I MET JUAN PABLO ESCOBAR / SEBASTIÁN MARROQUÍN YESTERDAY (May 7th 2024)!!!!! He came to my city to do a lecture and had a book signing 2 days before iI MET JUAN PABLO ESCOBAR / SEBASTIÁN MARROQUÍN YESTERDAY (May 7th 2024)!!!!! He came to my city to do a lecture and had a book signing 2 days before it, so of course I had to go. Meeting him was so cool, I'll likely go to the lecture tomorrow too.
I managed to finish the book before the signing, it was interesting and I'd definitely read it again. I already knew most of the story from documentaries and the TV show, but I haven't really brushed up on it in years so it was good to go over it all again.
As I told the author, I really love the character of his mother. She's such a strong woman to be able to go through all of that, I'm not sure if I would've been able to if I was in her place. I'll have to read her book too.
Here we get to see what life was like for Juan/Sebastián growing up as the son of a famous drug lord, what Pablo was like in private, what life was like for his family after they killed him...they all lived such interesting and dangerous lives. I'm glad that they managed to find peace and thrive.
I'll probably write a bit more after the lecture, but yeah I recommend this book if you want to learn more about Pablo Escobar from a closer lense....more
I knew I'd love this before I picked it up and I did, but there are some things that are preventing it from going on my ultimate favourites shelf.
MainI knew I'd love this before I picked it up and I did, but there are some things that are preventing it from going on my ultimate favourites shelf.
Mainly the violence against animals and that (spoiler alert, but a very important one) a dog dies.
I know that, because of Helena's upbringing in the wilderness, she would've had to learn to hunt with her father, completely understandable, but did I really need to read detailed scenes about it? I don't think so.
And the dog dying...I tend to avoid books and movies where dogs die because it's just not something that I want to read about/watch. So I wish I would've known to be prepared.
There's even more violence on top, against Helena's mother, Helena herself and anyone who stands in her father's way, but I was expecting that going in, and so should you if you're planning on picking this up.
I was also expecting more of the book to be set in present times, while Helena is hunting her father, but the majority of it is set in the past. This isn't a negative, because I really enjoyed reading about her childhood, as dark and fucked up as it was.
I liked Helena, who's written to be an unlikable character. I think the author did a good job with showing how someone who came into the world like she did, and grew up as she did could turn out as an adult. Yes, she absolutely is her father's daughter.
I also liked the complex relationship she had with him, how she admired him and feared him at the same time, loved him and hated him, thought about killing him even as a kid etc.
There's one more thing, and that's me wondering if the author is Ojibwe and if the language used in the book is correct. Likewise, it was certainly a choice to make such an evil character Native American.
It partially explains why he'd be so good at hunting, tracking, living in nature, but still. I think they did this differently in the movie, which I haven't yet seen, so I can't say for sure. But at least from the trailer (and the actors picked) it doesn't seem like Helena and her father are indigenous.
When I do see it I might update my thoughts here and compare....more
I started reading this book a bit before 5am on the 22nd, while travelling, so it's possible that my initial reaction to it was shaped by my lack of sI started reading this book a bit before 5am on the 22nd, while travelling, so it's possible that my initial reaction to it was shaped by my lack of sleep. The thing is, the book didn't really get better when I got home and read more, not yesterday and not today (after I had about 10 hours of sleep).
I do think that a big part of this is the translation. I wasn't really thinking about that when I decided to read it that way, but as soon as I started I began to feel awkward. The translators tried, I'm sure, but I really should've read this in English.
At no point did I feel engaged in the story, or the characters. They were just okay.
Another "minus" for this book is my personal dislike of the second chance romance trope which almost never works for me, and surprise surprise it didn't work for me here either. I don't remember if I knew it had this trope beforehand or not, I think not? Because I definitely wouldn't have picked it up if I knew.
I'm not particularly sad that I didn't like it, I wasn't sure I would. Although a lot of my friends do so SORRY FRIENDS. At least I'm reading again (I hope), this may have gotten me out of my long slump.
A person from Morocco gifted this book to my mother, and I figured I might as well read it too.
It definitely achieved what it set out to do, which is A person from Morocco gifted this book to my mother, and I figured I might as well read it too.
It definitely achieved what it set out to do, which is to share stories about women's sex lives in Morocco.
Although, the stories themselves take up less room than the author's own opinions. Still, I didn't mind. I think it all works well together, and it should be required reading for a lot of people....more
UPDATE 15th of May 2023: I JUST MET ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY, HE WAS SO NICE YOU GUYS, super super nice, definitely recommend going to a book signing if he'UPDATE 15th of May 2023: I JUST MET ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY, HE WAS SO NICE YOU GUYS, super super nice, definitely recommend going to a book signing if he's ever coming near you. Also found out book three should be translated by the end of the year so yayyy!!!
Original review:
Adrian Tchaikovsky is coming to do a book signing in my city today, so it's fitting I managed to finish this on the day of.
It wasn't a hard read at all, I'm a little surprised because I heard it's "hard scifi", but I had no trouble getting into the story or figuring out what was going on with the experiment.
Maybe that's because the translation was good? Who knows. Anyway, I had a really good time reading this and my favourite character was the spider, Portia.
I wasn't expecting the spiders to be such huge characters or to get PoVs, but I'm not complaining. They kind of remind me of Ninth Rain, there's big sentient bugs in there too.
As for the humans, I liked Avarna in all her craziness and Holsten. The rest I didn't really mind, they were okay.
I was assuming a book like this would have more action than it did, but it's okay that it didn't.
I'm excited to get into the second book, only thing is, they didn't translate the third book yet and I don't know when they will since it only came out this year and they can be slow, so I might have to wait a while to complete the series. OR, I could read the third book in English, I'll see though....more
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