Provides an insight into leprosy and leprosy sufferers that I personally found really interesting and gave me food for thought. While the story did hook me with all its tragedy/romance, though, I found the characters a bit too one-dimensional - a bit more depth and a few more shades between good and bad would have definitely enhanced it.
The true story of what happened to a girl who was bullied at school, what happened to her because of it, and how she overcame it. An almost too short but still thought-provoking read.
A weird story, even for Murakami. Not a bad read but it took a bit for me to get into it.
Entertaining enough but really not that original or exciting and Edward doesn't really do it for me.
Very provocative, very clever, very worthy of discussion and very hard to put down.
Fascinating! The story was engrossing and I could not put it down. I was only sorry that it didn't continue longer.
Quite disturbing and a difficult topic but well-handled and well-written by the author. The ending was a bit too convenient but otherwise a very good book.
The writing is gorgeous, the story is devastating and the book will linger with you long after you've finished reading it. I highly recommend it.
Like the first book in the series, a lovely and thoughtful read. The book is massive, yes, but it leaves you itching for even more.
An intriguing and moving story that had (and, as it's a series, continues to have) me hooked until the end.
Disturbing and mind-boggling set of stories that leaves one considering the darker inclinations in all of us.
Love family stories like this where you can see cause and effect echoing between the generations. Thought-provoking without being too difficult to read.
Beautifully imagined story with a surprisingly simple message; good for kids.
Rather depressing, really, but subtle and quite enjoyable.
Very moving and thought-provoking. It was definitely one that lingered with me when I was a teenager and its effect continues even with numerous re-readings.
Highly likely to make you outraged, this book is also thought-provoking and moving.
A very human, believable take on the conflict in Yugoslavia. Powerful.
Physically, it's rather heavy - which is rather bad news if you're ordering it from overseas and paying the postage. Still, definitely good - much the same as the website but all in one hit, it made me laugh out loud in places and nearly cry in others.
Highly cynical "what if" scenario - not my favourite Ben Elton book but still very clever and definitely well-written.
I enjoyed this a lot. While not necessarily a fan of World of Warcraft and the like, the key points still resonated with me in regards to my own gaming experiences. Much food for thought here.
Not as intense as "The Black Cat" but so hard to put down and definitely worth a read. Very evocative, it made me despair at how bad life is and then realise how good it can be too if you let it.
For the most part, the story is good. I did find it difficult to put down. All the theorizing about humanity and its purpose actually has a nice underlying theme too, but this book tends to go the way of other recent books from Traci Harding. The theosophical stuff is just excessive no matter what your thoughts are concerning it and a lot of the lead characters here are starting to look very like those in "The Ancient Future".
I was going to give this only 4.5 stars but then I realised that there was nothing I really disliked it. Compelling, painful in the right way, and very clever.
Alarming. It may have been written awhile ago now but I don't think you can say that things have abruptly changed for the better in the meantime...
Not bad, but there's only so much that can be done with one character and it shows here. It all starts to feel rather same old, same old.
I'm not a big fan of the "classics", to be honest, and hadn't sought this one out before. I'm glad I read it - it hooked me more than others in its genre do even though I found some of it just far too over-the-top to swallow.
I started it and quite seriously couldn't stop. I don't share quite the desires that the protagonist does but just enough of the comments hit closer to home than expected...
I have almost zero interest in James Bond, but this book grabbed my attention and I'm glad it did. Quite clever once it gets going - if only everything didn't always come back to poor old 007.