melissa

No one ever mentions how funny that book is. I laughed out loud on most pages then teared up on some others. Lovely book.

Picked this book cz i just finished watching the series and i got hooked. Season 1 is supposed to be based on this one, but it was quite different which is perfect cause not much was spoiled. I know the writers of the series only read the first two books, so it'll be interesting to see how they both diverged.

Enjoyable as usual, a nice brain teaser.

12 year old me would've really enjoyed this series, present day thought it's fine

There's a lot of ways to understand this book, and it can start a lot of conversations, which is something i always enjoy. To me it felt like a critique of western “civilization”, and the only thing keeping their society from falling into complete savagery is the clothes on their back (metaphorically).

However, in some parts of the story it feels like the savages are modeled after the colonizer's view of natives of the American and African continent, and using the colonizer term of “savages” not as exaggeration but as a technical term.

I do believe that if people from colonizing countries were left on an island, they will use their tricks against each other, and i believe a different society, that values community, were left on an island, it would've lead to a very different book.

That is probably what the author wanted to show, or maybe i'm reading into it too much and that's just what i believe, but this island showed what would happen to a group who valued power and greed over society and the betterment of everyone (but they are kids bla bla bla but who better than kids to be the reflection of their own society).

I haven't read a book so fast in so long. It had taken over my mind and heart for the duration, and I just couldn't leave it. I can't recommend this book enough, the style is beautiful and the plot is enthralling. A beautiful book.

I love Nick Cave, and I love his writing, it's very cinematic. But this one reads like a Film Noir without the crime investigation part, so a bit going nowhere.

lol sad idk.
It's not emotional, nothing over the top happens, just a constant feeling of sadness and fatality. It's a book that i loved reading very slowly on purpose.

It's always fun to read books that've been adapted to film or TV. Even though it's not as dramatic as the series, as real life rarely is, the emotion is much more genuine as the truth is always bleaker, and the little crumbs of happiness much more heartfelt.

It's a really good book, information wise and story wise. I didn't get away from it thinking how the prison system could be bettered, but knowing that it's all a sham. It's just a bunch of people with a bit of power playing with the powerless. Not different from the outside world, but much more exaggerated in that little microcosm.

I don't know. It's enjoyable in the way of walking through memory lane, remembering your favourite beatles songs and stories.

I went through a Beatles phase myself, don't think I'll ever get out of it actually, I was that friend who'd put the beatles on and tell anyone around about the story behind each song and each recording session. I still take it personally when someone doesn't enjoy the beatles, but really it's only music and the beatles were only people after all. So now I just enjoy the songs.

But reading this book, I couldn't forget that I'm in the head of a very self-centered teenager, thinking they're some kind of chosen prophet because he “understood” John. That somehow he's superior or special, because he's got good music taste, and I truly dislike music snobs. First half of the the book was about Jerry's experience discovering the Beatles, and the second was about his story sneaking into John and Yoko's hotel room, and getting an interview. It could've worked as an article, it's a nice story, but I'm pretty sure that guy has been talking about that day for the past 50 years, retelling it to anyone he sees, cause he was chosen by John and that makes him special. And all I kept thinking was “get over it already”.

I'm gonna put a five even though it felt rushed towards the end, but i haven't had fun reading a book in so long, and it was not a dumb book. It raises a lot of questions about our role in society, what we want in life and why the hell are we so intense about our taste in music, but really it was a really fun book to read for me.

I thought it's just gonna tell me things i already know about masking and burnout, but it's been really helpful.

I think this one is her best, more mature, sadder, more thought out. 3.5/5

In every book it's obvious how destructive artificial intelligence is and expansionist colonialism is and yet here we are.

Great book, love how simple the plot is, it could be summarized in one sentence and it all happens in one day, yet there's depth and it's a bit heavy, and i enjoyed taking my time reading it. And even tho the world of the book is a very different world than the one we exist in, we get introduced to it so efficiently, that we feel we're a part of it only a couple of pages in.

I loved it. That first chapter was hilarious, and quite the bittersweet end.

There's the aspect of the “Medecin Malgré lui” (The Doctor in Spite of Himself) that i find hilarious. The concept of this scary heartless serial killer that finds himself risking his life and saving people cause he doesn't want his sister to be sad and just sucks at social interactions tickles me.

I do wish the endings would be less abrupt, maybe get to know what the characters are thinking about what went on, but it does make sense for the self-centered narrator to not care to share.

*Very different from the series but fun to see which details the series writers decided to use and how.

Me reading the book:
“Looking forward to discussing this and what that concept means in society. Is it eugenics? How ethical was it? Is fixing someone's brain like fixing someone's eyesight with glasses, or is it despicable to even think about it? Are we giving people a chance or erasing who they are? Would be such a good book to have in a book club cz there a bunch of questions to think about”

Me after finishing book:
Stupid book made me cry

If you're into journey books and road trips this one's for you, which is something I discovered I don't care much about. Che is 23 in this book, and is not the revolutionary Che yet. This journey through the countries of South America definitely was a starting point for him, with all the CIA backed coups happening around him, the criminalization of Communism, the poverty, famine, racism towards Natives etc... but not as much social commentary in the book as I would've preferred.

However, included in the book is a speech given to young Cuban doctors in 1960, “A child of my environment”, that I would totally recommend reading, and which I loved enough to want to read Che's later on books.

Finally finished it! This one took me a while, but mainly cause the edition i got had a tiny font and unending pages. Honestly this is an underrated book, every adaptation of it has been really lazy, the movies are mainly the first 10% of the book. Loved the interchangeable POVs, the diary entries, the epistolary parts, article cuttings, throughout the book we are trying to figure out the mysteries surrounding our characters and how they could be linked. And even though Dracula is the most popular vampire tale, i still got sucked into the mystery. I also really love reading the origin of popular tropes, and this one has a bunch, there's a whole storyline that most probably influenced the biggest reveal in the Harry Potter books (no spoilers) mainly i think, people think they know Dracula so much from the many homages and interpretations, that the original tale has been forgotten. Recommend reading if you're into some spooky vibes and a bit of mystery.

The story is fine but no one is likeable in that book. Also there's nothing philosophical or deep about games. It's simple escapism.

PS. the author wanting to normalize isr@el so bad, i feel the only reason this book is on any of the “best books” list it's bcz of some aipac bribery. It's a mediocre book.

It's exactly what you'd want from a romcom. Just a sweet story with all the tropes, but again i have to wonder if any of the publishers read the book to end up with this book cover

It is exactly what it says it is, a review of the Human Age or what makes it so and basically a review of humanity. There is the beautiful and there is the horrid but really we need to sit in awe at the evolutionary anomaly that came to give humans consciousness and its rarity in the vastness of the universe. We get to be witnesses to the world and for that i give this book 5 stars.

I did not expect the book to be what it is, the covers chosen for it are quite the example on how women are not taken seriously. A whole book about the issue and you have the publishers treating the book the same way the character is treated, i dnt know how the writer agreed to it. From the cover i thought it' gonna be a cute romcom i can read in one day, turned out to be a quite interestingly woven unchronological narrative from a dozen POVs including one dog.

Anyway, it's a good book. It's not really about misogyny as much as misogyny being the main antagonist. It's what drives the hero's action. The book can get suffocating at times, but it doesn't turn too serious despite the tragedies unfolding. I wish the ending didn't unravel that quickly, gave me a deus ex machina feel, but all in all good book. 3.5/5

I really loved the art, and the story is really cute.

It's not as good as the others, understandable being the first one she wrote and at a very young age. Still good, it got the usual feels.