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The writing is clunky and jumpy, but it seemed like there was something personal underneath. The story is a thriller and it brings up multiple types of modern trauma. The end shows the difficulty of dealing with the emotions, but it felt like a missed opportunity. Can't exactly recommend fully, but it worked as a background audio-book listen.

The plot was good but the emotion was hampered by too much explaining. The ending fell flat since I didn't feel why they acted the way they did.

This wasn't a mystery like the beginning intimated. It was an action novel. And the action was written pretty well.

There was a confusing section in the middle at an attempt of a police-procedural. Then an attempt at connecting that to a conspiracy at the end. It fell flat. But I liked the two protags, so I'll try the next in the series.

...but the book's based on one supernatural event and it does nothing with it. The event gets everyone thinking about death and fate, and the characters do have some growth, but then it doesn't say anything about them either. I felt it was just a missed opportunity.

Either dive deeper and don't rely on the supernatural as a story crutch, or use the supernatural to get us to think about how fate and death might be different than our current beliefs.

I suppose I got frustrated; sorry about the rant.

There's some interesting stories in this series. And it does end well in that there is a point to it all.

With a couple annoying characters and character decisions that I didn't follow, it wasn't my favorite. But it was entertaining.

This is like an epistolary novel but instead of letters it's told in interviews and phone calls. I was able to get used to it enough to enjoy the story. The book has what it needs for a global-scale intrigue, some action, some politics, a bunch of tech.

I was looking for another series to start, and this one will do.

The immediate beginning pulled me in. Then I fell asleep while reading. Then I decided to keep trying since the writing was good, although verbose. And I was curious about why some write about awful people. I never found out.

The ending brought closure, but I was too exhausted to feel catharsis. If others like her style of writing, which actually felt similar to the old white men like Bellow and Updike, I bet they'd love this book.

No one can say they've gone through exactly what Polley has. But these essays touch that we've all gone through something.

This second book in the series uses more of the mystery genre than romance. And there's more steam-punk in this one.

This book has some janky places (a bit confusing in the action). But these books are light and entertaining.

I hope I don't loose my literary cred, but G*d help me, I liked a romance novel... and Victorian to boot.

The supernatural bent pulled me in.

Vonnegut takes down government, religion and divine purpose. But even though there's humor and his trademark silliness, it's not an easy read. I felt kinda empty after. I don't know if I enjoyed it, but it's worth reading.