Fiona

I was expecting something more clever, given the accolades. A decent read though.

Well-written and -researched and an interesting, illuminating read. I would have given this five stars if it wasn't so damned long.

From a narrative standpoint, its a bit boring; I guess that's reality though and its very relatable. The illustrations are adorably done, although they fail to add dimension to the story. The section at the end featuring actual bug science is my favorite part of the book.

I received a copy of this book free from the publisher for review.

Harari does a wonderful job of weaving disparite things together.

A well-written gloss of the current attitudes and practices in mental health. The stories of a number of young adults who have dealt with issues such as schizophrenia and intergenerational trauma make the book very accessible and the tone of the writing echoes this.

Thank you to Orca Books for the free review copy.

This novel is basically an extended joke about tropes. As a story, it is not engaging and I could not have cared less about any of these stock characters or the things they do. It's a shame this isn't funny cause I guess it's meant to be?

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review so at least I didn't pay money for this.

The story feels very formulaic and only rates 3 stars with me but the artwork is so beautiful that it garners the book an extra star.

This annoyed me initially because it seems to be both fiction and memoir and I was all, “Pick one dammit!” But I really enjoyed it so fuck classification.

Reynolds needs to write more non-fiction. It would improve the world immeasurably.

The world-building is quite impressive but the pacing really ruined it for me. I spent the last hundred-plus pages wondering why it wasn't over already.

The prose is clunky and does not flow well. I'm going to stick to television/movie versions of Sherlock, thanks.

A four star book but I'm irritated by the presence of quasi-mythical agents. This is a personal beef and others may not be bothered by it.

Ultimately, this felt too convoluted for my tastes.

More academic than I would have liked.

If you are going to use “them” as a singular pronoun, the character should never be referred to as “themselves”. The singular is “themself”. Arrrgh!

While I enjoyed this, it pales in comparison to its prequel. My main beef with this book is the thinness of Grey's motivations, which are integral to the plot but aren't strong enough to really support it.

I was reading this for the science and was disappointed. There is a lot of philosophizing here, chapters and chapters of it.

I would like to read more of this author because there's a lot of clever-funny going on here. But I am mystified by the decision to write this in 3rd person when the narrative screams 1st.

I was going to give this four stars but I'm bumping it up because my mum, who is sick in bed right now, was so very charmed and entertained by this book and she never likes anything.

For fans of Miss Austen, this book clearly hits the mark. But I've always been lukewarm about her works and this novel grew tiresome with its constant refrain about the awesomeness of Jane's assorted tomes; I chuckled appreciatively at Austen's relative saying she “preferred the Brontes”. The characters and setting are believable enough but the tale is slow-moving, rather like Austen's works.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review.

I nearly gave up on this book several times; nothing really happens for the first two-thirds of the novel. And then suddenly! there's a story I could get my teeth into. Sadly, it was over just as it was beginning and never went anywhere. Also the main character has no personality which made me not care what happened to him anyway.

I received a free copy of this book for review courtesy of Candlewick Books.

Gritty and beautifully written. The subject matter is depressing though; I would love if Courtney wrote a fluffy romance one of these days...

A cute if mediocre tale of a WWI mascot. The illustrations are charming although not clever and the text is unimpressive. There were parts of the story that cried out for more page-time but its as if the writer wasn't thinking about the target audience and what they would be engaged by.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review.

After enjoying One of Us is Lying so thoroughly, I found this novel a tedious disappointment.

After hearing so many people rave about this book, I foolishly assumed it would be impressive in some way. It wasn't. I mostly skimmed the second half because it seemed like such a waste of my time; another reviewer mentioned this is for people who want to write like Stephen King and I have no desire to suffer that fate.