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alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)
I really really really want to get into this series but the text is physically dense and uncomfortable to read. Maybe it is easier to read in paperback... idk.
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was sold to me as more profound than it really is. "Parasite meets The Good Son in this piercing psychological portrait of three women haunted by a brutal, unsolved crime." <-- where is that book? 🥲
The structure of the story seemed under developed - jumping around in time and to different characters, with different writing styles in each chapter. It felt more like a draft of a novel than a fully developed one, and at just 170 pages I think it has a lot of potential to be fleshed out.
The writing style came across as naive and juvenile, there were so many drama bombs dropped that had little to add to the plot. For example,the scooter boy gets leg cancer and becomes disabled (for pity points I guess?), his single mom with 2 different baby daddies has dwarfism (again, why), his sister (who is in her 20s) starts sobbing when he tells the dead girl's sister she needs to leave because his mom is coming home, etc. And the police interview and tele-psychologist are so contrived, it is like what a kid imagines authority figures to be like.
😑
The structure of the story seemed under developed - jumping around in time and to different characters, with different writing styles in each chapter. It felt more like a draft of a novel than a fully developed one, and at just 170 pages I think it has a lot of potential to be fleshed out.
The writing style came across as naive and juvenile, there were so many drama bombs dropped that had little to add to the plot. For example,
😑
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am not a dog person. Or a Kafka person. I skimmed this one, it is boring.
DNF at 70%
I think the writing in itself is good and the plot & descriptions are unique. I'm just finding the pace to be slow and I'm kinda bored with it.
I think the writing in itself is good and the plot & descriptions are unique. I'm just finding the pace to be slow and I'm kinda bored with it.
I really enjoyed listening to this book. It was great because:
1. Perfect mix of random facts, emotional appeal, and short chapters make for a great audiobook to listen to while working out. These are hard to come by.
2. John G tells stories with the same kind of humor and accent as my friend John W, and it really felt like I was listening to my friend.
I didn't expect it to be so pandemic-focused though. I get it, I was there: the pandemic was all we thought about for 2 years. But it comes up in a lot of these essays and I wasn't really expecting it to be so focused on that. It makes the stories seem so aged already.
Overall, though? I laughed and teared up, life is good. I give The Anthropocene Reviewed four stars.
1. Perfect mix of random facts, emotional appeal, and short chapters make for a great audiobook to listen to while working out. These are hard to come by.
2. John G tells stories with the same kind of humor and accent as my friend John W, and it really felt like I was listening to my friend.
I didn't expect it to be so pandemic-focused though. I get it, I was there: the pandemic was all we thought about for 2 years. But it comes up in a lot of these essays and I wasn't really expecting it to be so focused on that. It makes the stories seem so aged already.
Overall, though? I laughed and teared up, life is good. I give The Anthropocene Reviewed four stars.
Recently I have gotten super curious about California in the 60s and 70s, no idea why.
Anyways, this book is so cool. And funny! Like if Carrie Bradshaw had been on the West Coast and actually succeeded at being cool, instead of just trying to be cool.
The stories sound fresh: at one point she describes a man as "extra"; at another she rattles off a bunch of health advice that she follows but loathes such as taking a shot of apple cider vinegar every day. lol.
Even her turns of phrase are deceptively profound. "Deceptively" because the character (it seems roughly autobiographical but is billeted as fiction) is often talking about parties, sleeping around, dieting, men, but all of that is just the asphalt to get to the destination of the Angeleno psyche.
I loved how she describes the desert. It is always present in her stories, almost its own character. People forget that Los Angeles is a desert, part of the Southwest.
My favorite stories were Bakersfield and Dodgers Stadium.
Anyways, this book is so cool. And funny! Like if Carrie Bradshaw had been on the West Coast and actually succeeded at being cool, instead of just trying to be cool.
The stories sound fresh: at one point she describes a man as "extra"; at another she rattles off a bunch of health advice that she follows but loathes such as taking a shot of apple cider vinegar every day. lol.
Even her turns of phrase are deceptively profound. "Deceptively" because the character (it seems roughly autobiographical but is billeted as fiction) is often talking about parties, sleeping around, dieting, men, but all of that is just the asphalt to get to the destination of the Angeleno psyche.
I loved how she describes the desert. It is always present in her stories, almost its own character. People forget that Los Angeles is a desert, part of the Southwest.
My favorite stories were Bakersfield and Dodgers Stadium.
SO CUTE and funny! I never read a manga with an elderly protagonist before. The old-young friendship dynamic is so sweet and innocent. I related more to the old lady than the girl, so I am on my way to living my best granny life. Her back pains and struggle to eat a ginormous squash was literally my week this week lol.
I really want to try that milk jelly with frozen grapes!
I really want to try that milk jelly with frozen grapes!
Still so cute! In this volume we see some minor storylines with Urara's childhood friend and the creator of the BL they like.
This one was a bit more pensive, with both characters thinking about what "the future" means at different stages in life. Still so wholesome and sweet.