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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Stars Rank: 2 **
“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them.... I destroy them.”...
..."Then what do you want?"
"I want him to love me."
Ok I’m going to get right to the point with this book.
It drove me crazy.
Honestly, all I wanted to do was get through it (and not in a good way sadly). Other then the last 10 pages or so that were interesting, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sci-fi and aliens but it just didn’t grab me like other sci-fi novels do. One reason that I can think of is that the author doesn’t give a lot of detail.. or any at all really. Nor does he explain the story well.
I could ramble about tons of examples of different parts but ill just leave it at this tiny list.
Examples:
-I was never told what the showers looked like until the last 50 pages when they came into play.
-How the spaceships aren’t described at all, nothing, nada.
This may not seem like a big deal but when it’s a component you hear within the book frequently I’d prefer to know a broad generalization, at least, as to what it looks like.
-One that personally bugs me is that when it comes to my sci-fi books I love all the scientific “jibber jabber”. When it shows that the author put some research into how the spaceship and light speed works, the zero gravity, how a star supernovas, etc.
Even if I may already know how it works it’s nice to see the author’s own personal twist on it.
OR how the "Big" Plot twist at the end is so shocking when I found it rushed through and quite obvious...
I know some people may like less detail, allowing your own imagination to roam freely and I like it as well, just to an extent. There are some pros to this book:
-Short, easy read
-Shows the aliens perspective and how things happened for them
(maybe only for a few pages at the end but it does!)
I will say that the book wasn’t all that bad and I can see how so many people find it alright, but not the cult like love for it.
“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them.... I destroy them.”...
..."Then what do you want?"
"I want him to love me."
Ok I’m going to get right to the point with this book.
It drove me crazy.
Honestly, all I wanted to do was get through it (and not in a good way sadly). Other then the last 10 pages or so that were interesting, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sci-fi and aliens but it just didn’t grab me like other sci-fi novels do. One reason that I can think of is that the author doesn’t give a lot of detail.. or any at all really. Nor does he explain the story well.
I could ramble about tons of examples of different parts but ill just leave it at this tiny list.
Examples:
-I was never told what the showers looked like until the last 50 pages when they came into play.
-How the spaceships aren’t described at all, nothing, nada.
This may not seem like a big deal but when it’s a component you hear within the book frequently I’d prefer to know a broad generalization, at least, as to what it looks like.
-One that personally bugs me is that when it comes to my sci-fi books I love all the scientific “jibber jabber”. When it shows that the author put some research into how the spaceship and light speed works, the zero gravity, how a star supernovas, etc.
Even if I may already know how it works it’s nice to see the author’s own personal twist on it.
OR how the "Big" Plot twist at the end is so shocking when I found it rushed through and quite obvious...
I know some people may like less detail, allowing your own imagination to roam freely and I like it as well, just to an extent. There are some pros to this book:
-Short, easy read
-Shows the aliens perspective and how things happened for them
(maybe only for a few pages at the end but it does!)
I will say that the book wasn’t all that bad and I can see how so many people find it alright, but not the cult like love for it.
Great read! The interplay of characters and the psychology was fascinating.
I thought this had promise, but who is this aimed for?? the MC is 11, which normally puts this in middle grade, but it isn't appropriate for that age group.... maybe 16+, but I really disliked the ending and just wouldn't recommend it.
- multiple uses of b*st*rd, suckers, fart eater, p*ss ant, p*sshead, sh*t talking, jokes about someone's balls, etc.
- violent bullying
-Some jokes about a bully watching butts.
- - ambiguous homosexual undertone - One boy kisses another boy goodbye on the check (maybe platonic, maybe not). "I would follow such beauty," says Ender about another boy.
*ss, pr*ck, antisemitic slur, someone holds a tablet with a picture of genitalia over his lap
- multiple uses of b*st*rd, suckers, fart eater, p*ss ant, p*sshead, sh*t talking, jokes about someone's balls, etc.
- violent bullying
-Some jokes about a bully watching butts.
- - ambiguous homosexual undertone - One boy kisses another boy goodbye on the check (maybe platonic, maybe not). "I would follow such beauty," says Ender about another boy.
*ss, pr*ck, antisemitic slur, someone holds a tablet with a picture of genitalia over his lap
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I guess I was already too old when picking up the book. The story is okay for a juvenile novel but ultimately feels flat. There is no world building, no depth, I really wonder why the series is so famous.
I read this book as an audiobook, which, according to the author's note at the end is his ideal form for people to read it in.
Maybe because I read as an audiobook, I thought it was fast-paced. I thought it was exciting. I didn't love Ender, but I didn't hate him either. I felt bad for him. The adults were seriously messed up to do what they did to him. In someone else's review I read that they believe Orson Scott Card to be sexist. I was slightly offended by the statement 'too many years of evolution working against them' in regards to why not many girls were in the military, but beyond that I didn't think that the author seemed sexist. He had two strong female characters, Valentine and Petra. I feel like both girls, but especially Petra, could have gotten a lot more plot attention then they did, but never the less, there were strong female characters in spite of the author's bizarre statement.
One area that I truly thought could have been explored more was the ban on religion. Both of Ender's parents were born into illegally religious families (the mother was Mormon, the father was Catholic.) It was mentioned that, despite outwardly rejecting their parent's religions and resolving to obey the oppressive laws the government had enacted, the father, over the mother's objections, baptized all three children. It was mentioned that most of the great military leaders were Jewish, but I'm not sure if they meant Jewish as in the religion or the ethnology. One character Eli said 'Shalom' to Ender several times, but that is the extent of how the illegal religion idea was explored. Maybe it's because I read and loved [b: I Am Margaret|22677852|I Am Margaret (Book 1)|Corinna Turner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404824695s/22677852.jpg|41847408] and its sequels, but I felt that the anti-religious sentiments of the government would not have been accepted with the level of passivity that was portrayed. Then again, it would have had almost nothing to do with the plot if they'd fought against the restrictions, but I still wish there at least would have been a little more detail. Given the fact that they were trying to have a war against an enemy with who outnumbered the human race, I don't understand why there was a limit on how many kids people could have.
I was quite horrified by the things that were done to Ender and by the things that, because of his treatment, Ender did. I can see how, after suffering from the abuse from the adults and other children in his life, Ender would have had issues, but it still wasn't easy to read about them, and for the adults to do those kinds of things to kids, and let kids do awful things to one another, just shows how twisted they were.
I wasn't especially crazy about the ending. It wasn't satisfying, but I'm not sure the book was intended to be satisfying. I haven't decided yet if I am going to read the further books in the series.
Maybe because I read as an audiobook, I thought it was fast-paced. I thought it was exciting. I didn't love Ender, but I didn't hate him either. I felt bad for him. The adults were seriously messed up to do what they did to him. In someone else's review I read that they believe Orson Scott Card to be sexist. I was slightly offended by the statement 'too many years of evolution working against them' in regards to why not many girls were in the military, but beyond that I didn't think that the author seemed sexist. He had two strong female characters, Valentine and Petra. I feel like both girls, but especially Petra, could have gotten a lot more plot attention then they did, but never the less, there were strong female characters in spite of the author's bizarre statement.
One area that I truly thought could have been explored more was the ban on religion. Both of Ender's parents were born into illegally religious families (the mother was Mormon, the father was Catholic.) It was mentioned that, despite outwardly rejecting their parent's religions and resolving to obey the oppressive laws the government had enacted, the father, over the mother's objections, baptized all three children. It was mentioned that most of the great military leaders were Jewish, but I'm not sure if they meant Jewish as in the religion or the ethnology. One character Eli said 'Shalom' to Ender several times, but that is the extent of how the illegal religion idea was explored. Maybe it's because I read and loved [b: I Am Margaret|22677852|I Am Margaret (Book 1)|Corinna Turner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404824695s/22677852.jpg|41847408] and its sequels, but I felt that the anti-religious sentiments of the government would not have been accepted with the level of passivity that was portrayed. Then again, it would have had almost nothing to do with the plot if they'd fought against the restrictions, but I still wish there at least would have been a little more detail. Given the fact that they were trying to have a war against an enemy with who outnumbered the human race, I don't understand why there was a limit on how many kids people could have.
I was quite horrified by the things that were done to Ender and by the things that, because of his treatment, Ender did. I can see how, after suffering from the abuse from the adults and other children in his life, Ender would have had issues, but it still wasn't easy to read about them, and for the adults to do those kinds of things to kids, and let kids do awful things to one another, just shows how twisted they were.
I wasn't especially crazy about the ending. It wasn't satisfying, but I'm not sure the book was intended to be satisfying. I haven't decided yet if I am going to read the further books in the series.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked this book and will recommend it to others. I didn't like some of what happened to Ender, but I liked his character. I also liked to see what happened on Earth while Ender was away in school.
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No