Ren
Seems like a book that would work best for a younger audience, maybe around middle school. I really wish the author had explained why the letter “D” and not any other letter - seems very random. Also, I thought the main character's parents would come into play more, as it seems to be a major part of the first part of the book, but it never really goes anywhere which was disappointing. I liked Mrs. Robinson, but I wish her character was fleshed out a bit more - like where did she come from, and how did she come to be with the Professor?
The book left me with a lot of unanswered questions, but to be honest, most of the characters aren't developed enough for me to care too much for the answers.
Overall it was exactly what I was looking for at the moment: a short, whimsical adventure story.
I thought this was a book about the Titanic. Instead, it focuses mainly on spiritualism and...Nikola Tesla? SPOILER: When you finally get to the part about the ship sinking, the author takes the lazy way out and time travels the main character through it. If you picked this up to read about a fiction story about the Titanic, you will be disappointed.
Amelie and Emma were also very annoying to me. The rest of it wasn't bad, but not good either. Incredibly misleading though - the book would be better categorized as a paranormal historical fiction story, considering the Titanic is only present for maybe 100 pages of the 330 page book.
Would recommend to younger readers, but that's about it.
Got this from Owl Crate a few years back. A fun, quick read. Won't be continuing for 2 reasons:
1. Not a fan of the episodic thing. Works well for TV, not for books (IMO) unless they're comics.
2. As far as I could see, this is only available digitally and I prefer physical editions to read.
overall it was so-so, but pacing was strange. 2/5
I liked his explanations, but eventually it became repetitive. His advice is completely valid, but I think he could have done this and made the book much shorter. I also disagree with his thought that if you're mentally ill that medication can muddle your brain more. While this may be true for some, it's dangerous to say it applies for everyone. Some people are prisoners of their minds, and no amount of spirituality can change the way their brain functions.
Tolle is quite condescending. I think his message is important, but consistently he talks down on his readers. I would recommend it, but it's not my favorite new-age spirituality book out there.
I think this book would be great for high school students who want to learn more about what police brutality is and looks like, as well as race relations in general. It tells the story of Rashad, a victim of police brutality, and Quinn, a white boy at the same school who is trying to figure out why the incident bothers him so deeply.
Anyone who already has a good grasp on these concepts or have read stories of brutality previously might not get too much from the story, as it's similar to so many in real life.
2023 review: Re-read this before watching the movie. I really didn't remember much about this book and to be honest, it's so much better than I remember.
Snow is definitely an unreliable narrator and insanely paranoid about everything, all the time, and it only gets worse as the book goes on. I didn't remember all of the little details that on the second read really stood out to me - like what Lucy's ballad is really about, and how complicated her relationship between herself and Billy and herself and Snow really is.
How Snow was so spoiled and ignorant, and by the end of the book really just falls deeper and deeper into ignorance when there was more hope for him before he witnessed all of the horrible things being part of the 10th hunger games.
Still wish there was a Haymitch book instead, but so glad I decided to reread this. Really enjoyed it! 4.5/5 stars
2020 review: Liked this up until the ending which I think left more questions than answers (maybe for a sequel?). Really wish we had a bit more insight to Lucy's thoughts throughout the novel, as Snow is so paranoid and overthinks everything. We never get to know her that well which is kind of unfortunate.
Not as good as the original trilogy but still worth a read if you're a HG fan. 3/5 stars
