Tadhg
This didn't really have the dip that a middle book of a trilogy often has. I suppose the pace of the story is so quick that there isn't really time for it.
Again, Katniss' slowness on the uptake was frustrating, though I suppose it adds to the complexity of the plot (and let's face it, there isn't much) and there is something realistic about seeing things from the viewpoint of a character who is blundering along without knowing everything that is going on.
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.
This would be a 3.5 for me. I, in no way agree with everything in this book and don't know enough about economics or policy to have a good understanding of the basis or implications of these proposals. A good few of the suggested policies seem naive to me and to ignore basic human nature. I've never made so many notes or highlights in a book before.
I think this could have been set out better, sentences tended to be quite long which was more problematic given there was a (required) need for specialist language. Still, for a political/sociology book, this was easy to read with more substance than the white paper which admittedly I have only read a few pages of.
I think that if I'd read this straight after Days of Blood and Starlight, I would have loved it. I've been out of this world for too long and was not really in the mood for it. I pushed myself to read it because I was so excited waiting for it.
I don't think adding the Stelian plotline really added much to the story and it disrupted the ‘natural' ending to the series which was the end of the war. In a way it was good to have that little bit after, especially as it mentioned economic realities for the Chimaera but as I was reading it I was feeling dissatisfied.
Still, I loved this series; will hopefully read again one day all together, might raise my rating of this one.
Pretty standard Lovecraft fare, really liked the artwork though for some reason the book itself smelt weird... not sure what that's about. I personally think GNs are the way to read Lovecraft, I just can't get into his writing style (the mountains of madness is the only one that I've managed to read) and this cuts out a lot of the wading through laborious and overly-archaic language.
I don't get it.
I did like it better than the film, which isn't saying much because I did not like the film at all. Only got the GN out of the mistaken belief that since the film was getting such rave reviews and was based on a GN that got great reviews that I'd just missed something in the film. I don't think I did.
There was nothing ‘special' about this story to me; nothing about it that stood out. Yes it's a first love story, but nothing about the characters made me care about them and major plot points happened really quickly without any importance really being given to them. The drug addiction came out of nowhere for me - I'll admit it's possible that I missed signs of it because I struggle with reading too quickly, particularly GNs, but I actually spent the whole book thinking she'd committed suicide.
I struggled with the font of Clementine's ‘handwriting', having to pause to figure out what the word was. It amuses me that in French ‘boohoo' is apparently ‘bou hou' :)
Right now I feel like Joshua did towards Lopsang at the beginning of the book except about Jansen.
These books seem to be very much about the world-building and I need more plot. I suspect that if I'd read this, rather than listened to it, I would have given up on it a while ago. Don't know if I'll bother with the next one
The last third of this novel really came together for me; I don't know if it was that the pace picked up slightly or that it became a simpler narrative, but when it finished, I literally stopped cycling on the bike path (listening to the audiobook) and said “it can't stop there!”.
Style-wise it reminded me of Ringworld in that it was more about the concept of the world-building than a plot. That really bothered me in Ringworld, which I lemmed, but there was enough plot in this to keep me going. The concept of the long Earth was really cool and thought-provoking, especially the thought of how different colonies of humans will evolve differently, potentially even becoming different races with time.
I read this in one sitting and really enjoyed it. I had several moments where I recognised what she was drawing and sat back from it for a few moments. I suspect this is a book that I will be thinking about for quite a while as it percolates.
I like the use of blank/single colour pages and the sparing use of colour for emphasis, whether a rebellious hair colour or an altered state.
This was between one and two stars for me. Whilst the basic story fits the mythos style very well, it didn't really do much for me. The rape went on for quite a long time, which I'd been forewarned about after reading a few reviews (which I read after buying it, otherwise I probably wouldn't have bought it). Yes, it's fundamental to the plot but I think it did cross over the line into gratuitousness.
Classic sci-fi is not a great genre for me. Always need to preface my reviews with that :)
I think I must have listened to an abridged audiobook of this because it didn't really take very long. This might explain why it felt rushed or undeveloped. Rick seemed to develop feelings for Rachel Rosen during only his second meeting with her; this annoyed me. I don't like it when people develop relationships ridiculously quickly particularly when it's not plot-driven (ie quickly developing trust when you're forced to depend on one another).
I liked the premise; I would have liked more of the history of the world and why the androids need to be retired (I'm assuming it's because they are property).
This book was gross, disgusting and repulsive :D. I'm not generally squeamish but there were times that I wanted to stop reading it. Glad I pushed through that though.
This was really well written, as I expected from Hugh Howey. Plot-wise, it doesn't really have one; I was expecting this because I'd read the Amazon reviews. The lack of plot probably would have bothered me if I had been expecting one, so there's a plus-point for reading reviews. Given this book is from the zombie perspective, the lack of plot makes sense because of the situation they're in.
I was so disappointed by this. The best bits were straight from the monologues of her TV show, which I'd seen on youtube. The first half was ok, but the second half was terrible; the only reason I finished was because I'd read half and I'm already behind on my goodreads 2014 challenge! (This is the main drawback of the challenge, finishing books you would normally scrap).
I had high hopes for this because I like her stand up (obviously a good few years old at this point) but there was too much surreal waffle.
This book broke down the various medications available quite well. Though, I am coming from the perspective of someone who has had lectures about them; I don't know how easy it would be for someone completely unfamiliar with physiology to understand.
A major criticism is the amount of “I believe...”; I don't care what you believe, I want to know the facts and accepted hypotheses based on said facts. This marked down my rating from a 4 to a 2.
I do feel much more knowledgeable about the medications, am disgusted by the lack of information my doctor gave before prescribing me one of the mentioned drugs, so for that I'm very grateful for this book, enough to give it 3 stars.
Would have given this 4.5 stars; didn't want to give it five because I didn't love it as much as the books I have given five to. I was always going to like this; I have been mildy obsessed with her work, particularly Ab Fab for years.
It doesn't get too personal, which is fine. It's hilarious and checks the main boxes: I particularly liked reading about things which she later turned into sketches (the horrible headteacher I recognised immediately).
I suspect this is a book that is going to stay with me for a long time. I laughed more than I expected, but then the next page would hit me with some horrible/painful revelation. Interspersing pictures with the doctor's diagnoses was extremely effective and her descriptions were vivid, particularly of the bath in her hotel room.
The parallels with anxiety and depression really got to me; I hadn't realised (suppose I'd never really thought about it) how integral they are to an eating disorder. There were too many things in this that I recognised and that's probably what is going to stick with me most.