Small Reviews

The first of my enormous end of year learning budget book pile. Something about the tone of this book meant I couldn't get into it, and despite being a subject matter that I actually really care about and agree with it left me cold. Don't get me wrong, the examples called out are definitely a societal cause for concern, and in that sense the book hit its goals. But it felt a bit like chapter after chapter complaining about bad (which could have done with a change of pace) without showcasing positive applications, or suggestions for good. It felt quite black and white in thinking, some of the phrasing was clearly judgy against things that didn't align with the author's stances, and actually a bit... luddite... in terms of some framing. It wasn't until the final few pages that there was any future thinking or solutions, and even then it was the author's opinion rather than evidence based or showing interesting examples of practical frameworks etc. It's also very American-centric, and one page refers to"the British city of Kent" 🤷🏻‍♀️. Not one I'd recommend to people wanting to learn more about data science, either within the industry or probably even from the general public.

I need to reconcile it against my Expanse experince to be sure, but I think this may actually be my favourite thing I read this year... which was entirely unexpected. This nicely wrapped up the trilogy, and as with the previous book it both explained a lot and was much, much more accessible than the first. I enjoyed that we also got the perception of non-human entities (no spoilers) in a few chapters, and that the ending, whilst not entirely happy did tie everything up pretty well, especially given all the mess that things were in by then! This was a complex, really different universe with so much to learn about, but ultimately ended up being really quite memorable.

I was genuinely surprised and delighted at just how much I enjoyed this book, and how weirdly accessible it suddenly felt compared to the first. I just went back and read my thoughts on Ninefox Gambit, and considering I read it almost exactly a year ago I was amazed at how easily I fell back into the universe. Things that felt vague and not-fully-graspable before were put into context very quickly and easily in this book. Characters were easy to follow, and the story, whilst pretty predictable, played out in an enjoyable way. On finishing this I actually went back and picked up Ninefox Gambit, reading through the first chapter and flicking through some key conversations (I'd remembered some elements and totally forgotten others, like the whole part of Mikodez and Kujen initially) and it all actually made sense. I'll probably re-read it properly at some point.

I'm still not entirely sure what the difference is between the two books to make them feel so vastly different accessibility-wise, but again I'm clearly not alone from reading other reviews. Very much looking forward to the third now though.

All in all, this was a fun trilogy. I shouldn't have doubted the concept of space pirates, I guess. The mysteries helped it along, and this one ended with most things answered (if not everything, and still with some plot holes and gaps), and wrapped up the stories of the sisters. There was a lot of death (maybe a bit too much?), but it was still in the same fluffy vein as the others whilst also being quite memorable.

I "read" this book as... shock horror... an audiobook. I had a long solo drive to Yorkshire and back, so decided to put this on to accompany me, and then finished it off mostly when I was ill or awake in the night the following week. I mention that because I think it impacted a bit on my enjoyment. This is a fluffy, fun read which builds on some interesting concepts in the first book, and I enjoyed getting to hear from Adrana. However particularly when it was being read to me, I found some of the more descriptive passages unnecessarily long, and certain sequences dragged. Key plot points are also pretty predictable, but no less enjoyable for it. I've ordered the last book, and keen to see how it all plays out.

I inherited this book from my husband without knowing anything about it, as I'd finished my previous one and he'd done with this. It's unsettling without being too creepy, detailed whilst still leaving a lot to your imagination, and paces some of the reveals just right. The characters were certainly memorable. The ending felt a bit unsatisfying, but also right I guess, and a lot of the mysteries are deliberately left unsolved. The book does touch on baby loss and sexual assault so be warned on that front, but otherwise I really enjoyed this.

I read this back-to-back with the preceeding novella, and because they follow on directly I think it could have made more sense to combine them. This was again a perfectly lovely little book, with very likeable characters, and lots of warm and fuzzies. The interactions between Dex and Mosscap were very reminiscient of some of the cultural exchanges from Becky Chambers' previous books which I'd always really liked...but despite all of the positives I found myself again not loving this. It was fine, enjoyable, but not a must-read for me for some reason.

I was looking forward to this book, as I'd seen it's about a "tea monk" and a robot, and things that have tea in are great. It was a perfectly pleasant short little read, and I ordered the second because it's very easy-reading, calming, and the two characters were both cute in their own ways. But also it's mostly unremarkable, there isn't much of a plot (it's a novella though), and some promising world-building didn't really go anywhere. But I'm hoping that's what the second book is for!

Ooof, this was a slog. I finally finished this at 4am and it helped me get back to sleep, which pretty much summed up how I felt about the book. One of my biggest issues was the structure. The book's divided into very few sections, each of which are a particular slice of time. But apart from that it's just a wall of text, which for me made pacing feel really dreary. I never felt "ooh just one more chapter", and it also didn't help pace as I could give up whenever I wanted rather than pushing through to a break. Aside from that I didn't care about any of the characters, and found them forgettable. The plot picked up as it moved forward in time, but I found myself generally disappointed in the Wallfacer reveals, and other than that it all felt like it lacked a bit of cohesion.

Based on this and the last book I decided I couldn't face reading the third (even though it's already in the house!), so read the wikipedia summary instead. And yep, glad I made that call. Overall this series really wasn't for me.

I got as far as the first page of another book before realising I just really wanted to read the end of this, and switched. And... now I don't know how to write this without spoilers, so there will be mild ones.

After the events of the last book I was a bit worried as it didn't feel like there was going to be a happy ending, but I'm actually quite gutted about how some of it played out. Maybe I'd just got used to our heroes stumbling though disaster after disaster and everything ending up ok, but I certainly wasn't left with the warm and fuzzies. If anything I feel like it'll stick in my mind with a bit of a sense of unease, which is maybe what they were going for, I don't know. I think I'll cling on to the TV show end and write my own head canon.

With all of the shades of grey with characters, it was almost surprising to meet one here who was just an utter dick to the end, with zero nuance. Even Singh had a bit of that. Her narrative felt a bit unnecessary, and didn't add a lot for me. I was also disappointed that whilst one character from waaaaay back made a reappearance, we never found out what happened to Filip, or even Kit past a point in this book (did he even go to the system Alex thought he was in??). Again, I guess this is by design, and it's a challenge to wrap up when you have such a big cast, but there were definitely some gaps that I was hoping could have been filled with little references.

That said, I enjoyed this as I'd enjoyed all the others. Holden's mental health and the reaction to the trauma he went through was a big kick in the feels but felt well-written, the parallels between the, er, connectivity and the way that the Roci's crew all understand each other was powerful, and generally there was lots to enjoy. It's been a fantastic series, and I utterly love the characters which is why I'm I think I'm just a bit down on this one.

Oooof this book! It started slow and melancholy, but after a certain point it was all go. I can't actually say too much because there's so many spoilers, but it kicks up a gear so much with various important things happening that it kind of felt like a finale in its own right. You find out a lot, and it's nicely set up for the last act. I nearly had to put it down at one point as I was so taken aback by something, and had some genuine emotional reactions. I've become so attached to the characters now, and I'm both really looking forward to and dreading the end of the series.

Another book my husband never finished and I eventually nicked. He'd bought three in the series and there was enough in this to move on to them at some point, but it wasn't a classic for me. It felt a bit clunky to read at points, in the way that translated things often do, but I appreciated the translator's postscript saying that 'the reader sees a glimpse of another culture's pattern of thinking, hears an echo of another language's rhythms and cadences, and feels a tremor of another people's gestures and movements'. The strange in-game scenes reminded me of something else but I can't remember what, and I enjoyed flicking between that and the real world with everything explained by the end, but I did find some of the science a bit hard to wrap my tired brain around at points. Still, some interesting concepts and I'll read on.

This was the first book where I didn't know what was going to happen, and it was somewhat strange and exciting because of it. The time leap threw me off – everyone's suddenly got older and I felt a bit of a sense of disconnection, but I guess that's what all the novellas are for (I haven't read any yet as I don't really like e/audiobooks). Despite that, this was a meaty story with lots going on on different fronts, and it feels like it put a lot of time into setting up the last couple of books. It's definitely left everything on a bit of a cliffhanger. Lots of action, lots of political wranglings and lessons, and lots of "oh just one more chapter then"s.

I liked this more as it went on and all the strands came together, and it was a decent time travel read that wrapped up all the mysteries nicely... but overall something still left me a little bit cold. I think it may have been that I just didn't care about the characters very much. I actually felt a bit like Gaspery at the point where he still felt able to be detached about knowing how and when the people would die. They never really properly came alive for me. However I also definitely find pandemic-related content a bit less fun to read nowadays, and I think this probably suffered a bit in the same way as how I felt about 'How high we go in the dark' in terms of the setting.

This was a holiday read, and was perfect fluff for that kind of situation. It's lighthearted and silly, and leaves you with good feels on various fronts. However it didn't feel massively memorable or like I'll look back on it as a highlight, but that's ok because it completely served its purpose!

I think I'm getting a bit Expansed out now. I still enjoyed this one, but felt like I was running out of steam a bit. The sheer range of characters who took point on chapters made this almost feel like a collection of short stories, as some of them were real nobodies who never got another chance to narrate, just popping up in other characters' goes. That said, I did actually enjoy that we got to see a bit from the Free Navy on Medina's perspective of how it all went down. Seeing Filip develop was also interesting to read, and I enjoyed how him and Marco read slightly differently to the other characters.

After the previous one, I flicked through this before I started and was excited to see all the chapters were from the perspective of the core group... hooray! It delivered too, I actually felt like this was probably more effective than the TV show in describing how everyone split up and went on their own journeys. Naomi's journey in particular was really great to revisit in written form.

This one was definitely a bit more of a slog. It continued to have fewer of the core team narrating chapters, the on-planet bits really dragged, and for large chunks of the book both Elvi and Basia were pretty annoying. However, I did enjoy both Basia and Havelock being a continuation of previous appearances, unlike in the TV show. Still very enjoyable, but I'm hoping for a bit more excitement and a bit less moping and mud in the next book.

Ok so I'm fully invested now, and just continuing the binge. This one I felt like I enjoyed slightly less, but the thought of giving it anything less than a 4 felt daft, so 4 it is. I think it was because so much of this one focuses on non-core characters, although Melba/Clarissa was my favourite. On finishing I went and read all the TV summaries to compare, and a lot differs in this, especially with the weird smushing of Pa/Ashford/Drummer/Sam/Bull. Lots of action, lots of pace, and heading straight into book 4 to keep it up.

Unlike book 1, I just kept wanting to read this and frequently found myself slipping into the next chapter despite meaning to stop. Which I guess was kind of like the TV show when it reached this point. My memory is a bit hazy, but there are definitely some divergences from the adaptation in here, which did keep it more fresh for my brain than book 1. But also, the writing and characters are just so rich, and I loved spending more time with them. Avasarala and Bobbie were my faves in this book (obviously), but I'm also enjoying reclaiming being able to like Alex. Just great writing, and I couldn't resist ordering book 3 to jump into next.

On starting this (unexpectedly thick!) book, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stomach it for so many pages. The early pages are sickly sweet cheese, focusing on two characters who "babe" each other and generally seemed extremely annoying. Thankfully (mild spoiler) one gets killed off shortly after (hooray!), and the clumsy writing only reared its head a couple more times (the description of period pains was classic). It felt like a bit of a slog to get through, as whilst there's several acts and stuff happens, none of it felt super captivating to me. The story is interesting enough though, and it's very well thought out in terms of all of the hard details, for me it just could have done with being a bit more punchy and a bit less clumsy when it comes to a man writing about a woman.