All of the themes in this book were written with such a heavy hand that the story became a drag.
Those who said this is Jane Austen or Margaret MitchelAll of the themes in this book were written with such a heavy hand that the story became a drag.
Those who said this is Jane Austen or Margaret Mitchell is space were right. I was missing all of the thrilling newness of the ideas that Leckie introduced in "Ancillary Justice" and instead settled for plantation politics, the inner melodrama of the decades on Mercy of Kalr, and all of Leckie's barely-concealed political opinions spread thickly onto the plot of this novel.
Moreover, I started to seriously tire of Breq, and I'm mad at Leckie for making Breq so unbearably pompous in this book. Breq knows everything, is always equanimous, has figured everything out before anybody else even catches on... Yes, Breq is an ancillary, but I just couldn't bear how perfect Breq was when everyone else is clearly selfish and human (except for the Presger, and good thing, too - Dlique was probably the most interesting part of this book).
Leckie is still a superb writer and this book does end with some emotion, but most of it was boring and focused more on Breq's navigation of the local culture. It both had a more straightforward plotline and meandered, taking its sweet time to arrive at what were glaringly obvious conclusions, which makes for a dull reading experience.
If you want to read about alien culture, "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet" is much better. This is just human culture in space, and the upstairs/downstairs drama was a turnoff.
Rounding it up because I appreciate that this is a debut and the writer has writing talent (which seems like i2.5 stars
Moulin Rouge meets The Crucible
Rounding it up because I appreciate that this is a debut and the writer has writing talent (which seems like it should be fundamental to getting a book deal, but based on the number of terribly written books out there, is not!).
However... I was disappointed by this book. There was one point about 60% in when I got hooked, but mostly I felt lukewarm about this. I'm not a fan of witches and books that pit the Church vs demons as black-and-white/good-and-evil . By the end, the lines blur, by a) Mahurin didn't convince me that Reid's character was that malleable - it seemed forced and therefore not a believable change of heart, and b) 95% of the book was about eye-rollingly stereotypical, church-dwelling witch huntsman vs eye-rollingly stereotypical witches. Think Frollo in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" - that's the Archbishop in "Serpent & Dove", to a T.
I liked Lou and I - hmmm - didn't love Reid (what a self-important, self-righteous bigot!), but it was all over-the-top. It didn't blow my mind. The magic was not amazing. There is so much that is missing in terms of world-building, especially compared to way more complex fantasy worlds, plots and magical systems. The stakes are all there, but Mahurin glosses over them in favor of snark and religious rhetoric (which is so boring and repetitive).
But the irritating religiosity and the failure to deep-dive into this world ultimately couldn't convince me to invest and I probably won't continue with the rest of the series....more
Finished this in one go on a flight from London to Miami. Easy, breezy. Classic set-up, nothing unusual - very much mystery wheelhouse. The victim andFinished this in one go on a flight from London to Miami. Easy, breezy. Classic set-up, nothing unusual - very much mystery wheelhouse. The victim and murderer were easy to guess. The two hunting lodge caretakers were drawn weakly. It being New Years Eve and the middle of the Scottish wilderness, there was a LOT of drinking going on (way too much)....more
I liked the pacing of this one much better than the first book, which took 450 pages to really get started. It still didn't suck me in like o3.5 stars
I liked the pacing of this one much better than the first book, which took 450 pages to really get started. It still didn't suck me in like other fantasy books. Some of the characters here are wonderful; some still feel very young, like a YA fantasy.
However, one of the scenes - the one when Kennit and Wintrow visit Others Island - was absolutely stunning in the way it was imagined, written and told. Breathtaking. Masterful. I could feel the rain beating down on me and my heart was in my throat.
I'm not shouting from the rooftops about this series, but I do think Robin Hobb is a wonderful writer and I'm definitely in for Liveship Traders #3 and the end of this trilogy!
A sample of the writing that I loved:
"Everyone thinks that courage is about facing death without flinching. But almost anyone can do that. Almost anyone can hold their breath and not scream for as long as it takes to die. True courage is facing life without flinching. I don't mean the times when the right path is hard, but glorious at the end. I'm talking about enduring the boredom, and the messiness, and the inconvenience of doing what is right." - Althea
"No, you stop. Stop thinking you're the son your father disowned. You're not who he expected you to be; that doesn't mean you aren't somebody. Nor are you perfect. Stop using every mistake you make as an excuse to fail completely." - Althea...more
An enjoyable adventure romance. I liked the large scope of it, the desert setting, the treasure hunt. These two write really well and they co3.5 stars
An enjoyable adventure romance. I liked the large scope of it, the desert setting, the treasure hunt. These two write really well and they constantly spun smart phrases that surprised me. There was just a bit too much romance for me - the "waves of desire" and "she had forgotten his thighs, thick and muscular". If they would have dimmed down the constant swooning, and developed the characters a little more, it would have been a much better book....more
A pretty light-hearted look at pregnancy that's full of sometimes brutally accurate truths mitigated by Vicki Iovine's sense of humor and practicalityA pretty light-hearted look at pregnancy that's full of sometimes brutally accurate truths mitigated by Vicki Iovine's sense of humor and practicality. The book is well-written and moves along through a lot of topics thoroughly, but also at a good pace. I appreciated the irreverence as so many books wallow in drippy pools of sincerity and preachy upbraiding.
Yes, the book is definitely dated (there's a whole section about the pregnancy wardrobe and it does make serious reference to shoulder pads), but all-in-all it was a fun book to dive into at various stages of my pregnancy....more
Quiet and very sweet, a bit too much so for me. I definitely enjoyed the first two books in this loosely-tied-together series better than the last thrQuiet and very sweet, a bit too much so for me. I definitely enjoyed the first two books in this loosely-tied-together series better than the last three. I still think that Chambers is extraordinary, from the quality of her writing to the originality of her thoughts. This one just didn't wow me....more
This is one of the weirdest reading experiences I've had. I went into starting the Liveship Traders series with high hopes, as I was a big fan of the This is one of the weirdest reading experiences I've had. I went into starting the Liveship Traders series with high hopes, as I was a big fan of the Farseer Trilogy (although Book 3 really disappointed me). I hated the first 450 pages of Ship of Magic. Absolutely hated them and thought every time about quitting the book. But something about Robin Hobb's writing just pulls me in, and so I persisted.
The first 450 pages are slow. The characters are not very interesting. It reads more like a YA fantasy book than an adult fantasy. There's none of the characters who are instantly intriguing and with whom you fall in love, like in the Farseer Trilogy. But once the book finally gets going, there are enough threads of interest there that kept me reading, and once I was halfway through the book, I was much more engaged. I wouldn't say the book did an about-face, because I still don't really like the characters, but, what can I say? Robin Hobb is a master.
It definitely wasn't a perfect read, and the world of pirates and ships is not as interesting to me as a classic fantasy like the Farseer Trilogy, but I'm going to continue the series. Already bought book 2!...more
Methinks this doctor has stocks in "smart sleeper" cribs. They're mentioned about 50 times throughout the book, along with his DVD and his book on todMethinks this doctor has stocks in "smart sleeper" cribs. They're mentioned about 50 times throughout the book, along with his DVD and his book on toddlers.
I didn't find this nearly as well-rounded or enjoyable as Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby, but this book obviously works. There are videos all over Youtube of people using the 5 S's to soothe their fussy newborns and babies - and I'm definitely going to be applying these methods, too.
The book was just too long-winded to warrant a higher rating. The beginning is padded, information is repeated over and over, and he bonks you over the head again and again with his conclusions. Maybe it's just what overtired "drunk" newborn parents need, but for this reader it was a little much....more
A rather disappointing end to this trilogy, seeing as I loved Assassin's Apprentice and Royal Assassin. I'm still giving it 3 stars for the fantastic A rather disappointing end to this trilogy, seeing as I loved Assassin's Apprentice and Royal Assassin. I'm still giving it 3 stars for the fantastic scope of Hobb's imagination, her prose, and the fact that I love this world that she has created, BUT I had high hopes for Assassin's Quest and I felt this book did not do the trilogy justice. I would have much preferred Hobb scrap 90% of the first 400 pages and use those pages to lead us into battle - Elderlings vs Red Ships. The fact that this - the entire point of this trilogy - was tidily summed up in a chapter at the end was absolutely disheartening and disrespectful to the fans who had traversed thousands of pages to reach this point.
We needed more action, more battles, more saving the Six Duchies than Fitz's hideously dull tromp across Farrow to the Blue Lake while disguised as a shepherd (yes, it's as boring as it sounds), following a mountain path on an ancient map (where all the action happened in dreams/Skilling and not while on the road), and the literally chipping away of stone to create a dragon. These repetitive tasks consumed hundreds of pages of this book, not to mention other such activities stirred, shaken, and repeated dozens of times, like Fitz dipping in to Skill-visit Molly, Nettle and Burrich, and Fitz and Nighteyes hunting.
Mostly, though, I missed the characters I had grown to love. For the first 400 pages of the book, Fitz is practically alone. Burrich and Chade make appearances, but not in a satisfactory way. And in the last half of the book, the weariness of their journey and the position they have been put in make beloved characters like The Fool, Kettricken and Verity shadows of themselves.
While there were a few shining moments at the end, mostly I felt robbed of the ending I wanted and which I know Hobb could have brilliantly delivered....more
I previously read and enjoyed her book The Dinner List, which had its fair share of flaws, but ended up beRebecca Serle does not write perfect books.
I previously read and enjoyed her book The Dinner List, which had its fair share of flaws, but ended up being a fairly emotional and thought-provoking read. It's based on a simple premise - if you could invite any five people to dinner, who would they be? - and then takes off from there into a mix of reality and fantasy.
Similarly, In Five Years has the appearance of being a light read, but digs in much deeper, touching on heavy topics that might have you tearing up. This book, too, starts with a simple premise - where do you think you'll be in five years? - and then proceeds to blow the roof off of what protagonist Dannie Kohan is so certain her future contains.
However.
The execution of this book had me grinding my teeth in frustration. While I admit that I flew through it, helped along by incredibly short chapters (often just 3 pages in an already short book - Serle moves through five years of plot in 250 pages), I found this book to be pretty glaringly upper-middle-class privileged white people of New York material. This doesn't often bother me, and I don't particularly seek out diverse books, but in this book, it did. There is a LOT of materialism in this book, and a lot of it is around food. There is food mentioned on every page. All these people do is eat out and order in, and we hear about every single meal, every item ordered, and all the previous times these characters met and ate in the same place. For God's sake, when her fiance is meeting her in Bryant Park for lunch, we even hear from Dannie about the proximity of two restaurants to the park and why it makes sense that they order from them. There are also ridiculous lines about spending $700 on dinners ("oh well") and buying $3000 wedding dresses within 10 minutes of being in the store (and then fantasizing about ordering a custom Oscar de la Renta wedding dress, no matter the cost). This kind of talk bores me to death. I really don't care where they ate, how much they spent, and how much they earn, how much it cost to renovate their apartment, that their suit was Theory and their boss wore custom Armani, and that they have been sneaking Botox injections behind their fiance's back since the age of 29 (I'm not making any of this up - it's all in the story) - this is all seriously irritating padding. And that padding was a good 15% of the words in this book - that is not an exaggeration.
The food/spending comments are just an indication of the type of people we are talking about. The ones who fly to Paris for a weekend on a whim, and buy apartments in Manhattan while in their 20s. I'm not saying that they do not have substance, because - even if they are a bit cliched - the characters are fine. I just hate that their lives revolve around these cliche New Yorker activities. But then again, maybe they are just that shallow.
I really loved the premise of the book, but unfortunately it didn't live up to its promise. I'm a sucker for Sliding Doors-type stories about alternative paths in life, and this one had a great moment when Dannie wakes up, five years into the future, in a place and with a man she doesn't recognize at all. This part was really well done. It was getting to that point in time, five years down the road, that was full of Hamptons summers and endless lunches/dinners that drained the excitement from the story. Dannie is dreading this December 15th date so much that she'll tell you all about the tip they left at the Greek diner on West 29th Street rather than actually put her feet forward and get there.
Once she does get there, the ending wasn't what I was expecting. I don't think Serle got it wrong, but it was much less romantic than I thought it would be. ...more
I listened to the BBC radio production of this book, which was very enjoyable.
But I had a number of issues with this plot. Spoilers ahead!
At3.5 stars
I listened to the BBC radio production of this book, which was very enjoyable.
But I had a number of issues with this plot. Spoilers ahead!
At the start of this book, Nick has had four attempts on her life made, including one right in front of Hercule Poirot when she is shot at in the hotel garden in which he's staying. What is Nick's actual motive in setting herself up as the victim of a would-be murderer? If she is after her cousin Maggie's secret fortune, inherited from pilot Michael Seton who does on a round-the-world trip, then why can't she just invite Maggie - who is already planning to come down to visit Nick that Tuesday - to visit a day early? I'm sure that Nick could have found a way to kill Maggie without arousing suspicion about herself. Why did she need to invent this very complex plot that someone is trying to kill her (Nick), draw attention to herself, involve Poirot and Hastings and the police, and take all these risks in order to have an excuse that the murderer killed Maggie by mistake thinking Maggie was Nick? It seems much easier to come up with a clever way to kill Maggie in a way that regular English detectives would never suspect (especially as Nick is Maggie's loving cousin and has no motive)?
A couple of Nick's "near misses" at the beginning were also never satisfactorily explained at the end. How did she get shot at in the garden if she's the would-be murderer? Or did she just shoot her own hat at home and drop the bullet in the garden where she knew Poirot would find it? And also - her car brakes being tampered with. Jim Lazarus said they weren't, but the auto mechanic swore they were. Was he paid off by Nick? This was never explained (at least not in the radio play).
At the end during Poirot's "little comedy", when the plot is being revealed in a number of clever tricks, there are a number of strange things that happen that throw some added confusion on what is already a pretty complicated case, e.g. Freddie Rice's drug addict husband showing up at Poirot's seance to try to shoot Freddie? Huh? This guy is not part of the book at all and just comes out of the blue at the novel's critical moment and tries without any provocation to kill his wife? This was just too weird and too random; also - the Crofts - their role in this was so odd. They were holding onto the will of a young, vivacious, and healthy young woman in the hopes that... she might die? They could have been waiting another sixty years. I really didn't quite get their role. (Then again, it could have been the radio play that didn't clearly explain this).
While the truth behind this complicated story is very interesting, there really wasn't any way to guess why the criminal did what they did. And there are a few too many convoluted plot points for me to really love this one....more
While I must applaud Yuval Noah Harari for his clarity of thought, his curious mind, and his deep thinking about Big Issues, personally I found this tWhile I must applaud Yuval Noah Harari for his clarity of thought, his curious mind, and his deep thinking about Big Issues, personally I found this to be a little boring. The parts on Power, Justice and particularly Immigration were excellent. Some of the other chapters fell short for me, specifically the last chapter - Meaning - during which Harari uses The Lion King film as the example upon which to base much of the message. I found there to be a lot of repetition throughout, and not in a good way. The same ideas and language continued to echo through many of the chapters....more
I didn't fall in love with this one. It felt very, very formulaic. While I really liked Vanessa's character and her Youtuber lifestyle, I didn't fall I didn't fall in love with this one. It felt very, very formulaic. While I really liked Vanessa's character and her Youtuber lifestyle, I didn't fall for Adrian at all. I couldn't get into him as a lead and not as a romantic partner for Vanessa, either.
Though it had its fair share of problems, The Friend Zone was funnier and sexier by far....more
The first 500 pages of this book were teeth-grittingly unbearable. I'm not a fan of Nesta. I can't honestly understand the people who claim t2.5 stars
The first 500 pages of this book were teeth-grittingly unbearable. I'm not a fan of Nesta. I can't honestly understand the people who claim to be fans of her. She's a hateful, haughty, spoiled, imperious horror in Feyre's life and I don't really care that her ballgowns and pearls were taken away from her. That didn't give her a right to become what she was, to treat Feyre as she did, and it's really not explained in a way that makes Nesta more human or forgivable in this book. It's like SJM just said, "OK, I know I created a monster, now let's set her on a journey towards redemption". And Nesta needs to earn a HELL of a lot of redemption. She's burned every single bridge in her life, shunned every outstretched hand, snarled at every smile, and bitten any hand that's even had the thought of feeding her. She is a nightmare.
But earn redemption she does.
(You still have to ask yourself, though, if this redemption - which is only through being Made with the power of the Cauldron - is really and truly earned. But that's an argument for the end of the book and it depends a lot on whether you end up won over by Nesta - or not.)
So how does her journey begin?(Some spoilers ahead)
Nesta's been Made by the Cauldron, but it hasn't changed her absolutely terrific personality, unfortunately. She's still the same nightmare she was in Books 1-3. So the Night Court decides to give her a good kick in the butt, banishing her to the House of Wind without access to booze or boys - except, of course, Cassian. Yes, the General of Rhysand's Night Court Army has been assigned to babysitting duty. Part of this duty includes training Nesta in squats and lunges. He's been reduced to a personal trainer for 3 hours a day. Yes, the General of Rhysand's Army - which is, by the way, on the verge of impending war - is spending 3 hours a day training Nesta Archeron. Because it's absolutely the best way for an Army General on the brink of war to be spending his precious time.
It gets even better when Nesta decides to turn the House of Wind into an all-female Boot Camp, led by none other than General Cassian and Spymaster Azriel. Because the best use of Azriel's time is also to spend his mornings training Nesta, 4 nuns, and an Illyrian female, who needs to be winnowed to the House of Wind for the Boot Camp. A duty which is performed by a lowly grunt in General Cassian's Army, you ask? Nope. This job of winnowing a female to Boot Camp each morning has been assigned to none other than Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court. Because that's the best use of his time. SJM writes this all - for 500 pages - with a completely straight face and asks us to swallow it without too much eye-rolling. Obviously, I couldn't do that.
OK, now that I've got that off my chest, let's get to my second-biggest no-no in this book: the romance.
"Watching Nesta climax was as close to a religious experience as Cassian had ever had." Did SJM write that line with a straight face? Really? Really? It's just so cheesy.
I'm not sure if Cassian and Nesta really work for me. They definitely don't work for me in the way that Feyre and Rhysand are written-in-the-stars fated. And so how did SJM force this key to fit into the lock? Sex. Lots and lots of sex. Look, I don't mind hot-and-heavy sex scenes if I'm expecting hot-and-heavy sex scenes. In a Sarah J Maas book, I'm not expecting them, I'm not looking for them, and I'm creeped out to read them. This was GRAPHIC in a way that I didn't think it needed to be. There are three or four scenes that are 7-10 pages in length and they are way. too. much. Later in the book things balance out, and the sex scenes are cut down to half a page or one page and that's just fine with me.
The end result of this book?
I liked Nesta a little bit more (maybe, "I accepted Nesta as a part of this world" is a better way to phrase it), and I liked Cassian a little less. Even though he was a central character in this book, his day in the sun was short-lived. Nesta is the beating heart of this story, and the thawing of that ice-cold heart is the narrative arc. But though Nesta's heart melts supposedly because of Cassian's love, I didn't really feel like he did that for her. She learned how to do it herself, with his support. And once again, Cassian is in a supporting role here. He's definitely not the star of the show. His star is pretty dull, actually. He's a lame-duck General running a gym class; he's a frustrated, newly-inducted "courtier" who needs Rhysand and Nesta to really be effective in the role; and he's Nesta's booty call, literally the post against which she scratches her itch. And that's pretty much it. So even the parts of the book told from his perspective don't do much for him - his character development is directly tied to Nesta's growing confidence in herself.
And Rhys and Feyre?
Well, SJM went back to her trusty source - Twilight. It wasn't enough that she ripped a big page from Stephenie Meyer when she brought the "mate" concept into A Court of Mist and Fury (which is certainly a rip-off of Edward and Bella's "imprinting"), but she ripped yet another page from Ms. Meyer when she set Feyre to give birth to... Renesmee. No, not literally. Instead of vampire fangs, little baby Night Court has wings. Wings that are going to rip Feyre's body to shreds and certainly kill her. There is a nice little twist in here that I won't mention, to do with Rhys and Feyre in a related pact, that made this matter even more serious.
Overall?
I'm not sure I'm in love with this world anymore. When SJM wrote Crescent City, she cracked the mold in half over her keyboard and penned something BRILLIANT. I'm sated by Prythian, Valeris and the Night Court. I'll have more of Crescent City, please....more
There's a lot of logic here and a lot that I already agree with, such as organizing hanging clothes by type (I naturally do it in an arrow that pointsThere's a lot of logic here and a lot that I already agree with, such as organizing hanging clothes by type (I naturally do it in an arrow that points up to the right side as she recommends) and doing it all in one go. Stage-by-stage, or room-by-room, is not the way to go. If I had my way, I'd kick my partner out of the house for 4 days and redo everything. I have a feeling that he wouldn't even be able to name 10% of what I threw away. If I lived alone, my apartment would be sparkling with joy, but I don't live alone, and my partner is not interested in going on a 4-day holiday while I redo it all.
I draw the line at thanking my handbag for doing its duty while tucking it in under my bed for the night. At some point in this book, the deeper you go into Marie Kondo's mind, the more you have to wonder: is this her entire life? It's kind of weird. She ends up hospitalized due to helping a client move his furniture, and her first point of duty upon entering any home is to bow to it and thank it. It seems like she lives alone and these rituals bring her a lot of... well, comfort? peace?, if not joy. To each his own.
All in all, it seems like she has brought a lot of joy to a lot of people. It might seem like bunk to some, but good for her and good for them.
3.5 stars I'm just a fan of Adriana Trigiani's books. They won't make your pulse race or have you inching toward the edge of your seat. They're just go3.5 stars I'm just a fan of Adriana Trigiani's books. They won't make your pulse race or have you inching toward the edge of your seat. They're just good yarns.
Big Stone Gap is by far my favorite, and The Queen of the Big Time my least favorite of those I've read so far. It was still a very enjoyable listen, at least until we fast-forward a couple of decades and Nella is turning 50, when the immediacy of the story tapers off and settles. The book becomes less engaging when Nella isn't rising through the ranks of the garment factory or debating between her heart and her head the right choice of partner for her life. I appreciate that Trigiani wanted to show us Nella's whole life, and how the decisions we make in our youth play out across a lifetime, but the book was weaker for the indulgence....more
I found this reading experience to be so frustrating. The writing? I liked it. The setting? Exotic, beautiful. The backstory? Fantastic, legendary. ThI found this reading experience to be so frustrating. The writing? I liked it. The setting? Exotic, beautiful. The backstory? Fantastic, legendary. The actual book? Repetitive, slow. For the most part, boring.
With some more judicious editing, this could have been gripping. Ultimately, I'm granting it a neither-here-nor-there 3 stars. If you are like me, and you considered bailing mid-book, it definitely does improve.
Yet somehow I'm still thinking about it after finishing it. I have so many questions for Yangsze Choo!
There is quite a lot of symbolism in these pages, and herein my questions lie. The story itself is steeped in weretiger legend and slides between the natural and supernatural on nearly every page. Some parts - such as Ji Lin repeatedly encountering Yi in her dreams - I could have done without. All of the scenes in the dance hall, the traveling back and forth between her hometown and the hospital and the place where she was apprenticed as a dressmaker slowed the story down. The love story put me off quite a bit - it was strange and felt really inappropriate.
What I would love to explore further are the myths, the dynamic between men and women in Malaysia at this time period, the intersection between the British ex-pats and the locals, the significance of missing body parts (what does it mean after Ren's accident that he has lost a finger?), what happens to William, and more....more
I definitely laughed out loud more than I expected to at Hazel's zany antics and inappropriate thoughts. However, I never got any feels, which is ultiI definitely laughed out loud more than I expected to at Hazel's zany antics and inappropriate thoughts. However, I never got any feels, which is ultimately what I'm looking for with a romantic storyline. I didn't quite get why Hazel was so hung-up on Josh, to be honest, and as the book progressed I became a little less interested in the blind date set-up scheme and wanted a little more substance. The epilogue also wasn't my cup of tea. This one just didn't have enough oomph, despite the promising start and the fact that I really loved Hazel....more
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