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sarah_lamper's reviews
76 reviews
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
5.0
4.5 stars rounded up. She loves to write stores where everything ties together which is always fun to see how they do. Sea of Tranquility is better but this one is still really intriguing.
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up. Good, but neither the found family nor the romance is as compelling here as in The House In The Cerulean Sea or Under the Whispering Door. The characters just lack here which is weird. I LIKED them, but had a hard time feeling for them ? It got me good towards the end, shed a tear. And has good commentary on what it means to be human. But it’s ultimately pretty lackluster for a TJ Klune book. Tragic, but they can’t all be hits.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
4.0
Good book, good story. But you can definitely tell that this is Agatha Christie’s debut novel. Just makes me excited to read on to see how she evolves tho.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
5.0
Wtf ???
I went into this book completely blind, like everyone says to, and yeah, that’s the move. Had no clue what I was getting into, not even a little. It was NOT what I expected and I loved it for that. Somehow there’s not a lot of plot and yet there’s so much to read and learn ??? It definitely was a page turner, I would’ve finished it the day I started if the plane ride had been longer and I hadn’t been so tired. I feel like this is a good read if you don’t know what you want to read but know you definitely want to read.
I went into this book completely blind, like everyone says to, and yeah, that’s the move. Had no clue what I was getting into, not even a little. It was NOT what I expected and I loved it for that. Somehow there’s not a lot of plot and yet there’s so much to read and learn ??? It definitely was a page turner, I would’ve finished it the day I started if the plane ride had been longer and I hadn’t been so tired. I feel like this is a good read if you don’t know what you want to read but know you definitely want to read.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
5.0
My first Agatha Christie book so I didn’t really know what to expect. The writing was not what I expected. I thought it would be complicated, longer sentences. Instead it was much shorter sentences and pretty easy to read. Because I wasn’t sure what I was getting into and wasn’t prepared for that writing style it took me a bit to get into it but by the end the writing flowed easily and I was so into the mystery I couldn’t put it down. I’m not one who reads or watches a lot of murder mystery so I’m not good on knowing what’s a cliche or not. But this book seems far from it. At no point did I truly know who the murder was. I narrowed it down fairly well but then gone book tricked ME. But it’s funny bc if I had bothered paying EXTRA attention and thinking about it I probably could’ve deduced it. I noticed little sentences or things mentioned and yet let them fly by me. Which is good bc it means it was THERE. It wasn’t a truly random thing with no lead up or hints. I’m just not smart enough/experienced enough to get it.
My only complaint was in the beginning it was really hard to keep track of all the characters. I kept having to flip back and forth to their introductions to keep track. Plus each character goes by 3 different names which made it difficult as well. But I got it towards the end.
Overall, great story, couldn’t put it down. I just HAD to know.
My only complaint was in the beginning it was really hard to keep track of all the characters. I kept having to flip back and forth to their introductions to keep track. Plus each character goes by 3 different names which made it difficult as well. But I got it towards the end.
Overall, great story, couldn’t put it down. I just HAD to know.
The Martian by Andy Weir
5.0
Audiobook Read
I messed up. I read Project Hail Mary first. This book is good. Really good. But in comparison to PHM, it’s not fair. PHM has higher stakes, more plot going on. So reading them back to back the way I did was unfair to The Martian. If you plan on reading both, read The Martian first. Also the audiobook is just fine. It didn’t enhance the experience in any way. Not at all like PHM. I think given the chance I would have rather physically read it than do the audiobook. But overall this was still a really good, intense, suspenseful book.
I messed up. I read Project Hail Mary first. This book is good. Really good. But in comparison to PHM, it’s not fair. PHM has higher stakes, more plot going on. So reading them back to back the way I did was unfair to The Martian. If you plan on reading both, read The Martian first. Also the audiobook is just fine. It didn’t enhance the experience in any way. Not at all like PHM. I think given the chance I would have rather physically read it than do the audiobook. But overall this was still a really good, intense, suspenseful book.
The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
5.0
I actually like this one more than Style???? Maybe that’s an unpopular opinion or maybe it’s just bc I was now used to her writing for this series and knew what to expect. But it’s GOOD. The writing feels more succinct, easier to understand. She didn’t do the typical “here’s 10 characters and their role in 2 pages” which made it much easier to keep up with them all. Plus Poirot and Hastings are even FUNNIER and more enjoyable in this book. Their interactions are great and I enjoyed them tremendously in this book.
Jaws by Peter Benchley
4.0
One of those rare instances where the movie is better than the book.
This book wasn’t as much of a thriller, gory suspense as I was hoping for. It really had much more of day-to-day life and drama than I expected. But it was still good for what it was. Starts off really strong, you’ve got the gore, the politics, the corruption. Then there’s a weird part in the middle with a dinner party and an affair that throws the rhythm off. You can’t help but think “why are we here? Why are we doing this?” And I kinda get why but it’s too much. FULL chapters dedicated to this part. But the book picks up again and the climax is really good once again. I definitely think this book hits its peak in the beginning and starts to lose its way and struggles to find it again. But still an enjoyable read.
Oh and you can tell this book was written by a man. Even worse, a man in the 1970’s.
Also, negative points for making Steven Spielberg come up with the line “we’re gonna need a bigger boat”. Like cmon man, you’re the writer of the story how do you get shown up like that. What an iconic line.
This book wasn’t as much of a thriller, gory suspense as I was hoping for. It really had much more of day-to-day life and drama than I expected. But it was still good for what it was. Starts off really strong, you’ve got the gore, the politics, the corruption. Then there’s a weird part in the middle with a dinner party and an affair that throws the rhythm off. You can’t help but think “why are we here? Why are we doing this?” And I kinda get why but it’s too much. FULL chapters dedicated to this part. But the book picks up again and the climax is really good once again. I definitely think this book hits its peak in the beginning and starts to lose its way and struggles to find it again. But still an enjoyable read.
Oh and you can tell this book was written by a man. Even worse, a man in the 1970’s.
Also, negative points for making Steven Spielberg come up with the line “we’re gonna need a bigger boat”. Like cmon man, you’re the writer of the story how do you get shown up like that. What an iconic line.