Montgomery Webster
Male review:
Story: 8 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 6
Prose: 4
Fifty Shades of Grey is a surprisingly good book. I've asked countless woman what they thought of it and they always described it as a terrible book and a guilty pleasure. Obviously, I was curious and it was a good opportunity to explore more romance novels.
Turns out the story is actually fascinating. The reader is taken on a first love adventure with a university alumnus who is rather difficult to impress. The relationship creates an intriguing conflict from the start and the story flows around the secretive pair nicely. The prose is rather weak. However, it never really detracts from the strengths of the plot. There is also far too much erotica, but maybe that comes with the genre. My impression is that most people that really disliked the book have these aforementioned criticisms. If you can overcome these two shortcomings, this is a worthwhile read and a strange adventure.
I've also heard that this was Twilight fan fiction, but sadly it is too difficult to find. In fact, this book is quite a bit better than Twilight.
The 5 other books I've read about How to Write have all been far more productive reads than this - https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3358627?shelf=writing&sort=rating
Half the book is a memoir, admittedly related to Stephen King's writing history from an early age. For fans of the author's work, this book might be a lot of fun. For others looking for writing advice, pretty much any other book will be more useful.
The amount of actually writing advice in this book can be bullet-pointed on less than a page. King admits that most of the advice is borrowed from The Elements of Style. King is also a pantser; he “distrusts plot”. Most of lessons are straightforward advice you've either heard before or will easily find when you read a real book on How to Write, e.g., “express the truth”.
King repeatedly mentions “You don't need writing classes or seminars any more than you need this or any other book on writing”. So why would he write this book? King takes 6-week breaks after finishing each 1st draft. On Writing easily could have been written during one of these breaks, as simply a way to let his mind rest and distance itself from the main project.
On Writing is personal piece King wanted to write, but ultimately will not benefit any readers looking to improve their craft. This is not the book you're looking for.
Probably the most recently published book I ever read, only 6 months old. It was good. Not necessary at all for the Shadow series. Nevertheless, it was nice to be reading scientific fiction again. The family dynamic was very interesting and all the deaths poetic.
Story: 4.5 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 10
Prose: 7
I wonder if this is the last book I'll read. Seems like I read only bad books. Should I stop reading, move to comic books, or only read authors I already like?
Not terribly good. The prose is solid and strong, but the story is boring and drawn out. It reminds me a lot of The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. What Poe did in a short story has been extended to a full-length novel here. Sort of a waste, but will consider Zola again, only upon recommendation though.
More like poetry and suicidology, than a stand alone book. In fact, the book seems to be completely composed of separate articles written by the author, strongly supported by a large quote found repeated in two sections. Nevertheless, the first chapter is an interesting personal account of Silva Plath's suicide is a worthwhile read. Then, of course, there are the quotes, which really should be published in a one-a-day calendar.
