julis's reviews
502 reviews

Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee

adventurous tense medium-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

4.0

Mixed! I really liked the series and I liked this book, but: The writing was frequently clunky and just needed a second pass; there were WAY too many side-plots and digressions, which ALSO needed a second pass & the ability to cut about 100k; and goddamnit Shae and Ayt Mada should’ve fucked at least once. 

Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

First thing of hers I’ve read and I’ll be back for more. Also definitely a first book, the pacing and development are a little clunky at times.

That being said: Very, very solid, thought provoking worldbuilding, complex characters, storytelling that shows you just enough to piece together other backstories, other characters. 

My Name Is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

medium-paced

2.0

So first didn’t read the subtitle (a novel), thought this was going to be a nonfiction history book, it wasn’t (it’s historical fiction), that’s on me.

But uh. Chapter 2 is infodumping on family history so heavy that I was 100% convinced Mary Sutter was a real person right up until I finished the book and googled her (she isn’t). The whole book is in extremely awkward conflict between infodumping on her OCs’ backstories a la a history book and actually telling any sort of narrative, and I have no idea why the editor didn’t take an axe to the whole thing.

Also: Only a tiny fraction of it is actually on the purported topic–nursing during the American Civil War. Jesus fuck. 

Fermat's Last Theorem: Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem by Amir D. Aczel

fast-paced

3.0

Unexpected problem here: It’s not long enough. It’s 142 pages and covers 2-3 thousand years of mathematics, the last 300 years of which have been exponentially more complex, and it’s just. Not long enough. I don’t walk away feeling like I understand the math, I don’t walk away feeling like I understand the people, there’s a (predictably!) large cast of characters but I don’t know any of them. I don’t understand why this was so short–was the publisher not willing to take a chance on a 300 page book? 

This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation by Alan Lew

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

This paired with 4000 weeks is gonna sit in my head for a while. Not only are we heading into Elul, but I’m getting married in 3 weeks so a lot of self reflection going on at the moment.

Rabbi Lew, while using more baseball metaphors than I was expecting, writes eloquently about the journey from Tisha b'Av to Sukkot and why we should continue to engage in these rituals.

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Very well argued book about slowing the fuck down and appreciating where you’re at. We have no control over the future, and no control over the past. We are always existing in the present so we may as well enjoy the experience.

Has some pages of extremely helpful tips at the end I will be scanning so I can hold onto, and enough citations that I didn’t feel compelled to fact check every little thing. 

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

For a book I really liked I have 2 major complaints that knock it down to 3 stars. Which again: I enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the experience of reading it, it’s very well written/researched/conceptualized, I would recommend it to others.

HOWEVER.

It is 300 pages too long. It’s not that it should’ve been split into two books–there’s one book’s worth of plot. It’s not that there’s an egregious amount of subplots–there’s not. It’s perfectly paced for a 500 page book but EVERYTHING moves at the speed of treacle. Jesus christ. Take a second editor and cut some of those elegantly formed sentences.

Second: If you tell me that (a) England acquired magicians midway through the Napoleonic Wars and (b) France does not have magicians and (c) the English magicians are actively intervening in the war (esp Strange in Iberia), and THEN you tell me that Waterloo happened on the exact same day–I am going to call bullshit and try to figure out why Strange’s magic exactly replicated what historically happened. I am no longer paying attention to the book I am reading Wikipedia. This is not a good thing. 

Level Up Your Dog Training: How to Teach Your Dog Anything by Natalie Bridger Watson

fast-paced

5.0

This is a very nice book for dog owners who want something a little more than boilerplate instructions on how to teach a sit, although I’m not quite sure it accomplishes its stated goal of teaching people how to train more complicated concepts. I keep finding that owners need a lot of hand holding to learn how to generalize training concepts.

At any rate, that’s a gripe with people, not with the book, which is lovely. A couple of new ways to teach things in there (I go round and round on how to teach leave it, I need some new puppies to trial on) but mostly I read it to be able to recommend it–which I can! This won’t have anything very new for most professional trainers but if you’re not that, it’s worth your time. 

The Oresteia Trilogy: Agamemnon, the Libation-Bearers and the Furies by Aeschylus

challenging medium-paced

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

4.0

 One, why the hate for Clytemnestra who is objectively correct–

No, mostly commentary here on the translation which is uh, archaic. Seems to have been translated around 1900 but even then it’s pretty old, and I’m torn on whether or not forcing it into meter helps anything.

This is a Dover Thrift Edition which means there’s a page and a half at the front on the Trojan War and no other commentary. Which I guess, okay, that’s how they can sell it for $3.25 (in 1996, when it was printed), but also, I would much rather have had a page and a half on guest right/family dynamics than common knowledge on Troy (…I mean. “Common” for people who are reading the Oresteia). 

The Martian by Andy Weir

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this. I loved the long style, although was thrown briefly by the POV changes–still not 100% sold on how they were integrated but I’m super obnoxious about Sticking To The Bit once you’ve established it so hey.

Love that it started as a web serial tho???? Congrats on making it big dude.

Just overall tight, well written, narratively satisfying.