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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
This book has potential but it suffers from a weird focus on things that don’t seem relevant. The most interesting thing I felt were the Tree and Peregrine but they were sort of just glossed over. They’re supposed to be something like the spirits of nature and science and in the end of the book they “get together” romantically. And it’s a good thing. But it’s never said why this was a good thing beyond “everybody gets magic now! Or science since it’s the same!”
The teachers of magic and the teachers of science seem to be more interesting than the main characters, to be honest, but we never get anything on them beyond the fact that they’re jerks or afraid.
A lot of this book seems to focus on the disaster of climate change but won’t go into it beyond “its bad” choosing to focus on how the main characters have sex or pine for one another or do the old fanfic trope of “I love them but they must not like me”.
This book is like a house with a good frame work but no walls yet. And instead of putting up walls, they skipped to wallpaper. It’s got potential, but needs some work.
The teachers of magic and the teachers of science seem to be more interesting than the main characters, to be honest, but we never get anything on them beyond the fact that they’re jerks or afraid.
A lot of this book seems to focus on the disaster of climate change but won’t go into it beyond “its bad” choosing to focus on how the main characters have sex or pine for one another or do the old fanfic trope of “I love them but they must not like me”.
This book is like a house with a good frame work but no walls yet. And instead of putting up walls, they skipped to wallpaper. It’s got potential, but needs some work.
Patricia is a budding witch, Laurence is building a supercomputer in his closet, and in the midst of their lifelong friendship magic and science threaten to create an apocalypse. The first third takes place in middle school, where both characters are victims of bullying and abuse, and is simply awful to read; the middle third is a routine but emotional 20-something coming of age, and the final third is the apocalypse plot. So if that first third seems endless: hold on, it gets better. But the entire book has an exaggerated, self-deprecatory, hipster, comic vibe, with sentences. Written. Like this.--and that style is unremitting, and I detest it. (Readers with different taste will have better luck.) I'd read in other reviews that All the Birds in the Sky is an interesting crossover between fantasy and science fiction, but, while it's an engaging premise and the end is a satisfying combines of both influences, there isn't enough meta- and genre-commentary for me. This wasn't to my tastes, nor did it reward my persistence--so I can't recommend it.
A tale of magic versus science, All the Birds in the Sky had me gripped from the very first page. It was a truly enchanting story, all the more wonderful for going in pretty much unaware of the plot, or anything about the book (apart from the pretty cover).
There was something really wonderful about Charlie Jane Anders’ writing. She added in all these unnecessary details, so small and yet they made the story all the more intriguing, the world all the more vivid. I have previously spoken about how I like magic systems that require some sort of sacrifice, rather than just saying some words or waving a wand and casting a spell, but here this system seemed to work quite well. Patricia’s magic required no sacrifice, but that felt natural. I felt that the book would not have benefited from an explanation of how the magic worked – it would have just distracted away from the story.
Although All the Birds in the Sky did lose its wind a bit in the last quarter or so, I was gripped throughout almost the entire story. It was a truly lovely story of two ‘weirdos’ who come together, united by their social awkwardness and alternative interests. As you can see by how short this review is, I just don’t feel I can truly tell you how wonderful this was – so go out and read it yourself!
I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Originally posted on my former blog, Rinn Reads.
There was something really wonderful about Charlie Jane Anders’ writing. She added in all these unnecessary details, so small and yet they made the story all the more intriguing, the world all the more vivid. I have previously spoken about how I like magic systems that require some sort of sacrifice, rather than just saying some words or waving a wand and casting a spell, but here this system seemed to work quite well. Patricia’s magic required no sacrifice, but that felt natural. I felt that the book would not have benefited from an explanation of how the magic worked – it would have just distracted away from the story.
Although All the Birds in the Sky did lose its wind a bit in the last quarter or so, I was gripped throughout almost the entire story. It was a truly lovely story of two ‘weirdos’ who come together, united by their social awkwardness and alternative interests. As you can see by how short this review is, I just don’t feel I can truly tell you how wonderful this was – so go out and read it yourself!
I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Originally posted on my former blog, Rinn Reads.
I didn't expect this book to go where it did. But it was still a fantastic mix of magic, technology and an apocalypse... I don't even know how to characterize it.
The beginning was so hard to get through. It's like "A Series of Unfortunate Events" but with so much less humor. It was torturous. The middle was fun and exciting. The ending was sad but endearing. I think this is a good book, but the painfulness of the first third was not really paid off by the rest of the book.
This one took me awhile to work through, but I enjoyed it in the end. A new aged battle of nature vs science vs magic, you know? Plus, I love stories set in my hometown.
It felt like this book wanted to be something truly epic and yet couldn't quite make the push. Honestly, as a short story, I think I would have loved it. It just needed more for me to feel truly engaged for an entire novel. Every now and then I saw a glimpse of something I really enjoyed and wanted to explore but those glimpses were fleeting.
I liked the first 1/3 of the book but the last 2/3 were almost unbearable. I know this was written by a woman but the way all the women were described felt very male-gazey. Also, the sex scene was terrible.