mkmcelroy's reviews
338 reviews

This book was a beautifully written story that poses interesting discussions about beauty, aesthetics, and shallow/deep academic pursuits. 

My favorite aspects of the book were the atmospheric descriptions and the exploration of the aesthetic of academia. For anyone reading the book purely in search of “dark academia vibes”, you won’t be disappointed. Additionally, I found Tartt’s writing incredibly intentional and full of depth to the point that I will likely reread this book at some point. It’s the kind of book whose themes you could spend hours talking about.

That being said, there were a few aspects of the book I didn’t appreciate. The pacing does drag at some points, particularly for me during the funeral timeframe in the middle part of book 2. Tartt also introduces a side character whose story brings up a strong amount of racism/xenophobia. After having demonstrated the depth and nuance she can bring to issues, her one note handling of the racism made it clear that wasn’t something she was interested in exploring. Which left me wondering why she bothered to include it in the book at all. My best guess is sensationalism.

Overall, the book still pulled me in. Her handling of tension and suspense was strong through most of the book. And her character work left me intrigued and invested despite how terrible these people were. Her strong critiques of academic culture  and aesthetics still felt incredibly relevant today despite being published thirty years ago. It’s a strong 4 stars for me.

A solid, short, and entertaining read. Good for anyone looking for a quick mystery to get under their belt. It felt a bit rushed and as if the police were able to solve it too quickly. But I still had the classic “aha” moment right before the reveal (my favorite part of any mystery). The characters were also a strength although I wish we’d been given more of their dynamic.

This book was a bone chilling account of the Osage Murders that takes the reader through key perspectives of the time period and present day. I appreciated the author’s structuring of the narrative, depicting first the confusion and fear of the time, giving proper context for the following FBI investigative piece.

Part 3 was, in my opinion, the best part of the book. It truly demonstrated the long lasting impacts of the Reign of Terror as well as addressing the wider, messier scope that the FBI account fails to address. Hearing from present day members of the Osage Nation was also a critically important piece to include and gave a small glimpse of how the families of the victims took charge of their own investigations. I would have liked to hear even more of their stories.

I have a few small gripes with the book including how much it focused on White and not getting to see enough of Mollie’s actions during the time. 

I am still, however, impressed by how cohesively Grann managed to construct his narrative and lighten the academic load for the casual reader. Understanding the wider pattern of the Reign of Terror, he does an admirable job portraying the importance of key details without getting lost in them. Works like this are an important part of bringing into the public consciousness the parts of history that were willfully forgotten. And I am happy to see the success the book’s achieved.

Writing a review for a classic is always more difficult for me, especially when I know the book’s general premise and plot going in. I picked up the book hoping to explore the text’s status as a classic more so than truly getting immersed in the plot. The book delivered some key features I was hoping for while not quite hitting the mark on others.

I want to start by saying that I definitely see how it achieved the status and popularity it did. There writing, for one, held up fairly well and included some beautiful descriptions sprinkled throughout the book. It’s exploration of early scifi themes was also incredibly enjoyable. The dynamic between Lidenbrock and Axel forces the reader to consider the true implications of defying conventional wisdom with no easy answers presented. The exploration of that theme kept me the most engaged throughout the book.

Other factors slowed the pacing of the book to a frustrating degree. For my personal taste,  the level of detail surrounding scientific minutiae was a bit too heavy handed as the book went on. Some aspects and facts repeated unnecessarily and made the book drag the further into it I got. A bigger factor that impacted the pacing was the proportion of time spent at the “center” of the earth rather than the journey to get there. I of course, expected the journey to be a large part of the book. But the time spent in largely featureless underground tunnels felt unnecessary. This aspect wasn’t quite as frustrating in the moment, as I had my hopes set on a big payoff when they reached the center. But I found the degree of exploration at the center to be less involved than I’d hoped.

Overall I’d give this book 3.5 stars. There were some truly great elements that made the book shine and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a short, more straightforward classic. And while it not a book I’ll likely read again, it still left me interested in exploring Verne’s later works.

If what you’re looking for is standard old school sword and sorcery, this book will deliver. You’ve got daring chases, plenty of battle scenes, and a health dose of magic. 

Despite these things, the book (and this trilogy overall) was a bit lackluster. With a plethora of editing mistakes, inconsistent characterization, and half-baked moral arguments, the book feels clunky and underdeveloped.

My biggest issue with the book was that the writing style focuses on telling the reader exactly what the characters are feeling/doing and why. There was no nuance or faith in the reader to pick up on hints or read into the text. 

Additionally, the discussion around the stigma drow elves face was incredibly clumsy. If you are going to discuss issues of racism and discrimination, the impacts that can have on a person’s psyche, you need to bring more nuance and effort into the conversation. Instead Salvatore writes one conversation directly addressing the issue and suddenly a character with no experience on the topic has “solved” it.

If you’re looking for a book purely for an adventure plot and some traditional fantasy, this can still fit the bill. But Salvatore’s inexperience as a writer makes for a frustrating reading experience where nothing quite lands or feels fully satisfying.

A fun read but a little long. The first half dragged for me as they went about getting the band together but the pace really improved afterwards. The book definitely had a writing style that aligned with “old men talking about the glory days”. The benefit of that was the entertaining hijinks and humor. But it also meant a bit too much time spent listing names, places, and monsters that were only relevant about 20% of the time.

Overall it was an enjoyable story whose strength really shined through in the second half.

I want to start with the things I enjoyed. As stated in the book, the Don created the Family to act as a proxy society capable of serving its people  better than the US’s larger society cared to do. The break down of those values and how it fueled the thought process/actions of each character was really interesting to read. The presentation of the mafia world and the characters’ interactions with it varied based on the degree of their status as outsider or insider. I appreciated having that variation in characters to allow the reader to view the world from various angles. Additionally, I thought the pacing of the plot was decent (excluding Lucy’s chapter and parts of Fontane’s plot line).

Now for the aspects I didn’t like: the casual sexism and racism. Of course this book was written in 1969 and supposed to take place in the 1940s-1950s. Not to mention that I didn’t start the book with the impression that I’d be reading about virtuous people. So I expected to see some of those themes. But the degree to which these things were present exceeded my expectations and impeded my enjoyment of the book. Lucy’s entire chapter for example was entirely unnecessary to the plot and felt shoehorned to serve as a guy’s savior fantasy. And Neri’s backstory is an excellent example of the racism present as well. These are just a few of the occurrences that felt forced in by the author’s personal preferences which made for an uncomfortable reading experience.

I picked up this book specifically to learn and explore more about mafia themes in literature. The book definitely served its purpose in that regard. But if I had picked it up just to see what the Godfather hype was about and to enjoy a “modern classic”,  the cons would have made it a DNF. 

Given that it served my goal when picking it up, I’m giving it a 2.5 star rating. But I definitely think it has the capacity to be lower than that to the average modern reader.

Overall an interesting read. There was definitely more attention paid to the therapist as opposed to the patient the mystery surrounded, which wasn’t my favorite. But the balance of Alicia’s diary entries and the evolving plot questions kept me interested. 

The author’s pacing was what truly made me enjoy the book. The plot moved quickly, with alicia’s parts leaving me wanting more while Theo’s parts didn’t last long enough for me to become truly bored. 

The ending bumped the reading experience up a notch, with the reader getting just enough information to guess the ending about a page before the reveal. 

Would recommend to people who enjoy a fast paced mystery.