E’s Comments (group member since Feb 26, 2014)

E’s comments from the CKBC group.

I thought The Paris Wife was interesting, but kind of frustrating. I didn't like the main character (though some things were character flaws that became self-realized and improved upon), and the whole thing felt overly prolific and nostalgic. It did tempt me to read more Hemingway, though.

The War of Art had some interesting points, but also felt almost like a one-size-fits-all fix for creative blocks, and was a bit too self-important.

I enjoyed the last half of A Storm of Swords more than the rest of the series up until that point, but I think it's going to be the last book in the series that I'll read. All of the violence, overabundant exposition, and excessive characters have gotten tiring. I am watching the show now, though.

I have a few things I want to read next, but I'm going out of town soon so I won't have time to get anything from the library. I guess this probably means I should read one of the several books I'm currently borrowing from a friend...

I recently read We Were Liars (interesting writing style, easy to get through, and chilling plot), I'm almost done with A Storm of Swords (the third Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones book [finally got really interesting!]), I just powered through The Book of General Ignorance (great if you love random trivia), and I just started The War of Art and The Paris Wife. Lots of bus/train travel lately = lots of reading.

(Spoilers!)

I was not a big fan of this book.

Like someone brought up earlier, the first person present tense bothered me. I don't know if I would equate it to the Hunger Games (although I see the parallel), but it felt immature to the point of being annoying, and not just because the narrator is young. The writing was not the worst ever, but definitely not great and didn't always make much sense. I didn't mind Eio completely, but I hated how he fell into the typical "I'm a man so I'll save you!" role, with little argument from Pia. I also didn't really believe that they fell in supposed "love" so quickly - there's such a thing as young infatuation, but her having such strong and fast feelings for the first boy her age she ever meets? Not buying it.

Blow Pop wrote: "I disagree with the "SCIENCE IS THE EVILEST" interpretation...but I do think the book relied on an oversimplified and pretty inaccurate depiction of what science actually entails and what scientists actually do."

I agree. They all (aside from Antonio and Harriet) felt very EVIL and one-sided...I wish they had been allowed a bit more complexity.

I liked the inner struggle Pia felt between the scientists and the Ai'oans. I feel like the conflict and interactions between the two communities (and how connected she feels to them) was one of the more interesting aspects of the book. As integral as the immortality aspect was to the plot, I found the ending to be pretty predictable.

Overall, I didn't feel like I had wasted my time as with last month's book, but I won't be recommending this to anyone.

I just tried posting my review, and the page didn't save my comment. Grr!

Shorthand (spoilery!) version: I really really enjoyed this book. I liked: the sterile and observational tone, the tower expeditions, the psychologist's death (especially the "annihilation" meaning - so good!), the interaction between the women, the idea that she's not going back home, the creepy vibe. I disliked: the last Crawler interaction (too overdone), the flashbacks, the lighthouse man (I didn't understand his purpose, which might be the point but I didn't find it very intriguing), the fact that I'll have to wait a long time before reading the next one.

I didn't feel unsatisfied with the length of the book, but I'm hoping the next one gives more answers. Overall: two thumbs up!

Caroline wrote: "I really can't identify a reason why she would need to be pale besides the fact that the author is a white female."

I attribute that to the fact that she's a product of white scientists who invaded the Amazon because that's where the "immortal" plants grew. Not that it's not problematic, but that's how I saw the book justifying itself.

I'm about halfway through, and I'm still interested in the storyline, although the writing leaves something to be desired. I can't quite pinpoint why it's mediocre, but it reads as less-than-stellar quality to me.

SPOILERS

I finished this book a few weeks ago, and I absolutely hated it. The premise was intriguing, and I liked the fact that it took place in NYC so I had a mental map of their escapades. Those were the only things I enjoyed about the book, however...aside from the fact it was another easy read.

I thought it was incredibly self-serving to the author. He paints himself as this "aw shucks" everyman, so he creates a crisis in which he can unwittingly be the hero without sacrificing his everyman image. (One inane example of humble douchebaggery: his tendency to call whiskey "scotch." And the fedora. Ugh.) He also happens to objectify women to an unbearable degree: every single woman mentioned for more than a sentence is described in terms of sexual potential, whereas we aren't given an inkling of physical description of Tobey until near the end of the book. He mentions "harassing" his ex-wife into engaging his humor and he sees fucking Oz as the way to ultimately prove his manhood. There is really no evidence to support Oz's interest in him, which is unsurprising considering this entire book reads like a poorly written self-glorified fanfiction.

The plot also fizzled very quickly. Pacing, language, and structure issues aside, it was a big waste of an interesting premise, considering it was used as an excuse to characterize internet memes. The ending was also anti-climactic, nonsensical, and somewhat predictable. I almost threw the book down several times while reading it, but the only things kept me going were the fact it was easy to get through and a mild interest in how it would end. Turns out I wouldn't have missed much.

I feel like the parallels between author and narrator were supposed to add a tongue-in-cheek layer of interest, but it ended up being a huge waste of my time and will guarantee I avoid all publications from (no first name) Gladstone.

SPOILERS

Overall, I feel pretty meh about the book as a whole. The thing I liked the most was how intimate it felt getting to see how a town this small and tight-knit functioned. The different perspectives were an effective mode of story telling, since they definitely kept me reading to see what happened. However, a lot of the drama felt out of place. Crete's true motives when it came to Lila felt really overly dramatic; that whole scene read like it belonged in a soap opera or action drama. And the conclusion was really underwhelming and anti-climactic...there was so much tension and plot twists added that I was expecting more. Also with Daniel: his motives for getting involved were never really explained, and for awhile he seemed a little shifty and I suspected him of being involved, so it was kind of odd when nothing came up. I also didn't think he was as fleshed out as he could have been (the fact that we never got his adult perspective could be a factor), including why he was interested in Lucy. Not that he shouldn't have been, but it felt to me like they ended up together simply because he was the Romantic Lead with Prior Sexual History, and not because there was evidence given that he had any real feelings towards her. (Although, to be fair, I finished the book a few weeks ago, so I could be forgetting things that refute this argument.)

Overall I wouldn't rate the book very highly. The most interesting aspect for me was how people related and connected with each other (especially the relationship between Crete and Carl), but most of the violence and plot was stilted and clunky. I'm not normally drawn to books in that kind of rural setting, so I'm happy it helped me broaden my horizons in that regards.

I'm not very far into Part II, and it probably won't take extremely long to finish the rest.

I'm finding the plot pretty compelling, but there are a few things I don't like: the style of narration is often confusing (I sometimes have trouble keeping track of the different context's for Lila and Lucy) and something about it feels very immature. I'm not sure how to describe it, but the way that the story is told is lacking for me, both in sentence and plot structure, and how it often feels a little disconnected event though it's mainly a first person narrative. The fact that the narrators are younger than me might have something to do with it, but it mainly feels like fault of the author.

That being said, I'm definitely interested to hear what happens next, and I'm enjoying hearing from different perspectives.

I didn't participate last month because I couldn't get my hands on the book, I'm hoping that changes for April!

Hello! You can call me E (scarlettsentimentalist.tumblr.com). I don't have a favorite book (yet!), but I tend to flock to emotional contemporary fiction. I'm currently reading Teacher Man, Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality, and A Storm of Swords.

I work in the hospitality industry, although my dream is to create things with awesome people.

Random fact: I hate coffee and ketchup, and instead indulge in tea and hot sauce.