When A-- H-- woke up this morning, at the crack of dawn, she was in no way prepared for the absolute dismay she would have to face during the day. As When A-- H-- woke up this morning, at the crack of dawn, she was in no way prepared for the absolute dismay she would have to face during the day. As she pulled her long, black hair into a bun, she contemplated the decision she had made the previous night. She had decided, bravely, to read Dan Brown's new treatise on the amalgamation of history and technology, religion and science. As she thumbed through the massive tome, she was, despite her initial trepidation, caught unawares of how crummy the book was going to be. You see, in this opus, Anuradha had to face her worst enemy yet. Purple prose coupled with a storyline so dreadful, she had to prod herself into finishing it. Anuradha was no quitter. She had endured much worse before.
As she boarded the metro for her morning class, she looked at her reflection in the window of the train and sighed. Today was going to be a long day. It was in no way going to help the bags under her eyes, but she knew she had to do it. She had to prove it to herself, if nothing else. It was like nothing she had read before. She read in horror as she saw Langdon fly into his "white male saviour" mode and try and save the world in a day. "If he can save the world in one day, I can read this book in the same time", she reflected. She had read enough of Brown's books to know that her troubles had only just began. She chuckled to herself wisely, knowingly. She knew what was coming, and she was prepared for it. At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder, how much preparation was enough preparation?
She took deep, calming breaths and trudged along. She gave a small yelp of pain as she read about every leap, jump, explosion, care chase and art piece mentioned. "Great, there has to be JARVIS in this", she muttered to herself, as her neighbour looked at her with disgust. Little did he know about exactly how much was at stake. She groaned as she read about the quintessential "assassin", the hot lady, her other love interest and the old-fashioned people determined to hurt Langdon. She gave an inward chuckle when she concluded that of course, Langdon wouldn't be the one hurt. Little by little, she started piecing the plot together, when alas, she had to get down for her class. Her German class, though usually interesting, held little interest for her today. All she wanted was more time to figure out who the villain was, and to know if her prediction was right. But as it had to, on such a crucial day, time was a total shrew.
Anuradha practically ran out of the class, her arms and legs flailing around her. She didn't find a seat on the way back, so she had to manage standing. It was okay. Everything would be okay if she was right. "I can bet that (view spoiler)[JARVIS (hide spoiler)] is the villain", she texted her brother, but alas, the train went underground and she lost network. She cursed in the dark and continued to read the damned book. Soon, as it had to happen, her stop came and she had to get down again. "This book is going around in circles. Why do all books have to be the same. And why do they have to be so big?" she grumbled. She was hungry, tired, and just wanted the ordeal to be over. She looked up at the sky, groaned because of the sun, and began her long walk home. Heavy bag on her back, and a doorstopper of a book in her hand.
She was only halfway done, and she didn't know if she would survive the day. "Tell mom and dad I love them", she texted her brother again. "Stop being so melodramatic", he texted back. You're going to be just fine. She gave a grim half-smile to herself. Little did he know. Halfway through the book, though, she was tempted to take the wise princess Elsa's advice and let it go, but she persisted. This was her Everest and she was going to conquer it. She sipped her coke and continued, rubbing her perspiring brow and kneading her forehead. She was going to do it. She was going to weave through the copious info dump and live through the terrible storyline. "I can finish it. I am sure of it", she whispered to herself and smiled.
And then, she reached *that* part of the book. The part where Dan Brown tries to (and he really does try) make it as dramatic as possible, but she pretty much knew what was coming. There was no surprised gasp when she read it. A knowing smile, yes. She knew where he was going with this. To her, it was very obvious. "Could really be this easy? This weak?" she thought to herself. (view spoiler)["I mean, we have been talking about singularity for years. It's pretty much a given", she said to herself. "This only reiterates my conclusion about JARVIS". (hide spoiler)] It went much faster from there, after all, she was almost at the end. (view spoiler)["Ha ha, Brown, making the the Father and the father gay", she thought, and then grinned at herself. She was good with puns, she was. Of course there had to be that element of "forbidden love". Which Langdon book is complete without that? (hide spoiler)] "You have got to stop making these things so obvious, my dear Brown", she thought. "Just a few more pages, you can do it", she pushed herself. "You'll get a chance to write that review you've been meaning to, you know how much you want to do it", she said to herself.
And then, suddenly, she screamed, "I knew it, I knew it. You're predictable as fuck Langdon", as her mother looked at her in amusement. (view spoiler)["Breaking the laws of robotics, ha Brown? Trying to mess with the truth?", she said softly. (hide spoiler)] And then, suddenly, she was free. She had done it. She had finished the book. She could breathe the air around her, enjoy the chirping of the birds. She smiled softly to herself. She had done it. She was victorious. The next book was going to be another adventure. Another day. She also hoped to herself, beyond hope, that maybe some day, Dan Brown will actually learn to write. "Well, a girl can dream", she thought.
If you think this review is terrible, imagine how bad the book was. I tried making it Dan Brown-esque, but I don't think I was very successful in my attempt. Purple prose is not my strength. Parts of it have been overdramatised for effect. I will never wake up at the crack of dawn. Of course, it's missing symbols, codes and poetry, but this was all the time I had. Maybe I'll build on this when I have more time.
The book though, is just awful. I appreciate that Brown takes time before his books to do his "research", I do. I also understand that Asimov's laws aren't the gospel truth. If you've churned out some seven books, however, this doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that the research and language are still shite. Essentially, I have nothing to look forward to here. Also, please for the sake of all that is sane and good, the obsessive and excessive describing of everything needs to stop. It makes my head hurt. There is such a thing as too much, and this book was just that. I will give Danny this though, this book was leaps and bounds better than his previous book, and even marginally better than his third.
--
INITIAL REVIEW:
Once was fun, twice was okay. The fourth time had me saying "kill me now". Curiosity killed the cat, and someday it will kill Anuradha. Will it be this book that does the trick? We can only wait...
Side note: The final cover of the book hasn't been released yet, and the expected date of publication is a good eight months from now. How does this book already have a rating of 3.89? Me wonders.
Merged review:
When A-- H-- woke up this morning, at the crack of dawn, she was in no way prepared for the absolute dismay she would have to face during the day. As she pulled her long, black hair into a bun, she contemplated the decision she had made the previous night. She had decided, bravely, to read Dan Brown's new treatise on the amalgamation of history and technology, religion and science. As she thumbed through the massive tome, she was, despite her initial trepidation, caught unawares of how crummy the book was going to be. You see, in this opus, Anuradha had to face her worst enemy yet. Purple prose coupled with a storyline so dreadful, she had to prod herself into finishing it. Anuradha was no quitter. She had endured much worse before.
As she boarded the metro for her morning class, she looked at her reflection in the window of the train and sighed. Today was going to be a long day. It was in no way going to help the bags under her eyes, but she knew she had to do it. She had to prove it to herself, if nothing else. It was like nothing she had read before. She read in horror as she saw Langdon fly into his "white male saviour" mode and try and save the world in a day. "If he can save the world in one day, I can read this book in the same time", she reflected. She had read enough of Brown's books to know that her troubles had only just began. She chuckled to herself wisely, knowingly. She knew what was coming, and she was prepared for it. At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder, how much preparation was enough preparation?
She took deep, calming breaths and trudged along. She gave a small yelp of pain as she read about every leap, jump, explosion, care chase and art piece mentioned. "Great, there has to be JARVIS in this", she muttered to herself, as her neighbour looked at her with disgust. Little did he know about exactly how much was at stake. She groaned as she read about the quintessential "assassin", the hot lady, her other love interest and the old-fashioned people determined to hurt Langdon. She gave an inward chuckle when she concluded that of course, Langdon wouldn't be the one hurt. Little by little, she started piecing the plot together, when alas, she had to get down for her class. Her German class, though usually interesting, held little interest for her today. All she wanted was more time to figure out who the villain was, and to know if her prediction was right. But as it had to, on such a crucial day, time was a total shrew.
Anuradha practically ran out of the class, her arms and legs flailing around her. She didn't find a seat on the way back, so she had to manage standing. It was okay. Everything would be okay if she was right. "I can bet that (view spoiler)[JARVIS (hide spoiler)] is the villain", she texted her brother, but alas, the train went underground and she lost network. She cursed in the dark and continued to read the damned book. Soon, as it had to happen, her stop came and she had to get down again. "This book is going around in circles. Why do all books have to be the same. And why do they have to be so big?" she grumbled. She was hungry, tired, and just wanted the ordeal to be over. She looked up at the sky, groaned because of the sun, and began her long walk home. Heavy bag on her back, and a doorstopper of a book in her hand.
She was only halfway done, and she didn't know if she would survive the day. "Tell mom and dad I love them", she texted her brother again. "Stop being so melodramatic", he texted back. You're going to be just fine. She gave a grim half-smile to herself. Little did he know. Halfway through the book, though, she was tempted to take the wise princess Elsa's advice and let it go, but she persisted. This was her Everest and she was going to conquer it. She sipped her coke and continued, rubbing her perspiring brow and kneading her forehead. She was going to do it. She was going to weave through the copious info dump and live through the terrible storyline. "I can finish it. I am sure of it", she whispered to herself and smiled.
And then, she reached *that* part of the book. The part where Dan Brown tries to (and he really does try) make it as dramatic as possible, but she pretty much knew what was coming. There was no surprised gasp when she read it. A knowing smile, yes. She knew where he was going with this. To her, it was very obvious. "Could really be this easy? This weak?" she thought to herself. (view spoiler)["I mean, we have been talking about singularity for years. It's pretty much a given", she said to herself. "This only reiterates my conclusion about JARVIS". (hide spoiler)] It went much faster from there, after all, she was almost at the end. (view spoiler)["Ha ha, Brown, making the the Father and the father gay", she thought, and then grinned at herself. She was good with puns, she was. Of course there had to be that element of "forbidden love". Which Langdon book is complete without that? (hide spoiler)] "You have got to stop making these things so obvious, my dear Brown", she thought. "Just a few more pages, you can do it", she pushed herself. "You'll get a chance to write that review you've been meaning to, you know how much you want to do it", she said to herself.
And then, suddenly, she screamed, "I knew it, I knew it. You're predictable as fuck Langdon", as her mother looked at her in amusement. (view spoiler)["Breaking the laws of robotics, ha Brown? Trying to mess with the truth?", she said softly. (hide spoiler)] And then, suddenly, she was free. She had done it. She had finished the book. She could breathe the air around her, enjoy the chirping of the birds. She smiled softly to herself. She had done it. She was victorious. The next book was going to be another adventure. Another day. She also hoped to herself, beyond hope, that maybe some day, Dan Brown will actually learn to write. "Well, a girl can dream", she thought.
If you think this review is terrible, imagine how bad the book was. I tried making it Dan Brown-esque, but I don't think I was very successful in my attempt. Purple prose is not my strength. Parts of it have been overdramatised for effect. I will never wake up at the crack of dawn. Of course, it's missing symbols, codes and poetry, but this was all the time I had. Maybe I'll build on this when I have more time.
The book though, is just awful. I appreciate that Brown takes time before his books to do his "research", I do. I also understand that Asimov's laws aren't the gospel truth. If you've churned out some seven books, however, this doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that the research and language are still shite. Essentially, I have nothing to look forward to here. Also, please for the sake of all that is sane and good, the obsessive and excessive describing of everything needs to stop. It makes my head hurt. There is such a thing as too much, and this book was just that. I will give Danny this though, this book was leaps and bounds better than his previous book, and even marginally better than his third.
--
INITIAL REVIEW:
Once was fun, twice was okay. The fourth time had me saying "kill me now". Curiosity killed the cat, and someday it will kill Anuradha. Will it be this book that does the trick? We can only wait...
Side note: The final cover of the book hasn't been released yet, and the expected date of publication is a good eight months from now. How does this book already have a rating of 3.89? Me wonders....more
I know I'm in the minority here, but I think this is Paula Hawkins's best book. And what a beautifully chaotic book it is!
I was mostly underwhelmed bI know I'm in the minority here, but I think this is Paula Hawkins's best book. And what a beautifully chaotic book it is!
I was mostly underwhelmed by The Girl on the Train and didn't really bother with Into the Water (maybe I should), but A Slow Fire Burning hit all the right spots for me. Maybe it's because I'm a petty person, and for whatever reason, this is a wonderfully petty book.
Chaos works well in the story here, interspersing the stories of our three ladies-Laura, Carla, and Miriam. I don't know really how Paula Hawkins personally feels about men, but there's something about her portrayal of men as basically either stupid or psychopathic. Or both, I guess. A fun way to write a page-turner.
I didn't particularly enjoy the noven within a novel aspect of the book (points were docked), but I did enjoy how this element built into the skeleton of the story. A winding whodunit with overdeveloped but unlikable characters makes for a very quick, cheap thrill, and I was here for it. I can't say I saw the twist (or some of the twists, specifically) coming, really, but it was perfectly satisfactory.
I read it on a cold day, and made myself some hot chocolate later. I recommend you do the same. ...more
“Noemí, just because there are no ghosts it doesn’t mean you can’t be haunted. Nor that you shouldn’t fear the haunting. You are too fearless. My f“Noemí, just because there are no ghosts it doesn’t mean you can’t be haunted. Nor that you shouldn’t fear the haunting. You are too fearless. My father was the same way, and he paid dearly for it.”
The thing about gothic horror that I like the most (and there's a lot about gothic horror I like) is that "horror" means different things to different story, different times, different authors. I like Mexican Gothic because it reads like a pastiche to these stories, times, authors, whilst also telling its own story.
The pacing is excellent - it starts off slow, like any classic gothic horror novel would, with the world building and character writing. Before you know it, however, you're knee deep in a world of creepy, old men; evil, younger men; and the faithful woman of the house fighting to protect the family secret because she just has to. But also, twists and turns you saw coming a mile away (and some you didn't)....more
When No One is Watching does many things very well. It provides a timely and much-needed commentary on gentrification whilst being a fairly edge-of-thWhen No One is Watching does many things very well. It provides a timely and much-needed commentary on gentrification whilst being a fairly edge-of-the-seats thriller. Importantly, it manages to do both without taking away from the other; meaning that it works very well as both, social commentary, and a mystery/thriller you can chew on. Although, I use the term mystery/thriller loosely. However, there are particular elements in the book that didn't really work for me. For one, the general gist of one of the major mystery plot points was pretty clear from the get go. For another, I do think that the book could have done with some tighter writing. Maybe it's because I'm fresh off the A Swim in a Pond in the Rain boat, but there was quite a bit of telling and not showing that got to me a little bit. Or maybe I'm just nit-picky.
There's not really much else I can say about the book without giving things away, except that it makes for a compelling read. ...more
Oh man. The obvious Arabian Nights parallel should have been my first hint. This here is an example of how a good idea and some good writing cannot alOh man. The obvious Arabian Nights parallel should have been my first hint. This here is an example of how a good idea and some good writing cannot always save a book.
I deeply loved The Night Circus. It's one of the best books I've read, though I'm sorry to say the same does not extend to The Starless Sea. It is the most artsy, bougie, pretentious, hipster book I've ever read, and that's honestly saying something, coming from me, seeing as how I'm a fairly artsy, bougie, hipster person. For context, I think Rent (the musical) is the next best thing after sliced bread, and I bake French patisserie in my spare time. I've even been to a black tie event or two. So, you know, it takes a bit to make me think something is pretentious, and The Starless Sea is REALLY pretentious. Even by my standards. It's a bit ridiculous, really. I think it was supposed to be some sort of nerd porn (libraries, video games, dungeon masters...) but it fails pretty miserably at it.
Pastiche, or glorified fan fiction really, is usually one of my favourite kind of stories. You know, imitation being the best form of flattery and all that. When done well, it is truly glorious. Obviously, doing it well is the tricky bit, and that's where most pastiche fail, including, as it turns out, this one. The Starless Sea is pastiche on steroids. Morgenstern does not want you to forget that this is a book for people who like books. Lest you forget, however, she makes sure to remind you of it on every single page; it gets tedious after the first 10.
Similarly, I love any form of non-linear or experimental story-telling, when it's done right. There is a fine line between experimental and convoluted, and Morgenstern definitely veers towards the latter. It's like playing a game of dungeons and dragons with a dungeon master who's really imaginative, but doesn't know where to stop. In other words, it's exhausting. As a result, the art of storytelling is lost, and I don't get a chance to appreciate what the book does well. A shame really, because what the book does well, it does really well.
(view spoiler)[Also, the star-crossed lovers trope is a dead horse, really. Just because it worked in her last book does not mean it should work here. In fact, I think that it was central to The Night Circus should have been enough reason to not have it be so pivotal here.(hide spoiler)]...more
It is my belief that the House itself loves and blesses equally everything that it has created.
Before I start to review Piranesi, I want to mentioIt is my belief that the House itself loves and blesses equally everything that it has created.
Before I start to review Piranesi, I want to mention two things. One, I've read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell even though I'm "currently reading" it according to my Goodreads. I want to write a fitting review for it, and the moment I mark it as "read", it's going to nag me till I do. I'm constrained in terms of time at the moment, so there's that. Two, and more importantly for this book, I think it is an unequivocal fact that some people are just born to write, and Susanna Clarke is one of them. Her writing is stunning, spectacular, leaves me speechless, and I would build an altar to it (her writing) if I could.
May the House in its Beauty shelter us both.
I have this theory about writers, which is that I tend to appreciate writers who don't churn out a new book every other day. I don't know if that entirely makes sense, but I've read some top-notch debuts, only to be thoroughly disappointed by the second book, if for no reason other than that it felt rushed. With Piranesi, however, Clarke does something entirely different than Strange and Norrell, but equally marvellous.
… the House provides for and protects its Children.
Strange and Norrell is a gorgeous piece of writing. It is elaborate and evocative, and the tongue-in-cheek footnotes only add to the richness in writing and storytelling. It's like an intricately carved sculpture that you must spend days, months admiring and taking in. Piranesi, on the other hand, is an entirely different kind of good writing. It's simpler, for one, but in a way that suits it. Clarke does a really good job here using different tones and words to both emphasise on the one hand Piranesi's innocence and, shall we say, scientific inquiry, and on the other, the vastness, beauty, and mystery of the House. I think what I'm trying to say here, badly, is that Clarke has this talent for choosing words and phrases and paragraphs that suit a particular book or story, and she is flawless in doing that.
I realised that the search for the Knowledge has encouraged us to think of the House as if it were a sort of riddle to be unravelled, a text to be interpreted, and that if ever we discover the Knowledge, then it will be as if the Value has been wrested from the House and all that remains will be mere scenery.
Piranesi is both a very difficult and a very easy book to talk about. I can gush about how good a book it is, but it is tough to actually talk about the book without giving much up. I think the only think people need to know about it is that it's really, really good. I think that knowing very little about the book before thoroughly enjoying it is very fitting in the context of the book as well. It is written in a sort of epistolary format, in the form of diary entries made by Piranesi, of his days, adventures, and his reverence to the House, the World. It seems like a simple enough story, but it's one of those books you finish in one sitting. It sucks you in, and you aren't particularly functional until you're done with it because you can't really think of anything else.
The World feels Complete and Whole, and I, its Child, fit into it seamlessly.
I think, in the context of Piranesi, it is important not to dwell too much on the questions, but rather on the moments in the journey that Piranesi takes us on. You know how they say that it isn't about the destination, but the journey? I don't particularly advocate for that line of thinking, except if it is in the context of this book. So, join Piranesi as he explores the House, learns about its inhabitants, and well, in some ways, rediscovers himself. Despite its façade of fantasy, Piranesi veers into the realms of the mysterious, the philosophical, and even the wholesome.
The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite....more
This is an objectively bad book. My friend Saska had to read this for a book club she was in, and she deeply disliked it. She didn't tell me why, but This is an objectively bad book. My friend Saska had to read this for a book club she was in, and she deeply disliked it. She didn't tell me why, but she did tell me to read it, to see for myself. All I can say is that I agree with her.
Although, that's not all. I have so much more to say about this book. For one, the heroine (and I use the word lightly here) Lowen is the kind of woman who would die within the first ten minutes of a horror movie; that's how stupid she is. She is really, really stupid. I feel like I can't emphasise this enough. I almost feel like she brings these untoward situations on herself. She copes by constantly telling herself that what she's been hallucinating and seeing things. But you know what they say, two times is a coincidence, three times is a crime.
She's also pretty pathetic for a heroine, and not in an endearing way. She has a habit of deprecating herself, and then getting mad at herself for doing that, which doesn't begin to make sense to me. What also doesn't make sense to me is how quickly she (although she isn't alone in this) falls in love with a complete stranger. A married stranger whose life has been punctuated by various and sundry tragedies, but this only moves to arouse Lowen's loins, and not her suspicions. Even when she has to move into his large, ungainly house for "research". Refer above to my observation that she isn't very smart. The awkward, introverted heroine who removes her glasses off to show she was beautiful all along is a dead horse that YA/NA authors won't stop beating, and I'm really quite tired of it.
On that note also, Jeremy either has a dick made of solid gold or he's a hypnotist because there's a level of obsession that women have with it that cannot be explained otherwise. He doesn't seem to have much of a personality outside of his penis, but I've come to realise that that doesn't matter so much if he's attractive.
I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but I think Verity is supposed to be a textbook psychopath. Beautiful. Charismatic. Manipulative. Selfish.... She checks all the boxes. The problem is, I think CoHo uses this psychopathy as an excuse to make Verity the "bitch", the villain. And this is the part I'm uncomfortable with, because she loops in all the things that make a woman seem villainous as parts of Verity's "psychopathy".
(view spoiler)[Verity never wanted to have children, ever, I don't think. In fact I don't think she ever thought she would fall in love and get married. This is not an excuse, but somehow that, with the combination of the aforementioned psychopathy, and an accidental pregnancy are supposed to make her a compelling villain because really, she doesn't much care for her children. I hate tropes that vilify women for not wanting children, or give the women children anyway, hoping they'll realise that they do, in fact, have maternal instincts. I fucking hate that, and that's exactly what Verity does. It throws a woman who's already disturbed and dangerous into an unfortunate situation to disparage her. I understand that that's how a lot of villains are made, but there's something about this particular cocktail of circumstances that irritates me. There's also the strange epilogue to unpack, which also sort of reiterates my point on how easy it is to vilify women when we look at them as psychopaths who aren't maternal. And well, glorify men that we think *are* paternal. I feel like maybe the epilogue was supposed to be a "gotcha!" moment, but it was too short and unnecessary to have any impact. Simply, it didn't fit into the rest of the story. (hide spoiler)]
Don't even get me started on the very frequent and vivid sex scenes. I don't really care much about sex in books generally; have it, don't have it. However, if a book is marketed as a thriller, or even generally as fiction, the incidence of such graphic sex in every other chapter makes me feel cheated. Add to it that much of this sex is very vanilla. Hoover conveniently kink-shames a man who liked being choked, so there's that. There isn't much gravitas to the thriller aspect at all, and the ending is highly predictable (albeit a little implausible, like medically speaking).
Most of all, CoHo is not a very good writer, I have a special hatred in my heart for her metaphors. For instance, at one point Lowen says: His voice sounded like his throat was coated in honey. I don't know what the fuck that means. In another place, she says Her fine hair lifts in the breeze, like the fingers of a ghost are playing with the strands. I get what she means, but it's too corny and I'm not here for it.
There's also my favourite line (not): The clever and talented Verity is no longer in there. Was her body the only thing that survived that wreck? It’s as if she were an egg, cracked open and poured out, and all that’s left are the tiny fragments of hard shell. I glance back down at the desk and try to focus. I can’t help but wonder how Jeremy is handling all this. He’s a concrete pillar on the outside, but the inside has to be hollow. It’s disappointing, knowing this is his life now. Caring for an egg shell with no yolk. I fucking hated reading that. I also came across grammatical errors (like substituting the possessive "its" for the contraction "it's"; and the word "intact" being written as "in tact" that I can remember off the top of my head) that I really think should have been edited out, especially for a book of such acclaim.
I'm oh-so-tired of smut being marketed as "contemporary fiction". Call me a purist, but I've generally found the non-smutty contemporary fiction more bearable. If you still want to smut, however, it would bode well for you do it well. ...more
I was digging out things from my shelves because I have been packing, and I have been finding these massive hardcover Agatha Christie novels that my mI was digging out things from my shelves because I have been packing, and I have been finding these massive hardcover Agatha Christie novels that my mother bought when she was younger. And while they aren't the best, I haven't been able to stop reading these. Cosy, English mysteries are apparently really my kind of books. ...more
So a whodunit by J K Rowling; of course I enjoyed myself. But, like every other thriller I seem to read these days, I expected it to be predictable. WSo a whodunit by J K Rowling; of course I enjoyed myself. But, like every other thriller I seem to read these days, I expected it to be predictable. Well, it was and it wasn't. It was predictable in that it was quite evident who the killer was, but the unpredictability of it came from just how well-defined the characters were. To be honest, I didn't expect to like Cormoran and Robin as much as I did - the eccentric, conventionally unattractive but still striking detective and his charming and deceptively smart, loyal assistant. Where have I read that before?
When a troubled, young supermodel is found dead, everyone believes it was suicide. Well, everyone except her brother. He hires Cormoran Strike, a private detective down on his luck and low on money. Cormoran Strike isn't interesting or eccentric to the point of madness, it's just a human level of weirdness that makes him more personable. Robin is a little bland in the beginning, but her character picks up as the story progresses. Predictable as the story is, it progresses nicely, and there are enough twists and turns to keep one occupied even when one knows the outcome. As always, Rowling's strength lies in her characterisation, and it was interesting to see her write an adult book in a completely different genre than she is known for. She fared alright in that regard, but world-building and good characterisation are her forte rather than high-brow literature and writing. That said, I would like to tell her that chain-smoking is really not a character trait, because everyone here seems to be a chain-smoker. Seriously, even alcohol hasn't made me want to go back to smoking as much as this book has....more
Yeah, I binge-read the whole series. So sue me. Jokes apart, apparently I don't like back stories so much. I did like The Little Android and SomethingYeah, I binge-read the whole series. So sue me. Jokes apart, apparently I don't like back stories so much. I did like The Little Android and Something Old, Something New quite a bit, but the others didn't stick with me the way the novels did. Not all bad, however; I mean, if you took the time to read the entire series anyway, might as well make time for this, right?...more
The final edition of The Lunar Chronicles is really, really long. To be exact, this book is over 800 pages long. I couldn't understand what Meyer had The final edition of The Lunar Chronicles is really, really long. To be exact, this book is over 800 pages long. I couldn't understand what Meyer had to say for 800 pages, seeing as there really wasn't much left to do, but she did an amazing job of it. There were too many things happening in it for me to get bored, and honestly, the 800 pages didn't seem like 800. Winter, here, is the girl of Ice and Snow; a version of Snow White, but not entirely. You see, Winter is a woman of colour.
I mean, it is just another space adventure where people get captured and their friends rescue them, but it's done well. Let me be honest here, I really didn't expect to like Winter as much as I did. She was crazy, literally, but she was so in an incredibly touching and endearing manner. Of course, the cause for her craziness is as altruistic as can be. I think perhaps the best part of this book for me was the contrast between Winter and Levana; between why the former was loved while the latter was loathed. Levana attributes the Lunar people's adoration of Winter to her beauty, whereas it is in fact her character, her voluntary descent into sickness due to not using her "Lunar gift" to manipulate people, that draws people to her. I can also draw parallels to both their stories, in that both were (technically) royalty, and, both fell in low with "lowly" guards. Except in Winter's case, he loved her back, and in Levana's, well, it's really quite difficult to love that woman. I really, really like Cinder in this one; she uses her powers to start a (successful) revolution. Thorne is hilarious and helpful, as is Cress. My one grievance, if any, is that there isn't enough Scarlet or Wolf in this. They're just...there. They don't really do much, and seeing as these were my favourites, that was disappointing. Of course, the ending is all happy and perfect. Well, mostly it is. In true fairy tale style, everyone lived happily ever after.
All in all, it was a pretty fitting, albeit predictable ending to a series I quite enjoyed. ...more
Have you ever had the experience of having had a good meal followed by a very average dessert? Maybe the pie crust was too doughy, or the gu3.5 stars.
Have you ever had the experience of having had a good meal followed by a very average dessert? Maybe the pie crust was too doughy, or the gulab jamoon didn't melt in your mouth. It wasn't a bad dessert, but somehow, it didn't live up to your expectations because the first two courses were so spectacular. That dessert is Cress. It's not a bad book, but the previous two books were so good, this one is a bit of a let down. The cause of this unfortunate disappointment is Cress herself.
Cress was, in her own way, a badass. I get that. Here again, I admire Meyer's range as a writer, because writing four female protagonists who are strong in their own right, each with their own quirks and characteristics. Each with their own strengths that make them strong, female protagonists. With Cress, however, she believes she's a damsel in distress, and is in need of rescuing. By Thorne. Cress is, however, a badass damsel in distress, if that makes sense, so I don't actually hate her. I just don't find her as endearing and engaging as Scarlet, nor do I quietly admire her as I do Cinder. I also feel like Thorne, being the blazing, flamboyant, cocky, womanising hero he is, romancing the naive manic pixie dream girl that is Cress, is rather far-fetched. But somehow, Meyer makes it work. Because Thorne is also funny, smart and kind, while Cress has a heart of gold. AND THIS WORKS!
Cinder shows tremendous growth as a character, and I truly believe this girl will be an excellent ruler someday. I do not envy Kai's position one bit, although Levana is quite spectacular. Of course because this is, in essence, a space adventure, some of our heroes get separated, and thus, the others have to hunt for said separated people. Here, I feel like Meyer uses this as an excellent opportunity to introduce new characters, and also to introduce new dimensions to old characters.
Overall an average book, although that ending was incredible. Still recommend it with all my heart....more
Ah, Scarlet. How do I serenade thee? Scarlet, like Scarlet, was by no means perfect. Yet, it had this charm to it, a charm you only see in flawed charAh, Scarlet. How do I serenade thee? Scarlet, like Scarlet, was by no means perfect. Yet, it had this charm to it, a charm you only see in flawed characters or books. It is a retelling of Red Riding Hood, and it is a good one at that. Okay, it is literally Red Riding Hood. Girl with reference to the colour red in her name tries to rescue grandmother from wolf. However, what if the wolf wasn't actually bad, Meyer imagines, and in this particular case, that actually works. Scarlet and Wolf are, by some random luck of the universe, perfect for each other, and their chemistry is so, so much more palpable than that of Cinder and Kai. Scarlet is like the colour scarlet. I could not imagine a more appropriate name for her. She is feisty, smart, and can stand her ground (to be fair to Cinder, she can do all of this as well). Wolf, on the other hand, although I verily dislike his name, he is of the tall, dark, and brooding variety, which, honestly, do you want anything more from a hero? Or, to be fair, from an anti-hero? Anti-heroes falling for the feisty girls are my favourite kind of romance. Well, no, but I quite like it. Meyer's strength lies in creating powerful characters, especially female, each different from the other. Whether on the proverbial good side or bad, they are very well-fleshed out with their own personality traits; with specific traits that define them. I don't just mean Cinder and Scarlet and Levana here, but also characters like Michelle and Sybil. What is also appealing is that while it seems like the ladies have the reins, well, they actually do. But nonetheless, the men aren't merely supporting characters; they have personalities too, and in these books, this formula works. Works so very well.
On the other side, Cinder escapes prison with Cadet Captain Thorne, and that does lead to some fun moments, mostly because Thorne is ...fun. An annoying dick at times, but a fun one, nonetheless. They go on adventures, trying to find out more about Cinder's past, because, well, for obvious reasons. This addition of new characters and inclusion of multiple plot points make the story more engaging than the previous one. Levana is as evil as ever, in fact more so, if that could be possible, and somehow, unlike the previous book, her villainy is as entertaining as it is disturbing. Another element from the previous series she retains is the subtle social commentary, or maybe that's just me trying to an extra layer where the author didn't intend there to be one. Either way, it works.
Meyer is very adept in keeping her readers hooked, and she had me jumping to the next book posthaste. In many ways, Scarlet (and Scarlet) is very different from Cinder, and Cinder, thus displaying Meyer's excellent prowess and vast range as an author. In many other ways, however, the second book is not so different from the first to distract you from the original story line. In bringing in additional characters, Meyer doesn't change the story, rather, she builds on it. I'm really not a fan of this genre; I'm one of the few people who didn't like The Hunger Games so much, so I think you should take my word for this....more
I realised that I didn't have a problem with fairy tale retellings sometime ago, when I read Snow, Glass and Apples by Neil Gaiman. More recently, wheI realised that I didn't have a problem with fairy tale retellings sometime ago, when I read Snow, Glass and Apples by Neil Gaiman. More recently, when I read Cinder, which, by the way, I did not expect to like as much as I did, I realised I quite like fairy tale retellings. In all fairness, Cinder is not the kind of book I would have ideally liked. Its prose isn't perfect, in fact, it is quite choppy in many places. That said, the strength of this book lies in its story. Meyer took an abstract concept and gave it life, which is more than I can say for most other YA/Fantasy novels I've read. While, of course, because of its genre, it does retain some of the common YA/Fantasy tropes, it also contains a strong enough story to back those tropes, and to remove attention from some of the books more obvious imagery.
Story-wise, it is like an extrapolation of the fifth story in David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas; the story about the "inferior" clones and the "superior" humans who, er, own them. In that, in the world represented in Cinder, we have the "superior" humans who look down upon the "inferior" cyborgs and androids. It does not baffle me that even after having conquered the moon and recognised how to successfully fuse people with robots, the human race is still very much obsessed with its ridiculous and pointless interest in social hierarchy. Meyer does an excellent job of introducing this social issue of difference, might I even say, racism (speciesism?) in this story. For instance, one of the recurring themes of this series is a sort of plague called letumosis, and hundreds are dying from it. There is, of course, no cure for it, but in the bargain of finding a cure, the cyborgs are treated as lab rats, because shouldn't they be grateful to the humans for "accepting" and "providing" for them? It was made out to be some sort of honor, giving your life for the good of humanity, but it was really just a reminder that cyborgs were not like everyone else. Many of them had been given a second chance at life by the generous hand of scientists and therefore owed their very existence to those who had created them. They were lucky to have lived this long, many thought. It’s only right that they should be the first to give up their lives in search for the cure. I mean, I am a "social justice warrior" to the core; even in fiction, this made me raving mad, and also left me slightly amused because, honestly, I don't expect any less from "humanity". My misplaced self-righteousness apart, the story itself was very engaging, which was what made it a very solid read despite its obvious flaws.
Meet Cinder. She's a cyborg, meaning she's part human, part wires and computers and prosthetics. To be precise, she's 36.28% "not human". She works as a mechanic in New Beijing, and meets the charming Prince Kai in a (not so chance) encounter, when he asks her fix his android. Cinder has her own charming android, Iko, and I'm pretty sure she's meant to be a replacement to Cinderella's pets. Because this is another Cinderella story, of course, the Prince falls is smitten by the pretty, snarky mechanic. However, like all fairy tales, it has a villain, and in this, alongwith the evil stepmother of course, it is the Lunar Queen Levana.
So it's important here that I mention that these lunars have a sort of magical talent that they call "glamour", which is essentially a smokescreen. Let me elaborate. So a "glamour" is a manipulation of the "bioelectrical energy" around people. You can use glamour to make yourself look prettier (or uglier, if that's your thing), but also to manipulate others into loving, admiring, adoring (again, or hating, loathing) you. So the Lunars are, in that aspect, more powerful than the Earthens. However, because all evil superpowers should have a weakness, this glamour doesn't work in reflections, netscreens, or with Lunars called shells, who are basically those Lunars who cannot manipulate bioelectrical energy. Phew. Complex, innit? But fun, nonetheless. Or maybe I was just feeling generous.
So anyway. This Levana wants to become the supreme ruler of the Universe (by which I mean the Earth and the Moon), and she plans to do so by marrying Prince Kai and conquering the Eastern Empire (dystopian Asia) first. Because she's evil, she's obviously a genocidal maniac, who is willing to kill shells because they can see through her glamour, kill Lunars who get caught trying to escape her tyranny...basically kill anyone she considers disobedient. I honestly loathe her with the passion of a thousand burning suns, but in a manner that is cathartic to me. But of course, there's a catch to all of Levana's ambitions, and what it is becomes very obvious quite early in the story.
That said, despite the trope-y heroes and villains, the characterisation in this story is quite well-done. Prince Kai is a manic pixie dream boy, but I'd much rather have that than an asshole with no regard to people's feelings. He's also depicted as kind and wise, and with a good amount of self-respect and self control. A prince with a personality. Who'd have thunk. Cinder, on the other hand, is smart, opinionated, and sarcastic, albeit prone to moments of stupidity and impulsiveness. There's the wise and loyal adviser, Torin, to complement the evil Sybil. There is, of course, the very Disney villain-esque Levana, who I'm sure will get a tragic backstory in the next books, but I don't think there is anything that could make me sympathise with a homicidal maniac.
All in all, a really fun read. (view spoiler)[Although I hate cliffhangers. Ugh. (hide spoiler)] I mean, it pushed me to read the second book immediately, and with me, that's saying something. Read it if you want a fun time!...more
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