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caitw's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
carolineeckels's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
kristenkrae's review against another edition
2.0
Review of The Book of M
2/5*
Not a BAD story, just not the best story for me.
I’m usually all for post apocalyptic adventures but this one was just a big struggle for me to get through. I’ve picked it up, and put it away multiple times over the last year, and just never managed to get through it until now. (Basically having to force myself to finish it because I always have to finish a book I’ve started)
I really enjoyed the concept overall, but I felt like it was poorly executed. The characters lacked personality, the plot was kind of boring. I’m personally not a fan of multiple storylines and this one has (4?) I believe. Also switches from first person to third person depending on what storyline you’re on.
I really wanted to like this book, and I gave it an honest try. But I also had to force myself to finish it, and would dread reading it because I know it wasn’t going to be captivating for me.
Random side notes **SPOILER**
1. There’s one part of the book that made zero sense to me. When Ursula and the rest of the shadowless escape the “prison” and Ursula makes an RV appear out of thin air..? Don’t see the correlation with that, and the rest of of the book/shadowless. Do they suddenly randomly convey super powers ?
2. I get the random name change from Ory, to Zhang, back to Ory. But man was that annoying.
3. What REALLY happened to Max?
4. What about Naz and Ory/Zhang?!
5. What was even the cause of this shadowless phenomenon? Like there isn’t even a slight indication of why it happened.
All in all. To many lose ends and an overall disappointment for me.
2/5*
Not a BAD story, just not the best story for me.
I’m usually all for post apocalyptic adventures but this one was just a big struggle for me to get through. I’ve picked it up, and put it away multiple times over the last year, and just never managed to get through it until now. (Basically having to force myself to finish it because I always have to finish a book I’ve started)
I really enjoyed the concept overall, but I felt like it was poorly executed. The characters lacked personality, the plot was kind of boring. I’m personally not a fan of multiple storylines and this one has (4?) I believe. Also switches from first person to third person depending on what storyline you’re on.
I really wanted to like this book, and I gave it an honest try. But I also had to force myself to finish it, and would dread reading it because I know it wasn’t going to be captivating for me.
Random side notes **SPOILER**
1. There’s one part of the book that made zero sense to me. When Ursula and the rest of the shadowless escape the “prison” and Ursula makes an RV appear out of thin air..? Don’t see the correlation with that, and the rest of of the book/shadowless. Do they suddenly randomly convey super powers ?
2. I get the random name change from Ory, to Zhang, back to Ory. But man was that annoying.
3. What REALLY happened to Max?
4. What about Naz and Ory/Zhang?!
5. What was even the cause of this shadowless phenomenon? Like there isn’t even a slight indication of why it happened.
All in all. To many lose ends and an overall disappointment for me.
kitkathw871's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I couldn't really put it down once I got started. The plot builds up and once you're hooked, you need to see it through to the end. Love perseveres through the most difficult times and the best of humanity will pull through. This one is going to stick with me for a while!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and War
melodys_library's review against another edition
2.0
The journey was great, but the destination was a major disappointment. This was unfortunate because the story had so much potential! The first 50% was gripping, and I had to keep reading so I could learn the answers. Except...there were no answers! *Face palm* What caused the shadowlessness? Why are our memories contained in shadows? Why do you gain magical powers when you lose your shadow? The last 50% was just a long and winding road to nowhere.
fai_aka's review against another edition
3.0
3.75 stars
I listened to the audiobook. The narrators are great, especially the one who narrates as Max.
It has been such a long time since I last read a dystopian-genre book, so it took me a while to immerse into the story. But I love the concept of the story and couldn't help but wonder if the same thing is going to happen or not if we really started to lose memories like in the book. Would we really turn desperate and crazy like in the story, once we lost our memories? Hopefully not,
Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book. I like and dislike it at the same time. At first I’m really interested in the story, but halfway through it got too depressing and too confusing for me to the point that I almost DNF this book.
But the last few chapters managed to pull me back to the story and the ending! The ending...made me feel it’s worth it to push through the story, to read till the end. It makes me glad that I didn’t DNF this book.
But!! I don’t think I’ll ever reread this book again, either. It’s not worth the effort just to relive the experience I got from the ending.
And there are some things left unexplained.
I listened to the audiobook. The narrators are great, especially the one who narrates as Max.
It has been such a long time since I last read a dystopian-genre book, so it took me a while to immerse into the story. But I love the concept of the story and couldn't help but wonder if the same thing is going to happen or not if we really started to lose memories like in the book. Would we really turn desperate and crazy like in the story, once we lost our memories? Hopefully not,
Spoiler
the scene where the police just started shooting people who’d lost their memories horrified me. I feel like there must be(or should be) a better way to handle it. And how when Ori and Max were still at the hotel with their friends and they decided to lock up people who’d lost their memories and left them to die from starvation. Surely they could still feed them even though they lost their memories, right?! But I guess fear of the unknown make us do unspeakable things, especially in order to survive.Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book. I like and dislike it at the same time. At first I’m really interested in the story, but halfway through it got too depressing and too confusing for me to the point that I almost DNF this book.
But the last few chapters managed to pull me back to the story and the ending! The ending...made me feel it’s worth it to push through the story, to read till the end. It makes me glad that I didn’t DNF this book.
But!! I don’t think I’ll ever reread this book again, either. It’s not worth the effort just to relive the experience I got from the ending.
And there are some things left unexplained.
ayocky's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
snikelfritz's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
alhedrick's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25