This book was annoying because the premise is so interesting but the writing is so dry in places, and really needed additional editing. I also didn't really understand any of the characters or their motivations, and Gong doesn't do enough repetition of the relevant groups that you really understand what's going on. I finished the book not quite ever grasping what the Crescent Society's relevance is, or quite what/where Talin is.
Lastly, I didn't really buy the premise that you can take over anyone's body and it's a fact of life like no one cares. I don't know if that's a theme that will be ripped apart in the sequel but I had a hard time suspending my disbelief there.
This book also ends on like 10 cliff hangers so it's not very satisfying after you've trudged through the writing to see what happens. I'll see how the reviews shake out on the next one.
First of all I didn't buy most of this. Second of all, this is a romance? Really? When does the romance happen? Wyn is just kinda there the whole time. Third of all, Sabrina is the worst friend, but don't worry she remembers Harriet doesn't like to be touched by strangers so it's okay. Fourth of all, maybe I just don't like Emily Henry's books.
I read Of Boys and Men in advance of attending a keynote speech by Reeves (for work). I'm really glad that there is an increasing interest in addressing issues faced by men — I don't think that it's helpful to assume that because a group has historically held more power, opportunities, etc that they don't also deserve and need support. Especially because we know that they do. Just look at the data regarding deaths of despair, education, and violence to start. We can't put it on individuals alone to pull themselves up, especially when we demand systemic change for other social issues. As Reeves says, we can support men AND women, we don't have to choose.
I think that this book is a good start to get the conversation going. My main points of contention are that sometimes facts can feel glossed over — some of the assertions I felt would be better supported with information about the methodology and the context of the research. That said, nearly half of this book is references (truly) which makes it nearly impossible to provide context for all facts. I still needed a little bit more though. My other gripe was a lack of exploring why men are having these issues. You can kind of infer some of the reasons, but I would have appreciated a stronger exploration on the why. I get the sense that this isn't fully laid out because people don't actually know the reasons why — yet.
I appreciate Reeves being willing to put himself out there to start addressing issues facing boys and men. He says that if we don't step in now to help, other groups will (and are), and they're probably not the groups that we'd prefer are doing so. I think he's right. He's certainly an interesting, engaging live speaker — the book was just okay for me though.
I didn't like the format of this. Its written from the first person perspective of the main character Bodie, but crossed often into essentially a second person perspective as she's talking to the person she suspects killed Thalia. The reason for this approach isn't really ever clear, other than to maybe add suspense? There wasn't really a pay off for that.
The social commentary pieces didn't really bring anything new to the table and were at risk of being a bit corny.
Worst of all, we finally get to the climax and the book just fast forwards past a bunch of stuff that I was specifically looking forward to reading. The writing of this is kind of like Gilmore Girls in that you're seeing a bunch of dialogue but not much actually occur in the moment.
Starling House is about Opal, who I can only describe as Applejack from My Little Pony. Applejack is inexplicably drawn to Starling House, the mysterious house with a mysterious resident. She starts working as a housekeeper at the house, and becomes more and more engrossed in uncovering its secrets.Starling House is a modern gothic with a romantic element, and interesting/exciting magical realism. In thinking about other comparable books (gothic with emphasis on the house) I've read recently, ([b:Tripping Arcadia 55073801 Tripping Arcadia Kit Mayquist https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1627460785l/55073801.SY75.jpg 85872762], [b:A House with Good Bones 60784409 A House with Good Bones T. Kingfisher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1664972416l/60784409.SY75.jpg 95849240], [b:Mexican Gothic 53152636 Mexican Gothic Silvia Moreno-Garcia https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607462569l/53152636.SY75.jpg 73647361]) it has a more satisfying resolution and believable storyline/characters than most.I think the first-person southern perspective was a little overdone (see: Applejack comparison) in some places but it didn't take away too much from the storytelling. I did generally prefer Arthur's point of view, which is written in third person and more neutral.Reflecting back, I think my biggest issue was with Jasper, Opal's brother. There was some build up that was resolved, but still felt like a missed opportunity.Also, I would have liked to have seen how Opal & Arthur got from the end of the main book to the beginning of the epilogue. It's probably ok left to the imagination, but I had to wonder if the author even knew how they got there.To its credit, I did find that Starling House really hooked me in about halfway through and I found it unputdownable after that. 4.5 stars rounded up for me.
It's an enormous shame that Britney's book is fewer than 300 pages. It really would have benefited from additional space to explore how she felt about defining moments in her life. I don't really care that there wasn't much that wasn't already known by the public about her experiences, but it did shock me that so much was just glossed over with a just sentence or two. Does she owe anyone more of her story? No, but it's really hard to get a sense for who Britney is from this book — which is a shame.
After being a little bored of the sister dynamic in The Wilderwomen, I wasn't really excited about Ink Blood Sister Scribe. That really didn't last long, because Törzs wastes absolutely no time here in building up the suspense, relationships, and plot.
I was not expecting the elements of horror that came through (literally - IYKYK) in this novel, but I did get chills at least once. I'm generally not a horror reader so I was a little spooked but it certainly isn't a scary book.
The only element I struggled with was keeping track of the relevancy of some of the book-object related items, but I suspect I could go back and find answers. The eye on display, and any tie in between the moth blanket on display and the related vampire book?
I'm surprised by all of the reviews that declare this book a failure of fantasy. It's not clearly not intended solely as a fantasy novel. It has elements of fantasy, sure, but also science fiction... horror... magical realism. It has way more in common with Mexican Gothic than Fourth Wing or The Fifth Season.
Reviewing this memoir is odd because its existence and approach is maybe more significant than its content. Harry's stories are generally interesting, but I find them to be strangely conflicting and rarely meaningfully introspective.
Despite Harry repeatedly saying that the royal family generally does not put out statements explaining their actions, he continuously expects them to do so and seems to attempt to goad them into doing so belatedly with the jabs he takes in this book. Many of the stories he shares seem to serve no purpose other than to air out dirty laundry — which is confusing considering how highly he says he values privacy. I get that he wants to set the record straight, but in knowing his brother and father will never combat his words, his honesty feels disingenuous and offputting.
In giving highly detailed accounts of certain events (including his time at war and various other random thought processes), it feels like Harry is oversharing in some places so we take his other, more “controversial” takes at face value.
I don't really care much about what's true or not, but I was hoping for something more thoughtful beyond cheap gossip and belabored war stories.
The subject matter of this book is interesting, but there's something missing that's hard to place. I think a lack of reflection or deeper exploration of the horrifying things Jones endured could be it. She would say something extremely shocking, and then just move on. It was also difficult to keep track of different people involved. A greater sense of place would have helped too.
There are a lot of upsetting recollections in this book. I'm somewhat used to reading about some pretty awful things but there were a few times I was about to stop listening. If you don't want to hear about bad things happening to animals or children this is not the book for you.
This book was kind of entertaining but the writing is underwhelming and repetitive and the plot execution is pretty weak.
I've asked myself multiple times if my issue is with the characters or the writing. If it's the character, perhaps that's Hoovers intention and therefore it's actually well done. But if that were the case, I don't think I would have all of these other issues, like Miles really only ever pining after Rachel, Tate having literally no self respect or friends, the gender roles reinforcement, an underlying hostility to the idea of abortion, trauma being resolved in 10 minutes, etc.
It's like when you eat a bunch of shit and it was fun at the time but now you feel kind of sick.
I'm not really a horror fan but I really liked Nettle & Bone and Thornhedge by T Kingfisher. This book is definitely different in style and content, but it keeps a similarly quick pace and has an underlying upbeat tone that can be found in her other works.
What makes this book frightening is it's sense of normalcy. Something is going on, but it can easily be explained away by the main character — until it can't!
The end was maybe a slight mismatch for me to the rest of the book, but things tied up well regardless.
The worst part of all of this was that my first night reading this, there was a spider on my bedside table and the second night an ant crawled across the page. Coincidence?!
The Circus Train is really lovely. I generally have an aversion to things that relate to the circus (clowns, sad animals being forced to do things, etc.) but this book isn't like that at all.
Lena grows up with a traveling circus (think more like acrobats and magic), and is a wheelchair user. Her father is the circus' prized illusionist, and while life is good for her because of that, she struggles with making friends that don't judge her for the wheelchair.
This story is about Lena making a genuine friend, and what happens when she becomes separated from both him and her father after they are abducted by nazis.
It's incredibly sweet and well written. Potentially a perfect book?