Tadhg
I'm going to lead with: not really my type of book. I read this because it was the May pick for The Perks of Being a Bookworm group; what I like about book clubs is that they are introducing me to books I would never think of reading. Sometimes this is a success, this time it wasn't.I did not enjoy actually reading this book, in fact I was somewhat reading it; I didn't have to force myself to read it, but I didn't care if I read it, I had no ‘need' to know what happened. If it had not been a group read and reasonably short, I would have stopped reading before I got halfway. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't really care about any of the characters apart from Singer and Biff, partly because of their selfishness regarding Singer, projecting their need onto him without caring about him for his own sake. I don't think it was simply that because even unlikeable characters can be compelling to read about, but not these. I did like the writing; I got a sense of each of the characters fairly quickly, some more than others, Dr Copeland in particular. This style of story does not grab me; I suppose I need a ‘quest' or similar to drive the story for me, even if that is used for social commentary. I recently read [b:Post Office 51504 Post Office Charles Bukowski http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347432080s/51504.jpg 823130] by [a:Charles Bukowski 13275 Charles Bukowski http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1361445522p2/13275.jpg] and I was reminded of it whilst reading that; I didn't particularly enjoy it either (2 stars again).
I did not expect to be giving this five stars in the beginning of the book, mostly because I did not like the narrator very much, though she grew on me (speeding up to 1.3x definitely helped). But it picked up significantly and I've actually just spent the last 1.5 hours cycling in a big circle round local cycling paths just to finish this :)
I'm not very good at picking out what I like about a book, though I liked the pace.
There is no subtlety in this book. There were no major surprises (not in itself a problem, and maybe because I'd been spoiled slightly by all the hype for the books and the films otherwise Rue may well have surprised me), the things that surprised Katniss could be seen well in advance - at one point I actually said out loud on a public cycle path “FFS, it's obviously a trap!”. It's one thing to see things coming but when it took so long for her to realise things, I couldn't help but think she's an idiot.
Also, Katniss' wilful ignorance of Peeta. It was getting tired.
I love this book; in fact, I think it's the first Discworld book I read and one of the best
I was initially put off by the tagline of Pride and Prejudice with Dragons, but this captured the regency novel feel really well without getting bogged down in the posturing
I really liked this book; would have given it 4.5 stars. I suppose the format of a survivor relating the major event they have survived gives a novel automatic suspense but at no point did I find this predictable. The characters were all likeable, especially Emilio, Anne and Sofia which is probably not a good thing given what happened to each of them :(One thing that annoyed me is the author explicitly telling us the Jana'ata have prehensile feet (to explain part of their prowess) and also placing emphasis on Supaari's boots (in order to show similarities to ourselves). This pulled me out of the narrative because I find it ridiculous that a species with prehensile feet would develop footwear, thereby limiting their function; this annoyed me because I feel it was done simply for a plot point rather than as part of the world she'd created. A small thing, barely even a sentence in a 500+ page book, but it did throw me out of the rhythm.Emilio's final confession was dragged out somewhat, though given the obsession religions have with sex and all it's permutations I suppose it fits into the world. Normally I struggle with religion in books, particularly Christianity, but I didn't feel it a hindrance in this book; though perhaps my fondness for Anne and Sofia was their atheism and lapsed Judaism respectively.I only discovered there is a sequel ([b:Children of God 16948 Children of God (The Sparrow, #2) Mary Doria Russell https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1373509005s/16948.jpg 882029]) when I finished this and I'm almost disappointed - thought I'd managed to reduce my TBR!
A good follow up to Dreadnought. Some of the characters are basically caricatures, I suppose that fits in with the comic book feel of the setting. I do think Greywytch was too much though, and found it unbelievable that Danny's presence would drive her to take the action she did. Looking forward to book three
I found this too difficult to follow. I don't think the artwork, or the panel scene choices helped to make this a coherent plot
this started out well, but quickly became repetitive. At one point he was just listing recipes at me.
Don't read this if you are looking for an in-depth analysis of why Denmark scores so highly in happiest countries. While there are some insights, they are few and far between
I think I might just like this more than “the long way to a small angry planet”. Totally different style; whilst I sometimes found the switches between viewpoints frustrating, that was simply because I wanted to stay in that viewpoint for longer.
Listened to this via audiobook - definitely the way to go as Hannah narrates it herself (would be weird for a memoir to be read by anyone other than the subject). You can hear the emotion in her voice during the especially difficult memories and that adds to the reader experience.
Very light given the subject matter, particularly once you get past the revelation near the beginning, but a fun read
This is the last Lumberjanes I'll read. I'm not a fan of the changing art style, I think it makes it disjointed.
I was expecting to be disappointed with this Myfanwy is not the main character, but Felicity and Odette make up for it. Great, fun read
I need to read this again when there is less going on around me as I missed quite a lot through distraction.
The colours are amazing. The plot - not so much, kinda filler-ish. Still loving this series though
Maybe this is more of a 3.5 stars but I'm feeling generous :)I really liked the characters, particularly Jared and the whole concept of consciousness and individuality in this world.The “he said/Jane said/etc” is not as pronounced in this book as it is in [b:Redshirts 13055592 Redshirts John Scalzi https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348617890s/13055592.jpg 18130445], probably because the dialogue is broken up more. Perhaps Redshirts is not a good book to judge [a:John Scalzi 4763 John Scalzi https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1407277112p2/4763.jpg] by (I was very disappointed by it).Onwards to [b:The Sagan Diary 61664 The Sagan Diary (Old Man's War, #2.5) John Scalzi https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388321306s/61664.jpg 15558795]
This was really easy to read, I just wish I'd reread the first two before starting this one as I spent most of the book trying to remember the first two. It's only because this was so good that I didn't go back and read them. Definitely need to reread them soon!
sacrilegious I know, but I felt the second half of the book was weak. The beginning started off so strong setting up an epic struggle which then dissolved into a walk in the park resolution. Even the ‘significant' loss suffered didn't feel significant as no time was spent on it. It felt like it was thrown in to show Paul suffering in his victory but he didn't.
Ordered this after reading the comic on deviant art because I liked it so much and wanted to show my appreciation.
The GN is worth it even if you've read it online as there are small changes which flesh it out a bit more and the artwork is more polished - I also like that the characters are not as thin as in the original, more realistic.
I've pre-ordered the second volume which is always a good sign.
A generous 3 stars. Her writing style matches her interview style which I find overly dramatic and effusive. This also ended earlier than I expected, I'm pretty sure she'd divorced Tim Hagan when this came out so it must have taken a while to publish