Grațian
TL;DR
I liked this book but it could have been so much better. It starts of bad then it gets interesting and the best parts are the last 2 chapters. Then it ends and you're left feeling like they should have focused on the last parts of the story rather that what we got.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: I really liked the concept. Time travel is my favorite sub genre of science fiction and it had the potential of being great. Imagine Jason Bourne traveling back in time, it gave me that feeling with the main character.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): I don't understand why did we focus so much time on this random girl. Yes we get it he lost his family and he finds this passion again with this girl but we're not here for a romantic novel. You might she's not that bad and I'm exaggerating but on the last two chapters we get to meet another girl. When you get there and see the night and day difference between them you will scratch you head thinking "wait, why didn't we spend more time with this character instead of the other one?".
X - Characters: I liked the main character, he's not perfect and I will expand on this in the extensive review but he was enjoyable to read and I liked that he was very capable. It reminded me of Jason Bourne.
I don't understand the purpose of the love interest girl or why she was in this story, like I said in the Side Stories section you can remove her and nothing would be lost. This is so much more apparent when you get to meet KT.
KT is great for the whole 4/5 pages we get to be with her. You will be angry once you see how cool she is and realize that the story is going to end next page. It's very frustrating reading how it was set up like they're going on a new adventure together (at this point I was thinking the story will end in a cliffhanger and set up the sequel) and then it ends.
McCluskey is the worst part of this book, I will tell you about her in the extensive review.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: I liked the places we got to go like the old Constantinople. Going back to those times and seeing how the main character reacted to being in an old train with wooden seats and stuff was enjoyable to read.
✓ - Ending: I'm angry for how quickly the part with KT ended but I also really liked the ending. Anyone with a bit of knowledge of time travel knows how trying to prevent stuff goes down and this is no exception. Great ending.
Extensive Review
Ok so let me expand on the stuff that irritated me while reading. Let's start with the biggest one.
McCluskey is the worst character I've ever read in my small library of books. She's the reason it took me so much time to get through this book. I thought she was going to spend the entire story with the main character so I stopped reading. Thankfully she's just at the beginning. Once you get to chapter 18 you can breathe a sigh of relief. There are characters that are designed to be hated, be it because they're evil, selfish... And then there are just plain bad characters. She's supposed to be a 70 year old cranky military veteran but not even a 2025 teenager talks the way she does. This is not hyperbole when I say she's extremely annoying. You will have to get through 18 chapters of her and it won't be easy.
The main character is great, I liked him but of course he too has to play the time travel cliché. Inner monologue: "Okay, I need to be discreet. I should try and avoid altering anything because who knows what consequences it will have in the future". The next sentence he saves a women and her two children from a car...
This needs to stop, really. Just alter stuff and deal with the consequences but don't make me waste time reading how we shouldn't meddle with anything and then in the next sentence you do that. This is a very frustrating thing I find in all the stories where it's about time travel.
In my opinion the author should have removed the love interest and just have him meet KT around the middle of the story and then have them do what they set up in the last few pages. I think that would have been far more interesting than the boring romantic stuff we got. Again with Jason Bourne, he too gets to meet with a girl and becomes a love interest. The difference is that she actually does stuff, she's helping Jason and is a big part of his success. Meanwhile this girl is just an Irish girl from the past who thinks our main character is interesting.
A roller-coster of emotions with this book
Starts dreadfully with McCluskey.
Gets interesting when the main character actually does the stuff he was sent back to do.
Snooze fest when we meet the love interest.
Best part of the story when we meet KT and see what they're planning to do together.
Absolute deep dive in the Mariana Trench when we see it leads to nowhere in the next few pages.
A really cool ending that I liked.
TL;DR
I don't get the "masterpiece in the spy/thriller genre" reviews of this book. I watched the new TV show and I liked it way more than this book. I will explain more of my thoughts in the Extended section but in my opinion this is an average book. Starts boring, gets interesting towards the end and then the ending leave me unsatisfied. I do not agree with most of the people saying this is a great thriller/spy story. I would look elsewhere and just watch the new TV show.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: The beginning is rather boring, we don't get to meet and start to follow the Jackal until halfway of the book. Once we get to that point it starts to get better. From there until the ending it's good.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): The books main problem in my opinion is how many character we get introduced and every single one of them has a backstory that we have to stop and learn when that character is meaningless to the story. We read half a chapter of their past then we don't see that character again and their arc doesn't even finish. It happens to so many characters in this book.
X - Characters: There are way to many characters, every time we get introduced to a new character we learn that he has another five people under his command, so we get names and descriptions of those characters as well. Even if they don't matter to the story. This is just my personal take but I hate French names, they're so complicated half of the time I don't even know who we're talking about.
The only main characters in this book should have been Lebel and the Jackal.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: I liked how we visited different places in Europe. They were interesting.
X - Ending: I didn't like the ending at all. I'm not going to talk about it because any little thing I say it will be a spoiler or give it away but I was not pleased with it.
Extensive Review
The main problem in my opinion are two things:
1- Too many characters: There are so many unnecessary characters. You meet a new character and on top of getting his complete backstory about his past that no one cares since in a few chapters this character won't be mentioned again we learn that he has five more people under his command and we get descriptions and names for those characters as well.
2- The backstories of all those unnecessary characters: You will learn about the childhood of so many random not interesting characters it's not even funny. You will learn about the motivations of characters and after a few chapters you won't hear from them again. Leaving you with the feeling "why did I read half a chapter about that character if we don't even get to see where it goes?"
The book from the beginning was just straight up boring. Nothing interesting happens until more or less half way when the Jackal gets to be more or less the main characters. Which he's not, we spend more time with the police than the Jackal. Then the ending I didn't like at all.
TL;DR
Not a terrible action thriller book but a bad Jason Bourne story. My major dislike is how many perspective there are, we switch from three different ones in a single chapter constantly. Jason feels like a side character in his own book. I get into detail in my extensive section but I'm not optimistic about the next book.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
X - Main Story: It's not as interesting as the previous books because those stories were personal to Bourne, this one he just gets dragged into it because of who he is. No other particular reason. So it doesn't feel as important and quite frankly he didn't have any personal stakes in it.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): One of the problems of this book, I didn't care about the Chechian's war with Russia or the Agency's preparation for a summit with the world leaders. Those side stories were very boring and unfortunately it's a very large portion of the book.
✓ - Characters: The main villain I liked because he was capable, not on par with Carlos but he wasn't just ordering people around he actually got in the field and did the dirty work himself. Khan was good as well, a nice addition in my opinion. Unfortunately from the agency side there wasn't any one I really liked.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: Just like in the other books we get to see a diverse set of interesting different places.
✓ - Ending: Average ending, nothing spectacular but it wasn't as bad/anticlimactic as the previous book. Everything gets resolved by the end.
Extensive Review
Okay so lets get the obvious out of the way. Different author who wants to do his own thing with Bourne. But we can't ignore the fact that one of my favorite characters from the previous books will never appear again and that does not spark joy. Also it's very jarring how we go from the previous books of Jason's constant obsession with Marie and being so protective and worrying about her to "Gotta go do a thing, go to our safe house." in the first chapters and we never see or hear from her ever again until the end. Now that I think about it the only time Marie talks to Jason is to ask him "Confirm that you want me to go to the safe house." that's it.
If you're going to get rid of my favorite characters at least give me some that are on par with them. The only good one we got here is Khan, the rest are forgettable. In terms of allies, the villain was interesting in my opinion. He was resourceful, clever, and experienced in the field. He didn't just wait in the sidelines and ordered people around, he got his own hands dirty. Not as cool as Carlos though.
I didn't like how Jason feels like a side character in his own book. We get more time with the villain, the agency and the Chechians than we do with Bourne. It's very frustrating how in one single chapter and in the span of two pages after a paragraph we switch perspectives from Jason to the villain, then to the agency then to the Chechians and then back to Jason.
How on earth are we suppose to believe that after a major event happens in the story that Jason was responsible and now the entire agency even the president wants him dead? Literally in the previous book every single person in a high position of power was thankful and said how much of a service Jason did for the world. Now we're back to "I don't know who this Jason is but I want him dead, start a world wide manhunt on him right now." This is absurd.
There were a lot of instances in the previous books where Jason did something and I was like "damn, that's so badass. Jason is so cool." or "Wow I didn't think about that, he really had everything planned." I don't think I've ever felt that here in the entire story. Jason's inner monologue with him trying to take over David and tell him what to do and how to act? Gone. This isn't a Jason Bourne story, this is a David Webb story. I'm not even going into how in the previous book Jason was fifty years old and was constantly struggling and thinking how old he is and how he can't do the same things he was able to do. None of that is mentioned here and I get it's because this author wants to keep making more stories about him so we just have to ignore his age from now on I guess.
TL;DR
I did not enjoy this book, bland characters, boring story and a rushed ending.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
X - Main Story: Started really slow and boring, got interesting once the main thing happens and then it got rushed towards the ending.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): Not interesting at all, the stories of her daughter and her boyfriend were really boring and I found myself skipping through most of those chapters.
X - Characters: The only character I liked is the detective Rose, all the rest I did not find interesting at all.
X - Setting/Ambiance: Nothing out of the ordinary, just your average city.
✓ - Ending: I felt the ending was really rushed, it did finish the story and plot points. It didn't end in a cliffhanger at least. But I think it should have taken a bit more time to end.
Extensive Review
I don't like how this book is written, every chapter ends so abruptly that it's jarring. I would say that the first half of the book is the most boring part of it because you just read about this woman's life. How she is struggling and her problems. I don't care and it's not interesting at all.
Then the main thing happens and the story starts to go somewhere, we get introduced to the detective and we switched point of views from her and Eric, which were far more interesting (except the constant movie scenes references he makes in all of his interactions, they were annoying). I found myself reading skimming though the chapters with out main character because I did not enjoy them.
And when you get to see how this thing plays out and start to wonder what's going to happen you see that there are 30 pages left. The ending needed more time in my opinion.
I didn't enjoy this book and I wouldn't recommend it for people who are looking for a thriller as it's marketed.
TL;DR
Weakest of the trilogy by far, this is an average action thriller and when comparing it to the other two this one isn't even on the same league. Shame because here's where the conflict with Carlos the Jackal get resolved and it's disappointing. I'm going to keep reading the rest of the series to see where they go but if you just stop at the second book you're good.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: The only interesting part is when Jason is going after Carlos, every other thing that happens is not nearly as engaging.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): There are a lot of them and I didn't care about most of them. The medusa one, the Italian mafia the brother in law and his resort. All pretty boring and I didn't care.
✓ - Characters: Great set of characters as always. Dimitri Krupkin and Jacques Bernardine were the stars by far. The author did Bernardine dirty which again made me sad.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: We're back to Paris, home of the Jackal and we also go to Russia, Novgorod was actually very interesting to imagine.
X - Ending: I did not like how the conflict with Carlos ended, you will have to read and find out yourself but in my opinion it was disappointing.
Extensive Review
I didn't like this one very much compared to the other two previous books. Jason is old and he's pretty much lost everything that made him Jason Bourne. He constantly thinks he's still got it but he doesn't. In the previous books we heard his inner monologue and Jason talking to David and I liked that but in this book he's gone full schizophrenic talking like he's two different persons. Saying "He loves you...I mean I love you" to Marie and the only word I can use to describe this is cringe.
In the previous book you had interactions like this "You're..." "I wouldn't finish that sentence" never trying to reveal who he is. Meanwhile on this book every one is "You're the legendary Jason Bourne", even Jason himself constantly keeps saying "I'm Jason Bourne" to every living creature he encounters and this wouldn't be a problem if it were true but it's not. He always loses to Carlos, gets outsmarted on every encounter they meet. And Jason's keeps saying "I'm better than he ever was", "I can take him", "I'm going to beat him". Yet every single time they meet he gets his ass handed to him and Carlos manages to escape, also it's not just Jason alone he always has help from multiple parties and still they can't beat Carlos, it's embarrassing. It's sad to see Jason go from the previous book where he was at his best and you can see how ruthless and exceptional he can be to this version of himself.
We're not going to talk about the ending and how the final showdown goes. The final sequence is great but how it ends isn't at all. It's incredibly disappointing.
Not a bad book action thriller but this isn't Jason Bourne how we know him.
TL;DR
This is the peak of the trilogy, if you liked the first one you need to read this. If you didn't like the first one just know this improves on everything, the action, the story, the characters... Okay minus the main villain, Carlos the Jackal isn't here and it's a shame but that's the only bad thing about this book.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: The Main main story I didn't care about but the one related to Jason and Marie I did, the government did him dirty and it was great to see how Jason does what he does against the odds.
✓ - Side Stories (if it applies): There are quite a few side stories going on at the same time, at first I thought I wasn't going to enjoy them I only care about Jason Bourne but when we're with Alex or Marie they were really interesting. I was surprised by the one with Marie to be honest. She's amazing.
✓ - Characters: Again like the first book we get a great set of characters and some returning one which are my favorites. Echo was the standout for me and what happens to him made me sad. Lin Wenzu was a badass, too bad he was just gone towards the end and then never referenced again in the next book, what a total waste.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: We're on the east side of the globe now in oriental China, this is Jason Bourne's home territory. The jungles are his playground.
✓ - Ending: A good ending just like the first one, this one doesn't leave stuff hanging like the first one with the Jackal. Here the main conflict gets resolved by the end.
Extensive Review
This took everything from the first book and cranked it up to the maximum. In the first book Jason does the things he does based on instincts but here he's pretty much remembered who he was and he's at his peak. This is Jason Bourne the legendary Delta One and you really get to see him. The inner monologues of Jason Bourne conflicting with David Webb and how he takes over was really interesting to read.
Echo was a great addition and seeing him with Jason was great.
There's not much more to say, I don't see how you wouldn't like this book if you enjoyed the first one. I think you can read this without even having read the first one because every time something is mentioned from the first book there's a short context explanation of it. I'm assuming it's for the people who didn't read the first book.
TL;DR
Amazing action thriller, if you want fast paced action with an incredibly trained assassin outsmarting everyone you have to read the Bourne series.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: It's a great story, I don't have complaints about it. Kept me engaged and it felt like an action movie.
✓ - Side Stories (if it applies): I liked the side story about Jason Bourne's past and the government thinking he's gone rogue without knowing he just has amnesia.
✓ - Characters: I can't think of a bad character that I didn't like, all are great, from the main characters to the villains.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: A good variety, we go from the Mediterranean sea to Zurich and Paris. I liked the scenery described.
✓ - Ending: This book has a good ending, some things are not resolved yet that will be in the other two books but it doesn't leave you on an unsatisfied cliffhanger.
Extensive Review
I didn't read action thriller books until now. My only experience with them was https://hardcover.app/books/recursion and https://hardcover.app/books/dark-matter people recommends those books as science fiction thrillers and after reading those two I was ready to put down the thriller genre and say it's not for me because those are some of the most boring books I've read. Then I found out the Bourne trilogy. I've seen the movies and thought they were good action movies and read some reviews online saying the books are way better and have nothing to do with the movies.
This is what an action thriller book looks like. I was seriously shocked while reading it, in my mind I was thinking "Ok so this is what people mean when they say this book feels like an action movie, it's fast paced..." (all of those things were said about those books I mentioned and again, incredibly boring reads) so I was not ready for how amazing this book is. I'm coming from seeing the movies first and they don't hold a candle to the books. It's so weird because the story of the first book is like a perfect recipe for an action movie. I have no idea why they removed the main villain and made it out to be Jason vs the government. Carlos the Jackal is a great villain and it's one of the reasons this book is such a great read.
The creativity of Jason Bourne and how he handles different scenarios, how he gets ready and has a plan for everything is incredible. I kept thinking how much of a badass he is constantly.
If you want to read a great action thriller book I don't see how you can go wrong with this one. Highly recommend this book.
TL;DR
Average is the word I'd use to describe this book, I didn't waste my time reading but it wasn't a great read either. I keep trying these police/detective thrillers but they all just seem so boring to me. Maybe because we always get to see the killer's perspective and the tension is gone for me at that point.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: It was okay, I liked our main protagonist and how she thought and handled herself.
X - Side Stories (if it applies):
✓ - Characters: Ryan is the worst character in this story, he's completely useless and didn't do anything at all. I have no idea why was he in this story. The rest of the cast were good. I liked the dynamic of the FBI agent getting on our main protagonist's nerves.
X - Setting/Ambiance: Nothing particular interesting to talk about, just your average scenery.
✓ - Ending: No twist or any surprises here but it wasn't a bad ending either. Just average. Setting up for future stories.
Extensive Review
TL;DR
A decent read, main problem is I didn't like the protagonist. I really don't like quirky, goofy always trying to be funny characters and that's exactly what we're dealing with here. The story was interesting and I did like the whole ship full of robots. It reminded me of a game called "NieR: Automata".
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: I liked it, all the different robots and areas in the ship were cool to visualize and read about.
✓ - Side Stories (if it applies): I enjoyed reading about Kaydee's backstory, I found her an interesting character.
✓ - Characters: Pretty much every character except our main protagonist was great. Even the evil robots that we fight.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: The whole story is in a ship composed of different areas and they were all interesting and cool to go though.
X - Ending: Wasn't anything spectacular but it didn't ruin the story. Average in my opinion.
Extensive Review
Our main protagonist is a vessel that it's purpose is to be filled with a mind, at the beginning we meet The Librarian, which will be our mind, a few pages later he gets killed and we get a different one called Kaydee. I don't understand the purpose of The Librarian. I guess it was so that our mind can have access to his memories and explain why he can do some stuff...
The important thing is that at least Kaydee is a cool character and I like her. This would have been a rough read if it were just our main protagonist alone.
Later on we will meet Delta, if this book had Delta as our protagonist with Kaydee as her mind it would be a way better story I have no doubt about that.
The side characters we meet along the way were interesting and the hacking part that the vessels and robots do was interesting. A nice story overall, wish we had Delta as our main girl but alas...
TL;DR
I love the Gothic/Victorian era that this book is set it, love how it's written and really like all the characters in the story. I had a great time reading.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
X - Main Story: It's not very interesting, I found that the "story" isn't really there, it's just the life of a poor girl turn bloodmaid and how that changed her perspective on things. And her relationship with the new "sisters" and the ruler of the house that she has now.
X - Side Stories (if it applies):
✓ - Characters: I liked every character, really liked the relation between all the sisters and how they got more close to each other.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: I loved the era and ambiance of this book, the Gothic/Victorian era is my favorite in terms of looks and dresses so I really liked that about this book.
X - Ending: I think the book could have really used an epilogue to let us know what happened after the ending and gives us a bit more of a satisfying conclusion. Not a bad ending but it could have been better.
Extensive Review
Even though the story isn't very interesting I really liked this book, mainly due to how it's well it's written, the conversations between the characters are very natural and I love the Gothic/Victorian era style so that did help my rating. I've read other people's reviews and can agree with them on how the romance didn't work for them because it felt a bit hollow and rushed, I do agree but I still had a good time reading it.
TL;DR
I really liked the horror and gory parts of this book, we get alternate chapters of our main protagonist and then one with The Skeleton Man, those were the hightlight of this book. I liked this book primarily because of his chapters.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: It's actually interesting but it could have been better, we get introduced with this couple that do a hunting show as a side gig and I thought that aspect could have been the main story but sadly it isn't.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): A few uninteresting side stories like Jacker's stuff and the reporters ones that I thought should have been the main story.
X - Characters: I didn't particularly liked most of the characters. Ratchel and Stephen were the only decent ones, our main protagonist is not someone I enjoy reading about. A lot of "No, I have to do this, I'm done running away", two seconds later "Get me out of here!" that made me roll my eyes.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: I liked the creepy town of Widowsfield, it was creepy and atmospheric. Too bad that's just the ending few chapters.
✓ - Ending: I liked the ending, it leads nice into the next book and I feel like we got at least some answers even if we didn't get the full story yet. I wasn't dissapointed with it.
Extensive Review
The horror and gory stuff were the hightlight of this book, every chapter with The Skeleton Man is good, the rest of it is kinda boring up untill the last few chapters where they go to the town. If this book didn't have the horror chapters I would have been bored for almost the entire story. It's worth reading just for the gory chapters.
I was sad when the hunted side gig of the reporters wasn't a bigger part. It would have been nice to have that as the main focus and as a side story the actual main story of our protagonist.
TL;DR
I liked the book and it's characters. The story doesn't do anything you don't expect it to do. No twists or unexpected things happen but the ending didn't dissapoint me either. I had a good time reading this book.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: No twists or unexpected things happend but an enjoyable story in my opinion.
X - Side Stories (if it applies):
✓ - Characters: I liked all the characters present here. I liked our main protagonist and her partners in crime. A hint of a romance was present that thankfully wasn't explored and it didn't disturb my reading.
X - Setting/Ambiance: Nothing special just the landscapes of the United States.
✓ - Ending: I'm satisfied with the ending, there was no twist or big reveal. But it didn't feel dissapointing.
Extensive Review
Considering my previous crime story was Gone Cold by Rylie Dark this is leagues ahead in terms of how it was written and how I enjoyed the story and I still think it's just okay nothing amazing. But a good crime story to read.
TL;DR
I'm sitting at my desk, my figure casting a long shadow over the table from the barely opened blind. I need to write a review for Gone Cold, I feel a chill down my spine and my heart skips a beat at the thought. I decide to get up and open the blind more, exposing myself to the dawn sun. My heart skips a beat at the golden hour rays that make me squint as my eyes try to adjust at the abrupt contrast in lighting. I open the window and the cold breeze sends a chill down my spine. As I turn back I see my entire body casting a long shadow over the room now. Typing steadily on my keyboard, each word a grim reminder of the story and it's characters, without warning I get chills over my spine as I try to push those thoughts away. Reading the epilogue and seeing how the author has more than twenty other books is enough to send a chill down my spine and my heart skips a beat imagining myself reading more of these stories. While reviewing what I typed I see my long shadow that was cast on the wall noding in unison with me, agreeing with my thoughts. We looked at eachother, staring silently as the birds outside are in constant battle with eachother chirping away their feelings. I see the shadow going away slowly fading with each second more and more as if saying he's had enough and cannot be with me anymore. All I can do is watch and let him go, I cannot stop him for I have no more control over him as he has over me. The moment he's completely gone a chill ran down my spine, as if I just lost a brother. The long shadow that was cast on my room is no longer there, was this a response from reading the book or am I loosing my sanity? A chill ran down my spine as I look back at the window. Ah today's going to be cloudy.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
X - Main Story: Pretty boring, there were constant "we need to do x, it might helps us see the bigger picture". Where I was "wait, where are you getting that from?" or "Okay, that's a little far fetched there.". It's hard to describe but while reading this book I knew I was reading a crime story that was written by someone.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): The trauma of our main protagonist I didn't believe it, she just lived in a cult for her first nine years and she keeps talking about it like she suffered her whole life and had to "deprogram" from that cult's teachings. I don't think teaching a child of nine years of age to think differently is such a behemoth of a task honestly.
X - Characters: Boring as well I did not believe Becca's trauma as she's constantly having nightmare and everything she sees reminds her of her previous life. The constant "it's over now, that life is gone" while still being trapped in the past and uneble to let go or move on is frustrating.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: Nothing stands out, cool open forests and scenery though.
X - Ending: Nothing unexpected happened, no "Ohhh he's the one?". No, the criminal is just some random who never had any connection or seen the main protagonist. So when it got resolved I was left unsatisfied.
Extensive Review
My TL;DR was not a joke, I'm just getting into reading and I mainly read science fiction but in my 30 books read I've never seen this happening. This book has twenty-seven chapters, by chapter three I was already telling myself "Okay, what is going on with the "Casting a long shadow over..." and "Becca's heart skipped a beat" and "felt a chill down her spine"?". It's so annoying that I could not get to enjoy the story which is already pretty boring but I cannot tell you how many times I rolled my eyes reading one of those three sentences over and over and over and over. There's a part where it says "chill ran down her spine" and literally two paragraphs down it says it again.
I don't have crazy standards but I swear I've never had this problem with any other book I've read which makes me assume that this was a poorly written book. The story was not interesting, we all know that your protagonist is just as good as your villain, and when your villain is just some random being evil for the sake of it, it makes your protagonist boring as well. The villain had no connectiong with our protagonist never even seen her so when they finally meet it's nothing special.
The banter between the main protagonists was fine, when the author didn't get a chance to describe casting shadows or chills running down spines or skipping heartbeats I was enjoying reading it. They felt like two people in a conversation not just two imaginary characters talking to eachtother.
I don't want to be mean or hurt the author but seeing how she's written so many books I will assume she's gotten better in her later books so this review shouldn't matter that much. This is honestly how I felt. I don't want to read a book I don't enjoy and I'm sure the author doesn't want that either.
To those "reviews" that I saw at the end of the book getting quoted did not read the same book as I. They're talking about how this book has amazing twists which it has none, saying "I never guessed who the murdered was" yeah that's becasue he's some random without any connection to anyone so of course you can't guess him.
Contains spoilers
TL;DR
Great adventure with great characters and interesting places. I liked almost everything about this book, the story, the characters, the writing. The only few things I didn't like are some stuff about the ending but everything else was great in my opinion. This is a great science fiction book.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: It started out very interesting and once we get to know more about main thing going on that's when I was very intrigued because the implications of this are pretty big and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): I liked Miller as a character but I think that his story with Julie Mao wasn't as interesting as the main thing going on in the world. For me this was the weakest part of the book.
✓ - Characters: I like every character in this book. I've watch season one of the series and the characters are pretty different. I liked the ones in the book far better.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: The different stations and ships were very cool to imagine and having seen the series I can picture it a bit better. The nauvoo was a thing to behold and imagine.
✓ - Ending: Towards the ending chapters is definitely where the book starts to ramp up in action and also the implications about the main thing going on. It was great reading the stuff with the Eros station. I really want to know what happens next.
Extensive Review
Nothing to say here just a few things that I didn't quite like I guess but they are spoilers.
I didn't like how we don't get to see what happens at the end with Miller and Julie, I would have liked to see them together in their final moments. We've been building up these two and at the end they just die off screen. I wished we got to see more.
Other than that tiny issue I had a blast reading this book and I will definitely be continuing the series to see what happens next with the main thing. Because what Dresden said when he was explaining it it made me want to know more.
TL;DR
Average in my opinion, I didn't dislike it to stop reading but after I reached the end I didn't exactly like it either. I liked the banter between the characters, definitely the highlights of the book. Every time we got out into the ocean and the narator took over it was boring, the story also feels like nothing happened and as a stand alone it did not have a satisfying ending. We left with some big questions that will probably get resolved in later books.
Read the sinopsis and go for a preview of a chapter to see if you might like it, the idea of some mechanical enhanced people with traumas working together at the botttom of the ocean did sound interesting to me. But unfortunately if you don't plan on continuing to read the series I think this one will leave you unsatisfied.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
X - Main Story: I thought I find it interesting but after finishing it it's not that great of a story. Probably because there are so many question that we don't get the answers for.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): I didn't care much for the backstories of the characters or the side plot going outside of the ocean, mainly because we're left with a lot of questions by the and that don't get answered.
✓ - Characters: Best part of the book, I liked the banter between then it's nice to see them go from complete strangers to working together like a team.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: The deep ocean is pretty scary so you don't have to do much to get that mood, this is where the book shines. Even with the vastness of the ocean the fact that you can't see anything makes it feel very claustrophobic.
X - Ending: Unsatisfying ending, questions left unanswered that I would assume get resolved in later book.
Extensive Review
Not much to add, the banter between characters was the best part. I really liked some of the characters like our main protagonist. The darkness of the ocean is pretty scary and it was well written. There are some tense moments in the story outside of their little protective shelter. In my opinion the ending of a story is very important, I can only forgive a cliffhanger or an open ending if I really like it and plan on reading the whole series but I believe that every story even if you plan it to be more than one book must have a satisfying ending.
TL;DR
Another great entry in the series, this is a right after Network Effect and the story is not as interesting as that one but still okay. Love ART's crew, we get more development from them and they're great. Also this entry solved some of my gripes from every entry, the unnecessary cursing and the constant reference to Murderbot's stupid media series.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: ART's and Murderbot's crew team up to try and save the colonist of the planet, it's not as interesting as it sounds. I still prefer when Murderbot was alone in a cave mine roleplaying as a security consultant and trying to do something he wanted while helping out random humans along the way. I feel that's when Murderbot shines, him being on a full team doesn't work because he just doesn't open to them and it's always distant.
X - Side Stories (if it applies):
✓ - Characters: I really liked ART's crew and the we still have some of the good ones from Murderbot's crew aswell. Still ART was by far the most interesting one.
X - Setting/Ambiance: Still on alien contaminated planet, a bit more interesting than the space stations but not that much since the alien contamination is not present at all.
X - Ending: Just like most entries the ending is not bad but also not super memorable. Just an okay ending.
Extensive Review
Not much to say, another great entry and I'm glad that the cursing and mentioning of the series is tone down where it didn't bother me at all. That's a step in the right direction in my opinion. The only negative I have is yet another mention of some stupid pronoun that makes no sense and serves no purpose but to just make the reading more confusing. There's this character named Corian and instead of using the only two ways to refer to a person (he/she) the pronoun is "vi" so then you get stupid sentences like this:
Vi dropped to the floor and curled vir legs up
Or
Vi patted vir chest
Aside from that atrocity there's nothing bad about this book, I had a good time reading it.
TL;DR
I hated this book until chapter thirteen, which is two-hundred pages deep. The way our main character talks is just beyond annoying, I know it's because he's in the yee ol' days but it was very rough to read and I didn't like it at all. After chapter thirteen it gets better, same with the story. Interesting stuff actually happens. Average book in my opinion, not bad but it wouldn't be my first recommendation if some one was asking me about a science fiction book.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
X - Main Story: I was pretty confused at first but as we get deeper in the story we learn more, unfortunately by the end we still have questions left unasnwered.
X - Side Stories (if it applies):
✓ - Characters: I like all the characters, there wasn't anyone who I thought was annoying.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: We don't get to spend much time on each of these old eras but they were interesting.
✓ - Ending: Question left unasnwered but I really liked the last interaction before the book ends.
Extensive Review
Not much to say here, even though there are quite a few characters we're mainly focused on four. Thankfully they're all interesting, likeable and are part of the entire story.
Pretty light on the science fiction, excluding the obvious that they're in a spaceship pretty much the whole book happens in these old eras of time with old technology.
The story is interesting but we don't learn much in the end. We're left with quite a few questions and I don't like that, it's not vague as in "it's left up to the reader to interpret it" (if it were it would instantly be a one star rating, I hate those endings) but I would have liked some answers. The last few chapters and the ending saved the book from being mediocre.
The ending interaction between two characters in the book in my opinion we're really good.
TL;DR
I can't give it a bad score because it's free, not much happens on this very short story. Just a little interaction showing how all the experiences are weighing in on Dr. Ayda Mensah.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: Very short but it's free.
X - Side Stories (if it applies):
✓ - Characters: Mensah is my second favorite character behind ART so it's always nice to see her.
X - Setting/Ambiance: Preservation Station isn't as interesting as other locations visited in previous entries.
✓ - Ending: Not very satisfying but again, it's free.
Extensive Review
You can read the story here for free:
https://reactormag.com/home-habitat-range-niche-territory-martha-wells/
TL;DR
Creepy and digusting in a good way, I really liked this book for how short it was. Kept me at the edge of my seat reading through it, all the places we go though and the depictions are pretty amazing and scary. I really liked the final part of the book, definitely it's strong point and since it's short you don't have to wait long to get to it. If you want a short creepy and scary story I would recommend you give this one a try. Check the price and see if you can get a discount at some stores becuase it is a fifty page book, I've seen some stores selling it for a pretty high price and at that point I think it's not worth it when you can get other horror books that have way more story than this one.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: I liked it, interesting, intriguing and terrifying.
X - Side Stories (if it applies):
X - Characters: Too many characters for such a short story, they're all pretty much a one line description but the banter between them was nice and enjoyable.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: I really liked the setting, the dark forests of central Europe are nice.
✓ - Ending: Great ending, this was probably the best part of the book.
Extensive Review
Okay the problem with this book in my opinion is that there are like twelve characters, for a book of fifty pages I think that is pretty overkill. Right at the beginning you get bombarded with names and quick summaries of their character left and right. I get that our protagonist is a mercenary leader and has followers but maybe let's not spend time on each and every one of them when our story is fifty pages long. I don't know the process of writting short stories and it must be hard but if I had to pick something that I didn't like about this book it has to be the number of characters.
We spend too much time getting to know them a bit before we get to the good part right at the end. If the book spent it's entire time on the last part and just expanded on it I think it would have been better, but then again not knowing anything about the characters in your story makes it hard to care about them. Short stories are hard to write, overall this one succeeded and I enjoyed it very much.
TL;DR
Good entry in the series, a murder mystery with some help from two new characters. I liked both of them, they are pretty cool and I liked their interactions with Murderbot.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: I liked the murder mystery story on this one, very engaging and interesting.
X - Side Stories (if it applies):
✓ - Characters: I liked Indah and Aylen, even if Aylen is just gone suddenly towards the end, I thought she would more involved in the story and be there for the ending.
X - Setting/Ambiance: It's the preservation station again, nothing new there.
✓ - Ending: Not an amazing ending but it wasn't terrible. A normal ending, and that's not bad.
Extensive Review
Another good entry in the series but there are still a few things that I disliked:
- There's a character called Tural, he's okay as a character, the problem is that he's refer to as "They". Get this stupid garbage inclusive pronouns out of here.
- The cursing, Murderbot is at it again with the unnecessary cursing and it's still as annoying as the first time I noticed it. Again he's not in dangerous situations and something bad happened that would warrant that. He's in conversation and randomly curses because "he's annoyed".
There is also a good thing, there were almost no mentions of his stupid media series in this entire story, maybe twice he mentioned that he wanted to watch them. I was very pleased with this, being in the middle of some dangerous situation and having Murderbot saying "I would rather watch The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon episode 365" is very frustrating. Thankfully there was barely any mentions of his media series.
TL;DR
I didn't enjoy this book very much. The mini stories our main character experiences through these memory collars weren't interesting to me. The bigger plot also didn't seem interesting and then the book ends with an unsatisfactory ending.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
X - Main Story: Boring and uninteresting.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): Since they're only a few paragraphs I didn't get invested into them, also knowing that they're memories and have already happened makes it even harder to care about them.
X - Characters: All really bland, no one stands out.
X - Setting/Ambiance: Interesting spaceship she has but the locations she visits aren't interesting in my opinion.
X - Ending: Didn't like it, it just ends and then there's nothing.
Extensive Review
Nothing to say here.
TL;DR
Finally we get a chunky story, with more depth, more action and more characters than in previous entries. Really liked this one, mainly because of one returning character. My favorite is still Rogue Protocol but that's because that one has a bit of horror in it. This one is more action oriented. Still a very enjoyable read.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: Biggest story so far in the series, I liked it, both the original characters, my favorite one and some cool new ones are present this time. Also lots of action in this one.
X - Side Stories (if it applies):
✓ - Characters: Great to see the original characters back into play, my favorite one back in the picture was a big bonus as well. The new characters are also nice and likeable.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: A familiar ship and a new planet. This time the planet is a lot more interesting than the in the first book.
X - Ending: Good ending, not as good and the previous books but was nice.
Extensive Review
At this point you know if you want to keep reading more of Murderbot or not. This time we get a bigger story with a lot of returning characters as well as new ones and all of them are likeable so that's good. There are three things I'm kinda getting annoyed at:
- Murderbot's feelings: Every time someone is nice to him or gives him a compliment or just wants to touch him he just shuts off and dismisses it, letting us know how much he hates feelings and tries to immediately run away from the interaction, being incredibly awkward. I know that's his thing but I would have hoped that by this point having interacted so much with humans and people not treating him as a machine would make him think "huh, I guess it's not so bad to be around some people" but no. He constantly let us know how better he got at hacking and writting code from his previous experiences yet probably the most important thing which is how he perceives humans and interacts with them is still exactly like the first interaction in the first book we read. Very minor spoiler <spoiler>(We encounter another SecUnit that is free and we get to see his POV for a few chapters, well...seeing how he interacts with everyone and what is he thinking made me wish he was the protagonist).</spoiler> It's getting annoying every time time a trusted person says "Are you ok?" him thinking "fuck off, I hate feelings, I just want to watch my dumbass series and not bother with anything". And then saying "Yes, I'm fine." then he does everything in his power to exit the conversation.
- Action Scenes: Whenever an action happens it's quite hard to follow, because there are CentralSystem, SecSystem, CombatSystem, Target1, Target2, Drone1, Drone2 all of them doing something while Murderbot tries to attack and plan and it just gets so messy. Every action scene is quite hard to keep track of and in my opinion it didn't flow at all. I didn't mention it in previous books because it was mainly Murderbot with his drones and a target or two so it was managable but here it's starting to be a problem.
- Summary: Multiple times in this book and in the previous ones goes like this. Something happens and there is a meeting to talk about a plan to action, everyone gives their input and we hear it all, we also hear Murderbot's thinking so we know everything. Then Murderbot says:
So what happened was:
1) We were surverying the planet when something attacked us.
2) We manged to survive and escape.
3) We figured out a plan and everyone has their part to do.
4) Did I mention this plan was terrible?, if not then yea it's terrible. (Alywas has to have that dumbass quirky remark that's also stating to get quite annoying. Don't understand how people think this is endearing but sadly this is 90% of Murderbot's "personality")
I don't undertand this, most of the time the summary is literally what happened in this chapter. I guess it's so explain how AI likes to organize things and stuff?, well it's stupid and annoying to have to read something worded a bit differently of what you just read four pages ago.
Aside from those three problems this is another great entry in the series, again, mainly because of a returning character that I really like plus a few other ones (definitely not because of Murderbot, starting to get annoying with him as I said in my previous point). I want to see what happens next and hopefully see some changes in Murderbot's personality, though if it didn't happen by book #5, I don't have high hopes so I'll just deal with Murderbot and his annoying awkwardness of it's feelings and rolling my eyes every time a character I like tries to connect with him only for it to dissmiss them immediately.
TL;DR
I didn't grow up with this book like many people had. I recently just started reading and was recommended this book. I don't know if it's because I don't have much experience in the science fiction genre to compare it to but this book is amazing. I really liked everything about it, the story, the world building, the characters, the environments, the history... If you want to read a good science fiction story that even though it's a series can be read as a standalone perfectly fine. It has a good and satisfying ending. Go read this book!
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
✓ - Main Story: Great story, I like the way this story is told and how it was written. I don't have any mayor gripes with it. Good stuff.
✓ - Side Stories (if it applies): I liked all the side stuff, the Baron's plan, the Fremen's plan all the stories were great. I really enjoyed reading them.
✓ - Characters: Amazing characters, from the "good" ones to the evil ones are all amazing. I didn't dislike any of them.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: Arrakis is always an amazing place, a desert planet filled with sandworms. I reall like the desert theme.
✓ - Ending: I liked the ending, you can stop here and it's a perfectly good spot.
Extensive Review
Not much to add here since this is the section where I say what annoyed or bothered me about the book. I pretty much liked everything about it, again, this might be due to me having just started reading science fiction and not having many pieces to compare it to but I really liked this book.
The characters were well written, my favorite, Jessica is amazing. Every chapter with her which is pretty much the whole story thankfully was a blast to see how she thinks, reacts and takes action. The bene gesserit as a whole I really like, the idea of a group of very powerfull females that select which genes gets to pass on is interesting. Then we have the Baron, such a cool villain I was looking forward to every chapter with him in it. The fremen were also cool, every faction is great in this book.
TL;DR
Average in my opinion. It would be pretty hard to surpass Dune so this one is taking a step back and doesn't have that much action. Many people like to say buzzwords like "political intrigue" but what they really want to say it's that this one is boring. Political intrigue would be if we get to see the other houses plotting againts each other, creating traps or assasinations to weaken the rest and such. No, the story of this book resolves around four randoms (to avoid spoilers) trying to take down Paul. So if you come in with the hype of the first book you will be sorely dissapointed. The problem is that to keep reading the series you need to get though this one, the good thing is that it's not that long but it is boring.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
X - Main Story: Boring with little happening, stop saying this book is more focused on political intrigue when it's just four people trying to kill Paul. None of the other houses are involved in any political intrigue.
X - Side Stories (if it applies): There's no main story here, Paul's doing his thing while four people are trying to murder him. I cannot believe we didn't get to see this jihad that was so hyped in the previous book, no we get to a point where everything is conquered. Wow amazing...
✓ - Characters: My favorite character Jessica is gone, chilling in Caledan so that's nice. At least we get Alia who I really love but we get one of the worst ones too, I'm just gna call him the Ghola, you will see when you read this book but I really hate him.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: At least we're still on Arrakis, I really love the desert planet, nothing to say here.
✓ - Ending: If you want Paul's story could end here and it's a nice ending. I just kept reading because I saw that in the next book Jessica is back but if you want to stop here you can.
Extensive Review
Not much to add, Jessica my favorite character is out of the picture, same with Gourney, instead we focus on Alia, Paul's sister. I liked her, she is a good character and very capable. To avoid spoilers here is the start of a thing that will persist even to the fourth book which is where I stopped reading this series. A character returns and I do not like it at all.
Also remember that famous jihad that Paul was so afraid and trying to stop at all costs? Yeah well it happend and we never get to see it. Only hear that they've conquered everything. Instead we get to see how Paul and Chani are trying to conceive. Great, that's exactly what I wanted to read...
This book is pretty dissapointing comparing it to Dune, on it's own is average at best.
TL;DR
This book is better than Dune Messiah, still not as good as Dune but far more interesing that the last. It's more action packed. There's no point reading this one if you haven't read the last two and if you did you already know if you want to keep reading the series or not. If you finished Dune Messiah and are on the fence about continuing I'd say give this one a go because you will enjoy it more.
My Scoring System
I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:
X - Main Story: A lot more happens here than in the previous entry so that's a nice change, more action with Alia and Paul's children. But it's not as interesting as the first book either.
✓ - Side Stories (if it applies): There are quite a lot of side stories, the main one with Leto II is probably the worse and most boring which is sad. The best one is Alia's by far. Every chapter with Alia was great.
✓ - Characters: Thankfully Jessica returns here, doesn't have a super important role but she is my favorite character so it's nice to see her again. The stars of the show are Paul's children, specially Ghanima. Sad she didn't get more time and her brother took up the majority of the book. The rest are great as always, Harrah, Stilgar...but of course the black sheep Duncan Idaho is still here...sigh.
✓ - Setting/Ambiance: Arrakis is always a nice place to be in, the desert planet is just amazing.
✓ - Ending: Not a spectacular ending but I think this concludes Paul's story along with the rest of the characters in the Dune series quite nicely, for me this is where the story stops. I don't have any intention of going forward after reading God Emperor of Dune. To me Dune is about Paul, Jessica, Stilgar and the Fremen battling againsts the Harkonens to free Arrakis. What happens in the next books doesn't interest me.
Extensive Review
We're focused on the children of Paul and they're great, specially Ghanima. I don't like that Leto II gets so much of the story instead of her sister who is in my opinion more interesting than him. Jessica and Gourney make a return which was a great addition so just because of that this book is way more interesting than Dune Messiah.
Having read the fourth book is just so baffling to me how little importance every character and story up to this point will be going forth. This isn't a spoiler but the fourth book happens three-thousand and five hundred years in the future so everything up until now won't matter at all. In my opinion you should stop reading after this book because it gets a nice conclusion and it has a satisfying ending.
Tangent aside, I think this was a well written book and I enjoyed it. The story of Alia and her dark passenger let's call it was amazing, definitely the highlight of this book. I loved every chapter that had Alia in it. And as much as I love Jessica, the fact that she abandoned Alia during Dune Messiah is just horrible, stuff could have gotten so much better but I guess it wasn't meant to be.