Tash

Not at all what I expected! Felt like it spanned a few genres and was well-written, but I kept waiting for a big something to happen and it didn't. Left feeling a bit empty at the end, but definitely had some very interesting parts, and finding more out about Edie, Rebecca and Akila's relationships made me keep reading.

Highlights on Kindle.

VERY slow until the last 20% - I wanted to like it so much, and did love all the slasher nods, but there was too much story that wasn't story before we got anywhere. Got me caught in nearly a month long reading slump, but then I whizzed through the last bit. The story was written in such an interesting way, which was at times quite confusing, but did make Jade seem very real as we went through thoughts with her almost in real time.

Will read for the author's other books, and definitely the sequel, but might wait a few months as this took way longer than expected!

Enjoyable to read a book about running - a first for me since doing more running/training.

Murakami had many useful quips about life and I found his ways to remain optimistic and his motivations behind running (solitude, weight loss and because he wanted to and likes it) very relatable! He writes beautifully and this felt like a conversation with him. I was surprised that the book took me longer to get through than expected but I wanted to really read it and absorb it. 

Quotes I liked:
p.vii (running mantras): Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

p.20: Sometimes, however, this sense of isolation, like acid spilling out of a bottle, can unconsciously eat away at a person's heart and dissolve it. ... It protects me, but at the same time steadily cuts away at me from the inside ... I've had to constantly keep my body in motion, in some cases pushing myself to the limit, in order to heal the loneliness I feel inside and to put it into perspective.

p.51 (on increasing exercise over time): The body is an extremely practical system. You have to let it experience intermittent pain over time, and then the body will get the point.

p.142: Dave Scott wrote that of all the sports man has invented, cycling has got to the most unpleasant of all. [I'm not 100% I agree, but it is a good line nonetheless!]

p.172: 

Bit of a slow start but really really enjoyed it once a bit further in! Ropa was a fun protagonist (but seems older than supposed to be) and I liked her attitude to the new world she lived in. I enjoyed the elements of fairy tale and light horror, as well as the enemies she faced.

Not quite 5* as felt the other characters (Gran especially) and the whole past could be slightly more developed; I have lots of questions that are unanswered (why is THAT a library card?!); and maybe have a bit more on why/what happened between now and when it is set - it is hard to stay focused while this is quite unclear, at the start especially. 

I'll definitely pick up the next in the series and hoping to see more magic, and more of the library in the next one!

A dark, quite sad/upsetting at times, well written psychological story. Not a thriller exactly, and not what I expected from the light blue cover! 

Great book, very in-depth bits on fighting and some military specifics so the research must have been extensive. Really enjoyed following the different characters just as much as in Pillars of the Earth (maybe more), and nice to have history told from those positions on both sides of the war and those at home. Read quicker than I expected!

Wasn't keen on the writing style, and found it too hard to persevere through it! Book club generally liked it so think it just didn't fit with me, which was a shame as I did like the concept of the story. Might try again in future.