I enjoyed Chemistry and read it as an audiobook in only a couple of days, but I can see why some people may not like it. It's one of those slice of life stories that doesn't really have much plot and really focuses on a character and his or her growth during a period of time. There is a strong focus on family, especially relating to immigrating from a place with a very different culture than the US, in this case China. I don't know how accurate this portrayal is, but it was interesting to read from a different perspective than I've read before about the culture and stereotypes in the US. I'm giving it four stars because I think the story and some of the characters could have been more developed if the book was a little longer.

I didn't hate this book, but it needed more plot and character development. The ending was not satisfying and I didn't have the emotional response I was expecting with this kind of subject matter. There were a lot of jumps forward and backward in time that could have been smoother and were confusing at times, so it was difficult to tell how much time had passed between some events. I also found myself comparing this to A List of Cages, which is similar in some ways, but better developed and written better.

I really enjoyed most of this book, but it was a little slow in the middle. I am definitely glad I knew about the structure before I read it because it might have been confusing otherwise. I did really enjoy the writing style and the characters, and it's different from anything I've ever read.

DNF at p. 160/243

I normally would finish a book this short, but it was keeping me from reading things I'm actually interested in so I decided not to waste any more of my time.

I really liked the concept of this book. I love stories with morally questionable characters and I can appreciate a good thriller or dystopian. I thought it would be compelling and action-packed and a little violent, but I was wrong. There is barely any action or real exploration of the characters or the world. What explanation there is fails to be integrated well into the narrative. The writing fells stilted and is very intrusive. It feels like it's trying to be a character study on some level, but Spademan makes no sense as a character and his actions don't line up well with what we are told about who he is.

A lot of this book's problem is its failure to follow the "show don't tell" rule. Almost all of the characterization and world building is randomly shoved into the narrative with no transition, often in places where it doesn't make sense and distracts from the actual story. These explanations are either ridiculously dramatic or completely emotionless. I understand that, since the book is in first person, the writing style is probably meant to reflect Spademan as a character, but it still makes the book difficult to read and adds to the inconsistency of the character.

One other world building thing is that it's very centered on New York and doesn't do much to explain what may be happening in other parts of the country or the world. Some attempt is made briefly, but they still have access to the internet so it would seem like it wouldn't have been that hard to reference current events in other places more. I also had trouble caring about the destruction of New York, not because I have anything against the city, but because of the way the author tries to force the reader to feel sympathy for the city and even implies that New York is superior to other parts of the country, calling it "the country's soul." It's even kind of mocking of the midwest (where I'm from) relating it to "a plucky dollar store." I found this kind of offensive even though I know it's not that big of a deal and I was already fed up with everything else at that point. It just shows the lack of effort to develop the world.

3.5 Stars

Far From the Tree essentially does what its trying to do, but it wasn't as effective as it could have been for me. I don't have any personal experience with adoption or the foster system so maybe I was having trouble connecting to the situation, but I've felt emotionally invested in books about characters that are different than me before. I think my lack of emotional involvement might be caused by the feeling that I've read contemporary books about characters similar to these ones and I've seen them executed better. The writing kept me reading, but sometimes felt forced to me. The ending helped give more depth to the story and was satisfying, which is why this got 3.5 instead of 3 stars. I can see how this could be a valuable story for people who are connected to adoption, but it wasn't anything special for me.

4.5 Stars

There is a lot happening in We Are the Ants, but I think it did everything justice. I was worried at the beginning that the characters were going to be one-dimensional, but all the characters that were important to the plot are well developed by the end. I don't know how I feel about the sci-fi aspect of the book. I maybe wanted a little more or a little less of the aliens, but the philisophical discussion it created was interesting. This book made me emotional and definitely made me think. It's definitely worth reading as a story about suicide and depression with a science fiction twist.

3.5 Stars

My only real complaint about Roomies is that I was expecting a book about actually being in college, but this takes place all in the summer before college starts. It just isn't as relevant to my life right now as I wanted it to be. Although a little short, this book is well written, has realistic characters, and definitely kept my interest. There's nothing truly bad about Roomies, it just doesn't stand out to me and I don't think I'll remember much about it a month from now.