thereadingmum's reviews
772 reviews

Too much fighting at the start. No set up. Too confusing/boring to follow.

Years ago I forced myself to finish William Faulkner's Absalom Absalom and felt like I'd been yelled at for 384 pages. 

This was not as bad but similarly bleak and devoid of hope. I'm at a time of life where I don't want to waste my time not enjoying something just to say I've read it. 

Kirino's psychological exploration is fascinating and often spot on. In Real World, she takes on the painfully intricate and terribly complex world of teenage angst.

Each of the girls and Worm are like intense drawings of what I remember goes through a pubescent mind. 

Yet I didn't enjoy this as much as Out and I suspect it's mainly due to the translation. Steven Snyder's translation of Out was much more atmospheric. Philip Gabriel's of Real World is too American and casual. 

It was not as creepy or scary as Out though I would argue the egocentricity of teenagers can be terrifying, I was not on edge like I was with the climatic scene in Out. 

Several pages in I wanted to stop. I read several reviews and thought, ok maybe I should just switch to audio and speed through it. Luckily there was a copy on my library app. This is the only reason I finished it.

I knew Rabbit was reprehensible and would be for the duration of the book from the reviews. I did not know just how annoyingly icky he would be. I mean he's just a moaning, whinging selfish twerp with the most egocentric morality I've ever come across. I'm so glad at least two women didn't stand for his nonsense. And I abhor how he tries to bring religion into this. The point of being a Christian is that you try to be a better person. Rabbit doesn't try at all. He just gives in to whatever instinct is driving him in the moment. 

I cannot believe he wrote more books with this main character. As a study of human nature, this is not a good one. Iris Murdoch does it much better with equally selfish characters. I do not agree with Joyce Carol Oates that Updike is “a master, like Flaubert, of mesmerizing us with his narrative voice even as he might repel us with the vanities of human desire his scalpel exposes.” Sorry but his voice does not do anything for me. I much prefer Steinbeck and Hemingway. 

This is how girl power should be written. Yes, some men are turds, but some are not and some are quite nice. Yes, you may have to fight for your rights and to be taken as seriously if you want to do something that has traditionally and predominatly been done by men. No, you don't have to forsake the things women do well to do this. Yes, you can have both though you may need to compromise and that is perfectly fine.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and there are some elements of Pratchett that are better read by others. However, I think I still want to read the physical books as well because I think I missed some bits.

My favourite part about this book was its design and feel. Honestly, it made me slow down and want to prolong the reading of it because it just felt and looked so nice. 

The story itself is a typical YA retelling of mythology where there is very little accuracy in historical tone and a lot of modern sensibilities liberally slathered throughout. This was fine for me because I knew what I was getting into. 

I love that Eirene is not the typical willowy, beautiful heroine. She is small but stocky and stubborn and resourceful. Her sole purpose in life has been protecting her sickly, but beautiful sister Phoebe from the evil men abounding, including the dastardly Leandros, who peddles the drug Desire, which has been enslaving the young girls on the island one by one to unsavoury husbands. His eye is set on Phoebe after his young wife, Alexandra, is found murdered and drained of blood in his own house. 

The beginning chase scene ending with Alexandra's demise sets a bit of a bar for the rest of the book. I would say it was mostly upheld. Lots of mystery and thrilling scenes that had me racing through. 

The thing that rankled, as with many current mythology retellings and other historical fiction with magic as a theme was the extreme man-bashing. I mean not one single male was a decent human being. Even Eirene's friend the apothecary's assistant has selfish motivations. Not only is this not realistic but it's getting very tiring to read the same themes again and again.

As a woman and a mother of a teenage daughter, I'm a bit concerned about what stories like these are reinforcing in our young women. Strength and independence, yes. But that every man is out to get you or get something from you? 

I really really wanted this to be read by Josh Brolin. 

Another Christie with a more sinister edge to it. 

This is one of the Tommy and Tuppence series where the couple are much older, though I still see them in their thirties. Then again I still see myself in my thirties. 

Although there are still waffly old people, nosey small village busy bodies and a vague vicar, that cosiness that is usually there in the Poirot or Marple books is decidedly missing here. It actually got quite tense at the climax of the novel. Perhaps I was also influenced by the creepy AF cover. The plot was slightly convoluted and I was wondering for awhile how she was going to tie it up. 

A good one for #spooktober for sure!

I fell in love with the blurb months before this came out, which is not the smartest thing to do because blurbs are often misleading. In this case, I think it just raised my expectations higher than they needed to be. 

Paice, I think, is more of a poet than a novellist. It shows in her writing, which is lyrical and doesn't always flow in the usual narrative way. I enjoyed this for the most part, but it got a little bit tiresome at points. It's a style that does well for short novels or novellas. 

The story itself also read like a very long poem. The magical realism had too much magic so that the real parts got a bit confused. 

I didn't dislike the characters, but every one of them annoyed me in parts so that the overall level of irritation affected my reading pleasure. 

And yet. I remember this novel vividly despite reading it several weeks ago. I may even one day read it again because I feel like it needs a second reading to fully appreciate what the author has done. 

It is definitely a book you need to read yourself to gain an accurate opinion on.

This was a review copy kindly gifted by HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review, which I think I have achieved.