Reviews

Member reviews

• Trick Mirror reviewed by @mx_marginalia

  7/ 107 out of 10

  Three of these essays are as good as anything I read that year; two are a very smart person honouring a contract — the internet one earns the book alone. I'd have cut the wedding essay and nobody would have missed it.

  Trick Mirror · @mx_marginalia · 20 Mar 2026

• The Hobbit reviewed by @margaretreads

  9/ 109 out of 10

  Read it aloud or don't bother. The songs are dull on the page and marvellous out of a mouth; Dean sat through eleven lunchtimes of it in 1994 and asked for the map on the last day! Bit saggy round the eagles, mind.

  The Hobbit · @margaretreads · 20 Mar 2026

• Educated reviewed by @plainjaneausten

  9/ 109 out of 10

  no because the scrapyard?? I read that bit on the bus and made an actual noise. the family stuff is so much harder than the education stuff and nobody ever says that. 9 because the last quarter goes flat, sorry

  Educated · @plainjaneausten · 18 Mar 2026

• Girl, Woman, Other reviewed by @mx_marginalia

  7/ 107 out of 10

  Structurally braver than it is beautiful line by line, and I'd take that trade most weeks of the year.

  Girl, Woman, Other · @mx_marginalia · 18 Mar 2026

• And Then There Were None reviewed by @verity_lane

  9/ 109 out of 10

  Ten people, an island, and that is my final offer.

  And Then There Were None · @verity_lane · 18 Mar 2026

• Postwar reviewed by @the_slow_reader

  8/ 108 out of 10

  A winter's book. Fair on Spain, thin on the south.

  Postwar · @the_slow_reader · 18 Mar 2026

  11 reader agrees with this review

• Red, White and Royal Blue reviewed by @plainjaneausten

  8/ 108 out of 10

  Casey. CASEY. we need to talk about the emails.

  Red, White and Royal Blue · @plainjaneausten · 17 Mar 2026

• Project Hail Mary reviewed by @kepler22b

  5/ 105 out of 10

  an open letter, meant politely

  Project Hail Mary · @kepler22b · 17 Mar 2026

• Becoming reviewed by @quietcarriage

  6/ 106 out of 10

  Warm, careful, a third too long for me.

  Becoming · @quietcarriage · 17 Mar 2026

• Mexican Gothic reviewed by @verity_lane

  7/ 107 out of 10

  Great house, bad house, saying nothing else.

  Mexican Gothic · @verity_lane · 17 Mar 2026

• The Black Dahlia reviewed by @verity_lane

  6/ 106 out of 10

  Prose like a siren going past, on and on. Lost the thread twice and I don't think it was me... never did guess the end, mostly because I'd stopped keeping track of who was who.

  The Black Dahlia · @verity_lane · 16 Mar 2026

• A Fire Upon the Deep reviewed by @kepler22b

  7/ 107 out of 10

  zones of thought is a properly new idea & the tines are the best group mind i've read. the newsgroup interludes have aged into something almost charming. human plot drags badly.

  A Fire Upon the Deep · @kepler22b · 16 Mar 2026

• A Brief History of Time reviewed by @annotatedannie

  6/ 106 out of 10

  Chapters one to four are a public service. From roughly chapter seven onward I was reading the words and taking in nothing at all, and I don't think that was entirely my fault. I finished out of stubbornness and looked up eight things afterwards.

  A Brief History of Time · @annotatedannie · 14 Mar 2026

• The Fellowship of the Ring reviewed by @hollowknightfan99

  10/ 1010 out of 10

  read it out loud. no seriously. out loud

  The Fellowship of the Ring · @hollowknightfan99 · 14 Mar 2026

• Odd Thomas reviewed by @dnf_diaries

  7/ 107 out of 10

  Picked it up in a holiday cottage because there was nothing else in the house, expected to abandon it by lunch, and didn't put it down until it was done. Genuinely surprised. Seven; the tone slips at the end, but he's good company.

  Odd Thomas · @dnf_diaries · 14 Mar 2026

• The Way of Kings reviewed by @the_slow_reader

  6/ 106 out of 10

  I have it since March and finished in June, which for me is a scandal. Rafael Marín's Spanish moves quicker than the English — odd, that. Huge world. The sentences are not huge.

  The Way of Kings · @the_slow_reader · 14 Mar 2026

• Small Island reviewed by @bookclubdropout

  8/ 108 out of 10

  Best night we've had in ages.

  Small Island · @bookclubdropout · 14 Mar 2026

• Grief Is the Thing with Feathers reviewed by @an_ordinary_tuesday

  8/ 108 out of 10

  A crow made of Grief itself, literally hopping about the flat. Strange and brave and I didn't follow all of it, which is fine; not everything is for following.

  Grief Is the Thing with Feathers · @an_ordinary_tuesday · 14 Mar 2026

• The Book Thief reviewed by @bookclubdropout

  8/ 108 out of 10

  Death narrates and Fiona had notes.

  The Book Thief · @bookclubdropout · 13 Mar 2026

  22 readers agree with this review

• Man's Search for Meaning reviewed by @nightshiftnurse

  9/ 109 out of 10

  read it in one go on a rest day and then couldnt really talk to anyone for a bit. the second half is dry and I skimmed some of it. the first half I will be carrying around forever

  Man's Search for Meaning · @nightshiftnurse · 12 Mar 2026

• The Maltese Falcon reviewed by @verity_lane

  8/ 108 out of 10

  Colder than the film. That's your lot!

  The Maltese Falcon · @verity_lane · 10 Mar 2026

• Born a Crime reviewed by @nightshiftnurse

  9/ 109 out of 10

  his mum. thats the review

  Born a Crime · @nightshiftnurse · 9 Mar 2026

  22 readers agree with this review

• A Game of Thrones reviewed by @rereader

  7/ 107 out of 10

  Second, and only because a friend was starting it. Reads much thinner once you know where it is all going, or rather where it isn't. Ned's chapters hold; Dany's don't. Seven, down from a nine I'd have defended loudly in 2011.

  A Game of Thrones · @rereader · 8 Mar 2026

• The Hunger Games reviewed by @verity_lane

  7/ 107 out of 10

  My niece made me. I liked it. That's all she's getting out of me.

  The Hunger Games · @verity_lane · 7 Mar 2026