a genuinely touching and frustrating story told from the perspective of someone who should be hatable but ultimately comes off as sympathetic. i h4.5*
a genuinely touching and frustrating story told from the perspective of someone who should be hatable but ultimately comes off as sympathetic. i hope i can roam around as a ghost when i die. ...more
Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We’re in one, of course; but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or rStill, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We’re in one, of course; but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: “Let’s hear about Frodo and the Ring!” And they’ll say: “Yes, that’s one of my favorite stories. Frodo was very brave, wasn’t he, dad?” “Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that’s saying a lot.”...more
The wind blew southward, through knotted forests, over shimmering plains and toward lands unexplored. This wind, it was not the ending. There are no eThe wind blew southward, through knotted forests, over shimmering plains and toward lands unexplored. This wind, it was not the ending. There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time.
But it was an ending.
Sobbed my eyes out at the last chapter. Sobbing my eyes out while writing this. What a fucking achievement. We truly lost one of our greatest minds in all of fantasy when Jordan passed. A perfectly constructed 3-part ending. It’s impossible to hold on to any annoyance you might have felt for the slower paced books when this weaves (hah) everything together so well. Completely worth it. There can’t possibly be a single male fantasy lead who compares to Rand al’Thor....more
The conversation on literature — great literature — so often revolves around the idea of exclusivity and unpredictability. The idea of surprising the The conversation on literature — great literature — so often revolves around the idea of exclusivity and unpredictability. The idea of surprising the reader is held up to a rather high pedestal. Simplicity is scoffed at, and why shouldn’t it be? We’ve had two thousand years to have every simple thought that can possibly be had. People want something new. How this newness manifests itself in the text is rather subjective, although one may always claim to have experienced said newness in a past work. Originality is, after all, entirely impossible when viewed through a broader lens. This is all to say that Piranesi is not new. It is, in fact, old in every way that matters. And it is this oldness, however one might want to refer to it, that makes it beautiful.
There is very little about this book that came as a shock to me. I was not at the edge of my seat for a twist, nor was I worried at any unexpected plot point. The book, as far as I’m concerned, knew that I knew exactly what it was: straightforward if not mildly sentimental at points. It did not pretend to be anything other than what was written on the pages, and yet there wasn’t a moment where I didn’t think it was really quite lovely. The sheer honesty in the text was hard to look away from. I felt as if I was stuck in time, knowing what would happen and still glued to the words themselves.
Too many authors think that they’re worth listening to. Moreover, they think that they are actually intelligent. Reading them is a dull process of shifting through poorly thought out expositional paragraphs and idiotic references that remind us that the author does, in fact, have a college degree. Yet in the thousands of words perturbing the pages, nothing is being said. Someone is moving their mouths and no sound is coming out. Piranesi has somehow overcome this. A story grew out of much fewer words than others would use. It is neither pretentious nor droll, neither flowery nor overly dramatic. It seems to land in a perfect in between of conciseness and intellect.
This is, perhaps, not for everyone, but I rather think that it’s worth reading at least once. If not for the story, then for the love of the art of writing....more
probably the most interesting things ive heard said about this book is that it fails to present a certain image, or that the story is told in 4.25 ***
probably the most interesting things ive heard said about this book is that it fails to present a certain image, or that the story is told in a way that frames certain people as X and others as Y and… i feel like it was very obvious that the narrator was meant to be unlikable and untrustworthy? the things that happen to him do happen, but the way that he chooses to talk about them is based on his own bias. he is literally introduced as a rich kid who consistently mistreats his incredibly loyal and trusting “servant” and then spends the rest of his life in guilt over it. how do you read that and not realize that he is purposefully written as a complex dude who only sees the world through his own lens? this isn’t a history book. ...more
A genuinely fantastic debut novel that is as beautifully written as it is hard to swallow. I don’t usually bash other readers, but you have to be genuA genuinely fantastic debut novel that is as beautifully written as it is hard to swallow. I don’t usually bash other readers, but you have to be genuinely daft to come out of this with the sort of awful takes I’ve read on this app. Irony isn’t for everyone! ...more
Sciona Freynan is not a good person. She is motivated by power, by the thought that others might someday read her name inEDIT: 4.5 to 4 stars
4.5 stars
Sciona Freynan is not a good person. She is motivated by power, by the thought that others might someday read her name in the pages of their history books next to a list of her accomplishments. She claims that gaining this power will build a bridge for other women to do the same, but even she can't believe herself when she says that. She's just as arrogant as her peers, and perhaps even more self-persevering and aloof. She believes that her way of doing things is the superior way, yet she still clings onto the teachings that she has heard all of her life. She cries far too much. She lies to herself just as much as she lies to the reader. And she is, all things considered, a very well written protagonist.
MLW really knows how to write them. It's funny, because even though this reads like something she would write (there is something distinct about her voice, though I do not know what), it also doesn't feel like an author talking to a reader. She presents these characters and this world as they are from the perspectives of the leads. She doesn't bother too much with dramatizing certain aspects to make the reader feel a certain way. Sciona is all of the things I mentioned above, but she also isn't sometimes, or she doesn't have to be, or she doesn't want to be. All of these ideas coexist at once, and it is up to the reader to choose what to believe.
I hate to say too much. I find that books seem less appealing if I know the plot. I don't agree with the idea that this book can be summed up by the "dark academia" genre, or that it's just a fantasy story. There was nothing fantastical about the core of this book. It was, in fact, very real. This book is about the things we give and take from this world. It's about ignorance and the lies we tell ourselves to uphold our consciousnesses. It's about the abuse of authority, but it's just as much about how the average person contributes to that abuse. Pain and suffering is far less about one man's actions, but about the collective cooperation of an entire society. The Sword of Kaigen was my favorite book of the year when I read it, so it's nice to see the author write something...on par.
Thanks to M.L. Wang for an advanced copy of the book....more
really lovely prose setting up a genuinely depressing and frustrating story of a young girl taken advantage of by everyone around her that makes you wreally lovely prose setting up a genuinely depressing and frustrating story of a young girl taken advantage of by everyone around her that makes you want to kill men ...more
i’ve said this before, but fiction novels set in historical periods with female main characters written by women who experience strange or unc**4.5!!!
i’ve said this before, but fiction novels set in historical periods with female main characters written by women who experience strange or uncomfortable situations is my favorite genre (see: the ghost bride). they always have an air of familiarity to them that i can’t help but enjoy. this book was solemn and at times melancholy and funny and serious to show how the life of yunxian evolves through her strenuous relationships with the people around her. there’s a part of the book somewhere around the final third that feels like a moment of silence. the busy and loud story takes a moment to pause in a way that startles the reader and changes the progression of the book. it’s shocking and it’s interesting and it’s exactly the kind of story i needed to read after a mediocre reading year. ...more
was committed to finishing this at 12 am because i hadn’t read anything in a week and i wanted to get it over with ):/&:7$
i had a hard time4 stars (?)
was committed to finishing this at 12 am because i hadn’t read anything in a week and i wanted to get it over with ):/&:7$
i had a hard time with the first 40% of the book because i read it on kindle (which i hate) and it felt like i wasn’t making any progress but i finally broke through and made it to the end,,, i think the book did a really good job of keeping interest. i didn’t know anything about kaikeyi besides reading the first paragraph of the wikipedia page (and then closing out because i thought i would be spoiled?) so i didn’t really know what to expect going in. but the pacing somehow made it like i needed to know what happened next no matter what.
for me, at least, this is a book that really thrives on the plot, which i usually don’t pay much attention to. i tend to prefer character books over plot books, but even though i really disliked most of the characters here, the narrative was so genuinely interesting and engaging that i kept going. if you wanna read a retelling that really delves into the mind of one character then this is a great example
ay didnt think a book about an old jamaican man living in england by himself after the passing of his wife and after leaving behind all his fr5 stars
ay didnt think a book about an old jamaican man living in england by himself after the passing of his wife and after leaving behind all his friends would affect me so much but it really did
explores relationships as you get older and people you once knew are different or gone and complicated family dynamics where you love your folk but have to acknowledge all the mistakes they’ve made. + new friendships and coming out of your shell to talk to varied groups of people who are all sort of mismatched but work together anyway...more
I don’t really know how to put it into words, but something about it is so magical and raw and lovely. I love 4.5 stars *may change
I love this book.
I don’t really know how to put it into words, but something about it is so magical and raw and lovely. I love stories that follow a dual timeline of a character's past before switching back to them being gone in the present. Watching their actions and how they affected them and the people around them later. Not to mention the very casual magic in the world, where it’s not quite fantastical but also not quite very real? Like some weird divine power.
I was originally going to read it because, hey, it was an overdue arc and I needed to waste some time before going on. But I genuinely didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. It’s so delightful....more
the devil smiles at me as my body begins to decay and i feel myself getting closer and closer to the sweet release oEDIT: 4.25 4 stars ??? *may change
the devil smiles at me as my body begins to decay and i feel myself getting closer and closer to the sweet release of death that will free me from the torture of this book...more
i live in a constant state of nothing but misery, pain, and sorrow. i could die now and it wouldn’t be soon enough. getting shot to the head w5 stars
i live in a constant state of nothing but misery, pain, and sorrow. i could die now and it wouldn’t be soon enough. getting shot to the head would cause me less physically and emotional pain than this. my reasons for living are shallow and not worth it anymore....more
