nadia's Reviews (587)

I think this was a solid, clever resolution to the trilogy! There were parts of this I really enjoyed and parts I never fully grokked — mainly around character alliances, motivations, and some of the fantasy elements — but just went with!

I actually got into this a lot more than I thought I would. I decided to finally listen to this book, which I'd redeemed for free ages ago as part of Libro.fm's ALC Program, while in Cobble Hill. 

Despite that, I didn't care for the characters at all and nothing really happens. Sometimes nothing really happens in a book but you still feel you took something deeper away from the experience of reading it. With this one, I didn't take anything away from it at all beyond the surface level entertainment I got from peeking into the characters' lives.

Also, lots of fatphobic comments in this one!

Perhaps not one for audio, as there were sooo many people introduced and I couldn't keep track of them, but I did enjoy this tale of financial fraud. Despite not remembering who was who, was always able to follow the general gist/the high-level arc. A tad on the slow, potentially dull side, but my interest was ultimately sustained.

I found this utterly fascinating. Luckily I haven't had any direct experience with brain surgery — either via myself or my family — so I learnt so much about the different types of problems that can arise and how hospitals and treatments work with regards to neurosurgery.

I also liked the variety of personal stories that Henry Marsh shared.

There were some downsides to the book. I sometimes struggled with the narrative voice of Henry Marsh — sometimes coming across as arrogant and cavalier. The themes/structure of the book became a little repetitive too, causing me to sometimes drift in and out during certain stories.

Despite that, I'm a sucker for BTS stories and this was great one and and it left me feeling super grateful for good health and inspired me to really make each day count. 

Didn’t emotionally connect with this collection at all and found the stories seemingly underdeveloped and their pattern and theme repetitive/tiring.

But, especially after reading other people’s reviews and the excellent translation note from Alice Guthrie, it’s clear I missed the point of this one. Which makes me sad. 😩

Still, I was still intrigued by all of the settings and Guthrie's essay, which put all of the stories in context, really was great, winning this book points!

I found the setting of this story, and this history around it, fascinating but I struggled to stay engaged with this audiobook — it might have been the narrator's voice... I also struggled to keep track of the cast of characters/different factions, which is not really a fault of the author, and Paul French did do a decent job of trying to remind you of who everyone was. I felt the book picked up steam a lot more once

Werner started his own private investigation into his daughter's murder

, but I still found myself drifting in and out of focus.

Also, I knew nothing about this case going in...so I'm not sure how I feel about how Paul French approached the final sections of his book...

A solid collection. I just really liked it. The characters felt so real and fleshed out and I did enjoy reading a collection with stories on the longer side. I also like the theme of love and relationships around middle-aged queer characters. It was more on the emotional, sad side, but lots of touches of humour sprinkled throughout.

A fun collection...with regards to the ideas, rather than the main subject matter and themes, which were heavy! I found most of the concepts in this book super interesting. But, for even my favourites, a lot of them felt like they were missing a little something for me come the ending, especially with the emotional impact. I did really appreciate that there was a clear, consistent theme, approached by the author in a variety of creative ways and I loved the use of mixed media throughout the book.

This is such a great memoir! I'm a huge fan of the detail and it makes such a wonderful companion read to Masters of Doom, which I read earlier this year.

If I had been a proper fan/follower of id and Doom and Quake, and the games that followed, and I remembered all the little details of them, this would have probably been a 5⭐️ read. Given that I'm not, I did lose focus sometimes but I can see how a true fan would be obsessed with the whole thing.

A must-read for anyone into video games, especially how one is produced or the history of the industry! Excellent for general enthusiasts and lovers of memoirs!

I listened to this on audio and it's so fantastic hearing Romero tell you his story himself!