noisydeadlines's reviews
677 reviews

Exadelic by Jon Evans

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

This is a very weird book. It's a mash-up of Ready Player One, with Matrix, Outlander and Assassin's Creed. Seriously there's so much going on here! Dark magic, AI's, time travel, obscure pseudoscience, cults, witches, sex rituals, post-apocalypse worlds (just to name a few). There are a lot of technical programming terms and references which I didn't get most of the time. What kept me reading was wanting to know where the story would end up and yeah, it's totally bonkers. The short chapters and mini cliff-hangers me helped me stick with it, but it was a wild ride. I wanted to see what was the point of it all, and I don't think I got it at the end.
A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.
Didn’t like neither of the characters from the first scene 
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I love Becky Chamber's writing style. And this one is a delightful read following the coming of age of two characters. One is a former ship sentient AI that was transferred to a synthetic humanoid body to move around and explore the world. The other is about a little girl that was born to work in a factory, barely escaping it and being taken care of by an AI. It's so beautifully written! It's focused on character development and the world building just flows with it. It touches on identity, friendship, diversity of gender and sexuality, exploitation and oppression.  But it's all done through the lens of intimate, emotionally charged characters perspectives. Very well crafted!
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

5.0

After I saw the first season of the 2023 Netflix animation "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" I wanted to get into the original black and white material. And it's so fun! There is a direct reference to Amazon.ca, which is hilarious. Also, I loved the tea scene. Great sense of humour, with Canadian references and funny dialogues. Will continue reading.
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

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hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This is not really my flavour of sci-fi, but it gets points for its unique perspective.  It's a first contact story where the conflicts are not carried in a violent, physical way. For a first alien contact situation, things go pretty smoothly. There is a lot going on here: efforts to reverse climate change, representations of different identities, gender spectrum and sexuality, diverse families, exploitative corporations, Watershed Networks, ecology, Jewish culture, parenting. There is a LOT of talking:  most of the conflicts are resolved with dialogues. The story is told from the main character's point of view, and she doesn't hide her flaws and insecurities: we get to feel them all! I thought the future imagined was too close to our time (50 years ahead) for humanity to have changed that much. Interesting read, but it was not so easy to get to the end. This was a Book Club read for me and it certainly raised intriguing discussions.
Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport

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inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

Interesting ideas about knowledge work, and how to adopt a slower pace while doing relevant things. It's perfect for people who have lots of autonomy towards their work. I didn't feel I could use all the suggestions presented. Even though I'm a knowledge worker, I don't really have that much control over my working hours to be able to work at a natural pace or really do fewer things. I enjoyed the story about how Jane Austen got to write her books (it was NOT by writing a few words here and there in between house chores). Maybe because I've been listening to the author's podcast, I didn't find the book to be ground-breaking, and I already knew most of the stories he uses as example or inspiration to the slow productivity principles. It was not a hugely impactful book for me if compared to his previous ones.
That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming

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adventurous funny fast-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

This was a fun read in a medieval fantasy setting with lots of humour and romance. It's funny, whimsical and can't be taken seriously. There are demons, all kinds of shape shifters and evil witches. The language is very modern and full of slang. I gotta say that there were some violent deaths that were dissonant with the book vibes. It's not a book you read for the plot, you read it for fun. 
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved going back to this cozy fantasy world with a younger Viv. We can see how her experiences in this book lead to her choices in the first book. Viv is injured on a fight and she has to stay in this little town to recover. She ends up making friends, helping the town people and discovered a passion for reading. I loved the bookshop being renovated! And Viv's enjoyment of romance books, it was so relatable! It's the perfect read to get out of a book slump or just have fun and relax.
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.
Did not get into it. Lots of politics.
A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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3.0

I didn't enjoy this one very much. I could have stopped reading it but I really wanted to see where it would go, because it's a prequal to a series I've already read (Blood and Ash). I thought it was quite repetitive and it didn't make me want to continue reading the series. Note to self: I'm tired of vampire-like stories for now.