This is an excellent follow-up resource to the course and I’m really grateful to have it. Because the course flies by in three short days, it can be eThis is an excellent follow-up resource to the course and I’m really grateful to have it. Because the course flies by in three short days, it can be easy to forget something or not take it in properly; this book explains all the exercises and gives you a little sneak peak behind the curtain should you wish to lead them yourself.
I quite liked some of the scene-setting in the opening chapters. It provided additional context about the course, the instructors, and the academy which was a nice touch.
Because the book is a work in progress and constantly being updated, there are things likely to change about it and sections that still need filling in. However, this doesn’t create an unpolished feel, it just adds even more to the openness and authenticity. ...more
This has some amazing artwork and a fairly relaxed story.
The story was chugging along well but I found the final bit with the kitten just didn’t fit.This has some amazing artwork and a fairly relaxed story.
The story was chugging along well but I found the final bit with the kitten just didn’t fit. The cat had time for everyone on this long journey but his dismissive attitude toward the kitten was jarring considering his previous behaviour. Then, his attitude did a total, random 180: being annoyed and irritated by the kitten to suddenly being BFFs was jarring and rendered the ending a bit flat for me as it felt rushed and forced.
Perhaps a personal preference but the first illustrated kitten and the wolf cub didn’t seem to fit the art style: something about the eyes made hem cartoony/creepy....more
I liked this for the first, like, three chapters but it got stale, repetitive, and dull super quickly. I’ve read a lot of slice-of-life fiction (mostlI liked this for the first, like, three chapters but it got stale, repetitive, and dull super quickly. I’ve read a lot of slice-of-life fiction (mostly Japanese translations) but this was lacking in the key tenets of what makes cozy, slice-of-life fiction good: rich dialogue, strong sense of place, interesting characters, tight writing. Ultimately, this isn’t cozy, it’s just a book about nothing: the characters are flat, there’s no plot, there’s no conflict. Nothing drives this story.
It’s got one of the most cardboard, vanilla, one-dimensional cast of characters in fiction. They’re so saccharine, simpering, and boring. Viv is a passenger for literally all her good fortune: everything just falls in her lap and she doesn’t need to do anything, learn anything, or grow in any way. She’s super whiny and I don’t really see any of her alleged fierceness. Tandri wasn’t much better and had an aloofness that kept the reader at arm’s length. Cal and Thimble were one dimensional and largely mute. There was so much potential for diverse, rich characters that just wasn’t realized.
There’s no sense of time or place in this. The setting is woefully underdeveloped and underutilized. The supporting cast was as well. There was so much missed opportunity in dealing with the varying size, diverse needs, and communication barriers of fantasy creatures trying to navigate a coffee shop. Instead, we get a generic cafe where everyone speaks English and has normal hands and mouths. Ugh. There’s some insinuation that this is Middle Ages-ish but because of the “gnomeish technology”, it felt awkwardly present. As a modern reader, this diluted any sense of time, place, or atmosphere and felt lazy.
The writing is pretty poor. There’s no heart, no plot, no rich characters, no anything. It is so superficial and reads like a grindy NPC side quest: open your cafe, upgrade your equipment, install a fan - it was like reading a list of home renovation to-dos writing by the world’s most unimaginative builder. It felt like the author was targeting a word count rather than using words to tell a story. The writing was so bland and perfunctory - it reminded me of my high school writing assignments where everything was linear, there was no depth, and it was bulked out with bullshit to reach a word count. It was surprisingly amateur. Come to think of it, this book might work better if you scoop out the swearing and gear it toward middle graders? Idk.
The romance was totally unnecessary: the whole thing felt forced, embarrassing, and uncomfortable as a result of both cardboard, uninteresting characters and a zero emotional connection to either character nor an clear understanding of their purported connection to each other.
Also! How many goddamn times did the menu need to be repeated?! Filler and word count, pals, I tell ya.
I mean, there was a (largely irrelevant) addendum called “Pages to Fill” FFS.
The one thing that made this enjoyable was my husband reading it aloud and doing voices for the characters. I think if I’d read it on my own, I would have lost patience with it. His delivery made it tolerable. I like the dire cat but I didn’t love his ending.
Bottom line: Commercial cozy fiction isn’t for me. I still need interesting characters, some semblance of plot, and good writing....more
This is a tough one to rate and even to reflect on. I passed on this for a long time but somebody in my old book group recommended it and I decided toThis is a tough one to rate and even to reflect on. I passed on this for a long time but somebody in my old book group recommended it and I decided to trust her taste rather than the staggering amount of reviews I’d read.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. This is highly readable, engaging, and even though it’s got a toxic friendship at its center, it asks a lot of good questions.
What I liked: - By the end, the writing style. I will admit I causally loathed the writing style was Sam and Sadie were younger - it was so pretentious and the dialogue felt so hamfisted and inauthentic. I’m glad I hung in, either it improved or I quickly learned to see past it? - The sense of time and place - The game design process - How we travelled with the same characters through decades - The glimpses into Anna Lee’s life - Marx - Tuesday - Dong Hyun - The book has some of the best quotes I’ve ever read.
What I didn’t like: - Sadie and Sam. JFC these two are imbeciles. I disliked Sadie intensely throughout the book. I didn’t mind Sam until he started being so whiney about “loving” Sadie and being so work-obsessed.(Also, why was everyone in love with Sadie? She was a nightmare!) They were both so immature and that friendship was toxic as hell. They need to stay the hell away from each other and do their own thing. - Dov. What a creep. It’s so on brand for toxic Sadie to keep this toxic arsehole in her life for decades. - The Pioneers section. I found it a bit jarring.
I’m glad I read this; it’s always nice to be happily surprised by a book that I thought I’d dislike!...more
**spoiler alert** This was a solid three up until it wasn’t.
What I liked: - The snowy survival setting - Zombie outbreak - Dexter
What I didn’t like: -**spoiler alert** This was a solid three up until it wasn’t.
What I liked: - The snowy survival setting - Zombie outbreak - Dexter
What I didn’t like: - There is way too much gratuitous violence, gore, and shock value in these pages. Like it made me feel physically sick a few times ((view spoiler)[ like a zombie raping a dying woman, we don’t need that in fiction (hide spoiler)]). I’ve said this a few times across reviews but OTT violence and grossness isn’t a substitute for horror. It wasn’t scary, just gross and violent. - The body-shaming and physical appearance focus was cruel and unneeded. Being fat doesn’t define a human and no human is less-than or “grotesque” because they are overweight. Equally, reducing women to their body parts, even to illustrate a characterization of the individual making the comment, isn’t needed. You can tell this author takes a lot of inspiration from Stephen King - misogyny, cruelty, and grossness galore. - I did not understand anyone’s motivation in this story at all. - The whole vibe had an uncomfortable anti-science and anti-vaccination undercurrent. - I got a little tired of watching every character die in horrifying and gory ways that I was kind of emotionally drained by the end. It was all so relentlessly violent and bleak. - The epilogue: the sole survivor of this shitshow is some anti-vaccine murderer and we’re expected to somehow feel that’s a satisfying ending?
As much as I like zombie books and cold weather settings, this was a letdown. While I’ve enjoyed some of their earlier works, this author has become a bit hit and miss for me and I’ll think twice before picking up their next book....more
This is such a boring book and I’m really disappointed in it. Maybe it’s because I have zero interest in English hist1.5 I’m so relieved that’s over!
This is such a boring book and I’m really disappointed in it. Maybe it’s because I have zero interest in English history, the military, or academia?
The characters are all whiny, self-important, interchangeable non-entities. No one has a backstory or compelling characterization. The only emotion any of them evoke is annoyance.
The writing is so poor. Most of the book is tedious streams of consciousness or bickering dialogue. The same “lore” is repeated over and over again. Any semblance of story was bogged down in way too many descriptions of mundane things and repetition. The pacing was absolutely glacial.
It wasn’t spooky. While we were subjected to heaps of description of tedious self-important academic whining, or god-bothering nonsense, the Corrigal wasn’t even remotely scary nor was there any sense of atmosphere or eeriness.
The ending was absurd and such a let down. It has been eluded to so many times throughout the book that it fell totally flat.
The cover art is amazing but the book is a poorly written, anti-climatic slog....more
Overall, this was quite sweet. It’s quite repetitive across the customers. I tried to space them out but it was still a bit grating. The translatio3.5
Overall, this was quite sweet. It’s quite repetitive across the customers. I tried to space them out but it was still a bit grating. The translation had some unusual word choices and I feel like it wasn’t “translated”’as much as Britishified - there were a lot of British words and expressions that I can’t imagine are present in the original text.
The food descriptions and seasonal vibes were incredible.
Nagare was a lovely character and I really liked spending time with him as his unusual clientele. Drowsy was also excellent (although his cameos were very repetitive). The daughter, Koishi, was so obnoxious though. She was rude to people, including her Dad, and her dialogue was so simplistic and childish it felt she was 12, rather than over 30.
I found the tone of this more upbeat and gentle than the “Before The Coffee Gets Cold” series that this will inevitably be compared to. Should more of the series be translated, I would pick them up too. ...more
4.5 I was a bit hesitant to pick this up as I haven’t found I gel well with “books about books”. Instead of gatekeeping, book snobbery, and pretension4.5 I was a bit hesitant to pick this up as I haven’t found I gel well with “books about books”. Instead of gatekeeping, book snobbery, and pretension, I found a wonderful little community in the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop!
What I loved: - The anti-work and anti-capitalist message! I wasn’t expecting this and it was glorious. Yeongju has the self-awareness that her shop existed in a capitalist ecosystem but decided to subvert that by refusing to sell bestsellers. Amazing.
What I liked: - How this book made me want to quit my job even more than I already did. The message that life is too short to be miserable at a job is so relevant. - Yeongju and Minjun’s relationship - Jimi and Minjun’s relationship - The coffee storyline at Goat Beans - The unusual book recs - The vibe
What I didn't like: - Yeongju’s past relationship story felt ridiculous to me. Like I love the energy behind breaking up with someone because they’re too job-obsessed but how she went about it was just too bizarre. It was rooted in my all-time hated trope (failure to communicate like adults) and the whole thing made me like Yeongju a bit less and I felt we lost too much airtime to a really stupid romance. -Jimi’s failing marriage storyline for similar reasons. - Mincheol came across as whiney and tedious.
I’m going to reread this again. I imagine this is the type of book that you take different things from each time you read it. As I’m in a period of reflection about my shit job, it made me feel particularly validated about that. I wonder what I’d take from it in a more positive mental space! ...more
**spoiler alert** Parts of this story had good spooky atmosphere but overall the book was a letdown: - The pacing was awful (how is a horror book borin**spoiler alert** Parts of this story had good spooky atmosphere but overall the book was a letdown: - The pacing was awful (how is a horror book boring?!). Giving away the ending halfway through was… a choice. Once the murderer was revealed, the book fell over. - I didn’t care for the mysognistic descriptions of women and over-sexualization of Beth. - The messaging that the trite and unneeded romance between Shea and Michael “fixed” Shea made my stomach turn. - The romance subplot was grating and dumb. - Shea was insufferable with her superiority complex and how she exploited Beth and then devoted her life to trying to send her to prison. Shea was not a sympathetic or likeable character. - I couldn’t suspend disbelief that an agoraphobic, arrested-development individual like Shea could possibly have solved a decades-old cold case. - Why was the website called “The Book Of Cold Cases”. It was a website, not a book. It doesn’t even make sense! - The supernatural element was so lazy and poorly done. It wasn’t remotely scary and it was just a plot device for finding out what happened to Lily. But, at that point, I didn’t even care. The character of Lily seemed like such a lazy trope and I wasn’t buying that no one knew about her! - Why did Beth literally go to jail for Lily? I never got a satisfactory answer to that and it didn’t align with the hard-as-nails, arrogance that underpinned Beth’s character.
SSJ books are so hit and miss for me. This was a big miss....more
I was so hesitant to read this: my mom wasn’t wild about it and the negative reviews were pretty consistently pointing out the same things. However! OI was so hesitant to read this: my mom wasn’t wild about it and the negative reviews were pretty consistently pointing out the same things. However! One my my Goodreads pals really liked it (and she has good taste in books!) and it was really difficult to resist the adorable UK paperback cover. So, I caved. And you know what? This wasn’t bad!
What I Enjoyed: • Marcellus - he was the highlight of the book, in my opinion! • Tova - it was refreshing to read a book from the perspective of an older person • The sense of place - both the aquarium and Sowell Bay in general; the descriptions were rich and I could picture the places so clearly • Cat • Simon Brinks - he was kind despite having to real incentive to be • Tova’s move - I liked Tova’s self-awareness about selling her giant house and downsizing; I was afraid that (view spoiler)[she would stay there when they finally figured out Cameron’s parentage, sending an uncomfortable message that downsizing and knowing your limits as you get older is somehow “quitting”. But, when she simply bought a condo and let the baggage of the house go, I was very happy. (hide spoiler)] • Marcellus’s ending
What Detracted From My Enjoyment: • Cameron - JFC what a complete knob! I couldn’t stand his chapters. He was so awful. • Ethan - he was so gossipy and I found him a bit creepy with how he was so up on Tova’s business. I was hoping Tova had cut him out (view spoiler)[but his appearance in the final chapter insinuated not. Tova deserves better if she wanted to pursue a romance at all (hide spoiler)] • The early reveal and subsequent pacing - we find out the truth about Cameron’s parentage so early on that the rest of the book is an exercise in frustration while people go out of their way to be obtuse and misunderstand everything • I didn’t love the narrative that dying without loads of family is somehow bad. • How Marcellus was made omniscient - I just couldn’t suspend disbelief quite that much.
Final thoughts: • More octopus and less people drama would have improved this. • I wish the story had just focused on Marcellus and Tova. • I’m glad I read this with the knowledge of how awful the Cameron bits were; if I hadn’t, this might have been a 1 or 2 star review based on him alone given how present he is in the story even though he’s not mentioned at all in the blurb....more
This was a gripping read! I really liked the dynamic between Tess and Sarah. It made for a unique murder mystery. The (view spoiler)[ third sister 3.5
This was a gripping read! I really liked the dynamic between Tess and Sarah. It made for a unique murder mystery. The (view spoiler)[ third sister element felt a bit cliche (hide spoiler)] and the story didn’t have a definitive ending, almost like it’s setting itself up for a sequel....more
For a thick book, this was a quick read. The book opens slowly and a bit confusingly but picks up as it goes on and the characters become clearer. 3.5
For a thick book, this was a quick read. The book opens slowly and a bit confusingly but picks up as it goes on and the characters become clearer. While this doesn’t hold a candle to the charming “Away With The Penguins”, it’s better than average.
While a bit saccharine at times, the book was gentle without being vapid which Hazel Prior seems to be able to do so artfully. I really liked the chronic pain representation and thought this did a good job at highlighting the struggles of invisible illnesses. (view spoiler)[Although, I didn’t love the miracle cure element. It’s funny, if I’d read this before I’d moved to the UK, the fact that Phoebe was living with that kind of pain and the doctors hadn’t done anything, would have been utterly unbelievable to me. However, having seen many people with chronic conditions ignored by the NHS, and being fobbed off by them myself a few times, it’s, sadly, a pretty common theme in the UK. (hide spoiler)]
The ending felt a but OTT for me (view spoiler)[(I had predicted the culprit within the first few chapters and I’m not a fan of everyone working out and being tied up with a nice bow; I mean, how often does that happen? The Christina/Dad bit felt particularly forced.) (hide spoiler)]. The otters were lovely but I felt like that element was a bit OTT too - a lot of the folks had little discernible interests or depth outside being really into otters.
The editing could have been better: there were a fair few spelling, grammar, and spacing issues. I’m also reasonably convinced that Phoebe’s nickname was spelled wrong, surely “Pheebs”, not “Phoebes”?
All in all, I’m glad I picked this up. I needed something a bit gentle....more
I passed on this when I saw it everywhere in 2019 because I had a stack of “to read” books that was taller than me. But my mom recently read it and3.5
I passed on this when I saw it everywhere in 2019 because I had a stack of “to read” books that was taller than me. But my mom recently read it and recommended it; when I saw it for £3, I decided to take a chance.
Overall, it’s a pretty good debut… but you do need to suspend disbelief. Anyone even remotely familiar with psychotherapy or psychiatric wards might be exceptionally annoyed by the liberties the author takes, the total lack of clinical awareness, and some of the unhelpful stereotypes about mental illnesses.
I wasn’t wild about the misogynistic language. The language around Alicia’s aunt and Elif was hard to stomach too - the only descriptive traits these women have pertain to their size (“grotesque”) and it was almost like their size was what made them villainous. Which is ridiculous.
I hated the MC but I think that was the point. He was a total wetwipe and spending so much time in his head was a lot to ask. I liked Alicia but felt she was done a disservice by her lack of character develop and airtime. I’d rather have read this from her POV than the awful Theo. (Also how tf what Theo’s supervisor okay with Jim’s spending all this 1:1 time with Alicia when he was clearly obsessed with her?! He didn’t have other patients?)
I thought the pacing was good and the book was highly readable in terms of hook. I’m not sure I would be in a huge hurry to read subsequent books but the author but I’m glad I picked this one up. ...more
While a really difficult read at times, this was the most disturbingly relatable things I’ve read in recent memory. There JFC this book destroyed me.
While a really difficult read at times, this was the most disturbingly relatable things I’ve read in recent memory. There was so much commentary, nuance, and symbolism in this novel. It’s structure was basically perfect: drip-feeding us Cassie’s backstory, her day-to-day, with black hole facts and definitions scattered throughout. The commentary on late stage capitalism, culty jobs, and our world sliding into a dystopian hellscape was all expertly done.
I’m a bit in awe of Sarah Rose Etter to be honest. I’m rarely this affected by a book! This was basically everything I was hoping “Severance” would be for me.
I think this is my Favourite Book Published in 2023. I’m already looking forward to re-reading it....more
This was a really good introduction to the fascinating field of the internet’s impact on language and the evolution of language over time. I particulaThis was a really good introduction to the fascinating field of the internet’s impact on language and the evolution of language over time. I particularly enjoyed the last section challenging “old ways” of thinking about language (static, right/wrong) and instead seeing it as a growing, evolving, and diversifying thing.
There was a lot missing from the book, and while this was addressed too, it already felt a bit outdated. I would love to see another take on it because of the boom in distributed working particularly. I was really grateful for a few more talking points for the validity of online relationship-building and digital communications. I agree with the author that the distinction about “in real life” and “online” is unhelpful (especially for us remote workers) and what counts as “real” is very much steeped in traditional, limited thinking.
I didn’t love the comments about how social media is a part of life and likened non-adopters to luddites. It’s a bit more complex than that. There are many valid reasons that people don’t have an online profile (domestic abuse, victims of crime, privacy concerns, data management concerns, disinterest) and none of these nor the problematic aspects of these platforms were addressed. Social media and its adverse effects on wellbeing, body image, and development are well documented; as the space gets increasingly corporatized, people who value genuine connection may eschew the platforms for something altogether different. That’s probably a whole other book but I would have liked to see a bit more balance to this element....more