Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Book got returned to the library
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
While being a humorous and entertaining action-comedy, the book explores a variety of social issues, which I felt it did with the nuance and care I would want from a book like this. I think this novel did a good job of not feeling one-sided or like it had either a liberal or conservative angle that it was trying to push. I think this was thanks to the incorporation of flawed characters on the fringe of society, who are each rendered with such care that you can't help but empathize with them and understand their perspective, whether or not you agree with it. I do think that Ether's monologues got pretty long sometimes, and I think the action-comedy story's payoff was a little overdramatic and contrived, but nonetheless I had a good time listening to this audiobook!
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“… a brief stint in a death metal band called twat chuggler.”
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found so many of these characters just SO insufferable, unfortunately. Really cool premise, but the narrating characters were really unpleasant, and I struggle intensely with stories where there's not a grounding person involved in the plot who is pleasant and for whom I wish success, or a positive outcome. But for a book where you're mostly just listening to people talk to each other or about each other, the reading experience would have been vastly improved by the characters being even a bit less terrible or unpleasant.
Now, it feels like a tactical choice that these characters, who lean true to real people, were unpleasant. I understand what the goal was in the narrative, to tell stories about these types of real people and how they impact the world. But I struggled to find a lot of the unpleasantness to be purposeful in any real way. And that made it hard to stay engaged and want to follow through to the end of the mystery - which felt both satisfying and dissatisfying, mostly the latter. Hard to get through overall in a way I didn't expect.
Now, it feels like a tactical choice that these characters, who lean true to real people, were unpleasant. I understand what the goal was in the narrative, to tell stories about these types of real people and how they impact the world. But I struggled to find a lot of the unpleasantness to be purposeful in any real way. And that made it hard to stay engaged and want to follow through to the end of the mystery - which felt both satisfying and dissatisfying, mostly the latter. Hard to get through overall in a way I didn't expect.
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced