Alice in Waterdeep

Murderbot AND a murder investigation? Right up my alley. This felt a bit different from the other books in the series so far (I read this one before Network Effect as I want to follow the chronological order), definitely less action packed - but I loved it. It was a really fun and quick read (well, listen).

This was SO. GOOD. Loved to see the crew back together again, and Murderbot's character development throughout the previous three books definitely paid off in this one. I had a blast watching it reconnect with its previous clients and seeing it accidentally spit out things such as "It made me feel like a person". Hope it forgets to set that one second delay to its mouth.

I got so worried at the end there, thinking Murderbot would be erased or partially erased and we'd get a blank slate in the following book. Really glad that wasn't the case, I loved that ending.

"I was having an emotion, and I hate that. I’d rather have nice safe emotions about shows on the entertainment media."

I feel you Murderbot, I feel you.

Probably my favorite in the series so far. I went back and forth between 5 and 4.5 stars but settled on the latter mostly because most of the humans felt like the same character with a different name, and I had a hard time remembering who was who (though that's likely a me problem with audiobooks). Both book 2 and 3 have made me care waaay more about the bots than the humans, which is probably intended.

I am loving the subtle yet consistent character development for Murderbot. In book 1 it started as literally unable to look at humans while now it's got this protective instinct despite its best efforts not to care one bit.

Also, Miki! Oh god, that was so sad. Oh, and we're going back to Mensah now??

I loved this one. The interactions between ART and Murderbot were my favorite parts. The dramatized version of the audiobook really sells it for me, it's too good!

This book left me with mixed feelings. I kind of feel like this book is categorized in the wrong genre, as the romance is more of a subplot. That's not inherently a bad thing as far as I'm concerned but it does mean you go into this book expecting one thing and getting a different thing.

I had a hard time liking Alice, she felt like such a boring stereotype for the majority of the book, though she did warm up to me at some point. Hayden, instead, must be one of the flattest characters I've ever seen. I simply did not care about him, so much that when the twist was revealed, I cared but from Margaret's point of view. Not Hayden's. And judging by his reaction, he himself didn't care much either. Can't blame him much, because it was a ridiculous twist. I think this would have worked a lot better had the author included Hayden's POV during his work with Margaret.

I was way more invested in Margaret's story than in Alice's. It was interesting and heartbreaking at times to see how an entire family was shaped by being in the public eye, harassed by the media, and by every person's own flaws and shortcomings.

The romance: I was not invested, did not care, didn't enjoy how it was built. First, these two barely talked to one another, it was just cringe-worthy physical interaction after cringe-worthy physical interaction. Second, the whole "we can't have sex until the job is over" thing is such a lame way to create drama. Not only was it stated over and over, not only did it end up being ridiculous because they were always doing *something* but "hey it doesn't count because that's not sex" (semantics, if you ask me), but then they also... waived this little rule of theirs like two days before the job was over?? With no conversation about it either. And then I was supposed to believe these two fell in deep sacred love in like three weeks and they both gave the job up and he decided to move wherever she wanted and ?? Not a fan.

I know it might sound like I hated it, I didn't, and to be fair some parts of the epilogue made me emotional. However, I can't help but feel that there was a lot of wasted potential. The book ends with Alice starting to write her family's story for her daughter, inspired by Margaret. The point is, I don't feel like I've seen much of Alice as a writer to care as much as the author wants me to care. Or of her family. There's a few interesting glimpses we get here and there, and the two scenes with her mother; I just wish it was explored more alongside Margaret's story. Heck, I wish Hayden was explored more, but the two were too busy having not sex.

All in all it was a nice read, the frustration comes from how much potential was left unexplored. It was fun to read this at the same time as my sister and have our own two-people book club.

I had a really hard time getting through this book. Part of it was my fault because I watched the movie first, so I knew what was going to happen. But another part of it was that this book is, in my opinion, too slow and dull. I feel like it's way longer than it needed to be.

I don't agree with the take that circumstances and people like Dr. Gaul are what caused Snow to go down a dark path. He is opportunistic, selfish and self-serving from the very beginning, and he simply indulges his worst instincts one perfect rationalization after another. The way he incriminates Sejanus is just pure manipulation mastery. Snow is someone who's just patiently waiting to be given enough power to show his true colors with no repercussions.

I have to say I am extremely glad the author didn't try to write a story that makes you sympathize with him and justify his actions. Thank goodness that wasn't the case.

A little note: if I hear "Snow lands on top" one more time...

I have mixed feelings about this book. The first half felt definitely stronger than the second. First off, there is very little brain science in this one, if anything. I am also wary of books and authors that tell you there is one way and one way only to do things correctly, and that "real writers would never do xyz". But I simply ignored all that stuff and tried to focus on what felt useful to me.

That said, the method presented in this book resonated very well with me. It's not too far off from what I was already doing, but it allowed me to bring in more structure and understanding to my writing process. Funnily enough, whenever I didn't feel like doing one of the exercises the author suggests - either because I was tired, or because I didn't think it would actually matter to this silly, little, definitely not serious thing I'm writing - I pushed myself to do them and surprise, surprise: they turned out to be very useful. They forced me to reconsider some aspects and also allowed me to see connections I was blind to before.

Unfortunately my biggest pain point with this book is the case study the author uses throughout the entire book to showcase her method at work. No shame to the novelist who agreed to lay bare her early thought process for her novel but, while initially the development of that story sounded worth paying attention to, I'm under the impression that in order to follow Lisa Cron's method the story took weirder and weirder turns. And while seeing how a writer applies the method to her own writing is quite interesting, the last 20% of this book is basically only focused on that, and by that point I didn't care - the story was not compelling, not relatable, it really just felt very weird.

The author also ends up reiterating the same concepts over and over. While repetita iuvant for sure, at some point it felt less like a way to drill the concepts into the reader's brain and more as a way to dilute the word count (and yeah, I think this book is way too long for what it actually does).

All in all, there are really good insights in this book and I'm glad to have read it as it sparked a lot of thoughts for my writing. I won't be taking this method as a religion but I've definitely found several valuable tools I enjoy.

I was recommended this book by someone as a must read and I really wanted not to DNF it, but then I remembered I actually value my time.

There are some interesting insights in the first couple of chapters that made me stop and think for a while, though nothing I haven't read before in other forms. The cases the author brings to the table are what made me slowly get angry at this book (and no, the irony isn't lost on me).

The whole premise seems to be that anger is a desperate cry for change from within the self. Which, sure, sounds reasonable enough. But it quickly turns into a condescending explanation that ALL anger is nothing but the product of unfair projections onto others. That anger is always a form of immaturity and avoidance, no exceptions. It proceeds to "demonstrate", through tales from the author's patients, that if a person firmly (but warmly, god forbid a woman isn't warm - and I say woman because all the examples are about women) expresses their thoughts and intentions, and holds their ground with zen-like calm when their interlocutor uses manipulation tactics or tries to start a fight, then their partner/family member will have a magical revelation and will magically change their behavior and everything will be fine. What the heck, honestly. I really have no interest in reading a book that states that the entirety of emotional labor is on women/wives/daughters no matter if the system they're trying to break free from has harmed them or not.

My "favorite" insight from this book: Reconnect with your family first, before you do anything else, or you'll never be happy and will make everyone around you miserable forever. What a dated, over-simplistic and problematic take.

It's a prequel, right? You know some details already, you know the fate of the characters, you pretty much know how it's going to end. You shouldn't care THIS much, and yet Suzanne Collins makes you care anyway. Makes you root for them, as if it made any sense. As you read and know things are about to go very, very badly, a part of you stupidly hopes things will go differently. Which is ironic, for a book that talks about how hope can be dangerous.

I loved this story with all my being. I never thought the world of The Hunger Games and its characters could still pique my interest so much, and hit me so hard, after fifteen years since I read the original trilogy. Haymitch's story is so tragic, starting from the reaping itself. I am glad he stayed alive to witness and participate in the rebellion with Katniss and the rest, even if it hurts to think it took another 25 years (25 years of him having to mentor - to their death, as he says - kids reaped on his birthday).

Snow, I hate you like all-fucking-fire.

Wanted a light read and tried my hardest to give this book time but it's just not for me. The way it starts, with Lina talking to Aaron with her back turned to him and using her friend as a proxy for, what, at least thirty minutes? Yeah it wasn't a good first impression for me. There is something interesting here and there when Lina talks about herself, her family, her past, but that's about it. Also, I get it that it's a romance with tropes and silly situations but when Lina's getting dressed and she ignores Aaron's knocks on the door for absolutely no reason, so he comes barging in? At least make it that she's listening to music and doesn't hear the knocking? I was also not a fan of all the repeated "I don't need help - yes you need help - I don't need help - yes you need help" scenes (the wedding date, the work thing, the car lift in the rain...).

When I read the acknowledgements at the end of a book, you know I loved it.

This review contains major spoilers on the events of the book. Seriously, do not click to reveal the spoilers if you plan on reading it.

I loved this one. I haven't had the "it's 2 in the morning but I want to keep reading" experience in such a long time. The pacing of this book is incredible: I was terrified at first when I saw it jumped from present to different points in the past quite often, worried I wouldn't be able to follow the timeline. But it wasn't the case at all. The author did a great job of moving between timelines and introducing a bunch of distinct characters (I only had a hard-ish time remembering which one was Mitch and which one was Marshall when they were mentioned, but that's a me problem with same-initial names). I was delighted to find that every single flashback served its purpose and was tied to the current timeline events in some way.

I genuinely liked all of the characters. Lucca won me over from page one. Smart characters who can outsmart others are my weakness; as for Rachel, I liked her from the very first time she shows she can read Lucca more than most people. I really wish there was a final scene with her before the ending. I liked George. Well, up to a certain point. I even liked Devon despite him being a bit of a stereotype - your typical "I'm in" hacker guy, but I loved him anyway; really enjoyed Amy as well. I knew she was alive and well when it became clear that Lucca was the one to set the hotel room on fire - to use cliché words: Lucca is many things, but she's not a murderer. When Amy takes the Porter last name at the end of the book? My heart.

Now, for the main twist of the book: oh. my. god. What a ride. So, quite early in the book there's this scene where we learn that Ryan is a little shady, right? Well, more than just a little. And my mind went "please don't let him be Mr. Smith". Not because I particularly cared about Ryan (but more on that later), but because I wasn't a fan of the idea he was actually her boss and had faked such a contrived plan for *reasons*. So when Lucca listens in on him talking to George and assumes Ryan is indeed Mr. Smith, I was so disappointed. Disappointed that the book's major twist did not surprise me one bit. Annnnd I was wrong. What a well-executed red herring. I was indeed very surprised when Mr. Smith's actual identity was revealed. And it was in front of my face! All along!

To be honest, I am not too sure I buy that a guy like Mr. Smith, who supposedly has an extensive network and perfect organization, could be uncovered relatively easily. And also, the name thing... I know it's the concept of "being hidden in plain sight" but that just sounds extremely sloppy to me. To be fair, their plan took four years to come to fruition, so I understand it wasn't actually "easy", but it kinda appeared that way.

I enjoyed the latter part of the book so much. I think the author did a good job of filling in the blanks without it looking like a big exposition from the main character. There were also little hints here and there throughout the book that make sense when everything is wrapped up.

And yeah I don't know what this book did to my brain but for some reason I started caring about Lucca and Ryan's relationship at some point, probably because it felt genuine and it was the only other thing - besides Devon - that brought parts of the real Lucca to light. I liked their reunion at the end, their starting over. The fact that he has the garden thing in progress when she goes to see him? Aw man.

It wasn't a perfect book, some things did require suspension of disbelief for the sake of enjoyment, but the writing and characters made it quite easy, and I'm actually sad I'm already done reading it. Can't wait to see what the author does next!

Interestingly enough (for me) this was only the second or third ever romance book I read in my entire life (not counting one book I DNFed). Kinda crazy.

I really, really enjoyed Funny Story. I wasn't sure I'd like it, or I thought I would like it okay, at best. But I loved it. The characters are interesting and relatively well-fleshed out, the story has a good pacing, and the writing is good.

I was initially unsure about Miles because of his apparently always chill nature, but that was actually explained and explored in reasonable depth. Also not a fan of the whole "everyone adores Miles" thing but oh well. I kind of wish there was a bit more exploration of his tendency to panic and run, rather than just one occurrence. Daphne was explored more, which makes sense, and I think the author did a good job showing the gradual establishing of connections, finding a community in a new place and growing to call it "home" over the course of several months. Her decision to stay felt well motivated and not just because of a guy.

The communication between characters was pretty good, except for that one part, I guess. I'm still wondering why the heck Miles didn't tell her what he actually went to do instead of just mentioning Petra and letting Daphne fill in the blanks, in the wrong way. That was indeed a bit frustrating but communication isn't always perfect, so I guess it's fine and thankfully it wasn't dragged out endlessly.

I loved Ashleigh and her friendship with Daphne - I appreciated how it wasn't perfect at all, but very honest and genuine.

Also, Peter is the absolute worst.

I actually really loved this one. There were moments I wasn't sure about it but it surprised me. The mid portion is what made me think I was going to just consider this as okay, and made me wish the author had pushed more on that type of humor present in the first part of the book. Wasn't a fan of the other characters either, at first. But then Purple Dress and Green Shirt won me over, and I almost audibly went "awww" when Purple Dress found the kitten. Same when Lucas got the postcard from Green Shirt.

I think this is a love it or hate it kind of deal, it's pretty clear from the fact that the first chapter is two sentences long. Really nice read.

I was quite disappointed to be honest. Not sure what I was expecting from this short story but it wasn't this. The premise was really interesting, but the pacing was incredibly weird. 90% of the story is used for the setup, then the rest is an extremely rushed succession of "no, this is what actually happened". I also didn't care for the ending, I agree with other reviews that mention feeling like they were missing some pages.

It wasn’t really love at first sight when I started it. Something about the writing felt off to me, especially in dialogues. Many sounded unrealistic to me, and everything was a bit over the top. Camille initially seemed like a copy of characters I’ve seen over and over. Her involvement with the cop was the most telegraphed thing I’ve ever seen, and it happened when, on their second meeting? Third at best.

But then, at some point, I was hooked. I didn’t really care for the mystery itself, which I would argue is not even the main focus of this story, despite looking like it is. The real focus of the story is the unpleasant reality of a small town and its inhabitants. The complex psychology of those extremely messed up characters.

I rarely make faces at a book while I’m reading, but I did. It made me cringe and grimace in horror and disgust. I started at some point when Adora said something incredibly fucked up (must have been “Why Marian and not her?” or “One day I’ll carve my name there”) and I only did it more as I kept reading. I started caring about Camille at one point. Something about how the dysfunctional family dynamics (if one could call them just that) have affected her deeply, made me feel for her. I felt anger when characters (well, Adora, mostly) said hurtful things to her.

Though I think what finally made me swear out loud was, of all things, Alan paying Adora’s bail to let the poor thing await trial from the comfort of her shiny marbles. What even is the point of that man who reads about horses. Anyway.

The solution to the murders wasn’t surprising to me. Adora becomes a suspect in the reader’s mind pretty much right away, so it couldn’t have been her. And there’s only another person who’s as fucked up as she is, Amma. Though I have to say, my brain breaks at the idea of a thirteen year old girl committing such violent acts. I was expecting it to be her, but still that’s very disturbing. I have to say though, at one point I realized I was reading a Gillian Flynn novel (lol) and feared Camille would end up being the murderer. Happy it wasn’t the case.

One thing’s for sure, Gillian Flynn can write flawed, messed up and unjustifiable female characters too well. All the female characters in this one were unlikable, going from slightly to extremely. Even Camille is unlikeable and makes very questionable choices, though I grew to feel for her.

A big “booo” for Richard who bailed as soon as he saw the scars. Can’t really blame him for wanting to stay as far away from all that as possible, but still. A special mention to Curry and Eileen, Camille’s calls to them and their concern for her made me tear up more than once.