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nhnabass's reviews
105 reviews
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
1.0
DNF at 29%
I can't do it anymore. The amount of time this book is taking to get through is absolutely not worth any payoff. Almost 30% of the way in and there is no definitive plot and the characters are unfortunately shallow, don't act with credibility, and have nothing interesting or unique about them. The writing is incredibly dull and unnecessarily wordy without getting anything of value across. I don't usually stop this early in a book but I cannot fathom an additional 600 pages of this.
We've been introduced to many different characters at this point, none of which seem to have any personality whatsoever, and our main protagonist suffers from an obnoxious savior complex despite literally killing her fiancée by accident and getting over it rather quickly. Her internal monologue convinces us she is a brave hero who must get to the bottom of whatever this alien invasion is yet her actions indicate the complete opposite as she continues thrusting herself in dangerous situations (for her as well as other characters) with seemingly no regard for consequences. Her dialogue is pretty cringey and it could've maybe been excused had the writing been any better. It was not.
I was ready to stop 150 pages in, but I was *kind* of interested to see what might happen, but the plot never picked up. Our protagonist is piecing together the history of an alien race slowly through weird dreams and then finds herself in a fight and accidentally injuring someone. Falls unconscious to weird dreams... rinse and repeat. The aliens themselves lack depth and any attempt at backstory for them felt forced, awkward, and really emphasized cliché sci-fi tropes. We don't get enough background on her to cultivate any kind of attachment so when she is in danger, I just don't care. Not worth the time it would take to finish this nearly 900 page read.
I can't do it anymore. The amount of time this book is taking to get through is absolutely not worth any payoff. Almost 30% of the way in and there is no definitive plot and the characters are unfortunately shallow, don't act with credibility, and have nothing interesting or unique about them. The writing is incredibly dull and unnecessarily wordy without getting anything of value across. I don't usually stop this early in a book but I cannot fathom an additional 600 pages of this.
We've been introduced to many different characters at this point, none of which seem to have any personality whatsoever, and our main protagonist suffers from an obnoxious savior complex despite literally killing her fiancée by accident and getting over it rather quickly. Her internal monologue convinces us she is a brave hero who must get to the bottom of whatever this alien invasion is yet her actions indicate the complete opposite as she continues thrusting herself in dangerous situations (for her as well as other characters) with seemingly no regard for consequences. Her dialogue is pretty cringey and it could've maybe been excused had the writing been any better. It was not.
I was ready to stop 150 pages in, but I was *kind* of interested to see what might happen, but the plot never picked up. Our protagonist is piecing together the history of an alien race slowly through weird dreams and then finds herself in a fight and accidentally injuring someone. Falls unconscious to weird dreams... rinse and repeat. The aliens themselves lack depth and any attempt at backstory for them felt forced, awkward, and really emphasized cliché sci-fi tropes. We don't get enough background on her to cultivate any kind of attachment so when she is in danger, I just don't care. Not worth the time it would take to finish this nearly 900 page read.
The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia
5.0
I'm not sure I have the words to properly convey the journey this book took me on. What a story to begin 2022.
Segovia's narrative, and Bruni's translation of course, is so gripping I finished this book in a matter of days. The way in which the perspective shifts ever so slightly with every chapter is such an immersive experience, it
truly feel like you are there, living every moment of this story. I found myself smiling with the family's moments of joy and again grieving with their losses.
The story meanders through the POV of many different characters in such an interesting way. It really felt like the story was more about the characters' lives than the story but... not in a bad way? I've personally never read anything written in this way before and I throughly enjoyed it. In the build up to an event we get to see it happen from every perspective-- it's less about the event itself than the way in which the community, the family, the characters are affected by it. I really enjoyed this form of story telling.
It was so interesting reading about Mexico's history through the perspective of the families of these few towns as well as seeing the eerie similarities of the first pandemic in 1918 to the one in which we are living through today. It was admittedly difficult to get through those particular chapters knowing we are suffering a similar plight all these years later in such a changed world.
Between the incredible writing and characters who quickly feel like your own family, I found myself swept away by the emotions, silent wisdom, and charisma of Simonopio despite everything this character goes through.
Again, what a marvelous story to start off this year with.
Segovia's narrative, and Bruni's translation of course, is so gripping I finished this book in a matter of days. The way in which the perspective shifts ever so slightly with every chapter is such an immersive experience, it
truly feel like you are there, living every moment of this story. I found myself smiling with the family's moments of joy and again grieving with their losses.
The story meanders through the POV of many different characters in such an interesting way. It really felt like the story was more about the characters' lives than the story but... not in a bad way? I've personally never read anything written in this way before and I throughly enjoyed it. In the build up to an event we get to see it happen from every perspective-- it's less about the event itself than the way in which the community, the family, the characters are affected by it. I really enjoyed this form of story telling.
It was so interesting reading about Mexico's history through the perspective of the families of these few towns as well as seeing the eerie similarities of the first pandemic in 1918 to the one in which we are living through today. It was admittedly difficult to get through those particular chapters knowing we are suffering a similar plight all these years later in such a changed world.
Between the incredible writing and characters who quickly feel like your own family, I found myself swept away by the emotions, silent wisdom, and charisma of Simonopio despite everything this character goes through.
Again, what a marvelous story to start off this year with.
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
5.0
I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. As others mentioned, it feels silly leaving a review after Green takes great care to note the arbitration of 5 stars but nonetheless I am here to share my experience. Reading it felt like a much needed reality check, a humbling "come back down to earth" moment, and really felt like I was given permission to sit down with the little things in life despite the increasingly rapid, aggressive, hustle culture we are living in. As Green mentions in the Postscript, "I have tried here to map some of the places where my little life brushes up against the big forces shaping contemporary human experience, but the only conclusion I can draw is a simple one: We are so small, and so frail, so gloriously and terrifyingly temporary."
What a wonderful homage to humanity's short lived existence. Is this all encompassing of humanity's greatest achievements and worst downfalls? Of course not, it is existence through the eyes of a progressive middle aged-ish white man from Florida. But what that means is we are being shown the small snippets of an every day human's life and it's interactions with humanity as a whole. The connections and meanings we make and assume, this book is very human and again, gives us permission to look at our lives and do the same. "I don't believe we have a choice when it comes to whether we endow the world with meaning. We are all little fairies, sprinkling meaning dust everywhere we go.... We will build meaning whenever we go, with whatever we come across."
Finally, Green ends his section on Sunsets with "It is a sunset, and it is beautiful, and this whole thing you've been doing where nothing gets five stars because nothing is perfect? That's bullshit. So much is perfect. Starting with this. I give sunsets five stars"
Thank god for this quote-- as someone who feels surrounded by a constant stream of 3.5s and 4.75s because "nothing is perfect" I feel more and more anxious giving something 5 stars: I tell myself "was that really 5? Is everything really that good? Are my standards just low?" Fuck that. This book was 5 stars.
What a wonderful homage to humanity's short lived existence. Is this all encompassing of humanity's greatest achievements and worst downfalls? Of course not, it is existence through the eyes of a progressive middle aged-ish white man from Florida. But what that means is we are being shown the small snippets of an every day human's life and it's interactions with humanity as a whole. The connections and meanings we make and assume, this book is very human and again, gives us permission to look at our lives and do the same. "I don't believe we have a choice when it comes to whether we endow the world with meaning. We are all little fairies, sprinkling meaning dust everywhere we go.... We will build meaning whenever we go, with whatever we come across."
Finally, Green ends his section on Sunsets with "It is a sunset, and it is beautiful, and this whole thing you've been doing where nothing gets five stars because nothing is perfect? That's bullshit. So much is perfect. Starting with this. I give sunsets five stars"
Thank god for this quote-- as someone who feels surrounded by a constant stream of 3.5s and 4.75s because "nothing is perfect" I feel more and more anxious giving something 5 stars: I tell myself "was that really 5? Is everything really that good? Are my standards just low?" Fuck that. This book was 5 stars.