Jessica

I'm actually shocked to be giving a Neil Gaiman book anything other than 5 stars. I can't tell if it's too much anticipation for the first “adult” book by my favorite author in about 8 years, that I just don't fully “get” it, or a combination of these.

In part, I know I was expecting this to be somewhat of a companion to American Gods. I read (erroneously, I realize now) somewhere that's what this was, but it isn't. That's yet to come. . . . So I was definitely expecting something else. Sure, this has elements of myth, but what Neil Gaiman story doesn't? In the end, as many reviewers have already stated, this book feels more similar to the Graveyard Book than any of his books for adults.

I think, also, that this was a very personal book for Gaiman to write. It's not much of a stretch to imagine Gaiman as the lonely boy who trusted books more than people. And of course,there's the image of himself on the back cover as a young man doing something the unnamed protagonist does in the book. Some have said that reading his wife's review of the book helped the puzzle pieces fit together (http://amandapalmer.net/blog/20130618/). Maybe you have to be an Amanda Palmer fan for that to work, but for me it didn't really offer any other clues.

All that said, this is a decent story. At turns so deliciously creepy and so very melancholy. It's worth a read. But if you are new to Neil Gaiman, don't start here.

Just as charming as all the reviewers say it is. I was slightly disappointed in the ending, but I think that's mostly because I just wanted more.

An extremely tragic tale of the devastating consequences even actions of love can have, and all the shades of gray that exist in any moral / ethical debate. This novel is definitely worthy of all the praise it's been getting. I'll be thinking about this one for quite some time.

I don't think Roach can ever top Stiff for me, but this book is still a fun and enlightening read. Though do be warned that if you are ick averse, this isn't the book for you.

Not quite as in-depth as I had hoped, but still a good read. Since I find sleep utterly fascinating, I read a lot of articles about it anyway, and there wasn't much new here for me. But if you're not weird like that, there will be plenty of good info here. I did find the chapter on sleep crime riveting, and was very interested (i.e., disturbed) to learn more about the science (or lack thereof) behind sleeping pills.

An incredibly satisfying and beautiful end to the series.

A very sobering look at the way our nation eats, and how it gets its food. I knew a lot of this stuff already, but McMillan goes into much greater depth since while doing her research she actually lived the life of a migrant farm worker, Walmart employee, and Applebee's employee. It becomes clearer every day that our nation's food system is a house of cards just waiting to fall down. . . . McMillan's book is a very important read in this genre.

The book didn't really click for me until about a third of the way through, when the “small-town violence” alluded to in the cover copy happens and the mystery surrounding it deepens. That is the heart of this book for me, not the love story between Sam and Jolie. The book didn't even really need that. This is a book about how people and communities carry the past with them, how it shapes them, how they try to bury it or escape it or protect it or atone for it. The author portrays the South and racial tensions very well, but some of the characters' actions don't always ring true.

I did not enjoy this book as much as Scorpio Races. The premise was very intriguing, but I didn't get as attached to the characters. However, the lower rating is due almost entirely to the ending. It felt rushed and half-assed. After taking nearly half the book to set up the story, when you finally get to the climax, Stiefvater really glosses over everything with a “then a lot happened. . . .” It's very unsatisfying to not have an answer to the mystery at the heart of the novel. I can only imagine this is due to a planned sequel, because why else would you end the book on the sentence she chose? Why else wouldn't you reveal the answer to the mystery, or fill in the gaps between "oh, hey, we awoke the ley line" and “a lot happened after”?

Solid premise and writing, but in the end overly reliant on deus ex machina and I became distracted by too many unanswered questions. I would've liked to see this developed into a full-length novel with more backstory on the Tesslies, and even a bit more about how Julie's algorithms worked (anyone who knows me will know that this is a downright shocking statement).

I think I would have liked this a lot better if I had read his previous title on the same subject–The Long Emergency. The author currently says things like “I already talked about this in my previous book so I won't say much here,” and yet other topics were way too in-depth. I pretty much skipped chapters 5 and 6. I also feel that Kunstler offers little in the way of suggestions or hope for the future. Though I was very interested in his analysis of architecture, as well as the chapter on the environment.

And for those who thought his two World Made by Hand fiction books were too sexist, he has a nice explanation in the penultimate chapter.

In short, I will probably stick to Kunstler's fiction. I think it does a better job of envisioning what could happen in a post-oil, post-tech America without being too doom and gloom.

Nothing groundbreaking in the genre, but a good enough read. Two of the chapters in my edition were missing the quotes around the dialogue, which was confusing and more than a little distracting. Thankfully the chapters were short.

The overall concept of this book was very intriguing. However, the execution was a bit off. This was an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink kind of novel. Shapeshifters, dragons, Native American AND Norse AND Babylonian mythology, post-apocalyptic city, paranormal romance, steampunk, urban fantasy, ghosts, missing heir, immortals, lone wolf with checkered past is redeemed by love, frightened virgin learns she has awesome powers and fights to save world. . . . And the romance? Please. Too bodice-ripper for me, aka totally unbelievable and horribly sexist. Why must romance writers persist in perpetuating the notion that women want to be owned?

The story kept me engaged enough, but docked a star because there really isn't any new territory explored here. The usual debates about are vampires monsters or do they still have some humanity; vamps as celebrities/romanticizing vamps; super ancient maybe-used-to-be-evil vamp redeemed by super good teen girl; yadda yadda yadda.

Also, I think the ending may have set up a sequel, but I can't be quite sure. The second to last paragraph give us a blog entry from someone named “MG,” and I can't recall being introduced to anyone in the book with those initials other than Midnight, but for many reasons this can't be Midnight's entry. The entry talks about filming a transformation that will be posted soon, but then we get no follow up. So what is the point of that chapter if the author isn't setting up a sequel?

A really fun twist to the Alice in Wonderland tale. It's not a retelling, but a dark “here's what really happened” take that focuses on the real-life inspiration for the tale. The writing was very lovely, though I did find the love triangle extremely tiresome (as I find most love triangles) and the protagonist just a little too slow on the uptake sometimes.

A beautiful book. Some sentences I read three or four times because the wording was so elegant. I really can't summarize this book any better than Amiee Bender did when she said “The Age of Miracles spins its glowing magic through incredibly lucid and honest prose, giving equal care and dignity to the small spheres and the large. It is at once a love letter to the world as we know it and an elegy.”

A definite page turner and good addition to the time-travel genre. My only beef, really, is that King used the word “obdurate” too much. I get it, King. The past does not want to be changed. No need to hit your reader over the head with it.

A nice ending to a fun, engaging series. I do wish Mull would have given us a longer Epilogue with a few more ends tied up, but I am satisfied enough.

Also, how cool are the worlds and races he dreams up? I wish I had an amar.

I look forward to reading whatever Mull writes next.

Heartbreaking and beautiful. I laughed, I cried. I predicted the ending, but I still enjoyed getting there.

I'm still intrigued by the overall story, but Tris's character really wears on me throughout most of this book. Perhaps I expect too much from my teen heroines, because she probably does act much like any 16-year-old girl would in the same situation. Still, her trust issues really start to grate. I hope she will get over these early in the next book.

Delightful and charming. The banter between Beth and Jennifer alone is worth reading, but the love story is sweet too, even if it has a somewhat hurried and less-than-believable ending (but I really WANT to believe it). Perhaps I'm only saying this because of a major continuity error toward the end, when Beth says she first heard the Sundays' “Here's Where the Story Ends” in 8th grade. But if she's supposed to be 28 in 1999, that just can't be, as that song was released in 1990. A small quibble, I know, but it's getting to me a lot more than it should. It broke the spell for me, I guess.

That aside, this really was a very enjoyable read. Even though you only get to know Beth and Jennifer mostly through their email communication to each other, they felt very real and their dialogue was hilarious as well as believable. I want to take both of them out for drinks (but not martinis). Especially Beth, who shares my love of October:

“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins.”

An absolute gem of a book. I read it in two sittings.

I can't remember the last time I read a non-YA book in one day. I was so captivated by the world Morgenstern created in this book. Any other words I add to this review won't do the book justice, so I'll just say–do yourself a favor and read it!

An absolutely beautiful book. Any review I could give would not do it justice. It was a captivating love story but more than that, I also felt like I was getting profound guidance and wisdom from a monk or other spiritual healer. I found myself frequently setting down the book to just reflect on passages that blew my mind. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

I read this in one sitting, without quite meaning to. At first, I wanted it to be a stronger indictment against farming with chemicals. But I came to appreciate the quiet subtlety of her protest and how she shows restraint and compassion toward even the most unsympathetic people in her life. I also appreciated the moment when she realizes how good people go so wrong–it humanized the issue for me. I like to think of organic vs. chemicals as a completely black and white issue, and sometimes forget the real people struggling with the weight of these decisions, on top of tradition and family legacies.