sareidle's Reviews (180)

While this story is very tragic and full of grief, I felt emotionally connected to the two main characters. Seeing the political changes in Afghanistan through their eyes was very moving and serves as an introduction to Afghan history if you're interested in learning about this region of the world.

The main character, Princess Cimorene, fits the pick-me-girl archetype to a T. It's fine to want to forge your own path in life, but she seems to look down upon girls who follow the traditional path. Thus, I found her perspective frustrating throughout the book.

I listened to the audiobook version of the story and did enjoy the cast of voice actors and how they portrayed the dragon characters. 

I used this book to research holiday history and it provided a solid foundation for a presentation I gave on Valentine's Day. However, the book is a bit outdated in its interpretations of the development of holidays, such as contemporary historians' view that Lupercalia had nothing to do with what would become Valentine's Day. Additionally, the book includes several anecdotes from the author's childhood which extended a bit too long given the big picture lens used for the book.

The Every provides interesting and thought-provoking commentary on technology and the lack of privacy and agency that accompanies it. The book argues through Delaney's experience that you cannot change an institution from within; it will change you first.
The Every's references to technology and society (not to mention the film adaptation of its predecessor) will make it feel very dated in a few years. I feel that The Circle was better at balancing the line between reality and dystopia.

I watched the movie version first and was happy to find out that it was quite faithful to the book. I gained a lot of insight by reading Coriolanus's thoughts and motivations. The plot became even more tragic and twisted by seeing the events through Coryo's perspective.