Take a photo of a barcode or cover
roadtripreader's Reviews (357)
You know, I almost forgot seafaring, whale hunting, looting, treasure-hunting pirates were a real thing. The depictions have ventured so far into the stuff of legend and mythos in my lifetime thanks to swashbuckling action-packed disney movies sprinkling more fantasy to the already superstitious world of the high seas.
This book felt like a trip on a crazy ship but not with Jack Sparrow but rather some adonis-like models from a vogue magazine shoot. I kept expecting a sexy Poseidon to appear or in keeping with the beauty and romance....mermaids.
Okay so yeah the King Of Libertines and his brother sound offensively attractive like just stop already. And that brother Reynolds...me thinks there is something dangerous about him, way more than Priest.
The bonus Sea if Ruin chapters were intriguing enough to peak my interest into the rest of this series.
It was unexpected and fun.
This book felt like a trip on a crazy ship but not with Jack Sparrow but rather some adonis-like models from a vogue magazine shoot. I kept expecting a sexy Poseidon to appear or in keeping with the beauty and romance....mermaids.
Okay so yeah the King Of Libertines and his brother sound offensively attractive like just stop already. And that brother Reynolds...me thinks there is something dangerous about him, way more than Priest.
The bonus Sea if Ruin chapters were intriguing enough to peak my interest into the rest of this series.
It was unexpected and fun.
It was an excellent wierdly warped read. And so unsettling leaving a bitter aftertaste.
This book touches on certain themes that are actually taking place in real-time in certain parts of the world. Nine year olds who don't believe in Santa, need to be "mature" and focus on studying. I've lived in countries where the suicide rate for teenagers and elementary school students was significant. Then I consider sweatshops littered across developing countries across continents and actually even hidden in what people call 1st world societies. Childhood is losing it's childlike wonder, joy and innocence and fast becoming the "blurry" side of town found in this novella.
Speaking of Blurry, I found the description of how the Blurriness infected the "happy people" and how the blurry engulfed anyone who entered quite well written. Maybe the Blurries don't even know they're blurryvbecause blurry is all they've ever known.
This book had everything, the gluttony of the richer societies via Timmy the fat stalker. The poverty if the majority via The Blurry side of town. Sally the saviour who turned out to be the bringer of doom instead. And the consequences of wishing things into existence. I'll tell you something for nothing; genies, leprechauns, fairied, rainbow pirates, the lot of them are sneaky trickster gods trying to bring about the downfall of humanity one wish at a time.
This book touches on certain themes that are actually taking place in real-time in certain parts of the world. Nine year olds who don't believe in Santa, need to be "mature" and focus on studying. I've lived in countries where the suicide rate for teenagers and elementary school students was significant. Then I consider sweatshops littered across developing countries across continents and actually even hidden in what people call 1st world societies. Childhood is losing it's childlike wonder, joy and innocence and fast becoming the "blurry" side of town found in this novella.
Speaking of Blurry, I found the description of how the Blurriness infected the "happy people" and how the blurry engulfed anyone who entered quite well written. Maybe the Blurries don't even know they're blurryvbecause blurry is all they've ever known.
This book had everything, the gluttony of the richer societies via Timmy the fat stalker. The poverty if the majority via The Blurry side of town. Sally the saviour who turned out to be the bringer of doom instead. And the consequences of wishing things into existence. I'll tell you something for nothing; genies, leprechauns, fairied, rainbow pirates, the lot of them are sneaky trickster gods trying to bring about the downfall of humanity one wish at a time.
This writing style of including diary extracts,letters, police reports, dissertation journaling and newspaper extracts is quite engaging. I'm beginning to identify the author's signature - multiple voices, multiple view points almost creating the feeling of an intimate bookclub for academics or an appointment to defend a thesis.
This novella has it all but it small doses, fantasy or magic, easily explained away by science in the 20th and 21st century. Kangaroo courts and injustice, Freakshows, Abuse, misguided notions of love.
It feels a little less than whole. I am not sure what it's missing, but there is something... more
Still, it made for an interesting hour and break from everything else
This novella has it all but it small doses, fantasy or magic, easily explained away by science in the 20th and 21st century. Kangaroo courts and injustice, Freakshows, Abuse, misguided notions of love.
It feels a little less than whole. I am not sure what it's missing, but there is something... more
Still, it made for an interesting hour and break from everything else
I enjoyed this short story. So much so that I've been digging in the archives for more of Nathaniel Hawthorne's work. It never ceases to amaze me just how vast the world of literature is. Onwards with this review....
Scientific exploration and Ethics have had a contentious relationship throughout history and although the premise of Dr Rappacini's study is impossible - I like to think of this as a Shakespearian science fiction tragedy at best. Capulets with a bunsen burner.
Our characters: poisonous girl, normal boy, mad scientist father and nosy-potentially-dangerous adversarial scientist. Having just read a novel wherein the characters of this story are featured heavily and expanded upon, I thought I'd take a quick gander at the short story. What I find most interesting here is that the main character, Giovani was already a part of the experiment even before physically meeting with Rappacini's daughter. Seniora Lisbetta was much too accommodating.
Without going to deep into the details of this story, science has come a long way from the days when empirical data far outweighed any allegiance to ethical inquiry.
Scientific exploration and Ethics have had a contentious relationship throughout history and although the premise of Dr Rappacini's study is impossible - I like to think of this as a Shakespearian science fiction tragedy at best. Capulets with a bunsen burner.
Our characters: poisonous girl, normal boy, mad scientist father and nosy-potentially-dangerous adversarial scientist. Having just read a novel wherein the characters of this story are featured heavily and expanded upon, I thought I'd take a quick gander at the short story. What I find most interesting here is that the main character, Giovani was already a part of the experiment even before physically meeting with Rappacini's daughter. Seniora Lisbetta was much too accommodating.
Without going to deep into the details of this story, science has come a long way from the days when empirical data far outweighed any allegiance to ethical inquiry.
Growing up, I remember watching movies with the bald guy with the glasses who looked super smart. As I started to select genres that I liked and prefered as one does with age, I was still able to find him in even the strangest of movie selections- of the top of my head, He was reassuring as the doctor in a movie I found utterly boring: The First Avenger, Captain America. He was the reassuring Head designer in that cult classic The Devil Wears Prada. He was frightening in a quiet and menacing way in The lovely Bones and for a while I was hesitant to watch anything else he was in - the mark of a great actor.
Who knew Stanley Tucci was a culinary adventurer and alchemist. I started out with his show, Searching for Italy and his narration, the cinematography, his ancestral journey and the people he chose to interview reignited a love for romanticism of Italy and the Roman expeditions into flavor and experimentation.
And then, I discovered his books and as an amateur cook (doing well I might say) and an amateur baker (doing rather poorly I'll admit) I was eager to dive right into whatever he had writing. Happy to report that not only was I not disappointed - I am famished and headed to the kitchen to make a wholesome mess, drink wine and chuck some of it into the pot while simmering something delicious.
Bon Appetito!
Who knew Stanley Tucci was a culinary adventurer and alchemist. I started out with his show, Searching for Italy and his narration, the cinematography, his ancestral journey and the people he chose to interview reignited a love for romanticism of Italy and the Roman expeditions into flavor and experimentation.
And then, I discovered his books and as an amateur cook (doing well I might say) and an amateur baker (doing rather poorly I'll admit) I was eager to dive right into whatever he had writing. Happy to report that not only was I not disappointed - I am famished and headed to the kitchen to make a wholesome mess, drink wine and chuck some of it into the pot while simmering something delicious.
Bon Appetito!
Gave up on page 370: Chapter XX, Morning in Budapest
It would be easier if this book was an abomination and utter bore. That's not the problem here.
It took me a month to get to page 370. I just couldn't stand the main characters which is a shock because they seemed so well-rounded with potential to grow on from the first book.
Imagine if you will, all the characters you loved from different authors and their respective universes all converging in Budapest and London. This would be literary gold - the prospect of Irene Adler meeting Mina Harker and then Dr Moreau's ultimate creation sneaking around plotting to save one monster and kill another monster. It feels like the pancake flop that was "The League of Extraordinary Men" with Sean Connery. The women leads are godawful - for some reason the writer still saddles these characters with stereotypical characteristics found in novels written hundreds of years ago portraying women as jealous, fickle and insecure things.
Every single main character(save for Beatrice, Diana and Mrs Poole) whine on and on about their lacking capabilities and compared themselves to other characters. Failing to bring together each character on an intellectual level, each character felt like a teenager still trying to compete with her frenemies in a competition inside their heads. Seriously? You have people to rescue and secret organizations to shut down and you're wondering why you can't climb walls like this character or why Sherlock asked for regular updates or why you hadn't been as observant as so and so and peaches and cream and pumpkin spice tea - see, I can ramble nonsensically just like the characters.
The characters got so infuriating I could only stomach one chapter a day thus dragging out the whole experience which was already an annoyance. So what was good here?
A few positives:
⦁ The entire Oriental Express sequence was well written (ignoring all of Mary's whining and "woe is me" nonsense)
⦁ Irene Adler appears as a covert character working for the clandestine agency in the form of Mrs Norton almost genius.
⦁ Van Helsing as a mad scientist would not have even been on my bingo card (especially since my mind can only see Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing now).
⦁ Science and experiments as the origin of the vampyre, the strigoi and the lamia was really well presented.
There are way too many books in the world and new ones coming out each day to waste your time dragging out a book you'd normally finish in 4-5 sittings or even a week.
It would be easier if this book was an abomination and utter bore. That's not the problem here.
It took me a month to get to page 370. I just couldn't stand the main characters which is a shock because they seemed so well-rounded with potential to grow on from the first book.
Imagine if you will, all the characters you loved from different authors and their respective universes all converging in Budapest and London. This would be literary gold - the prospect of Irene Adler meeting Mina Harker and then Dr Moreau's ultimate creation sneaking around plotting to save one monster and kill another monster. It feels like the pancake flop that was "The League of Extraordinary Men" with Sean Connery. The women leads are godawful - for some reason the writer still saddles these characters with stereotypical characteristics found in novels written hundreds of years ago portraying women as jealous, fickle and insecure things.
Every single main character(save for Beatrice, Diana and Mrs Poole) whine on and on about their lacking capabilities and compared themselves to other characters. Failing to bring together each character on an intellectual level, each character felt like a teenager still trying to compete with her frenemies in a competition inside their heads. Seriously? You have people to rescue and secret organizations to shut down and you're wondering why you can't climb walls like this character or why Sherlock asked for regular updates or why you hadn't been as observant as so and so and peaches and cream and pumpkin spice tea - see, I can ramble nonsensically just like the characters.
The characters got so infuriating I could only stomach one chapter a day thus dragging out the whole experience which was already an annoyance. So what was good here?
A few positives:
⦁ The entire Oriental Express sequence was well written (ignoring all of Mary's whining and "woe is me" nonsense)
⦁ Irene Adler appears as a covert character working for the clandestine agency in the form of Mrs Norton almost genius.
⦁ Van Helsing as a mad scientist would not have even been on my bingo card (especially since my mind can only see Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing now).
⦁ Science and experiments as the origin of the vampyre, the strigoi and the lamia was really well presented.
There are way too many books in the world and new ones coming out each day to waste your time dragging out a book you'd normally finish in 4-5 sittings or even a week.
This book pays homage to so many creative ideas that have gone mainstream - or the pages just seem to echo all of it so in that sense it does appeal to fans of many a great Space Opera Franchise Let's see:
1. The labyrinth gives of very Valerian vibes
2. The Souq feels like a calabash of Star Wars and Dune
3. There are desert people who spit and value moisture like the Fremen and The Tusken Raiders
4. Azuela - the name sounds a lot like Azula and her nickname "Zuzu" snaps one immediately into the ATLA series.
5. The distant worlds and trade between them feels familiar.
6. Some of the different races feel very Mandalorian-like.
All in all, many tidbits to appeal to many different book-series aficionados.
"Seeing" the story through this particular main character (Azuela) was very unique and quite hopeful.
1. The labyrinth gives of very Valerian vibes
2. The Souq feels like a calabash of Star Wars and Dune
3. There are desert people who spit and value moisture like the Fremen and The Tusken Raiders
4. Azuela - the name sounds a lot like Azula and her nickname "Zuzu" snaps one immediately into the ATLA series.
5. The distant worlds and trade between them feels familiar.
6. Some of the different races feel very Mandalorian-like.
All in all, many tidbits to appeal to many different book-series aficionados.
"Seeing" the story through this particular main character (Azuela) was very unique and quite hopeful.
I understand the haunting pull of needing to be somewhere that you're not at that particular point in time and the idea that something can be healed through this act of travel and journey into the unknown.
This book spoke to me in more ways than one. Each layer of the character's journey sounds familiar.
And yes - to answer Leina's question - Yes, people can be cursed.
This book spoke to me in more ways than one. Each layer of the character's journey sounds familiar.
And yes - to answer Leina's question - Yes, people can be cursed.
You know what - no one would blame this Witch Bride/Stepmother for her actions.
In a few short pages, the reader develops a fierce sense of loyalty and respect for the main character
and in a few short pages, the little psychopath is equal parts annoying and terrifying.
I would read an entire novel on this.
In a few short pages, the reader develops a fierce sense of loyalty and respect for the main character
and in a few short pages, the little psychopath is equal parts annoying and terrifying.
I would read an entire novel on this.
