Joel Hill

I first tried to read this book and was immediately put off by the complex world that the author has constructed. It felt daunting, and didn't feel like I was in the right mindset to let myself get into the story. I am SO glad I kept reading because after the first few chapters I could not put it down!

Wonderful characters, a bleak yet engaging world, political espionage, and Allomancy (a cool magic system based on ingesting and “burning” alloys in order to harness latent magical abilities). This book really has a lot going for it and I recommend it to anyone, especially fans of the fantasy genre.

This was really great! The first volume appears to be not much more than an introduction to the world and a few of the characters, but it was a wild ride and not quite like anything else I've read in a while. Looking forward to the next volume!

Satire of the fantasy genre that also happens to provide adventure, an intriguing story, well developed character arcs, and a fully realized world for it all to take place in! It also had legitimately intense moments to balance out the constant stream of humour.

This was my first Terry Pratchett novel (aside from Good Omens) and he's a joy to read! I'm looking forward to the next.... 40(?!) books

I feel REALLY conflicted about this book. I enjoyed it through and through, but it was slow as hell and there really isn't much payoff to the many story threads.

I'll probably read the third in the series because I love the world that Leckie has created, but this book was a swing and a miss for me.

Random thoughts:

- A main protagonist I liked is still around but... Wasn't really used in the plot much at all?

- This book is all about how imperialism is bad but it also leans on the “white saviour” trope HEAVILY. Braq is just too perfect and solves everyone's problems. Blah.

- What was the point of this book? It really felt like a long setup for a final chapter in the trilogy.

- I honestly like all the tea drinking and politics but it's a bit much at times.

- “Baby lieutenants” are aborable little imperialists.

I was fully confident I wasn't going to rate this 5 stars until I read the last ~20% of the book and now I'm sitting here blown away by how well crafted this story is.

Don't get me wrong, it was a well written book from the start. Her account of her acting career was engaging, it was well paced, and her prose is casual, witty, and sarcastic. I kept turning the pages out of curiosity since ever chapter would reveal something new and I was really invested in learning more about her childhood.

I thought I had the book figured out... but then she drops the hammer.

Her recovery.

Reading about how hard and emotionally exhausting recovery is gave me a perspective on mental illness I haven't read anywhere else. This really is an important book and I have so much respect and admiration for McCurdy for not only tackling her own demons, but also for sharing them with us.

The hype is real, this is an essential book and I'm so glad I read it!

An awesome read and an interesting perspective of the cold war, the early days of NASA, and of course... “the right stuff.”

Did not finish (25%)

I feel conflicted about reviewing a book I didn't finish, but I think I got a good vibe of what's going on here.

Slow plot, awkward dialog, and I couldn't get invested in any of the characters.

Also.... It's very similar to The Name of the Wind. Like, look it up if you're curious. Almost exactly the same story start to finish (apparently).

Yeah, life's too short for books I don't like

This is the best “not good” book that I actually wanted to finish. It's weird, it has all the ingredients of an awesome sci-fi story but it just kind of misses the mark.

The action sequences were not super well described, the sci-fi concepts were neat at a surface level but not well explored, and the murder mystery angle kind of just meanders along without a compelling conclusion. It felt like ideas, characters and plotlines were casually introduced and discarded and then the book ends.

It might click with other people, but if you're not super into it by the first chunk it doesn't really get better.

Hopefully this isn't too much of a spolier, but I really couldn't get past Billy's relationship with Alice. It didn't feel like a believable connection considering how they meet, and I don't think King wrote her as a well rounded character. It felt very much like she was a prop to make Billy a hero and at times it was even a little creepy.

Honestly I'm really confused as to how this book has so many high ratings. It's far from his best work. Not a bad book by any means, but not great either? It still had a solid ending though and I'm glad I finished it.

I don't want to spoil many of my thoughts since I'll be discussing in book club. I'll just say enjoyed it, but it did make some storytelling choices that really hampered my enthusiasm. Can't wait to talk about it. Might be closer to a 3.5/5?

It took me a bit longer than usual, but I got through it! I'm glad I stuck with it too, it ended up being quite the wild ride. Mr. King really sticks the landing on this one, and it had a lot of fun references to “It” and “The Dark Tower” for the fans.

All in all, a very good read and I definitely recommend it to Steven King fans.

I actually finished this a while ago and forgot to update Goodreads.

This is honestly such a hard book to boil down to a simple number. I found the plot to be slow and maybe even a little uninteresting, however the plot was almost irrelevant though since most of what was interesting in Sufferance was Jeremiah's perspective on the world. He had cynical and sarcastic view that I found to be mostly really funny but also incredibly depressing at times. I didn't care what happened next, but I was always looking forward to seeing what Mr. Camp thought of it.

Not my favorite book and I might hesitate to recommend it to others, but I REALLY want to read more from Thomas King.

I'm a big fan of The Martian and I heard good things about this one so I was ready to fall in love with another sci-fi engineering thriller. It's good... But it has some flaws that I think drag it down:

1. Every character feels the same. They're all slightly different versions of the narrator, and I found the narrator to be kind of one dimensional.

2. The plot is a little lazy at times! I don't want to spoil much, but the author tends to wave a magic wand and solve problems for the main character when they become inconvenient for the story he's trying to tell.

I don't know... I liked it, but it feels unpolished or maybe a little rushed. It did have a lot of cool ideas and there are some unexpected plot points that are cool if you don't get them spoiled for you. Very solid 3/5 for me. Worth the read, but don't expect greatness!

If you like comics and you like ninja turtles then this is a must read. I picked up the first issue for a friend and read it myself before delivering it and now I'm totally hooked. 90's nostalgia helps, but I think it stands on it's own as well if you didn't grow up with TMNT.

Quite agreeable!

Its an excellent story and it deserves all of the praise it receives. I'm glad I'm in a book club that put this in front of me because I never would have read it otherwise! I've now read the book, watched the movie, and watched the BBC series and it's all great.

I've rated it on the low end because as good as it was, I REALLY struggled to get through the book. There's a language barrier akin to reading Shakespeare, and I eventually had to abandon the written text in favour of an audio book. I enjoyed it, but it was work.

All in all, I'm a fan of the story but I don't think I'll be diving into other Jane Austen works any time soon.

The Name of the Wind is quite possibly one of the best books I've ever read. The 5 stars I'm giving it seem inadequate, and I whole heartedly recommend to anyone.

Read this book!

Excellent! It was better than the first book, however the conclusion was not nearly as satisfying and is more of a segway into book three.

My only criticism is that the world started to feel small after we discover who some of the players in the game are. I want to keep my review spoiler free, so I'll just say that I found the “big reveals” to be a bit underwhelming in the grand scheme of things.

All in all, it's been a great series so far and I'm glad I've stuck with it. On to book three!

I'm really torn on where I land with this book. Lyra is such a fun character, the bears are awesome, and the overall world is really neat. On the other hand the main character has a device that can answer any question you could imagine and she NEVER uses it.

Overall I think if you're looking for a fun and unique fantasy read it's a safe bet you'll enjoy it. It was a great book club pick and gave us a lot to talk about!

This book was dense!

It's so difficult to sum up everything else the story covers. Gender and sexuality is front and center since the Gethenians are a human species that do not have a static sexuality and the author has done an amazing job of building two societies of people that are very different from each other and from us.

On top of gender and sexuality, it also takes place on an ice age planet with a drastically different ecosystem from our own, and the Gethenians have developed some really advanced technologies to cope with their climate, while also ignoring entire fields of study. It gives some really cool alternate history vibes that I really enjoyed reading about.

It's also one of the best examples (that I can think of) of a story where you can read it twice and have two different experiences. Gethenian politics and rhetoric is all about subtly and many of the early conversations will read completely differently after gaining a better understanding of shifgrethor (their honor system).

It's probably not for everyone... it's a slower read and I think very character driven, but if you can get through the earlier parts and get comfortable with the onslaught of new words and concepts it's very rewarding.

I'm really glad I read this book, and it's going to be an excellent source of conversation at book club!

I honestly have no idea what to think about this book. It is the exact opposite of pretentious and it made me feel all kinds of things about WWII that no other media has.

I really can't wait for our book club to discuss this one because there's a lot to unpack here and I don't even know where to start.

Fantastic story, characters, and art. There are many layers to this book and I suspect this is not the first time I will read it.

I get why it's a classic, and it provides a lot of food for though if to choose to take your time with it. I didn't find it to have an overly captivating story though, and I didn't really care about the characters.

Meh. Not great, not bad either. Glad I read it.

A trip through Hell. So incredibly bleak and depressing, yet also somehow kept me holding on to a small shred of hope. I recommend this to everyone, but also with a warning that it's going to hurt.

If you like fantasy you NEED to read this book.

The Way of Kings is a journey through a world like nothing I've imagined before. A place ravaged by storms so harsh that topsoil is alien and the only living Flora have adapted to hide in porus rock or retract into shell-like exoskeletons. Horses have been replaced by giant hermit crabs, and man's best friend has antenna and six legs. To top it all off, the ruling class are determined by their eye colour and the most powerful kingdoms are those that posses “shards” and “plates”; magical swords and armor leftover from a forgotten era. More I learned about the world the more I grew to love it, and despite being so alien it was never so off-putting that I was pushed away. It pulled me in and kept me wanting to experience more.

The story is told through the perspectives of wildly different characters: an uncle to a king, a slave in the king's army, and young woman on a quest to become a renowned scholar. There wasn't a single character I didn't want to know more about, and when the perspective changed from one to the other I was always eager to progress through their personal journeys.

This book has everything. Magic, epic battles, politics, tragedy, humor, redemption, forgiveness, betrayal, and delicious campfire stew. I seriously can't recommend it enough. Do yourself a favour and read this book!

I don't even know where to start, it was such a good read! The dialog between the children felt a little awkward at first, but the book moves on quickly and it's tough to put down once the story gets rolling.

If you like Stephen King you'll like this book. If you've never read Stephen King you could start here and be happy.