matt m

Good overall, slows down at the end

Revisado: 05-06-25

Well written, with some depth to the prose.

A bit of emotion, a bit of action, a bit of love.

Overall good but I wanted more from the last few hours of the story.

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Needs an AI summary

Revisado: 04-15-25

First off I have little doubt on the mechanics of climate change and how it could play out. But this book kind of annoyed me. And no it wasn’t the astroturf reviews, that’s probably normal these days.

The writing is good, there is depth to the characters - but wow there were a lot of characters.. reminds me of the Russian classics where you need a cheat sheet of who’s who. And many of the characters got their entire life story told, even if not totally relevant. That’s probably 10 hours of the book.

At least another 10 hours of the book is a policy wonk’s dream - the gory details of the creation, negotiation, etc of climate related legislation. Read by a very dry voice - dry on purpose because it’s a character on the spectrum. Tbh I could have done without most of that.

As a whole, the memorable parts - the action scenes if you will, and some of the political drama - are interesting, but it’s surrounded by 28 hours of other stuff that could be left out.

Maybe I’m just impatient. You decide.

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I dare you to interpret this

Revisado: 02-17-25

Another July classic - many of the stories leave a LOT up for interpretation/guessing, but that’s part of the fun.

Read this and be one step closer to understanding life. Maybe..

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Weird but touching

Revisado: 02-14-25

Is how I’d sum this up.

If you like Miranda July’s style you’ll like this one too!

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Pretty good for what it is

Revisado: 01-08-25

Overall decent, wouldn’t say “scary” but there is some mystery.

Once the reveal starts it’s pretty obvious what’s happening, but at least this wasn’t a 12 hour affair.

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Unfulfilled potential

Revisado: 08-02-24

Not sure what I wanted from this, but I do know that I did not want a detailed accounting of a family’s settling-in-the-US story in the middle of a book nominally about apocalypse, an extremely flat narration that would’ve fit better with scary scenes (there weren’t any), and an ending that left you wondering if the editor made a big mistake.

Also, books automatically get one star subtracted for me when they mention modern brands - why, why, why..

The author is talented, no doubt, but seemed to be a bit unsure what the book was about and where is was going. I finished it, but ultimately came away from it feeling meh.

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A unique read

Revisado: 06-22-24

If you want to explore the mind of someone gone mad, this is your chance.

It’s a unique book that in the middle says something to the effect of “if you’ve enjoyed this book so far then quit now, it only gets worse from here.”

I look for scary/disturbing titles - which are surprisingly hard to find - and this one is up there.

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Some standout short stories

Revisado: 03-31-24

There are some very good - and one or two dare I say not just disturbing but scary - short stories in this collection!

This isn’t gore or silly monsters, there so much more to it.

The depth of some of the characters/plots is good, the ambiguity that leaves unanswered questions but also room to use your imagination is entertaining and captivating.

This is one of those books that I’ll probably read again. (Which is a big deal for me!)

I didn’t realize Trembly did Cabin At The End Of The World - while some of his works were meh/forgettable, between these two titles I’d have to say Trembly at is the top of my list for scary stories (or “weird fiction” as he might put it).

An editing note: it would be nice to have a longer pause between the stories - I’m still trying to digest what I just read and after 0.5 seconds a new story is already firing up.. something like 3 seconds in between, a musical note, something to demarcate them would be great. Otherwise the narration is perfect.

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Better than the movie

Revisado: 12-28-23

(no spoilers) Yes I saw the Netflix movie first, and loved it. The book is even better. The overall plot is the same, with some big differences.

The movie was more visual yes, but the book adds a lot of depth as well as explains some of the more confusing parts of the plot.

Well written, with purpose, and entertaining.

There aren’t many books like this.

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Solid four

Revisado: 11-23-23

Really liked The Power - this is similar in the sense of social commentary, but the story just wasn’t as good for me.

Some of the narration is a little droning or something, some of the characters a little too similar.

The story itself had some good twists but went on too long in my opinion.

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