Reviews and Comments

Lots of references about how technology is impacting us and possible strategies to fight the downsides. I enjoyed the first chapters talking about how devices affect our focus, the advantages of deep reading, the ineffectiveness of "multitasking" and the importance of making space for boredom. It is still relevant today.

I wasn't as invested in this book as the previous ones. It sure is fun and full of action, but I guess I wasn’t in the mood for so much action all at once. I can see that this book will bring serious repercussions for the plot in the future. Harry Dresden is again pushed to his limits, with overpowering supernatural entities. I was worried about a particular character's future health, something I'll have to discover in the next book.

This is a very in depth presentation of facts on how technology can impact society and social movements. It describes in detail how Facebook aimed to increase the number of friends users had (they wanted to surpass the Dunbar limit of 150) by enforcing it through changes in their algorithms. Then it discusses the Trump election and the rise of right-wing posts, videos and groups in social media. Chapters 4 and 5 covers the rise of machine learning algorithms and how all platforms started promoting and amplifying more outrageous/radical content. And how the average user's time on these platforms skyrocketed around 2016. And then, Trump's and Bolsonaro's election in the USA and Brazil respectively, which were fuelled by social media. The rise of alt-right movements. The pandemic and all the misinformation campaigns during that period. It’s a full exposition of how social media had real life dire consequences.

This book takes place 6 months after the events of Planetfall #2 ("After Atlas"). We have Dee as our main character and she gets unknowingly involved in a suspected murder inside the colony ship. As we know from the previous book, Dee is an avid gamer, and she soon joins elite game servers, or "leets" where the gamers real life abilities are represented in game, making these games extremely challenging. This is another unputdownable book by Emma Newman with virtual reality immersive games, discussions about AI and consciousness, corporate indenture, social justice and revenge. It's all intertwined with the main character's journey confronting her traumatic past while she investigates and plans for the future. It's intense, thrilling and has the ending was breath taking.

This is a light read on the topic, offering practical examples on phrases to express verbally our boundaries. I had the impression the topic was over simplified. The author mentions a lot of "results" from polls she conducted in her Instagram account with her followers and that took away some of the credibility of the facts presented.

I'm enjoying this post-apocalyptic world quite a lot, because although it's a dark reality, the series focus on the group of characters that are trying to make the world a better place. This second book was hopeful and had some intense character development.

I was blown away, this book is unputdownable! So good! It’s a sci-if thriller with murder investigation along with a mysterious cult, global politics and the asymmetric power of corporations. It was the first book I read from this author, and now I want to read all her books!

It is always nice to read about mindfulness. This book can be read slowly, one chapter at a time because it's a collection of essays on mindfulness meditation and how it can be integrated into our daily lives, in our most mundane activities.

This is the last book of the series, and it is impressive how the author manages to link everything together. The series has memorable characters, and I created a kind of emotional connection to them throughout the 10 books. It's epic, complex, and heavy on worldbuilding but also excellent in character-building. This was probably the longest fantasy series I finished reading, and I enjoyed that it is a unique world, getting away from the typical European-centric fantasy. A satisfying end for this series.

This short story was gifted to me by a fellow reader of my blog and I’m so grateful! A touching story about friendship, love, and death. About caring, about letting go, and also cherishing what is gone. It soothed me during a difficult time.

This novella felt like a warm embrace. It's cozy, cute and light. A traveling tea monk exploring the world coming in contact with a conscious robot. Robots were long forgotten by humanity, having fled to the wilderness to live their own lives. I loved the discussions about life purpose and consciousness. It made me want to continue reading the next one.

This was fun and silly. There is a dirigible named the Spotted Custard that is painted to look like a black and red ladybug. There are people riding wolves. There are new supernatural beings introduced, other than werewolves and vampires. I liked the main group dynamic on board of the Spotted Custard (Rue, Quesnel, Prim and Percy). I'm not sure about the Indian cultural references, I'm afraid they were inaccurate and maybe even offensive to Indian natives. Overall fun, but not to be taken seriously.

Satisfying end of the series

Trying it out in audiobook format

Cool urban fantasy set up in London. It's got the Dresden Files vibe. It's full of British slang, which was not familiar to me. I'm not knowledgeable in the London geography so I must have missed tons of references. It was still a nice read for me, but I guess I was discouraged to go on with the series because it seemed very niche and more interesting for people who know London culture.