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allegedly_miri's reviews
57 reviews
Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey
4.0
A really amazing read. Finished it in three days as I couldn’t put the damn thing down. The characters are so well crafted, the story is completely unafraid to mess with the reader, and the world it creates is so rich that I would read hundreds more of these.
The ending was a little bit of an awkward finish, but I think given the scope and detail and pacing of the rest of the work, it was always going to be hard to tie it up in a bow. It left me wanting more, but felt a little like I was missing something still. Maybe that’s on me. I got so intrenched in it over the three days that I just wanted to know EVERYTHING about this world and what happened.
Anyway, this book is brilliant in so many ways, I’m so surprised it hasn’t become more widely read, as it surpasses some well-known tales in quality, scope, world building, and in constant twists and turns.
Will definitely be recommending this to everyone I can.
The ending was a little bit of an awkward finish, but I think given the scope and detail and pacing of the rest of the work, it was always going to be hard to tie it up in a bow. It left me wanting more, but felt a little like I was missing something still. Maybe that’s on me. I got so intrenched in it over the three days that I just wanted to know EVERYTHING about this world and what happened.
Anyway, this book is brilliant in so many ways, I’m so surprised it hasn’t become more widely read, as it surpasses some well-known tales in quality, scope, world building, and in constant twists and turns.
Will definitely be recommending this to everyone I can.
Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
2.0
I’ve owned this book since it first came out and never really committed to finishing it. Decided to change that today and read it all in one go, after years of loving TMG and liking the look of Darnielle’s new book… and it really wasn’t for me.
I felt like the book was trying to do something, trying to subvert something, trying to say something without SAYING it and to be so artfully clever. But it just fell short of offering up any substance. Which was sort of the point, but it feels unrewarding and empty. Which was also sort of the point. I don’t know.
The essence of the book seems to be that we don’t always have reasons for things. The character hates mystery novels, and the mystery set up at the start by the existence of Sean in his current form turns out to be unsolvable and without closure. All others are red-herrings, or what he would call “side quests”. It’s a good point, especially given the mental health bent, but it didn’t make for enjoyable reading. It was frustrating and never quite gave me what I wanted. It felt like reading snippets from someone’s diary that they’d given up on by March.
In short, I wanted to like it but didn’t. And finishing the book left me with nothing more than I had when I started it.
I felt like the book was trying to do something, trying to subvert something, trying to say something without SAYING it and to be so artfully clever. But it just fell short of offering up any substance. Which was sort of the point, but it feels unrewarding and empty. Which was also sort of the point. I don’t know.
The essence of the book seems to be that we don’t always have reasons for things. The character hates mystery novels, and the mystery set up at the start by the existence of Sean in his current form turns out to be unsolvable and without closure. All others are red-herrings, or what he would call “side quests”. It’s a good point, especially given the mental health bent, but it didn’t make for enjoyable reading. It was frustrating and never quite gave me what I wanted. It felt like reading snippets from someone’s diary that they’d given up on by March.
In short, I wanted to like it but didn’t. And finishing the book left me with nothing more than I had when I started it.
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
5.0
This is possibly my favourite book in the world, despite the title which prohibits me from recommending it to people lest they think it’s a John Green novel about two nerds who hook up.
But this was the first book that ever held me, when I was about 13/14, in that ravenous and desperate state that some books suspend you in - causing you to ignore everything else around you and devour the pages, only to find it’s 4am and you’ve got school in the morning. I read it again this week and felt the same way.
Every page is quite literally thrilling. There are things that are allowed to happen here in between the covers that are disgusting, horrifying, and heartbreaking - but somehow tender and enthralling all the same. There’s cults, radiation, abuse of all kinds, circus freaks, romance, body horror, sexual crime, violence, telepathic doctors, and self-mutilation. The lilting pace is pitch-perfect, each scene painted beautifully and given such character by everyone who inhabits it. It’s a joy to read. A squelchy, foul joy.
Since then there have been others. Invisible Monsters, The Late Hector Kipling, and others straddling that bizarre-comic-tragic-grotesque line. But this was where it started and it’s left me worried I’ve already read the best book at the age of 24.
But this was the first book that ever held me, when I was about 13/14, in that ravenous and desperate state that some books suspend you in - causing you to ignore everything else around you and devour the pages, only to find it’s 4am and you’ve got school in the morning. I read it again this week and felt the same way.
Every page is quite literally thrilling. There are things that are allowed to happen here in between the covers that are disgusting, horrifying, and heartbreaking - but somehow tender and enthralling all the same. There’s cults, radiation, abuse of all kinds, circus freaks, romance, body horror, sexual crime, violence, telepathic doctors, and self-mutilation. The lilting pace is pitch-perfect, each scene painted beautifully and given such character by everyone who inhabits it. It’s a joy to read. A squelchy, foul joy.
Since then there have been others. Invisible Monsters, The Late Hector Kipling, and others straddling that bizarre-comic-tragic-grotesque line. But this was where it started and it’s left me worried I’ve already read the best book at the age of 24.