Pretty disappointed by this one. After a wonderful intro that filled me with so much hope for this book, it went downhill fast. Most of these stories Pretty disappointed by this one. After a wonderful intro that filled me with so much hope for this book, it went downhill fast. Most of these stories felt like they really could have been ANY city, and THIS READER WANTS NEW YORK! The voice in all of them was unique, but pretty played out by the fourth or fifth story...I wish Whitehead had switched things up a bit more. For such a prolific author, Colossus of New York really fell flat for me....more
Liked it enough to give it 3 stars, but I just found it a little tedious, sometimes directionless, too often pretentious, and diverse merely for diverLiked it enough to give it 3 stars, but I just found it a little tedious, sometimes directionless, too often pretentious, and diverse merely for diversity's sake. This is an easy read, and the dialogue is snappy and engaging. But I was eye-rolling throughout most of it. My dislikes of this book come from too many tangents, when Zevin goes off into deep-dive details that don't impact the story all too much. There's an unbelievability to Sam's and Sadie's video game career too. Like, there's never really a struggle. One day they're in university, the next they've decided to start their own company and make a game, which of course is an immediate hit and lauded as pure genius. There's a vibe I got reading about the (very, very) detailed games these characters keep creating...a vibe that came across as the author having these video game ideas in her head for years and basically telling the reader “Look how clever I am!” Now, I don’t know enough about video games to be able to tell how awesome and original these concepts are, but I really didn’t require the level of detail Zevin delivers in order to stay interested. I’d say it actually made her ideas LESS interesting. Sam’s and Sadie’s relationship is TOXIC. The book purports to be a love story, but even the characters themselves make it clear this is not a “boyfriend/girlfriend” love story, but a “co-worker” one, and they seem to detest one another just as much as they don’t. I appreciate that not every book needs to tread into love story territory, but I do think the publisher misrepresents what it is marketing. There's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the novel (literally, a single line a paragraph if I'm remembering correctly) where we learn Sam had 4 sexual partners in his life: 3 females and 1 male. And that's the only mention of wherever it is his orientation lies. And yes, of course, the author may have been saying in that single tiny moment that Sam's orientation doesn't matter, but honestly it just felt wedged in. And this is at least half-way through the book when we've already gotten to know the character. Oh wait, he had gay relationship at some point? When did THIS happen? And why does it even matter? It doesn’t. So much of this book doesn’t matter. I’m happy I read it (and again, I did enjoy many of its moments), but I just can’t get behind 5-Star reviews of this one....more
Murakami is amazing to me, but this book was frustrating. It's very hard for me to quit a book (especially if it's one of my favourite authors), but IMurakami is amazing to me, but this book was frustrating. It's very hard for me to quit a book (especially if it's one of my favourite authors), but I came close here. I mean, it's 700 pages and the story doesn't exactly zip along. If this were 300 pages with all the same concepts, I think I probably would have loved it. Unfortunately, I don't have too much else to say, other than the amount of times the MC and other characters made plans to meet drove me bananas. For example (not literally taken from the book, but more or less accurate):
"Can you come over? We need to talk." "Not today. How about Tuesday? I'm free Tuesday after lunch." "Yes, Tuesday after lunch is perfect. See you then."
This kind of exchange seems to happen between every scene, setting up the next one. Just felt REALLY unnecessary to me....more
A big "Meh, I'll pass" for this one. Aside from the initially-amusing chapter-and-a-half of set-up, the next ~60 pages were just the characters explaiA big "Meh, I'll pass" for this one. Aside from the initially-amusing chapter-and-a-half of set-up, the next ~60 pages were just the characters explaining the How's and the Why's of this world with all-too-convenient, but not very realistically presented info dumps. The humour got tiresome VERY QUICKLY ("I lift things") and it just gave me an icky "I can write anything and have it be a bestseller because I can" sort of feeling. I will say that the concept was cool, and it is definitely a book I'll very easily be able to recommend and throw at readers in the library, it just was not the book for me....more
What starts as a murder mystery (of a kind, since we know both the murderer and the mystery) slowly (or "slow-burningly"?) turns into an esoteric, mytWhat starts as a murder mystery (of a kind, since we know both the murderer and the mystery) slowly (or "slow-burningly"?) turns into an esoteric, mythological, angelic/demonic, fantastical trip into our world and other worlds, sifting amongst shifters, fae, talking ravens, faceless murderers, and even possibly frost giants in the search for a mysterious box (re: the McGuffin) that contains the answers/solutions to all the Earth's problems. If The Absolute Book sounds all over the place, it Absolutely is. This is not my normal fare, and while admittedly some moments did drag on a bit long, the sum of its parts totally worked for me. I don't know if there's really much more to be said that won't ruin this book for readers since basically every plot point leads into another, but if you're up for a highly original epic fantasy tale that has a little to be said about the state of our world and a lot to be said about stories, give The Absolute Book a try....more
This one didn't do it for me. A story about a bunch of folks who live under the guise as humans and have some sort of cosmic powers to keep order in tThis one didn't do it for me. A story about a bunch of folks who live under the guise as humans and have some sort of cosmic powers to keep order in the universe. But the book was all telling, with one character after another explaining to other characters the how's and why's of this plot. And yet, even after all the explaining, it still didn't make sense. An interesting exploration into the surreal, but this was just too bizarre and long-winded for me. My favourite part of the book was the opening couple of chapters, but in retrospect, these felt like an entirely different book; like unconnected short stories the author previously wrote and then jammed in here....more
Wonderful debut novel by Sharlene Teo. I was immediately hooked by the author's style, humour, and the observations/word choices she makes within. TheWonderful debut novel by Sharlene Teo. I was immediately hooked by the author's style, humour, and the observations/word choices she makes within. The basic premise is interesting, but I did find it lost a bit of steam/direction around the 3/4 mark. Like everything was set up with our 3 main characters, and now we're just waiting to see how it ends. I appreciated the tiny sprinkles of magic & otherworldliness every now and then, and felt these concepts really supported the overall theme. 5 Stars for the writing, 3 Stars for the plot = 4 Stars. I'd jump at the chance to read another book by this author....more
I'd say 2.5. The Watcher starts off with some good Suspense & Mystery, but quickly devolves into an Unreliable Narrator, before giving us an all-too obI'd say 2.5. The Watcher starts off with some good Suspense & Mystery, but quickly devolves into an Unreliable Narrator, before giving us an all-too obvious twist, followed by a ridiculous ending that's supposed to be high tension but just feels boring. I did appreciate a good portion of the Ross Armstrong's writing, though he does have a tendency to write many consecutive, very short sentences, which doesn't do the pacing any favours. Still, I'd check out future books from Armstrong....more
This one left with me an empty feeling. I love Black Widow (probably my favorite female Marvel hero of all-time), and I love the team of Waid & SamneeThis one left with me an empty feeling. I love Black Widow (probably my favorite female Marvel hero of all-time), and I love the team of Waid & Samnee (my 11 volumes of Daredevil are already looking ratty). So I was understandably pumped for this series. But this book doesn't quite know how to deliver, if indeed, it knows WHAT it's delivering. There are the sparks of a cool story here, but when it's all said and done it almost feels like two or three stories with none of them resolved in any way. The great art isn't enough to save this one completely, though I'm sure I'll flip through it again just to enjoy what Samnee is doing. The comics industry is better just for having him. Maybe there's a big payoff in volume 2? We'll see if my interest holds by then....more
Another unique book where I thought - a third of the way in - that this might be one of my favorite books ever. But wheels come off a little and the sAnother unique book where I thought - a third of the way in - that this might be one of my favorite books ever. But wheels come off a little and the stuff about The Murdstone Trilogy that I was loving the most began to slowly fade into the background. I think the plateau of enjoyment was at the literary award night when Philip Murdstone was preparing to accept his award for his first book of fantasy. THAT was the kind of writing I wish had sustained the remainder of the book, but it all just took such a sudden jump to the left. In the end, I still enjoyed Mal Peet's final work, but was left disappointed when thinking about how much more I loved the beginning....more
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