LbsZ

Insightful, But Scatterbrained

Revisado: 03-17-24

This is my first time with a Kara Swisher book, as somebody who recently started listening to her podcasts after a tech coworker recommended her. It was very informative to help better understand Kara and how she became a prominent and fair voice of reason for tech.

I would highly recommend reading it if you listen to Kara or if you want a 10,000 foot view of what is working and not working in tech. Worth listening to, with just one small reservation or quibble.

The narrative was very scattershot, though. A chapter would go from the 90's to 2000's with one sector like search engines, then start over again for social media. Because of this, there was redundant and repeated content chapter to chapter. Callbacks are fine, but this was more slightly altered sentences. However, it's easy to criticize and hard to write, so this is a minor nitpick. I still recommend the book!

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Great Follow Up in Series

Revisado: 03-11-24

The book has a great plot, character development, and balance of titillating content. The narration is excellent. The only downside is the excessive time spent on the soapbox, which could have been cut down to focus more on character development and play scenes. However, overall the book is recommended, and listeners should be patient through the soapbox moments to return to the great story.

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Another Stunning Book in this Series

Revisado: 03-15-23

Cannot believe the author did it again! That ending wrecked me in all the best ways. Easily my favorite book series and the voice actor did another amazing narration. Thank you both for such a great experience!

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Strong Second Book

Revisado: 11-29-22

The magic of the first book is captured again and I’m already looking forward to (hopefully) a third book. Great writing, character development, and narrator. Fun listening.

I would like a little more character background development for the main characters, maybe with brief stories or retelling experiences that back up why the characters believe what they believe about themselves. Show don’t tell. Friction between one MC and their aunt is understandable, but could there be a remembered childhood conversation that explains why they continue acting out. It’s outlined and retold briefly as the MC’s perception, but no single event or experience drove home why they kept acting out. Did they ever try to stop acting out, only to get swatted down. Tiny grievance because I’m greedy to get to know these characters more. Keep the books coming. I’ll be on the waitlist as soon as the next one is announced. 😀

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Incredible: Should be Required Reading

Revisado: 10-23-22

Ronson uses his signature humor and style to unveil a collective delusion by the U.S. and British military and intelligence services all the way through the Cold War to Vietnam and to the Iraq invasion. Glad to have Ronson softening the blow by telling the tale, even if my head is still spinning. 100% worth getting through the first 30 minutes: you’ll be hooked after that.

It’s disconcerting, shocking, and absolutely disturbing to hear that laziness and delusion won the day decade after decade instead of hard work and evidence-based approaches. Essential to know, though.

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Frustrating Character Decisions, but Still Great

Revisado: 08-16-22

Hard to empathize with the characters’ decisions and motivations, but still a great book overall. It just seemed like their BIG choices weren’t in line with what we know about them; like the story arc was chosen and the characters were forced into the confines of that arc, even if the decisions they had to make to get there didn’t line up with how we know them. Basically, I wanted to see more self-actualization for the leads, especially getting to know them over two books.

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Perfect Celebration of the Meet-Cute

Revisado: 11-23-21

I hope this becomes a movie. Reminded me of Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and Serendipity: seemed like the author really understood and loved the meet-cute and created a great M/M original. It deserves a movie. Perfect tension building and emotional gut punches, especially once the story gets rolling.

3rd person perspective and different voice actors for each main was sometimes clumsy, but unavoidable. Wanted to get a deeper feel for the inner characters and their personal development. Small minuses, though.

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Missed Opportunity

Revisado: 04-19-21

It was a really interesting premise to use cosplay/larping as the basis for a cult! It frees readers from the baggage of picking on a specific religion or real world cult and points out how ANY set of ideas could become a cult. This is thrown away, though, when the book refuses to answer the question, is magic real or not? That, combined with weak character development and no Inception-esque big-idea made this a really hard book to enjoy. It is a missed opportunity to identify what makes a cult a cult and how people can be resilient against those tactics.

Docile was exceptional at character development and making me empathize with the characters’ circumstances (poverty, oppression, survival, family, etc.). Ashes made me hate every single character, none of whom really develop. It had a lot of potential and the voice actors are great, though.

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Perfect Story and Great Narrarion

Revisado: 04-07-21

I was looking for Red, White, and Royal Blue in space and this book delivered! Great voice actor as well. Looking forward to whatever Maxwell does next.

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AWFUL Writing, Spectacular Voice Acting

Revisado: 12-08-20

The voice actors and sound effects were exceptional, but the story was cringe-awful. Similar to the Netflix “Away” series, The Sea in the Sky is filled with professional astronauts and scientists having childish tantrums. There was a near zero attempt at realism.

This is especially frustrating when Andy Weir, and even “The Expanse”, have shown that you can have thrilling and dramatic sci-fi grounded in reality.

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