Eric

The first 200 pages were pretty great, but the rest was mind-numbingly boring. Monte Cristo is an iconic character but the rest were entirely forgettable and unrealistic. Two thumbs down.

Absolute masterpiece. This is the most wildly inventive and creative work I've ever read. Beautiful and disturbing writing and world building.

Just amazing. While the first was good, this blows it out of the water. Great characters and world building. Got so dark and weird with incredibly memorable moments. Certainly one of my all time favorite reading experiences.

Leans a bit more fantasy than I usually read, but I found the characters more enjoyable than Dune or Red Rising since he actually makes mistakes, has regrets, learns lessons and shows growth. While a bit too long, I felt it gradually cranked up the excitement and increasingly showed signs of a larger universe before really finishing off well. From what I've heard, I'll unquestionably be sticking it through at least book 2 before making final judgements, but overall very good.

It was an absolute chore trying to read this book. Extremely dense writing that I couldn't even follow or pay attention to after reading the chapter summary prior to the chapter itself. I somehow made it halfway through this book before realizing I can just stop and life will be better.

Didn't exactly live up to my expectations. Definitely has a lot of interesting ideas, but I never felt like it was overly engaging at any point and the writing/dialogue was a bit simple.

Quite a step up from book one, which really just feels like a Prologue. Entertaining almost the whole way constantly building up and increasing in excitement. The end was just ok.

A slow-burn with not the most likeable or interesting characters. But by the end, the book really starts to pick up steam and present some interesting ideas. I'm really excited to get into books 2 and 3, which I've heard are even better.

Great read. Pretty short and easy, felt much more modern than the 70 years old it is. Hit on really interesting themes. It didn't explore some of them as much as it could have, but overall a thought-provoking experience that was enjoyable start to finish.

A bit sporadic and shallow – the plot jumps around so much that it's hard to get really invested at any specific moment. The historical elements were interesting, the humor was unexpected, but overall it was ok. I didn't feel like it was particularly “anti-war” as some claim.

A surprisingly different experience than the first. I can understand how people might go in expecting more of the same greatness and be disappointed, but overall, I found this book extremely interesting and thought-provoking, even if it was different from the original. It started out a bit slow for me, but really gained steam and finished off incredibly strong. I actually found myself tearing up at the end. I never thought I'd have such an emotional reaction to any book, much less a fictional one. This has to be my favorite series of all time.

Absolutely loved this book. The themes and elements were so interesting to me. It's crazy to think how much diversity is packed into a book that's not that long. Very efficiently written and by quite a bit, my favorite reading experience.

Best book in the series. Very interesting ideas and concepts, but a bit longer than necessary and the characters are mostly uninteresting and flat. Overall great finish to the series which constantly dialed it up.

What is wrong with me? I hated this book...

Wow, this was really good. Not an accurate description content-wise, but it kind of felt like an American/sci-fi anime in that it's really fast-paced, not to be taken super seriously, but also pretty bad-ass. Lots of memorable moments, intense twists, and interesting character relationships. This was a great read.

A great, entertaining, and motivational read. Really gave me a respect and appreciation for where the sport came from. The book tailed off at the end going into other random topics, which I didn't pay attention to and didn't finish, but the core of the book was a thrill.

3.5 stars. This book had some very compelling moments and characters. Pretty simple writing, but it's a quick read and high emotional impact. I've heard the following books are quite a step up, so I'll definitely have to check them out at some point.

Impossibly boring