RiffMonkey

I don't know if I have ever cried this much from a stand-alone book. The last 30% of this book was just me crying on and off for 4 hours. The way everything came together and yet didn't quite fit right at the same time was absolutely heart-wrenching. 

At first, I thought that this was only going to be about Ori and Max, and it kinda was but also lots of different stories came into it. Many different people came together and apart and it was great to see how so many experienced the world. In the beginning, I was annoyed that there were so many flashbacks. But I just didn't really like the starting point. Because it was really just one flash forward. 

It ended in a good way and yet not in a good way. But it did have an end, which I am glad for. I really don't know how to feel about this book other than that it was good, but it also ripped my heart out of my chest, how dare you. 

I liked that this went into mental health some more. Not everything can always go the best way and it was dealt with and written really well as usual. 

It's a really cute story of two teenagers who just fall in love. The art is great and you just zoom through it. I think I read this in an hour. It was sometimes hard to tell who was who, luckily it does say the name of the character with some context sometimes. 

I love how it's not about drama within their relationship. There is no ‘will they won't they' It's just really lovely and respectful. No miscommunication, no misunstandings. Just a cute couple dealing with life. It's really refreshing. 

Why would anyone write a book like this? It was a jumble of run-on sentences and stupid grammar. None of the characters were in any way people I gave a fuck about. I literally got multiple headaches from trying to finish reading it. 

The story was boring the writing was like the opposite of immersive. I feel it literally made me think in jagged edges with a monotone voice in my fucking head. Even the letters from his mom were like that. Even though I normal adult person wrote them and should thus be able to write in a normal way. It broke my brain, no thank you. 

Yes! Yes! Everyone is gay! That's really all that matters. 

I am really happy they also went into some deep stuff like self harm and eating disorders and stuff like that. 

I am a little disappointed considering how great the first book was. Although this one wasn't bad, it didn't really feel like a story. It felt more like a filler episode of one of those procedurals. In fact, the book itself has three literal filler stories told by characters to fill time. It's not as if this is a very long book either. So it really made it feel like nothing happened at all. I have read 100 pages books with more story than this.

The characters were still great, although I might have gotten more out of the iron druid crossover if I had read any of those books. Gladys is amazing. So it's not as if this isn't well written or anything like that. It's just barely a story. 

God what an amazing book. I was so concerned in the beginning. It started out as one of those books that people call classics but are just stories about some old man who has a woman come into his life who suddenly thinks he is the most amazing person even though he is boring and useless working for big government and never questioning a thing in his life. 

But thank fuck it wasn't like that at all. Instead, it was about this man who is so immensely caring and loving for all the children and with the biggest heart and empathy. Who is also the best fucking ally ever. And slowly but surely he starts to question why he never looked into DICOMY future and how their policies affect the world around him. The most epic character development. 

It truly is like being wrapped in a big gay blanket, I think I could read this book 20 times over and still not have had enough of it. Magnificent. 

I don't usually read nonfiction books, especially not ones about feminism or any type of social justice. This intrigued me because it looks at the world through myths and stories. 

However I found it surprisingly lacking in a lot of way. Yes it was discussed how myths are often interpreted different or wrongly by the larger public and the myths that do give good insights into fighting for equality. 

However only at the end when discussing queer interpretations does the author mention anything about how people view the myths, sometimes interpreting things differently, or blatantly changing the narrative of the original myth. With an innitial response that “those aren't the real stories”. Totally disregarding that these myths were spread mouth to mouth untill someone wrote a single interpretation down. Most if not all of which were men. The lesson and meaning of these “real stories” were already an interpretation. I was hoping to see more of the way ancient women might have told these myths. And by not adressing the subjectivity of the original “author” this, to me, completely misses an important and more interesting point. 

Although it also felt quick shallow in its exploration of the topic, the book was already very short, there were some interesting comparisons and insights highlighted. 

I liked the concept of the story, but something that is very important to me is world-building. And that definitely lacked here. Of course, the magic and the worlds were well thought out, but the fact that these Londons were even communicating makes no sense to me. Schwab has problems with motives for things and you can tell that it lacks that regard. It made me not care much about what happened because the characters, especially the “evil” ones were one dimensional. 

The ending slightly rescued it for me. Astrid and her brother, who I cared little for as characters and were really only interesting because they were twins, have fucked off. Rhy and Delila had a cute flirty moment and they seem perfect for each other so I hope that develops more. And of course, Lila's ending is great. I didn't really want to read the next book until the last 30 pages but now I think I will. 

I found it hard when starting this book to read through all the full pages of text. There is very little dialogue and especially the beginning is very stream of consciousness / info dump. But when it kicked off a bit I could really get into the story. 

Somehow all Becky Chambers books end in this sort of open/closed ending. Where you could technically say it ended in a satisfactory way and yet you still don't know anything. Its brilliant and frustrating simultaneously. 

I loved the mix of science and story with the big emotional evolution of the characters. Excellent

After only reading three paragraphs of this book I was immediately reminded thatcI love Becky Chambers. The theological discussion at the beginning gives you all the information about the world building that you'll need. Absolutely masterful writing. 

I feel like this is one of those books that changes peoples lives and really make you think about how you live and what is really important. I loved it

Olivia as a character is great. She is inquisitive and smart and her not being able to talk is great storytelling. It is not only connected to the mystery, of where she came from and who she is, but also a big part of the way she communicates and how her life has been shaped. All the characters from Gallant as just as complex, I loved that they all had their characters and motivations really making them feel very distinct. Even the ghouls who can't say much and aren't even alive had clear characterisations. 

The story was well written in the way that I usually figured out what was going on just before the characters did or it was spelt out. It makes you feel smart for knowing it but doesn't make the characters seem dumb for not seeing it. It also genuinely made me scared, the way some exposition was written made it seem like it should be made of movies scenes cut together instead of words on pages. It's like I could see exactly how this movie would be cut and directed somehow. 

The only thing that bothered me about the book is the thing that bothers me about more of Schwab's books. The villain's motivation is born out of him just being a monster. Sure he has reasons for doing specific things, like inviting her or being angry at losing a piece of himself. But the reason he is evil is just because he is a monster. He is Death and supernatural beings need no explanation for being evil. I don't like that about it. For the same reason, I find her endings often very unsatisfying. Like the book sets up this great story and then drops the ball in the last 30 pages.  

This book really got me in a reading slump. Perhaps because it's lighthearted it feels like there are no stakes. And so the story is very slow because I am not really at the edge of my seat in any way. It was very well and funny written. But comparing it to the first Discworld novel this was just too low or too slow. 

I did like the story tho some of the characters seemed extremely similar and I found it hard to keep them apart. Both Nobby and Colon are just so the same. The big conflict being resolved by some dragons going off to fuck tho is some solid comedy. I again had some problems with some descriptions but I acknowledge that this book is about 30 years old. 

Starting this audiobook was a bit hard. I was never very good at accents and this really tested it but as soon as I got used to it I was thankful for it. I absolutely loved all the characters in this whole book. They were all separately very interesting and the story was also great.

Being totally thrown into the story worked really well in this case and it didn't make me very confused. It was also very funny and some comments in between the story about the world made me feel really safe with this author. I hope his other books are similar to this because this was great. 

I really liked this book in the series yet again. I really liked that some more stuff is explained in regards to Fritz and The bridge. The town of Notch is also very interesting and I love the concept. Tho we did get less interaction with the real world in this one, both in the way it is written as well as the story itself. 

It all makes me really excited to read the next book. Though what happened with Thistle's wife is super fucked up and was very sad to read I do love seeing a character become totally unhinged with revenge and/or determination. 

It started off really good. I am not really a short story person but the first couple I really liked. Especially the mirror dimension one and the wedding prep one were really good, it was all about the story and the rules of the world were totally irrelevant which is why those could be played with so well. The small in-between things were also good like the list of lies. 

However, towards to end, I didn't like many of the end stories. The superhero one seemed to have no point and then there was one about a breakup and one entirely of rhymes. Those really weren't for me and they didn't really tie into the other ones in my opinion. They tried to be too different, too other which often made it seem forced and kinda bad. Some were very strong and I really liked them but overall I'm a bit disappointed.  

I really liked this book, in this 3rd book in the series it really gets super meta. It makes it a bit hard to keep track of what universe you are in sometimes though. The epilogue was my favourite part honestly.

I really wanted to read this book because I have always loved the movies, and I do enjoy myself some unhinged storytelling, but this wasn't really a story. It felt more like a bunch of weird unrelated short stories. It doesn't follow a story or any goal or moral or anything. That makes it feel like nothing really happens.

It's also that the characters involved are uninteresting and unlikeable. Alice herself is weird and doesn't really interact with the world in a meaningful way, she doesn't try to understand it or learn from it, she is also just a nice person to be honest. I thought it would be fun but it got me in a giant reading slump. 

I have heard such good things about this book. But to be honest I thought it was utter garbage. It could have been 300 pages and at the same time, it should have been 3 separate books. Either way, this 880-page monstrosity isn't the right way.  

Getting through it was immensely difficult. The characters are not interesting, all of them are boring especially the main character. Only the ship-mind is likeable and seems interesting and 3 dimensional. So much happened to them but none of them really changed or developed in any meaningful way, without intervention from some unknowable alien god creature anyway. 

So much happened and at the time nothing at all happened. There wasn't any overall goal the party was clearly headed toward which also made it hard to keep me excited for the next chapters. 

And let's not forget the ending where she just apparently gains ineffable and unexplained powers and knowledge that she uses to give all her friends gifts and then goes to chase after the just murdered alien gods Horcruxes. The ending was honestly stupid and made no sense for the story whatsoever. What an excruciating journey with the most meaningless conclusion of all time. 

Absolutely loved the story. It is starting to get even more meta and I am super curious where it's going to take me next. I love Fritz as a character massively and loved seeing everyone grow in their skills and narratively level up. The way that is all written is so amazingly interwoven with the story. 

I absolutely loved it. The ending to an amazing series, Neal Shusterman never seems to disappoint. 

This book started excruciatingly slow. The flashbacks mid action scene were also very annoying and the whole thing really only came off the ground in the last 200 pages. The characters not saying anything they meant really annoyed me, as were things like only half the crew knowing parts of the plan. It felt like fake plot twists somehow. 

Though I did like the characters to a certain degree and really wanted to see where this change in their lives would lead them. Near the end, I was already beginning to be wary of the final handoff, where there would certainly be a plot twist. And I was really disappointed with it. I am not a fan of books that end in the middle of something. I know this is a duology and that there was one more book to come but I detest if something is made like that. The story now isn't done. I think any book part of a series should be good on its own. This one just isn't. 

I have gathered that I love books that are super confusing. I know recommending this book to anyone would probably not be helpful but I loved it with all my heart. The ending felt well done and all the questions I had were revolved.

Reading about two minds within one person is always fascinating and this book does that well, as others I have read. I read most of it in one day and what a ride this one. Almost enough to drive you insane and then reel you back again. 

Really loved it yet again. The story never stands still and the rules of the words are ever-changing. All the characters are so interesting and it doesn't shy away from dark realities. I wanna read the next one immediately.