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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
I think the author was trying to do something really great, but I just did not enjoy his writing style.
why is all the YA fiction I have read recently so much better than all the adult fiction? well, who cares. I am starting a young adult book club.
I kinda thought this book was another sci fi-esque story (something about the cover i think), but turns out it's historical fiction about the revolutionary war. real good. fit for adults.
I kinda thought this book was another sci fi-esque story (something about the cover i think), but turns out it's historical fiction about the revolutionary war. real good. fit for adults.
this was dreadful - excellent historical details but so long and dreary.
My main issue with this book is that right in the middle it loses steam when the point of view switches from Octavian to this corporal in the army. I found myself bored with this transition, and just scanned the letters for information on Octavian. Otherwise I really enjoyed the book. I thought the experiment was interesting, and the portrayal of the other characters, and the viewpoints of the philosophers fairly realistic for the time period (although at the same time horrifying in how slaves were treated and thought of).
This is hard to rate/review since it’s the first part of a full story and definitely ends that way. I’ll read the second part at some point, but not right away.
Parts of this were really interesting and read easily. Other parts didn’t. That’s sort of my fault - I knew when it was set so should have expected the war to come in in a big way, but... I don’t enjoy war books. And then one whole section was letters, which I don’t care for either.
But it was really just the one part that got long for me (and it was the shortest part!). The first two parts had ups and downs but were ultimately interesting and kept me reading. The fourth part as well.
I don’t really feel like this is a YA book either, and except for Octavian’s age I don’t think it should be. But I expected a more YA story and I think that was part of my issue as well - it just wasn’t what I wanted at the time.
Overall it was very good and Anderson’s language is gorgeous, but it wasn’t the right book for me at the moment. I will read part two when I’m in the mood for this sort of book.
Parts of this were really interesting and read easily. Other parts didn’t. That’s sort of my fault - I knew when it was set so should have expected the war to come in in a big way, but... I don’t enjoy war books. And then one whole section was letters, which I don’t care for either.
But it was really just the one part that got long for me (and it was the shortest part!). The first two parts had ups and downs but were ultimately interesting and kept me reading. The fourth part as well.
I don’t really feel like this is a YA book either, and except for Octavian’s age I don’t think it should be. But I expected a more YA story and I think that was part of my issue as well - it just wasn’t what I wanted at the time.
Overall it was very good and Anderson’s language is gorgeous, but it wasn’t the right book for me at the moment. I will read part two when I’m in the mood for this sort of book.
I fail to see how this book was so acclaimed. It is one of the most boring books I've ever attempted to read. I did not finish it - it was not compelling. I love historical fiction, but this was just dull and incredibly odd.
Save yourself the precious hours of your life and do not read this book. The plot could be outstripped by a snail, and yet it still somehow didn’t make sense. Half of this book is pretentious ramblings that do little to further the plot. None of the characters are likable or well developed. The only reason this book gets 2 stars instead of one is because the idea was good; I don’t know how the editor and everyone involved in the publishing process let them butcher it like that then went on to make it into a series.
I found it difficult to want to pick up this book as it’s full of torture and devoid of hope, which is undoubtedly true to the reality; so I read it for awareness, if nothing else.
This probably deserves four stars -- it's really well written -- but I was under the (mistaken) impression it was going to be science fiction, so unfortunately spent the whole book feeling somewhat cheated. Not the book's fault, but there you go.
Well that title certainly is a mouthful. I do enjoy the fact that Anderson is not afraid to give his book a long title, if that's the title it deserves. And Octavian certainly has an astonishing life. In this book, the story is mostly told through "testimony" that is written in first-person by Octavian himself. But there is a great middle section where the story is told in letters, and we see what happens to Octavian during that time period through someone else's eyes. Octavian was raised, along with his very young mother, by a group of scientist/philosophers who refer to themselves as the Novanglian College of Lucidity. All of the men there are known by numbers, rather than their names, whereas Octavian, and his mother, Cassiopeia, are not. It takes Octavian (and the reader) some time to realize that he and his mother are actually parts of some of the experiments that the men of the college are studying. He also eventually learns that they are slaves, and are owned by 03-01, or Mr. Gitney, the man who runs the place.
This book takes place right before the Revolutionary War, in Boston. War actually breaks out during the course of the book, and Octavian learns that freedom means different things depending on who you are talking to and where you come from.
This was a fascinating, very quick read, and I am looking forward to reading the second book. Anderson's descriptions, and his storytelling, both through Octavian and through the letters, are intriguing, and even more so often because he is one of those authors that leaves a lot for the reader to fill in for themselves. It's more immersive than I would have thought, and I wonder how it will end for Octavian.
This book takes place right before the Revolutionary War, in Boston. War actually breaks out during the course of the book, and Octavian learns that freedom means different things depending on who you are talking to and where you come from.
This was a fascinating, very quick read, and I am looking forward to reading the second book. Anderson's descriptions, and his storytelling, both through Octavian and through the letters, are intriguing, and even more so often because he is one of those authors that leaves a lot for the reader to fill in for themselves. It's more immersive than I would have thought, and I wonder how it will end for Octavian.