In September the Gorilla with Glasses bookclub read through Piranesi By Susanna Clarke. One of the most imaginative and creative reads I’ve made my way through. I really enjoyed it. In October the bookclub will be making our way through The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I’m super excited for this one, and I hope you join us! You can join the club (for free!) on Fable.
I also read the Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song, and the Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne. Below are some short reviews.
Piranesi was incredible. I really enjoyed this trippy and imaginative read. The story is moderately paced with twists and turns simultaneously from an unreliable narrator and incredible story telling. I was worried I would not like the ending based on some reviews of the book that I had read, but I ended up really enjoying it. I thought she expertly “landed the plane”. Highly recommend this one.
The Night Ends with Fire started out really strong. I felt like the first third of the book was engaging and immersive. The next 2 thirds fell short for me. I really didn’t enjoy the character arcs or dialogue and struggled to stay interested. While the magic system was unique and interesting, I felt like it “didn’t fit” (?) into the rest of the world… The magic seemed super OP and I felt like I could theory craft significantly better ways of utilizing the magic. I imagine that occurred because of trying to force fit the magic into the Mulan-style retelling. All in all, I found parts of it enjoyable and would recommend the book to those who like retellings and in particular Mulan retellings.
The Shadow of the Gods was quite enjoyable. I felt like I “wanted” to enjoy the story more than I did because I loved the setting and characters so much. At times, I felt like some descriptions were a little goofy — troll nuts (seriously, pendulous? boulderous?) and thought cages, for example (wtf, “skull” is not some unique concept, surely they know what a skull is…) Overall, I found my self immersed in the story and I really enjoyed it. I found the revenge story arc the most enjoyable of the three major arcs.
I hope you enjoyed this reading wrap-up and I would love to have you join us in the bookclub!
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