The Commons

Reviews

Reviews from across the whole catalogue, written as the back cover closes. A score out of ten and a summary that earns it.

Showing 529 to 552 of 613 reviews

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Siddhartha reviewed by @saltmarsh
9 out of 10
Went to Swansea and back on the train and read it twice over. The river. That's what stayed.
Siddhartha@saltmarsh23 Dec 2025
The Priory of the Orange Tree reviewed by @hollowknightfan99
6 out of 10
long. dragons. I wanted to love it and I did not love it, explanation below, sorry in advance
The Priory of the Orange Tree@hollowknightfan9923 Dec 2025
The Republic reviewed by @theodore_p
7 out of 10
Book I is a play.
The Republic@theodore_p23 Dec 2025
2 readers agree with this review
Consider the Lobster reviewed by @mx_marginalia
8 out of 10
The lobster essay is famous. The McCain essay is better.
Consider the Lobster@mx_marginalia22 Dec 2025
Gone Girl (Special Edition) reviewed by @dnf_diaries
6 out of 10
Finished in two days; admired the machinery, didn't believe a person in it. Six.
Gone Girl (Special Edition)@dnf_diaries20 Dec 2025
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy reviewed by @ivor_stack
9 out of 10
I drew a diagram.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy@ivor_stack20 Dec 2025
2 readers agree with this review
Flowers for Algernon reviewed by @sam
10 out of 10
Cried on a train. Ten. Not discussing it.
Flowers for Algernon@sam20 Dec 2025
Good Omens reviewed by @bleakhouse_bex
8 out of 10
Not scary, not trying to be. Read it in a weekend with a chest infection and it was the correct book. The Bentley! The tape!
Good Omens@bleakhouse_bex17 Dec 2025
The Sixth Extinction reviewed by @dr_bramble
9 out of 10
Species walking uphill at a measurable rate per decade until they run out of mountain; the Andean transect chapter is the reason I keep buying copies of this. Grim, careful, genuinely first hand rather than assembled out of other books.
The Sixth Extinction@dr_bramble17 Dec 2025
Small Things Like These reviewed by @dnf_diaries
9 out of 10
Finished in one sitting, which I have not done in years
Small Things Like These@dnf_diaries15 Dec 2025
The Dispossessed reviewed by @kepler22b
9 out of 10
the alternating chapters are load-bearing — you can't read anarres without urras sitting next to it. and the physics subplot is genuinely about physics, which nearly never happens.
The Dispossessed@kepler22b14 Dec 2025
Other Minds reviewed by @kepler22b
8 out of 10
strong on the octopus nervous system, wobblier every time it turns philosophical. bibliography is excellent though, i've chased four papers out of it already.
Other Minds@kepler22b14 Dec 2025
A Brief History of Time reviewed by @sam
7 out of 10
Didn't follow much.
A Brief History of Time@sam14 Dec 2025
Siddhartha reviewed by @mossandink
9 out of 10
Reread in a wet tent in Ceredigion, June, rain on the flysheet all night. The river chapters hold; the young-man chapters I can do without now. I've thought about that ferryman most weeks since, which I didn't expect at nineteen and do at forty-six.
Siddhartha@mossandink10 Dec 2025
Mistborn reviewed by @sam
9 out of 10
Good heist. Good magic. Nine. Four days flat.
Mistborn@sam6 Dec 2025
Hyperion reviewed by @kepler22b
8 out of 10
six novellas in a frame. the priest's kept me up, the soldier's is weak, and there is no ending because it's half a book. knew that going in / still irritating.
Hyperion@kepler22b5 Dec 2025
Catch-22 reviewed by @sam
7 out of 10
Funny. Then it isn't.
Catch-22@sam3 Dec 2025
Bluets reviewed by @an_ordinary_tuesday
9 out of 10
Little numbered fragments about the colour blue that are somehow, secretly, entirely about a man who left. I read it twice in one weekend. Twice!
Bluets@an_ordinary_tuesday1 Dec 2025
The Warmth of Other Suns reviewed by @w_okonkwo
10 out of 10
The best nonfiction of this century so far, and it isn't close.
The Warmth of Other Suns@w_okonkwo1 Dec 2025
The Fifth Season reviewed by @hollowknightfan99
10 out of 10
the second person thing I was prepared to hate turns out to be load bearing, and by the end I knew why it had to be written that way. sat in the car outside Tesco for ten minutes. best structure in fantasy, full stop.
The Fifth Season@hollowknightfan9928 Nov 2025
Dune reviewed by @kepler22b
8 out of 10
read it for the appendices.
Dune@kepler22b28 Nov 2025
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reviewed by @margaretreads
6 out of 10
Six, and Ruth will be furious
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy@margaretreads26 Nov 2025
Quiet reviewed by @ivor_stack
6 out of 10
Right about the office.
Quiet@ivor_stack26 Nov 2025
Mindset reviewed by @annotatedannie
4 out of 10
One real idea, restated until it filled a book. Four, and the four is for the idea.
Mindset@annotatedannie26 Nov 2025
2 readers agree with this review

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Member reviews

Siddhartha reviewed by @saltmarsh

The Priory of the Orange Tree reviewed by @hollowknightfan99

The Republic reviewed by @theodore_p

Consider the Lobster reviewed by @mx_marginalia

Gone Girl (Special Edition) reviewed by @dnf_diaries

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy reviewed by @ivor_stack

Flowers for Algernon reviewed by @sam

Good Omens reviewed by @bleakhouse_bex

The Sixth Extinction reviewed by @dr_bramble

Small Things Like These reviewed by @dnf_diaries

The Dispossessed reviewed by @kepler22b

Other Minds reviewed by @kepler22b

A Brief History of Time reviewed by @sam

Siddhartha reviewed by @mossandink

Mistborn reviewed by @sam

Hyperion reviewed by @kepler22b

Catch-22 reviewed by @sam

Bluets reviewed by @an_ordinary_tuesday

The Warmth of Other Suns reviewed by @w_okonkwo

The Fifth Season reviewed by @hollowknightfan99

Dune reviewed by @kepler22b

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reviewed by @margaretreads

Quiet reviewed by @ivor_stack

Mindset reviewed by @annotatedannie