Sarah
Loved the British humor! Not my favorite, though. I'm realizing I prefer Marvel comics and more fantasy stuff. Found this a bit confusing and hard to keep all the character straight.
“If you don't repeat the same mistakes, if you let people choose what they want to be, the future is a mystery. Some people think that's scary. But it's scarier if people don't get to choose. The future is a landscape as well, and we can build whatever we like there. We don't have to build another castle.”
I found it really difficult to get into this book. I disliked the beginning and didn't really care for the set up of the story. It felt too cliche and stupid, to be honest. It felt like everything was just happening too easily, like Tamlin just took Feyre away too easily and no one really fought back. I was rolling my eyes throughout the first few chapters. But then it got much better and I couldn't put the book down. I didn't think it was that great overall, but I enjoyed reading it. It was fun and entertaining and a quick read. I'm giving it three starts because I did like the book, and I liked reading it, I just didn't think it was as great as it was hyped up to be. It was a decent Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I liked it better than some of the ones that I've read in the past.
Was better than the first one. I actually enjoyed reading this and can't wait to read the next one even though I know it'll be another emotional rollercoaster
Very mixed on how I feel about this one. It was a good thriller; I think the author did well with the pacing and keeping it suspenseful throughout. I was also intrigued by the point of view and it definitely was an awesome and unique way to tell the story. I was totally surprised the when I realized partway into the novel that this was actually being told in the first person because then I had to wonder who the heck the narrator was. It ended up tying up nicely in the end and made sense. The ending too was really cool. I liked how this whole book ended up being a stream of consciousness and having it end with his death so abruptly was really cool.
I did have a problem with the characters and the plot, though. The story takes place over just one day, which was cool, but I don't think that really excused how pretty much every character was totally flat and throw-away. Even the main characters were just ehh because their backstories were just thrown in somewhat haphazardly and didn't do much to make them stand out at all. The minor characters were just completely useless. The author spent such little time developing them that I was left not even caring when they were killed. She just kind of mentions them and says stuff like “Jules was on antidepressants and wouldn't tell her husband” and then not long after, she's getting murdered and I just couldn't care less. Also, it felt like a lot of the book was about people wondering who the killers were and we were never even told who was behind it! The narrator and the main characters seem to be constantly referencing or thinking about who might be behind this whole thing and yet when the book ends, we just have no idea. So... what?? Why? What was the whole point?! I felt kind of cheated in the end because I was set up to expect closure and explanation and it just kind of ended. But somehow, I didn't hate this book. It was suspenseful and unique and intriguing and I was always motivated to keep reading. So it was decent, but it just could have been better, I think.
Meh. Decently written, not horrible or anything but not fantastic. Very predictable and not all that engrossing. I read it in a day but only because I was bored. Otherwise, it might have taken me a while to finish. The characters were flat and uninteresting, and the protagonist was quite iffy. The concept was cool, though, and the art stuff was fascinating. I just think that the story surrounding it could have been developed and written better and had better characters.
This whole series was amazing. So complex, so well-written and well-drawn. One of the first complete graphic novel series I've read, and I liked it so much more than I thought I would! The characters were so realistic and so human, and it was really refreshing to read something where I wasn't rolling my eyes at how fake the characters felt. Even the adults were flawed, and I liked that as well. Many things I've read always make the adults seem perfect and wise and it just was nice to see an instance where that wasn't the case. Amazing amazing series, definitely worth reading, even if you aren't that into graphic novels.
This was so cute and I really loved it but I was a little disappointed that it wasn't Noelle Stevenson's art throughout because I loved her work in Nimona (but this art is still good too!)
The first essays of the book were AMAZING. But I got to the Lolita one and was sadly disappointed. Solnit is an incredible feminist writer though, and these essays were powerful and extremely well-written.
First of all, the art was amazing. I really loved Futaki's work in this, especially in the scene with Jack and Sam sitting on the metal bars of the construction site, with the city skyline in the background. It was gorgeous! Overall, I thought it was a good read, but I didn't find it scary enough. Maybe I'm being too picky after reading Locke & Key, but this one definitely wasn't as good as that series. I appreciated the ending, though, it was definitely very creepy!
Had to read this for a hydrology class this semester, and it was terrifying! I found it to be a fascinating read, but it was extremely depressing and terrifying all at once. It's worth a read so that you become more conscious of how serious our water problem really is, and it'll make you very cautious about conserving water.
I've always had an iffy relationship with food (thanks, nut allergies!) and I still struggle to feel safe enough every time I eat. I've always wished I could love food and I sincerely appreciate Lucy Knisley's perspective here. Her absolute joy when it comes to all things edible is just so infectious and admirable. I hope some day I can be someone who lives to eat rather than eats to live.
I'm always skeptical about stories involving zombies. So I approached this with caution but found it to be better than I expected. I loved the art and the use of the muted colors and vibrant red. Baltimore proved to be more compelling than I expected and I'm ready to read more.
I caved and started watching the show after hearing about all of the backlash, and then realized that I had to read the book too. It's one of those easy reads I could devour in a few hours, and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it. I loved the format and how it was told through a set of tapes, with the main character's thoughts interspersed throughout as he listened to them. The subject matter, though, is problematic. I do appreciate that the author based this on the story his relative told him about her motivations for attempting suicide. In terms of anti-bullying, I think this book is really effective. It really makes you think about how you treat other people and realize that even the smallest things you do to them can really affect them. It enforces that you should be kind and helpful to everyone and really noticing the warning signs when someone isn't okay.
At the same time though, I do feel how problematic this is. Like, it's problematic to blame others for someone's suicide. Especially when she is the one blaming them and basically saying, “You killed me.” Don't get me wrong, they definitely did do some wrong things or ignored her warning signs, but it just is another thing entirely to blame them for her death. I know in the end she says she forgives them, but, I don't know, the whole thing just made me really uncomfortable. I'm still conflicted and I just wish they had acknowledged the mental health side of this more than they did.
All in all, I don't entirely know how to feel about this book but it was unique and well-written and I enjoyed reading it. Regardless of how problematic is, maybe it's at least a good thing that the author raises this conversation in the first place.
Wavering between 3 and 4 stars. I love Agatha Christie and And Then There Were None and this was an interesting take on that. Revolving it around comedians who committed “crimes against comedy” is a pretty interesting premise. And I read the book in about two or three straight sittings so it wasn't boring or anything. I still felt like the ending was pretty predictable... I wasn't exactly surprised at all so I was slightly disappointed there. But overall, it was a pretty great idea for a debut novel.
This book was obviously trying to be the next Gone Girl. And that's not really a bad thing, it just meant that I had very high expectations for this book. While it was definitely very well written and the pacing was good, I just wasn't very happy with the characters or the twist at the end. I wasn't surprised at all and I saw it coming the whole time. It didn't feel as clever or as crazy as Gone Girl did. This book tried to take the Gone Girl twist to a larger scope, but really, having everyone turn out to be shitty people isn't that surprising or exciting. It's kind of expected. Still, I enjoyed reading this, it definitely kept me wanting to read more, but I had bigger expectations for the ending that just weren't fulfilled.
Listening to Aziz read this book was AMAZING. It was like having Tom Haverford lecturing me during my commute and it reminded me how much I miss Parks and Rec. The research was pretty thorough, he cited a ton of sources that I've read or learned about like Barry Schwartz and Stephanie Koonz.
A fascinating read, but also a very problematic one. Ronson struck me as a poor investigative journalist in how he consistently skipped out on sessions and such for the stories he was investigating! The worst was the story on assisted suicide and how dangerous his sympathetic portrayal of the man was. Oi.
It was so obviously biased at times that I couldn't stop cringing. Also wasn't a fan of the random sections about the author's life because it felt unnecessary and out of place in this biography.
Kind of a letdown after reading Pride and Prejudice. It was fairly monotonous throughout and was at times painful to read because of how sad Fanny's life was. The ending was abrupt and strange; everything got tied up in the last chapter randomly and disappointingly. Edmund just happened to realize he could marry Fanny one day and that was it. Overall, fairly boring and not very entertaining with a disappointing ending and a very dull main character.
Emma has to be my favorite Austen protagonist yet, but overall the book wasn't as good as good old Pride & Prejudice. I really loved Emma and how imperfect she was, and hers and Knightley's relationship is my favorite by far. The story itself seemed to move slowly though, and it felt pretty uneventful the whole way through.