Josh Krysak
A knock-off World War Z with less character development and a shocking lack of real horror or real story. I tend to agree with the reviewer that called it more of a gorrer novel. It makes me wonder what could have been with this unique and disquieting premise, which is excellent, but it never developed. I think a traditional format would have served the story much better.
*4.5 stars Compulsively readable. Atmospheric. Plot driven but with well fleshed characters in Lib and Anna. I really enjoyed this book. Just a notch below Emma Donoghue's fantastic Room. I will seek out more from Donoghue and look forward to her unique perspective.
*4.5 This was the most fleshed out and well crafted of the series. The characters are deeply drawn at this point and the story, while not quite as sensational as some of the others, was solid. I enjoy these books and look forward to the next.
*3.5 stars. Stark and dark. Grim and grimly aware of the human condition. Proulx is an exceptional writer with an eye for the minutiae that makes her descriptions of people and places so real and raw. There are three stories in here that truly shine, a few that clunked, for me, and a few somewhere in between. I really enjoyed the titular story along with The Wer-Trout.
*3.5 stars - A bit stilted and a bit disjointed, but I was turning the pages quickly and wanted to see where Berry would take me. Good enough that I am interested in reading her new work, Northern Spy.
Re-read. Still something of a marvel in its simplicity and beauty and relevance. Minor issues that are more indicative of the time of the writing/publication than a determined effort by Lee be damned. I still love this book.
*4.5 stars - A Lovecraftian beauty of a horror novella with the measured justice you expect LaValle to imbue.
I really enjoyed parts of this book and felt that Levy is certainly a gifted writer. But it felt forced at times in its narrative as if the writer was hell bent on taking it in a predetermined direction and losing the little wonders along the way to that end. Really good stuff on the mother-daughter relationship front and the finding of self when self has never been allowed to blossom.
Very readable. Sweet and sad with a soft, human heart. Tremain is an excellent storyteller and her dialogue and descriptions are crisp. I enjoyed this heartbreaking tale of self control and loneliness.
Nope. Cline lost the magic. Ready Player One bordered on too much. This book is too much.
3.5 probably just because it is more gross than anything at times, still...Absolutely brutal and gruesome yet poignant and moving in turn. Drax is an unforgettable monster.
This book is a soft 4. It was slightly better than Strike installment #2, but the end left me wanting. Still, the series is entertaining and the two main characters are engaging and fun.
*4.5 stars. This book is brutal and bizarre and insightful and sad and the writing is descriptive, yet sparse. It really is a marvel and while I was wrapped in it, it was also difficult to read at times because it was so disturbing. Still, now I'm really looking forward to Human Acts after this.
No. Just no. I keep a running list of books I want to read and Abbott has several entries on it. This book has made me scratch out the other titles. I was physically affected by the endless, relentless, monotonous descriptors and metaphors and adverbs and adjectives - seemingly vomited into the text at random. Scarcely a sentence escapes her 11th grade, look mom and dad, I can write! - I found my calling -writing treatment. In just one novel, how many things can be pink and spattered and meaty and knotted and greasy and shredded and tanned and puckered and rigid and muscled and ponytailed? How many times do we need to discover that Katie's ringtone is Assassin's Tango (we get it, we're not morons!) or how many times do we need to hear that the little gymnasts have powerful legs and perky bottoms and flat chests and taut, glossy ponytails? I just can't with this garbage. And, to top it off, I know that this learned author probably believes and has somehow been reinforced by a smattering of positive reviews, that she has painted a poignant vision of sports parents at the elite level and the endless quest for victory and perfection but, to me, she merely spat out a ridiculous menagerie of characters pockmarked with poorly crafted allusions and allegories and dime-a-dozen descriptions. It added nothing to my reading experience except to leave me simmering with disbelief that this passes for anything that should rise above mass market paperback fame. I hated all of these characters, knew the entire story about 50 pages in and all the “twists” it would take, and just wanted to finish it so I could wallow in it like you do with a movie that is laughably terrible - simply so you can mock it afterward. I hate that this type of schlock can be passed for anything other than a teenage writer's illformed homework. And, finally, I hate that this somehow misses the public gaze of the perpetually offended, as Abbott has managed to pigeonhole her female characters into such offensive caricatures of women and girls that she should honestly have trouble sleeping. I wish scrutinizing eyes would examine this mess and let this author know just what a disaster she has constructed.
*4.5 stars. Michael McDowell was an exceptional writer. This book was a solid 5 stars for the first half. The second half becomes a bit repetitive and a bit frantic, but still, such horrific and gore-filled fun. And, such good writing!
*3.5 stars Boyle is just a wonderful storyteller. Even when the connection isn't there - he could write about paint drying and I'd be interested.
I was wrapped in the first of the intertwining tales in Lovecraft Country and loved the mashup of genres as themes. It was by far the strongest but the fun and Lovecraft-ian feel maintained throughout and I am definitely looking forward to the television adaptation.
This was my most recent slow but steady. Boyle is a master of language. He captures the meandering and the meaningless in the attempted intentionality to be unintentional. It's funny and frenetic and a sprawling mess of humanity. Above all, Drop City is another example that at the heart of his writing, Boyle is just a great storyteller and even when I struggle to find a character to connect with I was compelled to continue reading to see where the narrative would go.