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radioactve_piano's review against another edition
5.0
Thoroughly engrossed in the story now, especially since the connections between characters are becoming more apparent. What difficulty I have dealing with Xanther being a kid (I'm not really fond of children being main characters) has been overshadowed by the pleasure of the book as a whole. (Not that it's a warm, fuzzy book -- it's rather like its namesake, aside from stature.)
wikiweaponn's review against another edition
4.0
Better than volume 1. There's a lot going on with these books that make it difficult to follow and remember everything that's going on with 9 simultaneous narratives. I really like this author but I don't know if I'm willing to put the energy in to finish this series, which as of now is planned to be 27 volumes.
4/5
4/5
greeniezona's review against another edition
4.0
I have come to the inevitable conclusion that I am going to have to check the rest of these books out at the library. I mean really, Mark, I love to support authors and all that, but by the time this experiment is over it would take an entire bookcase to house these books. Who has that kind of shelf-space/floor-space/money/commitment?
But I did buy this one, and plowed through it in a single day during Dewey's readathon. That kind of concentrated reading really helped with the dialects, etc., but could obviously not be sustained over the entire series, which remains my main complaint about this book. You cannot binge-read these, and with a cast of thousands (slight hyperbole, but only slight), several conspiracy theories, thick dialects, etc., these books are a lot to unpack each time. Clearly I need to make some sort of cheat sheet to follow along, but when each book is 800-900ish pages, how do you scan through to find the clues to what you've missed? UGH.
But there is still Xanther, who I still love, and the word art in her sections somehow continues to make it all worth it. Still her for Anwar and Astair as well, though parts of Astair's sections were a little overwhelming this time. Also, I'm starting to get a handle on Cas's story, which I couldn't say in the first volume.
One disclaimer: THIS BOOK CONTAINS ONE ACT OF PURE, IRREDEEMABLE EVIL, AND IF SOMEONE DOESN'T PUT THE MAYOR'S HEAD ON A PIKE BEFORE THE END OF THIS SERIES I WILL BE VERY DISAPPOINTED.
But I did buy this one, and plowed through it in a single day during Dewey's readathon. That kind of concentrated reading really helped with the dialects, etc., but could obviously not be sustained over the entire series, which remains my main complaint about this book. You cannot binge-read these, and with a cast of thousands (slight hyperbole, but only slight), several conspiracy theories, thick dialects, etc., these books are a lot to unpack each time. Clearly I need to make some sort of cheat sheet to follow along, but when each book is 800-900ish pages, how do you scan through to find the clues to what you've missed? UGH.
But there is still Xanther, who I still love, and the word art in her sections somehow continues to make it all worth it. Still her for Anwar and Astair as well, though parts of Astair's sections were a little overwhelming this time. Also, I'm starting to get a handle on Cas's story, which I couldn't say in the first volume.
One disclaimer: THIS BOOK CONTAINS ONE ACT OF PURE, IRREDEEMABLE EVIL, AND IF SOMEONE DOESN'T PUT THE MAYOR'S HEAD ON A PIKE BEFORE THE END OF THIS SERIES I WILL BE VERY DISAPPOINTED.
maninacoffin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Medical content
emrysmerlyn's review against another edition
4.0
Read December 2019
This one is a slightly stronger follow-up to the first installment. The various characters are finally beginning to show hints of how their stories intersect, which gives it a more complete feeling than the first novel. The formatting continues to lean into the serialized television style of story-telling, but with more consistency, perhaps born out of the way this installment takes place over the period of a month rather than one single day. This allows for more momentum and feels a little less like the pressure behind a shaken can of soda that refused to explode—the first book was a building of suspense and a looming feeling of fate or destiny, but had no resolution or explanation.
The story does some very strong character work, particularly with Xanther and Astaire, and surprisingly, the Narcons. However, Luther has continued to be detestable to the point where I can barely stand to see the black corner at the top of his pages.
The scene that will stick with me is one that I could have lived without. In volume one it was Xanther’s desperate CPR on a dying kitten. In this book, it will be the sickly yellow mental image of an over-sized deep fryer. I had to put the book down for a bit when I got to that exchange. I think it is going to haunt me for some time.
This one is a slightly stronger follow-up to the first installment. The various characters are finally beginning to show hints of how their stories intersect, which gives it a more complete feeling than the first novel. The formatting continues to lean into the serialized television style of story-telling, but with more consistency, perhaps born out of the way this installment takes place over the period of a month rather than one single day. This allows for more momentum and feels a little less like the pressure behind a shaken can of soda that refused to explode—the first book was a building of suspense and a looming feeling of fate or destiny, but had no resolution or explanation.
The story does some very strong character work, particularly with Xanther and Astaire, and surprisingly, the Narcons. However, Luther has continued to be detestable to the point where I can barely stand to see the black corner at the top of his pages.
The scene that will stick with me is one that I could have lived without. In volume one it was Xanther’s desperate CPR on a dying kitten. In this book, it will be the sickly yellow mental image of an over-sized deep fryer. I had to put the book down for a bit when I got to that exchange. I think it is going to haunt me for some time.
withherheadstuckinabook's review against another edition
4.0
I decided to read this after putting it down 12 months ago- boy it did not disappoint! It was awesome reuniting with Xanther, Astair, Anwer, Luther, and the others as the days roll on. The way that Danielewski writes the book makes you engrossed in the day to day lives of the characters and intersperses the characters is interesting.
The thing - cat/dog whatever it is despite its fragility and you and Xanther fearing/knowing that the thing may pass away at any seconds pushes you to want the thing to live. But to what extent does the thing being alive affect Xanther's day to day life. Yes she's growing into a regular teenager (sullen/withdrawn) but I feel that after A Rainy Day in May something's changing with the rescue of the thing
The thing - cat/dog whatever it is despite its fragility and you and Xanther fearing/knowing that the thing may pass away at any seconds pushes you to want the thing to live. But to what extent does the thing being alive affect Xanther's day to day life. Yes she's growing into a regular teenager (sullen/withdrawn) but I feel that after A Rainy Day in May something's changing with the rescue of the thing
danwilli2012's review against another edition
5.0
Danielewski continues to amaze with volume 2. As the reader progresses you really fall into a groove of the books. I was amazed to see the 880 pages of this book fly by. I couldn't stop until I was done and I was caving more.
#BeAHymnForGood
#BeAHymnForGood
sheapm's review against another edition
5.0
A large amount better than volume one, a book which I already loved. Quite an undertaking, but undoubtedly worth it in my opinion.
monty_reads's review against another edition
3.0
If you’ve never read anything by Mark Z. Danielewski before, I’ll tell you two things:
1) You’ve gotta be willing to live in a constant state of disequilibrium. You will either not fully understand what you’re reading or else you’ll fully understand it & be unsettled by it. There’s very little in between.
2) You have to put in the work. You don’t read Danielewski casually. He’s going to exercise your gray matter in ways it probably hasn’t been exercised in a while (& I say this as a Professional Thinky Guy).
A third thing – separate from, but a consequence of, the first two items – is that there’s no satisfactory way to summarize a Danielewski book & render it appealing to anyone.
So what can I tell you?
Some bullets:
This is the second volume of a series the author intends to be 27 (!) volumes long.
Each volume, including this one, will be 880 pages & 30 chapters long.
It features nine storylines, some of which currently interlock, some of which don’t, some of which you just KNOW will interlock eventually.
These stories are kept distinctive through the use of specific individual fonts.
Among the nine interlocking stories you’ll find the following:
Xanther, a young epileptic girl who takes care of a small cat that looks very young but is actually very old & which may have healing properties.
A group of outlaws possessing a mysterious Orb while on the run from the government.
A Los Angeles detective, a Mexican-American gang member, & a Singaporean addict, all of whom are involved in a plot about drugs being distributed by balloon.
A group called the Narcons who may be extraterrestrial or possibly some sort of artificial intelligence or maybe neither of the above but who definitely provide a running commentary on all nine plotlines.
And then there are some plotlines I’m still waiting to reveal themselves, like the Armenian taxi driver or Xanther’s mother, whose story mainly revolves around trying to get her graduate thesis approved.
As always, the breadth of Danielewski’s imagination & experimentation is astounding. But I’m not going to hang around forever. I’m on board for at least one more volume, but I’m soon going to need more instant gratification.
1) You’ve gotta be willing to live in a constant state of disequilibrium. You will either not fully understand what you’re reading or else you’ll fully understand it & be unsettled by it. There’s very little in between.
2) You have to put in the work. You don’t read Danielewski casually. He’s going to exercise your gray matter in ways it probably hasn’t been exercised in a while (& I say this as a Professional Thinky Guy).
A third thing – separate from, but a consequence of, the first two items – is that there’s no satisfactory way to summarize a Danielewski book & render it appealing to anyone.
So what can I tell you?
Some bullets:
This is the second volume of a series the author intends to be 27 (!) volumes long.
Each volume, including this one, will be 880 pages & 30 chapters long.
It features nine storylines, some of which currently interlock, some of which don’t, some of which you just KNOW will interlock eventually.
These stories are kept distinctive through the use of specific individual fonts.
Among the nine interlocking stories you’ll find the following:
Xanther, a young epileptic girl who takes care of a small cat that looks very young but is actually very old & which may have healing properties.
A group of outlaws possessing a mysterious Orb while on the run from the government.
A Los Angeles detective, a Mexican-American gang member, & a Singaporean addict, all of whom are involved in a plot about drugs being distributed by balloon.
A group called the Narcons who may be extraterrestrial or possibly some sort of artificial intelligence or maybe neither of the above but who definitely provide a running commentary on all nine plotlines.
And then there are some plotlines I’m still waiting to reveal themselves, like the Armenian taxi driver or Xanther’s mother, whose story mainly revolves around trying to get her graduate thesis approved.
As always, the breadth of Danielewski’s imagination & experimentation is astounding. But I’m not going to hang around forever. I’m on board for at least one more volume, but I’m soon going to need more instant gratification.