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peripetia's reviews
535 reviews
Stöld by Ann-Helén Laestadius
4.0
This was an insightful and comprehensive story about the life of the Sámi, specifically in Northern Sweden. The author managed to integrate so many of the struggles they face very smoothly.
The plot was a bit slow at times but I think that was for a good reason, to really give time to sit with the people's lives and how they interact with their environment.
The language was very simple, which was good for me since Swedish is not my first language. Child-Elsa's point of view was well written - it's not easy to write children. The style delivered emotion very well, and I did almost cry twice.
The language did bother me a little bit, specifically the short sentences that just made me think she came up with a sentence, put a period, came up with a continuation, put a period. This led to what could have been a single sentence to it being chopped into pieces.
This is a great device to emphasize important parts, but it was constant, and this type of writing is starting to really annoy me in general. This is the most important reason for the 4 stars instead of 5.
The plot was a bit slow at times but I think that was for a good reason, to really give time to sit with the people's lives and how they interact with their environment.
The language was very simple, which was good for me since Swedish is not my first language. Child-Elsa's point of view was well written - it's not easy to write children. The style delivered emotion very well, and I did almost cry twice.
The language did bother me a little bit, specifically the short sentences that just made me think she came up with a sentence, put a period, came up with a continuation, put a period. This led to what could have been a single sentence to it being chopped into pieces.
This is a great device to emphasize important parts, but it was constant, and this type of writing is starting to really annoy me in general. This is the most important reason for the 4 stars instead of 5.
The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov
slow-paced
3.0
It's not that I have a lot of trust in literary prizes but there are still certain expectations for them. One would, for example, expect them to be a little stronger plot-wise.
In my (subjective) opinion, this is not a good book. It's also not bad, exactly, but how it ended up on the Booker prize list confounds me.
Before I go into the review of the content, I have to add a disclaimer: I listened to this as an audiobook, probably the worst audiobook I have ever listened to, and unfortunately this affects my reading experience. (more about this later)
The book started suddenly and fast, which I liked. However, it too long for the plot to start. I had to come and look whether this was actually a mystery novel or if I just misremembered because there was no mystery anywhere, until after 3/4 or so.
The weak plot was greatly aided by everything conveniently working out. The main guy gets his ear cut off, and what do you know - he stumbles into a doctor's office.
He puts his ear in a box in another room, where two soldiers are staying. The ear catches their plans. The ear did not need to have magical powers, and the powers were not consistent. It seemed to me that it only heard things when the story needed a quick fix for a plothole. In general, Samson just wanders from situation to situation, contributing very little.
The historical setting was great and well done, but not enough.
And then the audiobook. For some unfathomable reason the narrator read all of the dialogue in a terrible fake supposedly Ukrainian accent. I despised it. There was no reason to change the accent of the characters in a novel otherwise read in fluent English. It did not contribute to creating immersion, quite the opposite.
As the narrator was probably too focused on the goddamn accents, he failed in putting any emotion to the dialogue. This also made me dislike the book, but I made an attempt to repeat some of the dialogue in my head to test how I would read it, and yes, the narration was just bad. Not that my interpretation is better, but at least there is one.
Sure, this is the danger of audiobooks, but they are rarely this bad.
In conclusion, this book was boring and had a very weak plot. Listening to the audiobook was like getting slapped in the face with a wet sock, repeatedly.
In my (subjective) opinion, this is not a good book. It's also not bad, exactly, but how it ended up on the Booker prize list confounds me.
Before I go into the review of the content, I have to add a disclaimer: I listened to this as an audiobook, probably the worst audiobook I have ever listened to, and unfortunately this affects my reading experience. (more about this later)
The book started suddenly and fast, which I liked. However, it too long for the plot to start. I had to come and look whether this was actually a mystery novel or if I just misremembered because there was no mystery anywhere, until after 3/4 or so.
The weak plot was greatly aided by everything conveniently working out. The main guy gets his ear cut off, and what do you know - he stumbles into a doctor's office.
He puts his ear in a box in another room, where two soldiers are staying. The ear catches their plans. The ear did not need to have magical powers, and the powers were not consistent. It seemed to me that it only heard things when the story needed a quick fix for a plothole. In general, Samson just wanders from situation to situation, contributing very little.
The historical setting was great and well done, but not enough.
And then the audiobook. For some unfathomable reason the narrator read all of the dialogue in a terrible fake supposedly Ukrainian accent. I despised it. There was no reason to change the accent of the characters in a novel otherwise read in fluent English. It did not contribute to creating immersion, quite the opposite.
As the narrator was probably too focused on the goddamn accents, he failed in putting any emotion to the dialogue. This also made me dislike the book, but I made an attempt to repeat some of the dialogue in my head to test how I would read it, and yes, the narration was just bad. Not that my interpretation is better, but at least there is one.
Sure, this is the danger of audiobooks, but they are rarely this bad.
In conclusion, this book was boring and had a very weak plot. Listening to the audiobook was like getting slapped in the face with a wet sock, repeatedly.
Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano
3.5
This was a fun and easy book, which is why I read it. Still, I couldn't fully turn off my brain and sometimes found it a bit hard to suspend my disbelief.
My biggest problem with this book was the audiobook narrator, which unfortunately had an impact on my opinion. The main character's narrating was great, but the narrator can't, for the most part, do other voices except by bringing her voice unnaturally low. The 20-something nanny sounds like 57-year-old chronic smoker. All men sound the same. I also felt like the voices changed as the book progressed.
It also seems like I find the actions of love interests cringey, uncomfortable, and pushy, but that might be a me problem.
My biggest problem with this book was the audiobook narrator, which unfortunately had an impact on my opinion. The main character's narrating was great, but the narrator can't, for the most part, do other voices except by bringing her voice unnaturally low. The 20-something nanny sounds like 57-year-old chronic smoker. All men sound the same. I also felt like the voices changed as the book progressed.
It also seems like I find the actions of love interests cringey, uncomfortable, and pushy, but that might be a me problem.
Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu
3.0
This started out very promising for me. I started this book while running on the treadmill and it kept me entertained enough to break my record.
However... My main problems with this book are pacing and the ending. Also, the science veered into a direction that kind of ruined it for me.
First, around maybe halfway the story became a bit of a slog. The plot was interesting but when it wasn't moving, I got bored. The book started with a mystery element that was ignored until the very end. That was disappointing. Why do you dangle that in front of me, just to make me finish the book? (It did work though)
Second, the ending was rushed with a character just coming and telling everything that happened to her and solved the plot like that. It was so disappointing.
Third, the science. Every time the word "quantum" is thrown around I'm immediately skeptical. When the book went into the quantum realm, I couldn't suspend my disbelief anymore.
I'm not an expert in quantum physics, absolutely not, but I found this plotline too hard to believe. Also, quantum physics are a great way to explain anything and everything because we don't know how it works, especially us laypeople. So for me it was a lazy solution.
There were some points that I couldn't get over - like what it is to observe, looking at things? Can the quantum realm interact with the physical world or not? Why do the ghosts of those in the quantum realm be observed for just a small time? Why can they be observed (aka seen) at all? Why is one character able to stay in the physical world for so long? Why can the rose be seen and smellled when it should have, according to the book's own logic, disappeared?
Slowly the book started to bore me and even annoy me. I had to force myself to finish the last 30 pages or so. Still, there was so much that I did enjoy that it's 3 stars from me and I'm planning to start The Three-Body Problem next.
However... My main problems with this book are pacing and the ending. Also, the science veered into a direction that kind of ruined it for me.
First, around maybe halfway the story became a bit of a slog. The plot was interesting but when it wasn't moving, I got bored. The book started with a mystery element that was ignored until the very end. That was disappointing. Why do you dangle that in front of me, just to make me finish the book? (It did work though)
Second, the ending was rushed with a character just coming and telling everything that happened to her and solved the plot like that. It was so disappointing.
Third, the science. Every time the word "quantum" is thrown around I'm immediately skeptical. When the book went into the quantum realm, I couldn't suspend my disbelief anymore.
I'm not an expert in quantum physics, absolutely not, but I found this plotline too hard to believe. Also, quantum physics are a great way to explain anything and everything because we don't know how it works, especially us laypeople. So for me it was a lazy solution.
There were some points that I couldn't get over - like what it is to observe, looking at things? Can the quantum realm interact with the physical world or not? Why do the ghosts of those in the quantum realm be observed for just a small time? Why can they be observed (aka seen) at all? Why is one character able to stay in the physical world for so long? Why can the rose be seen and smellled when it should have, according to the book's own logic, disappeared?
Slowly the book started to bore me and even annoy me. I had to force myself to finish the last 30 pages or so. Still, there was so much that I did enjoy that it's 3 stars from me and I'm planning to start The Three-Body Problem next.
Rose/House by Arkady Martine
(Note: I listened to the audiobook and wrote this down, so it might have some mistakes when it comes to punctuation, for example.)
There was a seed of an idea in this book, but the plot was all over the place and flat as hell. There was no thriller or horror. I can't tell what <i>was</i> in there.
I guess the author whipped this up in a blender to deliver something to an editor in order to fulfill her contract, trying to reach a set wordcount with redundant metaphor after redundant metaphor. I can't imagine any other reason for such a half-baked attempt at a novel from a writer like Martine.
1.5
Words cannot describe how much I hated this book, but I will try anyway.
I don't understand how this book was written by the same author who wrote the Teixcalaan duology, one of my favorite scifi series/books of all time. Allow me to explain.
First, the scifi element in this book is laughable. When compared to Teixcalaan (which I will do whether I should or not), this is just rubbish. In the year 2200 or so electric cars are (mostly) driven by people, AI works and sounds like it's from 1995, and also used like in 1995. I listened to the audiobook and the AI house speaking just made me angry.
The police wander around investigating with no help from technology. One detective just googles stuff like "man + murder + lawyer". I'm sorry but that's so stupid considering how advanced AI is already and how predictable its development seems at the moment. At least motel rooms clean themselves, a detail that was absolutely irrelevant. It's like she didn't bother to research AI at all and yet decided to write a book about it, possibly trying to ride the wave of AI panic.
Could there have been an explanation of such devolved technological development somewhere in the book? Perhaps, but I got so distracted that I started seriously considering I had lost the ability to focus in audiobooks (I didn't).
The main reason for this was the prose. Martine dumps every possible absurd metaphor wherever and whenever she can. "Purple prose" is not a strong enough term to describe the writing. Here is a long passage to illustrate this:
I don't understand how this book was written by the same author who wrote the Teixcalaan duology, one of my favorite scifi series/books of all time. Allow me to explain.
First, the scifi element in this book is laughable. When compared to Teixcalaan (which I will do whether I should or not), this is just rubbish. In the year 2200 or so electric cars are (mostly) driven by people, AI works and sounds like it's from 1995, and also used like in 1995. I listened to the audiobook and the AI house speaking just made me angry.
The police wander around investigating with no help from technology. One detective just googles stuff like "man + murder + lawyer". I'm sorry but that's so stupid considering how advanced AI is already and how predictable its development seems at the moment. At least motel rooms clean themselves, a detail that was absolutely irrelevant. It's like she didn't bother to research AI at all and yet decided to write a book about it, possibly trying to ride the wave of AI panic.
Could there have been an explanation of such devolved technological development somewhere in the book? Perhaps, but I got so distracted that I started seriously considering I had lost the ability to focus in audiobooks (I didn't).
The main reason for this was the prose. Martine dumps every possible absurd metaphor wherever and whenever she can. "Purple prose" is not a strong enough term to describe the writing. Here is a long passage to illustrate this:
A room is a sort of narrative. The passage in and out of a room. The constraints of action within it. What is moved and what is left alone. The composition of the shape of a person, superimposed against the frame of the built-in environment.
Once, clever men, mostly men, dreamed that the frame within which people dwelled might describe their behavior, their ways of loving, their ways of working, their interdependence or solitude. All purpose built, all shaped. Those men tended to be wrong. The did not consider the superimposition of frame.
A room is a sort of narrative when intelligence moves through it, makes use of it, or is constrained by it. Otherwise, it is in abeyance, and an intelligence has its own designs. The street makes its own uses for things. This is something Maritza knows, though she doesn’t know she knows it.
(Note: I listened to the audiobook and wrote this down, so it might have some mistakes when it comes to punctuation, for example.)
There was a seed of an idea in this book, but the plot was all over the place and flat as hell. There was no thriller or horror. I can't tell what <i>was</i> in there.
I guess the author whipped this up in a blender to deliver something to an editor in order to fulfill her contract, trying to reach a set wordcount with redundant metaphor after redundant metaphor. I can't imagine any other reason for such a half-baked attempt at a novel from a writer like Martine.
Inseparable by Simone de Beauvoir
4.0
I love stories about friendship, but I feel like it's a rare topic. That's why I was interested in this one.
I thought the relationship between the two friends was depicted beautifully and intelligently. No character in this book is perfect, nor evil.
I would have liked some class awareness. The story is very upper class with its privileges taken for granted.
I thought the relationship between the two friends was depicted beautifully and intelligently. No character in this book is perfect, nor evil.
I would have liked some class awareness. The story is very upper class with its privileges taken for granted.
Zoo Station: The Story of Christiane F. by Christiane F., Kai Hermann, Horst Rieck
4.0
I feel like this book has been a vague presence in the periphery of my literary life. The name and everything feel so familiar that I wonder whether I have at some point read it.
In any case, now I did read it, and can see why it's a cult classic. It's definitely one of the best books about drug use that I have ever read.
In any case, now I did read it, and can see why it's a cult classic. It's definitely one of the best books about drug use that I have ever read.
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
4.0
I really enjoyed this and I think it's a very strong debut novel.
The author infodumps quite a lot, but then again I really appreciated that because I don't know basically anything about the local culture and context where the story takes place. I feel like she sometimes overexplains things, which is pretty typical of debut novels.
The pacing was a little bit slow at times. It took a long time for the plot to really get going, and when the plot was advancing, the book was at its best. There were, however, many instances when the plot was not really going anywhere, although I liked the character development that was often happening during these times.
The author managed to combine difficult subjects with a surprisingly funny approach to, well, murder. Great book overall, would recommend!
The author infodumps quite a lot, but then again I really appreciated that because I don't know basically anything about the local culture and context where the story takes place. I feel like she sometimes overexplains things, which is pretty typical of debut novels.
The pacing was a little bit slow at times. It took a long time for the plot to really get going, and when the plot was advancing, the book was at its best. There were, however, many instances when the plot was not really going anywhere, although I liked the character development that was often happening during these times.
The author managed to combine difficult subjects with a surprisingly funny approach to, well, murder. Great book overall, would recommend!
You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue
4.0
I have conflicted emotions about this book. On one hand, it is a masterpiece. The way the author interweaves multiple storylines into one narrative is incredible.
Then, on the other hand, I often found myself too confused to even understand what was going on. Am I the only one? Or is no one willing to admit it?
I started collecting my own glossary too late in the book. I don't really understand why this couldn't have been included in the book since we do have explanations for some characters. I understand using the correct terms in their original language and I'm all for it, but it's not much use if you don't know what the words mean, and there are some amazing things here that many readers might not be familiar with.
Then again, sometimes literature needs you to work for it. I read this quite slowly in order to understand not just the plot, but also to appreciate the writing. My intention is to re-read this at some point, and I'm sure I will get more out of it on the second try.
Still, despite being confused, I do think this is a fantastic novel.
Then, on the other hand, I often found myself too confused to even understand what was going on. Am I the only one? Or is no one willing to admit it?
I started collecting my own glossary too late in the book. I don't really understand why this couldn't have been included in the book since we do have explanations for some characters. I understand using the correct terms in their original language and I'm all for it, but it's not much use if you don't know what the words mean, and there are some amazing things here that many readers might not be familiar with.
Then again, sometimes literature needs you to work for it. I read this quite slowly in order to understand not just the plot, but also to appreciate the writing. My intention is to re-read this at some point, and I'm sure I will get more out of it on the second try.
Still, despite being confused, I do think this is a fantastic novel.
My Heavenly Favorite by Lucas Rijneveld
Books about a topic like this are difficult to rate. I did not enjoy the book because the events are terrible and despicable. I find that in this case it's also hard to say something about the writing - writing about a topic like this is a brave move, but a difficult topic does not mean that the book is good.
According to my personal little rating system I'm giving it a 4 anyway.
According to my personal little rating system I'm giving it a 4 anyway.