calarco's Reviews (760)

For a novel that is so concisely written, it took some time to emotionally process. Written from the point of view of a younger brother in his adolescence, growing up with his older brother and an abusive, drug-addict father, the reader gets a visceral insight into the family's highs and lows.

"One of the Boys" honestly reflects the thought process of a young boy trapped in an abusive relationship, as well as his slow realization of the emotional manipulation he has been experiencing his whole life.

The ending could have been better developed, and felt a bit unfair to both the main character and the reader given the weightiness of the hardships endured throughout the novel, but it is still definitely worth picking up.

There is no denying the influence of John Muir. I have hiked every major trail out of the valley floor, was left in tears when I saw the view at Glacier Point, and truly do understand how much we owe to Muir for Yosemite's present-day preservation and reverence.

Indeed, he speaks of nature with an openness and understanding that brings the sublime to life with caring and detailed prose. The manner in which he recounts Yosemite's wildlife will touch the heart of any fellow tree-hugger.

BUT an undeniable problem with this account is that he does not speak of people with the same respect, and I suspect this is why many have bemoaned this work as "boring." For me, at least, it left the account feeling somewhat emotionally hollow and lacking of substantial substance.

Meh.

An excellent read for anyone interested in the topics of early progressive American movements or New York history.

The author's account of the titular fire was so vividly written, it could very well lay the groundwork for a screenplay.

In addition to a great account of the specific fire, the events socially and politically leading up to the fire are clearly detailed, as well as the resultant consequences (or lack there of).

This is a highly effectual narrative, to say the least. There has been much historical fiction written on American slavery, and what sets The Underground Railroad apart are both its incredibly well-developed characters, and its ultimate lack of catharsis.

When presented with a strong protagonist like Cora - who survives against all odds due to a strong personal fortitude, the kindness of a few good people, and a bit of luck - you are really left pulling for her to have some sort of "happy ending," or at least a breath of relief upon reaching that magical utopia of freedom.

Instead, whether she is enslaved or not, she is met with ever increasing horrors and heart-wrenching losses. She survives, but what is a life solely based on surviving? Certainly not one of personal sovereignty, chains or no chains.

People tend to search for meaning in suffering, else the pain of trauma can be overwhelming. But there is no meaning in Cora's suffering, just as there was no meaning in the atrocity of American chattel slavery. While the ending was shocking to read, given the reality of history, it really should not have been a surprising outcome.

Ultimately, the palpability of Cora's lived experience and the intense emptiness felt at the story's close, while hard to digest, is what makes this an excellent historical narrative that well lives up to its hype.

A Gathering of Shadows, while not as strong an independent narrative as A Darker Shade of Magic, does surpass its predecessor in terms of sheer entertainment value.

V.E. Schwab is masterful in her ability to take a story in surprisingly unexpected directions. While many familiar tropes surrounding magic exist in this universe, she not only turns them upside down, but inside out.

Perhaps because the plot is told mainly from three different and isolated viewpoints, with each skillfully revealing character exposition/entanglements and building narrative tension, by the time the characters inevitably collide, the excitement is palpable.

In terms of the universe's overall narrative, at face value all this book does is move characters into place for a larger altercation with invariably greater stakes, but this journey to entropy is too entertaining to dismiss.

Delilah Bard is especially well-developed in this volume, and the story is better for it on the whole. The general social complications introduced with Alucard's character also made for some truly hilarious and unexpected moments.

However, the cliffhanger ending, while building hype and momentum for the next volume, does prevent this book from being its own independent narrative.

Either way, cannot wait for the next volume. The hype is real.

I suppose a quick and dirty summary of this book would be "Alice in Wonderland + physics." There are even a couple of Alice references/callbacks sprinkled throughout the narrative. But it really is so much more than that.

For a children's book, there are a number of complex themes introduced, ranging from the philosophical musings of a "tesseract," to the innate human fallacies of parents we might otherwise admire.

While kitschy in nature, it was hard not to get emotionally caught up in the overarching themes of the importance of love and understanding, which ultimately ground this cross-universal narrative well in the realm of domestic and heart-felt humanity.

Characters like Mrs. Whatsit and Aunt Beast were especially funny and touching. Your parents can fail you, you can fail you, and reality can (literally) be bending around you, but with the aid and love of whimsical celestial beings and/or extraterrestrials, you can certainly find the strength within yourself to carry on.

This is a book befitting any child, or adult - would definitely recommend.

In a small book with a big punch, Vonnegut examines what would be an otherwise somber or bleak topic (death) with truly hilarious accounts and musings. Using the absurd, he gleefully tips over established norms and binaries, all the while blurring what is profound and/or(?) ridiculous.

Only Kurt Vonnegut would think to ask Shakespeare what he thought about Shakespeare in Love winning an Oscar. God bless him.

Like any Butler book, this was a captivating narrative delivered with excellent prose and thought-provoking sci-fi elements. It also included a number of standard Butler themes such as: human subjugation, alien-life encountered via an anthropological lens, and a central relationship between a woman and a much older guy. While not as polished as her later work, it is still nail-bitingly enthralling.

Most interesting, is that while Lilith is certainly an unreliable narrator, the reader is left wondering if this is because she takes information (and potential lies) at face value, if her perception/memories/very ability to perceive things as a human have been profoundly changed thereby altering her present judgement, or if she has resolved to accept what her ooloi has stated as a means of morally coping with her role in their visions for re-humanizing the earth.

Most difficult to digest though, is the ultimate lack of consent present throughout the novel. The chemical manipulation involved in this process, makes the end result especially unsettling. The ooloi calmly tell people they have physical autonomy, but still violate those very human's bodies when it suites them, while assuaging that the human may be "saying no," but their body is "saying yes." Neither men nor women are exempt from this, and seeing how different individuals unravel as a result is innately horrifying.

Awesome, is how I would describe the third volume of V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic series.

Is it perfect - no. Sadly there are a few fantasy tropes that bookend the epilogue, however there are enough twists and turns throughout the main body of the story to make this edition thoroughly engrossing and entertaining.

While favoring characters like Lila and Alucard, this round I was perhaps most invested in Holland's arc. Having been little more than a powerful puppet for so much of the series, it was great to see his backstory expand throughout the final volume. Schwab's greatest talent is her emotional pacing.

All said, I could not put this down. The third edition of a trilogy is always a tall task, especially when a world has so thoroughly been fleshed out, but A Conjuring of Light delivers.

Even though you know how things will end, because Kurt Vonnegut lays it all out for you pretty early on, the characters are so ridiculous and perplexing in their choices, it is still a fun ride getting to see how humanity shapes up.

Really though, the main characters of this novel are chance and circumstance; individual actions and egos have little baring on the overall consequences of the human race. This plays well into Vonnegut's general modus operandi - reality is absurd.

I felt too much time was ultimately paid to the English speaking characters, especially given the fate of the language. Following genes to understand the linear narrative was quite entertaining, but more time spent with the people providing the mitochondrial DNA would have been preferable to the self-important (yet boring) Adolf von Kleist, or the erratic (yet boring) Mary Hepburn.

What the book does great, is poking fun at characters POVs with assessments in ways that completely undermine their own understatings and self-importance. Comedy.

Overall my "big brain" enjoyed it.