Rachel

RachelCrouch became one of my favorite authors after reading Dark Matter and then Recursion. Dark Matter has also remained at the top of my favorite book(s) list (with Recursion coming very close behind it) since I first read it a year ago. Pines was good- pretty good even, but it's not my favorite piece by Crouch. I still enjoyed Crouch's writing and the idea or concept was great. The execution was -mostly- well done. All of the things one could list and compare and say "this is what I need to have a great book" (for me)- were there. Almost. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it was that caused it, but by the end of the book I felt a bit underwhelmed. I do intend on finishing the trilogy. In part, because I'm not a quitter, also in part because I'm such a fan of Crouch that I feel it unfair to abandon ship after just the first book, but mostly because I am genuinely interested in seeing where Crouch takes this story and these characters- especially through two more books.

RachelActual rating, ⭐⭐⭐.5.

Rachel*Actual rating- ⭐⭐⭐.5. (This was one of my book club's picks.) I must preface this review by saying that I do apologize that it won't be too "in-depth" because not only did I finish this book about a month ago, I've also finished a few other books since then and my memory is a little hazy on the details or what most of my thoughts were on it by now. Not to mention- my summer has gotten far more busy and eventful than I anticipated it would be so it hasn't left me much time to read, no less keep decent notes on what I do read. 🥴😬🤷🏻‍♀️ I debated on how to rate this one for a while; I went back and forth between ⭐⭐⭐.5 and ⭐⭐⭐⭐. I enjoyed this book; the writing was well done- in my opinion, the story kept me engaged and interested, the characters didn't feel too flat- though, I didn't much connect with them as much as I would have liked. It was fun to recognize a couple of the locations mentioned in the book. The only "negative" thing(s) I really have to say and without giving anything away, is that I would have liked just a little more. More information or background on some things and the ending- although still good, felt a little anti-climactic for me personally. I was left thinking, "WTF just happened!?" And in it's own right, is a good thing in most ways.

RachelI have been a fan of Elliot Page for so, so many years now. I was excited to learn he'd written a book! I have been mulling over this review for a while now and I just can't seem to find any words that sound right. I listened to Pageboy via audiobook and it had me torn in pieces- even more so, I think, because it was his voice recounting it to me. All I can come up with is that it was as equally beautiful as it was heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing your story! The only negative thing I will say is that I didn't love the layout of the timeline. I can maybe appreciate the intent even without knowing why exactly it was laid out that way, but it was hard to keep track of things and in a way left me feeling left behind- trying to catch up with how much it jumped around.