Lauren
A very important book for anyone concerned, or even curious, about the ways that companies control our lives through data harvesting and manipulation.
This book contains suggestions to resolve these situations, basically first steps that would begin to unravel the web that these companies have our society in. Unfortunately these were all pretty demoralizing to me; many of them would rely on our elected officials or government to do something about this, when they have no incentive to because they personally benefit from the situation. There are some hopeful moments, but overall this is not a book to read if you want to feel optimistic about anything.
This book had me hooked at about 20%. I was finding excuses to read it, sneaking in a few pages anywhere I could.
The only thing that threw me off was the switch of viewpoints at the end. I understand why it had to be that way but I didn't like it. It could have been consistent through the end, and I think the final reveal would have been incredible.
This book was way too long, the book equivalent of “this meeting could have been an email”.
I liked the premise but there was so much indecision. There was so much random exposition. I couldn't get a sense of any of the characters at all. And then Eko who starts the book gets no resolution and just becomes a series of letters.
The ending was messy and left too many hanging threads.
This book is a bit repetitive but it really gets the point across. The scripts are useful and I appreciated the similar frame to every chapter of the middle section. I also particularly thought the last section was helpful (this is the one about how to react to other people's boundaries). This was a very useful tool for my toolkit and I think I'm going to use it a lot.
I listened to the audiobook. I enjoyed the story quite a bit, and the narrator's voice fit the character well (it helped that the narrative was in first person). It's a retelling of a myth that seemed somehow familiar. I enjoyed the gentle narrative, although I certainly felt it could have skipped a few chapters that didn't seem to add much to the story. There is a twist at the end that I was not expecting!
I absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed the tone, I enjoyed the giant robots, I loved Ardent Violet, and I really loved Gus and Graymalkin.
This book is a quick read and really fun. There is a lot going on and it starts quickly at the beginning of the book and escalates. It also has a (fairly) happy ending.
I will read the second book as soon as it comes out.
I didn't lem this book but I almost did. I'm glad it's over. I really have very little idea what happened. The plot was so convoluted, things just kept happening “off-screen”, there was a Deus ex Machina about every two pages in the second half of the book, and as a general rule I am really just not a fan of having to read constantly about kiddie porn and incest.
I very nearly lemmed this book. I only didn't because it was only 126 pages and my cat fell asleep in my lap.
So much happens in this book but the actions of the characters are nearly incomprehensible, and the prose is simultaneously so thin and so complex that I just couldn't be bothered to care. This is a pretty classic example of “tell, don't show”.
I enjoyed this book cover to cover. I loved reading the stories of the various gardens and their caretakers, and I learned something new about a plant in each section. The recipes and projects in the book were inspiring - even if I might not do the exact project mentioned, they were useful to give me ideas. Having just recently visited the Isle of Man for a couple of weeks, I also really enjoyed learning about Tanya Anderson's garden and home there, and now regularly visit her website for more stories.
This is a great book for beginner or gardeners in their first few years, or an experienced gardener who might want some new inspiration for a new garden space.
This book was sometimes too cute and aware of itself for my tastes. There was a lot about bad parties and clubs and hookups that I didn't identify with. But I did identify with the underlying premise and it was gratifying to read the last section of the book and recognize my own experience reflected back at me through this Buzzfeed writing hookup culture party girl group text experience.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. In particular, I loved the passage near the end describing Katrina's performance at the festival. As a performer myself, I would have read the technical notes and enjoyed it, but Aoki does a stellar job of narrating through the emotions of music, sprinkling in the little bits of musical knowledge (the quarter tones - amazing).
I really enjoy the demonic association with classically trained performance hungry musicians. It's a trope that has been played before but this was certainly a new way to view it.
The ending was sweet. I'm glad there was a happy ending to this. And tricking hell was nice (I couldn't help but think of Schwanda the Bagpiper here).
This is one of those atmospheric books that is more “experienced” than “read”. I enjoyed Piranesi's travels, moreso than I liked the reveal of his history. I enjoyed the end and the description of the person that had been made from Piranesi reconstructing the broken parts of Matthew Rose Sorensen. The metaphor of trauma that is the House is an interesting one. I don't think I fully understand what the House is. That is probably okay.
I love the whole Wayfarers series so much. This one was basically character development, a bunch of exercises in narrative world building, but like so many friendships in our world this one is beautiful and satisfying in all its plotless glory. A group of random people in a space diner, basically, who should never have met but become friends or something like it.
I have never felt so seen as I did by Pei's development at the end. “You don't want to. That's it. That is all it ever needs to be.” What a powerful message. Thanks, Becky Chambers, for making me feel so human through a story about an Aeluon.
