Scan barcode
raelindenberg's reviews
95 reviews
Recursion by Blake Crouch
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Suicide and War
Ararat by Christopher Golden
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Depending on what you take away from the ending, it's either a cool open-ended approach to an ending OR kind of insulting. I read a lot into stuff (symbolism, allegories, etc), so based on that and other imagery and allusions made in the book, I found the ending a little insulting and kind of sexist, but I can see other readers NOT coming away with that reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Suicide
The Chain by Adrian McKinty
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
This book was just very...easy. Like everything came to the characters easy. It's clear the author had a good idea for a premise of a novel but didn't know how to build a compelling story out of it (which, as a writer, I can sympathize with. Sometimes, all you have in you are premises...not stories.) This book is being made into a film (or so I've heard) so maybe just watch the film instead and save yourself the trouble of reading this. ALTHOUGH if you do choose to read it, it's a quick read, so you won't have to be with it long.
The Darkest Web: Drugs, Death and Destroyed Lives... The Inside Story of the Internet's Evil Twin by Eileen Ormsby
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
3.0
More 3.5 - sometimes this read less like a professional journalism exposè and more like a really in depth post on Reddit or Wikipedia. Still, I read the book pretty quickly which goes to show the faults of the book weren’t enough to avoid it being a page turner. But if you’re looking for a “history of the dark web” this isn’t the book you’re looking for — focusing more on specific case studies surrounding the different levels of “dark” on the dark web.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Torture, and Murder
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me about Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything by Chris Hadfield
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Rating is closer to 3.5...I I enjoyed the book, but the common criticism of Scalzi making everybody sharp-witted and quippy is on full display in this novel - so much so it seems like everyone in the universe has nearly the same personality. Also, this is another instance of adult male authors not really having a clue about how to write teenage girls.
Still, the book filled in some interesting gaps left in his previous novel, “The Last Colony” and the book’s a quick read with some interesting morality-based philosophical questions — so in no way a waste of a read by any means.
Still, the book filled in some interesting gaps left in his previous novel, “The Last Colony” and the book’s a quick read with some interesting morality-based philosophical questions — so in no way a waste of a read by any means.
The Killer's Shadow:The FBI's Hunt for a White Supremacist Serial Killer by John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
The Last Colony by John Scalzi
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Second book by Scalzi and while I believe it’s well-written, I’m unimpressed by where this narrative seems to be going.
These books are starting to conjure strong parallels to American imperialism and intelligence and I’m not liking which “side” this author is seeming to take. It’s looking like it’s very pro-military good (despite ethical and moral issues) and anyone who challenges this imperial militarism is bad....
The “villain” of this story made some valid points as to why our characters were the bad guys — or if not the bad guys themselves, working for a morally corrupt military empire — and while the villains methods were questionable themselves, the fact that our main characters just towed the line of the empire without SERIOUSLY questioning whether or not our villain could actually be *right* (even if his methods were almost as insidious) makes it apparent that this author believes that despite having questionable morals, military might is always right. Which...it isn’t.
I’m going to have to see where this story leads into the 3rd book, “The Last Colony” and if these moral conundrums actually get the narrative discussion they deserve.
Giving it 3 stars for a well-written read that flows well, but the seemingly pro-military message of this story and world is starting to get to me...but maybe that’s my own fault for reading, you know, **military** sci-fi.
These books are starting to conjure strong parallels to American imperialism and intelligence and I’m not liking which “side” this author is seeming to take. It’s looking like it’s very pro-military good (despite ethical and moral issues) and anyone who challenges this imperial militarism is bad....
The “villain” of this story made some valid points as to why our characters were the bad guys — or if not the bad guys themselves, working for a morally corrupt military empire — and while the villains methods were questionable themselves, the fact that our main characters just towed the line of the empire without SERIOUSLY questioning whether or not our villain could actually be *right* (even if his methods were almost as insidious) makes it apparent that this author believes that despite having questionable morals, military might is always right. Which...it isn’t.
I’m going to have to see where this story leads into the 3rd book, “The Last Colony” and if these moral conundrums actually get the narrative discussion they deserve.
Giving it 3 stars for a well-written read that flows well, but the seemingly pro-military message of this story and world is starting to get to me...but maybe that’s my own fault for reading, you know, **military** sci-fi.
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Nevertheless, this book had a good pace, good sense of humor, and doesn’t necessarily shy away completely from the notion that war has psychological implications and maybe a better way to co-exist should be found and utilized.
Overall, if you’re able to put aside being annoyed with how militarized a lot of space lit is, you’ll actually have a good time with some well-written characters and an interesting world to explore. Gonna have to see how the rest of the series pans out.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was good - I’m interested enough to read more in the series. Although two drawbacks include the:
- 1. Everyday “normal guy” is good at nearly everything he tries.
- 2. Leans pro-military or at least military sympathetic. The aliens make it easy for our brains to be okay with constant warfare since it’s not human deaths, and there is a character who’s interested in interstellar peace who is killed in his attempts to foster it. I don’t know, as someone who fully understands the narrative trope of “killing non-humans means violence is justified or desensitizes us to it” I was a little annoyed...this is a classic move to imbue military concession in our understanding of “this is how the world works.”
Nevertheless, this book had a good pace, good sense of humor, and doesn’t necessarily shy away completely from the notion that war has psychological implications and maybe a better way to co-exist should be found and utilized.
Overall, if you’re able to put aside being annoyed with how militarized a lot of space lit is, you’ll actually have a good time with some well-written characters and an interesting world to explore. Gonna have to see how the rest of the series pans out.