This book lost most of the charm of the first one. When you're a poor disadvantaged kid fighting giant corporations and murderous villains, I can forgThis book lost most of the charm of the first one. When you're a poor disadvantaged kid fighting giant corporations and murderous villains, I can forgive you for being immature and childish, and the fact that you can use your nerdy video game skills to stick it to the Man is kind of awesome. When you've been a billionaire for three years and you're still selfish and obsessed with video games and you use your money to satisfy your nerdy fantasies and destroy people who annoy you on social media, all sympathy is gone.
Instead of focusing on nerd culture, this book focuses an inordinate amount of attention on John Hughes films and the artist formerly known as Prince, which might be okay if you're really into those things, but I'm not.
The book seemed to promise a redemption arc for Parzival, but didn't deliver. Instead, it bellyflopped into an utterly unearned happy ending with no character change of note.
I enjoyed the first book despite Parzival's immaturity, but this one just didn't work....more
Curiously, this is the second book I've read recently with the same premise: that of a young woman whom no one can remember. The first was The Sudden Curiously, this is the second book I've read recently with the same premise: that of a young woman whom no one can remember. The first was The Sudden Appearance of Hope, by Claire North, which was a good book. This one is better.
Like North's book, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue explores the lonely idea of a world without lasting relationships, but Addie also cannot make a mark on the world. When she writes or even types, the words disappear. Photographs are blurry. While North's heroine can explain her predicament to others (though no one will remember), Addie can't even speak her real name. If she breaks something, it reforms. She lives outside the world, not remembered by people or even by the world itself. Despite this, she finds ways to create her own meaning and make a mark in indirect ways that, over time, make a difference.
One of the most fascinating parts of the book is her relationship with Luc, the dark god who originally curses her. As the only person who remembers her, she naturally forms an attachment to him, despite his arrogance, cruelty, and inhuman nature. It becomes a Phantom of the Opera kind of tale, in some ways, though more understandable, and with a different ending.
The ending of this book is not what you expect, but it's incredibly satisfying on many levels. It's not an entirely happy ending, but it's happy enough, and it feels very right. ...more
This book could have been called "The Petty and Childish King" since that was most of its focus. I wanted to hear more about the good and noble commonThis book could have been called "The Petty and Childish King" since that was most of its focus. I wanted to hear more about the good and noble commoners who were willing to fight evil, but I just got chapter after chapter about the king. If you liked the Harry Potter books, don't expect this one to have anything in common....more
This book started a little weird (a wizard choosing young girls to take off to his tower???) but nothing is as you think, and the tension and action bThis book started a little weird (a wizard choosing young girls to take off to his tower???) but nothing is as you think, and the tension and action built and built until it rocketed into a fantastic finish. The malevolent forest is a wonderfully creepy villain, and magic is wilder and deeper than any magician truly understands. Agnieszka made a wonderfully sympathetic protagonist, and her ignorance of court politics and magic allows the reader to learn about those things as she does. In the end, it's just as much the stupidity of selfish people on the "good" side as the dark magic of the forest that threatens disaster, and like everything else, the forest is not ultimately what it seems....more
The descriptions of this book don't do it justice. I would never have picked it up from the descriptions alone, if it hadn't been written by the authoThe descriptions of this book don't do it justice. I would never have picked it up from the descriptions alone, if it hadn't been written by the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, one of my favorite fantasy books ever. Piranesi isn't that good, but it's a good deal better than the descriptions would imply.
Piranesi is about a single person in a strange and magical world, a combination of an endless classical buildings with thousands of statues and an ocean which sweeps through its lower floors and sometimes its upper ones, depending on the tides. It's a bit of a survival book, as Piranesi has to make a living with nothing but stone and ocean around him. It's a bit of a mystery, as the reader tries to piece together the gaps in Piranesi's memory to figure out what actually happened. As a narrator, Piranesi gets almost everything wrong, and we are left to figure out what's true from what's missing and what contradicts. All is revealed by the end. ...more
Phenomenal. Intricate and terrifying magic in a complex mystery with intense and sympathetic characters. Like the best of Tess Gerritsen, plus ghosts,Phenomenal. Intricate and terrifying magic in a complex mystery with intense and sympathetic characters. Like the best of Tess Gerritsen, plus ghosts, secret societies, and a university culture of wealth, architecture, poetry, and evil....more
Wonderful. A unique alien race and a creepy look at the future of AIs that are just as alien as the biological kind, if not more so. The story didn't Wonderful. A unique alien race and a creepy look at the future of AIs that are just as alien as the biological kind, if not more so. The story didn't always go where I expected, but I loved it from beginning to end. Given how much I loved Lexicon, I'm going to have to go back and read some of Barry's earlier books. ...more
This book starts out well, with a classic if well-trodden story of a poor girl with iron perseverance and a special talent. It takes place in an interThis book starts out well, with a classic if well-trodden story of a poor girl with iron perseverance and a special talent. It takes place in an interesting China-based fantasy world and features magic with great power and great danger. A bit past the halfway point of the book, however, it swings without warning into violent warfare, including a gruesome campaign of genocide. The main character repeatedly ignores the warnings of her mentor, the only person who seems to have some wisdom, and ends up becoming just as awful a person as those she is originally fighting to stop. There are two sequels, but I can't imagine where the story has left to go, and I won't be finding out. ...more
A clever and enjoyable fantasy world with sympathetic characters and a fast-moving plot. My only disappointment was that it was too short. Both the stA clever and enjoyable fantasy world with sympathetic characters and a fast-moving plot. My only disappointment was that it was too short. Both the story and the world felt like they deserved more time. ...more
I loved Among Others, but I had trouble with this one. Some interesting tidbits, but not much of a plot or actual story. Full review at the New York JI loved Among Others, but I had trouble with this one. Some interesting tidbits, but not much of a plot or actual story. Full review at the New York Journal of Books here:
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