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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I struggled with this book from the get go; I just didn't seem to connect to the story or the characters, and so had no drive to read it. I made it halfway through but there's too many books I'd like to read to keep forcing myself to spend time on this one.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
I'm not entirely sure what I just read. It was weird and funny and dark and unusual. I can totally understand why some reviews are so negative for this book, but I didn't hate it. It had enough humor and surprises to make it an enjoyable, if somewhat strange, read.
The miserable childhoods of the two main characters seemed unnecessarily over-the-top, but the story got better. I loved Ernesto's organic "situation", and the shelves in his book shop ("Ideas too good to be true" and "Parties that have already ended"). Theodolphus of the Nameless Order of Assassins was hilarious. I liked the clever little things like GMO- antidepressant-laced HappyFruit ("SQUEEZE THE JOY OUT OF LIFE"). Really, this whole book was odd but usually in an interesting way.
The miserable childhoods of the two main characters seemed unnecessarily over-the-top, but the story got better. I loved Ernesto's organic "situation", and the shelves in his book shop ("Ideas too good to be true" and "Parties that have already ended"). Theodolphus of the Nameless Order of Assassins was hilarious. I liked the clever little things like GMO- antidepressant-laced HappyFruit ("SQUEEZE THE JOY OUT OF LIFE"). Really, this whole book was odd but usually in an interesting way.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this a lot. Something about the narration was simultaneously simple and also poetically beautiful. And the whole time I felt desperate to know how it would end
I abandoned this book around page 120. I though it would explore the relationship between science and nature. I was expecting something philosophical. Instead, it grew more and more fantastical. It was more about imagined events and less academic, allegorical, or theoretical. I'm sorry, but fantasy for fantasy's sake just doesn't interest me any more. Been there, done that in my teens and twenties.
Very enjoyable, unusual, atypical book. Anders has written a daring story by defying convention. Reading some of the other reviews, it seems like many people aren't able to cope with a book going in unexpected directions or defying genre-based expectations. Yes, it starts off YA but turns a very adult corner. It's a refreshing mix of science fiction and fantasy. It's a love story that refuses to follow the standard romance formula. It's awash with unusual characters and offbeat comedy.
All the Birds in the Sky won the 2017 Nebula, the 2017 Locus, and was nominated for the 2017 Hugo award. And for good reason. But scroll through the reviews here and you'll see that it's not for everyone. I'll be a jerk and come out with it--it's too smart for some. People like McDonald's and Tom Clancy because they know what they want and they want what they know. If you can't handle a book that breaks a comfortable genre mold, then give this a pass. Otherwise, check it out.
Okay okay, so I didn't love every single aspect. I felt like the middle was a bit sprawling. I went from this-is-the-best-book-ever to this-book-is strange-but-still-okay to hey-cool-ending-interesting-book-overall.... so I should probably give All the Birds a 4/5. But yeah, I'm dismayed at all the bad reviews, so 5/5 it is.
All the Birds in the Sky won the 2017 Nebula, the 2017 Locus, and was nominated for the 2017 Hugo award. And for good reason. But scroll through the reviews here and you'll see that it's not for everyone. I'll be a jerk and come out with it--it's too smart for some. People like McDonald's and Tom Clancy because they know what they want and they want what they know. If you can't handle a book that breaks a comfortable genre mold, then give this a pass. Otherwise, check it out.
Okay okay, so I didn't love every single aspect. I felt like the middle was a bit sprawling. I went from this-is-the-best-book-ever to this-book-is strange-but-still-okay to hey-cool-ending-interesting-book-overall.... so I should probably give All the Birds a 4/5. But yeah, I'm dismayed at all the bad reviews, so 5/5 it is.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm always partial to stories set in San Francisco, even though it isn't my city and never was. That being said, I found this somewhat underwhelming. The ending went too quickly, I think, and the whole story felt somewhat messy.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The front 60-70% of the book is very good, and probably would have been a 4.5/5, but the ending just did not do it for me. The last chapters especially felt rushed. The pacing went from a solid medium to fast pretty suddenly and it was jarring.
There were also too many characters in my opinion who were named and brought up multiple times but were not important enough to the plot, so I kept finding myself going “who is that again?”
I really loved the concept, and I do actually like HOW it ended, I just wish the ending had been more fleshed out.
Summary: Not a bad book, I enjoyed most of the read, and loved the actual story, just fell flat in pacing and the development of some side characters.
There were also too many characters in my opinion who were named and brought up multiple times but were not important enough to the plot, so I kept finding myself going “who is that again?”
I really loved the concept, and I do actually like HOW it ended, I just wish the ending had been more fleshed out.
Summary: Not a bad book, I enjoyed most of the read, and loved the actual story, just fell flat in pacing and the development of some side characters.