In some ways I loved this book, but it was also so hard to continue to want to pick up for whatever reason. I love science fiction that's set in parts of the world I'm not familiar with, that tell global impact stories that aren't centered in American culture and politics. I loved Okorafor's aliens, and only wish they were explored more. The extraterrestrial interest in non-human lives on earth was particularly apt. I struggled with the liberal blending of this first contact story with the cast of human characters with these unexplained magical realism superpowers. I liked them and their abilities and the woven story, but it was a bit cluttered with a lot of questions left unanswered.

The first some fraction of this book was pretty much perfect, and I was immediately impressed with Slaughter's spot on commentary on what it's like to be a woman in this world. This book made me lose sleep, get into work late, and pick it up to read a page every moment I got. But. I don't know, it was *so intense.* Just like a lot of graphic sexual violence and torture and it was just so heavy by the end of it all. Some plot details felt a little scattered, but overall I think it came together. Maybe it was a little too long? It almost felt like two stories by the time I finished it. Loved the protagonists though and so much about their devastated family. Maybe don't read this though if a lot of violence against women upsets you... Think I need to process this with someone who's read it though if you want to. Some parts of this story/the characters definitely just don't make sense. Maybe that's just as well that I can't process all the evil stuff.

This was the least engaging Ripley story so far. Still an enjoyable enough read I suppose.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would, although there wasn't anything particularly wrong with it. It took me a long time to care about Lincoln, and I was expecting something more romantic and less suburban ennui, I think. That being said, the romance parts also didn't do it for me? The conclusion felt muddled and the book ended in typical Rainbow Rowell fashion, in a reasonable place but I wanted more.

This is maybe a five stars, but it's far off from a favorite. It was one of those books that you can't put down even when nothing is really happening. Abbott lived up to the hype I'd heard about her ability to infuse tension into the mundane, and I plan to check out more of her books. There weren't a lot of big twists in this story, but Abbott still kept me guessing with subtle shifts and steadily revealed information.

Elantris exceeded my expectations, which had been lowered from my usual Sanderson anticipation by warnings that it's not nearly as good as Mistborn. I guess that's true for me too, but only by a little. I found Elantris to be a story both epic and personal, with a cast of characters I immediately cared for. Nobody can make me ship a couple like Sanderson can. I'm ashamed that it took me so long to read more of his Cosmere work after how much I enjoyed Mistborn, and my energy is renewed to dive deep into this universe again.

What the heck? I mean, I loved it but couldn't this have been much much longer please? I didn't have time to read this novelette in one sitting, and I couldn't stop thinking about it whenever I put it down. I loved the concept, and while I found it difficult to buy into at first, I quickly lost those apprehensions and was totally immersed in the story. The stream of consciousness narration style worked perfectly for me, and the characters had so much truth to them. I loved the conception of seeing the future as if as memories, and am left with a lot of satisfying thoughts about memory and human connection and free will in the face of clairvoyance.

This miserable book. I expected after reading Kubica's debut, The Good Girl, that this novel might follow in its footsteps as a slow paced un-thrilling thriller, and I was right. But, in addition to the somewhat expected lack of action, the characters were either intolerable or behaved so erratically to feel unrealistic, or both! Furthermore, the writing was scattered with so many wordy sentences that I had to reread multiple times to understand. Eventually I lost trust that the book had any promise and kept reading mainly out of a duty to see how it ends. There was this cool feeling of foreboding throughout the novel, but I was so disillusioned with Kubica's writing I wasn't even sure whether to give her props for it or chalk it up to a happy accident. The final tilt of this reading experience was that the ending had a lot going for it. The single twist, while not unexpected, was delivered with really cool intensity, and it just made me wish the rest of the book wasn't so constantly cringe worthy. I could go on about a few more pet peeves and complaints but I think that's enough for now.

Wow! What a beautiful book. It took me a little while to get into the fragmented style, but it worked really well for this story told in memories and by the end I was completely immersed. I had high expectations of Jacqueline Woodson from all the good things I have heard and the awards she's won, but this book exceeded them. I struggled to believe it was a novel often, because Woodson so expertly evokes the narrator's voice as she tells a story that just felt true. The characters came completely alive in this story of friendship, girlhood, and growing up.

I don't generally love short story collections but this one was very good. Joe Hill is one of my absolute favorite authors for a reason. I put this book down for long stretches of time and I remember some of the early stories being somewhat average, but most were extremely good and the last few were all outstanding. I found myself thinking on several occasions that a story was perfectly suited for the medium - high praise when you're not a fan of short stories. As I read this collection I initially had a mental list of the stories that blew me away, but by the end that list was too long to justify including in this review. Lots of high quality stories, some creepy, some sentimental, some both. Loved it.