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kirnet's reviews
64 reviews
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
4.0
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I would have been able to stomach this book more if the pacing wasn’t so abysmal. The first act ends around the 50% mark, which is when the plot actually starts, which is far too late in the book. The main characters don’t all connect until even farther in the book, which then their dynamics and relationships with each other are just sped up to an unbelievable degree to make up for lost time. (especially the romance between Jo and Collins, which while mostly just a crush, is not something that I would be focusing on in that situation if my sister was in mortal peril. The ending suffers from this too, and everything wraps up incredibly quickly, after a massive exposition dump that explains things that we already figured out. This also ties into the frustrating characters, as all of them start out as incredibly passive and characterized by their inaction. Granted, that is part of their character arcs, but it makes it incredibly boring to read, and they don’t make any active decisions until halfway into the book.
The prose, too, is incredibly overwritten. There are really beautiful sentences and metaphors that are just ruined because the sentence goes on and on and on. Things are explained to us in mini flashbacks and infuriatingly long inner thought trains when they could have been just shown to us on the page in, I don’t know, action and character interactions. I think about 20-30% of the words in this book could be removed and it would be better for it.
The theme of sisters, too, is minimal at best, as we never get to actually see them together until near the end. The reunion is meant to be hard hitting, but I did not really like any of the characters, so I just sped through it. I would say the actual theme is mother/daughter relationships? Or parent/child? Guardian/ward? Which is actually completely independent from the sister’s relationship.I appreciate the depiction of a mixed family, but ultimately if this book is about sisterhood, separating the sisters to just deal with their respective mothers doesn’t give me any reason to actually care about their sisterly bond.
I did like a few things. The Antarctica research base is an interesting setting, though I wish that it was actually tense and isolating rather than a slog. I liked some of the (rare) descriptions of body horror that we got. There was definitely a chance to use some more fucked up magic in this book, which the author didn’t take, but I liked what we got. Collins, Esther, and Nicholas are fine characters, but it sucks that Jo is incredibly boring and passive, as she is one of the sisters. Honestly, Collins and Nicholas being there kind of stole the show, which again, is supposed to be about sisters. I also liked the explicit bisexuality of Esther, that’s always nice.
It doesn’t read like a first draft, but it does read like a debut. It needed a few more drafts to get the pacing down, I think. However, I still would be interested in picking up another book by this author when she writes one, because I do see a lot of potential here.
The prose, too, is incredibly overwritten. There are really beautiful sentences and metaphors that are just ruined because the sentence goes on and on and on. Things are explained to us in mini flashbacks and infuriatingly long inner thought trains when they could have been just shown to us on the page in, I don’t know, action and character interactions. I think about 20-30% of the words in this book could be removed and it would be better for it.
The theme of sisters, too, is minimal at best, as we never get to actually see them together until near the end. The reunion is meant to be hard hitting, but I did not really like any of the characters, so I just sped through it. I would say the actual theme is mother/daughter relationships? Or parent/child? Guardian/ward? Which is actually completely independent from the sister’s relationship.
I did like a few things. The Antarctica research base is an interesting setting, though I wish that it was actually tense and isolating rather than a slog. I liked some of the (rare) descriptions of body horror that we got. There was definitely a chance to use some more fucked up magic in this book, which the author didn’t take, but I liked what we got. Collins, Esther, and Nicholas are fine characters, but it sucks that Jo is incredibly boring and passive, as she is one of the sisters. Honestly, Collins and Nicholas being there kind of stole the show, which again, is supposed to be about sisters. I also liked the explicit bisexuality of Esther, that’s always nice.
It doesn’t read like a first draft, but it does read like a debut. It needed a few more drafts to get the pacing down, I think. However, I still would be interested in picking up another book by this author when she writes one, because I do see a lot of potential here.
Artemis by Andy Weir
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I don’t really pick up a Weir book to get invested in the characters, I mostly pick them up to learn more about science in an interesting way, and I did have a really good time learning about gasses and vacuums! I did really like Jazz’s character, especially her relationship with her dad, though she really had “women written by a man” syndrome. The humor in the book was also not for me, though I didn’t hate it. The most interesting part was by far the problem solving for the heists and the emailing parts, as well as the father/daughter relationship. It’s an incredibly quick read for its length, so nothing bothered me too much.
Kept waiting for that condom to become plot relevant and save the day but alas. It’s just there for… humor?
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Really ended up enjoying this, though I found the pacing of the middle to be a bit of a slog, and then at the end it was very fast. Was only really invested in the flashback bits up until the end, and then I was crying lol. It reminds me of the street I grew up on, with a lot of inter-generational friendships and a more found family mentality. I thought this was going to be a more lighthearted read than it was, and while there are many lighthearted moments, it's mostly a story focusing on grief and human connection. TWs for multiple on page suicide attempts, terminal illness, miscarriage, car crashes, and also just a weird amount of fatfobia from the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt
An Inhabitant of Carcosa by Ambrose Bierce
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Another True Detective deep dive read. I really liked this one! Short and sweet, but still mysterious and unsettling. Cool to see what Robert W Chambers took for his own inspirations.
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
In full honesty I only picked this book up because I am deep in the True Detective brain rot and I wanted to tap into some of the inspirations for the season. I’m also a fan of the Malevolent Podcast, which deals with the King in Yellow mythos, and I’ve read a lot of Lovecraft, so I went in expecting something much different than what is actually in this collection. Only the first 4 of the short stories actually deal with the King in Yellow, the rest are more weird/ fantasy romance fiction. Almost all of them have the through line of artists in Paris, with a lot of the same reoccurring characters and references, which is an interesting idea but I simply do not care about the French lol. Once I got over the hurdle of my own expectations and actually engaged with the stories on their own I started having a better time. The first story is by far the best and most engaging, and the rest of the stories slowly started to lose me, but that’s also due to my lack of experience with this time period, so most of the references went over my head, and I wasn’t engaged enough to research them. I also enjoyed the last story in the collection as well, I liked the humor.
Overall, I think labeling this collection as horror is entirely misleading? The first 4 stories, yes, to some degree, but the rest absolutely not. I was able to draw a lot of connections and possible places that True Detective drew inspiration from, and that’s mainly why I went into this in the first place, so that is a win.
Theres a handful of period-expected racism, and the women in the stories are mostly just wet paper bags, but that’s to be expected.
Overall, I think labeling this collection as horror is entirely misleading? The first 4 stories, yes, to some degree, but the rest absolutely not. I was able to draw a lot of connections and possible places that True Detective drew inspiration from, and that’s mainly why I went into this in the first place, so that is a win.
Theres a handful of period-expected racism, and the women in the stories are mostly just wet paper bags, but that’s to be expected.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
MAJOR TWs for SA, CSA, Assault under the influence, other sexual violence, gore, abuse. All of it, really.
I really enjoyed the prose in this, and I ended up really loving Alex's character. I found her really compelling and was happy to follow her thoughts and actions. I love how flawed she is, as well as how she struggles to cope with it. Her relationships with the other characters are also great, mainly Dawes and North. She has a lot of on page chemistry with everyone that keeps things flowing. The story is interesting (though I did predict every twist), and the world building was interesting, but my main gripe with this book was the pacing. A lot of people mention not being invested in the book until very far in, and while I didn't have that exact problem, I did find a lot of the info dumps pretty grating. The book also spends a lot of time jumping back to the past, mostly to set up Darlington's character, or to explain parts of Alex's tragic backstory. In my opinion they happened too often and were too indulgent, really taking me out of the current storyline and investigation. I wonder if it would have been better to have made this book the second in the series, to have the first one actually show Alex and Darlington's growing relationship and ending with the cliffhanger ofDarlington getting yoinked to hell rather than flashing back and expositing. As it stands there's too little Darlington for me to actually care about him as a character and too much Darlington for me to not get annoyed at his interruptions to the story, even if he seems like a fine character. Still, I'm excited to see where this story goes and I plan on picking up the next one.
I really enjoyed the prose in this, and I ended up really loving Alex's character. I found her really compelling and was happy to follow her thoughts and actions. I love how flawed she is, as well as how she struggles to cope with it. Her relationships with the other characters are also great, mainly Dawes and North. She has a lot of on page chemistry with everyone that keeps things flowing. The story is interesting (though I did predict every twist), and the world building was interesting, but my main gripe with this book was the pacing. A lot of people mention not being invested in the book until very far in, and while I didn't have that exact problem, I did find a lot of the info dumps pretty grating. The book also spends a lot of time jumping back to the past, mostly to set up Darlington's character, or to explain parts of Alex's tragic backstory. In my opinion they happened too often and were too indulgent, really taking me out of the current storyline and investigation. I wonder if it would have been better to have made this book the second in the series, to have the first one actually show Alex and Darlington's growing relationship and ending with the cliffhanger of
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Wasteland: The Secret World of Waste and the Urgent Search for a Cleaner Future by Oliver Franklin-Wallis
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
An incredibly informative dive into human waste: how it's created, where we put it, its relationships with colonialism and the environment, and the dangers it poses. Franklin-Wallis dives into landfills, composting, recycling, nuclear waste, mining, sewers, and more, tracking them from their respective industries to his own at-home life with a wife and two young children. It's an eye opening and quite frankly depressing look into relationship between capitalism and our hellish waste landscape (the push towards personal responsibility, greenwashing, waste colonialism, profit margins determining the efficacy of actual change), but is still written in an entertaining and hopeful way. The main take away is consume less, and don't be tricked into thinking we can buy our way out of this.