saifighter's reviews
217 reviews

I actually really liked this! Its got great gallows humor, a likable main character (although he is kind of a shitty person), and some pretty low-ish stakes. This was almost wanna say this was a really cozy read. I'm definitely gonna pick up this author's other works. 

DNF at 46%. I really wanted to like this. I really like the characters and I was interested in a few of their backstories and how they would continue on their pilot careers. The audiobook even has really good music and sound effects. And the descriptions of dog fights and the technology is awesome. But there are just SO MANY characters. We don't really follow one person or even one side of the fight. This book is narratively speaking all over the place. I had a hard time following who was who and what was going on. And the book didn't stay with the characters and plots I was actually interested in for very long before jumping to some new POV or some random characters plot. I might try out something else by this author or maybe a Star Wars book that just focuses on ONE character. So sad to DNF this one. 

Honestly, this one was kind of boring. The concept could be really interesting but I just wasn't attached to the main characters and none of the individual customer chapters really grabbed me.

I feel like Campfire in Another World pulls off this concept way better. 

This review comes after re-reading this book for the first time in also most (checks watch) 15 YEARS! 

Of course, this is a 5 star for me. I am, in fact, incredible bias about this one. Reading Howl is very much like drinking a warm cup of hot chocolate on a snowy day. Its cozy, whimsical magic and story telling that you mostly see in fairy tales. 

I first read this book after finding out the 2004 movie was based on it. The movie is great but what you have to understand is that the movie cuts out so much of the book that it had to invent an entirely new narrative. I would say that while the movie tells a much more simplified and easier to follow narrative, it loses so much of what makes the book so incredibly charming. Things cut from the movie:

Sophie’s sisters; the body switching; Howl’s county of origin; the details around Howl’s curse which informs the how and why of the end game romance; a bunch of characters such as Pentstemmon, Wizard Ben Suliman, Prince Justin is in both but very different, along with a bunch of other things.

While I like the movie, the book is its own thing. And like I said, its just more whimsical and fairy tale like. I really like that it shows ordinary people living their normal lives in a magical setting. I like the mystery of the details about Howl’s curse and how its hinted at through out the whole book and you get to slowly put it together while the book lets you come to your own conclusion. I LOVE Michael in the book. There is also SO much more magic in the book

(Howl, Sophie, and Michael

).

I will say, that at times the book can be confusing with the body swapping and the curse/magic not being fully explained. The book doesn’t hold your hand and you just have to come to your own conclusions about everything. You are either going to love that aspect or hate it while finding the book pretty confusing. 

Either way, highly recommend both the book and the movie. I can’t really recommend one over the other. They are both their own thing that can be enjoyed separately or together. 

DNF at 41%, Chapter 15. Its just so boring. There isn't even a sub-plot outside the romance to keep my attention. 

 

I finished The Wild Robot and its very cute but def a children's book. Its a good "read-a-loud" chapter book I feel like would be really good for 3-5 year olds (maybe read to mom for 6-7) I definitely still wanna watch the new animated movie that came out for it 

While this isn't exactly what I was looking for, this is still a really good read!

I don't really read military fiction, but I was looking for a book with characters that pilot mechs. I finished Iron Widow awhile ago and was really craving that giant robot anime vibe that I got. Cry Pilot is what I found. And don't get me wrong, we eventually get to the actual anime of it all. But it takes till the very end of the book. Thank god there are two more books, which will probably have way more actual giant robot machine piloting in it.

So, for the majority of the book, this is less gundam pilot MC and more following the ground troops that aren't in giant gundams. This book is all about establishing the tight-knit group of the squad. This book is all about getting you to fall in love with the characters and introducing you to the world before any of the big stuff happens. And I absolutely love every single character in this squad. As the author has put in an interview "To me, this is fundamentally a story about a found family…that blows shit up." You can read the interview here: https://paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-cry-pilot-author-joel-dane/

And also surprisingly, this book is really queer. The whole squad is described as poly with each other in the book. It was a nice little surprise.

This is a great book. Great writing, great characters, great premise. I'm only pulling one star because it took SO LONG to get to the piloting mechs bit. Also, its a little too much glorifying of the military for my taste but I can over look it.

Looking forward to book 2!

I really liked this and I honestly only have a few complaints.

I think at times, the politics and characters that represent those politics are almost cartoonist in presentation, like everyone is out here walking around drawn like a caricature. It doesn't feel as nuanced as I would like it to be. But also, I know that autistic people can sometimes see the world in more black and whites, and maybe that has a little bit to do with the MCs perspective of all these characters. I don't know.

Also, this kind of feels like this could have been way longer. Especially for a thriller, the tension feels like it has no time to build. 

But other than that, I really liked this book. The setting was a character all on its own and I really loved it. White's writing is amazing like always. The jaw scene was so gruesome, honestly worth reading this book just for that.  

Not entirely sure why this is tagged scifi horror, cause there was almost no horror to speak of. It wasn't even suspenseful. From the blurp this definitely felt like it was going to mostly be about the neurological connection to the wolves. I really thought that is what we were gonna be exploring. Some real man vs nature vs technology. But this ended up being way more about the MC's failing marriage than it did about this weird/dangerous technology that the MC made. Felt like this should have been more advertised as "queer drama" then "scifi horror." The only thing that really scared me was the sex scene that jump scared me.

This book isn't bad. It just wasn't what I was really looking for. And what was there felt lack luster.