Kurt
DNF @ ~40%
So there's some sort of literary device (not sure what it's called) where the author just sort of dumps you into the story and doesn't do much to explain what's going on. Neal Stephenson does this in many of his writings and, when done well, it's a fantastic plot device since it sucks you in and makes you want to figure out what's happening.
This author attempts that here, but the execution is terrible. There were so many elements to the plot that I didn't understand or flat out missed completely. Maybe that's a “me” problem more than an author problem, but either way, it significantly degraded the experience for me and caused me not to finish the book.
This book is incredibly vulgar, crass and decidedly amoral. If that sentence sounds appealing to you, then give this book a try. If it sounds revolting, skip the series.
Lots of other reviews comment on the sheer volume of the vulgarity and, yes, the book has quite a lot of it. But honestly, it's mostly from the protagonist and it's clearly part of who he is as an individual. It did not, at least to me, come across as gratuitous or superfluous. But, still, if hearing an F bomb or 500 is bothersome to you, you will definitely want to skip this series.
What I enjoyed: this is not a book with black and white moral lines. There's lots and lots of shades of grey. (and dark grey at that) The protagonist is not a knight in shining armor - indeed, he commits several war crimes in the pursuit of his goals. Yet the author does a reasonable job of showing that the MC still has his own set of morals - he's not just a random murderhobo.
What I didn't enjoy: The book has a nontraditional leveling system that was OK, but not something I'd call out as a strength. And, especially towards the end, the author seems to do quite a bit of hand waving to get the character leveled to where he needs to be. As someone who enjoys more logical, orderly leveling systems, that was a distraction to me, but not a deal breaker. Also, there were some minor typos that weren't egregious, but there were enough to prove a minor distraction.
Call this one a solid 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 to give the benefit to the author.
I picked this up because of the cat. Otherwise, I am decidedly NOT the target audience for this series. This is “chick lit” bread and butter. That's not a bad thing, but it's also not my thing.
Still, the writing was good and it moved along at a decent clip. Overall I think folks who are more squarely in the demographic would enjoy this series.
I went into this book with admittedly low expectations, and came out pleasantly surprised. It won't win any literary awards for its prose, but it's a solid, fun read with a fast-paced plot that moves along nicely. And, at ~200 pages, it's an easy read. It's not hard science fiction, but there's enough meat on the bone to satisfy most sci fi enthusiasts and the book did a good job of keeping me interested and engaged.
Don't go into this expecting Literature-with-a-capital-L and you might enjoy it as well.
If I wasn't such a sucker for time travel stories, I would have given this 3 stars. As it stands, consider this a 3.5-and-I'm-biased star review. That said, I really enjoyed this book, despite its handful of minor issues. First, the good: it's fun. It's fun in an old fashioned, unapologetic “Murica!” sort of way. If you're the slightest bit patriotic, this book will likely strike a chord with you.
Second, if you're the slightest bit interested in history, this book will also likely strike a chord with you. I really enjoyed how the author weaved in actual history into the story itself. It's clear the author his a history buff and that part of the book was very well done.
The (minor) flaws: you have to suspend disbelief on A LOT. Never mind the whole “an entire town gets uprooted and sent back in time”. You have to overlook significant differences in English dialects between the two time periods (that the author sort of tries to deal with, but mostly in a hand-waving sort of way). You also have to overlook significant logistical and supply chain issues that, again, the author makes an attempt to deal with in some cases, but in a glossy sort of way.
Lastly, the dialog and character development is a bit underdeveloped, making some of the relationships that come about feel artificial at best.
Still, all that said, I enjoyed the read and will likely read the second one at some point as well.
I am still enjoying the series, but some of its shortcomings are starting to become more apparent in this third installment. Chiefly, the lack of a copy editor, as I mentioned in my review of the first book. But secondarily, there are a lot of sub-plots and directions that seem to get kicked off, only to never be heard from again.
Both of these issues are extremely common for web serials published on RoyalRoad and the like, and again, I am enjoying the series overall, but boy would it be better with a bit more polishing.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Surprisingly solid cultivation book. The bad stuff first: as with nearly all RoyalRoad books, it would benefit from a copy editor with a sharp, red pen. The cultivation system is numerically complex from level to level, meaning it's near-impossible to track how the protagonists are doing based on number alone.
Bad stuff out of the way, the characters are interesting and the plot is fairly fast-paced. The story did a good job of pulling me in and, when I had to step away from the book, I would find myself wanting to get back to it and see where the next part would go.
There are some other reviews complaining about a dearth of external motivating factors, which is fair, but the protagonist has plenty of internal motivation - you just have to be willing to see it.
Anyway, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the second installment.
DNF at ~40%
I can see why many people like this book. It's quirky and has a particular sense of humor that is decidedly british. It just didn't land for me, however. The plot seemed a bit...either forced or farcical - maybe both. I got the sense that the author was heavily inspired by Douglas Adams, which is another indication that this book isn't for me, since I didn't like Adams' work, either.
Anyway, not my cup of tea, but I can see why it would be for others.
There are, in my mind, three categories of LitRPG books. The first category is the largest and represents ~75% of the books out there. These are traditional stories with strength, intelligence, wisdom, etc. Some are great, others are terrible, but they all follow a fairly consistent LitRPG recipe.
The second category represents about 20% of the books. These are the ones where the author tries to chart a different course and to break the establish guardrails of LitRPG....and fails at doing so. These books are often different for no reason, and either leave the reader confused, irritated or both. These books are almost universally terrible.
And it's that last category - 5% or so of LitRPG books - where the author tries and succeeds to do something unique and different, where we find Wish Upon the Stars.
It has a very different leveling system, with non-traditional stats. And the author pulls it off quite nicely. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and encourage any LitRPG enthusiast to give it a go.
I get the sense this is the author's first novel and, in that regard, it shows. There are some definite rough edges in terms of plot development, plot armor and other literary mechanics, which is why I gave it four stars instead of five. That said, it's a great book that's a lot of fun and well worth the read!
This book was, to say the least, a disappointment. I loved the concept and the initial couple of paragraphs were great, but then the author started seemingly rushing through the story in an almost perfunctory manner. Major plot events happen in the span of a few pages, with very little explanation, detail or backstory. There also wasn't really a cohesive story line and, instead, each chapter almost seemed to be a short story that just happened to have some of the same characters from previous chapters.
From reading other reviews, it seems as though many people like the book for the questions it evokes and, if that's the case for some, so be it. But from a pure plot and literary mechanics standpoint, I thought this book was terrible.
After reading this book, it's very clear to me where Lee Child got at least some of his inspiration for the Jack Reacher series. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While others are taking it to task because it was written in a different, less-politically-correct time, I actually found it refreshing. It seemed more authentic and made the protagonist seem more believable to me.
In addition, I felt the prose was extremely well-done. It's not flowery, but it is flowing, and I enjoyed many of the metaphors the author used throughout.
If you value trigger warnings and are offended by micro-aggressions, then definitely skip this book. If you're able to read about a protagonist that is less than perfect, and enjoy a Reacher-esque type of story, then give this book a read.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the second one.
This book is like the TV series “Lost” from several years ago. And that's not meant as a compliment.
mild spoilers below
This was a 4.5 - 5 star book for me...right up until the end. You see, the author pulls you into this mysterious, dystopian world where nothing makes sense. And she does a great job of that - I was engrossed in the world she built, wondering where it would go.
But those sorts of novels come with (in my opinion) an implicit promise by the author to explain and/or clarify by the end of the novel, and that's where this became a 1-star book. The author explains nothing and leaves every single question unanswered. Why are the women living the way they are? How did they get there? Where did the guards go? A dark, mysterious dystopian world is much less interesting when you don't have to bother to explain anything.
I loved 99% of the book until I got to the end, when it left me feeling empty and unfulfilled. At least it was short so I didn't waste too much of my time.
Bleh.
While other wartime books focus on the scale and magnitude of war, this one focuses on the micro aspects - the impact to individuals. And it's done it better than most other war novels I've read. Really brings home the horrors of war, as experienced by those in the trenches.
This is not an easy read as the book pulls no punches, but it's a book that every literary-minded adult should read at least once in their life, imo. It's also a relatively short read at ~240 pages.
I couldn't wait to get through this book. It had the same trade-offs as the first one, but amplified. That is to say the story remains interesting and engaging, but the dialog is (very) sterile and transactional. Unfortunately, the dialog became such a distraction that it detracted from the overall story.
There was one section in particular which essentially went like:
Character A: I'm unwilling to make this incredibly significant change you're asking for.
Character B: But I think you should.
Character A: OK, you convinced me. Now I'll make the change.
That's slightly hyperbolic, but not by much.
Anyway, I love the universe the author put together, but I just can't get past the terrible dialog. Dropping the series here.
It's a fun book with some moderate issues that distract from the overall experience. First, the author uses atypical terminology for health, mana, etc. Not a deal-breaker, necessarily, but there doesn't seem to be any reason other than “to be different”. That isn't reason enough for me, so...one mark against.
Second, the “budding romance” in the book is both ham-fisted and clumsily written. Instead of letting it develop naturally over the course of the book, the author instead brings out a 2x4 and repeatedly smashes it over your head to make sure understand just how much that romance is budding.
That said, the rest of the book (plot, pacing, etc.) is fairly well done, so it's “good enough” for me to continue with the second installment, but this wasn't amazing or ground breaking by any means.
This is not a cheerful, uplifting, “triumph of the human spirit” book. It is dark, bleak and depressing. But it also offers brutally honest insights as to what society might truly look like in a true post-apocalyptic scenario.
If you've read “Earth Abides”, this is similar, though far darker and bleaker. A tough read, but a good one. And one that I won't likely revisit.
Be prepared to come out of reading this book as a full-blown prepper.
My son recommended this book to me after he read it in school. While it's written for a young adult audience, it's just as readable by adults as well. The author paints a fantastic picture of just how bad things were in North Korea during their famine years. I had seen and heard things about this time on the news and other media outlets, but this book paints a far more vivid, visceral picture of exactly how bad it was.
It also left me wanting to learn more about that time period in North Korea. The author explains how bad things were, but doesn't explain why they were so bad. It left me curious as to what the government did/didn't do that allowed things to become so dire.
A great book overall and highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the topic.
I almost dropped the series here. I enjoyed the first book quite a bit, but this book introduced something that smells and looks suspiciously like a love triangle. And I hate love triangles. They're the tropiest of tropes and so overwrought and overdone that it almost always ruins the rest of the book for me.
I will say, without spoiling too much, that I was happier by the end of the book than I was in the middle, but still - the very hint of a love triangle made this book far less enjoyable than the first or third.
So, love triangle haters beware.
I'm surprised by the amount of hate this book has received in the reviews. I found it to be an enjoyable, relatively fast-paced book. I enjoyed the characters, enjoyed the plot and especially enjoyed the prose.
It's a solid, good fantasy series and I'm looking forward to the next one. The protagonist is female, so this is probably more on the side of ‘chick lit' than not, but it's still good regardless. (spoiler: I'm not a chick)
Regarding the hate: the author wrote characters that are imperfect and have flaws. Oh, the horrors!
DNF at 46%. I just couldn't get into the book. It felt slow and plodding in parts and the plot was slow to develop. Then, once it did develop, the rationale behind why it was possible was explained away with a bit of hand-waving that didn't sell me.
I could see a lot of promise with where the author was going, but I just couldn't last long enough for the story to grab me.
DNF at 54%. I just couldn't get into the book and it's hard for me to put my finger on why. I think to a large extent, I was put off by the lack of plot progression in the first half of the book. Yes, stuff happens, but it's not clear why it's happening or towards what end. It's more a narration of events vs. anything that coheres into some semblance of a plot. It may have cohered in the second half of the book, but I lost interest by that point.