All the Birds in the Sky in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Sep 05, 2016 Shannon rated it really liked it

All the Birds in the Sky mingles fantasy and sci-fi, magic and science, a witch and a computer guru. Patricia and Lawrence become friends in middle school when they are both outcasts. Each harbors a secret of sorts: Patricia is able to talk to birds and Lawrence is working on creating a computer with artificial intelligence.

Throughout the course of the book Patricia and Lawrence betray, hurt, befriend, encourage, save and love one another. I liked the honest push pull of their relationship, but ...more

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Apr 18, 2016 Mary rated it liked it

3-1/2 stars. wow - this book was a crazy ride... entertaining and smart and - despite the impending global destruction - fun! there are some smart lessons here for today's world, too. I loved Patricia and Laurence, especially as a couple. and of course, the magic. ...more

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Jan 14, 2017 Julie rated it liked it

So, really I feel more two-star about this book, having just finished it. I'm trying to be generous, because I feel bad. I feel like this book give it the old college try, but it didn't work for me.

I like the idea of intertwining magic and sci-fi. It doesn't happen enough, and there are some good larger questions in that relationship. There were also *moments* that I liked, phrases or scenes. But overall, it left me unimpressed.

I didn't really like either main character. Patricia was OK, but in So, really I feel more two-star about this book, having just finished it. I'm trying to be generous, because I feel bad. I feel like this book give it the old college try, but it didn't work for me.

I like the idea of intertwining magic and sci-fi. It doesn't happen enough, and there are some good larger questions in that relationship. There were also *moments* that I liked, phrases or scenes. But overall, it left me unimpressed.

I didn't really like either main character. Patricia was OK, but in the end I didn't feel connected to or that concerned about either one. It's hard to feel excited about a book when you finish it not really caring about what happened.

The writing was weird at times. All the references to hippie organic restaurants. The over-the-top ridiculous awfulness of the adults and some of the other characters. I mean, it was stuff that just was too much to realistically believe, plus it was presented with humor and sarcasm. Like planting part of Lemony Snicket into a book that is supposed to be about our world. It didn't work for me. If you're trying to make your book not total fantasy (which I didn't feel like this was supposed to be), I think you have to present things is at least somewhat a serious/believable way. You can have awful adults, but almost jokingly portraying parents feeding their locked-up child by pushing food under the door frame? I don't know...I'm not explaining well why this bothered me so much, but it was like splicing parts of a ridiculous fairy tale into a story that was not supposed to be a fairy tale.

I HATED the end. HATED. IT.
(view spoiler)

In the end, I think this story could have been a lot deeper and better. Science and magic. Humanity and nature and the cosmos. Humanity destroying or saving itself. But the story never really went there far enough, and the rest of it was kind of boring. But what do I know? ...more

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Jun 23, 2018 Adjrun rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I get the feeling that this one will stick with me. Like, I'll return to this for a re-read years and years from now.

There's something about this book which starts like a fable or a fairytale. It has that simplicity and clarity of view which children have and which the main characters are.

And then like life and like Peregrine, the storytelling evolves and grows and gets more complicated and nuanced. The story grows to contain impossible contradictions which can destroy or be reconciled.

This is a ...more

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Nov 29, 2018 Jenny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I read this in August 2018 but any potential review got swallowed up by the start of the semester. However, I wanted to be sure I wrote something about this novel because I liked it so much and I think it’s a great potential book club book. It’s a quirky blend of fantasy, technology, and awkward coming-of-age and the characters of Patricia and Lawrence are painfully and charmingly real. It reminds me a bit of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, only I liked the main characters. I don’t know if it’s fo ...more

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Jan 17, 2017 Bill Doughty rated it it was amazing

Shelves: just-plain-odd, sci-fi, nature, fantasy, romance, end-of-the-world, metaphysical, tech, coming-of-age-angst, magic

This book is proper weird, mixing hard sci-fi with dark urban fantasy, magic with technology, angst and love and loss and love again and all-too-real doomsday scenarios and hope. Probably not everyone's cuppa but I loved it and I'm looking forward to revisiting it someday. ...more

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Feb 23, 2017 Alison rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, bookclub

This was such a fun read - interesting characters and situations. The use of both technology and magic was a fun combination, and I enjoyed reading it. This was a book club pick and we had a great discussion about it. Plot holes and story elements that didn't make sense, the balance of magic vs technology, other things too. In that sense it was a great book club pick, as we all enjoyed reading it and hashing it over (aka tearing it apart). ...more

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