pineconek's Reviews (816)

I guess that this must be the place.

There's something addictive about hearing an aliens perspective on the strange and wonderful things that make us human. I really enjoyed the pacing of this book and the humor throughout. Recommended widely as an enjoyable and emotionally provocative read.

Ted Chiang is a very gifted sci fi writer. The titular short story, stories of your life, is a masterpiece and I highly recommend it. The other stories are a mixed bag. About half of them deal with some level of "what if this one religious concept was real?", which didn't quite hold my interest but nevertheless was enjoyable to read. Recommended broadly to fans of gentle sci fi and speculative fiction.

In true VC Andrews fashion, this book was ridiculous. Somehow it was less ridiculous than earlier books/other VCA which meant it dragged on somewhat and wasn't as fun of a ride as I was hoping for. In other words, the balance of melodrama to "absurd gothic tropes" was skewed in a direction that was almost...dull? It definitely didn't carry the steam that FITA had.

While I'm glad I read it for completionism, I only recommend it if you're familiar with the Dollanganger story/saga and want to see how it all ends (but frankly, the wikipedia plot summary may be enough).

This was my first foray into Maori myths/literature and I wholeheartedly enjoyed it. This was a very lyrical book with evocative imagery of the fauna and flora of Aotearoa (aka New Zealand). This is a children's book that deals with quite a lot of sadness, and may therefore not be everyone's cup of tea. Recommended if you think whales are beautiful creatures and enjoy occasional forays into children's literature.

This is a difficult book to rate and review. It's poignant and requires a strong stomach. It's graphic, painful, and somewhat bizarre. A content warning for violence and strong feelings of helplessness feels appropriate. I wouldn't say I "enjoyed" reading it, but I'm glad I did. Recommended only if you're ok with a book making you feel absolutely awful about human cruelty.

My experience reading this book was largely me thinking "maybe I would be enjoying this more if..."

I'm a casual listener of the podcast and enjoy the two author's narrative styles, so I figured I should give the book a go. I listened to it, and it felt like listening to a special podcast series. It was fine, in that sense, but not remarkable. The book lacked cohesion and depth. Each chapters was a self contained case study that wasn't necessarily related to other chapters or even demonstrated its point beyond providing anecdotal evidence. I found myself frustrated really often (and not only with some of the inaccurate neuroscience), hence the two star rating.

I wasn't quite sure who the intended audience of this book was - if it's for true crime fans, why focus almost exclusively on famous and well-covered cases? If it's for people dipping their toes into the genre, won't many of these passages be confusing and disjointed? In short, this book did not read like a book but read like a podcast series. I'd recommend it if you're casually into true crime, but I seem to have had my fill.

I initially really enjoyed this book but it lost steam around the halfway point, where I felt like things got somewhat repetitive. Finishing it felt a bit of a chore, hence I bumped my rating down to two stars: I see the merits, but it's not for me.

This is a zombie apocalypse narrated by a crow who wants to be a human. It's a fun premise, and the narrator is wonderful. He's ridiculous and goes on adventures and meets plenty of other animals along the way. Other animals occasionally narrate a chapter, this is also fun. The problem for me was that that's essentially the whole book. The premise got a bit redundant for me, hence my slog in finishing it.

That said, I recommend it if you'd like a fresh take on the apocalypse from the perspective of animals, and especially pets, left behind.

This is a difficult book to rate for a few reasons but I think I overall really liked it. The narrative voice reminded me a lot of Lauren's in the parables and especially in the parable of the talents. This explored similar themes: symbiotic (literally) communal living, found family, independence, not being taken seriously as a not-quite-adult black woman...

I find Butler's writing very accessible and enjoyable, so this went down easy for me. I loved the world building (and that's usually something I dislike, especially if there's too much of it) and the fun spins on traditional vampire legends that felt fresh and right.

All that said, content warnings are in order for themes of pedophilia, recurring sexual themes, and some graphic violence.

Recommended if you're into horror, but also communal living, character study, race and gender issues, and are willing to overlook squeamish bits.

I don't know what to say about this roller coaster.

This book is addictive. The narration shtick works so well and the twists and turns remain unexpected (even though I've watched the show). I highly recommend listening to the audiobook, but perhaps not while walking around town. Obvious content warning for themes of stalking, obsession, murder, etc.

Recommended if you enjoy unrealiable narrators and are in the mood for a "popcorn" thriller.

Ok wow.

What a gem of a book (novella? play? series of phone calls and voicemails??). I highly recommend listening to this in one sitting and going in blind. It's an intense, riveting, and well acted little piece of fiction. True horror and true catharsis, I'm so happy I picked this up on a whim. Recommended if you're looking for a short thriller and are all right with themes of intergeneration trauma, domestic violence, and a bit of karma/astrology thrown in.