shane_the_reading_rat's Reviews (1.21k)

dr. li and i definitely have some differing opinions on ai, but im glad someone is out there trying to keep it fairly ethical.
some of the passages and conclusions felt pretty simplistic for what was discussed, but not to a point that overly bothered me (although dr li repeatedly praising america the way she did left quite the bad taste in my mouth, but that could just be me being a cynical american).
definitely a good book to read if youre interested in the history of ai :)

interesting enough, but just not quite what i was looking for in a book about the ocean. sometimes sections were frankly quite repetitive (at least twice i read a sentence and thought, “that exact sentence was in an earlier chapter”).
alright book, but not one i’d consider a favorite nature nonfiction by any means

this was really good <3
the relationship between Christine and her Baba (grandmother) was honestly my favorite part of this book, the portrayal really got to me.

also the art was really nice, i think all the purple tones were lovely

for being a book i started reading because i had no other books available, this was fantastic

“this went HARD” is a phrase that doesn’t even begin to cover this book, but i dont know what other way to express how i feel about it

i will simply never be the same.
this is everything i love in one book— creepy forest, boarding school, lovely writing, intense character dynamics that really fit the vibe of the mountain goats lyrics “you are coming down with me/hand in unloveable hand/i hope you die/i hope we both die”, some of my favorite aspec rep ever (as an aspec person, i connected with andrew so hard). this was awesome and most definitely will be one of my favorites of this year (i will also probably reread it before the year is over)
(unrelated but MAN im going through audiobooks fast thanks to getting my first wireless earbuds ever. love them theyre great)

cute :D was more invested in george than the other characters, but if you like graphic novels and queer regency romances i think you’d like this!! very expressive facial expressions and poses like damn. wish i were that good

kinda hated this, checked reviews and yeah it looks like i wouldn’t get anything out of trying to continue this. frustrating dialogue and just very scattered overall.

this was a sweet anthology :) nice to see so much aro rep.
not a lot of the stories really stood out to me, but i did like all of them. this anthology is described as “speculative” but personally i think it should be called fantasy, as almost none of these short stories are sci-fi. so a bit of miscategorization (also descriptions for all the authors would have been lovely!), but overall this was on the upper end of fine.

i dont know if i want to kiss wendell bambleby or be wendell bambleby. maybe its a strange mix of both

this was so good !!!!

from how This Poison Heart started out i did NOT expect the complete tone and vibe shift by the end (also i love that this book has actual real stakes. no hate on cozy fantasy but it’s just not my thing, mainly because it can feel like theres nothing driving the story)

very very excited to read the sequel :)))
also humorously, while reading this book i took a break to rewatch this tom scott video about the Alnwick Poison Garden ( https://youtu.be/jGo9gYypQc8?si=idraIvFV7QeLF2fT ) and then when reading the acknowledgments, apparently the Alnwick Poison Garden was an inspiration for This Poison Heart :D