Varun
This book is unnecessarily dragged out I really struggled to keep reading after the 40% mark for some time due to the alternate chapter writing method. One chapter will be about the main storyline and the next chapter will be about some fun facts, deep insight into how Christopher's mind works, math problems, Christopher's review of life etc. and again the next chapter will go back to the main storyline and so on. Basically half the book is just filler chapters if you think about it lol, I mean they are fun I learned some new things and all but the book could have been much shorter.
Disappointed that it's not a mystery book as suggested by the title, this book should have been called Memoirs of an Autistic Kid or Diary of an Autistic Kid haha, because that's exactly what this is, it's about how this kid views the world around him, his day to day struggles as an autistic I didn't know about autism much before reading this I have only seen it represented in a movie called Rain Man and I don't know how accurate the book is but it has definitely made me learn more about autism, really feel for the people who struggle with social interactions and crowded places and I can really relate to a lot of things which Christopher goes through.
It's an ok book nothing special about it the author did very well to make it look like a child wrote it I just didn't have much fun reading this nothing really meaningful happens.
“Some love is so powerful it sweeps everything else away.”
Unpredictable/unexpected endings are very difficult to pull off these days due to the presence of so many books, shows and movies with weird plot twists as a result of which people are able imagine every possible scenario, come up with all sorts of theories as to what's going to happen and comfortably predict the ending. Behind Her Eyes also seemed set to face the same predicament but took a complete U-Turn that led to an absolute shocker of an ending. Unfortunately, other than the ending the story had nothing else worth noting, was very predictable and doesn't offer much different from what we have seen in similar plots.
The ending, despite being incredulous and jaw dropping at its own is a disappointment when it comes to the overall impact on story and logic. The book strays from the path of other psychological thriller storylines due to a paranormal trope added which removes the need for some logical explanation in some parts but that ending? No paranormal or fantasy trope can explain the stupidity of what happened there. It just completely ignores previously set up events and logic like it's nothing.
There are 3 main characters in the book: Louise, David and Adele. I didn't like Louise that much I thought she was just a clueless horror movie character that makes stupid choices but the other 2 were good. The mystery surrounding the couple of David and Adele is what intrigued me the most.
I enjoyed this book no doubt, it had my interest the whole time. Thought a lot of the situations in the book could have been much scarier & the third act a bit extended and not rushed. Also really liked the idea of introducing paranormal trope to this plot. But the real question is, was the brave and bold decision of having an ending that is so senseless and absurd that it will have a drastic effect on the story and logic worth it? Turns out it just was as I hadn't been so aghast by an ending for a long time.
Damn this book is crazy, I really didn't expect it to be so raunchy & I don't know if it was intentional but the profanity made it so much fun, I was laughing so hard whenever Joe Goldberg started swearing repeatedly & went full on batshit.
-All characters are great they are multi-faceted especially the 2 leading characters. You'll love them in some events & absolutely loathe them in other events.
-The romance is done very well but I'd have preferred the thrill & suspense over it to make the story more compelling.
-What the hell is wrong with the plot armour of Joe Goldberg?! Seriously this ruined the whole book, I'm not going to elaborate on this as that would be a spoiler. Also, it doesn't make sense that he is able to access people's devices so easily, apparently nobody in this book wants to use a password.
-Things really get amped up in the third act but it gets cancelled out with an ordinary ending.
A collection of 9 short stories covering variety of science fiction topics from near future to far future and a few taking place in the past. Except for maybe 1 or 2 none of the stories in this collection are character driven they are all technical about the topic at discussion, embracing the science exactly what I like. Very hardware oriented and detailed. In the titular short story Exhalation, the inside of a brain of an advanced lifeform is explored in length quite intricately which can be challenging to follow but also fun at the same time. But even with all the technical stuff what I liked most were the central and underlying themes within the stories like ethics of humans towards AI, do our choices and decisions matter in the grand scheme of the universe etc. all of which pose big questions and are important to every one of us. A great collection overall definitely has got me thinking and worry about what the future has in store for us.
I enjoyed Dune but when I finished it, I didn't have a sense of fulfillment after reaching the end. I wanted more so I continued with the saga in hopes of reaching a satisfying conclusion/payoff. I was vibing with Herbert's prose, so I said why not? After all I enjoyed my time with the 800 something pages, why not go back-to-back with the 350 page sequel? And I must say this time I feel much more satisfied with the ending.
However, I don't think both the books work together and complement each other in a completely seamless way. This book has quite a different structure owing to the fact that Herbert wrote it to clear up the heroic aura of Paul which was incorrectly assumed by a lot of readers back in the 60's when the first book was published. Now this is fine, but I wish he had done this in way that incorporated some of the elements that composed the structure of the first book. We should have got to see more viewpoints and explored the psyche of the other characters which were introduced in such an intriguing manner right at the start. I don't think this approach would have worked against the book in fact it would have elevated Paul's story and made the impact of that ending even stronger.
I do feel happy overall with the decision to jump into this book right after the first one, it was much better written in terms of the spoken dialogue between the characters. The inner dialogue of the characters (which is where Frank Herbert excels) is once again incredibly sophisticated, philosophical, poetic and beautiful. The world building was held back quite a lot which is to be expected in a sequel, but it was needed here.
I don't feel the need to continue the series now as I feel fulfilled and don't really care to know that deeply about what's going to happen next so I might hop off the Dune train here, on which I have been aboard for more than a couple months.
I had read the first 3 chapters which were available on the Kindle sample and concluded that this book didn't have any depth in its prose. but it was fast paced and had me intrigued. So after my commitment to the full text, it turned out I was right. This book moves along at a rapid pace wasting no time but was ultimately very amateurishly written. I'm surprised at the lack of effort to approach this idea of What If scenarios (which is basically what SF is about) from an intricate and philosophical standpoint, with more complexity and style to the prose.
I'd not call reading this a miserable experience, I think it was good entertainment. But I'm now convinced that I probably can't read something like this ever again.
Average rating of 4.22.
Over 1.4M ratings.
Sci-Fi.
Regarded as one of the funniest books ever written.
And only 130 pages long!
I must admit that the length was the main reason I decided to read this. No way I wasn't gonna read such a critically acclaimed book which I would finish in just about 4 hrs. Boy was I overconfident.
Date started: 18 Aug
Date finished:27 Aug
Total: 10 DAYS
10 DAYS. 130 pages. WTF HAPPENED?!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Why it's a Fiasco
-Just a few days before this I had finished a book of 360 pages in about 3-4 days. Yes, my reading speed is not good but I should have been able to finish this in 1-2 days. So why did it take a lot more days? Because it's just a nothing story, except for the first few chapters everything else was bleak, stupid & not good enough to hold my interest & curiosity. I switched off my Kindle probably more than 100 times & looked to do some other things to pass the time. That's how these 10 days went, everyday I'd think that I will definitely finish it today but I kept delaying it. I should have put this in the dnf shelf & moved on but I don't like doing that & the page length of 130 was in my head the whole time. I wanted it to be over after only like 6 chapters, that's how dismal this experience was.
-Filled with pointless descriptions: Probably the main reason for the downfall of this book for me. You can't create a compelling enough plot if your book is full of descriptions of inanimate objects & other rubbish stuff. Here's an example of many such descriptions which drove me crazy:
“Its main console was installed in a specially designed executive, mounted on an enormous executive desk of finest ultramahogany topped with ultrared leather. The dark carpeting was discreetly sumptuous, exotic plot plants and tastefully engraved prints of the principal computer programmers and their families were deployed liberally about the room, and stately windows looked out upon a tree-lined public square.”
I DON'T CARE ONE BIT ABOUT THE TOPPING OF A FUCKING DESK!
-Underwhelming humor: Where is the highly praised humor that was promised? What was I supposed to find funny? The absurd names, terms for characters & objects? Seems like this book is using a sense of humor which was done & dusted a long time ago. Still there were 2 instances when I genuinely laughed but both the jokes in those cases had the element of surprise. Was that the plan? To bore me for hours & then drop a joke out of nowhere? Well played then. So other than those 2 instances I found the humor to be a big let-down. Would have liked it if the jokes were present frequently throughout.
I wish I could get back the time & energy I wasted on this bullshit. This book has thrown me into a reading slump from which it will be a struggle to get out of. Well lessons have been learnt. Don't underestimate a book of 130 pages, it can very well turn out to be a slugfest.
With a title like that the book is expected to deliver despair & anguish and deliver it does! But delivered way too much
Ever since I saw Batman V Superman, I had been obsessed with the idea of a full-fledged versus story that'd include an epic seesaw battle, fierce rivalry, serious tension & an alarming hatred between 2 characters. So I was really excited when I found [b:Vicious 40874032 Vicious (Villains, #1) V.E. Schwab https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532011194l/40874032.SY75.jpg 19250870] & it became my most anticipated book ever. And let me tell you when a book or movie lives up to your hype & expectations it feels DAMN GOOD. It's a simple story. Victor & Eli were best buddies & college roommates, they both developed special abilities due to NDE (near death experience) trials. This leads to an inevitable fall out among them, putting Victor in prison & turning Eli into a monster. 10 years later Victor now out of the prison, has one goal in mind i.e. to make Eli suffer. What I loved:-Complex & equally good side characters alongside the 2 leads to make it a back & forth contest. Their backstories, interactions & first encounters with Victor & Eli made the story more compelling.-Deep dive into the minds of villains: why they are what they are, why they do what they do. -The ploys & strategies used by both the teams. I was awestruck by how well the tactics were executed, it felt like watching magic tricks & figuring out how the hell they did it. All of the characters put their powers & abilities to excellent use.-Development & variation in character of both Victor & Eli as the story progresses. Eli is an excellent villain he has beliefs which I ended up agreeing with but his methods got out of control. I was highly impressed with Victor; I had really underestimated him. He got smarter, mature & more rational while Eli went in the other direction. Both end up being complete opposites of each other which made it exciting.I only had a couple of minor issues which don't ruin the overall experience: - The origin of powers: It's too easy, the process should be more complicated.- 2 characters finding each other as a result of total luck & this event ends up playing a vital part in the outcome of this rivalry.In the end I'd like to say I was thoroughly entertained by this book. It gave me all the things I had wanted from Batman V Superman. It's a wild ride without any dull moments; it's action packed, fast paced, thrilling, stylish, dark, suspenseful & of course vicious.
-Loved Murderbot.
-Liked that the side characters are actually smart & not annoying.
-Good world building. Lot of people complained about it, I personally thought the details described were enough to trigger the brain to create images of the different settings. Not everything has to be spoon fed.
-Didn't like the villains. They seemed creepy when they pulled that shit off at the other side of the planet but later turned out to be a bunch of stupid idiots.
-When it was finally time to turn the action up, the third act disappoints it's very rushed. It's a shame because I enjoyed the book a lot until that point.
A good book, it uses a little more than the first half to build an intriguing mystery, atmosphere & seems to be on track for an exciting showdown which unfortunately never arrives.
Haha this was fucking awesome finished it very quickly! This was a visually stunning experience the art is excellent it felt like I was actually in space! The humor is really good, the characters are some of the most original ever written in a comic. Highly recommended for anybody who is getting bored right now be careful though you might get addicted!
It's pretty good; fantastic black & white illustrations complement the winter season setting of the story. Thankfully the romance is beautiful, it was lovely to see the relationship unfold. Excessive religious talk bored me a lot & ruined the experience. I'd say this is a better version of [b:Eleanor & Park 15745753 Eleanor & Park Rainbow Rowell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1341952742l/15745753.SX50.jpg 17225055] so definitely check this one out if you liked that book, lot of similarities. Probably would have been better to read this at a slower pace & during Christmas.
You know the word “heist” was enough for me, I was sold but heist in a fantasy world? That's such an interesting concept I was really hyped. This book is stunning I am very lucky to have found it. I would like to talk about the things I enjoyed the most: Setting/LocationsThe most important thing for me in any fantasy book and most of the books actually. I don't know why but I am a huge fan of dark cities with creepy and mysterious atmosphere. The whole book could have just been set in Ketterdam honestly, the world building by [a:Leigh Bardugo 4575289 Leigh Bardugo https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1534446099p2/4575289.jpg] is phenomenal. I also would like to praise the whole Hellgate prison sequence that was so crazy! I enjoyed it as much as that monster of a heist in the marvelous and majestic Ice Court. CharactersThey are all equally amazing and badass, each one of them gets a shining moment but let's be honest Kaz Brekker stands out. The guy is broken down, has lost almost everything & that makes him cruel & ruthless. He's nasty. I love his attire as well. Perfect for walking in a deserted city at night.Jesper & Wylan both are great supporting characters. We don't get as much backstory on Jesper as Kaz, Inej, Nina & Matthias and Wylan doesn't get his separate chapters like all the others. These 2 step up whenever the gang is in deep peril.Inej is the heart & soul of this group. She is the glue that holds this unusual group of thugs. I don't think Kaz would have even considered doing the heist without taking her into calculation. He probably would not have lasted long as leader of the Dregs without her. His whole plans revolved around Inej, his whole life revolved around Inej.Nina & Matthias what a couple these 2 make! I like them even more than Kaz & Inej. Their backstory was so beautiful, the romance was so well done. I like the way Nina flirts with Matthias and he tries his best not to do the same, that was hilarious. They are perfect for each other, man it was really hard for me to hold back tears for both of them.I love you Six of Crows, to me you're unparalleled. No mourners, no funerals.
Oh man there were so many great lines in this book. This one was the best I think:
“We, people's hearts, seldom say much about those treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate.”
Or this one?
“I'm afraid that it would all be a disappointment, so I prefer just to dream about it.”
I think the sad, honest and brutal truths about life is what makes this book so beloved.
The only thing I did not like was the ending it just isn't as magical as the rest of the book I felt unsatisfied with it. So almost a perfect book for me, it is written in a simple manner like all fables are and it's mostly set in Egypt in it's deserts, dunes, pyramids, oasis. Among my favorite settings to imagine.
I am very fascinated by the whole idea of prison escapes. That's the reason why I read this one and I have to say there are some really thrilling, scary fast paced moments but overall this book fell short mainly due to not focusing primarily on the prison and how to escape it etc. The depiction of the prison is not well done there's no fun when the prisoners can't meet and interact with each other in person. I really liked the futuristic depiction and the terms used for different kinds of devices, buildings and people. The dystopian part is done well, but the cool part i.e. the prison is not done well which I hope is done well in the sequel. I recommend reading [bc:Lockdown 6420846 Lockdown (Escape from Furnace, #1) Alexander Gordon Smith https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1409279086l/6420846.SY75.jpg 6610047] a very similar book but does that cool part I mentioned much better.
This was just about a good book for me I don't understand the praise it gets for starting the cyberpunk movement and all that, it barely has that element. But it definitely didn't feel dated. I liked the pacing and the intriguing set-up for the world and the fictional future that it's set in during the prologue. It loses a bit of steam in between due to exposition. Not so much that it was challenging to follow only that the prose felt boring at times.
I would have preferred the conclusion to be just like the rest of the book, just fun and simple instead of trying to be deep and Messianic. A nice bloodthirsty revenge story should have been the way to go in my opinion.
The most beautifully written ending I have ever witnessed. The prose is immaculate, it's described as ‘cool water' in the introduction, and I agree. It has a smooth, breezy, calm, collected flow to it until the very end when Jacqueline Harpman starts firing on all cylinders. The writing and passion are dialed up to a whole new level and pure emotion emanates from deep within the heart. She saved the best for the last and you feel the ignition, nothing is held back. It's fiery, magnificent and hauntingly poetic. It felt personal, like she did not want to go down without a fight. That as this bleak tale set in a bleak world draws to its eventual end and the spark starts to fizzle out, some aftershocks must be left that will continue to reverberate for years to come.
Perhaps never to go down without a fight is what this book is about, at least that is what I will take away from it. No matter if the world is stripped away of all its familiar warmth and comfort and be basically rendered sterile, we can find a way to look death right in the eye and exhibit beauty even in the direst of circumstances.
Around the halfway mark I felt like there were a lot of things which were completely unnecessary and irrelevant to the plot and I was convinced I was gonna rate the book low because of this but then BAM! that twist came resolving all the issues and doubts I had.
I have sat down and contemplated about this book for a while now after finishing it. It's left me with a feeling of emptiness and has me saying “Now what?”. It starts off beautifully I think describing the routines and life in the city introducing us but not giving away fully the sense and motive behind the movement of the city. The story gets much more exhilarating after the 100 or so pages to the point of being overwhelming and shocking. The mysterious unnamed world in which the book takes place is quite fascinating and it's incredible the way it's described, it's very transportive. It puts us in the same boat as the main character we find out the mechanics, reasoning and science behind it along with him. I loved all the different geography with the challenges it provided and the operations that were required for running the city. It is not easy to let go of this world and the characters they will stay with you for a long time.
A bit unfortunate that I already knew what was going to happen at the end along with some other key points in the story which makes it hard to connect with the characters due to no emotional stakes being involved just a downside of popular media especially with the release of the film it was hard to avoid all that stuff. Still, I thought I should give the book a try I liked it for the most part thought it dragged on a little unnecessarily towards the end but it's a good short read. Also important to mention it was simple to read which I really appreciate.
Spoilers really are the worst when it comes to emotional attachment to the characters and overall plot but over the years, I have learned to not make a very big deal out of them. So yes, maybe I didn't care much about the characters but that doesn't mean I can't understand why this book became popular and had a huge impact. It provided this unique and devastating point of view of two people very much aware of the limited amount of time they have with each other which didn't dissuade them from appreciating life, the little things about it and especially one another. For that I applaud the book.
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
A breathtaking book featuring striking scenery, illustrations, imagery & a stunning dual atmosphere switching constantly between gloomy & vibrant. This is a story of an extraordinary girl who shows incredible feats of courage, resilience & determination in the scariest of situations & has proven that dragons can indeed be beaten. Coraline is one of the bravest characters I know. It was an honor & a unique experience to follow her adventures through this remarkable journey.
Very disappointed with this. I was expecting a beautiful, feel good emotional story but got an awkward teenage story which is fine. Main issue with this book was how the romance was written and the way Park's character was written. He felt quite crazy with his over the top feelings towards Eleanor. I think it would have been much better if the two would have gotten together much later on with more build up and with more awkward conversations between them. Also the whole stepdad thing was really terribly done it shouldn't have been a vital part of the story.
My love for the X-Men universe had recently reignited so what better way to start than reading the comic which inspired one of my favorite films. Surprisingly I think it's nowhere near as good as the film in terms of emotional themes that stood out in the film. Should have been expected considering this storyline is only 2 issues long although I did enjoy the more grounded focus on the future storyline here. Definitely worth a read for anyone looking to get into X-Men comics.