I came here for a heist novel and got one about gentrification and gerrymandering. which are acceptable topics for a novel, but not when I wanted to rI came here for a heist novel and got one about gentrification and gerrymandering. which are acceptable topics for a novel, but not when I wanted to read about a heist....more
I have wasted too much time reading this, and will not waste much more writing a review. But you have to know that during a fire Bu(c)k finds an injurI have wasted too much time reading this, and will not waste much more writing a review. But you have to know that during a fire Bu(c)k finds an injured man who begs him not to take him to the hospital, because he's an undercover CIA agent, and in the hospital his cover would be blown. Bu(c)k is like: this sounds totes legit, come to my place, I'll care for your wounds there. And that's what he does, and when the CIA agent is better he helps Bu(c)k discover that he's a sub with a praise kink. Oh and also that he has a foot fetish. I do wish I had made some of those things up. Or that I had a terminal illness that made me hallucinate these things, but alas this really happened....more
Dayne is just an exceptionally boring character. And while in theory people trying to resolve fantasy conspiracies is interesting, it's not when the pDayne is just an exceptionally boring character. And while in theory people trying to resolve fantasy conspiracies is interesting, it's not when the people doing it are so boring (and the conspiracies so easy to see through)....more
This book has some very very interesting parts, but unfortunately also a lot of very very boring parts. I loved 脫 S茅aghdha's musings about the Irish lThis book has some very very interesting parts, but unfortunately also a lot of very very boring parts. I loved 脫 S茅aghdha's musings about the Irish language, its history and the special challenges a language that is not the mother tongue of a majority of the people in its country faces. The way he talked about his own experiences with Irish - falling in, out and in love with it again - were also beautifully written. Unfortunately, that's only around half of the book. The other half are ... word lists. Irish words that sound a lot like other Irish words, but mean something completely different. There's pages and pages of Here's a word that means this, here's another word, where the only difference is a fada, which means that. Which, for a book that very specifically states, that it's not a language learning textbook, is ... quite useless. And dull. ...more
I enjoyed the fact, that the book just didn't chronologically go through all emperors, but looked at different aspects of their lives and how they difI enjoyed the fact, that the book just didn't chronologically go through all emperors, but looked at different aspects of their lives and how they differed and where there were similarities. Though, due to the fact, that there were a lot of similarities (which is one of the points the book makes), things tend to blur together, and it turns into "Claudius dined like this. And so did Hadrian and Vespasian and Nero" and "That's how travelling abroad was for Hadrian was. It was pretty similar for the other emperors, even though they spent less time outside Rome". Which I guess can't be helped, since - as mentioned - that's one of the major points of the book, and the reason the title is in the singular. Still, it also meant I remember fewer facts than I'd have liked after reading it. ...more
Look I didn't start an old pulp novel, expecting a feminist masterpiece. But I did hope to be entertained enough to overlook some of the worse bits, aLook I didn't start an old pulp novel, expecting a feminist masterpiece. But I did hope to be entertained enough to overlook some of the worse bits, and this book was not entertaining. Also the bad bits were so bad, that a master storyteller could not have made me oveglook them....more
This book should have been much shorter or much longer. But as it was it just touched upon some subjects/characters without going in depth, so I wondeThis book should have been much shorter or much longer. But as it was it just touched upon some subjects/characters without going in depth, so I wondered why they were relevant/why I should care....more
A woman has been murdered, but clearly the thing we should really care about is a man's reputation.A woman has been murdered, but clearly the thing we should really care about is a man's reputation....more
Everyone in this book talks and acts like a horny teenager. No matter if they're in their 20s, 30s or 60s. The book is also set in the 80s, but everyoEveryone in this book talks and acts like a horny teenager. No matter if they're in their 20s, 30s or 60s. The book is also set in the 80s, but everyone sounds like they have a Tumblr blog.
Additionally, these quotes are ... something?
a low rumbling voice that literally caused Joe's testicles to vibrate
Literally? Please see a doctor
The psychic cilia inside my intestines are wiggling with joy
No really. Go and see a doctor
If I looked as good as him, I'd be shish-kebabbing so many bottoms I could open a Greek good truck
I had to read this sentence and now so do you
Vince kissed Ronnie with the right amount of push and pull by the lips and tongue, a good balance of wet and dry, hard and soft, with the perfect number of rest stops and a hungry tension, like a roller coaster climbing to a drop
I have read instruction manuals that were sexier than this. I mean ... rest stops? A roller coaster?
Vince's lips and tongue, like two small fists, beat Joe's mouth into submission, sucking and biting his lips.
You thought the roller coaster was bad? There's worse kissing scenes in this book.
Our orgies, though unphotographed, lasted days. Bliss exploded everywhere, staining everything and everyone with joy.
I'll leave you with this beautiful mental image, that hopefully makes you understand why I'm not going to read the whole book....more
Leider das Niveau einer Klatschreportage. Fast alles ist schwarz/wei脽. Die Beteiligten sind entweder engelsgleich oder abgrundtief b枚se. Wundersch枚n oLeider das Niveau einer Klatschreportage. Fast alles ist schwarz/wei脽. Die Beteiligten sind entweder engelsgleich oder abgrundtief b枚se. Wundersch枚n oder h盲sslich (und fett). Generell ist die Obsession mit dem Aussehen wirklich unangenehm. Genauso wie die wirklich offensichtlichen Sympathien der Autorin. Oft ist es nicht eindeutig, ob beschriebene Dinge wirklich mit Quellen belegt sind, oder ob da die Fantasie mit jemandem durchgeht.
Schon am眉sant, wie in dem ganzen Sumpf aus au脽erehelichen Aff盲ren, Wert darauf gelehrt wird, dass bitte trotzdem jeder absolut hetero war. Friedrich II kann gar nicht schwul gewesen sein, weil er ja zu Frauen, mit denen er nicht verheiratet war, h枚flich sein konnte (yeah). Und Isabella von Parma war nur eng mit ihrer Schw盲gerin befreundet. Und die Briefe, die sich Frauen damals geschrieben haben, waren eben sehr gef眉hlvoll. So ein gef眉hlvoller Brief wird dann zitiert: "Adieu noch mal, ich k眉sse dein erzenglisches Arscherl聽鈥�" Call me crazy, aber vielleicht war da doch etwas mehr zwischen den beiden....more
A very pretty book (to look at), but also a bit shallow. It just gives you fairly basic facts about the poisons and the cases. Besides, for the historA very pretty book (to look at), but also a bit shallow. It just gives you fairly basic facts about the poisons and the cases. Besides, for the historical cases, it has the annoying tendency to go "And these are the sensational facts about this case. Here's some more. Postscript in small print: it's not clear if that's true or was just exaggerated by the writers of the time." But on the plus side it is a fairly recent book and does go into fairly recent cases (Salisbury) and it's definitely a good start if you want to go down some rabbit hole yourself. (Just be careful what you eat down there)....more
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