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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Stopped reading halfway through, couldnt get interested. Seems like a hodgepodge of ideas that didnt gel for me.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book rescued me from an impending reading slump. Quirky modern sci-fantasy with more than a touch of body horror was exactly what I needed and I was stoked to learn that it's the first in a trilogy. I can't properly express how much I enjoyed this read.
I just couldn’t get into this book and decided to just give it up rather than keep looking at it in my pile.
As I age, I get increasingly finicky. Something I might have (almost certainly would have) read 20 years ago becomes something I unflinchingly toss into the Little Free Library in front of my house.
This began promisingly, with an unusual opening situation during long ago times. "Ah," I say to myself, "what fun, an Elizabethan-set fantasy." But no, the plot leaps ahead to the current day. "Oh well," I say to myself, "so many books do something similar, that's fine." And then the viewpoint character changes. And changes again. And changes again. And then we're back in the past. And now there's a portal to a completely different place, with a different viewpoint character, or have we had their viewpoint before? Oh, no, we haven't, but we've met them before, briefly.
And just when I got to the point that I thought I should start taking notes about who was who and did what (and when, and where), I realised the book was work, and not fun, and I'd rather read something else.
I did my due diligence—checked out Goodreads reviews, in case people said things like "despite a confused first third, it settles into a single viewpoint character and the plot proceeds in an excitingly but intelligble way towards the thrilling conclusion," but they did not say that. For the most part, the more negative reviews said things like "failed to leave up to opening promise," which had been my reaction as well.
It's too bad, because a different book with the same cover and opening situation might well have appealed. I did feel Dickensian (and Mervyn Peakian) leanings, but it's clear it cannot possibly rise to those heights. Even when I was mired in the first slow 30 pages of Titus Groan I felt I was holding something very special indeed.
Not so here.
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. Whatever my response, it's personal, and has little bearing on the merits of the book itself. You may love it. The book is not bad, it's just not for me.
(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
This began promisingly, with an unusual opening situation during long ago times. "Ah," I say to myself, "what fun, an Elizabethan-set fantasy." But no, the plot leaps ahead to the current day. "Oh well," I say to myself, "so many books do something similar, that's fine." And then the viewpoint character changes. And changes again. And changes again. And then we're back in the past. And now there's a portal to a completely different place, with a different viewpoint character, or have we had their viewpoint before? Oh, no, we haven't, but we've met them before, briefly.
And just when I got to the point that I thought I should start taking notes about who was who and did what (and when, and where), I realised the book was work, and not fun, and I'd rather read something else.
I did my due diligence—checked out Goodreads reviews, in case people said things like "despite a confused first third, it settles into a single viewpoint character and the plot proceeds in an excitingly but intelligble way towards the thrilling conclusion," but they did not say that. For the most part, the more negative reviews said things like "failed to leave up to opening promise," which had been my reaction as well.
It's too bad, because a different book with the same cover and opening situation might well have appealed. I did feel Dickensian (and Mervyn Peakian) leanings, but it's clear it cannot possibly rise to those heights. Even when I was mired in the first slow 30 pages of Titus Groan I felt I was holding something very special indeed.
Not so here.
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. Whatever my response, it's personal, and has little bearing on the merits of the book itself. You may love it. The book is not bad, it's just not for me.
(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
Just finished /net uit: Rotherweird - Andrew Caldecott. What a weirdly wonderful book. A man accepts a teaching job in a small english village, completely secluded. Upon arrival, it turns put the village is hiding some interesting secrets. / een man beslist om les te gaan geven in een klein en afgezonderd Engels dorpje. Bij aankomst blijken er overal geheimen te zijn! Een (be)vreemd(end) boek met een vlotte, vrolijke schrijfstijl.
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Like the character at the centre of events, who is almost entirely absent from the narrative, this book wears its cleverness on its sleeve. A mysterious town of shrouded history and isolated, anachronistically artisanal appearance. Eccentric characters with peculiar names, a knotty puzzle taken up from many strands, a few left dangling from which to weave a sequel. I enjoyed it, but did not love it - like a Tudor inn refurbished by millionaire-turned-landlord, its whimsical authenticity doesn’t quite persuade, but it’s a pleasant place to spend a few hours.
The narration was lively, characterful, end evocative of place and events. It only grated in a very few places (no astronomer says afelion for aphelion) and from a perfectionist like me, that’s praise.
The narration was lively, characterful, end evocative of place and events. It only grated in a very few places (no astronomer says afelion for aphelion) and from a perfectionist like me, that’s praise.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A