I'm not a huge sci-fi reader by any stretch of the imagination but this one came very recommended by someone that I highly respect so I decided to give it a go. At first I tried to read the audiobook version of this from the mid-90s and let's just say that lasted exactly one disk. The narrator for that one was so dry and without emotion that I literally almost nodded off (while driving) more than once when I attempted to listen to it. My friend, wanting to see how bad it was, listened to exactly 10 minutes, told me to kill it with fire, and then managed to recommend the Audible version to me which was infinitely better even if funnily enough one of the narrators on there was the same one from the old school version.

Overall it was an enjoyable read. I can see how it has stood the test of time and is still considered a classic in the genre even after 54 years. There is a lot of commentary on political, social, and religious stances that are still true today, and the few bits of humor that it had still made me chuckle without being un-PC. It helped to set the stage for the 'chosen one' trope which is something used endlessly now, even if it it always isn't as well done. I also feel that for it's age it handles the depiction of women better than most of its peers even though that's not without its missteps (more on that later). However it wasn't without its flaws. There were tons of scenes that seemed unnecessary which is true in any book but they're more noticeable in these long epic stories and seem to serve no purpose other than to add filler pagers (I'm looking at you Strange and Norrell). And another positive thing is that the story arch in this novel came to a close. There is still a larger one I'm sure but this one came to an end, even if it did seem a bit anti-climatic.

Paul was the main character but he was unlikable for a good portion of the book. I want to say for at least 50-60% of it. And while most of that can be attributed to being a teenage boy with this huge prophecy hanging over his head and his abilities, not to mention the drama that befall his family in the first 'book', part of that is understandable. The other part is just him being kind of a dick for no other reason than he could (because honestly who's going to tell the Mahdi that he needs to calm the eff down). At the end of the novel he became the type of man he didn't want to be and like the person in his family that no one wanted him to emulate.

Getting back to the comment from above is how women were represented in the novel. Jessica, Paul's mother, was at first illustrated to be this bad ass of all proportions who didn't listen to what the Bene Gesserit told her to do in regards to her union with Leto. She marched to the beat of her own drummer and she knew when to show which facet her personality. When she needed to be demur and defer to Leto as his concubine she did. When she needed to show her teeth and how deadly she could be, she did. The only person she seemed to let belittle her and talk down to her was Paul. Which, as a mom, was hard to swallow because it's one thing to be rude to your mom when they're terrible. When they go against their lifelong training and religious upbringing and doctrine to specifically have you? You might want to bite your tongue in half on that one son. There was this complete flip flop with Chani as well especially towards the end of the book although strength diminishing made more sense with the events of the end of the story (no spoilers).

And let's talk more about the Bene Gesserit who were like a sect of chaotic evil nuns in all they did. They had a lot of power and they had their hands in all the pots but the thing is you never knew what side they were on. And honestly I'm not even sure they did but to be fair it's because there were so many outcomes from all the different prophecies and, much like other prophetic stories, the direction that the paths could have come down to the direction a butterfly's wings went in. They weren't good, they weren't bad, but they had no loyalties at all. Even among themselves it was very much an uneasy alliance all around and if the opportunity came they would take each other, or their offspring, out. But even then, they withered under Paul when he gave his 'angry eyes' and that was a bit of a let down. I would be interested in reading more about them even if they morally gray as all get out, because it's rare in all genres that aren't specifically geared towards women to have an entity such as the Bene Gesserit play such a huge part in all the machinations of the story. And that in and of itself was refreshing.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that there are other CW/TW with regards to children in the novel but I didn't notice until it was called out to me and then I caught the other references. There was also a brief one to an alluded assault.

I know it seems like I might not have enjoyed the book but I did. I'm glad I listened to it rather than read it because I feel that by reading it there would have been parts I spaced out on, since I did do that with the reading sometimes and had to 'rewind' to catch up. I feel that it will still stand the test of time and people will still be reading and talking about it even in another 50 years. That doesn't mean it's not without flaws but for the most part that is how Paul was presented and acted once he came into his 'powers' and embraced the Mahdi the Fremen thought him to be. He was annoying before that and afterwards became almost insufferable but I also realize this is the first in a series and that his story could have changed over the course of the rest of the series so I won't hold that against him too much.

I’ve always been a bit fascinated with the character of Raven ever since being introduced to her in the original Teen Titans TV show from the mid-aughts. I’m also one who appreciates when people put their own unique spin on something as I am also once who can separate the different versions (AUs if you will) of pop culture (like being a fan of both the original and new Charmed). Even in cases where I don’t like it, since I am not a fan of Teen Titans Go!, to each their own. Don’t yuck someone’s yum.

As such, I was very eager to read this one especially after reading the forward by the author to see this new, modern take on Raven. And it didn’t disappoint. I like the setting of New Orleans since her background is one that is more mystical than some of her counterparts. She has a new ally in the form of her adopted sister. And while there was a bit of a cliffhanger, the arch of this story was resolved and just left the door open for another one.

There are enough references in the graphic novel for fans of all levels, whether they be ones from the original comic book series, TV series (old or now), or someone who just picked it up because they liked the cover. If anything, this book was too short for me since I poured through it in the matter of a couple of hours and now have to wait for Raven’s next chapter. But I’m interested to see how this version of Raven progresses.

This is one of the few books that I actually listened to rather than read, via the Hoopla app (which is amazing and if you don't use it with your local library you really should) I choose it because I had read another book by this author last year, it seemed interesting, and it completed one of the book challenges I set out for myself this year. And y'all. It was so good. Like, words almost escape me as to how good it was.

The premise isn't anything new since it takes the curmudgeonly old man and how he interacts with his neighbors and those around him. Throughout those you also get to hear about Ove's past and how he became the way he was and his outlook on life. You also see the little snippets of him to show that he is a caring man even if it is under more than a few layers of cynicism. Ove went through a lot as a young man, and he was already someone who was different from the people around him. His one right spot is his wife Sonia, who has passed away by the time the story begins and with her gone, Ove doesn't feel he has anything to live for and is looking to end his life. These attempts get thwarted though, usually through happenstance and on few occasions purposefully, as Ove helps those around him with the various challenges that they're facing. That's a rather broad overview of the book but to give any more would run the risk of spoilers.

I cried for roughly half of this book; half of that from laughing and the other half crying. There were so many one off comments from Ove that had me cracking up since it is something I could see an older person (or older me) saying. Then hearing about his past had me sobbing because you can see how Ove started and the constant curve balls that life has thrown him and can understand why he has the outlook he does. Because it is one that probably a lot of people would have if they went through those some experiences. You cry because you see the subtle way that he begins to care for his neighbors and goes out of his way to help them. At the end the neighbors they have come to a motley family who are looking out for other. And it is beautifully written with a satisfying ending.

This book will make you feel good but it will make you cry. A CW has to be given for talks of death, depression, and suicide. It is worth it though, whether you read or listen to it like I did. I look forward to reading more by this author.

There's not much I have to say about this one. It was cute-ish. I realize there is a lot of belief that you have to suspend when reading something that deals with ghosts but there were a lot of things in here that just annoyed me to no end. Like how absent Marjorie's dad was, both at home in the business, and everything else. I understand that grief manifests itself differently for people but he had a 13 year-old running the business along with her school obligations and taking care of her five-year old brother. I really wanted to smack him hard across his face opened handed. He was a crap dad.

Then, there was fact that Mr. Saubertuck kept straight up harassing her and *none* of the adults, with the exception of her swim coach and his wife, found something wrong with this. And that this guy even knew where the extra key was to break in and try to sabotage the business? It bugged because honestly someone would have called him on that, especially in a town so small that you could have a business doing other people's actual laundry. Even the adults that didn't like Marjorie or how the business had changed would have been telling him to back the eff off (or maybe I'm just naive in my faith in humanity).

There also seemed to be no reason as to why the people treated Marjorie the way they did. Even the mean girl since in mos YA, there's always a reason for targeting like this. Even if it is something as small as "She tore the head of my Barbie on the first day of kindergarten", there's a reason.
Outside of Marjorie, Wendell, and the coach and his wife, everyone in this book was a certain level of terrible.

The friendship between Marjorie and Wendell was sweet, even if it seemed rushed at the end. Overall it was okay but I've ready better books and graphic novels dealing with the relationship between ghosts and living people and this was not up to that quite up to the caliber that this one was. I didn't hate it by any means but I didn't love it either. We have a totally platonic relationship, this book and me.

Here's the thing.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Like, I really, really wanted to if for no other reason than Octavia Butler being the pioneer she was in the literary world. But I just didn't. The only reason I didn't end up hating it was because I recognize that this is a staple in sci-fi history. And that alone deserves a small measure of respect.

As a small warning there's no real way to explain this without giving slight spoilers, so read at your own risk.

The two main characters are Doro and Anyanwu. I'd like to list the good and bad about them but there is no good...only bad. Doro is a eugenics obsessed monomaniacal tyrant who breeds his offspring to whomever he feels will yield the best specimen for his powers. He doesn't even care if they're related so guess what if he decides his seed is best with a daughter or that his son and daughter should marry to produce a super baby guess what's going to happen? It was vomit inducing. The eugenics aspect was bad enough on its own because, sorry not sorry, no matter the reasoning behind it, eugenics is a bad, bad thing. But then you add in how he didn't care about how relationships factored in? Ugh. That is one of the few things I agreed with Anyawu with; he and the mindset he had on it was an abomination. Because he was that way he had no trouble passing people along like they were pieces on a chessboard, including Anyawu. He used people up until they gave him all the breeding stock he wanted, and then used them literally when he took over their bodies. He was a piece of poop. No way around it and there was no redeeming him at all.

However, Anyawu is not without her own faults. She kind of let herself get put into this position many times with him. While I could see the why at first, when she did escape him, she still continued having kids. Which gave him something to hold over her had forever. She even mentioned it at one point that she has kids because she doesn't want to be lonely. But having those kids left her vulnerable to being able be blackmailed by Doro. In her own way, she was just as selfish as him even if it was on a different level. Since she knew having children and staying in human form too long anywhere would call him to her. So when they 'found' each other again and got into that whole song and dance it was very tedious and she was once again under his control simply because she couldn't not have children.

And then there was that ending. I expected a fight to the death, or as close to death that they could get. At the very least a constant battle. But no. The ending was them entering into some type of relationship and I guess it is supposed to be considered romantic? But it was completely out of left field and out of character for both of them. I would have thrown the book had I not borrowed it from a friend. It felt phoned in, phony, and just like Butler had to make one quickly. No rhyme or reason to it at all.

These two were completely unlikable and there was a shortage of that in the book to begin with. If someone was likable, they didn't hang around long. I just wasn't a fan and won't be finishing this series. I may try one or more by Butler just to see but I have reservations about it although most of that can be chalked up to not being a huge fan of sci-fi to begin with.

This book was way more scientific than I thought it would be, so it took me longer to get through it then I originally thought it would. However, it was still enjoyable even if it was in a genre that I normally don't read. I appreciate the research that the author put into this book, taking care to explain exactly how the various poisons work in our bodies and what they do to cause death. I also appreciated how there were so few spoilers and on the rare occasion one had to be given to explain how the poison worked, the author warned us to skip ahead. So you can still read the novels knowing the weapon but not the motive or who.

One thing that was really interesting to me is how easy it was to get these poisons in earlier years, and how much they were apart of our life. The titular poison use to be in wallpapers for example before it was learned how dangerous it was. And it was a bit scary to see how fine the line was between something being helpful and harmful.

Overall a good read especially if you're one who enjoys science. For me, it took a bit to get into it since I am normally not a non-fiction reader and when I do I don't tend to gravitate towards Applied Sciences. But still a good read although I wouldn't classify it as a 'weekend' one.

I will admit that this wasn’t my favorite by Milan that I have read so far. Even though this is the first book in the series, I read it second, having received the sequel through an ARC offer. So, I think that may have tinged my view of Judith as a person before starting it and one of the reasons that it took so long to get through as well as getting distracted by other books. Overall it was an enjoyable read but I didn’t find that the romance was well developed with Christian and Judith. Now a lot of that could be due to them having an established backstory that took place before the events of the story did. But I feel that some of the long dormant romance would still would have needed to be rekindled more. Judith seemed very forgiving for someone whose life was completely turned upside down based on Christian’s findings and while that could just be a testament to her character, I still feel there would have been more than the gentle rebuff she gave him at the beginning. It seemed to progress very quickly with the last 75% of the story.

As a heroine Judith was mostly enjoyable. Her seemingly quick forgiveness of Christian none withstanding, she seemed to be more human than most, starting with her frustrating with Theresa and then the moment where she snapped. Most everyone has had this moment with their child or younger sibling where they were unnecessarily cruel for no other reason than they had enough. However, she did apologize for her harsh words while making Theresa accountable for her mistake rather than letting her slide. Overall, she did well with the crappy hand that life dealt with her and managed to stay classy about it.

As a hero Christian was also enjoyable. I appreciated he honest he was with himself and then finally others about the opium addiction. It’s reassuring to see this type of addiction acknowledged in a romance when in others it seems brushed off and just to be part of the times. While others may feel he was too black and white when it came to the behavior of Judith’s father and brother, I felt that aligned with his character since I read him as someone who, were he born in this modern day and age, would have been placed on the Spectrum. So, it fit in with his character overall at least in my opinion. And he did have guilt over the part he played in the downfall of the Worth family but his moral compass didn’t let him take any other direction for it.

I don’t want to give spoilers on this but there was one specific thing that enraged me in this book. So, I do want to see how this progresses due to some of the seeds that were planted for later stories but I also admit that a lot of backstory and explanation will need to be relayed for me to be forgiving. Not that it can’t happen, since MacLean did it with The Day of the Duchess. But there will need to be a lot of work done to make the character that this happened with endearing to me. All in all, another enjoyable read from this author. It’s by no means my favorite or her best but it was still good.