This is definitely my least favorite Vorkosigan saga book (so far) by a good amount. While some aspects of Shards of Honor and The Warrior’s Apprentice, the other two books also published in 1986 in the series, are a bit clunky and clearly representing an inexperienced Bujold, Ethan of Athos *really* shows that.

The first 60% of the book focuses mainly on Ethan’s character and why he’s being involved in a complex political situation when he’s from a planet that’s likely viewed as very “backwater”- why would anyone care about someone from Athos? Athos is a planet founded by very religious men who wanted a planet free of women- yes, I know, it sounds bad. I was extremely skeptical about this setup. And there are a lot of homophobic “jokes” and moments. Most of them make logical sense why it would happen. Still kinda sucks to read at times. One particular homophobic insult, though, doesn’t make any sense to me even within the context of the world of the book, and that bothered me for a WHILE. But by the *end* of the book, I understood a lot more about why Bujold set it up this way. I needed more of this worldbuilding and Ethan’s views in the beginning. It would’ve made things a lot clearer to begin with.

The problem is, the first and second halves of the books feel very different. The first half follows this trail of breadcrumbs for a mystery, plodding along, then boom something happens and it’s pedal to the metal for the rest of the book. That second half is really well plotted! The answers to the mysteries are interesting, the resolution of the conflict is fun in that Bujold style, and I really liked it.

It really needed more connective tissue between it and the first half, though. Especially when the second half asks all of these great questions about free will and what makes a human a human. I needed more of this philosophy to connect with the first half of the book. It’s not that it’s bad per se. It just feels like there’s a disconnect somewhere.

The book is too short- if there were a few more chapters there that really bridged the two halves, it would’ve helped it a *lot*. I liked the characters- let them *breathe* Bujold! Let the story unfold more slowly if it needs it. Anyway, I do think this is perhaps a symptom of Ethan of Athos being one of her earliest books and even though I had some problems with it, it’s still an enjoyable read (for the most part. Seriously, the homophobia could’ve been toned down). Of course I’ll continue to read Vorkosigan. This one was just a bit of a miss.

I almost never read works in verse. Poetry is not something I typically find as impactful or enjoyable. Poetry in this form, as a story, though? This worked so well for the narrative. I found this fascinating and burned through it. There is a LOT to appreciate- the structure of the verse works beautifully to illustrate the mirrored nature of the characters. The characters themselves are polar opposites and yet so similar. They both want what they do not have. The ending gave me a chill. The story is packed with meaning. My main qualm with the story is that while it is striking, it’s straightforward. It’s a coming of age story in a way, and maybe if I was more like the characters in age and demographics I would have found even more meaning in it and a more emotional experience. As it was, I appreciate the amount of thought and craftsmanship displayed, and how captivating the story was, but the emotions didn’t land very strongly for me. Perhaps that would be different if *I* was in a different skin, seeing this from another point of view.

Another great entry! This one was really twisty and political which I liked a lot. The main downside is that while it’s hilarious and has lots of implications for future Miles, I wish there were more emotional moments. I really enjoyed the work Bujold did for absolute gut punches back in Barrayar and The Warrior’s Apprentice, and I honestly crave more of that.

I’m mixed on this one. On one hand, I loved how the book explored themes of family, grief, gender, accepting yourself, and overcoming trauma. The sections of the book that focused the most on these themes were written beautifully and impactfully. This book explained and explored gender dysphoria in an way that I, as a cis-het person, could put myself in Nhung’s place and understand it to a degree that hasn’t happened with other books that explore this topic.

The sections between these beautiful moments, though… I mostly found them clunky. Not bad, but it felt very much like moving from set piece to set piece. The characters were so well done, I wish the plot had been a bit more engaging. The first few chapters I struggled with- I wasn’t liking the book and felt confused. But once I got to the second third of the book, the more introspective aspects started to ramp up and the story felt more connected to those themes. Loved the characters and themes, felt mixed on the overall plot.

Rating: 2.5/5

Overall, I’m disappointed I didn’t like this more. It’s got good ideas that were dragged down by problems in the worldbuilding and writing.

Pros:

• Unique dragons and dragon academy set up
• Physical science based magic
• Mostly realistic portrayal of how indigenous peoples are treated by colonizers for land and resources (honestly, a bit too optimistic but it would be depressing if it was fully realistic)
• LGBTQ+ rep, disability rep, neurodivergence rep
• Enjoyable character dynamics
• Very slice of life
• Calling out the absolute colonial and societal BS with the main character’s willingness to speak for herself
• The chapter titles make a story too, which I liked

Cons:

• *Very* slice of life- don’t expect much of a plot beyond “Indigenous girl goes to dragon school and encounters obstacles”
• Headache inducing terminology because of the mixed Viking, Germanic, and English fictional culture. The world is essentially an alternate history + dragons version of Earth. Yes, some of the words we use for certain concepts in math and science would be different. However, the world is SO heavily based on the real world (it even uses the Julian calendar), that I cannot fathom why the author felt it was necessary to change the names of geometry (anglereckoning), alchemy/chemistry (skiltakraft), hypothesis/experiment (vermutun/versuch), and elements like carbon (kolfni), hydrogen (vetna), etc. Perhaps this was to make you feel lost like Anequs, but all it did for me was make it so I had to mentally translate everything as I was reading and it was more annoying than anything. You use the word coal, why not carbon? It’s like driving down a familiar road, but all of the sudden the road is full of potholes.
• Repetition. There were two times that I noticed a large passage that was repeated verbatim. And a lot of the book is repetitive, even if not verbatim.
• Random Norse mythology asides? It’s already long, I’m not sure why these are here.

Bujold continues the upwards trend through the series. This series has really great characters, some returning, some being introduced, and the situations they end up in involving a complicated web of loyalty, ambition, personal love, and what (or who) is worth breaking the rules and sacrificing something for. The prose continues to be excellent. It’s quick and snappy, but some of the sentences and passages remain incredible to me. I swear I find more great quotes per page in one of Bujold’s books than a lot of others. For example (no spoilers):

> "War is not its own end, except in some catastrophic slide into absolute damnation. It's peace that's wanted. Some better peace than the one you started with."

> “His thoughts were still running like a hyped-up rat on an exercise wheel, spinning to nowhere.”

> “A prairie bird thrumming out a mad mating dance could scarcely have put on a more conspicuous display.”

The Vor Game definitely ramps up the political machinations of everyone in the galaxy, expanding the world while the characters deal with increasingly complex situations. My main issue with the last book, that things were a bit too convenient at times, doesn’t happen on the same level in this one. There are still a few “okay this had to happen for the plot” moments, but they’re much less egregious.

I’m sold, Bujold is a new favorite author and I’ll be recommending her books now!

The Warrior’s Apprentice Author: Lois McMaster Bujold Rating: 4/5

First, I have to mention how absolutely crazy it is that this book, published 2nd, has references that work perfectly for both the 1st and *7th* published books (which are direct sequels)?? They’re really specific, too. Bujold, how??? I’d definitely recommend reading Shards of Honor and Barrayar first. You can start here, but there’s one character who is so much richer because of what happens in those books and it’s better for it.

Second, it’s really amazing to see a disabled main character in an 80s sci fi that doesn’t involve somehow magically curing his disability or making it moot through technology. Representation of disability is STILL rare, and I felt it was well done here. Seeing a character deal with the stigma and prejudice through deflecting with humor, sometimes anger, and often by showing he is capable was really good. I liked the portrayal of a teenager trying to desperately prove he was good enough for a heavily militaristic, ableist society, and how that leads into a massive snowball effect of consequences. Is it absolutely ludicrous how far it goes? Yep. But you see every step along the way through this gifted young maniac with… let’s say excessive initiative.

What I didn’t love about this book was the amount of “well isn’t that convenient” or highly improbable events that happened. There are three main examples of this, and that did detract from my reading experience. Imagine a character creates a problem one chapter, then the very next chapter they find a way too convenient way to help with the problem (not solve it, necessarily- in fact I’d argue that convenient solution made things worse…) but I digress. This happened a bit too much for my taste.

However, despite that downside, I continue to love Bujold’s writing and characters. Bujold comes up with the most *incredible* sentences and passages at times. They’re very quotable, whether profound or comedic. The plot may have been a bit convenient at times, but the character arcs were really, really good and the emotional scenes were very impactful.

This is a great mystery, and I still adore Ana and Din so much. Malo is a fantastic addition to the cast. What took this down a notch from its predecessor for me was that there were a few moments where Bennett explained things to the reader that didn’t really need to be spelled out like it was, or the character should not have needed prompting to realize. There were also a few things that Ana immediately concluded and I couldn’t figure out why that HAD to be the case. It seemed logical to me there were at least two options, but the book hinged on exactly what Ana presumed being correct. But, like I said, I really enjoyed it and absolutely love the world and characters.

At first, I wasn’t so sure about it. It seemed cute and mildly interesting, with the main character, Scout, being a space-archaeologist with their brother and their cat named Pumpkin who goes to different planets with them. Soon you learn that there is more going on under the surface for Scout and Kieran, and they discover something extremely important for their galaxy. The book isn’t really about that discovery, though. For a book that advertises itself as a cozy sci-fi, it has so much introspection about grief, life, and what it means to live your best life. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t make me cry. It’s not a long book, it’s not complex plot-wise, but it is impactful.

This quote in particular was very meaningful to me, especially at this time in my life.

“It’s so easy, when things don’t go as we planned, to think that we’re a failure. To think that things will never get better… It’s strange what hindsight does. Takes all the layers of emotions and flattens them, turns them either good or bad. It can take time to see the shadows as something beautiful.”

And then later: “What I do know is that I have right now. Only this moment is certain. Only this moment is.”

Live in the moment. Do the best you can. And keep pushing forward.

This is a strong sequel, but it didn’t have the same captivating energy to me as the first. The storytelling is still very community based, but it’s more straightforward than No Gods, No Monsters. I really like the characters and all of their different motivations- they truly all feel real. I’m fascinated by where this will end up going and I’m sad that my library’s Libby doesn’t have the third book!

TW list at the bottom of the review!

Little Heaven is, as you can guess from the title and genre, a religious horror book. It has a classic setup of a religious commune in the middle of the woods where mysterious and dark things begin to happen. Unfortunately for it, I’ve seen this premise but better before. I’m overall extremely mixed on this one.

Let’s start with some of the negatives. This book is WAY too long. It’s almost 500 pages and it really didn’t need to be. There are two plotlines, one in the past and one in the present. The one in the present… I’m not sure entirely what the point was. I *can* see a thematic purpose, but I’m not sure it was needed. The past plotline contains the meat of the story, but even it has some random side tangents that barely lead anywhere and the payoffs later weren’t worth it. There are some horror elements that are also done a few too many times and explained in similar ways, so it felt repetitive and even started feeling silly in some places. This also happened with some of the more philosophic passages.

I can’t get over the book taking the time to explain the joke “Why was 6 afraid of 7? 789!” Why was that even relevant? I’ve finished the book and can’t tell you, honestly. And why did it need to be explained when that’s a joke that second graders tell each other? Baffling. And don’t get me started on a character calling a bunch of “small brown birds” KITES. My bird nerd brain went ballistic.

Now, onto the positives. Nick Cutter is very talented at writing body horror. It gets visceral reactions from me, which is hard to do- many horror authors don’t get that reaction. Some of the horror scenes were fantastic in their portrayal. It’s unfortunate they were so spread out or repetitive. There are also some good passages reflecting on the root of evil, what it means to be evil, etc. I thought the characters of Minerva, Ebenezer, and Micah were quite compelling. Each of them had their own struggles with morality and interesting ideas on what is and is not moral. The book really fleshed them out. Speaking of flesh, Amos Flesher, the leader of the commune, was also a fascinating figure in all of this, though unfortunately I think religious horror media often has this exact type of character. For the plot, while I thought it was much too long and similar to those I’ve seen before, there are some moments that genuinely surprised me. The reveal at the end is quite different, and it doesn’t give you the answers you may want.

However, I’d have to say to give this one a pass. If you really like religious horror with philosophical musings and don’t mind the book dragging in some areas, it does have good moments. Unfortunately, it’s dragged down by its length, the premise being so similar to so many others, and how repetitive it could feel.

TWs: Animal body horror, human body horror, suicide attempts, traumatic child death, child abuse, abuse of disabled children, religious abuse, homophobia (slurs), racism (slurs), misogyny (one character POV in particular), SA, extreme torture, mention of animal cruelty, mass murder

There isn’t much I can say that would really dive into this book the way it deserves. I’m not a literary analyst, but I’ll definitely seek out some essays or analyses of this so I can even begin to unravel and put words to the thoughts I have. This is a heavy book. There are so many layers to it. There are themes dealing with slavery, what it means to be human, how power affects people, loneliness, loss, the desire to have a community, feminism, and so, so much more. A surface level reading of this book doesn’t do it justice. This is my favorite book that I’ve read of Butler’s so far- it’s incredibly powerful with its ideas while simultaneously not feeling like it was hitting me over the head with it. I was left with chills at the ending, somehow both positive and negative, and I am left with so much to think about and consider with my head spinning from just how much Butler managed to say in just shy of 300 pages.

This book was such a step up from Shards of Honor for me, and I really enjoyed that one! The Vorkosigan series was published in a frankly bizarre order- despite this one being listed as #7, it’s a direct sequel to #1- like, DIRECT sequel. I’d definitely recommend reading those back to back.

Barrayar really exemplified Bujold’s talent for great characters and great worldbuilding. You can tell that each element of the politics and culture were thought through, and the characters are so memorable and real. I loved the outsider perspective on a culture that is misogynistic and ableist and this character not understanding it at all. It really shines a light on the issues in our own culture and society. Bujold also has an insane talent to switch emotions rapidly- one moment, I’m tearing up at a sad or tender moment, the next I’m laughing my ass off, and right after that it gets extremely tense. I don’t know how she manages it, but she does. Definitely continuing the series, I’m really enjoying this take on the classic space opera.

I read this because of a friend, who bullied me (lightheartedly) into putting it on hold at the library a while ago. This was a pretty dang good book, with the caveat of being aware there is SA and it plays a major role in the plot. The story has a lot going for it- the characters are realistic, the emotional writing hits HARD, the romance is sweet, and there’s a LOT going on politically and with the worldbuilding- while it is set in Ireland, there’s a lot to unpack that I thought was really intriguing. I wanted more of that.

I think what let it down a bit for me is that it was *very* slow to get started. I also think the retelling aspect made it a little too predictable at times? Once the plot got going, a lot of it I did see coming. That isn’t to say there were *no* twists and turns, but a lot of it wasn’t surprising. I would like to see what the author does without that framework, honestly. I think her politicking would be really good and interesting.

Overall, great story that is one of the few I’ve seen in this subgenre of romantasy that worked well for me. It handled itself well with balancing characters, worldbuilding, and romance in a way that is rare to find, in my opinion. I put the next book on hold at the library!

It is always hard to rate nonfiction. I typically rate it based on how effectively the book communicated its message or information, if it was accessible to the average person, and if it was “enjoyable” to read on a line level- nonfiction can be written very dryly. This book nailed it on all three criteria.

This is a ROUGH book to read. The story relayed shows some of the most depraved horrors of capitalism and greed. The dial painters represented here should be talked about in the same breath as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire- these women, who were only girls at the time of their employment and so, so young at the time of their deaths, had to claw and fight to receive ANY compensation for the horrific suffering they endured. These cases were landmarks for establishing more laws around workplace safety, and even helped establish OSHA.

While it remains clinical in tone in the passages around what happened to the dial painters medically, the details are not sugar-coated. Moore tells you exactly how much these women suffered by describing their symptoms, their pain, and how they deteriorated due to the radium poisoning. It’s never overly graphic or used for shock value, but it IS horrific. Proceed with caution for those without a strong stomach.

This is simultaneously an infuriating and deeply sad read. The tragedy that unfolds does have some moments of triumph- but how much triumph is it really, when they were doomed from the very moment they began working with the luminous paint. Their courage and determination is clearly evident in their tale, and they truly deserve to be recognized for it. Kate Moore did a great service to them by writing their story, from THEIR perspective, not the legal and medical professionals, so it could be remembered in the 21st century.

If you like gang politics and cool action, but you’re tired of everything being done with guns, do I have a book for you! (Sadly, there are still guns, but the combat is very interesting). Jade City takes a while to get going, but once it does, you’re on a nonstop rollercoaster ride to the end. I LOVED the character work in this book- the individual development plotlines combined with the politics makes for a fantastic read. Each character is very unique. I did think there were a few too many times where the book launched into a paragraph or so of worldbuilding that could kill the pacing for me. However, Lee does a great job of building tension until the ignition of the conflict- trust the book will get there and it will blow you away. I left this book thinking “god DAMN what a strong ending”, and I’m eager to start Jade War soon.

I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I am always a little hesitant going into older science fiction and fantasy, but my friend bullied me into reading this one. Bujold being a female author definitely swayed me. The beginning of the book is SUCH a cliche setup, but past that it becomes a little more unique. The politics are great, the characters are interesting (what a change from most 80s speculative fiction I’ve read), and I found the romance sweet (even though falling in love in like a week makes me roll my eyes every single time). I wouldn’t say everything surprised me but the plot does twist and turn enough that it keeps you on your toes. Looking forward to reading more in the Vorkosigan Saga!

This was an interesting read! It’s short and simple plot wise, and nothing comes as a huge surprise. However, the premise was really interesting and I loved this idea of bringing someone who is an expert in elephant behavior back to help establish a population of mammoths in Siberia. It’s definitely a response towards the horrors of poaching and a revenge fantasy, but it’s kinda cathartic in a way. A good book to read in a single afternoon when you’re frustrated by the state of the world.

I loved this! The main character is such a mood with being unable to stop talking about her obsession and struggling with small talk. I love how curious and scientific she is. Honestly, I totally forgot this was a Snow White retelling (the one benefit of reading something WAY after you got it recommended to you- so thanks Libby for the long hold time…?) so when those elements started popping up I was like OH!! The plot was surprising- I could guess at times where it was going, but not always. I thought the romance was cute!! I’d definitely recommend this- it’s a fun blend of horror, fairytales, mystery, and a small amount of romance that really worked for me.

Overall, I liked this book. There are some great character moments towards the end, the motivations for each POV make sense, and it does work well as this tale of human-made climate disaster in a fantasy world. I liked the characters, they were all interesting to read to me and distinct. The world-building is pretty cool! And the ending was the strongest part of the book.

I do have some issues with it. - I wish some of the politicking had been explained a bit more. I felt confused more than once about why certain things were happening from a political POV.

- It felt a bit bloated and repetitive at certain parts, especially the beginning. I feel like less time could’ve been spent on each POV retreading similar ground with their thoughts and a bit more on the political situation and what the heck is going on with the calor. I also think the plot takes a bit too long to really get moving, but it doesn’t explain a ton about the world in that time either, which makes it feel slower than it should.

- I don’t think the personal big reveal needed to be revealed that late- by the time the book got there, the reader knew what had happened. The reveal could happen to the POVs then, but I always found it odd how two of them would constantly think about something that happened in their past, but then not say what it was. It felt more disconnected than mysterious for them. It works for the other POV character, but not for those two.

- I really wanted more explanation for the world-building. It’s vital to the story, but there are chunks of it that I still don’t understand. Hati does well explaining *most* of it, but some is very vague and confusing because the main characters simply ignored all of the calor science taught to them at some point. That was a bit annoying- I don’t need an expert POV character, but I could’ve used a lot more from the expert character that WAS there.

Like I said, I liked this book overall. I think Hati has a lot of promise as an author! Once the plot really got moving, the ending was great and the character growth was natural and made a lot of sense. I just wish some of the details had been filled in and the plot had picked up sooner.

I picked this collection of short stories up on a whim when at a local bookstore in Michigan- I saw it on a shelf of local authors and thought, why not? Well, I can say I definitely enjoyed it more than I expected. The entire collection has a framing story, where the narrator of the first story catches lightning and that gives him this amazing burst of inspiration. He wrote down hundreds of stories, and these are some of them.

While some of them I didn’t really understand or get (unfortunately, some I found confusing because of the way it was told or too short to make its point), the majority were enjoyable. The prose is simple, but works well. There were a few typos here and there, but given this is a self-published book I was impressed with the overall quality.

This collection has everything from dragon-based technology that replaced regular electronics, to horror-adjacent stories about small Midwestern towns, to brief retellings of different folklore (Hawaiian and Native American), to a new person taking up the mantle of Death, to the planet Saturn consuming the solar system. The ideas were generally SO creative, and the tone of each story varied wildly. I enjoyed the drier sense of humor and the many references made in some of the stories (I caught potentially a Joe Abercrombie reference, Star Trek, Star Wars, Dragonlance, and more).

If you want a relatively short read with some interesting stories, I’d recommend picking this up somewhere. I’d love to read some of this author’s longer works! I liked the longer stories more overall, and I’d love to see some of this creativity fleshed out into a novella or novel.

Honestly, I think I want to wait to truly review this until I’ve read all three books. This is clearly a series that NEEDS the entire trilogy to get a better grasp on everything. Overall though, for THIS book? Wow. The prose is gorgeous. There is clearly going to be SO much to this story that has yet to come. The Summer Tree was a setup book. And it has done that job beautifully.

As an overview: The set up is very typical 80s fantasy to me. It has many of the old tropes with a chosen one, and seems to have some things that fit directly in LOTR (elves, pretty much. Also, Not-Gandalf and a dangerous dark land, all-powerful dark entity versus the light etc). However, it’s certainly not a clone of LOTR. There are MANY mythologies that are woven together into this, from Arthurian legend to Norse to Celtic. It’s a portal fantasy which is a bit weirder to me- I haven’t read that many portal fantasies, as many tend to be set in their own world entirely.

The first third of this book is SLOW. And for most of that third, things just happen to the main characters and they go along with it. That did bother me some. The characterization later, though? It’s so rare to see men in fantasy novels get to be emotional and empathetic. There’s still some characterization sorely lacking, but given how slowly all of this has played out, I’m hesitant to say more until I read the whole trilogy.

Another aspect that I wanted to mention is that the lack of male gaze has been astounding to me. This is a book published in the 80s. So many of those are *incredibly* misogynistic. Now, Fionavar is still a largely patriarchal society. And I don’t love how often the men are “sent” women. There’s one character in particular that is absolutely a womanizer… but in general, the women aren’t described boobs and butt first. In fact, many of the characters are hardly described at all, appearance wise. Mostly you get that they have dark/fair hair or dark/lighter eyes. The women mentioned are mostly mothers and random courtesans, but there are some very powerful female characters as well. The main female characters seem to have extremely important roles to play, though I’m hesitant on where one of them is going so I’ll have to see how the series continues.

A few goblins accidentally get behind the enemy (human and elf) lines. Elf James Herriot lives in the forest. They meet and magic insanity ensues.

It’s cute and funny, not much else to it. Great for a palate cleanser or to break a reading slump!

I seem to have a penchant for picking up some WEIRD books lately. The Library at Mount Char. definitely fits that. It requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief. The plot? Insane. The characters? Definitely more insane. But if you go along with all of the insanity it’s a book about what happens when someone gains too much power and knowledge, but not enough wisdom. A person so hell bent on their goals that they don’t consider the others they will destroy in their wake. Do the ends actually justify the means?

I can’t say this is an incredible book. I think it’s good, but there are some things that happen that I find too hard to believe even in a book this crazy. It’s certainly captivating, but I’m not sure all of it works well together. It’s also FULL of extremely graphic violence, SA, torture, cannibalism, suicide, animal death and abuse… was all of that necessary to get the book’s message across? I really don’t think so.

The plot is complex and intriguing, though hard to follow at times and you have to accept you will NOT understand until later on. And even then you might not know why. The characters other than Carolyn are mostly shallow and exist to fulfill their role, sometimes to their detriment. Would that character *really* go along with all of this?

Overall, weird but good book. Not sure why it had to be so violent and parts of it are way too unbelievable for my tastes.