This is my second foray into Charlie Jane Anders' work, after trying and failing to read The City in the Middle of the Night, and at least I managed to finish this book, though it was tough going in some spots. I was invested in the first half, which covers the childhoods of the main characters, but it really fell off for me once we got to their adulthoods. 

I think a lot of it has to do with how unfocused the conflict is. In the first half, it mainly comes from our protagonists being outcasts, dealing with abusive or unsupportive families, and facing a dastardly guidance counselor that seeks to tear them apart. In the second, it's just BOOM natural disasters on an apocalyptic scale that weren't really weaved well enough into the story, to the point where a lot of what happens in the first half feels redundant in retrospect. It would have integrated a lot better if there were even just hints in the first section of the coming disasters, so we're not met with this jerky tonal shift on top of everything else going on. I know that catastrophes don't always necessarily come with a forewarning, but we gotta stick with a theme here.

There was a lot of potential here, with the concept of magic/nature vs. science, but the execution never really lived up to the possibilities. The whole society of assassins that Rose, the guidance counselor, belongs to would have been an interesting added faction on top of the magic users and the scientists, but that whole plot thread dissolves entirely once Rose is out of the picture and easily tossed aside in the second half, which is odd considering weren't we told he's apparently the greatest assassin ever? I know his whole deal was to come off as a sort of joke, but it's so difficult to navigate the humor in this book when there's also such serious things happening and we're meant to take them at face value.

So much of this book feels so thin, yet incredibly dense all at once. Every side character feels so wooden that it wouldn't be hard to imagine them as cardboard cutouts. Plot points and characters are quickly introduced and them dumped to the side with no resolution or development. All these issues stack on top of each other until you wonder why you're still reading. 

There were some good lines in this book, moments that really did strike and encourage me to keep going, but ultimately I would describe the experience as terribly uneven. I really wanted to give this author another shot, but perhaps I have to accept the fact that our vibes don't mesh.

I know I was so close to finishing it, but there is nothing that is really going to make me come back to this book. The writing style didn't draw me in, nor did the characters. I really was getting tired of Violetta constantly being so self sacrificial that it made everyone else's contributions feel useless. The dark and mysterious house that's supposed to be a big draw is only so for about a chapter or two, which is a shame since the story tries so hard to be this gothic mystery, but only makes halfhearted attempts to do so. 

I flipped through the last eighty pages or so to get a vague sense of how it all wraps up and it all becomes more of the same. 

An absolutely stunning book from its cover to its contents. I am an avid lover of fairy tales, though I will admit, I am always cloying for content beyond Grimms and the usual stock European tales. This book has those, which some I did enjoy, but also includes stories from Japan and Vietnam, two places that desperately need more attention when it comes to bringing stories to a Western audience. I also appreciated the stories coming from the Ukraine and Siberia, which also doesn't get a lot of notice when it comes to fairy tales.

Though I was already familiar with "The Firebird," "The Six Swans," and "Bluebeard" I was surprised to see that the rest were completely new to me, which is always a delight. My favorites included "Kotura, Lord of the Winds," "The Areca Tree," "The Maid of the Copper Mountain," "The Six Swans," "The Story of One Who Set Out to Study Fear," and "The Frog Princess." 

A great batch of stories that are so fresh and unique in their own ways. Has a great balancing of tones, directions, and style. Anthologies tend to be such a mixed bag that I'm glad this one ended up mostly being successes, each with their own value to the readers that may find themselves in these works. 

My favorites ended up being Meet Cute, Don't Pass Me By, Why I Learned to Cook, Catch Pull Drive, and Superhuman.

If you loved stories like Inkheart as a kid, then this book would definitely be up your alley. I'm a sucker for stories of the fictional meeting reality and all the possibilities that come from that idea. This story does rely heavily on the reader knowing a lot of different characters from classic English Literature, Mr. Darcy, Heathcliff, Dorian Gray, and especially those from David Copperfield, but I think the story manages to make them endearing and personable enough for a not-in-the-know reader to get the gist of them.

The book itself feels very weighty, a lot happens while the pace smoothly edges by, though I don't think it ever qualifies as being dull. As someone who loves textual analysis of literature, i.e. my inner English major just going entirely beserk, I love the idea of the characters personality/ability being affected by the summoner's interpretation of them. It leads interesting differentiations between the characters and makes for some neat world building. 

Definitely would recommend this for lovers of books that celebrate literature and the feelings we get when getting immersed in our favorite worlds.

While this book gets swept up in many narrative circles from time to time, I was still drawn into the story through its mysterious world that we've only barely seen and what lays ahead for the characters. Nita's a bit of an acquired taste, what with her constantly looking down on other people and sociopathic tendencies. Kovit's also a lot of fun, though yes, we get it, he smiles a lot and it's always mostly disturbing. Still, it was interesting to see their dynamic grow and I am genuinely curious to see what move Nita makes next. Here's hoping that the writing style grows as the series goes on.

There's a lot of good information here, and I found myself highlighting passages left and right as bell hooks gave very insightful takes on the nature and preservation of love. The first half spoke a little more true to me, as I found it to be more relevant to my own experiences, though by the end it felt like the points were starting to exhaust themselves. That and the content starts getting a little too spiritual for my liking. Totally fine with bell hooks finding love and security with the divine, but that's not exactly an experience we share. It also ends rather abruptly with the whole "look for the angels" chapter, making it just such an odd place to leave the book. Add this onto the out of place shaming of two women when this is supposed to be a book detailing love and you have something that feels off balance tonally at parts. 

This next installment of the Sandman audiobook is just and thrilling and immersive as the first. I can't get over how each cast member shines here and brings a whole new level to the story. James McAvoy keeps killing it as Dream, backed up by brilliant newcomers, such as Kristen Schaal's Delirium and Miriam Margolyes' Despair. Can't wait for the next one!