Book Reviews

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. A classic I never got around to reading during school, as others have praised the concepts and themes hold up remarkably well. Some aspects such as the controlling history and the narrative can even be seen today in the form of “Fake News” or social media trends and hypes. I found the first 2/3 of the book to be a dry and uninteresting read where I was speed-reading to get through it (the tone and characters were not to my taste) and there’s some questionable takes on how women are portrayed (though again, this is written in the 1950’s which is to be expected to a certain degree) but thinks got a bit more interesting at a particular tuning point near the end of the book. It’s portrayal of Stockholm syndrome was interesting and complex (which is even more impressive considering the term and definition of Stockholm syndrome wouldn’t be discovered for another 20 yrs) and you never know where things will go as is the norm for George Orwell novels (apart from leaving a rather pointed statement…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. As someone who does not like romance or comedy novels, this one was already fighting an uphill battle that it somehow got over (specifically the first 50 or so pages). A feel-good and easy casual read, this is a collegiate-set coming of (young adult) age story written with the unapologetically earnest and rose-tinted glasses tone that made Heartstopper so appealing. At times it tiptoes the line of being corny and cliche, but the witty banter and Wren’s hilariously relatable internal monologues helped to keep it in the perfect sweet spot comfort read for me. The inclusion of the senior and snappy divorcee/widowed character Alice Kelly who serves dual-roles as both a central plot mechanism and as a older social mentor for Wren was refreshing and different from what I’ve read in this genre. Timothy Janovsky also nails the internal battle introverted feeling folks go through when it comes to romance and the novel is filled to the brim with Millenial/Gen Z pop culture references and slang, some of which are incredibly recent or hyper-specific to the target demographics…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. An incredibly ambitious novel with wonderful writing that is also incredibly niche. Erin Morgenstern certainly has a set style as I found this novel shares many of the same strengths and drawbacks as The Night Circus amplified. Beautiful and otherworldly visuals combined with a multiple layers of symbolisms, unfortunately the novel’s plot is slow, complex and vague. Are you interested in a passionate queer romance story? How about multiple factions with cult-like tendencies? Multiverse-style dimensions or dreams within dreams with a clear resolution? A fantasy adventure across land and sea to reach a final goal? An engrossing page turner? If you answered yes to any of the above, the Starless Sea is not for you. There are so many compelling elements that have mass appeal, but the delivery will likely alienate all but the most patient readers who appreciate the essence of literature. The chapters are also broken up jumping between the primary narrative focusing on several main characters and short fables, stories or exerts that seemingly have no connection to the main story or each other. Each…

I was a big fan of the Artemis Fowl series growing up and was interested to see how Eoin Colfer’s adult novels would fare in comparison. At a first glance Highfire reads unlike any of his childrens/YA novels with it’s namesake booze-drinking, adulterating dragon (with as the book would describe, very large balls which can be retracted… yes you read that right), Southern bayou slang, and a host of questionably gray characters. Not only that but the teenage human protag Everett “Squib” could be see as the polar opposite of Artemis Fowl being a school-averse, bayou exploring swamp kid with a history of getting into adolescent trouble. For anyone who has read Colfer’s other works, the colorful language and crude humor can be jarring (I personally found it highly entertaining, you can just imagine Colfer letting loose with giddy excitement with how much crass language and surpassingly violent descriptions are featured). However once the characters are introduced, I could see some of Colfer’s signature strengths and expected elements coming through. While having completely different personalities, Artemis Fowl and Squib share the same element of growing up without a fatherly learning figure and finding it within a older sassy or prickly…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. There are those who believe Murakami is a genius and artist vs those who think he is a hack. After reading two of his novels I align with the latter. While I liked The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle more than 1Q84, that’s a very low bar to pass and Wind-Up has the advantages of being 300 pages shorter and possessing a more focused collection of plot threads vs 1Q84’s introduced and completely dropped elements. My biggest criticism of this novel and Murakami’s works in general is the excessive amount of detail and word length that’s added for no particular reason. The amount of tedious daily activities and movement by that main character adds nothing to the experience, story or characters included which is exacerbated by how repetitive and monotonous they’re written. Worse is how sporadic characters are added in, only to immediately segue into seemingly unrelated stories with no rhyme or reason. Yes there are connections between each story introduced but the execution is so lackluster, you’re just left questioning why it was done this way and what was…