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dylanhenning's reviews
130 reviews
Thrawn by Timothy Zahn
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book gives me everything I want from a story with Thrawn at the center of it. He’s devious, cunning, and calculated. And when he seems out of his element I’m left wondering is he really or is he seeming that way to the other characters and to us the reader? That’s the brilliance of not just Thrawn but his creator Timothy Zahn.
While it’s not essential to watch Rebels to enjoy this novel I will say there were certainly added moments of knowing some things about who some characters are and where they end up later in the timeline.
Lastly this will be one of the books I will use as an example when someone asks how can Star Wars work without the Jedi, Sith, or lightsabers.
While it’s not essential to watch Rebels to enjoy this novel I will say there were certainly added moments of knowing some things about who some characters are and where they end up later in the timeline.
Lastly this will be one of the books I will use as an example when someone asks how can Star Wars work without the Jedi, Sith, or lightsabers.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was an interesting little book about a haunted house.
I greatly enjoyed the way we as the reader don’t quite know if the governess is losing her mind or if she’s actually seeing the things she’s seeing.
I can see this book being challenging for some as it obviously has dated language and a dated writing style that admittedly took a little bit to adjust to but I quickly found my footing with it and was able to glide through the story and understand what was happening and what was being said.
I greatly enjoyed the way we as the reader don’t quite know if the governess is losing her mind or if she’s actually seeing the things she’s seeing.
I can see this book being challenging for some as it obviously has dated language and a dated writing style that admittedly took a little bit to adjust to but I quickly found my footing with it and was able to glide through the story and understand what was happening and what was being said.
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
I don’t typically read historical fiction but damn Vanessa Chan wrote an incredibly engaging and emotional book.
The different perspectives and events kept pulling me in more and more all the while giving me nuggets of information I’ve never known about what happened to what is now known as Malaysia before and during World War II under occupation from the British empire then the Japanese empire.
This book through the perspectives of the different family members shows the hardships and sacrifices and hard choices that were made to have a better life or just to simply survive.
The different perspectives and events kept pulling me in more and more all the while giving me nuggets of information I’ve never known about what happened to what is now known as Malaysia before and during World War II under occupation from the British empire then the Japanese empire.
This book through the perspectives of the different family members shows the hardships and sacrifices and hard choices that were made to have a better life or just to simply survive.
We Ate the Dark by Mallory Pearson
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I really wanted to like this book and so much about this should have been right up my alley. There are LGBT+ characters, there’s horror, a mystery, and a creepy town.
There are themes of love, family, friendship, selfishness and betrayal all wrapped up in a witchy magical story.
The downside here is the story wasn’t very good. I feel like the author focused more on the prose with its beautiful and complex language than having a fully fleshed out plot with fully fleshed out characters.
I found myself not really connecting with any of the cast of characters because they never really felt defined with their own distinct personalities. When switching from one character POV to another they all kinda read in the same flat tone.
Similarly there were elements of the plot that I felt needed to be expanded upon or explained earlier in the book to give me a reason to care and be invested.
Unless I’m mistaken I think this is this authors debut and I’d be interested and hopeful to see her learn and grow as an author.
There are themes of love, family, friendship, selfishness and betrayal all wrapped up in a witchy magical story.
The downside here is the story wasn’t very good. I feel like the author focused more on the prose with its beautiful and complex language than having a fully fleshed out plot with fully fleshed out characters.
I found myself not really connecting with any of the cast of characters because they never really felt defined with their own distinct personalities. When switching from one character POV to another they all kinda read in the same flat tone.
Similarly there were elements of the plot that I felt needed to be expanded upon or explained earlier in the book to give me a reason to care and be invested.
Unless I’m mistaken I think this is this authors debut and I’d be interested and hopeful to see her learn and grow as an author.
The Star Wars: Based on the Original Rough Draft Screenplay by George Lucas by George Lucas, J.W. Rinzler, Mike Mayhew
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This comic miniseries was interesting. It was neat to see some of the early ideas George Lucas had for the epic Star Wars franchise we all know today. A lot of characters, places, and plot points he already had in mind to use. It’s interesting to see what stayed the same from this rough draft idea to the final film and what got changed. For example here Han Solo is an alien reminiscent of DC’s Swamp Thing. Luke is the Ben Kenobi old Jedi, Owen Lars is with the Wookiees and Valorum is more of a threat.
The story honestly wasn’t that interesting. It was a fair amount of the plot from the original trilogy string together but this clearly is a rough draft because the story felt unpolished and I respect it for what it is but I have to review it fairly for what it is as well.
Overall if you’re a Star Wars fan this is a cool peek into what might have been Star Wars if it hadn’t had some significant changes along the way. It’s a neat bit of history for sure.
The story honestly wasn’t that interesting. It was a fair amount of the plot from the original trilogy string together but this clearly is a rough draft because the story felt unpolished and I respect it for what it is but I have to review it fairly for what it is as well.
Overall if you’re a Star Wars fan this is a cool peek into what might have been Star Wars if it hadn’t had some significant changes along the way. It’s a neat bit of history for sure.
Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This book has been sitting on my kindle for years and here I am finally reading it in 2024. I figure it’s an election year so it fits with the theme of the year at least.
Having the privilege to know the full scope of what the Trump presidency looked like, a lot of the information in this book isn’t shocking anymore. In fact most of the comments or moments Katy Tur captured seem tame by comparison to what we know in the present day (January 2024). But this is still a fascinating book offering a peek at what it’s like to be a reporter on the campaign trail and especially following an erratic and unpredictable candidate.
If you like history, politics, or the bizarre train wreck that is Donald Trump this is an insightful read.
Having the privilege to know the full scope of what the Trump presidency looked like, a lot of the information in this book isn’t shocking anymore. In fact most of the comments or moments Katy Tur captured seem tame by comparison to what we know in the present day (January 2024). But this is still a fascinating book offering a peek at what it’s like to be a reporter on the campaign trail and especially following an erratic and unpredictable candidate.
If you like history, politics, or the bizarre train wreck that is Donald Trump this is an insightful read.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
This book was incredible. I knew I was going to enjoy this book from reading the pitch of a coffee shop where people can visit someone through time travel but they have to get back before the coffee gets cold. What I didn’t expect was that this book would make me ugly cry multiple times.
The writing is so beautiful and the English translation captured the essence of the story really well. These stories and their little ways of interconnecting was really cozy and I grew to love this cast of characters and the various facets of their lives.
I love a good time travel story but when you do a time travel plot and don’t have any rules it tends to get messy so I appreciate the rules this book sets up of how it all works.
My one minor complaint is that it did repeat the rules of time travel in almost every chapter. It made sense to the plot and the characters why it got repeated so often so I’m not docking any points from the book for it but as a reader it was my only gripe.
This book is cozy and beautiful. Get yourself a nice cup of coffee and settle in. But maybe have some tissues on hand too.
The writing is so beautiful and the English translation captured the essence of the story really well. These stories and their little ways of interconnecting was really cozy and I grew to love this cast of characters and the various facets of their lives.
I love a good time travel story but when you do a time travel plot and don’t have any rules it tends to get messy so I appreciate the rules this book sets up of how it all works.
My one minor complaint is that it did repeat the rules of time travel in almost every chapter. It made sense to the plot and the characters why it got repeated so often so I’m not docking any points from the book for it but as a reader it was my only gripe.
This book is cozy and beautiful. Get yourself a nice cup of coffee and settle in. But maybe have some tissues on hand too.
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
Jason Schreier is an incredible journalist/reporter covering the video game industry and with this book he pulls back the curtain to show us a peek at how video games are made.
The stories of ten different games are told through 10 different chapters covering everything from indies (video games made by a small group of developers not owned by a major company. Sometimes even consisting of just one person.) to major Triple A games (games made by large teams of people with a larger budget. Think Call of Duty, Super Mario, The Last Of Us).
What becomes immediately clear as you read this book is something that I think gets lost in the discourse within the gaming community: No matter how big or small your dev team is, no matter the genre of game you’re making, and no matter how much time you work on it, video games are incredibly hard to make. Each chapter reveals story after story of developers working early mornings and long nights and making incredible personal sacrifices just to get these games across the finish line and out the door.
Next time you buy a game that doesn’t live up to your expectations and you wanna fire off a nasty tweet about it remember that these devs put everything they had into it and no one sets out to make a bad video game.
Now, here’s why I gave this a 4.5: I said this book offers a peek behind the curtain and as I was reading it I felt like there were several moments in telling these stories for Jason to go deeper and talk more about the struggles and challenges these dev teams faced. This book is incredibly close to getting a 5 star rating if it had just given us a bit more at times.
The stories of ten different games are told through 10 different chapters covering everything from indies (video games made by a small group of developers not owned by a major company. Sometimes even consisting of just one person.) to major Triple A games (games made by large teams of people with a larger budget. Think Call of Duty, Super Mario, The Last Of Us).
What becomes immediately clear as you read this book is something that I think gets lost in the discourse within the gaming community: No matter how big or small your dev team is, no matter the genre of game you’re making, and no matter how much time you work on it, video games are incredibly hard to make. Each chapter reveals story after story of developers working early mornings and long nights and making incredible personal sacrifices just to get these games across the finish line and out the door.
Next time you buy a game that doesn’t live up to your expectations and you wanna fire off a nasty tweet about it remember that these devs put everything they had into it and no one sets out to make a bad video game.
Now, here’s why I gave this a 4.5: I said this book offers a peek behind the curtain and as I was reading it I felt like there were several moments in telling these stories for Jason to go deeper and talk more about the struggles and challenges these dev teams faced. This book is incredibly close to getting a 5 star rating if it had just given us a bit more at times.
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? N/A
4.5
It’s hard to bring a new and fresh feeling to a series when it’s already three books in but Robert Jordan did that here. Immediately from chapter one the book corrects one of my criticisms of the previous book.
This book takes bold risks with how it lays out its narrative and I respect the hell out of Robert Jordan for that. The wide cast of characters get fairly equal time in the spotlight for much needed character development. There are finally answers and explanations for why some of the things in this world are the way they are and why some characters do what they do. Robert Jordan is giving a lot of direct answers and descriptions that enrich the world building and the plot.
I’m trying to keep this review spoiler free for anyone who hasn’t read The Dragon Reborn or started The Wheel of Time series but the thing that kept this from being a 5 star read for me is there was one character in particular that was mostly absent from the book. I’m grateful we got POV (point of view) chapters from so many characters that definitely needed it but we really only spent a couple handful of pages with this one character and I feel the book needed just a bit more time with them. Maybe a whole chapter or two.
But that’s my minor complaint that just keeps this book from being perfect in my eyes. I’m excited to continue my journey with this series.
This book takes bold risks with how it lays out its narrative and I respect the hell out of Robert Jordan for that. The wide cast of characters get fairly equal time in the spotlight for much needed character development. There are finally answers and explanations for why some of the things in this world are the way they are and why some characters do what they do. Robert Jordan is giving a lot of direct answers and descriptions that enrich the world building and the plot.
I’m trying to keep this review spoiler free for anyone who hasn’t read The Dragon Reborn or started The Wheel of Time series but the thing that kept this from being a 5 star read for me is there was one character in particular that was mostly absent from the book. I’m grateful we got POV (point of view) chapters from so many characters that definitely needed it but we really only spent a couple handful of pages with this one character and I feel the book needed just a bit more time with them. Maybe a whole chapter or two.
But that’s my minor complaint that just keeps this book from being perfect in my eyes. I’m excited to continue my journey with this series.
A Frozen Heart by The Walt Disney Company, Elizabeth Rudnick
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is a retelling of the 2013 Disney animated film Frozen told through alternating POV chapters from the characters Anna and Hans.
Alternating POVs is usually a way to keep the story fresh and there are some unique character insights and internal thoughts that you don’t get from the film but the biggest issue here is Hans is designed to be a one note character. He’s evil and selfish and his motivations is simply trying to further his own agenda. While it’s interesting at first and includes some backstory about his family and upbringing, it quickly becomes repetitive and dull making his chapters feel like a chore most of the time. Anna on the other hand is a well rounded character who goes on a wonderful arc with meaningful character development and she makes up for what the Hans chapters lack.
Alternating POVs is usually a way to keep the story fresh and there are some unique character insights and internal thoughts that you don’t get from the film but the biggest issue here is Hans is designed to be a one note character. He’s evil and selfish and his motivations is simply trying to further his own agenda. While it’s interesting at first and includes some backstory about his family and upbringing, it quickly becomes repetitive and dull making his chapters feel like a chore most of the time. Anna on the other hand is a well rounded character who goes on a wonderful arc with meaningful character development and she makes up for what the Hans chapters lack.