miajakobsen's Reviews (152)


This was alright… I kinda had higher hopes for it.
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes

I really do love Jeanette Winterson's writing. As a queer Christian, this book was very relatable and hard hitting. I love the chapter organization, stories within stories...
emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated

Quite an interesting plot! I know absolutely nothing about games but the story was quite beautiful and touching. The characters were quite compelling. The first half was definitely the strongest in my opinion; the writing kind of waned throughout the rest of the book and certain plots
particularly the Zoe/Marx/Sadie threesome & Marx dying
kinda came out of nowhere. I was a little disappointed by the conclusion and wish it wrapped up the characters’ arcs better. All-in-all, I enjoyed reading this book but I did spend the second half hoping for a satisfying ending that never came.
adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes

This book was so beautiful and captivating. I loved how it describes faith and God. The ending gagged me with the choice to believe the “happier” version with animals, or (what I think is) the “real” version with people. 

Memory is a fickle thing and Pi is a young boy who wants to survive and stay hopeful. Even when he describes coming to terms with his family’s death in the animal story, Pi says “what a thing to acknowledge in your heart!” The animal story is how Pi copes and understands what happened to him - which makes it more heartbreaking. But additionally, if you choose to read it like it is in the book (where the animal story is real and Pi has to make up a more realistic story with humans), it still makes a very strong point on how adults don't believe children. 

Ultimately, Pi doesn't make the decision for us about which story is "real" because he doesn't believe just one story. He joins 3 churches because he loves God and that fact doesn't change between the different religions. The same is true for him regarding the two truthes: “In both stories the ship sinks, my entire family dies, and I suffer.”

Had to return to library. Will read again soon.
adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense

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emotional

A simple and heartfelt story that unfurls beautifully.
lighthearted

The angst wasn’t very good & I didn’t have any strong feelings about the main couple, but I’m not typically a romance reader and the book was cute!!
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Really cool premise and the author’s writing is great but I wanted more from this book