readingjaunt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25


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cornfusedsnow's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5


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strawberrymoonceci's review against another edition

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informative reflective

4.5

This was an incredibly interesting book. She paints such a vivid picture in all the scenes, even the ones she didn't witness. I was very curious about the name of the book, I was also curious about the importance of this taxonomist. It was a gripping read, fascinating really. The audiobook version is wonderful, and I found the little nugget included at the end so heartwarming. This definitely made me want to read more book about natural history.

I absolutely did not expect the plot twists to include murder and eugenics! I think it's very interesting how Robert Starr Jordan went from allegedly covering up a murder, feeling wracked with guilt about it, to making eugenics his new purpose in life. What an absolute monster. The book is a masterclass in how to write a villain. In the beginning you hear mostly praise for him, there are definitely criticisms but you can see the author choosing to focus in his great capacity for perseverance, only for it to take a dark change, and for him to end up being responsible for the death, torture and mutilation (amongs other things) of tens of thousands in the US alone. Also, the US was the first country to make eugenics into national law. Which is so interesting considering the national narrative about it role in WW2. Not the least surprising though. I am surprised at how engaging this book was, considering I didn't like the author at all. Her writing is great, but she did not pass the vibe check. Also, fish dont exist as a category, that's the answer to the title. And Robert Starr Jordan can suck on that!

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toffishay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I could not have guessed that I would be adding another 5-star reading at the tail end of the year. But each page of this book brought me new insight, new pain, new joy. And in another sense, it was nothing new. We are faced with our own lives and our natural world and we take what we can get. The writing is intense and thoughtful. It afforded me some additional perspective about the world around us and made me want to learn more about nature. And it made me cry!

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aspenpastore's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Incredible 5 star book! just gonna leave those here and filling my favorite quotes in a few. The book version of repeatedly getting the rug pulled out from under me. go read it... it's a quick one!

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audieverde's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

Took awhile to get into and I never knew where it was going, which I realized was part of the chaos and the point of the book. Once I was in it, I could not stop , and it sent me down numerous research rabbit holes.  

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emhunsber's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.75


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lilasky's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0


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slynn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.0


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ddeskin's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective

5.0

Incredible book. Wove together personal memoir, biography, pop science, and history into an extremely captivating story. 

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