juan_adhd_reading's reviews
125 reviews

It was a good short story, if you're looking for something to kill the time or if you're trying to keep up with your reading challenge. It has an interesting premise (if s bit predictable at the end), but I really didn't vibe with those cop characters. They might had made them more sympathetic but there's only so much you can do with a story this short. I did like Martin, though.
In any case, it was entertaining and mysterious, so if you have an hour to spare I'd recommend it. 

This review is specifically for the Audible adaptation of the novel, starring Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, and Andrew Scott.

I'd like to start by saying that the performances in this audiobook were fantastic, which is of course to be expected for such a stacked cast.

That being said, I don't think this should be your first approach to the novel if you haven't yet read it. This is a highly summarized and abridged version, and without the world building, and the character's internal monologue there is a lot you could miss. 

I will say that I hated the character of Winston in the original novel, due to his highly misogynistic views. I understand that it makes sense internally in the novel, with Winston growing up in a highly authoritarian state, but I'm glad they cut a lot of it back in the novel.

This is, of course, a classic in the dystopian genre, having shown the highly detrimental effects of a totalitarian surveillance state on its people, the modification of language, the creation of propaganda, the indoctrination of children, and the erasure of history. All of these are kept in this adaptation, so I think if you read this before, you'll love it!

I read this book after watching the series in Apple TV, and I've got to say, I really liked the TV adaptation much more than the book.

This is mainly because I feel like the series has a much more intersectional approach to feminism than the book. Harriet is the same age as Elizabeth in the show, which I think helps develop their friendship, plus it actually gives Harriet a chance to help Elizabeth through the challenges of motherhood. Since her kids are also young, it means Mad actually has some close friends besides Amanda. But the best change to Harriet's character was making her a civil rights activist, fighting brilliantly against the gentrification happening in her own neighborhood. In the show there is a fantastic scene where Elizabeth interrupts her show to help promote a protest that she will be participating in, and afterwards they show her trying to use what little privilege she has as a white woman to stop the police from brutalizing the black people at the protest. The only mildly equivalent scene in the book is one where she admits she's an atheist on TV, thus provoking a deranged woman to bring a bomb to the studio.

As you can guess, there is barely a mention of POC characters in the book, and all the main characters are white. Besides that, my main criticism of the book is that Elizabeth seems to be the only smart progressive woman in the world, where as in the series we see a lot of other brilliant women, leaders and communicators. Besides Harriet, Miss Frask is a lot more nuanced in the TV show. Yes, she is mean to Elizabeth, but only because she thinks there is an air of superiority everytime she's with her. She actively tries to have Elizabeth participate in group activities, and only feels offended after she thinks Elizabeth has disrespected all her efforts. We see Ms. Frask and Elizabeth friendship evolve much more naturally in the show, in my opinion. And making her a manager at the TV show station was a fantastic choice. In the book, Ms. Frask seems to hate Elizabeth genuinely.

Right after Calvin died she basically calls Elizabeth a whore, who is only sad because she can no longer take advantage of Calvin, rather than an actual grieving woman.

Nothing as hateful happens in the show, as long as I can remember.

I want to end this review on a positive note, so with all honestly I can say that Calvin's and Elizabeth relationship was managed beautifully in both the book and the show. I cried at least 5 times while reading,

with Calvin's death and its aftermath being able to be talked about in more detail in the book. The saddest part, in my opinion, was 6:30's internal thoughts, as he too deals with survivors guilt and grief.

If you still haven't read the book I do think it's worth giving it a try, even with all the differences to the show. 

Presté este libro y desafortunadamente no tuve el tiempo suficiente para terminarlo antes de devolverlo.

Me intriga mucho la trama, por lo que espero reponer mi lectura pero con una edición en su idioma original.

Primer lectura de 2025! Me la leí de imprevisto solo porque lo encontré en una biblioteca, y me llamó la atención el título. Nunca me imagine que el libro fuera una distopia, pero me enganchó desde el primer capítulo. El libro aborda cómo los gobierno autoritarios se adueñan de los bienes, crean necesidades y controlan la distribución de los bienes necesarios para cubrirlos. Además también abarca el tema de manipulación del lenguaje con fines de controlar y cambiar el pensamiento de una población (un poco al estilo de George Orwell con su doublespeak). 

A mi parecer, creo que el tema fue abordado de manera superficial, y el conflicto tuvo una resolución un poco acelerada. Sin embargo, aunque autores como Orwell y Ray Bradbury abarcan mejor los temas distopicos y sociales con novelas igual de cortas, creo que esta es una historia cautivadora y muy sencilla de leer para comenzar. 

Chequeen las advertencias de lectura antes de tomar este libro.

There must be something in the fourth book of every Rick Riordan series, because I could swear it’s always my favorite one!!! Last year when I read PJO, The Battle of the Labyrinth was also my favorite. 

Percy and Annabeth’s journey through Tartarus was just done masterfully. This is mostly because the book acknowledges that there are perils that even these Demigods, who have beat several giants and titans and innumerable other monsters, can’t handle. So how do they survive Tartarus? With the help of one the titans they beat in the past! I’m gonna have to re read Sword of Hades to get over Bob 😭 He was such a great addition, and his redemption arc felt so real. I love how this and past books show that evil is not inherent in a monster, with such great and sweet characters like Tyson, Ella, Bob and Damasen (the peaceful giant). 

Meanwhile the other group has to deal with absence of two of the most important demigods, while trying to get to the Doors of Death before Percy and Annabeth get consumed by Tartarus. Nico was definitely the star here, dealing with being the black sheep of the group but still essential if they have any hope of making it to the House of Hades. The scene with Cupid??? *chef’s kiss* Hazel and Frank also get major character development, with Hazel learning to control the Mist and Frank finally learning to accept his heritage as a son of Mars and use it to his advantage. I didn’t feel that the character development was as strong with Piper and Jason, though. 

Now Leo…

LEO AND CALYPSO!!!! *screams internally* The chapter with Percy on Ogygia was one of my favorites in BotL, and this one was almost as good. I felt like it was being written a little mean towards Leo, but that was just to reflect how he feels towards himself being another black sheep in the group. The fact that out of every demigod that has visited the island, he is probably the only one with the technical capacity to find it again and finally break the curse!!! I understand why people would ship him with Calypso after all that, though personally I feel like Leo is aro/ace.

I can’t wait to finally finish this fantastic series!

Listen, I'm not gonna pretend that this book doesn't have its flaws, particularly regarding prose, dialogue, and world-building. Yeah, it can sometimes feel a bit underdeveloped or even juvenile (I think it could've benefited greatly from being written for adult audiences instead of YA). But at the end of the day I do NOT care, because this book was insanely fun!!! It's an action-packed revenge story that blurs the line between sci-fi and fantasy with magically controlled giant mecha suits fighting against aliens. It basically feels like reading anime. The protagonist, Wu Zetian, starts as a morally grey femme fatale type of character who plots to avenge the murder of her big sister, and throughout the story, we can see her descent into a fully unhinged tyrannical villain. I LOVED IT!!!

There is a plot twist at the very end of the book that completely redefines the events of the story, and some might feel like it came out of nowhere, but I believe there are some clues scattered throughout the book that actually foreshadow it. We know that the war is not what it seems, because the army has been lying about everything from the very beginning, from the accuracy of Spirit Pressure testing, to why women are always placed in the Yin seat instead of men.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story, even if it took me a little time to get into it. I CANNOT WAIT for the sequel!!!

This book really had the potential to become my favorite Murderbot novel. I guess I wasn't in the right frame of mind at the time when I read it, otherwise, it could've easily been a 5-star read. Having this story be a full-length novel instead of a novella really helps with fleshing out Murderbot as a character, showing how its life is at Preservation with Dr. Mensah and her family, and helping it discover what it really wants to do with its newfound freedom. Also, ART is back and sassier than ever!!! I ADORE Murderbot and ART as a duo, and this was a fantastic arc showing them figuring out their relationship. My real only complaint is that this novel's pace felt slower than the other ones in the series, but again, this could be because I was reading it at a bad time in my life.