toreadistovoyage's Reviews (1.58k)

Trejo is not a perfect man…far from it. He committed many crimes and treated a lot of people poorly. That being said, he has done a lot of good too - including helping many, many people with recovery. This was an interesting book and a great reminder that people are multifaceted and flawed. 

Cute holiday story. 

An interesting exploration of grief/guilt. Beautifully written with strong character building. 

This is a tough book to review. I realllllly struggled. Honestly, the only reason I finished was because it was selected for book club. 

Some things I thought were done well:
1. World building. Maybe too much time spent on this honestly. But the worlds were built. Both of them. 
2. Thought-provoking. The idea that one planet was anarchistic and another capitalist allowed for an interesting comparison. Clearly neither are "perfect", but it does lend to the reader's thinking about what is "perfect".
3. Egalitarianism.
4. Alternating timelines that slowly reveal more and more about Shevek.

Some things that didn't work for me:
1. Pacing. This book was slow. Some parts felt so bogged down by the science that it was hard to maintain focus. 
2. Lack of connection. I could not have cared less about Shevek. Or anyone else. Other characters were underdeveloped or felt like they were only there to expound on the philosophical concepts than be realized characters.
3. Not much happened. This was a book of ideas, not actions. I usually like books like this, but I just couldn't get into this one.
4. The world building. Yes, I am contradicting myself, but...hear me out...while the worlds were built, they didn't feel "realistic". They felt like they were only there to serve the purpose of reflecting the philosophy. 

I understand what was being attempted here, but I don’t think this is the author who needed to tell this story. Aside from that, I was fairly bored through most of this book. 

Well-researched and accessible. Maybe a touch too long. I head the tenth anniversary edition which starts with Alexander stating that “Everthing and nothing has changed” (meaning from 2010 to 2020). I wonder what she would have to say as we enter 2025.

I am obsessed with this series. The way this connects the first two books…masterful. 

A short and densely informative book exploring Shehadeh’s relationship with his father. As his father was murdered years before he wrote this, Shehadeh used his father’s papers and history to piece together the life of the man he thought he knew. This exploration revealed a fuller picture of his father, his activism, and his history. 

A lighthearted memoir recounting O’Heir’s life, with an emphasis on his time on Parks and Recreation. 

Historical fiction about Tan Yunxian, a female doctor in 15th century China. This was well-researched, evenly paced, and fairly engaging. Despite that, there was a strange emotional disconnect for me. I’m not sure if it was the writing style or the audiobook narrator or what, but I was not truly invested in any of these characters.