August 2017 – That's What She Read

Review: Sleep Donation by Karen Russell

August 20, 2017October 12, 2020 E.F. Sunland

Karen Russell’s Sleep Donation has all the same problems as Swamplandia! but with a fraction of the page count. Don’t spend your time on this book. Its premise may entice you and the first quarter may draw you in, but the rest is mess of plot holes and weak characters. There’s no closure either, so there isn’t a prize for reaching the last page. This review is a mini So Bad, I Read It For You post and contains lots of spoilers. I would have done a full write up, but I didn’t want to reread Sleep Donation to pull quotes. read more

Review: Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien

August 16, 2017October 12, 2020 E.F. Sunland

20 Books of Summer 2017: Book 8

First things first: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Roverandom is wholly independent from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. If you’re looking for an expansion on wizarding lore, pick up The Silmarillion. If you’re looking for a story about a dog cursed by a cranky old wizard, then pick up Roverandom. read more

Review: The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley

August 15, 2017October 12, 2020 E.F. Sunland

Natasha Pulley’s The Bedlam Stacks moves slowly through its introductory material. After reading the first third of the book, I checked Goodreads to see whether I should continue. Enough reviewers called it a “slow burn” that I stuck with it. At times, all the pretty and overwritten details reminded me of The Night Circus, but The Bedlam Stacks has more plot, more answers, and more interesting mythology. read more