Isaac

3.5 stars — Wells' writing style is surprisingly easy to read. A great introduction to the world of time travel, but failed to interest me enough. I loved how our main character, the Time Traveller is nameless throughout the story. Just the Time Traveller. It's an interesting element of mystery and intrigue. But once we got to the future, I found it to drag, be a bit boring. Nevertheless, it interesting to see how Victorian Wells envisioned the future. Instead of advanced technology or steampunk, we got two caveman creatures: the Eloi and the Morlocks, and the Time Travellers experience with these new species. It's not often we get these sorts of future in mainstream time travel stories (we all think of advanced technology now, not cavemen), and that itself felt unique to read.

3.5 stars — I like books that takes risks or are told in unconventional ways. This one is told through the notes on a dictionary. It is a non-linear story of love, or well, a love that failed. This is a poetic book, almost free verse.

I also like the non-linear way this is told, with how they fell in love and how it ended told all at once, changing our perception. My past relationships feel almost tainted by what happens at the end. A break up changes your opinion of a partner and I feel the non-linear aspect really conveys that. We learn they were cheated on early in the book, but we also get parts of their early relationship and love just after. You want to say “Aww” at the relationship moments, but since we know the ending, we don't and I think it changes our view of the the relationship.

I think love is an overall complicated thing, and Leviathan did a great job of depicting different stages of a relationship. At times, I found the prose to be a little dull, but I appreciate this book tried to be experimental and is a nice short read.

3.5 stars — This was a whole lot of fun. I got eaten by the Loch Ness Monster, lived with the caveman, met Abraham Lincoln and even got to meet a UFO!

I've been interested in the area of IF (interactive fiction) for a while. I've been hopelessly addicted to Twine, a modern game engine for making interactive fiction. It's such a charming way of storytelling and thought I'd go back and see the genre origins. So here it is, the first book of the Choose Your Own Adventure series published in 1979.

The writing is pretty simple, don't expect anything deep or meaningful here, but despite this it's a lot of fun! Think I managed to find all of the endings.

4.5 stars • a dark tale that makes you think and possibly one of the best short stories of all time!

I went into this story expecting a plot twist. That happens. But I was originally left underwhelmed. I was expecting something more dramatic and out of the box. I was expecting some horror to creep me out, something unrealistic, but this isn't a tale of monsters, it's almost a tale of realism.

Here's the thing. It's a predictable story. But the meaning of the story is powerful and is one that sticks with you. After reading this story, I looked up the analysis. It's a dark story about mob mentality and tradition. The dangers of continuing tradition, blindly following it for ‘the sake of tradition'. This is quite a powerful short story and one I will remember. 4.5/5

A cozy wholesome tale of tea dragons. Not sure how to rate this– for the art it's a 5/5. It's gorgeous sequence of images with bright colours. I love the variety of character designs. However, I felt the book felt more like a vibe than a story. It's cozy, warm, and bright but it's lacking a coherent plot. I know this is middle grade, but it feels like it could do with a stronger plot. I heard the second one does, so I might pick it up. I love the concept though- tea dragons!! ☕️