pineconek's Reviews (816)

Wow wow wow. The way love is portrayed in this book is so beautiful that no words can do it justice. I'm overwhelmed by how much I enjoyed this book - I had liked Circe, but this knocks it out of the water.
Wow.

I'm still shaken by how much of a disappointment the book was. I wanted to like it so badly, but it read like fanfic/YA (not in a good way). The beginning had some promise but oof was it a chore to finish.

I don't love every poem in this book, not by a long shot. But "Litany" is a fucking masterpiece that carries the book. I love reaching for these poems when I want to explore loneliness.

I read this in one sitting. It's an incredibly moving and visceral account first-hand account of slowly falling from "I'm safe, this would never happen to me" to experiencing true horror.

I listened to this one while working on a puzzle. It's a sad and melancholic book about family, motherhood, and belonging. It deserves the praise and attention it's been getting.

This quick collection is worth picking up for some entertaining short stories. This is not quite a spoiler since it's relatively clear from the premise but each of these stories has a last minute twist. They were fun and largely surprising. Recommended to anyone who likes quick short story "experiments" and trope subversion.

2021 reread: So this book is a beast and a journey. Back in 2012 when I first read it, I was super impressed and obsessed with it but still took over a month to read it. This time, I read it over three months, periodically abandoning it.

It's a typical Murakami, with fewer wells and cats than other books have and exactly as many weird comments about teenage girls' breasts. Murakami's writing of women really grated on me and took me out of the story a lot. I'd only recommend this to those of you that enjoy the Murakami journeys and are willing to overlook some blatantly frustrating sections.

My only complaint about this production is that it covered all the stories of fables and reflections except the objectively best one i.e. the tales of Orpheus. This is a tongue in cheek criticism given that I'm sure Act III will open with that and it'll be as mind blowing and beautiful and incredible as the previous two acts have been.

I've loved listening to this and following along in the graphic novel. These productions are nothing short of awesome and I recommend them to lovers of legends, folklore, superheroes, fantasy, etc...