Anna Vasyuk

Classic for a reason

Revisado: 06-02-20

Like many others, I've read this book as a kid and have now listened to it with a fresh, adult perspective. There really is something special about this story and the way it blends very mature themes with something that can be considered a fairytale. One wouldn't work without the other, and the fact that we get both antropomorphized rabbits and a strong anti-authoritarian message in one book really makes it as memorable as it is. Peter Capaldi is the perfect reader for this role, too. With all the different voices and accents he manages to do and the easy way he gets through Lapin words, I wouldn't want anyone else reading this audiobook. Despite some parts feeling a bit slow to get through, I'm very happy I got to experience this work.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Marathoned in one sitting

Revisado: 05-25-20

I'm just really glad I get to be alive at this particular time when I get to learn about the universe from Hawking and people like him. I love this stuff, and this book is written accessibly enough that even I don't have trouble understanding the material (which I would in a school setting). It's inspirational, calming, and existential crisis-worthy at the same time. Wonderful all around.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Ambivalent

Revisado: 04-28-20

I'm rating this 4 stars, but I'm actually not sure what to think about this book. I really liked it at the start, but the more time passed, the more problems I discovered in the story, and by the end, it was hard for me to keep my attention up. It's not a BAD story by any means, though.

On one hand, there's so much stuff I love, primarily time travel - I don't agree with all the mechanics used for time travel in this book, but I appreciate that they at least tried to use "realistic" science to explain how it works. And of course there's the fantasies about living in a virtual world where everything is exactly as wonderful as you want it to be, and about travelling back in time into your past self with your current memories, acing your classes and getting rich through the stock market. I feel like everyone has had those at some point. So if the author wanted to put those common fantasies in a story form, that's fair. It makes an entertaining enough plot.

I think it's the characters I had a problem with. The protagonist was kinda bland and nondescript, his love interest was a borderline Mary Sue, another one was an outdated character trope... Maybe if this story idea was realized with a different cast, this book would've been much more enjoyable for me. But right now, I'm really not sure how to feel about it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

One hell of a twist

Revisado: 04-17-20

I'm so glad I got this book. It's short and easy to listen through in 1-2 sittings, but quite worth it. Even if it wasn't a psychological thriller/mystery type of story, the psychology part alone would be enough to make it interesting. Digging deep into how troubled people function, what are their motivations for doing the things they do, that's always fascinating. I'm not sure how accurate this is, if the author has actual experience in the field or not, but it seems realistic enough, judging by my own (limited) experience. Inspired me to go and do an ASPD test online myself.

The book is constructed in a pretty clever way: it starts at the very end, and then the rest is a story exploring how did we get there, to that kind of ending. Makes it even more gripping that way. The title kind of implies that you should expect a lot of lies, so I went through not trusting any of the characters, but even so, the very very last twist came completely out of the blue. And it was awesome. Sometimes mystery-type stories are way too predictable in their conclusions, but this one, thankfully, wasn't. At least not entirely.

Overall a great listen and the performance was especially enjoyable!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Kind of a mess

Revisado: 04-15-20

So I've been looking for good stories where humanity gets wiped out by a killer virus, since it's 2020 and the pandemic is very inspiring. This story is not one of them.

Some parts were good -- the initial patient zeroes, how the flu spread and killed individual people, thoughts on how human societies function and what would it take to rebuild one. If only this book had focused on those! But it just had to mix in some sort of God vs. Satan battle too? It's not like I was expecting this to be super realistic and scientifically accurate, but if I knew this would get so wildly out of hand, I wouldn't have picked up the book at all. It feels like the author had 2 completely different ideas at the same time and then poured them both into one book. All the supernatural stuff was distracting from something that could've actually been a good plot. The main bad gets defeated by a deus ex machina, ffs.

Not to mention this book is about 40 hours too long. I've read King before, I know how meandering his style is, I expected this -- still disappointing. Did we really need a detailed backstory for every mildly significant character, especially since most of them die in very disappointing ways? Some characters were really interesting, actually; the cast is pretty big and a lot of them I found to be insufferable pricks, but some were genuinely well-written despite that. (He really nailed an incel character before incels even existed, that's actually kinda scary accurate.)

Seriously, since this divine battle got mixed up into the plot, we might've at least gotten some heroic deaths out of this, because it was incredibly unrealistic already. There's just too many sections that feel like filler episodes. Plus, there's a nice dose of sexism and racism sprinkled throughout the story that's kinda hard to ignore. (Yeah, written in 1978, product of its time, I know. Still really sours the mood.)

Anyway, this was 47 hours of my life that I won't get back, but at least the narrator was great. No complaints about that guy. If somebody out there wants good pandemic mood literature, Andromeda Strain was much better.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Perfect light listening during a global pandemic!

Revisado: 03-19-20

There's nothing more calming to listen during the recents events than a horror story about a killer pathogen from outer space. Now that everyone has to sit in quarantine, this is exactly the kind of audiobook I would recommend!

I'm joking, but the book is honestly very good. This was my first time venturing into the "hard sci-fi" genre, and I was kinda apprehensive that the prose would be way too dry or impossible to comprehend for a layman - but it wasn't. It felt like a thrilling documentary, or something of the sort. The characters were pretty bland, but characters aren't the focus of this book, and instead, all the fantastical science behind the events happening in the plot is. And it really works that way! The more it progressed, the more interesting it got. The only thing I didn't quite like was the narration. It took some time to get used to every character sounding the same and kind of flat and unemotional at times, but it wasn't a dealbreaker by any means. Still very enjoyable in either case.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

A wonderful sequel for a wonderful book

Revisado: 03-14-20

I gotta say, I had EXTREMELY high expectations for this book, seeing how the first one was just that great in many ways, characters, humor, writing style, narration, everything. And this one? It actually EXCEEDED those expectations. It's a rare thing where a sequel is better than the original, I feel, but this is one of those rare gems. The characters continue to be just as charming as before, and go through some very interesting, unexpected developement. New major members of the cast feel just as fleshed-out as the old ones. The narrator continues to be a phenomenal voice actor, somehow giving everyone a distinct voice, even though he's just one performer. It's simply a delight to listen to. And even though this book is more than twice the size as the previous one, it never felt too long, because thing never stop happening and the plot and the humor hold up till the very end. I'm pretty sure by now this gotta be my new favorite book series. And there's a third one coming? That is such awesome news. Can't wait!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A wonderful sequel for a wonderful book

Revisado: 03-14-20

I gotta say, I had EXTREMELY high expectations for this book, seeing how the first one was just that great in many ways, characters, humor, writing style, narration, everything. And this one? It actually EXCEEDED those expectations. It's a rare thing where a sequel is better than the original, I feel, but this is one of those rare gems. The characters continue to be just as charming as before, and go through some very interesting, unexpected developement. New major members of the cast feel just as fleshed-out as the old ones. The narrator continues to be a phenomenal voice actor, somehow giving everyone a distinct voice, even though he's just one performer. It's simply a delight to listen to. And even though this book is more than twice the size as the previous one, it never felt too long, because thing never stop happening and the plot and the humor hold up till the very end. I'm pretty sure by now this gotta be my new favorite book series. And there's a third one coming? That is such awesome news. Can't wait!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Interesting topic, boring execution

Revisado: 02-13-20

It's pretty ironic that a book about caffeine made me drowsy.
I definitely learned a lot about caffeine that I didn't know before, so I can't say that this was a complete waste. But I just wish they made it somehow more interesting to follow? A lot of times the narration felt like dry passages from a history textbook. The parts where the writer shared his own personal experiences were much better, but I was in too much of a haze after all the other parts to appreciate them properly. If anyone wants to learn about psychoactive drugs, I'm sure there are better books out there.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Are you a dog person or a cat person...?

Revisado: 02-06-20

This book is most definitely worth a listen. This is one of the most unique takes on "bringing magic into real, contemporary world" I've seen. Not 100% believable, but still. The decision to start with 2 different characters with 2 different perspectives that meet gradually makes it even more interesting, especially once you realize one of them sort of starts in the middle of the story and the other is a flashback to the very start. Connecting these dots as you go along the narrative is pretty fun. The characters themselves aren't that special, I'll admit (especially the main villain who is very basic and one-dimensional), but the book makes up for it with interesting in-world lore and mechanics it has established. I'm also glad this audiobook has 2 narrators, male and female, for different situations - makes it feel more relatable. The guy does a great aussie accent, but the girl though... not so much. Ruined the immersion for me a little bit.
The ending was great, and by ending I mean the very very end where it tells you to subscribe to their mailing list. You'd think it was just an ad, but it's still part of the story. Made me smile.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña