WtNV encapsulates the same bizarre normalcy that the podcast excelled at, ranging at things that are just bizzare to the brain-bending oddness of metaphors that you are forced to interpret literally. It's not really my scene but I do appreciate the writing technique (can you call it word play?) and the queer representation.

I feel like this book was more about the wonders of magic than it was about anything else. Magic is portrayed here as not just a tool people use, or a gift people have. It's more the other way around - magic has the gift of people in The Night Circus and uses people to bring it to life. And to that thought, Morgenstern does an excellent job of painting the world with magic and making it gleam and glow and fizzle. Ultimately, however, I wanted more from this book than what I got. Most of the characters sort of dither about for most of the book, content with maybes and possibilities, and only (finally!) choosing to affect their own lives only in the last hundred pages. If you want to bask in the ethereal light of wonderment for 400 pages, read this book.

I really loved this book. It moves at a fast clip, and it's fun, if dark sometimes. Even when I was putting pieces of the puzzle together ahead of the MC, I enjoyed the ride so much that I wasn't bothered. The last scene feels a little cheap, just because it doesn't feel like the MC did anything to earn it. But still. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Aurora Rising is wildly fun and exciting. All the characters are distinctly different and likable. I devoured this book and am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

I picked this book up in the morning and finished it that night. It’s a great adventure (if the first few chapters are a little slow) full of surprises I didn’t expect, and imaginative characters and settings. I really enjoyed it and I expect that I will enjoy it again when I reread it.

Akata Witch is awful. The author clearly has no idea how to write books for this book’s target audience. I’m not even entirely sure what the target audience is. The book will go too far trying to explain a simple idea and then, the next paragraph will describe torture or a violent death or some such. It’s not a book I would have enjoyed reading as a 12 year old, and as an adult, it’s simultaneously gory and boring.

Not to mention the fact that the book condones child abuse as a method of punishment for bad behavior.
No one needs or should want to read this book.

I'm not a big fan of apocalyptic type stories. They tend to be too grim for me, and this one was no exception. The writing was great and I read it up until it got to be too much at which point I had to put it down. But truly. Let me say it again. The writing was great. When they're so limited by the format in which they tell the story (emails and texts and transcripts and such), they find surprising ways to give you details that are both crucial to the story and difficult to so seemlessly sew into the pages.

Also, I'm unclear how much of this was my digital copy or if the digital copies just don't turn out well, but there were large swaths of text that were completely unreadable. I had to turn to Wikipedia for spoilers as to what I was supposed to be getting from those sections and that was a little frustrating.

TL:DR - if this apocalyptic-type scenarios are your jam, buy the physical book. It was an interactive experience in the digital format. I can only imagine how much better it gets with a copy you can hold in your hands.

A fun take on “person finds out they’re a wizard” mixed with intriguing murders. Smart, charming with a great cast of characters. I had a few problems with the time lapses but altogether, I enjoyed it.

A political-ish drama about the subjugation (and the eventual uprising) of mages. I liked it - albeit the need for some more editing and the fact that I don’t particularly care for political dramas. I’ll be interested to see how this series continues.

This is the most challenging book I’ve read in a long time. First, because of the new vocabulary Rajaniemi had to create to represent the numerous things he imagined for this world (and there are many). Secondly, because a number of his creations are so grand that understanding them and their uses and implications takes a certain amount of cerebral thinking. And thirdly, because Rajaniemi (almost) never stops to explain any of this vocabulary, instead choosing to hide all the explanations you will get in context clues.

That being said, learn to enjoy swimming through molasses. It’s worth it. The characters are full of life and surprises, the setting is complex and detailed and takes on a character of its own.

This is a book that every time I re-read it, I will understand it better.