This was shaping up to be an EXCELLENT thriller but the whole "communicating through time" and "time is cyclical" ending felt like a lazy way to wrap up the story in a neat bow.
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Astrophysicist by day. I read almost all genres.
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_astronoMay reviewed Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough
Review of 'Insomnia' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
_astronoMay rated Dawn: 5 stars
_astronoMay rated The Viscount Who Loved Me: 4 stars
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
1814 promises to be another eventful season, but not, This Author believes, for Anthony Bridgerton, London's most elusive bachelor, who …
_astronoMay reviewed Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the …
Review of 'Lessons in Chemistry' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I'm struggling with how I feel about this one. On one hand, I related with so many of Elizabeth's experiences as a woman in STEM and thoroughly enjoyed six-thirty's character, in fact the dog was my favorite part of this book.
However so much of this seemed out of time, like the book either wasn't sure what era it was in or the author was combining multiple eras. At times it also felt like Elizabeth might be neurodivergent, others it felt like she was just an awkward scientist, so overall I wasn't entirely sure what her story was or how to interpret her actions. Elizabeth is also a terrible science communicator. The book shows women eating up Elizabeth's every science-heavy word, but in reality she wasn't actually making science accessible to these people with how she acted and how she spoke about it to them. That whole part of the …
I'm struggling with how I feel about this one. On one hand, I related with so many of Elizabeth's experiences as a woman in STEM and thoroughly enjoyed six-thirty's character, in fact the dog was my favorite part of this book.
However so much of this seemed out of time, like the book either wasn't sure what era it was in or the author was combining multiple eras. At times it also felt like Elizabeth might be neurodivergent, others it felt like she was just an awkward scientist, so overall I wasn't entirely sure what her story was or how to interpret her actions. Elizabeth is also a terrible science communicator. The book shows women eating up Elizabeth's every science-heavy word, but in reality she wasn't actually making science accessible to these people with how she acted and how she spoke about it to them. That whole part of the plot came across to me like an attempt to be inspirational with how Elizabeth inspired so many women, but as a scientist myself who's passionate about science communication it read like the author just wanted a shiny story about a quirky woman scientist in the 60s without putting too much depth into the character. It would have been much stronger if Elizabeth had shown that women can be scientists and are regular everyday people too, instead of leaning so hard into the "she's a scientist so can only speak like a scientist" thing.
Review of "The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Montague Siblings, #1)" on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
You know how in scary movies the plot is entirely driven by dumb people doing dumb things? This is exactly the same, but wrapped in the poor disguise of a novel trying to be a 18th century historical romance.
Monty shows absolutely zero character growth and is an absolute disaster of a human being who constantly breaks the rules just because he can, to the detriment of his and everyone around him's safety. Poor Percy and Felicity deserve so much more than being shackled to his mess.
_astronoMay rated A River Enchanted: 3 stars
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
House of Earth and Blood meets The Witch's Heart in Rebecca Ross’s brilliant first adult fantasy, set on the magical …
_astronoMay rated The Last Cuentista: 4 stars
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.
But …
_astronoMay rated Duke and I: 3 stars
Julia Quinn: Duke and I (2019, HarperCollins Publishers)
Duke and I by Julia Quinn
E-Book Extras: ONE: Behind the Novel: The Duke and I by Julia Quinn; TWO: The Bridgerton Basics: Ms. Quinn Fills …
_astronoMay reviewed A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)
Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court–but at a steep cost. Though …
Review of 'Court of Mist and Fury' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
My two cents: Feyre needs to step back from relationships for a long while and work on herself. Girl spends way too much time letting men consume her thoughts and define her. Does she really have that many more choices with Rhys? He is still pulling the puppet strings of her "destiny".
I was so ready to give this 3 stars for being better than the first book, but that ending ruined it again. Not to mention the absurd amount of vomiting and purring. Quite looking forward to seeing who Feyre thinks she's in love with in the next one.
was it actually better than the first one or did I just really not like the book I read before this, making it seem better by comparison...
_astronoMay rated The sound of stars: 2 stars
_astronoMay reviewed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
What is the purpose of a map?
Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is …
Review of 'The Cartographers' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
None of the motivation for anything made any sense. Wally turns into a murderer in search of a map because he's obsessed with Tam and "their" town? Tam stays behind to protect a secret town instead of raise her daughter? Her dad fires her and ruins her career to protect her from said previous murdering old friend? It read like a bad rendition of national treasure to me. Nearly a DNF.
I did enjoy the historical note at the end of the acknowledgements. But this just showed me how the idea for this had so much more potential than a group of PhDs acting like children and making dumb choices.
_astronoMay rated History of Wild Places: 4 stars
_astronoMay reviewed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to …
Review of 'Court of Thorns and Roses' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
So this was cringe and bad but in a sorta good "I can't look away" kind of way?
I'll be begrudgingly reading book 2, I suppose for the same reason I can't stop watching bad reality TV.
_astronoMay reviewed Violeta by Isabel Allende
La historia de una mujer cuya vida abarca los momentos históricos más relevantes del siglo …
Review of 'Violeta' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
A slow burn, but an absolutely beautiful tale.