hollowistheworld's Reviews (105)

Hard to rate this one - the story itself is deeply distressing, all the more so because the author barely seems to realize the degree of awful occurring. But it's a memoir, not fiction, and I can hardly criticize it for not being narratively satisfying. 

I can feel some sympathy for Elvis as one of the first victims of the way we've normalized treating celebrities, but overall he was a manipulative, immature, self-centered person who just happened to have enough charisma to convince those around him that it should be accepted. 

So historically accurate its hard to believe it was written in the mid 20th century and not at the beginning of the 19th. The author provides little context to understand what is going on, making it a challenging read, and that, combined with the slow pace, made it hard to get invested. It wasn't an unpleasant read, didn't have me eager for the end, but I also have no interest in rereading it or continuing the series.

A good overview of food throughout history. Probably not a great source for people who already have a basic level of knowledge on the topic, but a great launch point for getting the basics and choosing an area to dive into more deeply.

Main character Laura used to write, and was repeatedly told it was pretty, but the plot was lacking. That's the best summary of this book I can give. Beautifully written, but the plot meandered. The individual stories were lovely but didn't feel like they added anything to each other. Jokes were funny the first time but were repeated until the dead horse was begging for mercy. I got sooo sick of making fun of Portia's writing. Other jokes were delivered during moments meant for sobriety - a man just died, the potty humor was whiplash. 

I listened to the audiobook, which tragically kept me from easily skipping the fumbling attempts at a love story. Admittedly I like reading romance about as much as I like being electrocuted, but this one added less than nothing, and I liked Freddy less every time he opened his mouth. He was inconsistent, a mouthpiece for the plot, and more obnoxious than Vince. Does he believe in ghosts or not? Is he supportive or is he annoyed anytime Laura asks for help? I am not convinced Laura is any better off with her new beau than she was with the old one. 

And Sunshine? A mentally disabled person with a pure heart and psychic powers who can deliver or not deliver revelations as suits the plot with the defense that their disability keeps them from understanding when it's important? Groundbreaking. 

That was sarcasm, in case you couldn't tell. God save me from the saintification of disabled characters. 

Overall, the start was good, with the lovely style and the romantic concept, but by the end I was eager for it to be over, my rating of it dropping rapidly from a 4 to the 3s to its current standing of barely holding onto a 2. I was relieved when the end finally came. 

This reads more as the preparation for a historical fiction novel than a biography based in verifiable facts and objectively possible theories. Maybe some people like long Segways into the theoretical in their non-fiction, but I'm not one of them.

It's always fun to find a high fantasy that isn't just England with a dragon slapped in, and it's even nicer to find stories that aren't christian-centric. Saladin Ahmed put together a well crafted world with a real-feeling city, full of people who cannot worry about monsters while they're trying to find their next meal. It's rare I'm so pleased with a creator's statements on morality, but Ahmed delivers the finale with a strong statement that no moral code can hold up in the face of the realities of the world. Life is messy and complicated.

It was also a pleasant surprise to learn this book features not one but three main characters who are over 50 and are still living full, adventurous lives and are struggling with the truth of life that you learn of with time. The two teenagers would have bothered me in many other stories, but their certainty against the experience of the elders made for both compelling diaglogue and humorous juxtaposition.

And none of them even die! Or their love interests! What a treat that is!

My primary criticism is the 'romance' between Raseed and Zamia, and I put that in quotations because it has no ground to stand on. He was a boy. She was a girl. They haven't had a single conversation more than two sentences long but they're madly in love. It speaks to the quality of the rest of the story that my eye rolling of this little love story wasn't enough to drop my rating below a 3.