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Literature @beehaw.org
Kamirose @beehaw.org

Recent finishes & Mini-Reviews

Just finished reading something and want to share some thoughts, but don't want to start a brand new thread? Feel free to post your mini-reviews here!

If you'd like to start a more dedicated discussion, you are still free to begin a stand-alone thread.

Please post any spoilers behind spoiler tags! 

 
    
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5 comments

  • I recently finished Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and while I can see why other people enjoyed it, it was not for me.

    • Your comment about who typically likes and doesn't like this book is really interesting because I loved the book AND love playing games. I hadn't heard this criticism of the book before.

      I think reading your comment in hindsight, yes that DOES strike me as off looking back on it now but I don't think it stuck out while reading to me outside of one Metal Gear Solid reference that made me quirk an eyebrow and knew it wasn't right.

      • Yeah of course the comment on who likes/dislikes it isn't universal, it's just something I heard mentioned at some point.

        I'm someone who can struggle with minutae like what I mentioned in the spoiler section, so that's probably a big part of why I disliked it. Like I said, I do understand why so many people like it - Gabrielle Zevin has great prose and the overall character development is interesting and compelling. I just struggled with some parts.

        I'm glad you liked it!

    • I really enjoyed the first third of that book. the last third was OK. the middle third was so dreadful that I almost stopped reading. it just abruptly shifted to sitcom style/ depth plot and character development, it was bizarre.

  • I finished "The Mists of Avalon" this morning and tbh I am surprised how much I liked it. Started out with big expectations, was a bit disappointed at the beginning but towards the middle the story really got hold of me.

    What did I expect? Well, I hoped for a book which would re-kindle my love for fantasy and optional historical (medival-ish) storys. I hoped to find kind of an epos in this book, with a rich backstory shining through and complex social relationships and encounters.

    :::Spoiler incomming:::

    What disappointed me? The sheer number of romantic scenes, and "romantic" is already an euphemism here, baffled me. Sometimes I felt like reading a YA Novel. Romantic involvement is also really a key point in a lot of decisions characters make and generally a main topic. Also a big no no for me was the reveal at the end, that Gwenhwyfars infertility was always a plot of Morgause. It just came so sudden, almost if someone starts a sentence with :"By the way...".

    What kept me reading? Several things really made the book an overall nice experience for me. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the oftentimes mystical scenery and topic of the old, nature bound religion. On the other hand the readers point of view changes inbetween a few characters. This really paints the depicted world in a lot more colours for me. Also, what was lacking in backstory at the beginning, at least in my eyes, was basically written by the author herself and in the middle of the book I found myself knee deep in more complex entaglements, which I really enjoyed.