A competent but not exactly mind-blowing mystery novel about a man mysteriously killed in a packed bus in front of everyone’s eyes.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Interesting, likable characters
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Not exactly mind-blowing
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A relatively clever mystery
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A novel that narrates the entire lives of two very different sisters in late 19th century England and France.
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Sarcastic, thoroughly evocative prose that’s just a joy to read
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Not the most original concept in the world
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Interesting, likable, profound characters
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Relatively engaging plot
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Enlightening on late 19th century England and France
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Thought-provoking on life
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The novel starts interesting by introducing a world of people living in spaceships and only descending to planets for a rite of passage to prove their survival skills, but the rest of the plot turns out to be a pretty generic coming of age story with more or a fantasy vibe than science-fiction.
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Positive:
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Interesting sci-fi setting
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Predictable and dull plot
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Likable, relatively profound characters
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The story is nothing special
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Thought-provoking about how deeply cultural differences can separate societies
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A novel about a couple that bit a bit more than it could chew by figuring money was all they needed to survive in the alien culture of Morocco.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Exotic setting
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Predictable narrative
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Interesting, profound characters
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Never gets particularly exciting
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A relatively engaging plot
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Enlightening on Morocco culture in early 20th century
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Thought-provoking on cultural disconnect
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A fascinating account of the frontier-era USA that’s inspired by real people and even weaves some of their actual authentic letters into the plot.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Interesting, profound characters
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The story isn’t particularly exciting
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A relatively interesting plot inspired by real historical facts
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Enlightening on the frontier-era USA
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A fantastic adventure through early 20th century France, USA, and the African colonies with one of the most entertaining protagonists ever.
Every sentence in this novel is brimming with savage and painfully poignant cynicism that will either make you cry or roll on the floor laughing… or both.
I don’t think I’ve been this entertained by a novel since Catch-22.
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Sarcastic, entertaining prose
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Multiple interesting and exotic settings
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Fantastic profound, likable, entertaining characters
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Involving, relatively fast-paced plot with not a single boring passage
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A story that encompasses everything that is wrong with mankind
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Genuinely funny and savage cynical humor
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Enlightening on the life in early 20th century France, USA, and the African colonies
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Thought-provoking on life and human culture
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Norwegian Wood is a bit more grounded in reality than the rest of Haruki Murakami’s works, but it still offers a bunch of quirky but profound characters, and a surprisingly involving plot despite not that much actually happening in the story.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Pleasant, fast-paced, easy-to-digest prose
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Nothing that much memorable actually happens in the story
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Likable, quirky, profound characters
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A surprisingly involving plot
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Enlightening on Japanese culture
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Thought-provoking on the meaning of life
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A solid horror story you’d expect from Stephen King.
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Positive:
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Simple, but immersing prose
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Slow pace
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Exotic, pleasant-to-visit setting
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Doesn’t offer anything particularly special
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Cool, ominous atmosphere
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Doesn’t stand out from the rest of Stephen King’s books
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Likable, relatively profound characters
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An exploration of a sentient planet that has a strong start and promises a lot of secrets, but turns out to be pretty underwhelming once you reach the end.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Interesting setting
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Underwhelming, disappointing ending
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Likable characters
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Doesn’t explore much science, instead opting for a more fantasy approach
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Strong start with a lot of mysteries
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A nihilistic look at the American Dream from the early 20th century where a relatively successful salesman manages to completely ruin his life through a few unfortunate social missteps.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Pleasant, fast-paced prose
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Doesn’t exactly offer anything mind-blowing
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Interesting, likable, profound characters
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Relatively involving plot
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Enlightening on society in early 20th century USA
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Thought-provoking on success
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A somewhat underwhelming sequel to Lost Boy, Lost Girl that follows one writer’s eerie eerie adventures where he encounters the characters from the previous book.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Relatively likable characters
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The story feels like it was rethought midwriting
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A couple of interesting turns in the plot
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Doesn’t offer anything to distinguish itself from other books in the genre
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An interesting alternate history detective novel that’s more interesting for its setting of Jewish colony in Alaska than its actual mystery.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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A fascinating alternate history setting
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The story feels more like an excuse to explore the setting
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Well thought-out, complex mystery
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A bit hard to follow sometimes
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Enlightening on modern Jewish culture
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An interesting retelling of the history of Indian independence told through the lens of magical realism and a whole bunch of eccentric and likable characters.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Pleasant, satyric prose
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An insane amount of characters makes it hard to remember everyone
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Interesting, likable, profound characters
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The story feels like it kind of fizzles out instead of the bang its setup seems to indicate
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Interesting, relatively captivating plot
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A solid, thought-provoking story that spans generations
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Enlightening on Indian culture and history
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This can be a nice book to kill some time with if you’re a fan of Stephen King like narratives, but you won’t find much new or fresh here.
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Positive:
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Likable characters
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Generic, forgettable story
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Creepy, tense atmosphere
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Doesn’t offer anything new
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An account of a man’s somewhat screwed up First Love that might have been a bit more shocking and memorable in the times it was written.
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Positive:
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Relatively profound characters
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The majority of the plot is pretty boring
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Interesting twist at the end
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Doesn’t feel too memorable compared to other Russian classics
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An interesting look into the complicated lives of people living in boats offshore London river.
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Positive:
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Profound, interesting characters
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Doesn’t offer anything particularly mind-blowing
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Illuminating on the life of the poor in London
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Thought-provoking on life
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One of the most well thought out postapocalyptic futures of mankind.
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Interesting concept
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The plot can feel a bit slow and uneventful at times
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Thought-provoking on human nature
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Interesting, profound characters
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Can feel a bit slow and dull at times
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Thought-provoking on life
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A post-apocalyptic novel about semi-sentient plants and an epidemic of blindness that’s oddly reminiscent of modern zombie setups.
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Positive:
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Negative:
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Interesting concept
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Feels like a zombie book, just with plants
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Relatively likable characters
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Thematically overshadowed by Jose Saramago’s Blindness
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A surreal adventure through a man’s growth to accept responsibility.
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Positive:
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Interesting, profound characters
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A few parts can feel a bit slow on the pacing side
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Surreal atmosphere
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Exotic, fascinating location
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Enthralling plot full of mysteries
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Solid, well-written story
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Thought-provoking on life and responsibility
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Visual novel & other stuff impressions 