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eggjuices's reviews
135 reviews
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
4.75
4.75 boarding on 5 stars because I am unnecessarily picky and will always find a reason to not give something 5 stars …. but this was incredible.
So sad. Exceptionally painful. I would have liked to have read this faster but there were moments where I had to put it down. There are the obvious parallels to today that many before me have recognized, but it really made the book so challenging to work through. Thinking about the genocide in Gaza, the rise of Trump and new age MAGA fascism…. even the uncertain relationship between US and Canada that I am currently experiencing. It is all so real and so horrifying.
I love the women in this novel. I feel so much pain for them - even Aunt Evelyn as horrible as her actions were. Mrs Roth and Mrs Wishnow are such wonderful mothers, and I appreciate how even through the child’s eyes we could still see their hurt and their pain, and how they tried to protect their children from it all as much as they could. Also poor Seldon!! I love how much Philip hated him so unnecessarily hahaha, Roth did a great job portraying the childhood experience of having a friend who you hate for no reason.
“How can this be happening in America? How can people like these be in charge of our country? If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I’d think I was having a hallucination.”
So sad. Exceptionally painful. I would have liked to have read this faster but there were moments where I had to put it down. There are the obvious parallels to today that many before me have recognized, but it really made the book so challenging to work through. Thinking about the genocide in Gaza, the rise of Trump and new age MAGA fascism…. even the uncertain relationship between US and Canada that I am currently experiencing. It is all so real and so horrifying.
I love the women in this novel. I feel so much pain for them - even Aunt Evelyn as horrible as her actions were. Mrs Roth and Mrs Wishnow are such wonderful mothers, and I appreciate how even through the child’s eyes we could still see their hurt and their pain, and how they tried to protect their children from it all as much as they could. Also poor Seldon!! I love how much Philip hated him so unnecessarily hahaha, Roth did a great job portraying the childhood experience of having a friend who you hate for no reason.
“How can this be happening in America? How can people like these be in charge of our country? If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I’d think I was having a hallucination.”
Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
4.0
Christmas 2023 gift from Rachel, finally getting around to reading it.
This was great! But also frustrating!! Wang Lung sucks majorly. And yet….. i empathize with him. The story was sad, and I think a great criticism of the pursuit of wealth and power. Loved watching Wang Lung’s personality and outlook change dramatically as his life station improved. This is why he sucks !!!! O Lan was awesome and she deserved more.
This was great! But also frustrating!! Wang Lung sucks majorly. And yet….. i empathize with him. The story was sad, and I think a great criticism of the pursuit of wealth and power. Loved watching Wang Lung’s personality and outlook change dramatically as his life station improved. This is why he sucks !!!! O Lan was awesome and she deserved more.
The Stand by Stephen King
4.0
I am teetering between 3.75 and 4 stars on this. I have conflicting feelings but overall this is a great book.
Firstly, I need to address the length. I borrowed this from the library through Libby and this is the “extended edition,” clocking in at over 2,000 pages based on my font settings. I’m not sure if this length is really earned, but at the same time I struggle with how I personally would have broken things up. The story is really well maintained and I can’t really see any point where a break would make sense for a Pt. 1 / Pt. 2 scenario.
Part of the reasoning behind the book being so long is that there are just so many characters to keep track of. Between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” and anyone falling in between there are so many names flying around at several points I had to refer to a (spoiler free) character sheet in order to keep track of it all. I think the character list could have been whittled down and the core of the story would have remained the same. BUT AGAIN! Conflicted as it also does really help to flesh out the world.
The actual plot was great, though of course I have nitpicks, particularly with the women (Steve I need you to just. Stop everything you are doing with your women characters and start over.) I definitely found myself more invested with the activities of the “good guy” grouping, which is likely intentional, but it made reading through the Las Vegas sections a bit of a chore at times.
Despite the length, I was overall very invested in the story progression and enjoyed my time with the book. After writing this all out I’m going to stick to a 4 star on this. It was great.
Firstly, I need to address the length. I borrowed this from the library through Libby and this is the “extended edition,” clocking in at over 2,000 pages based on my font settings. I’m not sure if this length is really earned, but at the same time I struggle with how I personally would have broken things up. The story is really well maintained and I can’t really see any point where a break would make sense for a Pt. 1 / Pt. 2 scenario.
Part of the reasoning behind the book being so long is that there are just so many characters to keep track of. Between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” and anyone falling in between there are so many names flying around at several points I had to refer to a (spoiler free) character sheet in order to keep track of it all. I think the character list could have been whittled down and the core of the story would have remained the same. BUT AGAIN! Conflicted as it also does really help to flesh out the world.
The actual plot was great, though of course I have nitpicks, particularly with the women (Steve I need you to just. Stop everything you are doing with your women characters and start over.) I definitely found myself more invested with the activities of the “good guy” grouping, which is likely intentional, but it made reading through the Las Vegas sections a bit of a chore at times.
Despite the length, I was overall very invested in the story progression and enjoyed my time with the book. After writing this all out I’m going to stick to a 4 star on this. It was great.
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
2.75
Sadly I did not love this!
I am having a hard time figuring out why this didn’t work for me. I felt drawn to the concept - languages are cool! Space is cool! But for some reason this was a miss for me. I found the plot kind of confusing and all over the place, and the main character is certainly entering Mary Sue territory at times. Thankfully this was a short read, but just didn’t really do much for me unfortunately
I am having a hard time figuring out why this didn’t work for me. I felt drawn to the concept - languages are cool! Space is cool! But for some reason this was a miss for me. I found the plot kind of confusing and all over the place, and the main character is certainly entering Mary Sue territory at times. Thankfully this was a short read, but just didn’t really do much for me unfortunately
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
4.0
This was a really comprehensive breakdown of the long, long history of the war. The middle kind of dragged a little bit for me and I was getting confused with the various names and locations. The final sections covering the most recent developments (by the standards of when the book was published) was great and I appreciated the conclusion section well. I also really connected with the author weaving in his personal experiences with general historical info. Made it more engaging as a non-fiction read.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
4.75
Yes this is worth all of the hype. Really beautifully written and of course heartbreaking. Loved it
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
4.0
Easy read, predictable at times, but some of the twists were surprising to me. Nothing revolutionary but I had fun with it and it held my attention well. Decent thriller!
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
3.0
This was really weird and unnerving and (especially by the end) kind of grotesque.
The first third of the bookwhere Lilith is first “Awoken” and learning about the aliens and how their species works was the most interesting for me. When the plot shifted gears and started covering Lilith’s task of Awakening 40 people and training for Earth I started to feel a little lost and not as interested. I think too many characters were introduced all at once making it hard to keep track of people and be invested in their actions.
Not sure if I will continue with this series. Well written and freaky but cool concept.
The first third of the book
Not sure if I will continue with this series. Well written and freaky but cool concept.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
3.75
This was good! Very different from the musical of course, but I enjoyed the more detailed elements.
It kind of lulled a bit near the 2/3 mark, but overall I liked it.
It kind of lulled a bit near the 2/3 mark, but overall I liked it.
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
2.75
I liked the first book well enough, but I found this one to be rather confusing. I felt like the journey that the characters went on was rather pointless - and I know there is a third book, but I would have liked there to have been a stronger resolution to this one. The first book really left you asking questions and wanting more, but I am not feeling that same energy after finishing this one. Not sure if I will read the third.