Suzie

Hard to believe this was written by the same author as ‘The Long Way to a Small & Angry Planet' - this one is so much more complex and thoughtful in how it handles characters and themes.

A tight focus on two POV characters helps really dig into their experiences and arcs. There's an interesting and cohesive structure with the flipping back and forth in time, and some nice background stuff to be picked up on (like the origin of Pepper's name). It's worth trying this book even if you found the first one tedious.

I had hoped this would be funny, but it was, in fact, extremely tedious.

Another bizarre and twisting tale with no plot and outrageous characters. Dreams and superstitions co-mingle, truth is a golden haze on the sands. The point is not the point.

Very fun book, enjoyed a lot.

Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars.

I often find it strange when a book the highlights the cruelty of war gets described as beautiful. This is a book about terrible things, and yet it feels weightless, it feels literary. I appreciate books that centre the existence of trees, and their strange and magical way of being in the world – but this is a less convincing account than Overstory. Nonetheless, I'm glad I read it. I learned a lot about Cyprus.

One of those books that is really a blog post with a lot of padding.

A wonderfully odd book, I can't tell you what its about (except the Bible), but it was certainly memorable.

I used to love Haruki Murakami, but for whatever reason, his books are not resonating with me they way they once did.

This is one of those foundational sci-fi books in which the tropes of a thousand other books are conjured up in a nascent form. The prose compels you to read with much the same intensity that the main character is compelled to follow his driving passion for revenge. Ideas explode off the page with force and wit–but as with many golden era sci-fi, don't expect too much in the way of characterisation.

Well written, but somehow ended up feeling trite. Do we need a gimmick to make us understand? I don't think so.

Made me cry and gave me a new found appreciation for trees.

Nice to read some optimism for a change, but his decision to ignore climate change seemed a little strange. Like YES let's get Universal Basic Income, YES let's rebuild government to be user focused instead of a bureaucratic nightmare of legacy systems, YES let's bring in a 4 day week. But none of this will matter if we can't get a grip on the accelerating collapse of ecosystems due to global warming.

The Vorkosigan books have mostly been sci-fi adventures, lots of action with clones, pirates, princesses, culture clashes, and a few Big Ideas, like the patriarchal society in Ethan of Athos. This book has all of that stuff, but takes a sharp turn into psychological horror. Mark's journey was masterful storytelling, and also deeply uncomfortable. Bujold is excellent at character, and the awards she has won are well deserved. But if a book ever needed to come with ALL the trigger warnings, it is this one.

This book is trying really hard to be the American Psycho of the Instagram generation, but has a confused plot and a let-down of an ending. The author doesn't have a good handle on the tension between victim and villain that Mickey is meant to exemplify.

Loved this book: an ode to crafts, apprenticeship and working ‘in the world'.

A fun romp that hits a few of my weak spots (warring mafia families, urban fantasy, fully realised female characters) and thus I steamed through and promptly bought the sequel. It's exactly what it says on the tin; plus well-written and engaging. My one niggle is that there's a few places where the book raises plot threads and characters that never really get followed up with (I haven't finished the trilogy yet, so perhaps they arise later, but I suspect they won't).

The central characters are ruthlessly violent, and there's not much morality on display, so this won't be to everyone's tastes.

Lighthearted and made me laugh out loud a couple of times.

There is a certain shallowness to the depiction of both the USA and the Nordic countries, but I can't argue with her point that better social care systems would make the USA a much better country.

I do wish she had included a chapter on climate change, which is easily the most pressing issue facing any ‘forward thinking' government today.

Always good to be reminded of the importance of play.

This book is good, but am definitely not in the target audience! I am sure ‘Moms' trying to live up to a punishing ideal of motherhood in the less than Mom-friendly USA will identify a lot with this book.

I did take away some good points about defining what is ‘good enough' and identifying how you'll know when you get there. I think a lot of people keep that never-ending to-do list of things they simply don't have time to do in their heads.

It's probably snake oil but it made me feel optimistic about the future!

I really wanted to like this, but it was so random – it felt like a collection of blog posts rather than a book

I bought this because I wanted some of that classic golden era short-story fun sci-fi... and I got Harlan Ellison. It's ‘dark' and vivid, and definitely not fun...

There's a thin line between tackling dark story lines in a meaningful way and just indulging in a bit of trauma for entertainment, and this veers uncomfortably close to that line.

Beautifully written (but kind of ultimately unsatisfying?)
Metaphors all the way down!

The smaller stories were more interesting than the ‘main' story. With a roster of characters that includes the moon, fate, time, time-crossed lovers, fortune teller and a pirate girl etc. it's a shame the book focuses on the rather dull main character who seems to want nothing and spends most of his time wandering around in bewilderment.

It's still four stars, because the world building/mythology is incredible. Would love to see an art book...

I love Ishiguro, but I personally thought his other books are better. This one felt quite ‘on the nose'. Nonetheless, he is extremely good at what he does.

Somehow even more gut wrenching the second time.