This book was not as quick to read for me as the first one. I think that mostly had to do with the changing POVs. While I liked experiencing Sid’s side of the story, her perspective was so wildly unrelated to Nirrim’s that often when the chapter had ended, I wished to skip ahead. It was a bit jolting to switch back and forth and I didn’t really get much out of the third POV.

I also missed the romance. Even towards the end, I never felt a spark like the first book. I think Nirrim’s actions weren’t really addressed fully either and I don’t quite accept that.

The ending felt rushed and was less satisfying than the first book, even though this one wasn’t a cliffhanger.

In summary, a great continuation of the story but not as amazing as the first book. 3.5 stars.

3 stars. Kay goes to Bates Academy, a boarding school for girls, where one night her life flips upside down.
This psychological thriller murder mystery had me on my toes the entire time. This book slowly reveals detail after detail, making you question the truth. I liked that it was told from an “unreliable” narrator, a narrator who didn’t know all the facts nor wanted to reveal what horrible secrets she had, even up until the very end. I was able to put the pieces together and had my suspicions for who the killer was but I wasn’t able to guess why until the reveal put all of the pieces together.
The characters aren’t the greatest, everyone feels like a preppy mean girl and in general, this book was a bit dense, with lots of gossipy conversations and very little side plot, but the plot twist after plot twist makes it interesting.

Beautiful art, horrible story and characters.
I guess it makes sense considering there is a whole team of artists and one writer.

Everyone including the main character is kind of dumb in this graphic novel. The reasoning for the families actions does not make sense and seems very selfish and not loving or caring like family should be.

The main character is so annoying, mean to people for no reason, and it just felt edgy in the worst way. She flirts with a guy one minutes and then calls him a creep for absolutely no reason the next. She also does a lot of yelling at everyone which doesn’t add much and just gets tiring. They also make a big deal out of her addiction (which adds nothing to the plot or character) and then it disappears without a single comment. All of this feels like the result of poor, rushed writing.

There isn’t much story outside of the characters drama, and even that is filled with plot holes so unfortunately the art doesn’t make up for the poor writing, even though I loved the cool cat and creature art.

While I would love to dive into a graphic novel series, I couldn’t enjoy this book. Maybe another series where there is a team of writers to ensure the characters aren’t so static and unlikeable.

More than just Jonestown or other famous cults, cult-like or “cultish” behavior is everywhere; in fitness, fashion brands, social media, and other cultural phenomena.

This book is super insightful and provides a lot of sources as well as interviews to support its commentary. I learned a lot about cultish language, often identified by its misleading euphemisms, thought terminating cliches, and exclusive use.

I encourage anyone who is interested to read this. It goes beyond your basic cults and has actually caused me to see a lot of these language characteristics in unsuspected places.

The Creativity Code asks the question “can AI truly be creative?” and supplies information on AI technologies from 2019 and earlier that may prove or disprove the answer. This book covers more than just AI generated art, including games, music, math, literature, and algorithms in an easy to digest way, even for those who may not be as knowledgeable in machine learning or similar technologies. Some of the examples presented pass the Turing test (a test to see if an observer cannot distinguish between AI and human creation) but the real question is not if AI can create pieces undistinguishable from human works, but does this make an AI creative?

I could tell you that I believe AI is currently creating incredible works, from DALLE’s art, to deepfake video and audio, to deeply personalized algorithms for content and ads. Myself and many others believe these to be works which will very soon rival the creations of human artists, potentially disrupting the job market of many creatives.

Is this machine creativity? Or is the programmer who created the AI the one responsible for the creations? Would an AI need to be conscious in order to be truly creative? Can an AI ever be conscious… heck what even is consciousness and how will we know when it has occurred??

If you are interesting in any of these questions I highly recommend this book. It also provides a great history on AI technologies within the last few decades which provides great context for understanding the impressive development in our current technologies only 3~ years later.

Note: Listened free with Audible Premium. This book only took me a year to read because I’m sometimes poor with time management and not starting dozens of other books while I’m already reading one

Funny lesbian fake dating romance! Honestly there was nothing really of note in this graphic novel. The art was cute, the jokes are basic but made me smile, and the romance is the same. The characters aren’t very dimensional and the plot is simple. However, it was an enjoyable quick read, kinda like a single episode of an anime. 2 stars quality rating, 3 stars enjoyment rating.

Cas is the trainer for genetically modified beasts who defend ships attacked by pirates, until she is captured by pirates.

In the first chapter, you are introduced to Cas and by the end, the reader is already able to understand her motives and goal. As the story progresses, these change realistically as she battles bigger questions such as, what is truly worth fighting for? This character is in no way perfect, nor is any of the other characters we meet. The author shows how they are human and why they all make the choices they make, and it feels like one of the first books I have been unable to find a character to hate.
It is perfectly paced throughout, never feeling too slow or rushed. The romance is built in a subtle way that feels very natural. The author has no need to use direct language to communicate that there is something growing between them, since the characters actions speak for themselves.
I truly could have not asked for a better way to end this year than with this good book. It has everything I want in a book, will be an inspiration for my writing and also something I know I will want to return to read again.
Thank you very much to my friends who recommended it to me.

Incredible Chinese feminist sci-fi masterpiece.
This book was so good and I felt very engaged which made me want to read it quickly! I really felt for the main character, loved her love interests, and enjoyed the world building.
Plus I loved that the feminism didn’t put down men and instead, several men supported the need for change.
The ending was rocky, unexpected, and painful. However, the last page comes with a twist that truly makes me thing that the second book could continue with the high bar this novel has set.

Everyone knows the story of Achilles. This story tells the story of Achilles’ from the point of view of his oldest friend (historians may say), Patroclus.
The first thing I noticed while reading this novel is that the writing is so elegant at points. The author does an incredible job describing how people/environments look and act in a way that invokes deeper feelings. Similarly, when feeling are described I could practically feel them welling up inside myself.
The character shifts in this book is very interesting, something I will have to continue thinking about. And the ending truly shook me. It was a sad but beautiful conclusion.
I will note that I had difficulty keeping up my typical pace with this novel due to the Greek names and mythology references that I didn’t really remember, but I still highly recommend it.

Spooky “found footage” story of a group of friends and their haunting trip down a road.

This book was so intense and interesting. I feel like it kept the same pace throughout the book, with plot twist after plot twist slowly unraveling to reveal the true story. I liked the supplementary found footage which provided alternative views of the story, as well as some truth to contrast the sometimes unreliable narrator.

I liked the diversity, it felt perfectly balance. I also enjoyed the small moments of romance which helps that intensity of the horrifying moments.
The characters themselves didn’t feel too fleshed out or unique. I confused some of them at times and when one person disappeared, I had to reread to realize that they were even there in the first place. It is difficult because there are so many characters but I feel like it also would have helped for them to have a more individualized actions or speech patterns.

My only disappointment was the ending. While I understand leaving loose ends for the realism of the story, I would have appreciated some kind of closure (especially after a story that was so intense it kept me up at night!) I don’t need a thorough ending, just a small hint of what happened in the supplement materials would have sufficed. Instead I feel pretty left in the dark (lol).