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literatureaesthetic's Reviews (540)
yawn
petitioning for cassandra clare to stop writing random, unnecessary trilogies, and to focus on 'the wicked powers' instead
petitioning for cassandra clare to stop writing random, unnecessary trilogies, and to focus on 'the wicked powers' instead
read for uni — i appreciate this for being one of the first ever apocalyptic/sci-fi novels, but it was an absolute pain to get through
2.5 ☆ - majority of the stories in here were 2☆ stories for me. although the concepts were unique, i found that they were underdeveloped, ended really abruptly, or were rather forgettable
there were three stories that i loved. one of them being 'story of your life', aka the story that the film arrival is based on. definitely a standout story in this collection. i reallly liked 'hell is the absence of god'. i think that ted chiang excels at writing longer, emotive pieces as opposed to ambitious scientific thought projects. the latter comes across as dull in this format, the former works realllyy well for me. this was so good, i loved the unique take on religion and theology. my other favourite was 'liking what you see: a documentary'. this final story was the most thought-provoking. it's discussions on beauty/pretty privilege were outstanding. i love that chiang approached this extremely complex topic from a variety of perspectives, allowing the reader to arrive at their own conclusions. so so well-written.
however, only 3 out of 8 stories worked for me :/ even though those 3 stories were incredible, the collection as a whole was disappointing
there were three stories that i loved. one of them being 'story of your life', aka the story that the film arrival is based on. definitely a standout story in this collection. i reallly liked 'hell is the absence of god'. i think that ted chiang excels at writing longer, emotive pieces as opposed to ambitious scientific thought projects. the latter comes across as dull in this format, the former works realllyy well for me. this was so good, i loved the unique take on religion and theology. my other favourite was 'liking what you see: a documentary'. this final story was the most thought-provoking. it's discussions on beauty/pretty privilege were outstanding. i love that chiang approached this extremely complex topic from a variety of perspectives, allowing the reader to arrive at their own conclusions. so so well-written.
however, only 3 out of 8 stories worked for me :/ even though those 3 stories were incredible, the collection as a whole was disappointing
the way that i completely jinxed this, i'm so bitter
300 pages longer than it needed to be, reallly cringey/unnatural dialogue, weird paedophilic vibes (offhand, suggestive comments that are supposed to be hot. absolutely not). the world-building/magic system was atrocious, the author would completely contradict the "laws" of the magic system, simply for plot conveniences/so the author had an easy way for the plot to progress. beyond lazy, in my opinion. and the love interest was creepy and unattractive, fucking gave me the ick. i hate writing bad reviews for indie romances, but i'm actually so disappointed by this. it started off so well but just spiralled 40% in :(
moral to this mess: don't trust booktok
300 pages longer than it needed to be, reallly cringey/unnatural dialogue, weird paedophilic vibes (offhand, suggestive comments that are supposed to be hot. absolutely not). the world-building/magic system was atrocious, the author would completely contradict the "laws" of the magic system, simply for plot conveniences/so the author had an easy way for the plot to progress. beyond lazy, in my opinion. and the love interest was creepy and unattractive, fucking gave me the ick. i hate writing bad reviews for indie romances, but i'm actually so disappointed by this. it started off so well but just spiralled 40% in :(
moral to this mess: don't trust booktok
literally reminded me of why I love reading, so magical and beautifully written
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