This book left me feeling conflicted.
I picked it up because it's a book about Denver (kind of) by a local author, and it won an Amazon award.
I kept reading it because the first half was beautiful, and then the later plot elements were too fantastical and weird to ignore.
I chuckled and smirked at parts, and became morose and sullen after reading other parts.
The reader of the audio book sounded physically taxed by the act of reading the book; chapters began in a clear voice and ended in a gravelly croak.
Reviews and Comments
This link opens in a pop-up window
dozens rated The Dark Tower I: 3 stars
The Dark Tower I by Stephen King (The dark tower -- 1)
[The Dark Tower][1] I
The Gunslinger is a dark-fantasy by American author Stephen King. It is the first volume in …
dozens rated Saga, Volume 1: 4 stars
Saga, Volume 1 by Fiona Staples, Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, #1)
When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a …
dozens rated Saga, Volume 4: 4 stars
Saga, Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, #4)
"Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the universe. As they visit …
Chris Roberson: IZombie (2012, DC Comics)
IZombie by Chris Roberson (IZombie -- 3)
dozens reviewed East of Denver by Gregory Hill
Review of 'East of Denver' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
dozens rated Creature tech: 3 stars
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
To an imaginative bunny, a box is not always just a box.
dozens reviewed Gun, with occasional music by Jonathan Lethem
Review of 'Gun, with occasional music' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I enjoyed how well this book kind of filtered its reality for the reader and was able to appear to be one thing while simultaneously being another. It's as classic a hard-boiled detective story as there's ever been, so it feels comfortable and familiar, but it's set in a sci-fi world that makes the progression of the plot extra interesting as you're exposed to new aspects of this strange world/society. It also--despite being about murder, corruption, and other awful things--often is quite funny and almost light-hearted, right up till and through the very end.
The transition from part one to part two startled me, and I thought it an overly clever way to advance the plot and the characters toward resolution. And it freed Metcalf to catapult toward the climax while putting a new twist on the tried and true theme: there's no time or place for someone who values …
I enjoyed how well this book kind of filtered its reality for the reader and was able to appear to be one thing while simultaneously being another. It's as classic a hard-boiled detective story as there's ever been, so it feels comfortable and familiar, but it's set in a sci-fi world that makes the progression of the plot extra interesting as you're exposed to new aspects of this strange world/society. It also--despite being about murder, corruption, and other awful things--often is quite funny and almost light-hearted, right up till and through the very end.
The transition from part one to part two startled me, and I thought it an overly clever way to advance the plot and the characters toward resolution. And it freed Metcalf to catapult toward the climax while putting a new twist on the tried and true theme: there's no time or place for someone who values truth and justice.
The book is short and fraught with tragedy and laughs. I'm certainly interested in reading more by this author.
Review of 'Veins' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The book is deceptive. You think you're getting light-hearted episodic bursts of silliness, but then the dark humor gets darker before you can penetrate the choppy, steamroller narrative voice to realize it, and by the time you get to the end, you've come back around to the beginning in a way that casts new light on the whole thing and makes you feel bad for having laughed at the funny parts, because suddenly it's not really that funny.
dozens reviewed Room by Emma Donoghue
Review of 'Room' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
There were some inconsistencies in the narrative voice that bothered me.
And the middle parts were annoying because I've read sci-fi before so the "I'm such a stranger to what passes as humanity" bits were not novel or cute.
But the child's voice was done well and often framed the content in such a double-whammy of innocence (kid plus outsider to humanity) that had me laughing out loud.
Jacky's journey was neat, but I was much more interested in Ma and Grandma. They had more severe and, arguably, "real" reactions to the ordeal.
Good story in all!
dozens rated The instructions: 5 stars
The instructions by Adam Levin
Levin creates a world driven equally by moral fervor and slapstick comedy. Expelled from multiple Jewish day-schools for acts of …
dozens reviewed Daybreak by Brian Ralph
Review of 'Daybreak' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
The second-person/passive narrative style was completely novel for me. I felt badly when "I" did things as a character I didn't want to do, and it was scary/lonely when "I" left the company of other characters.
The storyline in a zombie tale is always the same. (Survive.) But this one does a good job of creating a lot of character sympathy in a short amount of time.
dozens reviewed Half empty by David Rakoff
Review of 'Half empty' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A lot of laughs, a lot of really good writing, and a lot of somber, poignant moments.
Pretty much the total package. Highly recommended.
Especially the audio version. Being read by the person who wrote the words, the delivery is perfect.