What can you say about this that hasn’t. Everything is just about perfect. From a gripping plot, to the post-modern self insertion of the questionable, ostensible, and unreliable narrator—but even more so, the immaculate prose work—this book just flows immaculately.

I was worried Irving wasn’t for me when Owen Meany felt a little too prescriptive and message-y, but happily, my fond memories of the movie version (and of the late Robin Williams), held up quite well. Very enjoyable, in part because of the post modern playfulness and commentary on writing, (pop) culture and its co-opting, feminism, and awkward adolescence. Despite being overt characters, this felt far more smooth going down than the “realism” attempted in Meany.

A wild ride, a dissection (or maybe vivisection?), of coming-of-age - I really doubt there’s a better effort (for my taste) from Irving. Everyone feels human, fallible, and the world chaotic and believable, yet feels like distinctly like a novel. Wonderful stuff.

The writing here completely elides the fact that I have no real interest in boxing whatsoever. It’s the kind of stuff that makes me believe that the author could write about anything at all and it would be riveting. However, that doesn’t mean the other aspects were poor either. The women felt real and vibrant off the page and the actual bouts and their resolutions were tense as well as leaked to the deep character work tied to them.

My one complaint was that it felt slightly too short, leaving off in an almost startling way. A “that’s it?” moment.

The kind of wildly prescriptive writing that seems to resonate with wider audiences, but always feels like the only point is to beat you over the head with the point. Then the prose work felt so much like commercial fiction, I was surprised this was considered something of a modern classic. I think it’s a generational disconnect here, possibly.

This was more complex than I expected, which ultimately made it work, for me. The character work especially do not conform to stereotypes and felt extremely dynamic. The plot beats, though, are a counterweight to them, feeling like, because we knew the characters so well, they were inevitable and unsurprising. Still, I did enjoy this quite a bit.

Ultimately, pretty forgettable for me, despite recalling the characters behaving annoyingly, but rooted in solid psychology. Like watching a train wreck. You’d think I would remember it for that, but beyond the great prose work, the story as a whole felt like the kind of thing I’ve consumed a million times.

Big fan of this author. The prose are decidedly commercial, on purpose, but within everything I’ve read of hers there is a fantastic insightful relationship between the characters (who are always marginalized) and the society around them. It’s fair, dynamic, stark, and feels lived in and real. The mysteries are always fun and relate to events in the world most people would know little to nothing about. Very happy a new series starts, as I loved the Ghetty books.

One thing I could take or leave is the romantic aspects, but I think it does work well and doesn’t get in the way—and again, feels like an organic way to talk about the culture of the characters.

I gave this the old college try, but I just could not care about these characters enough to complete the story. I made it through around 75%. I didn’t find the society or structure, or the poking at philosophy behind it, particularly insight or interesting. Even the dragon riding and battles felt bland, to me.

This was chosen by my book club, as we explore possible fun series to read next. This universally got shrugs from everyone. It’s fun, prose are serviceable, and leans into the Not Like Other Girls trope pretty heavily. Everyone thought it was pretty cute and forgettable, and we decided we wouldn’t continue on with it.

A wildly impressive work, both because of the dynamic, fallible characters, as well as the interesting structure that annunciates the mystery at the heart of the plot. But the rhythm of the prose working with the lyrics was also phenomenal. What might even be more incredible was that the audiobook narrator did all of this perfectly—I hope she got some pay increase from a typical job, because it is Truly above and beyond.