This is the first travel memoir by Palin I've read, having previously read Erebus and really enjoyed it. Given the scale of this journey it is unsurprising that each place receives only a small amount of coverage. Whilst on occasion there are humorous and interesting insights overall I found the book a little tedious to read. Personally I prefer to have more depth around each place, but if this style is what you like I think this book is a good option for you. 

I really enjoyed the slow philosophical nature of this book. Personally I would have preferred a straight novel rather than a story within a story but I can see how this adds additional meaning. This book reminds has the feel of the film "The man from Earth", which was great as well. I'm sure I'll read more by Gaarder in the future. 

Very interesting book. Lea goes on a journey of self discovery discovering what she truely values in life.  I felt the book was missing something to make it excellent though. A bit more world building and a deeper look into some of the characters, especially into Leas darkside would have gone a long way. 

The plot of this book is very strong. Some reviewers have said it was too slow but I found the pacing to be perfectly matching the feel and plot of the book. There're several sub plus which all come together neatly by the end. I never anticipated where the story would go and thoughrally enjoyed the book. Can't give it the full 5 stars as Lucies character was very flat and had no real personality beyond love and beauty, as she was a central character this did reduce the immersion a little. 

This is a very light, easy to read book, especially in the dystopian genre. The premis is good and I quite enjoyed the world building in the first half of the book, even if it is somewhat far fetched. The 2nd half however felt a little rushed and flat. Twists were never really surprising, and you kind of knew where it was going. Not a bad  book, but there are so many better options in this genre. 

This a dark book and an interesting read. Though I found, especially in the first half, that the time jumped around a lot and without much in the way of chapter breaks out was hard to follow. I also didn't enjoy the narrator being a member of the family as it doesn't make sense how he would then know everything he says throughout the book. The 2nd half I found better but overall I felt it just needed more structure. 

This was my first full heyer book, having only read some of her short stories before, and it was a lot of fun. Very funny, e easy to read and engaging. All the characters are quite simple as expected from the store of book, not a book for deep contemplation but a joy to read. 

A phenomenal mystery novel. I always love the structure of chapters written in first person of the different characters throughout the book. The very gradual reveal of all the secrets of the building and how everything is connected had me absorbed the whole time. Every chapter revealed something about the plot or the characters, there's no filler in this book at all, I imagine the editor is very good as well as the author here. All the French cultural, geographical, and language was accurate as well so didn't get irritated as is sometimes the case when a book is set where one lives. Highly recommend, and I can see why it did so well in the storygraph awards last year. 

This was a fun, easy read and I enjoyed it. The characters have a nice variety and are quite atypical. The plot is quite simplistic and easy to predict, but it's what you'd expect from the genre, and an easy book to pick up as a break from the heavier reading. 

A solid crime mystery book which was fun to read. I didn't guess who had done it so that's always a plus. All the characters are well rounded. The locked in syndrome add
s a new dimension to the story and the chapters written in the first person by the victim were great and different from other crime novels. In sure I'll read more in the series when I want something light and easy to read