RiffMonkey

I listen to this book in like 2 days so I went through it very quickly. I really like the idea behind the story and it definitely went into some direction that I did not expect. But at the same time, it was painfully predictable. For instance, it because immediately clear that Cinder was Princess Selene after her existence was mentioned. And the fact that it was held off until the end felt wrong since it was so painfully obvious. 

I also just do not enjoy books where characters make such horrible choices and the right decision is so goddamn obvious, like Cinder did on many occasions. She trusts no one, but also has a thing that tells her exactly when people are lying? Come on, stay consistent. Much of the story was hard to listen to for this reason. 

However, I really do like the premise of the story and will definitely be reading the sequel. Something doesn't have to be amazing quality for me to enjoy it.

Reading or rather listening to this book has been an experience. I have no idea why but it kind of felt like dreams I've had. Ironic I know, but it just had weirdly familiar structure. I haven't ever really read a book like this. I have read books before with similar narration and have read many books in semi-scifi but this felt different and I have literally no way of even trying to describe it. 

It might be because the main characters eerily reminded me of myself. She said the same things I would have and talks in the same way. Which was a really cool and simultaneously weird reading experience. It did however occur to me that the other characters didn't have distinct talking styles. Apart from maybe the main bad guy. But then again that might have been done on purpose. Since April is telling the story and the things people said are translated to her way of talking. 

I also never really read a book were sexuality is discussed so openly, as well as the way the internet / the general world sees it. Especially in the context of someone famous. I thought that was very refreshing.

I realise this isn't really a review and more my thought on it, but it's my things so I can do whatever I want. Anyway, I really liked the book and the idea of the dreams. Sadly it ended on a cliffhanger which is a bit of a turnoff for me. But I definitely will be reading the next book so practically it doesn't matter.

I had started this book about 5 years ago and got stuck somewhere in the middle. I started the audiobook today from where I was back then. I knew much of the story still but I now realise why I stopped back then. There is no humour at all. This is like the most horrible terrible universe full of torture, rape, slaves, pain, betrayal and heartbreak. And there is literally zero comic relief. I am miserable enough as it is thank you. I really just didn't enjoy reading this for that exact reason.  I also don't really like the characters and the amount of romance. It really just isn't for me. 

I did like the first book of this series a lot. Though I read it years ago so I have no idea if it would still hold up to my tastes or standards now. 

Honestly, I was really excited about this. I've been meaning to read it for a while. The start of the story was interesting tho weirdly and clearly written by a man.  Like this women just woke up with zero memories and clearly in distress and the first moment she looks at her self and goes “hell yes I am thin” ... Like wtf. I could name more things but to be honest I spend more time trying to ignore them than document them. 

Then we have the main body of the story.  First off there was an awful lot of unnessicary nudity. Tho I loved how the narrative kept switching from current events to letters written by the former Myfanwy Thomas. However, they are supposed to be two totally different people, which is really only clear on one important aspect, being timid vs being assertive, and not anything else was shown clearly different. Which is kinda dumb since her whole personality was supposedly erased, there should be many things different. Which also highlight how incredibly one dimensional her entire character is. 

The villain where also, frankly, kind of dumb. Like Belgiums that were all kinda gross and have the most unbelievable motivations. (The supposed accents in the audiobook were really bad and not Dutch or Belgium and more an off-brand German but that is beside the point)  Another totally unnecessary edition of having Gestalt have the ultimate incest with themselves. (As well as calling Gestalt an it and not just they which seems like a weird and unnecessary choice but also beside the point) 

And the final reveal. Which was the most unrewarding and anticlimactic situation I think I have ever read if it were not for the book I had recently finished before this (The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle). The character who ends up being behind the whole thing  // spoilers ahead // is not at all a prominent part of the story and I honestly forgot he even existed.  The reveal and subsequent explanation was a bit convoluted and uninteresting, especially because many details were suddenly revealed that were never mentioned before and thus completely impossible for me to be able to deduce it on my own. 

All in all a disappointment and yet another example of why I should start reading more books written by women. 

I was really hoping I would like this book. It started so cool and I love the way the things are described. I thought it was beautifully written at first. But as it went on and on I just thought it was getting really dramatic. And then the plot.. Fuck me it is horrible. It starts interesting, a person who woke up and have no idea what is going on or where they are. But then the whole situation is just kinda explained by a dude in a plaque mask. Like.. okay then. And then plot twist after plot twist that made the story the most ridiculous convoluted shit. And there were WAY to many characters that I was apparently supposed to keep track of.  The ending was also absolute trash. 

The whole thing about a mystery book is that, if you do it right, the reader should be presented with a bunch of facts and when things are eventually revealed they are supposed to go “Oh of course!” And maybe able to slightly predict some aspects. But the way this was done just felt like random information pulled out of nowhere.

 I had forgotten a bit how amazing Sanderson's writing is. I really had missed it. The plot got away from me in the middle a bit but int he last couple of chapters Sanderson delivered. The ending always feels like some cathartic and damn this twist. 
I also loved all the characters that came back even is only mentioned briefly. Absolutely loved it and I am going on to the next book as fast as is humanly possible. 

This made me think a lot more about myself and how I view my dyslexia. I learned a lot about what can be good about it. Though it is a little bit long-winded and some things didn't really pertain to me, it was a definite good read. 

This gave me secondhand anorexa, my god the entire description is drenched in how thin and taught they all are. It was becoming kind of disgusting at the end. All the characters are generally the same and unlikeable. But also I didn't really get the point of the story.  Nothing changed throughout, no one learned anything. There is no character development at all. I didn't much enjoy the writing style or the story but it was very well thought out and written and made me feel super tense for what would happen. Though I still felt it went all super slow. 

My dyslexic ass read this book in two days. I absolutely loved it. I empathised with the characters so much that I was already sad when someone died 20 pages in. I love how in this later version of the universe the way the curse and the expression have also changed to reflect the world they now live in and their believe systems. 

Every character has such distinctive personalities and quirks that make them really easy to like, especially Wayne, his whole trading thing is an amazing edition to his character. I also really love how it is made really clear the its totally fine that Marasi is more feminine and like dresses and lace and stuff and that is totally fine. She can still be an awesome badass character. 

I loved it and immediately bought the 5th and 6th book. Sanderson just doesn???t disappoint. 

When I first got the book I wanted to avoid reading the many reviews that covered the first few pages. I wanted to start with fresh eyes, but there was one review on the cover impossible to avoid reading. All it said was ???heart-breaking??? and I could not agree more. Its an amazingly funny book, a real look into the life of health worker, the funny, the good, the bad and the terrible. 

None of the entries had really hit me until the last. I knew he no longer practiced medicine so there had to be a reason. And that reason hit me like a truck. I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone. It is beautiful and it really makes you think.

Every time I read this book series I struggle in the middle of this book. When it???s just basically Cia going around doing all sorts of school stuff and homework. And this time as well it took me a while until I got through that part. But once you are at the end and all the conspiracies stack up it gets really exciting again. 

Especially the ending is so shocking and every time I read the book I totally forgot what happened and am caught off guard again. The book was along the same quality as the first one. And many aspects that I liked in that one returned here. But I am deducting a star for the slowly moving middle. 

Somehow John Green always finds the perfect words. I don???t know how he does it. He just seems to be magically able to explain emotions and specific feelings. I have almost nothing in common with Aza and somehow I don???t think I have ever related to a character more. They way her thoughts overwhelm her. She can???t control what she thinks.
In the beginning I was concerned it would be one of those books where the main character keeps secrets from the ???love interest??? and then it falls apart because of it. But I shouldn???t have. It was brilliant how everything happened. Not overly dramatic, but the exact right amount of stuff going on.
I found it really interesting how Aza feels like she isn???t in control, like she isn???t real. Like a million things are deciding what she does instead of her deciding for herself. Which is a thing that many people actually struggle with and have trouble with. But at the same time she isn???t real. She???s a character in a book.

Edit: I talked about this book with a friend of mine and I agree with his insight. It seems that all Green's books are the same. It's always a person that is weird or mentally ill in some way. Then one falls in love with the other and about 2/3 of the way in the books something terrible happens/ is revealed. Of course I still liked the book but it does take away some of it. I mean I did anticipate the big reveal. So I am deducting a star..

I have read this book about 4 times now. And every time I enjoy it so much. There is something this book have that I like so much, that I don???t see in so many books I have read. And actual smart character. So many main character always have the ???smart??? characteristics, as if the is the only important or good thing people can be. And yet in the story they overlook so much and make so many stupid decisions. It makes it hard to read. But in this book Cia really is extremely clever. 

Another thing great about this is that the romance part of the story isn???t awkward or forced or feel at all like it shouldn???t be there. It???s weaved through the story so naturally that I really didn???t mind it. I really love this book and will probably read it more times in the future. 

I am really glad I discovered this series again. Just like the last book I sped trough this one pretty fast. Because there are some many different stories at the same time it really makes you wanna read more. It???s really good at keeping you interested and keeping your attention. I really likes chapters that were written from the planes point of views. I nice twist in the writing that I enjoyed. I am looking forward to reading part 3.

One thing that did bother me in this book is that almost all the ???teams??? that we follow during this book is one guy and one girl. And there is always some promise of romance or sexual tension between them. First I find that very annoying. I don???t care for romance that much, especially if it forced upon the reader. Second is this, like many other things in the book, very heteronormative. There were even blue and pink body bags. 

I enjoyed this book like I do the twilight movies. It???s so clich?? and so obviously like every other YA novel. A fantasy world with two classes, one royal and one oppressed. And the prince is among the ???commoners??? one day. He meets the protagonist et voila. I also feel like this book is trying really hard to be meaningful and make meaningful sentences and statements but it just doesn???t click. Most of them made me sigh or roll my eyes. 

Mare is between different extremes all the time, I hate him I love him, oh no I love his brother, no I hate his brother. Like girl make up your mind. Also apparently Mavens hands are fucking magical because they drastically change temperature every 10 minutes. But again, despite all of this, and it not being a really good book at all. I did enjoy it in a guilty pleasure sort of way. And isn???t that what it???s all about

I???ve read this book before years ago, in Dutch. Then I already really liked it. But now that I knew there were more books, I wanted to read it in English again. The story really makes you feel for every character in every chapter. Every person has a motivation you can empathize with. I also like how everything comes together. Nothing seems to be really filler, everything feels like its been done on purpose. Every detail matters. 

Also the whole thing with Tyler and Cyrus is amazingly powerful, honestly this book is full of powerful moments and meaning full words. Definitely recommend it. 

I really wanted to like this good and I had high expectations. However, I was disappointed, a lot. First off it was a very stereotypical book. The main character was a woman who is strong and brooding and depressed, she doesn???t share any of her feelings, she rides motorcycles oh and guess what; she punishes herself with BDSM. How fucking creative. She is also made out to be this very smart woman who got so many promotions, but she gets everything continuously wrong until the very end. It also had some elements that made me really aware that the writer was a man. A ???winking cleavage??? for instance and a sentence stating ???in this age of gender equality', that one made me laugh. In some parts of the book, the perspective also changes within the chapter, without any indication of a break. Which kinda confused me, but I could see past all this if the story building was great. 

Yet another disappointment. I wasn???t invested in the relationships that I feel like I was supposed to, like Helen and Mark or Helen and her sister or Helen and Whittaker. So when the shocking revelations came it all just felt empty. It didn???t feel like some big curiosity in me was satisfied. 

And then there is the blatant transphobic shit. Apart from using words such as ???transsexual??? and ???trannie??? Martina was also misgendered many times throughout the whole book. Not to mention suggesting Martina went through her whole sex change just to get away from her past is bullshit and offensive. All of this could have been avoided. It was just added in for extra shock value. 

But apart from all this, there we also good parts in the book. The premise of it was awesome and the descriptions of the people and the dynamics between the different victims were great. I enjoyed the short chapters, which made it easy to read through and kept the story moving. I liked how the reader knew things about the character as people found out. 

Overall the story was pretty good but the book wasn???t great. 

This book has me a little confused. I like the premise of the book. It is written from multiple perspectives which I always enjoy better than a singular perspective. Also there was a gay character which is always a plus, (unless is the ???bury your gays??? kind). I really like the concept of Burners, the way they kind of say ???fuck society, we die how me want??? which I can definitely relate to. I also really liked the way the story called for many metaphors with double meanings. And even though Amit was a very small character the fact that he lost his taste really touched me. It was though the only thing in the whole book that really touched me at all. 

I did feel like something in the book where very lazy. Some stories that where written as summarises that I would way rather have read fully written out, or just Deus Ex Machina of the letter literally telling them everything they need to know. The book also repeats many things, like a summary of the events that have happened. Which I found very annoying, because I had read all that already, so I know. I also felt like the whole system of these rebirths weren???t really that well thought out or explained. I didn???t really understand that whole thing with the money and the subsidies and how it all meant the would lose the house. It wasn???t really explained well enough in my opinion. Just like the retrograde didn???t really make sense to me. How and when it all would happen, which made the whole thing with Molly kind of weird. 

I did like the book, I felt it lacking in some area???s but overall reading it was very enjoyable.

This book was very obviously written by a man. There we 3 female characters that spoke for more than 2 chapters. One these 3, one was a 13/14 year old whore, another was a squire he stood naked trying to fuck Heden. The last stood naked as she went up in flames. There is obviously a theme here. It also seems that every conversation Heden has with a woman results in him trying to figures her out and him ending up confused. It is mention that Heden saw them as puzzles and not as people, he then last saw them as people in some weird ???wise??? realisation. However every interaction Heden has with a man results in some weird mutual understanding of ???aggression and respect???. He even meets a fucking saint and all he can do is look at her legs. Even the narration is sexist. I think I have read the word ???men??? meaning ???people??? about 50 times in total. Beyond the blatant sexism, disregard, disrespect and objectification of women throughout the entire book, it isn???t even a good story. 

The motivation of almost every character in the whole book makes no sense to me and is never really explained. All the battles described we???re hugely outbalanced by this way to OP weapon called ???Starkiller???. Yet still every knight, who are far better trained and more powerful them him, dies and Heden lives. He is meant to be this extremely wise character, but saying some vague quote isn???t an answer to a question. Its just stupid. Many crisis have come by and Heden just solves them last minute with one word. Which he then conveniently forgets until the next last minute moment. Talk about Deus Ex Machina. All of this is honestly just bad writing. 

Not to mention that the book was just plain boring too. He went on way to long in almost every scene. Half way through the book nothing has happened and then the ???action??? starts and its just 30 pages of nonsensical fighting. I found myself glancing at the page numbers so many times, thinking when does it fucking stop. 

This book has good and bad things. I think the author is afraid to use real colours. Not everything has to be golden, honey, auburn or hazel. Things can just be brown and yellow and blue. I also think this book is trying to be too deep. All the metaphors seem a little forced. The many repetitive words also really annoyed me. Stop with all the hazel eyes and black sludge. I've read both of those phrases about 10 times already. I get it. Aysel keeps contradicting her thoughts, she says things about prejudge and how it's bad and then later says “well he doesn't look like a depressed person” It really undermines the point. Also, whole paragraphs of thought between dialogue are very annoying. Like it's trying to stall all the details to keep you reading. But its shouldn't be like that, you should wanna keep reading because you like the book not because you're thinking “god just say it already”

Apart from all that the book was pretty good, the story certainly has good things and has a good premise. I didn't entirely expect the ending which is always a plus.

The many perspectives this book in written is one of the things that makes me want to read more. The way details about the perpetrators are only mentioned when the other characters know them is really great. However I read this good first instead of the ones who came before because I found it in a vacation home. Which makes me think I missed some great things that would make the story have more depth. I also feel I've read the most boring book of the bunch after reading the descriptions of the ones who came before this one. But this book has definitely made me want to read them all. Read it in two days. Keeps you on your toes.

I assumed this book was written by a woman because basically all the main characters are women with actual personal lives and backstories. Nothing sexist was written in the book like I see so many times with male writers. It really surprised me! Well done!

I laughed on almost every single page. Its amazingly written and very nuanced. It has lots of brilliant forshadowing. Basically everything about this good is great. The ending was a tiny bit predictable but that's okay.

This is so goddamn amazing. Honestly never read a book like this. It was hilarious and amazing. I recommend it to everyone. Nothing else needs to be said. 

I realise this book was written like decades ago, but since I read it now I am going to ignore that and judge it as I see it. Which is that I think it???s a trash book and I hate it. Every book that falls under literature either in English or Dutch that I have ever read is totally obsessed with sex and 1984 is no exception. I get that in this particular story desire is important and the whole thing is that it is suppressed. But why does it always need to be this aggressiveness towards sex. He literally talks about wanting to rape this woman. Then later when he miraculously falls in love with her, he tells her that he wanted to rape her. Her reaction is basically ???haha lol I thought you???d say that lmao???
Which brings me to my next point. The characters are vague caricatures of actual people and feel almost non-human. Their interactions and dialogue seem like badly programmed AI. I could not for one second sympathise with them. Thought it is stated in the book that the characters also feel like fake people themselves as is stated in the book, but making that choice seems hella stupid to me. It was unbelievably uninteresting and boring. Why would anyone chose to write characters like that.

Immersion? What???s that? ??? George Orwell

The setting itself seems interesting at first, but the fact that it has about a million plot holes kinda killed that for me. Many things that were interesting weren???t at all explored and other things were totally unclear or illogical. Like the whole porn department thing, which made no goddamn sense. And the proles were probably mentioned maybe 2 or 3 times, when that???s about 85% of the population.
And let???s not forget the fact that this book is basically dipped in the river of blatant sexism, which some racism sprinkled here and there for extra flavour.
The ending is also boring as hell. There are like no consequences except for that he dies, which was already said about 100 pages before that it would happen. But what was the point of this entire story? That resistance is futile? That is first off bullshit in the real world and a wrong as fuck message to send, but also if there was a universe where that was true why would I wanna read about it.
But lets end on a good note. There is one scene that I really like. Where in the middle of a giant speech at a big event the enemy suddenly changes and all the banner that are made are all wrong. So they all act like it was spies who did it and become enraged. That was a really clever thing and shows really well how this world works.

Why anyone thought this was such a good book for it to be considered literature is beyond me. I have read dozens of book better than this. 

This was very well written to my surprise. I haven't read anything else by chuck tingle but I have seen all the covers. I don't like erotica but fuck I like me some horror shit. The concept was interesting and a little silly but fun to read and discussed some actually serious and thought-provoking shit and had great insights. And of course the added bonus of seeing a bunch of straight people die and seeing the gays live. Hallelujah!