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alexampersand's reviews
383 reviews
Chernobyl: The Fall of Atomgrad by Matyáš Namai
3.0
Unfortunately this didn't really work for me. I loved the concept, and there were parts that were very effective - the section about the animals, and the sparseness of people having to collect minimal belongings were truly heartwrenching.
But overall I found the brevity and surface-skimming to be quite off putting; the text just felt like reading an essay broken down into singular sentences, and the lack of a personal narrative felt like it missed some of the depth it could have reached. I also found the art style to be quite distracting, sometimes being so detailed with so many intricate lines that I found it difficult to follow along in parts.
It was a really interesting read to learn more about how Chernobyl came about, and the blame-shifting, but I came away feeling unsatisfied, like maybe it needed to be twice as long (or I just need to go away and do some further reading) to feel like it covered the scope of the situation.
But overall I found the brevity and surface-skimming to be quite off putting; the text just felt like reading an essay broken down into singular sentences, and the lack of a personal narrative felt like it missed some of the depth it could have reached. I also found the art style to be quite distracting, sometimes being so detailed with so many intricate lines that I found it difficult to follow along in parts.
It was a really interesting read to learn more about how Chernobyl came about, and the blame-shifting, but I came away feeling unsatisfied, like maybe it needed to be twice as long (or I just need to go away and do some further reading) to feel like it covered the scope of the situation.
Bad Hare Day by R.L. Stine
4.0
This might be the first Goosebumps book that I actually wish was longer and felt almost suffered from the shorter length.
I thought it was great; the first half with magic tricks and sneaking out gave it a fun setting and a nice adventurous tone. I was just pretty surprised when what seemed to be the big tension of the story came about 80% through the book, and hence was resolved very quickly... sort of. A pretty nice ending too, but again it just felt a little bit rushed to me.
I thought it was great; the first half with magic tricks and sneaking out gave it a fun setting and a nice adventurous tone. I was just pretty surprised when what seemed to be the big tension of the story came about 80% through the book, and hence was resolved very quickly... sort of. A pretty nice ending too, but again it just felt a little bit rushed to me.
The Confession Room by Lia Middleton
4.0
Probably one of the best thriller mysteries I've read in a long time, plot wise. It starts out quite slow and generic, but then it takes a turn and the middle section genuinely had me unable to stop reading. It goes in a direction I found really interesting, and for a little while there is a really interesting examination of trauma and guilt.
Unfortunately it does waver towards the end. There are a few leaps of logic that were just a little too convenient for me, and then the final resolution seemed quite rushed - it almost felt like the author had a vague plan of where to go, and then hit a deadline and just had to crack out a detailed summary rather than let it organically get there.
The character dialogue was also quite underwhelming throughout, especially between Emilia and Ciaran. I just struggled to buy into them as actual people rather than caricatures of how real people interact.
So overall a really great read, but those few sticking points held it back from perfection for me.
Unfortunately it does waver towards the end. There are a few leaps of logic that were just a little too convenient for me, and then the final resolution seemed quite rushed - it almost felt like the author had a vague plan of where to go, and then hit a deadline and just had to crack out a detailed summary rather than let it organically get there.
The character dialogue was also quite underwhelming throughout, especially between Emilia and Ciaran. I just struggled to buy into them as actual people rather than caricatures of how real people interact.
So overall a really great read, but those few sticking points held it back from perfection for me.
Out There Screaming by Jordan Peele, John Joseph Adams
4.5
A real triumph of a book, absolutely adored it. There were maybe a couple of less appealing stories in the middle , but even then they were short enough and had interesting enough ideas that I still enjoyed reading them.
Eye & Tooth and Your Happy Place were my standouts - the last one especially I think will stay with me for a long time, just a perfectly concocted story.
Eye & Tooth and Your Happy Place were my standouts - the last one especially I think will stay with me for a long time, just a perfectly concocted story.
Close to the Ground by Jeffrey J. Mariotte
3.5
This book really felt like quite a mishmash of ideas: there's Angel working as a bodyguard for a rich teen, Cordelia working at a movie studio, Lockley investigating bank robberies, and also a mysterious demon hunting after Angel. It sort of works and propels itself along, until about two-thirds of the way through when it feels like the demon hunting Angel just bulldozes over the rest of the plot (with some very annoying Older English speak) and everything else seems to be cast off to the side.
The rest of the plots do sort of come back together and tie in, but in a way that didn't really feel super satisfying for me.
The rest of the plots do sort of come back together and tie in, but in a way that didn't really feel super satisfying for me.
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane
3.5
I started off absolutely loving the book - I thought the style was really interesting, being told through almost stream-of-consciousness vignettes rather than solid scenes. I did drift off in the middle and started to find it a bit of a struggle - I think that was a combination of the vignette style and also the plot seeming to meander a little.
Plot-wise, I feel like I might have enjoyed if it had been tightened up a little; I thought there were some really beautiful ruminations on grief and loss, and how to move on, what that can look like, and how it doesn't always feel like a linear process. But if anything, I almost found the dystopian Shade aspect to be a little distracting from that. I found it hard to get my head around the concept of multiple shadows (since that's.... not how light and shadows work), but also I'm just not sure that it really added too much into the story, other than creating a sense of isolation and "otherness" for the main characters, which I felt could have been done in a way that felt a bit more cohesive.
Plot-wise, I feel like I might have enjoyed if it had been tightened up a little; I thought there were some really beautiful ruminations on grief and loss, and how to move on, what that can look like, and how it doesn't always feel like a linear process. But if anything, I almost found the dystopian Shade aspect to be a little distracting from that. I found it hard to get my head around the concept of multiple shadows (since that's.... not how light and shadows work), but also I'm just not sure that it really added too much into the story, other than creating a sense of isolation and "otherness" for the main characters, which I felt could have been done in a way that felt a bit more cohesive.
Birthday by Kōji Suzuki
3.5
It was well written for the most part, but sort of felt extraneous. The first story just reiterated a story we already knew, but from a different characters perspective. The second story filled in a gap from Sadako's history, which was fine but sort of dragged on a little for me.
The final story was probably the most interesting, and functions as a sort of epilogue to Loop, filling in what happened after the ending. But in some ways this actually left me pretty unsatisfied, especially what felt like a big expository paragraph with some very unsubtle writing about how important diversity is. Maybe that was a translation issue, but it just felt very hamfisted.
I think I would have enjoyed these if the stories were a little shorter and functioned as real snapshots, but as it was it felt too long for what little they had to offer in the way of plot.
The final story was probably the most interesting, and functions as a sort of epilogue to Loop, filling in what happened after the ending. But in some ways this actually left me pretty unsatisfied, especially what felt like a big expository paragraph with some very unsubtle writing about how important diversity is. Maybe that was a translation issue, but it just felt very hamfisted.
I think I would have enjoyed these if the stories were a little shorter and functioned as real snapshots, but as it was it felt too long for what little they had to offer in the way of plot.
Night of the Living Dummy III by R.L. Stine
4.5
Enjoyed this a lot. A nice sense of mystery and actually felt a little creepy at times, something which hasn't happened in a Goosebumps book for a while. I also enjoyed that this one focused more on the threat and mystery of what was happening, as opposed to previous Living Dummy books that sort of showed us what Slappy would do, which was... destroy some paintings. Having it just seem threatening and menacing added a lot to it for me.
Weirdo by Sara Pascoe
4.0
I really enjoyed this, and I enjoyed the interior monologue, but I also feel like it could have been at least 100 pages shorter, as the lack of a real tangible plot meant that it felt sort of meandering at points.
it also felt like there was a sudden U-turn on the character where it almost fell into the cliche where a baby can solve everything, and I wasn't too keen on that. But after everything that happens, I found the baby shower chapter was so poignant and beautifully well written. And I did think that it had quite a satisfying ending, but the path to get there felt a bit shaky.
it also felt like there was a sudden U-turn on the character where it almost fell into the cliche where a baby can solve everything, and I wasn't too keen on that. But after everything that happens, I found the baby shower chapter was so poignant and beautifully well written. And I did think that it had quite a satisfying ending, but the path to get there felt a bit shaky.
How I Survived My Summer Vacation by Cameron Dokey, Paul Ruditis, Nancy Holder, Michelle Sagara West, Yvonne Navarro
4.0
This book started off strong - honestly probably one of the strongest, if not THE strongest, Buffy novel I've read so far.
The first story was a really lovely and touching rumination on grief and processing trauma, and honestly did perfectly what the show manages to do, which is to combine fun supernatural with real-life issues.
Following this story, it seemed like we were headed for almost a mini 6-part season of Buffy; there was a recurring villain, but each story was also self-contained. There was also quite a nice split between having stories focused on the recurring villain in Sunnydale, and Buffy dealing with her own drama in LA. Unfortunately then the last two stories were set in Sunnydale but seemed to forget about the idea of the recurring villain, and instead were just two incredibly mediocre stories about Giles, Jenny and Angel forming some bizarre vigilante team.
So honestly, 5 stars for the first story, 4-and-a-bit stars for stories 2-4, and then 3 stars for the last two.
The first story was a really lovely and touching rumination on grief and processing trauma, and honestly did perfectly what the show manages to do, which is to combine fun supernatural with real-life issues.
Following this story, it seemed like we were headed for almost a mini 6-part season of Buffy; there was a recurring villain, but each story was also self-contained. There was also quite a nice split between having stories focused on the recurring villain in Sunnydale, and Buffy dealing with her own drama in LA. Unfortunately then the last two stories were set in Sunnydale but seemed to forget about the idea of the recurring villain, and instead were just two incredibly mediocre stories about Giles, Jenny and Angel forming some bizarre vigilante team.
So honestly, 5 stars for the first story, 4-and-a-bit stars for stories 2-4, and then 3 stars for the last two.