tvislife's reviews
372 reviews

Dare I say I have just finished the greatest book that has ever been written? My mind may be clouded by the fact that I have just put it down, but I am struggling to find another book that could compare to this one. It’s a behemoth of a story, and I can see why that might be daunting for people, but by God is it worth it. 

It follows Edmond Dantes, a sailor who was wrongfully sent to prison by a group of men that had their own selfish motivations for getting rid of him. Though he was meant to die there, he didn’t, and rose from the depths of the sea and death to seek his revenge. And by God did he do it! 

I feel like a lot of people hearing “this is a classic from the 1800’s” would be like “Oh, so it’s boring” (which I will admit to thinking at the beginning!). That is very wrong. This book was exciting from the first chapter, and it never slowed down. I think this can be attributed to the fact that it was published in parts in the paper, and he had to keep the readers coming back. The action and drama never stops and I fucking devoured it. Love, revenge, remorse, honor, everything! This book has everything! I love the Count, I pity the Count, I think the Count is a madman and justified and that he takes things too far, all at once! 

What a brilliant read, and a satisfying end to the story. I keep asking myself, is it possible to ever find a book as good as this one? And to that, the Count would say “wait” and “hope”! 

I don’t love Riley Sager, but I have to say, his books are pretty easy to get through. This one follows a man, whose best friend was snatched from their tent in his yard when they were kids, never to be seen again. 

Most of this, like Sager’s other books, was very predictable. Pretty early on, I guessed what had happened, or at least, who was responsible. These are always somewhat lame thrillers, but if you need something to just get you through the next couple hours and be mildly entertained, I like Sager’s books for that. But don’t come to him for quality entertainment. 

Not a bad read, just not a particularly interesting one. I was mildly curious to read from this guy’s perspective (one of 11 kids, whose mother died when he was young, and grew up during the Troubles). While all of that is true, nothing really stood out to me as particularly exciting or crazy unique, felt like a memoir of someone I went to high school with. Fun, but also, I don’t really need to read about someone from high school. 

Boring and poorly written, this book was gross and not even in a compelling way. Honestly have no idea why its reviews are so high, other than the fact that it’s a “classic”. Not a fan at all.

Enjoyable, if forgettable, read. I really like Kingfisher’s writing style, and her stories are always interesting, but it’s rare for them to really stand out for me. Still, I liked this, and it’s a quick one. 

Novik is one of my favorite authors of all time. While not all of these stories touched me the same way, each one showcased her voice and talent, and made it easy to breeze through these, even as someone who normally hates short stories. 

For most of these stories, she left me heartbroken knowing that there wasn’t more. I especially loved the story of the sister of the Minotaur—a story everyone knows, but no one (at least not me) had really given much thought to. And it broke me. I especially want that one to be given the novel-treatment, at some point. Unfortunately for me, my least favorite of the stories (the final one) was the one that she hinted will be turned into a full length novel. I still see myself loving it, but there were so many options for great novels in there, and I really hope more are extended as well. 

I can’t tell if I loved this because it was that good, or if it’s because I saw the movie first. Cillian Murphy added so much emotion and depth to the character in the performance, and since the book is pretty much the exact same as the movie, I could picture him in every scene. A very moving story, and it’s heartbreaking to know what people have been forced to endure. 

I absolutely devoured this. Two pre-med psychos get the bright idea to play god and make themselves superheroes (villains). Chaos ensues. 

None of the characters in this book could really be considered “good”, but that made for truly excellent storytelling. I love reading a novel where you aren’t sure whether or not you should be rooting for the main character, and that was the case for this. Victor is a callous little fucker, and Eli is a zealous psychopath. I love them, I love their dynamic, and I can’t wait to read the next book. Schwab has my heart.