Let me preface this review by saying I really loved Kristin Cashore’s first trilogy, especially Graceling. I remember devouring that first book in about two days—pulled into the complex and compelling world of Katsa and the Graceling realm. When Cashore’s newest book showed up on NetGalley last fall, I leapt at the chance to read it and put in a request. However, when I actually got the book and started reading, I found myself having a hard time focusing. I put it down to a […]
First the smiles, then the lies. Last comes gunfire.
Homestretch on Ye Olde Darke Towere Marathone! I’m actually starting to be sad that there are only two left plus the movie. And there had better be whole bunch of those, too, is what I’m saying, do ya. If I’m being honest, I think that Stephen King didn’t start leaning into the conceit of this series until about the time that I went all in, and that’s probably the reason I was finally able to invest fully. The more I think about it, the clearer […]
Pseudoscience and Nonsense
Man, this book was not good. Maybe not terrible (although, maybe terrible), but really not good. The premise was okay, but the writing was almost painfully bad. No, it wasn’t as bad as the dumpster fire that is Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards (I’m linking to it not so you’ll read it, but so you can see the cover & know to never, ever pick it up). And it was marginally better than the very poorly written America Pacifica (again, please don’t read, just be aware […]
Is it possible to outthink yourself?
When I was reading Dark Matter, I said to a friend who was worried that I was bored (long story, irrelevant to this review), “no way, because I love my book right now! It’s got car chases, and alternate universes, and multiplicity, and science, and action, and adventure!” I’m not kidding, I had a total blast reading this book, and couldn’t wait to get back to it every time I had to put it down. It’s not life-altering literary fiction. But they can’t all be. […]