Take a photo of a barcode or cover
garrettcz's reviews
364 reviews
Ranger Games: A Story of Soldiers, Family and an Inexplicable Crime by Ben Blum
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This was an interesting book. I was a little bummed about that it is really two books in one, a true crime nonfiction story, and a memoir of the author’s life as he examined the case and tried to come to grips with what his cousin did.
I picked the book up to find out more about the case, but most of the book reads more like a memoir than anything else. Instead of focusing on the details of the case, the author spends a lot of time going over how this affected him, his family, etc.
This is unfortunate, because it makes the book meandering and unfocused, which is a disservice to both storylines. We get little glimpses of what seems like a really intriguing life story of a STEM prodigy who decided to pivot away and refocus his life on creative writing, and that sounds awesome, but I feel deserves its own book. This split in focus makes the book feel disjointed and a bit messy.
The writing is really good and the author is extremely honest and genuine, which I really liked. He goes through painstaking detail of the case and its aftermath from several angles, and the story itself is pretty bonkers.
I like that it explored some of the psychological aspects, especially about psychopathy, which I wasn’t anticipating and really appreciated.
I picked the book up to find out more about the case, but most of the book reads more like a memoir than anything else. Instead of focusing on the details of the case, the author spends a lot of time going over how this affected him, his family, etc.
This is unfortunate, because it makes the book meandering and unfocused, which is a disservice to both storylines. We get little glimpses of what seems like a really intriguing life story of a STEM prodigy who decided to pivot away and refocus his life on creative writing, and that sounds awesome, but I feel deserves its own book. This split in focus makes the book feel disjointed and a bit messy.
The writing is really good and the author is extremely honest and genuine, which I really liked. He goes through painstaking detail of the case and its aftermath from several angles, and the story itself is pretty bonkers.
I like that it explored some of the psychological aspects, especially about psychopathy, which I wasn’t anticipating and really appreciated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Clean Air by Sarah Blake
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This books is all over the place.
I really like the premise, and wanted to explore more of the post-apocalyptic elements. Instead we get a very bland murder mystery that ends very anticlimactically.
The characters felt very blah, and I didn’t care about any of them. The dialogue isn’t very organic, and there are a lot of weird extraneous details that are included that I think the author thought added verisimilitude but just make the book feel weird and not well edited.
It felt like this was a first draft that needed a lot of work and developmental help. I’m pretty bummed because the premise sounds fantastic. I wish she’d explored more of the world building.
I really like the premise, and wanted to explore more of the post-apocalyptic elements. Instead we get a very bland murder mystery that ends very anticlimactically.
The characters felt very blah, and I didn’t care about any of them. The dialogue isn’t very organic, and there are a lot of weird extraneous details that are included that I think the author thought added verisimilitude but just make the book feel weird and not well edited.
It felt like this was a first draft that needed a lot of work and developmental help. I’m pretty bummed because the premise sounds fantastic. I wish she’d explored more of the world building.
The Daughters' War by Christopher Buehlman
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
Christopher Buehlman is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. The way he writes characters and dialogue is incredible. His plotting and world building are great, but these are books for people who love characters and dialogue. 5/5 stars, will read everything he writes.
If Christopher Buehlman writes 1000 of these books I will read every. Single. One.
Simply amazing.
If Christopher Buehlman writes 1000 of these books I will read every. Single. One.
Simply amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. I can’t say enough good things about it.
Truly a fantastic story. Wonderful characters with great, organic character development. Compelling themes. Very cool magic that is fully integrated into the world building.
It was just so, so, so good.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Truly a fantastic story. Wonderful characters with great, organic character development. Compelling themes. Very cool magic that is fully integrated into the world building.
It was just so, so, so good.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.75
The Devil & Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness & Obsession by David Grann
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
5.0
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I know a lot of people love this book, and when I started it I really liked it a lot, blasted through a quarter of it in two days, and immediately bought the entire series.
Once I got more than a quarter in, it became a slog for me. It took me three months to finish it, and I haven’t started the second one, though I have heard the series gets better.
It’s written in a very different style that’s inspired by old Chinese histories, so it’s very different from most books. It can be very dry and sort of reads like a history book at times. It’ll just list off things that happened, which made me feel very disconnected from the characters for much of the story, because you’re not really experiencing the things happening from the point of view of the character. There is A LOT of exposition.
It does have some cool characters and some really cool parts, especially the silkpunk atmosphere, but I’m gonna be honest I was bored out of my mind for most of it.
Once I got more than a quarter in, it became a slog for me. It took me three months to finish it, and I haven’t started the second one, though I have heard the series gets better.
It’s written in a very different style that’s inspired by old Chinese histories, so it’s very different from most books. It can be very dry and sort of reads like a history book at times. It’ll just list off things that happened, which made me feel very disconnected from the characters for much of the story, because you’re not really experiencing the things happening from the point of view of the character. There is A LOT of exposition.
It does have some cool characters and some really cool parts, especially the silkpunk atmosphere, but I’m gonna be honest I was bored out of my mind for most of it.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is an odd book. The pacing is absolutely bizarre.
I found the first 25% very boring. It then picked up in a big way, and I couldn’t put the book down until about 60%. Then it went back to very monotonous and mostly boring for the remainder, and toward the end I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Henry is a great character. Everyone else feels pretty underdeveloped. You’re still finding out rudimentary details about some of the main characters in the last couple chapters.
Nearly every character is miserable and pretentious, which gets to be pretty grating.
I feel like this book could have been A LOT shorter and it would probably have been a lot more enjoyable.
I found the first 25% very boring. It then picked up in a big way, and I couldn’t put the book down until about 60%. Then it went back to very monotonous and mostly boring for the remainder, and toward the end I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Henry is a great character. Everyone else feels pretty underdeveloped. You’re still finding out rudimentary details about some of the main characters in the last couple chapters.
Nearly every character is miserable and pretentious, which gets to be pretty grating.
I feel like this book could have been A LOT shorter and it would probably have been a lot more enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail