philip_bonanno's reviews
232 reviews

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

3.5

This book is odd. Weird pacing with caricatured characters representing different parts of NYC and political issues like gentrification and corporatism and climate change. Also fees much more spoon fed message than her previous work. Not my personal cup of tea.

The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin

4.75

NK Jemisin can write a love story in a deeply meaningful way better than any other fiction writer I have encountered. This is a great series that I recommend a lot

The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

4.25

The best book in the series. A lot of fun and the world gets fully fleshed out. I think the contained nature of the story is nice but I wish for the length it dealt with more of the world it introduced.

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

4.0

I liked it! I think the Dara character as a tortured warrior is a bit of a reach. The prose still aren’t my favorite. The pacing feels more like a television show than a novel, BUT this one felt a little more self contained which I liked

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

3.5

This book was weird. The pacing was not my cup of tea. The world building felt really backloaded which is a little off putting. But I like the magic and generally the characters. The prose isn’t my favorite either. I’ll finish the series though — it’s fun.

The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin

4.75

The world building and effort in creating the religiousness/lore made the world so palpable. Jemisin has the rare ability to construct an alternative world that resembles our world in some ways but also is completely unrecognizable. It’s a little dense at the beginning but still one of the best fantasy books I’ve read the past 12 months. If any bookstore sold the sequel to this book I’d be reading it right now.

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

5.0

This book is so good. Definitely want to come back to it sometime in a more academic way but the writing ability and messaging is insanely well done

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

4.25

I felt like the pacing of the last hundred or so pages was way off. Like he just didn’t know how to end it so he just did. Other than that, I have the same frustrations with his general storytelling style, but really enjoyed it.

Language Incompetence: Learning to Communicate Through Cancer, Disability, and Anomalous Embodiment by A. Suresh Canagarajah

4.0

Done with reading for courses this semester!!

The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance by Shaul Magid

4.0

Interesting essays, but at times I think it avoids the most interesting questions it raises