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magicant's reviews
136 reviews
Abandon Us by E.T. Gunnarsson
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
I will admit, I struggled a little with this one. I want to first start off by thanking NetGalley for giving me a free copy of this book for an honest review. I will preface this by commenting that I read half of this book, as I started to struggle reading it in it's latter parts.
This is a book about how down and bad the world can get, Robert, the main character is struggling through a constantly changing world at the brink of destruction. War on a national and international level, and plague is the backdrop to this sobering story.
First off, this is a post-apocalyptic story, a dystopian world, it is meant to often be a warning for a possible future to come. This book is not for everyone just for that, you have to have a very good headspace to handle this kind of book. There will be death, suffering, and stuff that will remind you of the current day which can be too much for some readers.
The first thing I enjoyed quite a lot about this story was the amount of description given for all the elements within the story, always getting a real clear image what things look like in their world. The harsh winds, dirt lining the windows outside, it brought you deep into the world and left you there to sit on the possibility of that becoming our world.
This book has a very slow start, if you came into the book expecting to be hooked, you might find yourself waiting. The romance between the main characters, Zilv and Robert felt, daydreamish and childish. Much like two teenagers gushing over each other, and while I am sure that many people have a relationship like it, it just felt like we walked into something really private.
There was points where things were redundant and said multiple times, like the story about Robert not seeing flowers since he was eight and Zilv's mother having a flower shop. Which gave a feeling as if maybe this wasn't read very thoroughly by beta-readers, or simply not noticed.
I found myself wishing for a more confident main character or wishing he was a bit more dimensional with his feelings and wants. Often times he just fell into survival mode, which did a genuine disservice to his character even before the book got very far in, I didn't know who he was. What kind of hobbies he had outside the work he was doing for money. This may also be in relation to the amount of timeskips in this book, every chapter being a timeskip in some manner. It made things feel like an episodic tv show rather than a book.
Lastly I want to bring up that there was too much going on, the civil war and international war alongside the plague made this book overwhelming to comprehend everything going on and disconnected the reader.
I am sure that there are a lot of people who would love this book, and can follow it much easier than me. William was a nice breath of fresh air to the more passive Robert and Zilv, pushing them into better or worse situations. I would definitely love to read more about William's adventures.
This is a book about how down and bad the world can get, Robert, the main character is struggling through a constantly changing world at the brink of destruction. War on a national and international level, and plague is the backdrop to this sobering story.
First off, this is a post-apocalyptic story, a dystopian world, it is meant to often be a warning for a possible future to come. This book is not for everyone just for that, you have to have a very good headspace to handle this kind of book. There will be death, suffering, and stuff that will remind you of the current day which can be too much for some readers.
The first thing I enjoyed quite a lot about this story was the amount of description given for all the elements within the story, always getting a real clear image what things look like in their world. The harsh winds, dirt lining the windows outside, it brought you deep into the world and left you there to sit on the possibility of that becoming our world.
This book has a very slow start, if you came into the book expecting to be hooked, you might find yourself waiting. The romance between the main characters, Zilv and Robert felt, daydreamish and childish. Much like two teenagers gushing over each other, and while I am sure that many people have a relationship like it, it just felt like we walked into something really private.
There was points where things were redundant and said multiple times, like the story about Robert not seeing flowers since he was eight and Zilv's mother having a flower shop. Which gave a feeling as if maybe this wasn't read very thoroughly by beta-readers, or simply not noticed.
I found myself wishing for a more confident main character or wishing he was a bit more dimensional with his feelings and wants. Often times he just fell into survival mode, which did a genuine disservice to his character even before the book got very far in, I didn't know who he was. What kind of hobbies he had outside the work he was doing for money. This may also be in relation to the amount of timeskips in this book, every chapter being a timeskip in some manner. It made things feel like an episodic tv show rather than a book.
Lastly I want to bring up that there was too much going on, the civil war and international war alongside the plague made this book overwhelming to comprehend everything going on and disconnected the reader.
I am sure that there are a lot of people who would love this book, and can follow it much easier than me. William was a nice breath of fresh air to the more passive Robert and Zilv, pushing them into better or worse situations. I would definitely love to read more about William's adventures.
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
5.0
How do I even begin to recommend this book? I had no idea how bonkers this book could get, I am still at a loss on how a book like this could even EXIST! It was the most captivated I have ever been reading a book ever since my multi-year hiatus of reading ended. I want to say, the amount of things that Stuart Turton would have had to plan out in advance would be so extensive I can't even imagine how he could have written this.
There was no way to guess where this book would be going, a mystery true to it's name all the way till the last few pages. I thought multiple times, maybe it had finally gotten figured out, but I was only further and further from the truth. This is the first mystery novel I ever read, and definitely after such an introduction, it won't be my last.
Anyway, pushing away from just general praises, this book is about a murder, big surprise, one that the main character, Aiden Bishop goes through multiple hosts to try to figure it out. But by going through all these people, he loses himself more and more, his thoughts and memories mingling with those of his hosts and him fighting against the natures of his hosts while he tries to figure out the truth.
First thing I would like to start with is the difference between the hosts and their effect on Aiden in how he acts and talks, and you can see how drastically it increases over the course of the book. There's never a moment where you think its the same character just in a different body, you never forget who they are in, and who that person was before Aiden inhabited that body.
Stuart gives us a lot of description about the areas that we venture into, using words I never even knew of existing, I have to admit this book expanded my vocabulary. It was as if he knew exactly how much description was needed without feeling like it was too much.
I wish I could even begin to put my words together regarding this book, please, you have to read it you don't understand.
There was no way to guess where this book would be going, a mystery true to it's name all the way till the last few pages. I thought multiple times, maybe it had finally gotten figured out, but I was only further and further from the truth. This is the first mystery novel I ever read, and definitely after such an introduction, it won't be my last.
Anyway, pushing away from just general praises, this book is about a murder, big surprise, one that the main character, Aiden Bishop goes through multiple hosts to try to figure it out. But by going through all these people, he loses himself more and more, his thoughts and memories mingling with those of his hosts and him fighting against the natures of his hosts while he tries to figure out the truth.
First thing I would like to start with is the difference between the hosts and their effect on Aiden in how he acts and talks, and you can see how drastically it increases over the course of the book. There's never a moment where you think its the same character just in a different body, you never forget who they are in, and who that person was before Aiden inhabited that body.
Stuart gives us a lot of description about the areas that we venture into, using words I never even knew of existing, I have to admit this book expanded my vocabulary. It was as if he knew exactly how much description was needed without feeling like it was too much.
I wish I could even begin to put my words together regarding this book, please, you have to read it you don't understand.