Giu
King made me cry like a baby for the second time with one of his books.
On an objective level, the story wasn't particularly special, but something about it just made me love it anyway, especially the characters.
Another great short story collection! With The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling and The Great Silence, it had a slightly lower low than Chiang's other collection, but The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate and Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom made sure that the high stayed on the same level! Chiang is simply brilliant!
Gave up at 56%.
I read the summary of the next two chapters and decided there's no point in continuing (for now). It's alright, I like the characters, but it's also quite boring. Things happen, but nothing really drives the plot forward. So yeah, Gaiman lost me on this one. Maybe I like another one of his better.
Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐
Phew, this book was quite an adventure ...
Looking back at all the different plot lines and characters, this story feels like several books in one. At the same time, it was surprisingly easy to remember all the characters. Although I'm not sure if every character needed the amount of pages they got – I think some of them would've done fine with less. It didn't happen often, but sometimes it felt a little bit drawn out because of that. But nevertheless, the characters were superb! Such a lovable protagonist!
All in all, I liked Cloud Atlas better, but if you loved Cloud Atlas, you probably wanna read this book as well!
Precise rating: 2.5 ⭐
I'm so disappointed! The writing was beautiful as expected, but the story – though an exciting premise – felt really flat and shallow. I couldn't connect to the characters and the pacing felt weird. Thematically, I was reminded of Call Me by Your Name a few times, but without the same impact that book had had on me.
Not what I'd expected, but great nonetheless!
Butcher knows how to handle Chekhov's gun. He keeps his promises, which made reading this book feel very rewarding. Also: If something can go wrong, it will in this book. There's no time for the story to lose its tension, since shit's hitting the fan 24/7. And I love it!
At least 3.5 stars for the first half of the book. But the second half doesn't deserve more than 1.5, it was just lame. Such a shame. ☹
I am very confused. But this book's path to confusion was definitely an enjoyable one.
Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐
Sometimes it was a little chewy and seemed to develope in a direction that I don't like, but the ending saved the day!
