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Starting this book, I was worried, that it's gonna be one of those heavy romance novels but I'm glad I stuck around. It sure is romance, no doubt about it, but the story was good enough to keep me interested until the end. I try to not spoil anything here, as always.

The mechanics of the time travel are well done. It left some questions open, but not enough to pull me out of the story. I especially like the way she goes about time paradoxes. It's a bit of an easy way to deal with it, but at least it's done consistently. Maybe that's just me, but I dislike books that try to come up with some complicated approach to some known fiction theme and end up creating obvious plot holes that distract me from the story itself. It could also be, that the story did a better job distracting me from these plot holes. 🤷🏼

The story itself was romantic of course, but the characters did a good job reacting to the situation at hand, they seemed believable, though the protagonists could have had a bit more depth. I didn't read it as critically as other books though, it was just an easy and enjoyable read.

It's not gonna be one of my favorites, but I would recommend it. If you just want to read something nice, give it a go.

Just save your time, skip this one, it's baaaad.

The protagonist is so extremely naive, the plot points are only surprising in the way that they always go down the route that's so stupid you wouldn't believe the author actually goes there.

The only redeeming quality is the topic. There is so much potential for a fantastic story, but it's just mind boggling how you could screw it up this bad. The personalities of the characters are bland, the technologies are often outright impossible just to allow certain things to be possible, the story is unbelievable as where the plot points go, the dialogs are weird, the way he portrays women is very weird to say the least (especially the toilet scene with "him") ... I could go on for hours with that, but just don't read it. Maybe watch the movie, but don't waste your time with the book.

I mostly feel bad for the story itself. There are so many good authors out there, that would be able to turn this in a work of art. Just the premise alone is strong, it just needs good characters and a believable story. It's sad that they made a movie about this book. They made it because of the premise I'd think, not because of the actual story.

I don't recommend this book, no, I even advise you to not waste your time with this pile of garbage. You are welcome.

This second part of Killing Commendatore is even better than the first book and I can't really put my finger on the reason why exactly.

Obviously, there are pointers for me, mostly the way he writes his stories: - How he just casually talks about some minor off topic point at great length - The awkward sexual side plots (I don't actually like them, but I expect them and get weirded out) - Delivering everything like you'd think about it happening in the moment - Some plot points leading into nothing, things that seemed important not going anywhere - Nothing really happens, yet I enjoy exactly that every time - How the protagonist is very much in the story and not part of it at the same time - and many many more

That's the general, why I love Murakami books section. I think my brain just likes his writing, even though there are always things in every one of his book that creep me out, especially the sexual stuff.

What I enjoy about this book specifically (without spoiling anything): - The way he describes the act of painting, I don't care if he's correct, he probably isn't, it just feels so lively, a craft of technique, skill and personality - His description of how he feels during the road trip and interactions with his wife, they feel so unpolished (a theme of the book in general) in a good way

I dunno why I made this review in two lists lol. It's a good book, another one I can't recommend in good conscious. He's just weird, I can never remember what they are about, but I just enjoy reading them.

It may sound wrong, but this is just another one of his books, describing mundane tasks, awkward interactions and weird description of sex scenes. I don't know why I love this so much, but I do.

I have a hard time describing noteworthy points, as with all of his books, there's usually no big twist, no big and important overarching plot. It's just some dude, going through his daily routine, some (paranormal) stuff happens, but he's just trying to deal with it. Not in a very brave way, just to survive and have a normal life.

Of course there are big events in this book, there is progress in the plot, but it's just something that happens. He's not the plot, he's just part of it, trying to make the best of what other people are doing.

I just enjoy exactly that. What happens if some paranormal stuff would really happen to you, what if some influential person would suck you into their world? What would a normal person do? Certainly not go on some adventure and that's just what this and most of his books are.

Dealing with weird (paranormal) stuff, while also cooking his meals, the occasional person from his past disturbing his peace, making his bed, having sex every once in a while, enjoying good music and oh there's some other weird stuff going on.

I'm already on part two, but I'm certainly not recommending this or any other Murakami book. You gotta want this kind of writing and I would totally get if you didn't enjoy it.

Yeah, it took me forever to read this book. I listened to this as an audio book, which is why it took me so long.

I'm glad that this one is better than Metro 2034, but sadly not by a huge margin. This book is filled with monologues by Artyom, seriously stupid decisions and unnecessary and predictable plot points. It's sad to see that the author seems to have reached his peak with the first book.

Seriously, the amount of monologues from Artyom, where he preaches to some people, how this and that is important, them listening intensely and whatnot is just plain stupid.

Also: As soon as I read that certain characters from Metro 2034 appeared, I almost didn't want to read any further. That and other characters from the last book weren't as annoying as I thought, though they still didn't help much.

The whole idea of this series was good, but it's often executed badly. Wouldn't recommend the whole series, maybe just the first book.

I don't know what I was expecting of this book, I seldom read that much into why a book is on my reading list. I get recommendations and if it looks interesting I will save it and probably read it months, if not even years later. This system works most of the time, it didn't this time around.

There are some interesting ideas in this book: The distribution of wealth (at least if we don't do anything about it, which the author says we won't), the distribution of work and the quality of it (same argument as above) and the way we will live (which has some very far fetched ideas).

The last point is one of the most stupid things about this book. He attests, that older people will end up living in the poorest neighborhoods, because it makes sense to live where it is cheapest if you don't need to go to work. Am I missing something or is this just plainly stupid? You still care if you live in a bad neighborhood, even if you are old, why would you suddenly not? People still care today and they try to work towards that their whole life.

He substantiates this by saying, people don't care about living well: Cities in Switzerland have been voted most livable, yet some random poorer city in Alabama or something is bigger than those cities in Switzerland, so it must be that people don't care about good living conditions or else it would be full there. I can't imagine that this is what he really thinks, because of how stupid this idea is.

He also imagines that there will be so much lower tier and higher tier work (which seems true) and the middle class will vanish, because middle class jobs are vanishing. This all seems very believable with the gig economy and all those skilled personnel that is needed nowadays. He thinks that nothing will change in favor of unskilled workers, because there are so many skilled and rich ones that will make it so through votes. I can't believe how sure he is, that those that need to have 2 to 3 jobs just to stay afloat will take the hit without any protest or voting for social policies.

Lastly, he also assures that this will turn out for the better, that this is good, even though it will suck for some people. People will also turn more conservative for some reason, even though statistics tells the opposite, because of people moving to bigger cities.

Those are just some of the weird ideas, that's why I can't be sure if he really knows what he is talking about, even though I'm even less of an expert. He could be right on any of those, but man, his arguments were so weak, I even laughed out loud on that argument about cities in Switzerland vs some bigger poorer cities in the US.

Wouldn't recommend this book and I would like to know who recommended this to me.

I'm not sure what to say about this book, the whole way it was written was a bit off for my taste. I feel like a grumpy old man saying this, but man, I'm too old for the over the top quirkiness.

I find it admirable that she wants to help people kick-start their creativity, the exercises are a good way to go here and she tries to make it approachable. I think it has some very good parts in it, especially those about projects being more about the process instead of only the goal. The structure was nice, I think she chose a good set of descriptions for the obstacles and how to circumvent them. There are also many good tips on how to make your creative endeavor easier.

It would have been nice if all that excellent information wasn't as hidden. She tries to write a self-help book, which is applaudable, but hides all that good juice of information in such a thicket of blah blah and trying too hard to be funny, which annoyed me. I want good concise information and a bit of humor, not random references and jokes with just a pinch of information. I can image that some would find it easier to digest, but to me it felt a bit long-winded. I don't like her kind of humor in this book, but I think that could be very subjective to me.

I think there are better books about creativity out there. If you think other books on this topic are too dry and boring, try this one though.

The whole story and world is such a vast and complex system. It often felt like some kind of bible story, which is very much on purpose, especially with those intro texts to every chapter. I did enjoy reading it, though it didn't pull me in as much as other books did. I'm not going to read the other books though, that's just too much for me.

It feels wrong, but that's kinda it. There's not much else to say there for me, I'm content with what I read and that's it. Nothing stuck in my mind, the protagonist felt a bit too predictable for my taste. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's just like those epic stories about this hero and his adventures.

I would recommend this one though, I think it had a nice pacing, twists, character development and rich personalities. I get why some would have the urge to read every single book and why this is one of the classics, but I'm just okay with this one and watching the movies.

This time, I'm not gonna read the whole trilogy.

I'm baffled that I don't enjoy another one of those books that so many people hype. I like some of his other books, but maybe I just don't fancy his writing style.

This whole system of "Is it gonna work? IS IT REALLY GONNA WORK?!?!? Yes it worked" is just not my jam. There wasn't that much sci-fi in this one as well, it's just a very minor detail to it.

This whole books starts with a guy that invents a way to guess what will happen in the future and nobody else can do that somehow. It was something that was invented and not some magic device. How is it impossible for everyone else to figure this out? Why did everyone just fall back a thousand steps in technology? Why did nobody look much more into it the first time he was right?

I just don't get this book and have no idea to whom I would recommend this one. Maybe these kind of books don't age that well? Maybe I'm just too young to get it. 🤷🏼

I'm still at odds with this book and the whole trilogy. This one is better than the second books but it's still just okay 🤷🏼 Everything about the science is top notch though. I like the explanations, he doesn't overdo it, but it's still thorough enough to get the gist of the idea. If somebody was struggling to find a sci-fi book, because he/she already read so many, this would be a good contender, especially if it should be more about the science and less about the characters. This is the biggest weakness though: the characters seem so one-dimensional. Cheng Xin as the protagonist in this book did have a tiny bit more deepness than usual, but all surrounding characters were lacking. 艾AA was built up as the fun but clever character by Cheng Xin, but she never did anything fun really. Luo Ji was just there I guess (without spoiling too much) and the others as well (can't go into detail here without spoiling though). In summary: It's okay I guess. If you are into getting some new perspective in a sci-fi book, either culturally or in the science, this one's not bad. Side note: Talking about the characters, I noticed something weird: In this whole trilogy, every time there are some characters from every part of the world, it's usually: An American (I know, Diaz is an exception of that rule already), a British person (there are other Europeans as well, thank you very much) and some Chinese person (I think one Japanese as well and one is very into Japanese culture though). What about the Germans, French or Spanish people? Nobody ever talks about India or Pakistan at all (I think), two of the most populated countries on Earth. Africa and Canada also exist. There are Russians in the first novel, but I guess they are not important anymore later. I know you can't fit every single nation in a few books, but seriously, that's weird.

That was my first thought after finishing the first novel in the trilogy. This second book didn't change that much in my thinking. It's still okay, I liked some aspects, such as the whole 'Wallfacer' idea, but it still had a few very weird subplots, that just seem so out of place. The whole romantic subplot made me cringe, it reminded me of mail order brides. The feelings, decisions and personality of the woman in question are unimportant. Maybe that's a cultural thing but there were so many pages about this whole thing and it's just weird.

The whole idea of the dark forest is interesting, the droplet was also a good part. I wish he put more time into the characters and the story, not just into the science. That's the thing, I remember most of the science, but the characters are all very much replaceable.

In the end, I can't recommend this book. It's not bad, but there are so many better sci-fi books out there. It's good to see some non-American sci-fi authors out there, but that doesn't mean we have to blindly praise this one. It's like pumpkin spiced latte: It's fun to have something different once in a while, it's not bad, but on it's own, it's not that great.

I will read the last book, just to get it over with. Maybe it's gonna turn this whole ship around, but I don't have any high hopes. I still don't get why so many people recommend this book.

I was surprised to read a Chinese sci-fi novel, but it's an interesting perspective on it. At first I thought this is going to be all about China, being for or against the CCP regime and a bit of sci-fi sprinkled on it, but it was the opposite!

The parts that were leaning on it being in China were great, it's a different view on how to write sci-fi, which is usually VERY centered on the US. I hope for more non-US authors in the sci-fi world, there's a lot to explore here.

The ending surprised me, because I read through it much faster than I thought. This should be a good thing, but I only noticed how far in I was, because I couldn't believe that this is how it's gonna end. It was a bit disappointing, but it's a trilogy, so and it felt very much written in such a way to build upon.

I'm not sure if I will read the rest, but I'd say it's okay. I'm not sure why people are into this story so much, it read a bit wooden at times, but that could be owing to it being a translation. Maybe people are just eager to read something non-US, which I totally get.