shiragin
איזה יופי של ספר! הבת שלי התחילה לקרוא את הסדרה ואני הצטרפתי בעקבותיה. זכיתי לטעימה מהדרך שבה היא קוראת ספרים, הדרך שבה אני הייתי קוראת כשהייתי בגילה - במשך שעות מתחת לשמיכה, עם לחיים לוהטות ועיניים בורקות. כל כך נכנסתי לתוך הספר, כעסתי על דמויות ושמחתי איתן. כמעט יכולתי להרגיש את הערפל סביבי. פשוט תענוג
A tough one to rate, isn't it? Of course when compared to the first book, this sequel is not as earth-shattering (haha see what I did there), but it's still fantastic. 4.5 leaning towards 5. I'm still fiercely attached to Essun, but it was Nassun's story I found the most poignant, with all those daddy issues :/ I need book 3, like, right now. I want more!
This book is so macho, so manly, you can practically hear its muscles rippling. Not such a bad thing in itself, but it is accompanied by a noticeable layer of misogyny (Pam was simply painful). Also, the lack of diversity didn't bother me at first, because in this particular setting it actually made sense. But the fact it was never addressed or discussed was disturbing. I can get behind Pilcher being - on top of a murderer and a psychopath - also a raging racist, but the fact that no character took any notice of the total whiteness of the chosen residents makes me suspect that this was the author's choice rather than the antagonist's.
That's a shame, really, because somewhere under the flimsy characters, plot holes and unbelievable premise, there are some genuinely intriguing ideas.
Still gonna read the third part D:
I really thought I'd enjoy this. I wanted to like this. I didn't :(
This book features one of the most intriguing opening scenes I've read lately, and it sets the tone for a mysterious dark tale (which is fantastic). Then the entire thing turns into a humorously absurd tale which obviously isn't meant to be taken seriously (which is also fine, I guess, just not the kind of book I prefer reading). The narrative stays uneven, as if the book just can't decide what sort of book it wants to be. Scenes begin with a sober tone only to melt into a pile of giggles. This might appeal to many readers, but unfortunately I'm not one of them.
And the cleverness, oh god, the cleverness. See, this book is imaginative. And clever. Oh so very clever. It's so in love with its own cleverness that it becomes tiresome very, very fast. Everyone's constantly delivering snarky one-liners, everything is either a pun or a juvenile joke, and there's no real way to differentiate the characters because they're all just, well, so damn witty and snarky they basically sound the same.
All in all, this was an overwritten book with a cool premise, some nice ideas and a very tedious execution. I thought I'd give it just one star, but it gets a surprise extra star for the stroke of genius that is the Gestalt siblings.
