grogu_djarin's reviews
117 reviews

Azazeel by Jonathan Wright, Youssef Ziedan

adventurous informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Overall Thoughts:
This was a fascinating book, I enjoyed the backdrop of early Christianity including some major events and notable historical characters such as Hypatia, Cyril, and Nestorius leading up to the Council of Ephesus and an exploration of cities Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Antioch. This is by far the most interesting part of the book and Ziedan's academic experience in the matter shows.

That said, quite a lot of that plot is left in the backdrop while the story focuses more on Hypa's hyper-fixation on two different women. Sure, there are elements of the theological debate on topics such as hypostasis, elements Christianity has adopted or shunned from paganism, and politics between the bishops, but Hypa's thoughts are less burdened by this and more from his personal desires. I think this would have been a far more interesting story if it explored his conflicts of faith, but his faith often has a habit of being put on the side for his lusts.

Likes:

I liked this historical setting especially in the context of historical characters such as Hypatia, Cyril, and Nestorius and historical cities like Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Antioch. Each location felt different and I liked the contrast.

Dislikes:

The book focuses far too much on Hypa's hyper-fixation with women to the point it felt more like the focus of the plot while the theological debate is given less attention and serves as more of a backdrop.
While it covers a lot of history, it didn't feel to me that a lot happened in the story, partly due to Hypa acting as more of an observer in events and retelling them in the scrolls he's writing years later. It felt more like a summary of events than anything else.
The author had a habit of sidetracking the writing with needless descriptions, including things such as the exact dimensions and layouts of certain rooms.
The book uses modern names for cities unless the cities no longer exist or are notable in their classical names which leads to an odd mish-mash of locations that make it feel semi-modern despite the historical period.

Other Notes:

There's several graphic sex scenes so keep that in mind if that's to your taste or not.

Would Recommend To:

Anyone interested in historical fiction, especially one which explores the early history of Christianity.

Do Not Recommend To:

People uninterested in historical fiction or Christianity and anyone who does not like reading about sex.

Traveler of the Century by Andrés Neuman

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challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Overall Thoughts:
This is a well-written book but I think it's probably not for most people. It's extremely literary and the majority of the book centers around two parallel debates. One debate is with the organ grinder and his impoverished friends on the nature of life, while the other debate contrasts it by taking place in an upper class salon centered around prominent literature, philosophy, and political movements of the time. While this sounds like an interesting premise on paper, with Hans having to navigate in two opposite worlds, it's not interesting for the hundreds of pages it takes up. There's also a somewhat graphic love affair mixed in that I found distracting due to the tonal whiplash of jumping from an intellectual discussion in one paragraph to crude descriptions of a character's genitals in the next.

I also didn't find any of the characters likable except Sophie in the beginning. She's a well-educated and independent woman but is bound by the social mores of the time. This made her extremely compelling because I was never quite sure which was the genuine Sophie and which was the facade. Her words and gestures were all layered with meaning. Unfortunately, all this build-up gets discarded and replaced with innuendo and the focus shifts from her personality and intellect to her body. While there are other characters that feature prominently in the story, few of them stood as characters on their own. They were mostly there to serve certain roles in the debates (eg the disagreeable one, the timid one, the old-fashioned one, etc).

Likes:

There are a few mysteries that string you along throughout the book such as who the organ grinder is, why no one leaves Wandernburg, why the roads never seem the same, and the identity of a masked man. These held my interest when they'd come up, but most aren't satisfactorily addressed.
I liked the contrast between the upper class society and the servant/worker class society, especially when that is a topic of debate in the book.
The writing itself was well done and there were a few spots I paused reading for a few moments to reflect on a line or passage.

Dislikes:

The love story in the book started strong exploring social mores of the time and had an intellectual foundation, but it quickly devolved into sex scene after sex scene with all the aspects that made it interesting suddenly missing.
A lot of the characters felt tropey, in particular the organ grinder. I think he's supposed to be one of the main mysteries of the book, but throughout the story he basically ended up being the "wise old homeless man that seems to always know exactly what the protagonist needs to know" trope.
The book is way too long. I think it easily could have been cut in half by removing many of the debates, which are monotonous and repetitive. While I was enjoying it at first, by the halfway point I was wanting some sort of conclusion but it kept going and going and going, long overstaying its welcome.

Other Notes:

This book does not use quotations marks at all. Dialogue often runs together in a paragraph with speakers separated by text or (parentheses). I thought this would bother me more than it did, but you get used to it.
The book features somewhat graphic sex and several scenes of rape so this may be off-putting to many people.

Would Recommend To:

Someone who is interested in the political, social, literary, and philosophical landscape of Europe (and especially Germany) in the early 19th Century. It also helps if you already have some background in the history, literature, and philosophy of the times because it's easier to relate to the discussion in the salon.

Do Not Recommend To:

Most people. I think you would need very specific tastes to enjoy this book.

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Overall Thoughts:
This is my favorite book in the series so far! It tied together a lot of loose threads from the earlier books in a satisfying way while at the same time it expanded the lore in a significant way. The case is probably the least interesting part of the book, and least interesting case in the series so far, but everything else about the book more than makes up for it.

This also feels like the end of a chapter in the series and the start of a new one, while still leaving plenty of threads to explore later on. It's pretty clear from the beginning that Peter is growing into his own and not quite as bumbling as he used to be concerning magic and the Folly has grown into an increasingly capable unit with a greater number of allies. I'm curious if this means they'll begin facing more dangerous threats down the line.

Likes:

Peter is at his most capable in this book and really starting to hit his stride. While he's still not yet at Nightingale levels, he's a lot more useful to the team.
It gave satisfying resolutions/continuations of earlier plot threads and laid the foundation for more to come.
I thought there was great use of some of the side characters, in particular Sahra Guleed.

Dislikes:

A few comics happen in between this one and the prior book Foxglove Summer and the events of those comics are referenced in a few places. As someone that didn't read them, this left me confused in a few spots.
The actual case in the book is the least interesting one by far, but partly because it ends up sidelined for a lot of the story, which isn't particularly a bad thing because the rest of it was great! The result is that the book feels a bit like it drags whenever it comes around to the case again.

Other Notes:

Would Recommend To:

Anyone who has read and enjoyed the earlier books in the series. I'd say this is the book everything has been building up to so if you've enjoyed them so far, you'll definitely like this one!

Do Not Recommend To:

Anyone who hasn't read the earlier Rivers of London books. This builds off the earlier ones in substantial ways and you'll be lost without reading them!

Carry Me Down by M.J. Hyland

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Overall Thoughts:
It took me a long time to decide how to review this book. I'm not sure if it's more genius or more disturbing. It's written from the perspective of John, a 12 year old, so a lot of the writing is fairly simple and it ended up being a faster read than I expected. That said, because we're exposed to John's thoughts I think most people's first conclusion is that John is deranged rather than just a kid who has the thought process of a kid, though it also doesn't help that he grows up in a highly dysfunctional household. There's a point in the book he does something bad, and I'm not sure it's as bad as the book makes it. It's something I've seen happen among kids just playing because they don't understand the consequences. Also, it's weird the book paints him at fault rather than the environment he grows up in.

What makes the book interesting is how psychological it is. Not just with John's ability to detect lies, which you're never 100% sure if it's a real ability or a mix of his imagination and sensitivity towards others' behaviors, but also because you're constantly wondering how reliable of a narrator he is. There are many scenes where details are left out because he couldn't observe them, and he filles in the gaps with what his assumptions and speculations. I also think he might be autistic because he has some behavioral tics you'll observe throughout the book, so it makes his perspective even more unusual.

Likes:

The author did a superb job of capturing the thought process of a 12 year old. It's a very brilliant psychological exploration of a kid growing up in a less than ideal environment.
I liked the exploration of 1970's Ireland as a setting. You get to read a bit about life in the countryside and in Dublin from the perspective of an impoverished family.

Dislikes:

There's some graphic scenes of child abuse and animal abuse. I'm not sure I'd say they're gratuitous, because they emphasize the environment he lives in, but they're extremely uncomfortable to read.

Other Notes:

It's a very day-in-the-life book and so it tends to develop a repetition of what they ate, what he did at school, and so on. This may not be for everyone but I felt it worked for the book.

Would Recommend To:

Anyone who is into books exploring the psychology of the characters would probably enjoy this. It feels a bit thrilling at times trying to understand the psychology of the characters and being unsure what is the truth. After finishing it I immediately recommended it to some friends that are psychologists just because I think they would enjoy deconstructing the characters and their behavior.

Do Not Recommend To:

Anyone who is dislikes disturbing content, especially people who are sensitive to child and animal abuse.

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Overall Thoughts:
I hated the first quarter of it but once they're off Earth it picks up and ultimately is a lighthearted romp in the stars that is at least creative and entertaining. It really suffers from excessive adjective use and random tangents in the descriptions of things though. Early on there was literally 4 lines of adjectives describing something. To me, that was well beyond purple prose and took me out of the reading trying to remember what the author was even describing. It gets easier to read as you go because you get more used to it, but it makes for an odd pacing. I've heard the writing style is meant to evoke Douglas Adams, but where Adams wrote witty genius this feels like the author thought throwing random words on the page was close enough.

Likes:

It was a charming, lighthearted read that didn't take itself too seriously and ultimately was entertaining.
The descriptions of the aliens and their physiologies and cultures were very imaginative and creative. The aliens definitely feel alien in it and each species felt entirely unique and not at all human.
As a Eurovision fan it was fun seeing some of the nods to the earthbound song contest.
There's a few moments of reflection on human history and society that I felt were well written but they're infrequent and relatively short.

Dislikes:

This book has so many excessive rambling going-on-forever never-stopping endless stream of conscience lists of ever-escalating verbose and equally pointless but flowery purple prose-y adjectives, literal lines of it vomited onto the page that you keep wondering when it will stop but half a page later it finally gets to the subject it's describing. Or TL;DR: this book rambles a lot!
I felt it tried too hard to be funny but never actually was. I didn't laugh at all through it and only two parts made me chuckle. Maybe it's just not my sense of humor, but I get what it was going for, it just didn't land for me.

Other Notes:

I found most of the characters insufferable; I'm not sure if that is a dislike or not because I think they were meant to be, but I don't think there's enough actual character study to say there was any deep growth. Similarly, they're from diverse backgrounds but it's mostly not relevant or mentioned outside of a few scenes. Granted, some of it might have been lost in the excessive descriptions.
It feels like a quick read because there's actually not that many scenes in the story, but when you add in the excess words it does takes a bit longer to get through it and might drag in spots. It's still a fairly short book, but it probably wouldn't lose anything noteworthy if it was half as long.

Would Recommend To:

Anyone that wants a lighthearted science fiction read that doesn't take itself seriously and who doesn't mind a lot of excessive word usage and tangents. Anyone that likes irreverent humor might also like it, but I personally didn't find it very funny.

Do Not Recommend To:

Anyone turned off by purple prose, irreverent humor (that honestly wasn't very funny anyway), or anyone that is looking for a more serious science fiction.

River of Fire by Qurratulain Hyder

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challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Overall Thoughts:
It's nice this is translated by the author so we know the spirit of the book is unchanged, but I think I would have rated it higher with a newer translation or if there was a glossary or annotations. It's a challenging read due to many words being transliterated from Urdu rather than translated, so I was often looking up definitions and amassing several footnotes of my own, per page!

The first half covers classical, medieval, and colonial India while the latter half covers the Partition era. It becomes easier to read in the second half, with fewer words needing explanation, but the earlier stories are more interesting and fantastical. The meat of the story is in the latter half though and the first half is almost unnecessary besides the additional historical context it provides and emphasis on the themes of the book (which are still apparent in the latter half).

Likes:

It does an excellent job capturing the emotion and context surrounding Indian/Pakistani history, especially that of colonial India and Partition.
There is a sort of wisdom and mysticism in it regarding the journey of life that is captured in the many generations of characters and the lessons they learn.
It has a lot of good themes related to love, human nature, the circumstances of life, identity, and time and has some beautiful writing when it gets philosophical.

Dislikes:

The translation is extremely tedious, almost academic in nature, with many untranslated words.
Some of the characters felt trope-ish when considering their historical counterparts since they play similar roles in each era. I felt this was most problematic with Champa, who is implied to be a devious woman solely due to her beauty despite having more depth to her.

Other Notes:

I found myself caring about the characters, but I wouldn't say any of them were lovable as their flaws consume a large part of their lives.
Women are generally treated poorly in this story, mostly due to their position in society throughout history and some scenes may be troubling.
You almost need to go in already having some familiarity with the history of India/Pakistan and some knowledge of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Islam, Sufism, and classical Indian music, poetry, and dance as these are all heavily referenced.

Would Recommend To:

Anyone interested in learning more about the history of India/Pakistan and the emotion surrounding Partition. It's also a good story for those interested in the lessons of life and an exploration of human nature as seen through the journeys of the main characters.

Do Not Recommend To: