#book review with shark

[sharkneto]

I have finished! Some thoughts under read more, spoiler warning for Wind and Truth -

That was just... A frustrating read. I'm trying to justify giving the book 3 stars because I gave SJM 2 stars for the two ACOTAR books I read this year and I want to like it more than ACOTAR, but at least I knew what SJM was doing and recognized what she was trying to do. If Wind and Truth had been 500 pages shorter, I could justify it, easy. But 1,329 pages??? The amount of time and effort I committed to reading it? For how frustrating an ending? Sorry Brando, I can't.

Things I liked and I was invested in: 1) I always love Adolin, and my fear coming into this book was, as my one Normal Guy Left, he was going to end up bonding a spren and becoming Radiant. I thought his chapters trying to hold Azimir were really the only time I felt the plot's 10 day time crunch and used the insane length of the book to its advantage to feel the exhaustion of his impossible task. I loved how he ended up forming "platonic" bonds with deadeyes through his power of just being a Good Dude. Fit his character nicely and built on the trend he was already on. I was excited whenever the book checked back in with him. 2) I loved getting Szeth's backstory and his journey he was on. Poor fucked up little guy, he had one of the best paced plots and it worked really well to reframe who he's been the past four books. A very sympathetic character for the assassin that kicked off the whole series. 3) I liked how Dalinar's final choice worked - I'm a sucker for when characters have to choose to lose in order to win.

Otherwise? Just too much, too busy, so much bloat. The spirit realm plot of Dalinar and Navani and Gav tumbling around there could have been cut in half. Same with Shallan, Rlain, and Renarin with there being zero payoff for them releasing Mishram. I liked Kaladin's journey but unfortunately the pacing for it was rushed, which is insane when the book is this long. Kaladin is arguably the character we are all here for, and more time should have been spent with him and his plot given more attention for his own growth figuring out how to be a therapist. Was nice Jasnah got humbled, but we never got any consequences for countries that sided with Odium vs the Human Resistance, so ended up very little payoff for how she lost. So many little plots picked up and put down or just left because they set up things for the larger Cosmere.

That's where most of my frustration with the ending comes in. To be slightly fair, I bet the consequences and how the ascension of Retribution ripples makes more sense if you're fully up to date on the state of the Cosmere. I, however, am not. I've read 5/7 of Mistborn, and have read the Stormlight Archive. That's it. I enjoyed the nods to Mistborn I caught (but why is Kelsier here???). But once Dalinar made his move with Honor (and Honor's whole backstory tbh) the scale exploded to the entire Cosmere and I didn't have context for what these consequences were or what they were referencing. So very little satisfaction in conclusions for what the characters on Roshar accomplished (or didn't!), and lots and lots of set up for the larger Universe and the next five books. Which, unfortunately, leaves me holding these 1300 pages of words and content and going "Ok, but Why???"

I had a similar experience with The Hero of Ages - the scale of the plot expanded too much, beyond what I was really interested in or had good context to appreciate, and there were too many moments where I was left going "Sure, why not, that might as well happen." But at least that one had the decency to be half the length of Wind and Truth. So, really seems like the issue I have is with Brandon Sanderson's ability to balance and pace the later half of his series. He's obviously got his whole Cosmere very planned out on where things are going and how they all fit together, but I think he loses the forest for the trees, can't see what details are actually relevant vs a darling he should kill. I am begging him to get an editor to help him streamline.

Am I glad I read it? I guess, mostly to get the conclusion for this arc of the series and because I read it with a couple friends and there will be a lot of discussion had about it. But it's not a book I'd rec, and cements my Stormlight Archive series rec as "Read the Way of Kings, because that is a great book, and then read as far as you want." The bloat in these books means that it's a series of unfortunately diminishing returns, and I can't rec a book this long with so little overall payoff to anyone unless they're already committed to the series and want to read it just for completion's sake.

At least the hardcover looks pretty on my shelf.

W*nd and Tr*th really cementing my opinion that very rarely does a book need to be more than 600 pages, and doubly so for over a 1000

[the---hermit]

Nimona by ND Stevenson

The fact that I found out about this graphic novel only when the movie came out is criminal. It has all the criteria to on my shelves, but for some reason I had never heard of it before, I am happy I finally did tho. I loved this book. Graphic novels are one of my favourite kinds of books, and I love a good fantasy story. This one in particular has everything you might want from a good book. An interesting and engaging plot, cool characters you care about and a good balance between jokes and a more serious tone. The story follows Nimona, a shape-shifter who becomes the sidekick of a villain in a fantasy world that mixes knights and technology. Balister, the villain is strongly against the main institution of this world, and knows someone in particular who works there. This is the base on which the story is developed, and as I said I believe it to be very well balanced. I laughed, I audibly gasped more than once, I felt this book in all its emotions and loved it. I particularly liked the mix of classic fantasy elements like knights in a world that has a lot of modern and technological elements, it never felt weird, and ti's actually a pretty interesting concept for a fantasy story. Both Nimona and Balister are great character and I loved their dynamic. It's a very quick paced story, so I left wishing I had more time with these characters, because I really enjoyed spending time with them.

Since I read the book not so long after watching the movie I feel like adding a small segment on that. The two stories are quite different on several elements. But to be honest I loved both equally. In both versions of the story I adored the characters and their dynamic, and overall I found them both equally entertaining and emotional. I will recommend this story to everyone I know from now on.

[in-the-stacks]

Presenting Smart About Sharks by Owen Davey. Reviewed by Kate's Page Turners for In the Stacks.

https://www.inthestacks.tv/2024/07/kates-page-turners-smart-about-sharks

[smile-files]

my high school animal behavior/butterfly prof is gonna get me in touch with the author of the caterpillar guide she gave me (and whom she's pals with), and the two of us are gonna have a chat at some point!!!! i'm so lucky

[catastrophic-classic]

I went to meet Ottessa Moshfegh and it was nothing like I expected.

After reading her first book solely due to this event, I was rather unenthused about going quite frankly. I thought Eileen was quite boring, written poorly, and just overall bad. But that's beside the point.

Ottessa lectured in front of a crowd of about 500 people and ensured that her talk would not be well planned out and that she wanted to keep it "real" and she definitely delivered. Throughout the event, I sat there trying to comprehend what in the world was going on in this woman's brain. The lecture was an hour long and the biggest memory I have of it is the countless times I sat there trying to understand what she was trying to convey in her speach. For a bestselling author, she did not have a way with words.

Honestly harsh words from me, but with how she acted during the actual signing, I do not give two fucks. After buying her book, one of my friends mentioned her contreversy and how she's fatphobic. Which, having known I wouldn't have read but it was already too late. While reading Eileen, I definitely saw where there was completely unneccessary paragraphs about how fat people are stupid and lazy. So already I was not okay with this woman. But this event was free and I already had the book.

During the signing, I was probably fifth in line since I happened to sit on the right side of the lecture hall. There was a girl in front of me and a group of people in front of her. While the group was going up to Ottessa, one of the girls handed her a pamphlet to sign instead of a book. A new fan, I assume, or rather someone who saw an interesting event and decided to attend. However, when Ottessa saw the pamphlet instead of one of her novels she questioned her "do you really want me to sign this?" in the most obnoxious voice while giving her an offended look. When the girl insisted, she sighed and rolled her eyes and signed the pamphlet.

The group eventually moved on and I was completely unenthused at this point. New people make me awkward and I don't have a great track record of interacting with people. I have 3 friends and a boyfriend, what more do I really need. But that's neither here nor there. Upon the next girl going to talk to her, the girl started recording just their voices. I assume she was a big fan. When Ottessa recognized that she was being recorded she said "are you recording? can you not?" Which listen, I understand being recorded is not okay with everyone. It's completely valid to ask to not be recorded. However, when a person shows up to your signing to ask an important question and wants to meet you, I feel like you should be nice to them? But that's just me. Also, she didn't know and it could've just been a "hey can you please not record me" situation. But nooo.

Anyways, I eventually got my book signed. I asked her which of her novels was her favorite. She looked at me weird like I was asking a stupid question. Her answer was "my most recent novel" and when I asked "Lapvona?" to clarify, she looked annoyed. Please I'm sorry I was just curious. Honestly, not a huge deal the vibes were just absolutely terrible.

The moral of the story is that I am not a fan of this woman. I do not support fatphobia or fatphobic individuals. And if people make time out of their days to go meet you be kind to them, please.

[mythos05reviews]

2/5 ⭐ I came back after watching the movie. Why is it that this is one of those rare cases where I find the movie more engaging than the actual book? Anyway, the best part of the book was the shark. This was a book where all the characters were assholes/one-dimensional without reason. There were very few moments in which I enjoyed this book. Therefore, I would not recommend it to others.

[tsunflowers]

I really liked the metaphor of a generation ship as a plantation in rivers solomon's first novel so I wanted to read their novella "the deep." this one is about a society of merpeople called wajinru who were born from pregnant slaves thrown overboard during the atlantic crossing. the thing about wajinru society is it's like in lois lowry's the giver where only one person holds the memories of the entire group, and the latest historian can't live with the burden of their people's past. the story is about her, some previous historians, and some humans, all trying to figure out how to deal with generational trauma. also the book is inspired by a song which was inspired by a 90s electro music duo and I love that path. I think it's definitely worth a read

[tabortrillion]

This is such an important book not just for sharks but for our oceans as a whole. The author is a shark attack survivor who then became an advocate for these misunderstood (and quickly becoming endangered) beauties of the sea. We all need to know how our actions are affecting our planet and the helpless animals we share it with. When our greed creates irreversible damage, there will be no one to save us. But by saving the creatures we have endangered, we also save ourselves.

[bonusquestion]

The raw shark text

The idea of conceptual fish that live in human connections is so cool. But i wish we got to see more of the fish, i think at most we see 3, the shark, krill, and the leeches. I was not a fan of the romance of scout and Eric, it felt out of left field. I really did not like it when he compared her to his dead girlfriend, and thought that she was her. The idea of Mycroft Ward is so creative and I love the references to other stories. There are negatives of each chapter and I will look into them to see if they are interesting to read and probably are, I hope there are more conceptual fish. The raw shark text does not play with formatting as much as other books I have read have and honestly in the ranking it is second to last but that does not mean that it is one of the worst i don't even rank books i don't like. It uses odd formatting to show ideas that are hard to understand, the way that standed out to me was the explanation of the lightbulb. It was less that it added to the story more like he could not explain the idea of the encryption in just words. The shark was used in a very interesting way showing us what it looks like to Eric, made of words and his thoughts that it has eaten. I will probably only be posting about comics and podcasts as i read XX feels like house of leaves

[ladynightshade30]

Story Updates

So, I am still working on Chrysalis and Whips as well as Roman + Isolda, the latter of which I hope to have finished by the end of the year.  My editor is working on the newest edits for Prelude to a Rapunzel Tale which will hopefully be available this year. It’s a short story so it shouldn’t take too long to edit. Unless I decide to add some scenes which I don’t see happening anytime soon since I feel like it is a done deal. Unless my editor thinks of some things to add.  I also saw a cartoon yesterday on facebook about how lemon sharks are possessive of divers and now I am making plans for a Little Mermaid Retelling focusing on a lemon mershark falling for a diver and making a pact with a coven of Killer Whales/Orcas to be human and court her. So far all plans to find a documentary on Lemon Sharks have failed but I am going to check a couple documentary channels I have access to along with YouTube and hopefully they will have some things. Also, looking for Orca/Killer Whale documentaries with a little more success but no idea how useful they will be for me since they are mainly about hunting so far.  I hope to have the review for The Serpent’s Shadow up on my website by Sunday. As well as a video on TikTok.  So, wish me luck.

[the-last-teabender]

TBR time is here again! Three books read and reviewed, including a Doctor Who one for those of you who are into that sort of thing.

[horrorhodgepodge]

Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror

“On a top-secret dive into the Pacific Ocean’s deepest canyon, Jonas Taylor found himself face-to-face with the largest and most ferocious predator in the history of the animal kingdom. The sole survivor of the mission, Taylor is haunted by what he’s sure he saw but still can’t prove exists – Carcharodon megalodon, the massive mother of the great white shark. The average prehistoric Meg weighs in…

[thatpunkmaximoff]

Story: 5 out of 5 Smut: 4 out of 5

I have anxiously been waiting for the day I could read this book… and I. WAS. NOT. DISAPPOINTED! Holy shit, that was such a thrilling ride.

Enzo was such a grumpy, cruel shit head, but then again Sawyer did steal his identity. It almost felt too cruel at times, but let’s just say that Enzo was extremely lucky he was pretty. And knew how to bone lol.

Sawyer’s story will sadden you and then she will annoy you, but then you’re rooting for her along with Enzo.

Also, why didn’t anyone warn me about Sylvester?! The story surrounding him was crazy and I did not see that coming at all. I was also trying to play detective with his story, but I kept getting everything wrong.

This book is so good!

Also, those shark scenes, man. IYKYK.

* What the fuck did you do, Sawyer? A fugitive on the run? I’m intrigued.

* Stick ‘n poke tattoo? Oh hell no lol

* Yes, char up the dude you know will ruin you with “just the tip” 😂 Should have walked away, Sawyer.

* “My name and God’s don’t belong in the same sentence, bella. One is holy, and the other is depraved.”

* That waterfall scene.. holy shit 👀

* What the fuck did Kev, her twin, do? I’m intrigued.

* Damnnnn. I bought this book solely for one reason and I didn’t think I’d get to it so fast. Way to nearly kill the girl you’re railing 😂 That was hot. Ngl.

* He wants to kill her, but also protect her 🤦🏻‍♀️

* Yeah, Sylvester is sketch. Whatcha doin’, old man?

* Why do I get the feeling her brother SA’d her 😬

* Oh, she definitely killed her brother.

* If that prisoner story is true, Sylvester is totally one of the prisoners and since Sawyer is the first woman he’s seen in years… he’s gonna meet Enzo’s crazy side. I’m calling it now.

* Oh god. Sylvester totally had that woman prisoner at the lighthouse and forced children upon her 🤢 That’s what those pictures were, weren’t they?

* Is this a ghost story too? What is going on and who was the girl in the ocean?

* There’s totally a prisoner in the lighthouse. That’s why Sylvester locks them up at a certain time.

* Ahhh, so I was right about the brother.

* They need to get off that island asap. Sylvester is totally a criminal and planning to keep Sawyer hostage.

* I like this protective, possessive side of Enzo. It’s hot lol

* This dude is so hot and cold.

* “Non ti odio, Sawyer. I wanted to say it was the truth when you asked if I hated you, but I couldn’t lie, so I said nothing. And every time I laid eyes on you today, all I could think was that I never really did. Choose to live, bella. Choose me.”

* Oh shit. They’ve come to terms that they like each other. And he’s convinced her to leave the lighthouse with him so he can take care of her. How will Sylvester take this? 😬

* And the old man has snapped. Fuck that dude.

* I knew that fuckwad was going to escape. Ugh.

* I’m so fucking annoyed they won’t investigate the knocking on the ceiling. It’s not a ghost! I know it’s not. It has to be someone Sylvester is keeping prisoner up there. The girl they saw on the ocean. It has to be.

* I knew it! Now, can she be trusted?

* Goddammit, Kacey.

* Holy shit. She’s gonna assume the identity of ******* 😨

* Holy fuck, their plan worked!

* Gross. Her brother really was a sick fuck! I wonder what the friend Garrett was thinking then, sending Sawyer emails to turn herself in if he knew the brother was guilty..?

* Awww. He proposed! And named a boat after her 😂

Sawyer Bennett

Enzo Vitale

[reviews-sky-1]

New book review!

Simon Thorn and the Shark's Cave by Aimée Carter

[booksteacupandreviews]

Funnimals series by Harry Fabler - delightful Animal fiction for kids age 4+

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[booksofdelight]

9 Books Mark Cuban Recommends Reading To Being Successful

Find out the 9 Books Mark Cuban Recommends Reading To Being Successful!

Many people know billionaire Mark Cuban as from Shark Tank or as the former owner of the NBA franchise, the Dallas Mavericks. We will be looking at 9 books that Mark Cuban recommends to being successful. Keep reading to find out which you should read! Cuban’s first company, MicroSolutions was sold for $6 in 1990. He followed that up by founding and selling Broadcast.com to Yahoo for…