The book provoked one, maybe two thoughts.- The author’s critique of modern technology is, in a word, flinching.
- This story of love, loss and struggle absolutely gives in to categorization.
- This book was neither a page-turner nor sluggish. I read it at a regular pace.
- My tears stayed firmly in place, no jerking whatsoever thank goodness.
- A sunny reimagining of a classic tale.
- A tamely imaginative debut work.
- This story grabs you by the collar and then promptly lets go and apologizes for the outburst.
- I easily and often put the book down.
- This novel is an untangled web that quickly unravels and stays that way
- This book has a difficult time tying its three disparate narratives together, and that’s just fine
- A colorless work.
- 367 breathful pages
- This book doesn’t allow me to extrapolate anything about the author.
- Gonna be honest, I didn’t read the book.
Tags: book reviews, cliches, flinching
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The book did not pull at my heartstrings but rather gave them a polite little tug, because it was not raised in a barn.
Hey, the last one is debate-able, at least when it comes to Goodreads reviews!
12 = The Giver
I could not resist.
This book is a must-read for fans of strong male characters.
BOOM!
I put this book down after three chapters and honestly forgot about it for a few months. I eventually finished it, but I didn’t bother going back and re-reading the beginning again. I probably missed some stuff. It doesn’t matter, though, because I’ve already forgotten what it was about. It was good, I guess?
I think I peer-edited this review when I was in high school.
That was me when I read Horns.
I wish I could have done that with the movie.
Ugh, that movie. I loved Dan Rad, but everything else about it made me mad. Especially since I did end up liking the book once I got through the initial few chapters.
It was me when I read The Gunslinger. I had hoped to be mesmerized by it, was completely indifferent to it, and eventually just wanted to finish it on principle.
Brandon Sanderson, The Way Of Kings. Read 500 pages stopped for 4 months read the other 500.
That first 500 was unnecessary; fuck epic fantasy
A SF Chronicle movie review once actually did include the line: “My tears stuck in their little ducts, refusing to be jerked.”
I read this book because I sort of feel like I know the author. Not because I actually know the author, but I follow the author on social media and they seem like a pretty cool person. I mean, there was that one time i stood in a line for two hours so the author could sign a prior book I didn’t really read at all but owned, and when they signed it we had a 30 second conversation, and I really felt like we *connected*. Also, one time, they favorited a tweet of mine. So they have this new book out, and I feel like I ought to support them, because I want to feel like part of something bigger, only I didn’t really enjoy the book. But if I admit that, I’m worried I’m out of the club, and that defeats the point of me having read the book in the first place, so, I mean, it was good, I guess?
Too real.
time for that old witticism, which I found awesome in 8th grade and still find awesome today:
“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book – I’ll waste no time in reading it.” – Moses Hadas
That is AWESOME
This book was an action-packed thrill ride from start to about page 160.
The author takes you right up to the character’s heads, or maybe about a foot away at most.
This book is dripping with something I spilled on my counter.
The porn started a page too early.
I would totally read 6, and am imagining, like, Hans Christian Andersen stories if he’d had access to Prozac.
I had a version of 6 as a kid! It was a middle-grade novel about Cinderella, and I don’t remember the title, but at one point Cinderella convinced the ball guests to play hide and seek. It was thoroughly charming.
Things You Will Never Read In a TV Recap:
-I missed that part because the microwave dinged and I had to get up for my quesadilla.
-I know I should really get a DVR, but my dad used to work for a small production house that worked on local auto dealer ads, and I always feel real guilty about skipping commercials. I know that my not skipping commercials won’t bring him back, but still.
-My editor said that in exchange for recapping this show, he would let me pick any other show I liked to recap, except for Steven Universe, because he was already recapping that, and I picked Gotham for some damn reason, even though I’m actually lukewarm on Batman, and it turned out not to be a very good show. And now Gotham is done and this other godawful show is somehow still going, and I’m having a lot of trouble getting out of bed most days. I’m so sorry to dump this on you guys. I’m so sorry.
-The “B” plot for this episode reminded me of “Leatherhead Meets the Rat King,” a 1989 episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think I will recap that instead.
“The author beautifully limns absolutely nothing, because limn is a garbage word and should not be used.”
This book was neither radiant nor luminous; it just gave off a low-level brightness, like an Indiglo watch.
(Someone please ban the adjective “luminous” from book reviews? So, so overused. Ditto “searing.”)
Also can “raw” and “gritty” be banned from all reviews?
“This story grabs you by the collar and then promptly lets go and apologizes for the outburst.”
I totally want to write this novel!
Heh. I want to incorporate some of these into my reviews.
In addition, I need a polite way to write “this book has been written a thousand times over, in better, more interesting ways. “. And “There is nothing remarkable about this book, other than its total conformity to the norms of [genre]” (because I am Canadian, largely historical fiction).
dude those ARE polite
(I am not Canadian)
Although the author lived through the events of the book, he recalls little-to-none of the details.
You don’t need to read this book. It’s not a big deal if you skip it. It will not change your life in any meaningful way. But if you’re on a long flight and it’s the only reading material you have… then sure, go for it. I mean, you can only read the in-flight-magazine so many times, right?
This is more or less half of my book reviews. “I had a good time reading it and will have totally forgotten it by next week. If I pick it up again randomly three years from now, I won’t realize I’ve already read it until I’m 100 pages in. Three stars.”