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chloefrizzle's Reviews (993)
The Ferryman is the story of Proctor, a man who lives in a "perfect" society, where people are scientifically reborn over and over as they do their sweet nothings on a secluded island. If course, Proctor starts to find the dark truths behind his not so perfect life, and the story gets more twisty and complicated from there.
What this book reminded me most of, in tone and premise, was The Giver. We've got this protagonist that is listless and sad, and the more they discover about their not-so-perfect world, the more melancholy things get. Throw in some mystery-box and isolation feelings of Lost, and what you get is this book.
After a few chapters, none of the characters felt real to me. They all felt like satellites to Proctor, doing the jobs that the narrative needed of them. The wife is micromanaging, the mother in law is part of the evil conspiracy, the trainee is much too clingy and makes the job harder; but none of them seem to have any emotions or independent thoughts.
It's a fine book. Perhaps a little too long, a little too boring. I would recommend it to fans of slow dystopian tales.
A video review including this book will be on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, at youtube.com/@ChloeFrizzle
Thanks to Ballentine Books and Netgalley for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
What this book reminded me most of, in tone and premise, was The Giver. We've got this protagonist that is listless and sad, and the more they discover about their not-so-perfect world, the more melancholy things get. Throw in some mystery-box and isolation feelings of Lost, and what you get is this book.
After a few chapters, none of the characters felt real to me. They all felt like satellites to Proctor, doing the jobs that the narrative needed of them. The wife is micromanaging, the mother in law is part of the evil conspiracy, the trainee is much too clingy and makes the job harder; but none of them seem to have any emotions or independent thoughts.
It's a fine book. Perhaps a little too long, a little too boring. I would recommend it to fans of slow dystopian tales.
A video review including this book will be on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, at youtube.com/@ChloeFrizzle
Thanks to Ballentine Books and Netgalley for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
All the charm of a classic Disney movie. Well written, with intriguing magic and characters.
I appreciate that the in-medias-res opening was a true beginning, not a flash forward. I also appreciate the cute kids. Just wish all of the characters were given more to do here
This book is a good end to the Drowned Empire trilogy, but longer than it needs to be.
There are large swaths of this book that were so boring, I almost gave up on it. The protagonists are just sailing from place to place, running into a villain, trying to talk it out with them, and then exchanging a few blows. And rinse, repeat for hundreds of pages.
At some point, Lin asks, "[Are] we truly negotiating in the middle of a battle?" And I'm like, EXACTLY, YOU GET IT! Because after many confrontations that were just people talking in circles, I was irritated with the pattern.
What truly delighted me with this book is that the magic/lore was deepened in surprising ways. There were some interesting plots twists that explained the mysteries in the magic, without feeling like cheap tricks. I think that fans of the magic system in these books will be delighted.
This novel does solid romantic relationships so well. There are stable couples in this book, simply loving each other with very little drama. It's somewhat refreshing after reading other novels with lots of drama in the romance.
The audiobook was great. There are different narrators for our POV characters, and they all do their performance well.
Thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
There are large swaths of this book that were so boring, I almost gave up on it. The protagonists are just sailing from place to place, running into a villain, trying to talk it out with them, and then exchanging a few blows. And rinse, repeat for hundreds of pages.
At some point, Lin asks, "[Are] we truly negotiating in the middle of a battle?" And I'm like, EXACTLY, YOU GET IT! Because after many confrontations that were just people talking in circles, I was irritated with the pattern.
What truly delighted me with this book is that the magic/lore was deepened in surprising ways. There were some interesting plots twists that explained the mysteries in the magic, without feeling like cheap tricks. I think that fans of the magic system in these books will be delighted.
This novel does solid romantic relationships so well. There are stable couples in this book, simply loving each other with very little drama. It's somewhat refreshing after reading other novels with lots of drama in the romance.
The audiobook was great. There are different narrators for our POV characters, and they all do their performance well.
Thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.
The protagonist is just... so obnoxious. Lying, immature, self-sabotaging, vindictive.
Witty; had me laughing out loud. Great storyline of empowerment and adventure.