emvdw's Reviews (341)

 Probably unsurprising to say I thought it very overhyped (with *this* much hype it's hard to live up to it.) 
It's a fun, diverting, fast-paced read but overall feels a bit like the grocery-store brand version of a much better book (though which one, I'm not sure about) 
There were some good moments, and the way the heist goes down is very satisfying.
I thought everything in the world- and character building felt a bit shallow
The characters all get their tragic backstory, but don't feel very distinct or very real
The world-building has much potential, but again seems a bit half-hearted
The magic system in particular, I didn't like. The rules are unclear and doing magic doesn't seem to exact a price, which is not my favourite

I liked this fine, but I was a bit disappointed. Despite the title of the book, I had expected less "fun/interesting/gross/morbid anecdotes from her time at the crematory" and more "reflections/research into societal death practices and how that interacts with our fear of Death/Dying". The latter was definitely there, but it was proportionally not as present. Though that may be on me, it's right there in the title! 

It's very readable and the audiobook is great (I love Caitlin's voice).  With the right expectations, this would probably be a great read :) 

I read this as the atrocious situation in Gaza was evolving and it was very sobering and made it quite a hard read for me. Not because of the book itself, but the context made it hard to get through. Part of the message of the book, of course, is that this context is happening all the time, all over, so I shouldn't have a hard time reading this book NOW as opposed to any other time, but it is undeniable that the news cycle has an effect on what is on the forefront of your mind.

I really liked this book. It is written in a very peculiar way, and it feels a bit detached sometimes. This is what held me back from giving it a full 5 stars, because I didn't feel fully connected to the characters. It's a bit hard to describe, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, but challenging and interesting read.

Engrossing read with characters that feel real. Tears were shed, mostly sad, but some happy.

I was looking for a quick, light read to break up my streak of darker reads. 
It was certainly bright and fast, but it was also mediocre at best. My main issue was that the male lead was entirely personality-less, despite the tragic backstory. I did enjoy the friend group. 

Not quite engrossing enough. Perfectly fine otherwise

Fun, fast-paced read that sets up an interesting world. Will definitely pick up the next installement, I'm curious to see where it goes :).

The plot is good, the themes arz interesting, but the writing is sometimes a bit cringy and expositiony. 

I've read very mixed reviews of this book. Some feel it's a masterpiece, others think it's worthless. I ultimately think it's kind of fine. 

The book consists of three independent stories. I'm sure the Yanigihara was going for some 'the sum is greater than the parts' thing, but for me it was not working. The first story (1893) is fine, but unremarkable and forgettable. The second one (1993) is boring and leaves too many things up in the air. It is also very bleak, and has none of the warmth that made the horrors of *A Little Life* bearable. The warmth does return for part three (2093),which I felt was the strongest of the three. Since it was almost half of a 700+ page novel, it could have been a book by itself, and would have been a 4 or 4,5 star read for me. But I do have a soft spot for dystopias. 

But given that the first half is so unremarkable/blah and I don't get what the auhtor was trying to accomplish with combining the different stories, I would hesitate to recommend this to anyone.