st_ender's reviews
243 reviews

I'm getting back to this when the weather is bad and I get the seasonal depression again

A well written and interesting book that unfortunately reminded me why I do not enjoy lit fic at all. 
I find it sad that all other characters were accessories around the main pair. I don't understand why their relationship was so special. I have this relationship with my manager and my coworkers and we don't even abuse each other. Just didn't resonate with me on a personal level. But that's okay, I see it worked for other people and I have no issues with the execution ;)
[Spoiler]
Great win for gender equality in a sweet guy dying to further the story of female pain. 
[/Spoiler]

I think the premise and worldbuilding is intriguing, but unfortunately got quite overwhelmed. There were just so many plot points and twists and characters and double crossing. I think the story would benefit from some stretching, just so that the reader of average capabilities (me) can catch what's going on without rereading some pages multiple times. In all of this I enjoyed the action and the art, but lost the bigger picture. I think it's absolutely worth a read, just that it's a Lot.

It's a story that every science fiction fan knows, but it is told beautifully. While I knew what to expect from the overaching plot, the characters and nuanced themes managed to move me. The art is absolutely striking. I was impressed with how well balanced this graphic novel was- I get easily overwhelmed when there is too much going on on one page, and here action scenes felt dynamic and tense, but more conversation-heavy scenes were still interesting. Absolute treasure. 

Was it good? Was it unique? I don't know! All I know is I had fun and that's all that matters! 

Unfortunately, the form of this book is putting the stories and their authors at a disadvantage. If you put any 30 pieces of fiction they slowly start to melt together, even if the authors would otherwise have a distinct style and voice. I think it would be a much better move to split this collection into three volumes, with different genres. In this form, I know it will end up read only partially on someone's "diversity read" tbr list and it makes me very sad for the authors. 

It is extremely hard for me to judge a collection like this, and I don't want to add to this unfair bundling of stories together. My absolute favourites were:
 Peeling Time (deluxe edition)
 A Girl Crawls in a Dark Corner 
 A Soul of Small Places 
 The Lady of the Yellow-Painted Library 
 For those stories, I do intend to keep an eye out for the authors' next works. 

I am now a reader reborn. This is the form I want all of my dystopian novels delivered in now. 9/10 times I read this genre I am underwhelmed with the worldbuilding, as it is either not developed or explained on a page in unreasonable detail. The connected short stories avoid this issue and create a coherent, detailed world that I found incredibly interesting. It fit together so neatly I was absolutely ready to accept even the silliest ideas. I think the author had a very good grasp of what they wanted to achieve with each theme and plot point and it transferred beautifully into the writing. 
I'd recommend this book to people who are not too much into character-based novels, people who are tired of sci fi and dystopia trying to be serious and triggering at every page, and readers who catch themselves wishing they could see the other pov of the short story they are reading.

The Gospel of Orla has an incredible child protagonist. Orla is so multidimensional and imperfect in the way that 14-year-olds are. I am still amazed at how well the author understood and conveyed girlhood.
With a protagonist this strong and unique I don't think the plot has to be very complex for a novel to be enjoyable. I love a good road trip story, and I think this one was paced well and didn't have too many twists and curves to confuse me completely. The physical/spacial aspect fit the themes and Orla's development and I found the ending fitting. 
One of the main themes of the novel is grief. I found the portrayal of a grieving young family quite realistic. The novel deals with complex emotions and relationships without telling the reader directly how we are supposed to feel about them. The adults in the novel are presented through Orla's limited understanding of how the world works, and it would be so easy to clearly show them as villains or losers, but that's not the case here. I think under Orla's antipathy you can still see how much they care for her and love her to the best of their capabilities. 
I have to admit I was very worried that the novel will hit a moralising tone considering the religious theme. I was positively surprised. Jesus is funny at times, but I found his character quite tragic, and I have to admit I shed a tear or two over him. The supernatural element was more mysterious than mystical and it kept me on the edge. 
Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book to everyone who used to be a teenage girl, and to everyone who's an angry griever. I am unsure if it is suitable for a child, but it has a no-bullshit attitude that stands out from books with similar themes.