I am quite sad to say this didn't really work for me. It was fine, just fine not good or great, up until the halfway point, when my interest just sortI am quite sad to say this didn't really work for me. It was fine, just fine not good or great, up until the halfway point, when my interest just sort of flopped and sagged, and my emotions gave up on it. The book is well-written in the sense that the prose is good and the dialogue interesting, but the premise here I think was a wasted premise. I think the author was trying to create a fun meta romance but the meta aspects didn't work for me, and I didn't really care about the fake world she was creating. The excerpts from the fake book series were not fun to read. That is essential in this type of book. I also didn't care at all about the love interest or the other drama that was going on. The most interesting parts of this book were very much underused: the main character's relationship with her best friend, and the best friend's lesbian romance with another vampire. Maybe a case of the story being told about the wrong character?
I do know this book suffered because I read Long Live Evil in July, and they have very similar premises (LLE did it better).
I'm not mad I read this, but it's not really my thing! It's literary near-future sci-fi, where AI has become universal, to the point that there are AII'm not mad I read this, but it's not really my thing! It's literary near-future sci-fi, where AI has become universal, to the point that there are AI beings called Hums walking around everywhere, replacing human jobs. Our MC worked testing and programming them, and now she has been made obsolete. She's floating in potential economic ruin when she gets the chance to participate in an experiment. She will become surgically unrecognizable to AI, and they will pay her almost a full year's salary. But instead, she impulsively uses a lot of the money to take her family to an expensive nature reserve that only rich people use. She also takes the time to unplug her family from their devices and their AI. Both of these things have unforeseen consequences.
If the Hums would have been more of a plot focus, this would get a full-throated four stars from me, but this was more of a slice of life, contemplative book, and that kind of things is never going to catch my interest the way actual plot will. And the writing style wasn't amusing or clever, things that could have made up for that lack. Also, there is a huge focus on family and motherhood, which also aren't really my things in fiction.
Basically, this was a perfectly fine book which could be great for someone else.
I rated this four stars the first time I read it. I think that was because I hadn't read the rest of the series yet, and now that I have in my head whI rated this four stars the first time I read it. I think that was because I hadn't read the rest of the series yet, and now that I have in my head what this series can really do when it's going, this one just feels a little anemic in comparison. Also, it's such a weird book that I didn't know what to make of it at the time, but I can see what he's doing now that I've read the rest of it. In fact, there were SO many little lines in here that hint towards things to come, in the opening scenes of the second book, even, I almost couldn't believe it. He wrote the first chapter of this back in 1978, so he really must have outlined the shit out of it to foreshadow things he wouldn't get around to writing for another twenty-five years.
This book was infamously inspired by the poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by Robert Browning, but also King just let his inner self go. This series is chock full of allusions to other works, Arthurian legend, science fiction, horror, and ties in to many of King's other books, including It and The Stand. So it's one of those where you can go along for the story--in this case, Roland is chasing a man wearing black through a desert for as some yet unknown purpose and reason--or you can go down the rabbit hole. I have chosen the rabbits.
I've really got two reasons for my lowered rating. One, the characters and worldbuilding are much more fleshed out later. This book acts as a prologue to Roland's journey (and if you've read the last book, a little something else), hinting at things to come but not really giving up much information otherwise. It can't really stand on its own, in that it doesn't make full sense, and also that it isn't a full story. It does have a mini-arc of Roland crossing a line that means he has fully committed to finding the Dark Tower, but as we don't yet know what any of that means, the narrative satisfaction of it is minimal. Roland, the man in black, and Jake feel more like prototypes here, as if they appeared to King and he himself is still trying to figure out a bit what's going on with them.
The second reason for my lowered rating is that I had truly forgotten how unpleasant the first third of this book is. I hate apocalyptic stories with very few exceptions, and that first section is an apocalyptic western that is full of nastiness and horror, and it was a lot. Later, the storytelling and the characters King creates makes the nasty moments more bearable and gives them more context, but starting out the story with all that brutal unpleasantness isn't personally my favorite.
Anyway, this is definitely a key part of the series, but it's not ever going to be my favorite. I'm so excited to get to revisit my favorites now, hopefully very soon.
This is sticking at a rounded up four stars. The stuff I liked is outweighing the stuff I think needed some work. Definitely in for books two and threThis is sticking at a rounded up four stars. The stuff I liked is outweighing the stuff I think needed some work. Definitely in for books two and three.
Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
This was informative and clearly written, but it wasn'Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
This was informative and clearly written, but it wasn't as engrossing as I hoped it would be, mainly because of the style and the organization (which I couldn't really figure out). But also because he was weirdly defensive of the industry being built on Everest, and weirdly critical of anyone who criticized it, and it just rubbed me the wrong way. The focus he gives the Sherpas and their growing control over the industry on the mountain that is in their country, not the world's, was great, but I can't explain it, I just felt weird about some of how he wrote this. I knew going in this wasn't going to be a narrative thrill ride like Into Thin Air and other disaster books (Cockrell and people he interviews are very critical of Krakauer, which also rubbed me the wrong way) but I wish it would have had some sort of thread for me to follow. ...more
One verrry uncomfy and confusing scene aside, I had a lot of fun with this. The audiobook is just as good as everyone has said. I love LitRPG when donOne verrry uncomfy and confusing scene aside, I had a lot of fun with this. The audiobook is just as good as everyone has said. I love LitRPG when done well and when not offensively misogynist (which I don't think this was, aside from a few nitpicks) because the feeling of coming along for the ride of a game or puzzle makes my brain very happy. Plus a talking cat is a main character. I will definitely be continuing the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
Okay, so, this book was not AT ALL what I was Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
Okay, so, this book was not AT ALL what I was expecting going in, based on the blurb. If you are expecting emotional good times and characters to identify with ala Murderbot, stop expecting that.
Our main character, Uncharles, goes on a sort of picaresque philosophical journey of What Does It Mean to Be Alive, with each section of the book being an ode/homage to a different classic (mostly sff) author: Agatha Christie, Franz Kafka, George Orwell, Luis Borges, and Dante Alighieri. Each section of the book has a different feel, and I liked some a lot more than others. The first section, Christie (spelled KR15-T bc robots) plays like a farce, as our main character murders his master but has no memory of it, and his programming and that of the other robots turns the whole situation into one of ridiculous proportions as they attempt to follow commands that make no sense.
Oh, and by the way, this is a world in which humans are vanishingly rare, as they seem to have turned over all their thinking, duties, and tasks to robots, and then as far as I can tell, disappeared.
All in all, Adrian Tchaikovsky continues to be weird and creative and I will continue reading his strange books as long as he keeps writing them, but I do prefer to have an emotional attachment to the characters I'm reading about, and because Uncharles is not yet a Real Boy for most of this novel, I had a really hard time with that and kept wanting to be reading something else.
Note: The audiobook is read by the author, and his voice is bAnAnAs. He does such a great job, he should just narrate all of his audiobooks from now on.
I think I will nearly always like a true crime adjacent book. Add in the faux oral history aspect of this one, and the fact that it's about a family wI think I will nearly always like a true crime adjacent book. Add in the faux oral history aspect of this one, and the fact that it's about a family who choose to go on a reality TV show "to find their missing daughter" and my interest in this was pretty huge. It mostly delivered, but it was also a pretty straightforward thriller without much of interest to say about true crime or reality TV beyond that it's gross, exploitative, and hurts people. It also kind of shot itself in the foot in terms of story tension, as the twists nearly always gave themselves away, mostly it seems on purpose?
So Kill Show is a fake oral history (the story is entirely told in interviews done by an invisible interviewer) about the events surrounding the reality TV show Searching for Sara ten years earlier. We are told this will be a published book, concerning the reality show and the events surrounding it. We hear from nearly everyone, including Sara's father, who is in prison for a reason we won't learn until later.
The plot was reasonably twisty, the characters reasonably interesting. There is a strange, toxic doomed sort of romance at the heart of the book, which I found a bit puzzling, but whatever. But again, the reveal that Sara is dead is given to us very early on. Why wasn't that a twist? The author has created a situation where we as readers know nothing, and all the characters know mostly everything, so why not play with that more? It could have been two plot twists instead of one (well three instead of two, but spoilers), first that Sara was dead, and second the reveal of how she died. Instead, the main source of intrigue in the plot is finding out why she died.
The audiobook was pretty good, even though none of the narrators really stood out to me. It's always fun to get a full cast narration, especially in books like this one that are playing with the line of reality and trying to make you forget what happened here is fiction.
Wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to recommend this to anyone, but it was a good time if you like this sort of thing.
Very sad to say that I very much disliked this. Awful execution of a potentially promising premise. All kills, no brains. I'd pass on this one if I weVery sad to say that I very much disliked this. Awful execution of a potentially promising premise. All kills, no brains. I'd pass on this one if I were any of you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
Glorious Exploits is a semi-unhinged historicalThanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
Glorious Exploits is a semi-unhinged historical fiction novel about two dudes living in Sicily during the Peloponnesian War who decide they're going to take advantage of the Athenian prisoners of war currently being kept in their town's quarry in order to put on a production of Euripides's Medea, a super cheerful play about child murder.
Two things drew me to this: that cover (I mean . . .) And the fact that it was set on Sicily, the home of my ancestors. For all I know, one of these two dudes is the reason I'm alive! Or someone like him, anyway. Also, it sounded ridiculous, and indeed it was! Did I mention that the author is Irish and the Sicilian characters talk in Irish vernacular?
I think I would have rated this higher had I done the audiobook, as I did have a bit of a hard time keeping my attention on the e-book, but this is a funny and surprisingly hard-hitting book that executes a very weird premise with skill.
This was a fun time, but not a perfect read. Definitely worth checking out, though, and supporting the first big-five traditionally published Native rThis was a fun time, but not a perfect read. Definitely worth checking out, though, and supporting the first big-five traditionally published Native romance novel. Will be very interested to see what this author does in the future now that she has her more autobiographical debut out of the way.
This was just fine for me! I would read more by the author, but this felt a little derivative, and also like the author didn't truly understand traumaThis was just fine for me! I would read more by the author, but this felt a little derivative, and also like the author didn't truly understand trauma responses, or neurodivergence. Still, a good enough time!
This wasn't as clever as I wanted it to be, and I think it wasted the premise a bit, but overall I had a fun time 30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4 Book 4/30
This wasn't as clever as I wanted it to be, and I think it wasted the premise a bit, but overall I had a fun time reading it, and I finished it in a day, so clearly I can't have that many complaints.
The main plot features Annie Adams learning that she has just been made an inheritor of her great-aunt Frances's will, a woman she's never met, and traveling to the small town of Castle Knoll to meet with her aunt and a lawyer. The thing about Frances is that since she received a particularly ominous fortune at the age of sixteen, she has been convinced that she will be murdered, and spent most of her life preparing either to try and counter the murder, or provide her heirs with enough information to bring her killer to justice. She also spent a great deal of time investigating the disappearance of her friend Emily when they were seventeen.
Both of these things become relevant when Frances is found murdered before Annie can even meet her, and suddenly she's in competition with Frances's great-nephew by marriage to solve her murder. Whoever solves her murder inherits her substantial fortune, and they have files of clues to do it with, clues Frances has been collecting for sixty plus years.
For the first half of the book, Annie was way too passive, and that is the main reason for my 3.5 star rating. She didn't actually start detecting until the last half. Before that, information just came to her. Some of this can be written off by the fact that she was concentrating on learning the town and its residents, something the other guy didn't need to do because he lived there. She's also distracted by a journal from Frances's teenage years which seems to hold vital information. The thing that makes this all workable is that we also do not know these people or this town. But I still think the author could have overcome this in some other way so that her MC was more pro-active sooner.
The mystery itself was suitably twisty, and the cozy atmosphere of the town worked nicely with how secretly shady all its residents were.
I think I will be reading on in the series. There was a moment in here that I thought was just lovely* that really was the reason I upped my rating to four stars, and which made me think this author's writing can get even better. I probably won't be buying them, though; it will be library all the way.
*(view spoiler)[Annie thinks about how all the shithead teenagers in Frances's life/diary all had a chance to grow up and become better people, but Emily (who was a piece of work) never did. It got me all teary! (hide spoiler)]
I’m glad that my DNFing of a book I thought was terrible only thirty pages in led to me picking this book up much, much sooner than I would have otherI’m glad that my DNFing of a book I thought was terrible only thirty pages in led to me picking this book up much, much sooner than I would have otherwise, because I really enjoyed myself, despite some nitpicks I have with this, mostly to do with the author being a debut author, and an extremely young one. Overall, she feels like an author who could have some really, truly great books down the line.
This book, which the author started writing when she was in high school, is about three people whose fates are tied together through the ages. There is a prophecy, there is time travel, there are anti-monarchy gay English princes. Most of it takes place split between two timelines: the far future in 6066, and in Regency England 1812. And all of it centers people of color. The author, a self-identified Black nerd girl, wrote this book because it’s the kind of story she loves*, and she wanted to write a story with someone like her inside of it. The joy and imagination is just brimming from this thing, but at the same time that also works to its detriment. The structure and plot are a little overly complicated, and it definitely reads like a debut.
*She is clearly a massive Doctor Who fan.
I find myself feeling similarly towards this book as I did when The Bone Season, Samantha Shannon’s precocious debut, popped up on the scene. This is a person who can write, and will write some bangers in the future, but they do need some more time to mature before that can happen. I do like this book a lot better than I liked The Bone Season, though, for a couple reasons. First, this is a nerd in her element, having fun with her imagination, whereas Shannon went pretentious with it. She eventually learned to reign those instincts in, but nerdy joy is always going to win out over pretentiousness with me. Second, Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is writing not just about people of color in a market (sff) that doesn’t see many women even get a chance to succeed, but she’s also writing in science fiction and adventure, two genres that are white male-dominated. There were A LOT of special girl falls in love with dark brooding guy who should be an enemy books even back in 2013, and there just aren’t that many fun adventure books that play with romance and time and obscure physics concepts. It feels fresh.
Anyway, all that long-windedness to say that I think this is a book worth checking out, and I can’t wait to see what this author does in the future.
(the cover, however, is terrible; i personally don't like the look of it, but also, it makes the book seem like a middle grade story, a story for young readers, when really it's more of an all-ages story and is categorized as adult)
[3.5 stars, rounded up]
r/fantasy BINGO: Author of Color (Hard Mode)...more
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
I'm seriously so torn on whether to round thisThanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
I'm seriously so torn on whether to round this one up or down. I'd written this author off after reading their first book, which didn't work for me at all. But this premise sounded really cute and I'd seen some good-ish reviews, so I thought I'd give them another shot. And this is indeed a much better book than their first! (I still don't want to read their second, and probably won't read any more after this.) But it's also pretty flawed in a way that made it really hard to fall into the story.
I liked the first half of this quite a bit, as Phoebe and Grace got to know each other. Grace is the ten year veteran and Phoebe the energetic rookie. And then the author decided that really doubling down on the miscommunication trope would be a great idea, resulting in the extremely agonizing-to-read result of one of the characters thinking they are dating for a whole month and the other having no idea. On top of this, one of the characters is so mistrustful it verges on paranoia, and is on the autism spectrum disorder (without knowing it). And all of this sort of sploots together in a way that was embarrassing and distressing. The end sort of made up for it, but I had already checked out. It was too much for one story. Just the paranoia/mistrust on the one character's part would have been too much for me.
When their chemistry is working, though, the book was very absorbing. The sex scenes in here are SEX SCENES. Although like other reviewers, it got a bit frustrating to see them constantly using sex to distract from actually communicating.
Worth noting, I did the audio version, which made it easier to overlook the very extensive internal monologues other people seemed to have such trouble with, judging by other reviews, but also I didn't really like either narrator, and they didn't enhance the story for me. I particularly think the narrator for Phoebe was a mismatch.
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