This one was interesting to me: I was fairly unenthused for the first half, feeling like the relationship between our protagonist and her love interesThis one was interesting to me: I was fairly unenthused for the first half, feeling like the relationship between our protagonist and her love interest was just too shallow and the plot was too thin. I liked it much more from the turning point on, but I feel like the author missed an opportunity to go one step more meta. If she had, I probably would’ve given this five stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books!...more
Great premise, but absolutely not for me. This is Scalzi at his silliest, and as the book went on, the ridiculousness just got to be too much for me. Great premise, but absolutely not for me. This is Scalzi at his silliest, and as the book went on, the ridiculousness just got to be too much for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Subterranean Press!...more
I think I'm pretty forgiving with short story collections: I really just need one or two stories to dazzle me, and I happily give the whole thing fiveI think I'm pretty forgiving with short story collections: I really just need one or two stories to dazzle me, and I happily give the whole thing five stars.
But I really did love this one. I thought it was an unusually strong collection with no real duds, and I loved the wide range of stories: the variety of authors was fabulous (from well-known to newer with diverse voices) and pretty much every story was a different subgenre.
My favorites were Carlie St. George’s The Weight of Your Own Ashes, Xavier Garcia’s An Ode to the Minor Arcana in a Triplet Form, and Tananarive Deive’s A Stranger Knocks.
Loved this. I’d recommend it for fans of Connie Willis.
I was honestly flummoxed by the negative reviews and ratings. Maybe I liked it so much becauseLoved this. I’d recommend it for fans of Connie Willis.
I was honestly flummoxed by the negative reviews and ratings. Maybe I liked it so much because I went in knowing nothing about it but the title. I also don’t think the tone of the book matches the cover, so maybe there are some misaligned expectations.
On its surface, this is a fun time travel romp, but it’s also more than that: there are deeper themes (about mental health, about the role of women in society, about what it means to be a good person) that made the book especially engaging for me.
Yes, you wander a bit in the first half not really knowing what’s going on but that’s because our protagonist doesn’t know what’s going on. And although it’s not for everyone, I liked being in the main character’s head as much as we were....more
This is a book about female friendships and depression and the writing process. I generally loved the friendships shown in the book even when4.5 stars
This is a book about female friendships and depression and the writing process. I generally loved the friendships shown in the book even when they were strained or broken and hard to read about.
This is probably a silly thing, but I think this book would do a lot better with a different title. It sounds like a light romance novel, not about the love between friends at all.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press!...more
Have you seen the movie Cabin in the Woods? This is kind of like that but without any of the cabin parts of the movie (just the scientist parts) and wHave you seen the movie Cabin in the Woods? This is kind of like that but without any of the cabin parts of the movie (just the scientist parts) and way more corporate.
Waddell’s writing is like Scalzi or Weir, stronger than Pargin or Dinniman. It tries a little too hard to be sardonic/sarcastic, but it’s overall enjoyable and super readable.
This is a beautiful book that I'm giving all the stars.
I'm always a little wary of self-published books: the quality tends to vary wildly, but that waThis is a beautiful book that I'm giving all the stars.
I'm always a little wary of self-published books: the quality tends to vary wildly, but that was not a concern here. The prose itself is gorgeous, and I was impressed by the pacing. Sometimes memoirs meander, but this one moved well along a clear narrative arc, and it was enjoyable even if much of the content was heartbreaking.