It’s probably more like 3.5* but I liked enough things that I decided to round up! It’s less interesting and tight than Jurassic Park but still quite a fun book. I especially liked the dynamics between Harding and Kelly, which was surprisingly refreshing.

What made Jurassic Park so effective was in the build up in the first 40% it was using the info dump of science it was actually introducing the variables of failure for how the park would fail and the problems the characters experience during the thriller aspects.

In this book, there’s even more setup and it doesn’t do that. It puts forth an interesting question focusing on the gaps in our understanding regarding evolution, sure. But that doesn’t build the same sense of anticipation and satisfaction when the variables become pertinent to survival in the first one. Especially since the question put forth about evolution is unanswerable.

Still. It’s fun when it gets going and I liked some of the new characters. Some twists and the scientific underpinnings are still interesting, just falls short of how fantastic the original was (imo).

Extremely enjoyable series. I don’t really read horror much, but this was done really well and the premise just got me hooked. I had seen the Annihilation movie and was glad the book was such a different experience that makes use of the format immensely. It’s thought provoking, only sometimes “freaky”, and unlike anything I’ve read before.

There’s a bunch of advantages to reading the three books in this format but I feel like it mostly actually hampers the reading experience that things are staggered directly and you don’t have to wait at all because books 2 and especially 3 retread group you’ve just read, which just makes it feel bloated.

Otherwise I like the formatting a lot, actually. It’s a bit wider than most books and the person who did the layout did a great job. Most paragraphs don’t even carry on to the next spread. The artwork is cool and the spacing between books and chapters are cool. Glad I nabbed it, as I hadn’t read any of them previously.

A pretty satisfying finale, less horrific than the others in that the answers demystify things such that it strips away what was scary. I actually would have maybe even liked more mystery. It’s still somewhat unknowable but what is given hampers what works so well. But as usual there is a couple bends in the road and cool stuff going on. My favourite is still by far and away the first book, though.

It would have been much more effective to me if the chapter switching between different character perspectives didn’t tread over old ground. Especially in the case of the psychiatrist. Been waiting to learn about her for the entire time but 3/4 of the story lands with a thud because all the really twisty stuff was revealed previously, plus it’s done from a perspective I hate: where the author addresses the reader as though they’re a character. It takes me out of the fiction, it doesn’t embed me further.

Different kind of horror and story than Annihilation, which was very enjoyable. But it did drag sometimes despite the slow build up and structure. Reading it right after the first it seems right to have the cool down and not the same frenetic pacing. Some of my favourite moments are in this one so far, and some of the scariest! Looking forward to the next

Surprisingly full of great prose, an interesting little mystery, and great pacing and action scenes. Short and sweet.

I found this very enjoyable and well written and paced. My only problem was the relationship between Bourne and Marie, which is built mostly on his interrupting her rape from one of the bad guys. I don’t think it was handled all that well and I flip flop as to if their love, with that scaffolding was believable or not. On the one hand I like that she’s not a typical written victim but on the other basically no weight is given to it, which makes it feel strange. Eventually there are many more moments that give their relationship more credence. But it kind of felt like it was hand waved simply because she was extremely intelligent and analytical.

I actually liked that she would call Bourne out on things frequently, showing that his confirmation bias was driving his conclusions. The dynamic worked well because it explores his past trauma, and centres it frequently. The training versus the man are liminal and nicely coupled with the larger plot. It’s much more complex and rich, and featured way more trade craft and more factions than I expected.

I was warned that it was much more slow and I think it altered my expectations enough. I could see how if you expected the movie you’d be disappointed. Ones an action movie with spy fiction trappings while this is full fledged spy fiction. I actually thought it moved along at a good pace and developed characters more than the other books do in the genre. It actually has something interesting to say about what the government does to operatives trained in a far more nuanced way that isn’t boiled down like in the movie.

As I said before, pretty much my only problem was the initial relationship development. But Marie is a much more fleshed out and better character in the book, I found. I suspect some of that is down to when it was written, possibly. I also listened on the audiobook and the narrator was great (same guy who narrated Jurassic Park, I think.) sometimes listening this way really highlights the cadence and flow of the author. Really like the authorial voice in this one. And while the action is far less, I liked how they were written; felt much like the action in the movie.

Pretty fun and seemed well researched with an unusual hook. The action and general pacing seemed about right, and I liked that the prose weren’t entirely sterile, even if it was over-the-top at some points. It would have been easily a higher rating for me but for the dialogue and some pretty heavy coincidences that made it hard to suspend disbelief. Reacher himself was alright, and he gets enough things wrong during the course of the mystery that he doesn’t feel super human or anything, but the secondary characters feel less satisfying despite being more than a foil (mostly). I could see the series getting better or worse. Might try more. Not sure yet.

I think it might be an overall more useful text if you a) need to still be convinced that inclusion is good and b) you work in a corporate environment. Some of it applies at an individual level and that’s where it was more useful for me. The problem is that a lot of the tools are for corporate work at the level of CFO, CEO, etc. Lots of places would most likely be unable to afford to use the suggested tools and resources. Lots of examples are huge businesses and benefits for taking these steps, which is great, don’t get me wrong... but it feels exclusionary of most people’s lives.

By far the facts and figures included can be applied, and taking notes from this book will hopefully allow me to see the intersections from this with other books about inclusive lifestyles, communities, etc.