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The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
The cover for this book is goalsβ¦its contents not so much. I found this novel to be an odd melange of confusing and simple. The characters came across as flat (little more than names on a page), the world-building, although at first promising, ultimately struck me as patchy, and the storyline and…
American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, confusing for the sake of being confusing, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dystopia, environmental, female authors, identity, insta love, ISLAND, Joan He, MEMORY, My reviews, netgalley, plot over character, published in 2021, read in 2021, ROMANCE, SCI-FI, science, scientists & co, sea, SISTERS, SPECULATIVE FICTION, The ones we're meant to find -
Crossings by Alex Landragin
Alex Landragin has written an ambitious tale, one that begins with the following line: βI didn’t write this book. I stole it.βThis prologue, written by a bookbinder, tells us of how this manuscript has come to be in his hands. The manuscript in question comprises three seemingly separate books: ‘The Education of a Monster’ written…
18th century, 19TH CENTURY, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, adventure, Alex Landragin, books about books, books about writers, Charles Baudelaire, Crossings, FRANCE, French Armenian Australian author, HISTORICAL FICTION, interconnected stories, interesting structure, ISLAND, MAGICAL REALISM, male authors, MYSTERY, mystery puzzle, on a ship, plot over character, published in 2020, read in 2020, ROMANCE, sea, star-crossed lovers, story within a story, travel, voyage, Walter Benjamin, WWII -
The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley β book review
The Lost Future of Pepperharrow is a somewhat disappointing followup to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. Having really enjoyed The Watchmaker of Filigree Street I was really looking forward to be reunited with Thaniel and Mori. Within the first chapters I had a slight sense of deja vu. The main difference between this sequel and…
1880s, 19TH CENTURY, 2 STARS, 3rd pov, alternate history, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, British author, confusing for the sake of being confusing, cultural dissonance, drama, england, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, japan, lgbtq+, LONDON, m/m, MAGICAL REALISM, MEMORY, MYSTERY, Natasha Pulley, plot over character, published in 2020, read in 2020, STEAMPUNK, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, VICTORIAN