You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
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:
No
I found this book depressing although I did get to like some of the characters. It does get exciting towards the end but takes an awfully long time to get to that part.
Was boring quickly after the first 50 pages. Lost all inspiration. Became suddenly very cringe and preachy. The final straws? He described a character as “biracial handsome” (????) and said that a jpeg was the epitome of the universe. Stop trying so hard!
Wow - this was a wild ride. Hawley has woven a story, with a few essays mixed in, from all the extremes in American society as we enter 2022. Consequently, the story has lots of guns, anxiety meds, power and money hungry adults, climate concerns, suicides, references to anti-masking and the capitol riot. You name it, it's probably in here. The story centers mostly on a group (loosely connected) of young people who end up on a quest to rescue some other young people from a bad guy known as the Wizard - a rich and powerful businessman/sexual predator. Occasionally, the author stops the story to speak directly with the reader - in one case apologizing for there being so many guns in the story but then explaining why they're necessary in a story about the current state of affairs. This novel will be talked about when it comes out in January!
Way too heavy handed and not enough character development. I get wanting to capture current times, but I don’t need to be spoon fed political allegory. I can actually infer some things, thank you.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What a letdown. Hawley is a great TV writer, so I had high hopes when I learned he had written some books. Reminds me of an alternate timeline book that I would have tried to write about modern times. I would have started with good intentions but I know it would have turned into an irritating, boring mess.
There’s little creativity here. Low stakes for such a big stakes setup. The narration is sloppy and all over the place. It’s at times a hybrid between fiction and a memoir, and it fails at both.
And he seemingly got so bored of it himself that he didn’t write much of an ending.
.75 because of that creepy witch, though.
There’s little creativity here. Low stakes for such a big stakes setup. The narration is sloppy and all over the place. It’s at times a hybrid between fiction and a memoir, and it fails at both.
And he seemingly got so bored of it himself that he didn’t write much of an ending.
.75 because of that creepy witch, though.
Creative and well thought out. This book is a mixture of genres and plays to their strengths. I really enjoyed the characters in the plot and how the author inserted himself into the story at times. It's almost a mixture of fiction and nonfiction when that happens. Well done
Anyone in need of a reality check should read this. And I believe that’s most people..
dark
reflective
medium-paced
The blurb on this book sounded very promising, but it turned out to be disappointing. In general, it was a diatribe against modern society and all its ills, including climate change, capitalism and the mega rich, surrounding a story line which was fairly simplistic. Just as the story starts making some progress, the author digresses yet again into a rant on the ills of the world. Of course, the issues are all very real, but I felt that it was unnecessary to spend so much time lecturing the reader. I got it the first time!
There were spelling issues in the text and inconsistencies in the story which further irritated and which resulted (for me) in a general dissatisfaction with the book as a whole.
There were spelling issues in the text and inconsistencies in the story which further irritated and which resulted (for me) in a general dissatisfaction with the book as a whole.