lenorayoder's reviews
120 reviews

This was okay - not terrible but not very good either. I think this is a good premise, but the pacing is really strange. There’s also an over-reliance on miscommunication, it causes pretty much all of the big and small obstacles/problems the characters face. I think the characters are also underdeveloped - by the end of the book I still didn’t really feel like I knew them, and it felt like all of their depth was told to me, not shown. 

Some of these are really clever, most of them are just okay. Overall got better the further I read, but I think compiling the comics like this doesn’t do them any favors. 

I really liked some of these, but most of them just weren’t my sense of humor. I loved the art though. The facial expressions are great, some of the set pieces are really cool (that armchair?!), and I loved the parents’ outfits, especially the mom’s. 

These cases are interesting, but I don’t like the way they’re written about. On a structural level, some chapters feel out of order. For example, chapter 7 takes the time to define and discuss proprioception - but it comes after chapter 3, which focuses on a case where a patient lost proprioception. 

As for the content, I don’t like the author’s attitude towards his patients. The way he talks about them, philosophizes, and speculates about their inner lives really rubs me the wrong way. He seems to be taking more care than a lot of doctors did at the time (yikes), but it still doesn’t really feel like Sacks truly sees his patients as real, actual people. 

The writing isn’t as smooth as I remember, but it was a nostalgic read. It’s a classic for a reason! If I were a kid this would be five stars. 

I really liked this! 4 stars because I feel like this book is missing something, but not sure how to articulate that. The closest I can get is that this book feels more concerned with conveying a message than telling a story. I think Oseman should consider writing non-fiction - maybe a memoir or collection of essays about different people’s experiences with self-discovery. 

After reading Solitaire, it’s nice to see how Oseman’s writing and awareness of aro/ace identities has evolved. I think I’m a little too old for her books, but I enjoy her work and am looking forward to reading more of it. 

I was frustrated that Pip hadn’t apologized to anyone by the end of the book - everyone else owned up to their shit, and I think Pip was in the wrong about some stuff too. I don’t like that her mistakes weren’t addressed in a book that clearly wants to show characters learning how to communicate with each other. 

Well damn, I’m glad her mom died too! It was hard to read about every single adult in her life failing and/or exploiting her. Absolutely plowed through this book, both interesting and well-written. I wish she’d talked more about certain things, but I think some of that would have been impossible without compromising other people’s privacy. The only reason this isn’t 5 stars is that a chunk of the last third or so of this book just feels less polished than the rest. Definitely recommend. 

The plot and characters in this book are both really interesting. Dorian’s internal monologue and Henry’s creeping influence are both well done. Unfortunately, Wilde frequently goes on long tangents, often philosophical or referential in nature, that are a real chore to get through and don’t really feel like a part of the story. You don’t have to make your readers suffer to show that a character is insufferable. 

If you are planning to read this book I recommend this edition, the notes were informative and provided details about what was censored or changed between the early versions of the novel. It felt worth it to read this once, but I suspect I would like a good adaptation better and will seek one out. 

great children’s horror, but i’m not a child so it’s 3 stars for me. written too recently for some of the shit that’s in here - very british

Better than I thought it would be, but not as good as I hoped it would be once I got into it. It's very interesting to read a fucked up relationship develop from the perspective of the people in it. They do love each other, but they're also overly dependent, unhealthy, and don't communicate well. They are the only people who understand each other, but it is because they have both engineered it to be so. On some level they both know the relationship is doomed, but they don't want to be without each other.

I found the way the author handled time travel interesting, especially the implications of Clare's

deja vu moments, and the sketch with the trimmed date

. The underlying terror that Henry almost constantly feels permeates the book, and one of the unvoiced stumbling blocks of their relationship is that Clare never really seems to understand that fear -

evidenced by the fact that she so desires to have a child that will likely have the same terrible condition

. The way Niffenegger's chosen to depict this story and time travel unfortunately means that the reader never really gets to sit with these characters, and by the end of the book I still felt like I didn't really know them, just their relationship. I wish the book was more narrow in scope, or gave us more insight into what Clare and Henry are like apart. The Time Traveler's Wife is a compelling title, but the book is not about Clare, it's entirely about Clare and Henry's relationship with everything else serving as set dressing. 

Overall enjoyed and would recommend. Sometimes the descriptions and references get a little self-indulgent and pretentious, but seeing this complex relationship evolve from the perspective of two incredibly biased narrators was always interesting and page-turning. Also,

fuck you Gomez. Cherisse, why the fuck did you marry that man, let alone have kids with him. Yikes

. I had to list so many content warnings and I didn't even get them all.