Incoherent. Unhumorous.

I hate when spanking is used as punishment. Chance is an alpha asshole with a stupid name.

I don't know if these stories are too old or too German but I couldn't connect to any of them.

This book was a 5 star idea and a 3 star execution. Set in a future/alternate history US which split up into sections after the Vietnam war, this takes place in a city where monsters are real and created by the sins of humans. But Schwab focused too much on the main characters (one a monster wanting to be human and one a semi-monstrous human) and the world-building was lacking. I wanted to know more about the monsters and the government and I thought August and Kate's parents were way more interesting than anything else that was going on.

Gave up at 53%. Insipid, weirdly religious, and dull.

I wanted to learn more about the history of yoga and its effects on the body and mind, but despite its name, this book focuses mainly on philosophy of belief, the power of meditation, and various psychological studies that are interesting but don't have any relation to yoga. The writing style is pretentious and the jokes are forced. I liked some of the information, but it had barely any information on yoga.

Wonderfully creepy and atmospheric. I loved seeing the different people who had also visited the box in the past. This is what I wanted 2017's Flatliners to be. It's a horror story about the importance of friendship.

I like his stories about death the best.

If I could have read an edited version of this book that took out every scene with Bosker and just left the science, it would have been 5 stars.

Bosker herself is so painfully stupid (in one instance, she lost thousands of dollars worth of wine over the course of one job at a restaurant because she can't understand basic cataloging) and spends so much time agonizing over cheese selections and opening corks that I wanted to scream right over large sections of this book. It was physically painful to listen to on audio, and I sped it up to 1.25.

But the science parts were fascinating, and I have been drinking all sorts of new wines since I started reading this. Though I am less interested than ever in doing any kind of serious study of wine.