I have conflicting thoughts. On the one hand, I enjoyed this. On the other hand, I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as I thought I would.
Upon reading I have conflicting thoughts. On the one hand, I enjoyed this. On the other hand, I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as I thought I would.
Upon reading the synopsis this seemed like a book that I would love. Add that to the fact that I have previously read and enjoyed this author’s previous work, and you’d think that this would have been perfect for me. Unfortunately, several things about this one fell flat for me.
My main issue with this book was the pacing, and how it felt a bit all over the place. The quarter of the book sees the main characters go from having a one night stand, to becoming reluctant coworkers, to acquaintances. Then there is a six year jump where we are told that throughout those six years Maria and Peter have grown close and that they have a great relationship. After they get together we don’t get to see the chemistry building and relationship growing. There are also other, smaller time jumps through the book. Each time we were told how their relationship had evolved, but we never get to see it happen.
I also had an issue with character reactions. Maria was a kind of a hypocrite, and she definitely realized it, which I am glad for. She expected Peter to shift his dreams, and outgrow his trauma in order to make her happy. Meanwhile she was happy to continue his dream while her past trauma and fear of being alone was her main motivator near the end. And then, suddenly Peter is cured of his problems because of what? The power of love? Idk? The whole third act conflict felt forced.
I do have to say though that I loved the representation and generally enjoyed the character’s personalities. I generally enjoyed the dialogue, although this too at times felt forced.
Overall, I liked it. It was fine but could have been better.
**I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.** ...more
I had been looking forward to reading this book since I first saw it announced. I have been a fan of Blake Crouch’s previous wThis was� disappointing.
I had been looking forward to reading this book since I first saw it announced. I have been a fan of Blake Crouch’s previous work with Dark Matter and Recursion and was fully prepared to love this one as well. Unfortunately, that’s not how it all went down.
Like the two aforementioned books by this author, Upgrade is about average 40-ish year old men discovering something world changing and dealing with the consequences to both the world and their family lives. In Dark Matter it was multiple dimensions as the protagonist traveled through endless versions of our world to get back to his family. In Recursion, it was time travel and memory alteration as the protagonist had to live multiple timelines to save the world and the love of his life. Here it is genetic engineering and the protagonist has to try to stop the forceful and dangerous manipulation of human nature before it destroys us all.
In theory, I should have loved this one just as much as the others.
But alas. I was bored.
I don’t mind science in sci-if. I mean, real science. So long as it’s told in a way that is relevant and interesting and that I, a humanities major till the end, can understand, it’s perfectly fine. But every time the MC would start talking about DNA and start naming DNA sequences and specific genes I would die a little inside. We the reader don’t need to know the specific genes being altered. We don’t need to know every scientific process being done unless knowing it is going to impact the plot or or understanding of it. Unless you are a biologist or geneticist, all the combinations of AGCT mentioned in this book aren’t going to mean anything.
Another issue I had was that I simply didn’t like the main character. He felt bland. The most compelling thing about him was his love for his family. Crouch’s characters always have very strong bonds with their families and I love that. Unfortunately, everything else about the MC bored me. Lastly, the whole book felt like a movie. A cheap action thriller whose plot I won’t remember much later.
Overall, this isn’t a bad book, despite all I’ve said. Many will like it, especially people that are already fans of Crouch’s work. I am just not one of those people.
I was provided an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own...more
But, I’m me so obviously I am going to say something.
I absolutely love the Bobs. Despite being clones they are uniqI loved this. Nothing else to say.
But, I’m me so obviously I am going to say something.
I absolutely love the Bobs. Despite being clones they are unique and infinitely interesting in their own rights. The main Bobs in this book: Bob, Bill, Riker, and Howard were amazing to read about. But even the minor Bobs in the book that didn’t have many (or any) POV chapters were great to read about as they were obviously well developed and unique.
I truly applaud the author’s writing and ability to characterize all of the Bobs into such interesting characters. I especially applaud the author for giving them each a story that I could care about.
This books had multiple plots and subplots as several of the Bobs were out and about doing their own things in different parts of the galaxy. Some of these plots and subplots were high stakes with the galaxy as a whole being in danger of destruction. Other plots had little to no stakes and had little to no impact or interaction with the other plot points. In any other book, under any other circumstances I would have hated this. In one chapter there Bobs fighting an alien invasion, in another there is a Bob falling in love in a human, in yet another there is a Bob chilling with some natives in a far away solar system. And I was invested in every single part of it.
I would have gladly read an entire book dedicated to each of these plots and subplots, and the various Bobs that led them.
I am so glad that I picked up this series. Dennis E. Taylor’s writing is witty, funny, and extremely engaging. I am officially a fan.
Also, some of the Bob names (Phineas, Ferb, Goku, etc.) were hilarious.
Didn’t like it as much as the first, but overall, I really enjoyed it. I love all the different Bobs. Bob, River and Homer are my favorites. I wish I Didn’t like it as much as the first, but overall, I really enjoyed it. I love all the different Bobs. Bob, River and Homer are my favorites. I wish I could read books about each of them!...more
I’m mad I liked this. I will for sure forget everything about it in a month or so, but for right now. I liked it.
Also, why does Ali Hazelwood only knoI’m mad I liked this. I will for sure forget everything about it in a month or so, but for right now. I liked it.
Also, why does Ali Hazelwood only know how to write uncommonly large, strong men who seemingly tower over all other beings, and fragile, tiny, borderline insubstantial women. Can we get some average sized people in these books? ...more
I'm going to preface this by letting you know that some of y'all are haters.
Is this book the best book I've ever read? Absolutely not. Not even close.I'm going to preface this by letting you know that some of y'all are haters.
Is this book the best book I've ever read? Absolutely not. Not even close. It's full of tropes, the writing is simple, the characters aren't overly complex, and the power system is kind of confusing.
But you know what? This applies to many books on BookTok, and no one is launching hate campaigns against them. People just needed something to hate this month and it happened to be Lightlark.
This book is very flawed and in my opinion, it was not deserving of the hype it got in the beginning. Nothing about this is revolutionary, or awe-inspiring. That said, some people are just straight-up being mean at this point. We're talking about books here. It was never that deep.
Ok. Controversy addressed (sort of). Let's move on.
I've got opinions!
I genuinely liked the main character. Isla was proactive and likable. She sometimes made stupid choices, but Isla always tried to fix her mistakes. Unfortunately, Isla is also a special snowflake who is unnaturally good at everything. She's beautiful and flawless, but she doesn't care about any of that stuff (obviously). She's also an amazing fighter, able to easily defeat men twice her size, with hundreds of years of battle experience. It's always cringy to watch a teen/ young adult girl manage to outmaneuver and outwit centuries-old magical beings with ease, especially when people put praise upon them as though they're the best thing since sliced bread. Isla is the biggest badass that's ever been and everyone is always impressed. Then again, many YA protagonists in similar stories are exactly the same, so I let my suspension of disbelief take hold and tried not to think too hard about it.
The other characters were admittedly a little two-dimensional. Two of the six rulers, Azul and Cleo, were barely characters. They were flat and generic. Azul might as well not have been there for all that he was relevant to the plot. And Cleo was literally a caricature of a mean girl. The third ruler, Celeste, Isla's best friend, was pretty meh. I didn't care too much for her (that's less to do with her character and more to do with the fact that I'm always suspicious ).
The last two rulers were, obviously, the love interests.
There's the blond, serious, golden boy, Oro (literally the Spanish word for gold). And the dark-haired, mysterious bad-boy, Grim. (Both are very aptly and obviously named.) Throughout the book, we learn little to nothing about Grim (intentionally so!), but I still shipped it and I'm not ashamed to say it. The man was obsessed with Isla and willing to do anything and everything to protect her, and that's really all I want in a guy, so I was fine with it. Oro is more fleshed out, and I really liked him, but only as a friend. I didn't buy their budding romance. Lastly, both of these men were hundreds of years old. I've seen a lot of complaints about this, but let's not pretend that we haven't been indoctrinated into this trope since our Twilight days. Let's also not act like ACOTAR, and many popular books right now don't do this same thing. Again, I let the suspension of disbelief do its job.
Plotwise, it was a little convoluted. The rules of the Centennial made little to no sense. And yet, I was hooked! I was always engaged and always curious about what would come next. The last 15% of the book stressed me so much that I kept putting the book down every time something new was revealed because I couldn't handle to keep going. I definitely predicted some of the twists after reading the first 30 or so pages, but a lot of it still surprised me. The author lulled me into a false sense of security with some of my predictions, so I was still taken by surprise. And honestly, if a book manages to stress me, that's a point in its favor. It means I cared about what was going on.
About the writing, I've seen people complain that it's simplistic and that the descriptors aren't that great. And honestly, they're right. The author uses the word 'thing' a lot. She describes the sun as a 'yolky thing'. The island is a 'cliffy thing.' She also describes her sword as a 'gleaming thing,' her smile as a 'primal thing,' and a scream as a 'guttural thing,' among others. It started to be noticeable and, therefore, annoying. If she only removed the word 'thing' it would have been much better. All that said, I didn't dislike the writing. Yes, it was simple, but every book doesn't need Shakespearean-level prose. At the very least, I had no complaints aside from the 'thing' thing.
Ok, I lied. I just remembered something else. The author named things very simply and unimaginatively—for example, the name of the characters (see above). Oro is obviously the golden ruler of Sunling. Grim is the black-clad ruler of Nightshade. Azul is the ruler of Skyling (because the sky is blue, I guess?) Also the courts, 'Wildling, Sunling, Moonling, etc.' Even magical items, like a device that was used for teleportation, was simply named 'the starstick'. No time was spent on naming things.
A valid complaint that I hear is that the author promised diversity in this book, and I can tell you, we didn't get it. Remember that flat character I mentioned, Azul? He was the only character of color in the book. He was also the only gay character (at least openly and that I know of) in the book. Isla is described as being 'tan,' but what does that even mean? So yeah, don't go looking for diversity here. I'm not too mad at it because I never expected much in that department to begin with. My expectations were very low, and the delivery did not raise them.
Also, apparently, the author had advertised this book as spicy??? First of all, this is a YA novel. It's meant to be mild at best. Second, there was a scene that had me questioning why it was included in a YA novel. It's not overtly graphic, per se, but it did need to calm down. YA is written for teenagers! It's PG-13 at most. What's the insistence on including Rated R scenes into PG-13 books??? (Anyway, that's a rant for another day)
In the end, all of that said, and despite its many, many flaws, I enjoyed reading Lightlark.
I read for the singular purpose of being entertained. I rarely watch TV (that's not a flex, just a fact), I don't like leaving my house, and my life is pretty boring. So I read books.
I gotta be honest, while I recognize quality and writing ability, my book ratings are based on vibes and how much entertainment I got from reading.
And despite my better judgment, this book entertained me.
I am genuinely looking forward to the sequel.
P.S.
Some of you are being dramatic. If this is the worst book you've ever read, you haven't read enough books. But, if this is the best book you've ever read, you definitely haven't read enough books, so it balances out.
P.P.S.
I heard this book is described as a mix of The Hunger Games and ACOTAR, and that could not be more wrong. This book doesn't even come close. Lightlark is a mix of Caraval and Three Dark Crowns, plotwise. Writing-wise, those two books are better.
P.P.P.S Had this book been published in 2010, everyone would have been absolutely eating it up. It would have gotten 5-star ratings from every single one of its current haters....more
Loading...
