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gotossmycausticsalad's reviews
482 reviews
Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky
4.0
An absolutely fascinating world with a really interesting magic system. Despite being an absolute beast of a novel it didn't feel slow or drawn out at any point.
Sociopath by Patric Gagne
Feels like a dick move to give a star rating to a memoir. Sorry your life didn't have a satisfying denouement 3/5.
Found this an interesting read. As to the accusations that she didn't actually get a PhD, I'm not sure how convincing I find them. Lots of people on Reddit claiming to be experts and also not providing proof of their own credentials.
Neither do I think "she didn't include a full sociopathic treatment plan in this entertaining memoir" quite the gotcha that some seem to think it is. I think the point was to make other people like her feel less alone, rather than providing a treatment guide. Plus she did actually tell us what worked to help alleviate her behaviour.
Found this an interesting read. As to the accusations that she didn't actually get a PhD, I'm not sure how convincing I find them. Lots of people on Reddit claiming to be experts and also not providing proof of their own credentials.
Neither do I think "she didn't include a full sociopathic treatment plan in this entertaining memoir" quite the gotcha that some seem to think it is. I think the point was to make other people like her feel less alone, rather than providing a treatment guide. Plus she did actually tell us what worked to help alleviate her behaviour.
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
2.5
Calling this a thriller is a stretch, and at no point does it feel dark or menacing. Cool cover art though.
The Invention of the Jewish People by Shlomo Sand
5.0
Absolutely fascinating. Informative without being dry - and at times amusing. I'm not hugely familiar with the Jewish tradition so had to look things up here and there, but that's understandable as this was pitched to a Jewish/Israeli audience.
Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
informative
5.0
The doppelganger thread was a little stretched at times, but it was an interesting way to frame the wider narrative of what was a fascinating and very powerful read. I found the diagonalism section particularly interesting.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
3.5
Did not realise this was a romance novel when I picked it up, just got pulled in by the dragon on the cover. Alas!
I'm not hugely familiar with romance so I suspect some of the aspects that I didn't like about it are tropes of the genre - constantly banging on about how hot one guy is, the love triangle, flirting/ fucking in varyingly inappropriate situations etc.
As for the writing itself, it was pretty mediocre. Not great, not terrible. I always think there must be better ways to start these books than a character infodumping about the world she lives in - the author actually had a really good get out here in that this character is a scribe who recites historical facts to herself when she's stressed / scared. She could have made so much better use of that.
The main character herself was interesting enough, especially at the start of the book where she has to overcome her physical limitations to succeed in a very strength dominated world.
I'll probably give the sequel a chance because I'm a sucker for dragons - seems like a good series to read a few beers down sat on a sun lounger. Literary junk food.
I'm not hugely familiar with romance so I suspect some of the aspects that I didn't like about it are tropes of the genre - constantly banging on about how hot one guy is, the love triangle, flirting/ fucking in varyingly inappropriate situations etc.
As for the writing itself, it was pretty mediocre. Not great, not terrible. I always think there must be better ways to start these books than a character infodumping about the world she lives in - the author actually had a really good get out here in that this character is a scribe who recites historical facts to herself when she's stressed / scared. She could have made so much better use of that.
The main character herself was interesting enough, especially at the start of the book where she has to overcome her physical limitations to succeed in a very strength dominated world.
I'll probably give the sequel a chance because I'm a sucker for dragons - seems like a good series to read a few beers down sat on a sun lounger. Literary junk food.