shona_reads_in_devon's reviews
496 reviews

I listened to this on Audible.

This book is astonishingly well researched and highly readable, with a strong narrative drive.

Beginning with the humble roots of the three Sackler brothers Arthur, Raymond and Mortimer, doctors who appeared initially to want to improve the health outcomes for patients they worked with, Empire of Pain charts the steady rise and ultimately the corruption of the Sackler dynasty, first through the creation of Valium and later through the sale of the highly addictive Oxycontin.

Nothing in this book surprised me, having recently watched a documentary about the same subject, told from the perspective of some of the victims.

The book carefully and cleverly demonstrates the relationship that Arthur forged between the world of science and medicine and the world of aggressive marketing practices. It outlines Arthur's predilection for secrecy and operating under layers of obfuscation which paved the way for his family to distance themselves from their own company, Purdue Pharma, which engaged in immoral marketing tactics, bribery of government officials, fabrication of medical studies and concealment of suspicious prescribing practices which largely contributed to the opiod crisis in the US. This distancing allowed the Sacklers and future generations to distance themselves from these practices and they were widely known as philanthropists whose names have graced some of the worlds most revered cultural institutions.

If you don't know anything about this subject, I implore you to read this. It's shocking, enlightening and highly readable

First, thank you so much to Scott for the opportunity to read this. I haven't read anything like this I don't think, so it was a fun diversion.

Nekonikon Punk is set in a future where mega corporations have broken away from the US and formed their own territory. Allegiance to the megacorp gives a certain level of privilege while remaining 'unaligned' with a corporation leaves you persona non-gratia and scraping a living at the edges of society.

We follow military grunt with a heart, Juan. He's kind of a meathead, not too bright. Sucked in to the corporate world and the motto 'Dominate. Control. Prosper.' Until, he isn't anymore, and being thrust into the world of underground hacking has him questioning everything he took for granted.

As others have said, this novel is fast-paced and it tackles some really interesting themes like the use of AI, corporate greed and the dangers of massive corporate power and encouragement of aggressive and competitive individualism.

The writing style is a little pared back for my tastes, but it suits the kind of cyber brutalist settings and themes well. Juan was a little stereotypical. But the found family element was really great, and Juan's doubts about his life were convincingly portrayed. I am a complete dolt about anything remotely tech based but it all sounded convincing to me!

If dystopian anti - capitalism is your thing, you could really vibe with this one!

'𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕, 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒊𝒕? 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒏, 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔. 𝑾𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅'

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I'd heard some mixed reviews of the second book in this trilogy but i have to say it worked mostly well for me.

Following defeat of the Lord Ruler at the end of The Final Empire, WoA sees Kelsier's crew, led by Elend, trying to form a new kind of government and keep hold of Luthadel in the face of mounting threats from exiled nobles. Meanwhile Vin is seeing strange things, and figuring out how to come into her power.

Reports that this novel is low on action and high on political intrigue didn't feel completely unfair - compared to The Final Empire at least - but I wouldn't say the book suffered for it. 

The characters are going through some real developments in this novel, the crew feel less cohesive, unsure of their place or purpose without Kelsier and being led by Elend. It felt ostracising at points because we had come to love the found family and they all felt a little stretched and unsure of themselves here. But it worked within the overall plot arc.

Vin did my head in for a fair bit of this, but I loved that. I'm so invested in her life, and her relationship with Elend that she frustrates me when she doesn't do what I want her to.

This was another stellar installment from Sanderson and thank goodness I have Hero of Ages ready and waiting because that ending was a complete shitshow.

Firstly, thank you to Booktasters and Inspirus for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Argh. I really wanted to like this, and there were things about it that I really liked but overall it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

The biggest barrier I had was the style of writing. I can't tell if the language was possibly due to a translation issue. At times, the choice of language, the descriptions of things were beautiful. And fighting and battle scenes were described really brilliantly. But there was a real disconnect between the characters language when they were narrating the story and their dialogue and banter with other characters. Nick talks to others like a 17 yo boy but narrates the story like a 16th century poet. This created a strange detachment for me and consequently I found it tricky to connect to any of the characters.

I really enjoy a theological and religious perspective to my reading, and so this Angel based fantasy was right up my street. I enjoyed the Greek and Hebrew language references a lot and thought this was well used (though it is a little overwhelming at the start and maybe a glossary would help!). And the Rhema, and dotting little passages from it throughout worked well. But I do like my theology a little more tortured. Maybe this develops in the next book - but I prefer more exploration of the concept of good Vs evil and this story felt quite cut and dry. I thought Aquarius ' backstory and the idea that Aella et al not being all they said they were would have been an interesting avenue.

Nick. He's basically being led around by his genitals, which is at least accurate for a 17 year old boy. But lots of the panegyrics and odes to Aella's beauty could have been cut so that we spent more time developing their relationship. The pacing of this felt a little lopsided and sometimes characters didn't react consistently to situations which again made it tricky to connect to them. Nick's journey to the dark side was sudden and poorly explored and explained.

This isn't a 2★ read, I didn't dislike this book. There are the bones of a really great story here. But for me, I struggled to get into the language and the theological aspects need to be more complex for my enjoyment levels.

*Also, as a history buff - there were barely any deaths during the Great Fire of London. Like 3 people died in it, so as a plot device for the dramaticus, it doesn't work.

‘𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝜤 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝜤’𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆?’

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This novella, a pinch under 100 pages long, does what it says on the tin.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich starts with the aftermath. With the rites and routines of those left behind. It moves backwards in time, to chart the life of Ivan Ilyich, to portray how he lived among those left behind. And then, the last third follows his steady decline to death as a still youngish man.

The portrayal of living with illness, with pain, is a masterstroke. How it must play with the mind, with the resilience of someone. The up and down of despair and hope. The interactions with others, the resentment. That feeling of separateness from the world. It's a similar feeling to acute episodes of anxiety.

The very last section, the final days and hours, had me enthralled. Ivan Ilyich battling with his very soul and an almost transcendental letting go of his earthly concerns. 

I knocked a star off because his life was kind of dull to read about. I get that's sort of the point but it didn't make it super enjoyable to read about. 

But you should read this. A truly epic exploration of living and dying.

'𝜤’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉.'

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This is the first Emily St. John Mandel book I have read. I understand that each of her books bleed into one another and this one has whetted my appetite to try more. I'm interested to see how she weaves these across stories.

I don't want to give too much away as this speculative fiction plot gently unravels across time and space. To do so wouldn't necessarily spoil the message or the themes but I think it would take away plenty of what makes this book interesting.

The characters felt bland to me. For a short book, even taking a day away from reading would have me casting my mind back for some of the lesser characters. I could probably wangle some theory about there being a point to that - but it did take away some enjoyment. No one really expressed anything particularly passionately.

But there are lots of meaty subjects to consider and mull over - time and space, colonising other planets, pandemics obviously. And big life questions. What do we need to live? What does it mean to 'live'? 

I've seen these kinds of questions posed in better novels, but I think this one still worth the read.

'𝜤𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓.'

'𝜤𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅.'

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Bloodydamn that was a ride. If Pierce Brown does anything well, it's giving me whiplash. I still cannot predict where these books are gonna go.

I was warned going into this that I was going to cry. I have a heart of stone, there were no tears. But I had to have a little pause at certain points here.

This book wasn't perfect to me, and I think trying to read it while suffering with flu was a bad idea - this book is pretty dark and hopeless in places and it may not be the best read for a January either.

But I did love it, while there were some minor issues for me again (mostly the writing style, sometimes I find it flows other times not), the plot and the character development was spot on. I don't want to say too much because this is one book that would be totally ruined by spoilers. But it's really, really worth checking this series out. I'm going to have a break now before I start the next set of books but I can't wait to come back to this world and see where Brown takes it next.

𝑫𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒉𝒚𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕.'

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I'm so conflicted by this book. I don't want to hate it. I don't hate it. I'm just a bit bored.

The first 100 pages of this are a mess. The first 200 pages were a struggle to get through. And then Yarros does her thing and kicks it all off with wild twists and turns and cliffhangers at the end of every chapter that keeps you turning pages and begging for the next one. BUT.

And it's a big but. Most of this was filler. I don't think the plot has moved on more than a couple sentences. Yarros missed some really good opportunities to make some bold brave choices and she chickened out at every one. 

The pacing was awful. The isles exploration was exciting and nail- biting (to an extent) but what was the point? I am over the spice. Why has Xaden become all soft and lovey dovey every time he talks to Violet, I don't like it. Jealous Xaden I can get on board with, but sappy Xaden is not for me. Violet was a sap all the way through this as well. 

I still want to know what happens. I am invested in these characters and the plot and I want to see where it goes and how it ends. I just never thought I'd read a book in this series and feel like *skipping* bits. 

Gutted. I was thinking this was a 3.5 but on reflection it's getting a 3. It was fine. Number 4 better be better.

'𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.'

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If I had read this book in 2016, it would have blown my mind. 

A collection of interviews, lectures and speeches, Freedom is a Constant Struggle explores, in large part, the sanctioning of state sponsored, state funded violence that continues to oppress ethnic minorities across the world. 

It is hard to pinpoint a particular area of focus because Davis is keen to highlight the interconnectedness of struggles for freedom in relation to all global oppression but these essays discuss violence in the prison system, the violence of police forces, the relationship this has with Palestine, and other instances of genocide across the world.

Her lectures are keen to highlight the insidious nature of neo liberal individualism that works to dismantle group efforts and social movements by both idolising individuals as heroes in the fight for freedom (and pointing out that this is often framed as a fait accompli) and burdening individuals with sole responsibility for acts of oppressive violence which serve to distract people from the very real issues of systemic oppression and violence.

Lots of these ideas are not new to me in this 2025 world but I think this book is still essential reading to further contextualise the theories and ideas that Davis puts forth. I can't argue with much of anything she says.

Reading this in 2025 is kind of a miserable experience when we realise how little progress has been made, and in this post October 7, 2nd Trump term world that we now live in, this book does not make me feel optimistic.

'𝑾𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝜤 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘, 𝜤 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝐳𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝜤 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚.'

 '𝜤𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏. 𝜤𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔.' (fuck you Roque)

'𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆! [...] 𝜤𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝜤𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅, 𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒚.'


'𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉.'

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This review isn't hugely clever because I screamed a scream at the end of this and I am shell shocked about the fate of some of these characters that I have grown so fond of.

Darrow continues his rise within the world of the Golds, remaining on his quest to undo the the system from within. But how much of himself will he lose along the way? Who can he trust and who will he need to betray?

I didn't read the first one of this series all that long ago but it took me a minute to get back into the lingo and remind myself of the complicated alliances and betrayals of the first novel. Some time has passed since Darrow emerged victorious from the Institute and took his place as Nero au Augustus's lancer. But the pace doesn't slow - and that slight dragging I felt in book one was completely absent here. Book two has cemented some favourite characters in my heart (💔) and has hardened my heart towards others (⚰️) 

Brown is great at building tension. I'm on alert at all times for foreshadowing and it's done really well here. The prose is a little simple for my tastes, but not enough that it affects my emotional response to the plot. Indeed, where the prose is pared back, it can have the effect of hitting that bit harder in the emotional periods. The hard nature of life in this world doesn't give a lot of space for softness, and the style of writing bears that out. Where moments of softness occur, the simplicity can still be painful.

I love these themes, of the nature of mankind, of pride, vengeance, the discussions of ethics and morality and justice.

I'm going straight onto the third book!