Blake Crouch has once again produced an amazing novel. I kept telling myself not to compare this to Dark Matter and I think I did a fairly good job. IBlake Crouch has once again produced an amazing novel. I kept telling myself not to compare this to Dark Matter and I think I did a fairly good job. It's different, in a sense, and while I enjoyed Dark Matter way more, this novel didn't disappoint. Another 5 star read from Crouch. Can't really dwell into this novel without the potential spoilers, but all I can say is do yourself a favor and read this....more
This novel started out spectacular and full of intrigue but midway I almost stopped listening to this. I didn't like the characters that much and whilThis novel started out spectacular and full of intrigue but midway I almost stopped listening to this. I didn't like the characters that much and while the plot is fantastic, I most of the time need a good set of characters to keep me hooked. The whole middle part of the novel tackling gilgamesh isn't my favourite at all, but I did enjoy all of the parts dealing with the spiders. As a whole the novel isn't bad. I had around 5 hours left and was ready to give up but the last part of the novel (last 1-2 hours) redeemed it. I will be picking up the next novel in the future but i'm quite uncertain when that will be. I'm quite satisfied with how the novel ended and just the right amount of curious to know what can happen in the next novel. 3.5/5 stars, amazing start, dull middle, and great last 90% or so....more
Sadly one of the few novels of King that didn't blow me away. It wasn't bad but the "wow" factor that King brings just wasn't thereSadly one of the few novels of King that didn't blow me away. It wasn't bad but the "wow" factor that King brings just wasn't there...more
This book actually felt a bit like a Stephen King novel. Maybe that's why I was enjoying it so much for the first half or so. The characters are greatThis book actually felt a bit like a Stephen King novel. Maybe that's why I was enjoying it so much for the first half or so. The characters are great, especially the kids part (just like in It). The greatest downfall for me would be the ending. Such a predictable way to end things. I know that a lot of my GR friends found this novel amazing but I just didn't like Eddie anymore in the 2016 parts of the book. Aside from the narrator's voice being a snoozefest, he was just unlikeable and tedious. The narrator for the kid Eddie was great though! I'm not 100% sure if it's the same narrator for both parts but there was a significant difference among them. ...more
Unfortunately I didn't really gain anything new from this novel. Everything that was tackled here I've already read somewhere else and it's more of quUnfortunately I didn't really gain anything new from this novel. Everything that was tackled here I've already read somewhere else and it's more of questions than answers really. This novel isn't bad, it's just unfortunate that I already read a bunch of books like this before and those were more in depth....more
It's almost always a miss when it comes to King's short stories. What I mean by miss is not being a 5-star read. This one actually has amazing charactIt's almost always a miss when it comes to King's short stories. What I mean by miss is not being a 5-star read. This one actually has amazing characters and a decent plot, but like my problem with his recent short stories and novels is that the ending or big reveal isn't good enough. The story as a whole is great but just wasn't enough for me to give it 5 stars. Really high expectations from your favourite author could be a factor, but I honestly didn't love the ending....more
Fate, destiny—they’re myths. We are the sum of our choices. Choose well.
I haven't written a proper review in forever, so once again (i'm sure I've saiFate, destiny—they’re myths. We are the sum of our choices. Choose well.
I haven't written a proper review in forever, so once again (i'm sure I've said this before) forgive me if I ramble on mindlessly as I try to write an acceptable review of this novel.
Due to time constraint/med school, I have very limited free time. I have a social life, I've been called a gym rat, I play games, I occasionally play football, and lastly- read for the remaining time that I have. Considering this lifestyle, I am very particular as to which novels to read. Unlike before, where time seemed indefinite, I put down books that haven't really caught my interest 20% in. I almost didn't pick this novel up because of the mediocre reviews from my friends and the goodreads community in general. I was really intrigued by the premise though. I'm a sucker for almost anything SciFi though so I decided to get the sample kindle version and after reading the first 3 chapters, I decided to buy the kindle version, for the full price. I don't normally do that because I personally believe that one shouldn't be forced to pay a full hardback/paperback price for a kindle version but I was in Hong Kong on vacation and only brought my kindle with me plus the fact that I couldn't find a good book in the few bookstores that i could find made me just buy the kindle version in full price. One of the best reading decisions I've ever made.
This novel features Will Dando, the bassist who one day woke up with 108 predictions in which he got from a dream. He has no idea why he was chosen to have the predictions, or how the whole thing was possible to begin with. This summary actually forebodes cliche SciFi but I decided to give the novel the benefit of the doubt. This in turn turned out to be not just a simple story of a man who has predictions and what he decides to do with them... wait actually that's what this novel is, but the author managed to catch my interest for the entirety of the novel. It was an amazing ride, going through what Will Dando did. As per any review of mine, this review will contain no spoiler. This I remember is the hardest part of writing a review. I'm so limited to saying anything that I end up rambling about random stuff.
I really can't talk much about the plot without spoiling and while the plot is the best feature of this novel, I can thankfully talk about other great aspects of this novel. The characters are actually well developed and didn't end up sounding stupid and shallow. Believe me I've read a bunch of SciFi novels wherein the characters ruined my whole experience of the novel because they all sound batshit stupid. Will, Leigh, Miko, Hamza, even The Coach are all interesting and memorable characters. I usually end up loving the novel more if the characters are great (hence Stephen King being my favorite author) but like I said, this novel has the plot as its main star, with great characters as the support.
I have to admit that the writing isn't perfect. There are a bunch of dialogues that made me scratch my head but this aspect I can forgive because of the terrific plot and characters. The ending is not the best out there but boy am I glad that it wasn't cliche. I was leaning towards giving this novel 4-4.5 around 80% in, and a bad ending would've made me go down to a 3 but I actually really liked it and well, I've decided to give this a 5 star rating.
5/5 stars! Very first novel I've finished this 2019 and it's already a 5-star read. I'm really hoping i'd get to read more books this year and that most would end up being 5 star reads. Lately I've been giving out the 5 star rating more often but it's also because I've put down so much bad novels. I usually don't even get to finish 3-star reads anymore but some really great ones end up having bad endings. Don't hesitate to read this if you want a great SciFi read!...more
Took me exactly a month to read this. Will write a review, most probably. Still can't get over how amazing this novel is. Might need a few hours/days Took me exactly a month to read this. Will write a review, most probably. Still can't get over how amazing this novel is. Might need a few hours/days to fully process the experience....more