I don’t know how I came to buy this, but I expect that the promise of an epic set in a world of magic may have had something to do with. Sadly, it turned out that this magical epic was instead epically boring, starring the dullest witches and vampires I’ve ever had the misfortune to read about. Diana is an academic, studying the history of science and, in particular, alchemy. Apparently from a long line of witches, Diana has tried to steer clear of magic […]
Mind numbingly tedious
Being terrible for buying tons of books at a time, which then sit untouched on my physical and virtual shelves for years whilst I get distracted by newer, shinier books, I thought I’d start this year by trying to get through some of my backlog. I picked Lorna Doone – this was a HUGE mistake, nearly robbing me of my reading mojo just two books into the new year. John Ridd is a farmer in the village of Oare and leads a simple enough life. […]
An utter bore
Having finished my previous book at the beginning of a long train journey, and being mindful of not spending any more money (and thanking the inventor of the e-reader for letting me carry a virtual library with me everywhere I go), I went for the free and fairly short Castle Rackrent thinking that a quick classic might help the journey to speed by. But, while short, this bored the ass off me, helping make the journey feel like it was three times longer than it […]
I Wanted Him to Die Quicker
Rating: 2.0/5 Summary: This is about a boy who is about to die in the next day and a half. Denton Little has known his death date since the age of five and that it was during his senior year of high school. Denton starts to have some fun on his last days and he ends up being a bit of an asshole. He also develops a strange rash splotch that looks like a weird bruise. I kind of hated this book, and I was […]
The Most Boring Thing I’ve Read In Years
I read a lot of crap novels. Generally as audiobooks while folding laundry or doing dishes, but loads of them. This is one of the few books I haven’t finished. It was just so boring. I’d started the series with the water one, which was fine. It wasn’t good, but not too bad. The second one was Spirit Bound, which was less fine than the first, but not the worst thing I’d ever listened to. The reader kept pronouncing the name Levi as “Levy,” which […]
A Self-Indulgent Mess
What an utter waste of time. Tom McCarthy is fast becoming the Kate Winslet of the literary world-so much of his work is exceptional, so now they nominate him based on the assumption that this book is good too (Yeah, Winslet, I’m coming for you. Nice accent in Steve Jobs) I picked up McCarthy’s Satin Island because it was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. There’s only been a few times where I profoundly disliked a book that received that honor, but this is […]