I was excited to pick this up as it has soo many amazing reviews but sadly this was a disappointment.
It is just 448 pages but I felt that I have read more than 1000 pages of the same thing rinse and repeated.
The core of the story is about Addie- her desire to not give in, have a free life and leave a mark in this world.
“What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind?”
The concept does sound decent and at the start maybe it was. We alternated between the flashback travelling through different time-lines and Addie's journey through 300 years of it and back to present- 2013.
And then from there it all went downhill. It was the same thing again and again and the story at one point just stopped moving forward. There was a stage in the story I was desperate for something, anything to happen even it was a disaster to our main character.
Then we have- Luc the Old god. He would have been more interesting to know but he was just a 2 dimensional character. A lost opportunity to build something interesting.
Then there is Henry who seemed like a mere plot device at the end.
By the end of it all Addie came off as selfish, self-obsessed and shallow.
What vexed me was the ending, it is open ended and also a good set-up for a sequel - which I am no way interested in.
The book was published in 2014 and if read at that time it might have been a sci-fic but after covid and what it couldBuddy Read with Ashlin and Pooja
The book was published in 2014 and if read at that time it might have been a sci-fic but after covid and what it could have been if the strain was as infectious as the virus in this book, this might be an alternate reality we might be living with and that thought alone is horrifying!
The story also made me realise that there are soo many things that we take for granted and don't even realise what life can be without those in our lives- from the ease of travel and flying in airplanes to using maps to easily find our way. Then there are the luxurious of having shoes and warm clothes. And it all can go away on the blink of an eye if the civilization as we know it collapses.
The way the collapse of the civilization is written is again very well done. It's not some big doomsday as we see in movies but every small thing we take for granted just blinking away from our existence.
It literally gave me and my buddies reading the book an existential crisis! Made us imagine how long will we survive if such a thing occurs with the skill-set we have. I am sure I wouldn't make it that long.
Then there is also the horror of your life, your loved ones and everything you know snatched away and you are the only one left surviving. Would you really want to live a life like that or is it a mercy if you die in the first wave of infection?
Too many questions opened up in my mind.
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You are unable to pinpoint who is the main character in this book and if there is any at all!
The only reason it's a 3.5 and not a 4 star is because even though I have tagged this as a sci-fic, I would very loosely categorise it under that genre. The more I think about it the more I like the story. Well written and also thought provoking. So definitely a 4 star....more
“Here’s a thing I’ve learned: Perfection is deception. An illusion. It’s a carefully curated but false narrative. The Buddy Read with Ashlin and Pooja
“Here’s a thing I’ve learned: Perfection is deception. An illusion. It’s a carefully curated but false narrative. The golden family you think you know from the luxury home down the street—they’re not who you believe they are. They have faults, secrets. Sometimes dark and terrible ones.”
What do we get when we have a maid that loves to snoop and people who have dangerous secrets that they might be protecting- a delicious suspense thriller.
Without giving away any spoilers- you go into this book expecting certain things and then you get delivered what you expect and then you think yourself to be very intelligent:
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AND THEN the PLOT TWIST makes you realise you are not as intelligent as you thought and most of your theories are
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If you like a good mystery, pick this up next!...more
A cozy mystery- setting is appropriate. I remember some of the things happening in the book were pretty unrealistic esBuddy Read with Ashlin and Pooja
A cozy mystery- setting is appropriate. I remember some of the things happening in the book were pretty unrealistic especially where our Female lead was daring and doing things no normal person in their right minds might do. Still had a few places that gave me the creep and I remember the Climax scene being fast paced and thrilling hence the 3 stars....more
A good take on the Mythology and story of goddess Circe. This book felt long though and there were parts where I wanteBuddy Read with Ashlin and Pooja
A good take on the Mythology and story of goddess Circe. This book felt long though and there were parts where I wanted the story to move faster. But then isn't mythology long, winded and complicated at times?...more
This is the first time I am reading a locked room mystery and the reason we picked this up for a buddy read being thisBuddy read with Pooja and Ashlin
This is the first time I am reading a locked room mystery and the reason we picked this up for a buddy read being this book is in the top 5 locked room mystery of all time and boy IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
At the start of the story it looked all very simple. It's a locked room, a crime took place, how hard can it be? How many possibilities are there for the way the crime was committed? I had my theories and none of them were right! This itself is an indication that the story is good and stands the test of time.
The main focus is not on who did it but on how it was done. The story had a main plot and in parallel lots of small mini mysteries that were all solved satisfactorily by the end. Some I was able to guess some were a surprise!
This is not a standalone but a series which I was unaware of when I started the book. I already have some theories on the next book in the series and the storyline and will definitely want to read the next one. Hoping it's as good as this one.
Note: This book was originally written in French and I read the translated English version. The sentences were long and sometimes it felt tedious to read but the story more or less makes up for it....more
Love the writing style, love the story and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
I definitely want to explore more of the Discworld series and I felt the writLove the writing style, love the story and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
I definitely want to explore more of the Discworld series and I felt the writing style of Terry Pratchett is very similar to Neil Gaiman whom I love.
Death is such a layered character, it was interesting reading about this world and reading about different characters in this book. The story is also sprinkled with humor. Definitely a page turner. ...more
I just got to say this at the start, this was a difficult book for me to read. I mostly read fiction but as part of the challenge I picked up this memoir but the thing with a memoir is all the events that happened in the book are real and frankly it made it very difficult for me as I could not disassociate myself with all the tragedies that happened. It took a toll on me mentally and I found the book draining.
Trigger: Soo many small babies die (because of lack of hygienic conditions, poverty and medical assistance) and this truly was heart-breaking. So if something like this is difficult for you to read then think before you start this one.
This book spans over more than 18 years of Frank's life and portrays all the hardships he went through as a child. I really did feel a lot for him and his family and I am glad that he came out of the poor situation and made a good life for himself.
The memoir continues in the second book 'Tis A Memoir. I think its the second part of his life and picks up where this book left off, I purchased both the books as a set but will definitely not be reading the second one anytime soon....more
This book has won many awards and is considered one of a kind when it was published in 1962. This has a unique mix of fantasy and science fiction still retaining a spiritual undertone to it. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it? But the fact is even though there is all this potential in the story it falls short of 'all it could have been'.
The story is from the perspective of Meg whose parents are scientist and her father has been missing from past couple of years. Now this has a decent start but to really like a book you need to connect to its characters. I found Meg really really irritating. There were times when she threw a hissy fit and all I wanted to do was smack her in the face. Not a very noble thought but that's the reaction she got from me most of the times. [image] Apart from that I felt all the other characters are two dimensional. There was no character development whatsoever....
There is talk of 5th dimension and I really liked the concept. But I wanted more on this and less on the other nonsensical things going on and overall I just felt very unsatisfied.
There are beings from other galaxies and this part was most interesting. Atleast for me this was one saving grace which did not make it a 1 star read.
The ending is very anti-climatic. We are building towards this epic ending and then it ends just like that. I was like... [image]
All I can say is this book could have gone the other way for me if Meg was a more endearing character and the focus was the 5th dimension and other galaxies rather than Meg and her tantrums....more
This book is originally written in Japanese and I read the translated English version of this.
I have read only 1 other book by Higashino- The Devotion of Suspect X and frankly I can confirm after reading this that I am a fan of this author.
By 30% of the story there is an arrest and it is very obvious as to who the killer is. At this point I felt, So we now know who the killer is and generally we reach this stage by the end of a book... so What Now?? I did not anticipate that this is actually the beginning of the real story.
The author has a very unique style of writing mysteries. It's not about "who is the killer but is about what is the motive?:
This author has taught me that a mystery novel can be much more than just a chase for the murderer.
There is a huge hint at the very start, if you connect it, it will be lot easier to understand what the book is all about but somehow I completely missed it and when it struck me [image]
Frankly I can't wait to read other books by this author. I know that if I need a mystery novel which is different he is my go-to author.
P.S: This is a stand alone and can be read without reading other books in the series....more
"To be or not to be,- that is the question:- Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles"
This is my second Shakespeare read (first being Othello) but I have to be frank and say that I liked Othello better. Part of the reason being that I found Hamlet harder to read and partly because I couldn't connect to Hamlet emotionally. I agree that he was undergoing a lot of emotions from loss, to sorrow, to betrayal, to anger, to burning hot revenge. But at no point did I feel sympathy with Hamlet's character.
The story revolves around greed, lust and revenge. There are a lot of characters that I ended up disliking mainly Gertrude and Cornelius.
Ophelia is Hamlet's love interest but frankly I did not feel she was a major character, agreed that she suffered a lot but somehow she wasn't distinct enough as her own character in this play. Her father and brother played a bigger role I guess.
The plot is really good and Tragedy is the perfect term to describe this play.
One thing that took me a bit aback was the way Hamlet's father was killed (view spoiler)[Poisoning through the ear... Like really, is that even real? (hide spoiler)]
Overall the plot and all the political intrigue mixed with the family drama makes this a good read....more
I didn't like this book for the first half, I mean it was okish nothing mind-blowing but then as it progressed it madeBuddy Read with Ashlin and Pooja
I didn't like this book for the first half, I mean it was okish nothing mind-blowing but then as it progressed it made me feel emotional and towards the end it just gutted me.
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