reubenalbatross's Reviews (521)

On the plus side, this book has absolutely amazing disability rep, is really well written, and has great world building.

However, the plot is pretty basic and is in general very predictable with an underwhelmingly anticlimactic ending. The character work was also not very strong. 

I won't be picking up the sequel. 

 
This is written in such a boring, generic writing style, and I'm not interested in a semi-sordid love affair and fighting in the trenches. I should have known really, I've never enjoyed WW1/2 stories, they're so overdone and dull.  

Also, reading how Stephan thinks about 'Madame Azaire' is like being in the mind of a stalker. Already so deranged and unhinged after spending one night in her house? Its creepy how he observes her in such great detail.

This is truly the final straw. No more WW1/2 books for me, ever. 

Another great novella by Okorafor, but it did feel like a filler book. I'm looking forward to see where the story will go now!

First of all, this book made me really realise how the coast does almost nothing for me. I couldn't think of much worse than seeing endless coast for weeks at a time, slogging up and down endless meaningless undulations. This also made the book pretty boring nature-wise for me. Give me fields, mountains, and lakes any day.

These people also pissed me off to no end - they were infuriatingly underprepared idiots, and put themselves in SO MUCH unnecessary danger. Even if you don't have much money, you could still plan A LOT better than they did. Especially if they've done loads of backpacking before?? They should know the drill.

All in all this book is pretty miserable, and I feel I have nothing to learn from it. AND it's so repetitive - oh look the coast, oh look we fucked up (usually avoidably), oh look other walkers, oh look we spent more than we should have, oh look bad people think we're stupid and unprepared, but actually we're brave.

Not for me I'm afraid.  

First of all, the first section of this book truly disturbed me with how obsessed the author was with breasts and breast milk... You couldn't go for a page without a batshit description of one or the other.

Aside from this, I think this book is just way too poetic for me, at least with how my brain is working at the moment. I found it hard to fully process what I was reading, which is ok for a shorter book, but for one this long I just felt lost. While I don't think this is a bad book, possibly quite the opposite, I'm not clicking with it enough to invest more time into it. 

Beautiful. 

It took a long while for me to get into this, but after around 25% I really started to get it. It's such an immense work, and I'm impressed by Enriquez's scope.

The descriptions of locations are so evocative - the switch from Argentina to England felt seamless, and completely real. Enriquez really captured the feel of places. 

Just magnificent. 

I've never watched anything from Simon Reeve, so I wasn't sure what to expect with this. Wow was I pleasantly surprised. 
 
This is such a well written memoir. It's poignant and impactful, with a perfect mix of Reeve's personal life anecdotes and tales of both the destruction and beauty of the world. Reeve has refreshingly nuanced takes on the vulnerable people who live in some of the most environmentally endangered places, and how conversation can both ruin and enhance their lives. 
 
I think this is the most connected I've ever felt to a celebrity memoir, and Reeve's realistic optimism inserted some positivity into my nihilistic ways.  

This was nicely written for YA novel - the writing didn't feel juvenile at all, it's just a story about teenage characters. So much YA writing is so dumbed down and it annoys me, so this was a nice surprise.
 
However, nothing really happens in the book. They're just flitting around, occasionally trying to find things. It doesn't learn hard enough into the fantasy or romance side for it to be able to carry a minimal plot, so a lot of it felt really aimless. It was just a cute little teen kinda romance and then in the last three chapters BAM, now to defeat the devil.  
 
The villain and their motivation when revealed are very played out - I've seen the same thing 100 times before.
 
Also, a lot of the messages it tries to deliver are done so very heavy handedly - especially towards the end.
 
And OF COURSE

neither Julian or Yadriel remain dead... All I want is a book with a tragic ending, is that too much to ask??

 
Though, having said all of this, the final chapter and epilogue were fucking gold. I shed so many tears. I wish I loved the rest of the book as much.  

This was an uncomfortable and disturbing, yet intriguing read. Watching the humans have their autonomy completely stripped away whilst I'm being lulled into feeling empathy for the Oankali was so interesting...

I also enjoyed the concept being explored of if you are really being rescued if you don't have any choice in the matter.

There were also a lot of thoughtful parallels to mental health as well, and feelings of isolation so many of us have.

This has been a fantastic series, and each book and perspective has added to and grown the world in its own unique way. Butler's writing never ceases to amaze me.