dana_naylor's reviews
475 reviews

Nifty series of interviews organized into a book. Chapters are Shakespeare plays Dench has been in separated by part. Neat vignettes and memories. Neat views on the continued importance of the Bard and on acting. Dench’s voice shines through.

Still liking the series and will keep going with it.
Pathos closer in level to the first book. More moments with other crawlers.
Some moments of levity especially with Donut and Mongo.
Ends with lead up to the next floor. We’re seeing the story lines come together.

So far it’s my least favorite of the series.
The train world was just too confusing overall.
I’ll still be reading the next book soon!

LOVED it!

It’s rare to find romances with middle aged characters. Loved the characters, loved the snark, loved the slow build. I’m sure I’ll be rereading this and I’ll be checking out her other books too!

Fun sequel. I found book 1 to be sad in bits but book 2 was just pretty bonkers all the time. I laughed a lot more. Right now this is just hitting what I want to be reading. May grab Book 3 soon!

I like Donut's growth :)

Similar in theme to Long Live Evil, I think I may have enjoyed this more if I hadn’t just finished Evil. This was fun though! I laughed a lot, especially at the beginning.

Part of a duology, but I may stop here.

I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea. 
This book is a sequel and sadly doesn't live up to the original.
I'm glad we have Klune's voice. He dedicates this book to trans people and in the afterword says he wants to be the anti-J K Rowling.

I guess this book wasn't for me because he tries to provide hope in a way that I don't agree is accurate or possible now. I thought he was very effective and affecting in House, but I just don't buy it here.
I enjoy our main characters and enjoyed spending time with them again.
The ending

just is too much of a deus ex machina. If you have powers like Zoe does, why would you not have used them earlier. Would there have been enough change that the people on the peninsula actually have stood up for the islanders. If you believe you're protecting the world from the antichrist, wouldn't you go even further and attempt to nuke the island.

It just felt too polemic and too easy at the same time.

It may also just be that I'm in a really pessimistic phase. I've been attempting to read In the Lives of Puppets for quite some time and it hasn't grabbed me.

The first of a planned trilogy, this is the first Corey book I've read. I haven't watched any of The Expanse either. Definitely a dark book, it involves first contact and the destruction of the world of our main characters. We do know that the attackers will eventually be defeated by the "final statement"s at the start of each Part of the book.

I found the story fascinating and the issues it deals with providing a lot of food for thought.
I expect this is a book my mind will be pondering for a while.

I've seen that there's a novella out in the universe that takes place after this book. I'm not sure if I'll read it, but I will definitely be getting Book 2 when it's published. Very curious how species survival will be possible through the series.

One of the characters has the best description and representation I've seen of mental illness requiring medication (specifically depression).

Apparently the series began in 2020 as a self-published book. I just became aware of it when it was in the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore SFF book box. It is an absolutely batshit premise. You have to ignore science and reality any time questions impinge while reading, but if you enjoy RPGs, it's great fun.

That said...it also does have sad moments when the "reality" in this world sink in for the characters or we see what's happening more clearly. It's a very human book (about caring for others and your choices on how to live) - but we also have Princess Donut, a talking cat.

From the acknowledgments...

I will definitely be picking up the next book, although I do worry about the darkness
Had trouble putting this one down!

Too short!

Great fun. First part in a trilogy. I think it works okay by itself as a scene…so it’s effective as a novella.
I like the characters and I want more!
Books 2 and 3 have scheduled releases shortly, so I won’t have to wait too terribly long.

I may need to check out her other books too.
And I really to know what the backhanded compliment was that inspired the book to be written out of spite! (Loved the dedication.)