Mollie
I know the point is that I'm supposed to really kinda hate Nate, but dear god, that doesn't make listening to his endless self indulgent inner thoughts and drivel any easier to read. I can't really stand anyone in this book. Maybe that's the author's point/and showcases her skill. I just didn't really need a couple hundo pages to show me the depravity. I will say I learned some vocab words and that's about the only nice thing I can think of.
I feel like I'm supposed to love this one. But really, it gets a 2.5 from me.
I know much of this is based on the author's own experiences, so it feels bad to critique it, but I felt like we were lacking some exposition. It felt unrealistic. It felt like there was more that should explain what was driving this character's choices beyond it simply being addiction.
I do appreciate the use of poetry here.
I also always pause when it seems like a baby “fixes a person” as some sort of plot in YA novels- I've seen it numerous times in various iterations. (Though I appreciate the author's forward that explains this part a little more.)
1.5
I was excited to read this despite the lower rating, as I have really enjoyed other works of Crosley's. But this was just not working for me. I don't quite get it- the point, the characters, the vision. It's certainly unique and she's still talented in her work with words, but I just felt confused by why I should care about any of these unsufferable people (especially the main character- dear lord.) I think it was supposed to be humorous, but I just really didn't get any of the point here except that perhaps communication is important??
4.5
I found myself turning the pages quickly on this one, completely drawn in and needing to know the ending. To be clear, this is the first of any of her novels- certainly, upon reading some of these Goodreads reviews- I'm intrigued further and have no background for some of these reviews, so I won't be commenting on that.
But, what I can say, is this is a compelling novel that focuses on an unreliable narrator whose thoughts are at once completely unhinged,racist, and unrelatable, yet also grounded in a way where you can follow every thread of her twisted logic while regarding it with complete distaste. It feels unforgettable and novel. Everyone in this book has complexity and insecurities, there is no good and unmarked soul here- everyone reeks of desperation and loneliness.
I would say that the writing and construction of the plot deserves higher. But really- I cannot get over the way I felt the violence against women in this novel was beyond gratitious. I am in no way one to shy away from horrible realities, but the way it is written in this novel feels.... icky. I just couldn't get behind that.
If you love a classic scary movie, you'll probably enjoy this.
It's well paced and interesting without being ridiculous. The storyline did keep me guessing. It seems like the sort of story you've heard a 100 times, but still, this iteration finds a way to be completely unique.
My one critique would be that I could tell Maggie was written by a man. This is my first Riley Sager novel so I really didn't know anything about him, but there were times I felt that I could tell Maggie didn't quite feel grounded in a way that felt like a realistic female character- she just made choices that felt incongruent with the female experience. (Not that there is one perfect way to be a woman- that's not my point here, at all. It was more of the ways women have to act in our society for their own safety kind of things, if that makes sense.)
I dunno 2.5 maybe, this one is a bit much for me (in just about every sort of way.) The serial killers falling in love premise is unique and grabbed my attention but once the will they/won't they is over, this loses all plot and turns into spicyyy scenes only. Why did the plot leave??? There's also some giant holes like/ how do serial killers find other serial killers? They act like they have some sort of social network that one can simply look them up on. It is easy to fly through and generally so fast paced, but.... It's something.
The first half of this one is worse than the worst, the second half is better, so all in all, it ends up at 3.5 rating just like the other.
For much of these, it's hard to understand the gods and their motives. This one provides more context but it feels as though one is complex and nuanced, and the other is a caricature of evil. It doesn't quite match at points to me. I did appreciate how the storylines tied up.
There's nothing mindblowing about this series, but it was a fairly quick read that did feel unique in a place where many fantasy novels are basically the same plots over and over.
3.5
I genuinely liked the main concepts here- the magical typewriters felt unique and captured my attention. It's by no means perfect though. I think a significant amount of world building is missing here though. Like obviously not a historical time since there are Gods out and about and all, but truly what am I supposed to be imaging? Typewriters have been around for generations in the novel, there's modern showers and kitchens in every house, but then it's mixed in with aspects that seems incongruent with those technologies like the stark lack of phones or telegrams or any other way to communicate other than letters. It's odd. It's not explained enough.
It's otherwise a novel you can breeze through. The emphasis on a quick marriage was a bit odd to me, but you know, whatever works for you.
I can appreciate some facets of this novel deeply but at the end of the day, the characters all feel kind of flat to me and lack the depth to make them truly pop against a background of interest/the fires. Some of them especially feel neglected- it just feels clunky throughout the story line. I think the bones of this story were good, but it did not quite live up to the potential.
This is a long one. Took me a little to get fully invested, but I'm glad I did.
I learned more about Ethopian history that I ever had before. Reminiscent to Poisonwood Bible in the way the learning of country's people & challenges feel very grounded and authentic (Obviously in this case, Verghese used a lot of his own experiences to shape that- you can tell- it's affecting and profound.) There is one scene that fueled a lot of dislike of the narrator for me. Until that part I had mostly been able to understand why he made the choices he did, but one part got me a little angry and ultimately soured my taste towards him. I can't tell if that was intentional or not, but it was certainly a choice. Overall, very well written and a glimpse into a world I've never really known much about- even including the parts in America.
2.5
This seems like the type of book I am supposed to love but actually really did not enjoy. It's shockingly sad? It's a lot less a reflection on nature and lot more about loss. Sometimes I had a hard time with how much the author seems to fuss over nature- it almost feels infantilizing the natural world? But the ways of the world care little for our emotions. Certainly they spark feelings in us and are important roadways to advocacy about nature, but ultimately to focus it upon human feelings is a narrow view and elevates us to more importance than we deserve. This toed that line that for me.
4.5
I really liked this. It's incredibly unique- I've never read a book set in the Spanish Inquistion, let a lone one with magical realism. Nothing feels cheesy here- it feels so grounded and I gained perspective on history that I was not expecting.
I know a lot of people seemed to dislike this book- I think if you go in expecting more of what Bardugo has written in the past, you might find this one slower. But I found it just to be a different style- still really great, intelligent, and keeps you guessing.
2.5
Listen, this isn't a bad read but ultimately seems like the point is “spare everyone from your suffering” which... especially from the perspective of a dying child seems hard to understand the motivation behind? The entire book it just feels like you wonder where everyone's families are. But I do think a fair amount of that may be a cultural differences? I'm not sure. There's a few parts here and there that have some wisdom, though.
Hannah's books have become solid for me- I can rely on them to be good reads.
This one is certainly stronger in the first half of the novel, but still overall, a really interesting and impactful novel that delves into the complexities of service in the Vietnam War. The women who remained unrecognized and denied for so long have such powerful stories and they deserve and need to be told. I gained appreciation for a group of people I had never considered, never knew that their service was diminished and denied for so long.
This novel does a good job at showing how public outrage though deserved, morally correct, and necessary can still create incredibly damaging scenarios for many folks who ultimately were not aiming to be evil. It's the government's shortcomings to blame, but human nature can lead to a labeling mentality that is hard for any side to heal from. I think Hannah handles the fragile and complex nature of these intricacies.
This waffles between a 2.5 and a 3 for me. I think it has strength in capturing the trickiness of figuring out who you are as a teen & the pull of doing what you really want versus what's acceptable or expected (or edgy). However, sometimes I felt like the character do not act like teenagers at all, especially the male main character.
Additionally, spoilers here- I don't love the way teen pregnancy is handled. It felt weirdly disconnected from the current times and almost romanticized in a way? Missed opportunities for discussions of safe sex and consequences of choices.
Also- I really dislike how it seems like we're supposed to blame “the other girl” for most of the bad in this book.
It's not an unpleasant read, I just kinda felt like it was meh.
Listen. I'm an ideal reader for this book. You can catch me with my partner at a NWSL game on a regular basis. But there's a shockingly low amount of soccer actually in this book (the author clearly knows the league and is a real fan but I missed soccer!) and I felt like the relationship felt a bit shallow and somewhat immature. The end of the book feels so rushed compared to the beginning. Neither of the main characters feel fully fleshed out, and the villain feels flat, too. It's still heartwarming as a whole to see the representation of a community I care about/feel apart of, but I was let down a good bit by it. Maybe I just had unfair expectations. It is a fun read though.
3.5
I know a lot of people hate this one but I do find Nesta to be one of the more compelling and interesting characters in this series. I think she's far more interesting than her sisters. She's not always good or fair- but I find her to be the most realistically emotionally. So I found this one to be stronger than the last few.
Since this is the last one at this point- a few criticism for the series as a whole: despite the vastness of the types of worlds/cultures/lands in these novels, they felt like shallow depictions of diversity and in some areas, the diversity is entirely lacking. The beauty standards seem incredibly high and reinforce many ideals than can be damaging. To be clear, I do not think this is the SJM's intention, just that it's of note that everyone is described as muscular and/or thin. Additionally, we get the Mor storyline, but it lacks true care and is a very surface level attempt at a gay perspective. I appreciate the inclusion of her character, but her storyline felt unfinished and superficial.