I wasn’t sure what to expect about this before reading. It was handed to me at BookCon. It shortness and taking place partly in Germany is what captured my attention initially. But I quickly became enamored with it.

I don't smoke. Probably never will, so I cracked the cover with some trepidation. But saying this book is about an addiction to nicotine is shallow. It's a beautiful thought essay on how Gregor feels about smoking, yes, but it more importantly him trying to understand the experiences he's had in his past.

He's quit, but this book doesn't paint cigarettes in a negative nor nostalgic light. It’s simply an effort to understand himself - not just his smoking habits but all his habits. Why he thinks and does what he does. And it's all done is stunning, stunning prose. (kudos to translator jen calleja)

Now that I'm done, I'm torn between going through to pick out the poignant parts or shoving it in people's faces and saying "read this".

I listened to this on audiobook, which might have been a bad idea. I'd get home from work and spend an extra 30 min in the car listening while I was parked in the garage. I'm surprised my battery never died. But what can I say, I was drawn into this from chapter 1.

This is one of those books that snagged my attention really early, but then started to lose it the longer I read.

I love the idea - a conspiracy with the govt/hollywood/video game companies and invading aliens taking on the form of a popular video game. Zach, as a character was also very fresh and I loved reading about him. It's rare where I find a male protag with anger issues that also is okay with showing grief.

It's just, idk. The plot started jumping into a direction that had me scratch my head about 3/4 of the way in. It wasn't a sudden jump, but one that felt forced all the same and not very smooth or native to the world here. Which is a shame, because I would be willing to about the after effects of the novel. But I also feel like that might help connect things for me.

This book grabbed me right away. Starting off with a vampire suicide was pretty alarming. But what really held my attention here were the characters and their backstories. A vamp trying to save his father, but instead dooming him to eternal senility. A servant turned just to play nursemaid. Another being slow corrupted by his gifts. The fact that they don't have super strength, or super speed also made me like this world.

The whole mind reading thing had me rolling my eyes, thinking it very Twilight, but then I remembered this is probably 10 years older. And honestly, much less creepy. The romance, in fact, is pretty much completely absent. It's all about connecting with people (or other vampires) and not being alone, then find love which I really appreciated.