You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
This book was really weird. Maybe it was just the audiobook... not sure. It was pretty annoying, at one point, listening to 2 minutes straight of the narrator repeating states over and over again. I dont know, I just didnt get this book.
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
one of those books that just impacts you physically, like makes you feel feverish and nauseated the entire time you read it. really poetic, you definitely feel echoes of his songwriting in this novel. devastating and optimistic
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you like the mountain goats at all, read this and cry.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
This book follows Sean Phillips, creator of the infamous Italian Trace game. A person with a vivid imagination and ability to create adventures, he guides players through a word he creates. When one of the games takes a turn for the worse, it changes how he forever sees the world around him and the people in it.
More about this book can be found on my blog: http://hesaidbooksorme.blogspot.com
More about this book can be found on my blog: http://hesaidbooksorme.blogspot.com
I found this book to be a complete mess. It was very difficult for me to force my way through 207 pages. The worst book I've read in quite some time.
When he was a young adult, a catastrophic injury left Sean spending a lot of time in the burn ward of the hospital, in pain and staring at the ceiling for countless hours. During this time, he invents in his head a play-by-mail roleplaying game called Trace Italian, where survivors in a post-apocalyptic America journey towards a fortress in the Midwest.
After coming home, Sean is profoundly disfigured, and he becomes a virtual recluse, living with his parents, creating the detailed landscape of the Trace Italian game and venturing no farther than the local liquor store to buy candy. He places ads in the back of science fiction magazines and starts corresponding by mail with people who play his game.
As the novel opens, the reader gradually realizes another tragedy has occurred and two young Trace Italian players have taken the game too far into real life. The story goes back and forth in time but is never confusing. Secret signals, death metal, obscure magazines, Conan the Barbarian comics, mail order swords and homemade cassette tapes form Sean's inner and outer landscape. The fact that the main character is living with extreme facial deformity reminded me of [b:Wonder|23302416|Wonder|R.J. Palacio|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412358842s/23302416.jpg|16319487] by RJ Palacio, but whereas that was an ultimately hopeful book, this is sadder and interior, more literary fiction. It also reminded me of [b:The Burn Journals|216196|The Burn Journals|Brent Runyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388561751s/216196.jpg|2147177] by Brent Runyon.
After coming home, Sean is profoundly disfigured, and he becomes a virtual recluse, living with his parents, creating the detailed landscape of the Trace Italian game and venturing no farther than the local liquor store to buy candy. He places ads in the back of science fiction magazines and starts corresponding by mail with people who play his game.
As the novel opens, the reader gradually realizes another tragedy has occurred and two young Trace Italian players have taken the game too far into real life. The story goes back and forth in time but is never confusing. Secret signals, death metal, obscure magazines, Conan the Barbarian comics, mail order swords and homemade cassette tapes form Sean's inner and outer landscape. The fact that the main character is living with extreme facial deformity reminded me of [b:Wonder|23302416|Wonder|R.J. Palacio|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412358842s/23302416.jpg|16319487] by RJ Palacio, but whereas that was an ultimately hopeful book, this is sadder and interior, more literary fiction. It also reminded me of [b:The Burn Journals|216196|The Burn Journals|Brent Runyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388561751s/216196.jpg|2147177] by Brent Runyon.