careythesixth's reviews
755 reviews

Die, Vol. 3: The Great Game by Kieron Gillen

adventurous dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Quiet Room by Terry Miles

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This series has well and truly pissed me off. The first time I read Rabbits, I loved it. Mind blown. The second time I read it, knowing how it ended and having more energy to think through the logistics of the narrative, it was... a chore. But the concept is amazing and absolute catnip to me, so I read this book. The concept is still very cool, but jfc. These characters are insufferable hipster iterations of the author. Everyone is the same one note - snarky Gen X trash baby. I say that as a snarky Gen X trash baby. The dialogue actually made me stupid. A solid 100 pages of this book could probably be cut if we eliminated every time a character said what?, what the hell?, what the fuck?, what do you mean?, how the hell?, how the fuck?, this is impossible, this seems unlikely, what's going on here?, who's behind this?, etc. and the subsequent dead end conversation that followed. I felt like I was reading an adaptation of Waiting for Godot, but like if Waiting for Godot had been lobotomized into a 400 page "Who's on first?" joke starring characters from a Kevin Smith movie. I am so mad at this book. It had the potential to be good but it's just bad. Two stars for the concept and the concept only.

Messengers: The Guitars of James Hetfield by James Hetfield

informative relaxing fast-paced

5.0

I read this book 1-2 guitars at a time over the course of 5 months because I wanted to really sit and absorb the story each one. I played cello for about 15 years, so I knew enough about stringed instruments to get most of the shop jargon. But this isn't just a book about guitars. It's the story of a man with something to say and the tools he uses to say it. I've been a diehard Metallica fan for 30 years and this was an amazing look into James as a person. I learned so much about guitars through his stories of what, why, and how. Are other rock stars this invested in their craft? The photos are also gorgeous. I took my time with this book to also examine each one. I've never seen guitar parts this up close and personal. I especially liked the early guitars that James carved or wrote on just because he was bored. Maybe I would have had more fun as a cellist if I'd thought gone all Apocalyptica and also carved Kill Josh Bell into the front of my instrument. Kidding - I like Joshua Bell a lot and the one time I had the pleasure of working with him, he was rad as hell.

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Grimmer by Naben Ruthnum

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

DNF at 84%

I'm tired of this book and I just don't care. I'm mad because it started off amazing. And then it just devolved into a series of events that sort of happened as opposed to a cohesive narrative. This book also suffers from "we'll tell you everything later" and "we lied about X but now we'll tell you the truth." And there's no reason for any of it. The protagonists are underdeveloped and/or garbage humans and villain is creepy but evil for evil's sake. And who in their right mind just lets a 15 year old boy borrow their cat?!!! For reasons. Fuck no you cannot borrow my cat. I don't care how sad you are or how well I know your parents.

I know I'm not the target audience for this book, but I've also read a bunch of YA/MG books that don't suffer from feeling half baked nonsense. 

Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

It's been a while since I've read a book that mentions diarrhea as much as this book does. I loved it!

The Navigating Fox by Christopher Rowe

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I guess this was okay. I expected it to be more metal. It was much too short for the worldbuilding it needed.

This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham
Did not finish book. Stopped at 36%.

Just not for me.

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch

funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

This was so much fun! As a second wave full internet person, I've always been at least a little interested in where internet culture came from. I absolutely love the idea of memes as internet folklore. I was listening to the part about textile to text to meme back around to text on textile while sewing a swearing bird for a friend. 

I learned a bunch from this book and had fun doing it!

Remina by Junji Ito

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.0

This is one of the stupidest, most misogynistic things I have ever read.