bennysbooks's Reviews (668)

I found the layout to be distracting, and the information presented in a way that felt too brisk and shallow to hold my interest. The pictures were gorgeous though, and my child and I pored over them for a solid hour this afternoon. I think it functions best as a coffee table book, and I'm delighted to own it for the images alone. 

(Stopped at 90 pages, but skim-read through later sections).

Not for me. The beginning was compelling but it fell flat from there. It all felt a little MFA to me, like someone writing the way they have been taught to write by other people taught to write in this same style (prose polished within an inch of its life, but with enough blood, sex, and heaviness to be realistic, provocative, or raw). NOT that everyone who has an MFA writes this way, but it's an identifiable style that I don't enjoy. It felt like all of the extraneous details meant to flesh the characters out were little more than padding, or flavour added to make things feel grittier/queerer/darker. These things rarely felt like meaningful or valuable additions to the story, which made it harder to connect with anything I was reading. There were moments of insightful writing about grief, and those moments were powerful, but heavily overshadowed. And, probably most egregious for a book listed as "horror", it wasn't remotely scary. Not even a little bit. No building tension, no stress, no dread. Just some gore, really. 

I've gleaned from the ratings that when this book connects with people, it connects hard, and I love that! But if you're in the minority on this one, just know you're not alone. 

It was too brief an overview of Japanese philosophy/history/culture to be truly immersive, but mostly held my interest nonetheless. Left with a few passages underlined and a desire to read more. 

Every bit as good as I remembered it being, and my kid loved it. He was as captivated by the descriptions of life in the barn, and the changing seasons, and the fair, as he was by the overarching plot. It's pretty unique when a book can so vividly capture a historical setting in a way that works for kids and adults alike. And, of course, the themes and emotions are timeless. While there may have been a couple of cringey moments that didn't age well, for the most part this is a classic for a reason. 

Ultimately I think this book, and likely the entire series, has the capacity to tackle some big themes (colonialism, "civilization", discrimination, duty) etc. in a satisfyingly Hobb-y way. But it doesn't have the spark that I felt reading the Elderlings series, and I don't have the space in my life for plodding through a 600 page book that I'm not connecting with right now. I feel completely uninvested in the plot and the world and the characters. I'd rather just re-read RotE. 

Charming, beautiful, inspiring. Mostly coffee-table book vibes, but with some practical tips and ideas as well. It randomly dives into some brief lifestyle stuff near the end, which was strange and funny, and only added to the charm for me because it had so little to do with the purpose of the book. Loved it. 

Some fun ideas in here, but if you're already familiar with the various techniques then it isn't necessarily the sort of book you need to have on hand for reference. I definitely want to circle back to try to create a few of the projects toward the end of the book that were less about mending than they were about using leftover fabric, but I borrowed it from the library and will probably just do so again when I'm ready to try them. I'm looking for a book about mending to keep at home, and this one, while beautiful, wasn't quite what I was looking for. Perhaps something with a better blend of reference and insight/stories about mending (going to try Mending Life next). 

Beautiful little book, and a great way to get kids talking about treaties, colonization, communal responsibilities to the earth and each other. The language was fairly straightforward, but occasionally a bit advanced or complex for my 6-year old (I don't think it's intended for kids quite his age, skews slightly older, maybe 8-10? But he picked it out from the bookstore so we read it together), but it led to some good discussions. It's a quick enough read that I think we'll pick it up once a year to help us reflect on our place in so-called canada, and in the world.