itshaldun's reviews
34 reviews

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

As a retelling of one of the most famous stories of all time, with an already established mythology, setting and characters, this book had the easiest job imaginable, yet still managed to fell flat.

The book is a young-adult romance trying to disguised as a Greek epic. It does neither of these jobs adequately. Romance is extremely standard and predictable, stops developing abruptly around halfway point so the actual story of the epic can continue.

Speaking of the Epic part, it portraits events in a way that is removed from the grandiose of the actual story to make way for realistic proportions and subdued language, which is one of the biggest insults to the Epic genre. It is a story about a Demigod, no-one is expecting a language grounded in reality.

So in the end, the story features the characters and the mythology, but doesn’t feel like a story of a Greek demigod. As it stands, it basically reads like a fan-fiction you’d find on Tumblr, a good one sure, but certainly not a Best Seller.

2/5 - One Point for Achilles who is still the most interesting character, one point for the actual Greek Mythology, zero points for creativity.

The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It is a wholly interesting book that I’d describe as the mix between “Groundhog Day” and “Notes from the Underground”, but ending on a more profane and hopeful note.

As someone who watched the anime adaptation around the end of my bachelor’s, and the book around the end of my master’s, it’s really easy to identify with the struggles and the mindset of the protagonist. And it is immensely satisfying to see him understand what is really important in life through a unique combination of circumstances.

While I personally prefer the anime over the book just because how unique the visuals of it are, this book has one of the most hopeful messages I’ve ever read such that it’s hard to give it anything less than a perfect score.

It is a masterpiece, and if it connects with you, it’ll hit harder than anything. Also go watch the anime.

The Fifth Science by Exurb1a

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It’s a collection of short stories, so it’s hard to give an overall rating to the book.
What all stories have in common is that they are related to a future human galactic empire, and they explore various scientific, philosophical and sometimes metaphysical concepts. Out of these, the ones that concert human psyche and sense of self are the highlights, such as “Water for Thought” and “The Want Machine”.
Overall, it’s a really good read if you’re a sci-fi enjoyer with some interest in philosophy.

Die Verwandlung: in Einfacher Sprache by Franz Kafka

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Did not finish book.

German? Never heard of it!

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

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slow-paced

2.75

Words are too wordy, but other than that, I think if this Shakespeare guy keeps going for it, he might be big someday…

This book really makes me feel like coming up with random Shakespeare quotes at the sight of murder…

But seriously, just watch the play, it is so much more captivating than just reading old english prose.

Franz Kafka's The Castle by David Fishelson, Franz Kafka, Max Brod, Aaron Leichter

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

While, in general, I love Kafka’s work, especially the settings he creates, I cannot recommend this book. It is by far the most unfinished and inconsistent out of all his novels, with characters, event and details changing all the time. The second half of the book is a mess, and mostly consists of side characters just endless explaining to K. their pointless backstories. The first half is much more coherent, but none of the set-ups created there get any payoffs.

I tried to judge it not too harshly at first, as Kafka never published his work and so never intended people to read them, but as a now published book, it is simply not entertaining to read.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

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mysterious medium-paced