Fiction Fantastic

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Getting through this book felt like I was sifting for gold. Exhausting, with only a few good crumbs that were thrown in to keep me going...



The author is obviously a good writer, but in this case the story... or rather the character which the whole story revolves around, was unbearably grating. If it had been done a different way, maybe the premise would have worked. It's certainly a different approach to dystopia, and relevant enough with today's world to cause a pause... but oh God there was so much unnecessary angst and internal monologuing!

Lalla is probably one of my most hated main characters. She's an impossible spoiled brat, unhappy with everything and constantly complaining and looking for something to be miserable about. Honestly, she probably had depression or something and needed professional help, but having her in my head left very little sympathy from me.

She probably had a good point, and it's great that she didn't just accept what was happening and how people were acting, because they really were being weird... especially about her dad. If people had started acting like my dad was Jesus I would probably also have lost my shit... but she was also incredibly stupid and contrary and she kept saying things like "I had never asked for this", but she was literally the one who wanted to, nay, insisted on going on the ship...



Without Lalla, there would have been no reason to write the story about the ship. It was literally 300+ pages of teen angst and complaining. Even the "romance" was bland and lacked any real depth. In fact, even though she kept insisting that she "loved" Tom, she acted like she didn't even particularly like him. Me thinks she clung to the idea of love. Really, the ship was pretty idyllic in my opinion. Yeah there was a certain inevitability to it, but Goddamn, give these people some time to enjoy what they had! They've been through a lot!

Ok there was also her father and the way the other passengers elevated him to the status of a God, which was kind of creepy. It reminded me of a cult in some ways, of a communist community in another, and also a bit of a dictatorship... but considering the situation and the world at the time, I find myself agreeing with Alice... At least Michael is a good man with good intentions and he honestly wants to do good, so yeah, what harm?

In conclusion, I didn't quite enjoy this novel... but I would consider reading something else by the author.

Ok, so here's the thing... I almost gave up on this book a couple of times. It just seemed like it was dragging inexorably, and I didn't feel much of anything for the world the author was busy building or the characters in it... but I kept coming back to the reviews on Goodreads. Most of them were five stars, with bunches of praise. So I preserved, wanting to know why!

And boy did I find out!


They say hindsight is 20/20, and that's certainly the case here. All that worldbuilding and character building that seemed to drag so achingly slow came together in one of the best twist endings I have EVER read! When I eventually cottoned on to what was really going on, I literally had to sit up and gape!

I can't really say much without giving away the plot, but I really, Really, REALLY hope this is a series! I need to know what happened next! And in the end Baru turned into one of my favorite characters... but I also kind of hate her...

Although the overall story deserves 5 stars, I had to remove a star for the initial drag though... surely that could have been avoided...

Copy received courtesy of Netgalley

I loved the artwork of this graphic novel! I never read the original, but I saw the movie and thought it was a pretty good story... This obviously ended differently than the movie.

There's way too much God stuff in here for my taste, although I know this was really how they acted back then. Such self-flagellation! I don't think I'll attempt the novel, but I'm glad I read this!

I'm obviously not the intended age group, and definitely one of those grown-ups always rushing around looking for who knows what... something that's as fleeting as a breath of air...
I did enjoy this story though, and I liked the teachings of the fox most! I always knew foxes were smarter and better than they're made out to be!

The only reason this isn't 5 stars is because there was a definite bit of dragging and over reaching going on here... even so I might change my rating to 5 stars once I've processed...
I don't think I've ever quite experienced writing like this. It was like language transcended... transformed and transforming what I used to associate words and feelings and emotions with. Damn it was beautiful... I kept finding myself rereading a phrase, savoring it and squeezing it for all it's juices. This author has an amazing talent, and I don't know why more people haven't been talking about her... or this book.
Which brings us to the story. I felt a definite To Kill a Mockingbird vibe, but it was also more. There was a lot going on, which is kind of why I feel she over reached a bit. It was almost like she took every single fad of the 80s and stirred it all together in a big, messy black cauldron. She did it justice though, and took her time unfolding it piece by piece... In the end everything pulled together... a little frayed maybe, but more or less whole.
After finishing... I felt emotionally drained, and my heart ached just a little. So much of what we thought had been left behind is resurfacing again. Will humanity ever learn?

Well... that was a lot darker than I expected o_O

More like 3 ½ stars... The story in itself was heartbreaking and actually caused me nightmares, but the delivery was... impersonal? flat? I'm not quite sure what it was that put me off, but it all just dragged. I know the characters are based on real people, but they felt so unrealistic and unreachable. Maybe this is a good thing, but I could never quite immerse myself in the events...
I'm glad I read their story though, although it's so hard to believe people actually did these things... I'll never be able to get over that.

As a South African myself, this book hits very close to home. Although I grew up poor as well, I'm a white person, and I've always had that privilege. It was fascinating and horrifying listening to how it was on the other side of the tracks, so to speak.
And through it all, Trevor's optimism and strength of character shines through. I've always liked him, but now I have even more respect for him. His love for his mother is so clear a blind person could see it, and I found myself loving her as well. I'm so happy she survived all that happened.
Trevor did am amazing job with writing this book and his audio narration was such a pleasure to listen to. I wish there was more though. I'd have loved to hear more about how his career got started... hopefully there will be another book then!
Funny enough, I actually got mugged for the first time in my life while listening to the chapter about crime and jail! I managed to keep my phone, but it's such a weird coincidence

I really loved this so much! What a brilliant fantasy adventure! The pacing of the story is very leisurely, not rushing to info-dump or over explain anything. Most of the time I had no idea WTF was going on, but that didn't matter at all, because I was enjoying the journey of finding out so much!



I also loved the little side stories about coming to America. They were short but super impactful, and it explained a lot of the story without coming right out and rubbing it in your face. It was rich in history and explained about how Gods from all over came to be in America, a concept which I love!

I'm extremely relieved that it was consistently good all through! So many times I'm reading a book that starts out really, really good and then it just falls flat. Or the plot climax is ridiculous and doesn't make sense. Not the case with American Gods. The plot made complete sense in the context of the story, and the action was exciting throughout. The characters carried the story along almost effortlessly, and they were all likable... even the "bad guys". I can't wait to read more about Mr. Nancy in [book:Anansi Boys|2744]

The narrator also did a great job of cultivating an atmosphere of action, and he did a really good job... However, I was not in a million years expecting a Neil Gaiman to have very explicit sex scenes! When it happened, the narrator got really into it with heavy breathing and almost moaning with ecstasy, which left me feeling extremely uncomfortable and like I just listened to an old guy masturbate!



There was also a lot more swearing than I expected, which brought home the fact that you shouldn't build up an image of someone (an author specifically in this case), after only a few interactions. I've only ever read [book:The Ocean at the End of the Lane|15783514] and [book:Coraline|17061], and unfairly assumed that Mr. Gaiman was a mild mannered, above board, cutesy writer. Not the case! This book was rough and gritty and completely fantastic. I'm sure it'll stay with me for a long, long time...

Honestly, this book would've gotten more stars from me if it had been written better. The story itself was brilliant, but I just couldn't deal with the choppy writing and endless drawn out monologing and descriptions about clothes or how beautiful someone is.
The characters were also unbearably stupid and mostly caused their own misery, but hey, maybe that really is how people thought back then... who am I to judge.
Still enjoyed parts of it though, so not a complete waste of time.

So many questions, so few answers! It did a great job of pulling you in and at times you could actually feel like you were walking with them, feeling their pain. I can't believe that it's possible though... could you actually walk like that, for five days, and still be alive at the end?

I just really wish there was... more! More closure for these suicidal boys...

This book was so good! I mean, it was kind of obvious and there wasn't really much mystery, but the story was somehow... compelling. The writing style made it so easy to get swept along this family drama, which could have easily been tacky and crude, but somehow it just worked. It wasn't groundbreaking or mindblowing, but I never got the feeling that it was trying to be... even though it touched on some heavy crap.

All I wanna say is that these stories make it clear that The Cursed Child was a big load of BS...

I just couldn't get into this. There was virtually no character building, and the technical stuff was just way too much for me. I ended up skipping a bunch of paragraphs that was just too dense for me. I didn't feel anything for any of the characters and I couldn't bring myself to care about their plight. I probably won't continue with this series... Which is pretty sad because the premise is awesome. Maybe they'll make a movie...

Jennifer Donnelly does it again... Well, this is technically her debut YA novel, but not the first one I read so... anyway, semantics!

A Northern Light centres around small American country, and Mattie, who's a young woman yearning for more than her farming community can promise her.

I liked Mattie a lot. She reminded me so much of myself at that age. I even came from a farming community myself! I remember wanting to make more of myself, while still dreaming of a "normal" life with a loving husband and kids. It's such a difficult age to be... when you have to be an adult and start making choices. When you realise your choices are going to affect the rest of your life!

Mattie's story pulled me in and I was rooting for her to follow her dreams and go to college, never mind her ornery father or the shady boy that only wants her for her dad's farm.

The other characters were just as well developed! Weaver, Mattie's best friend. The first freeborn person in his family and an aspiring lawyer, who is determined to uphold justice. Weaver's mama, a hard-working widow hell bent on sending her son to college. Royal Loomis, the would-be "loving" hubby who only cares about his harvest... and of course Mattie's family... honestly I just loved everyone in this book.

I never realised that Grace Brown was real, and so was her letters. I found her letters to be excessively whiny, though, and along with her "friend", they were the only two characters that I didn't like. Which is sad because turns out they're the real characters after all. I am glad Chester got what was coming to him though...

I'm not going to lie. The plot itself wasn't mind blowing, and most of the time it was pretty obvious where the story was going. But man the prose was just so damn good that I didn't care if I had already guessed the ending... I thoroughly enjoyed the journey!

I'm not sure what to think of this book... It was okay. It irritated the shit out of me with it's big pretentious words that even my kindle dictionary couldn't help! The narrative style reminds me of someone I know who likes being "mysterious" and only manages to be irritating... she takes forever to make a point or tell a story! The story was super interesting, so kudos for that. It could have been much better though...