Anisse's Dump

I have some things to say about things if you wanted to read them

[abwasthere]

If anyone was curious this is my book rating scale 🌠

5/5 extra special  4/5 very good  3/5 was nice  2/5 not great but had its moments  1/5 hell no

[abwasthere]

Book Review for The Unbroken By CL Clark rating 3/5 stars🌠

This book was sitting on my pile to read from the library and the idea was for it to be a sort of palate cleanser, as I haven't read some pure fantasy for a while. I really wanted to like it, I really did, but man it was a drag to read. It took me way longer than it should have to get through this and it was a relief to be done.

All that said I didn't hate the book, I think it did a lot of things well. I found the premise to be quite intriguing I thought the world was also well built. I was really into the idea of lost magic being tied to indigenous people and the power they hold because of their faith and connection to the world. The whole story provided an interesting commentary on colonialism and what happens when someone falls in the middle. What is right what is wrong, and how we have to keep moving even if we seriously fuck up. I also thought, though not particularly flowery the prose was well done. I found that the structure of dual POV added a nice touch too.

On to my issues. It was so slow, I feel like so much of the book literally nothing was going on and a lot of exciting moments occur off the page. I am all for a book that is slow paced and revels in the more quiet moments, but this one just didn't do it for me. Part of that was likely attributed to my general indifference to the main characters. I in all honesty did not care much for anything Luca and Touraine did. Once again I really wanted to like them but I just wasn't feeling it. Their whole forbidden romance felt like an odd undertone to add to what is a pretty sad story about colonialism and attempts at rebellion.

I really wish I could have enjoyed this book. On paper it seems like something I should enjoy, but man it just didn't so what I needed it to.

[abwasthere]

I have another book review on, you guessed it, The Gate Of The Feral Gods. My rating 4/5 🌠 yet again.

Matt Dinniman is very skilled at making me think it could be a three star read, and then making it a four star read by writing the most insane finale ever. That being said part of the reason his finales are so showy is because they're meant to be the finale of a floor for the show, but my god did this finale hit. I mean there was this suspicious lull in the middle of the book that is completely explained by the shit that goes down in the last 150ish pages. Like damn they were hiding so much and had me suspecting nothing. Which is crazy because it's all written in first person. I was not expecting Carl to pull a fast one on me, but in a way it's so clever because it reminds readers what watching the crawl is like.

Moving on that epilogue, my god. I can't say I was expecting any of that but I am absolutely sat for whatever it's going to bring. Also leave it to Dinniman to make something fucked up even more fucked up but also make it so damn entertaining. Which I guess is also the point.

Some other rapid fire things I liked include, Juice Box, all the stuff involving deities, Mordecai's return, Robot Donut nonsense, Carl being unhinged, the other crawlers being featured, and of course the wrapping up of some loose ends. Looking forward to what the next floor is going to bring, I am completely here for Carl going full anarchist and breaking more shit.

[abwasthere]

I am back again with a book review that no one asked for except the voices in my head. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook 4/5 🌠

This was the first book of the series I almost contemplated giving 3/5 but I changed my mind after the last 200 pages knocked it out of the park. I knew trying to figure out the Iron Tangle would be fun but would also drive me up a wall, so as stated in the author's note I chose to be blissfully ignorant when it came to any of the train system. Maybe too ignorant but oh well. This book did a few things for me, including solidifying Katia as one of my favorites, made me love Carl and Donut more, and made me even sadder about how fucked up and tragic the whole situation is.

So Katia, honestly I had very few feelings about her until this book. She really came into herself and became an important member of the crew. I liked how it was her who solved the whole mystery of the Iron Tangle rather than it being Carl. She officially became a favorite after she flipped him off with her tongue, c'mon what's not to love.

I find it so cool that Carl surrounds himself with so many powerful and smart women and isn't afraid to listen to them and isn't emasculated by the fact half of them could beat his ass. I mean come on, Donut, Imani, Elle, Li Na, Katia, let's give it up for the ladies. Behind every great man is a bunch of women who call him an idiot.

This book for me, more than the others really had me thinking bout how actually sad the whole idea of the dungeon is. I think especially the conversation Carl has with Frank, and the full story about his daughter being revealed just drove home the cruelty of this whole system. It's this deep overwhelming anger and sadness that is hidden only barely by the zany and absurdness of the dungeon itself. Zev says, I think in the first book, something along the lines of it's all a big terrible system and there's not much that any one of us can do about it. But yet with every step Carl takes and every choice he makes he tries to act with compassion and that in and of itself is an act of rebellion

[mimi-maru]

[abwasthere]

Almost 100 pages into The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook and I am so thankful for the author’s note. Now I can relax and ignore the numbers and colors because that’s Carl’s problem not mine

[abwasthere]

A draft I forgot to post from a few weeks ago

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario 4/5

Really loved this one as well, maybe even liked it more than the first one. I was a big fan of the quest plots and how they gave NPCs and the dungeon some time to shine. I also really have been enjoying the many *wink wink* this will be important later moments. I feel this book did a good job of just letting Carl and Donut go for it now that readers a more familiar with the world.

Speaking of Carl and Donut, the most incredible duo. They are so well written and I was so glad that Donut was given so much more depth in this book. Her moments of vulnerability are striking and really characterize her as much more than the performance she puts on. Also the Ferdinand reveal was too funny. No one can make me hate you Donut.

[abwasthere]

I’ve been blazing through the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells lately and I just finished Network Effect so here’s a brief review. 4/5 🌠

To be so so clear I love Murderbot and I’ve been devouring the novellas, but for some reason the full novel just didn’t hit as hard for me as I wanted it to. Maybe I was just in a weird mood. I loved loved the reappearance of my favorite spaceship ART I could read a whole book of it just bickering with Murderbot. Which NE was a lot of but there were two main things that knocked it for me. I really wanted it to be a five but it couldn’t be for these two reasons. One being the second half is so much stronger than the first half, I feel like it took about 50-100 pages for me to really get into it. Second being it felt a lot heavier on the technical jargon and explanations which I found a bit hard to follow. That being said that sort of dialogue isn’t something new to this book, it just felt a lot more dense than in the novellas, and in a lot of ways slowed things down for me. I think both of these issues might go away upon re-read, and I’m sure I’ll pick it up again. So who knows maybe it’ll be a five star read next time. Anyways highly recommend the series it’s a 10/10

[murderbotbot]

I’d rather have nice safe emotions about shows on the entertainment media; having them about things real-life humans said and did just led to stupid decisions.

[abwasthere]

I should have written this like three days ago when the book was still fresh in my mind, but better now then never I guess. Here is my brief review of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Rating 4/5

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I happen to be a big fan of the kind of zany but clever sci-fi in the vein of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and DCC definitely has that vibe. I was a bit worried that I would get bored with the repetitive nature of the RPG style leveling up and grinding but I didn't find that to be the case very often in part because of the really interesting world building and Carl's entertaining inner monologue.

On the topic of Carl I wasn't super taken with him at first, MMCs tend to be hit or miss for me, but he really grew on me as the story progressed. I found his mantra of 'You will not break me' to be really powerful alongside his struggle to keep hold of his humanity in a system that doesn't give a shit about those values. I was afraid that he would be rather dense and oblivious to the point of being annoying but I was happy to discover how intelligent and good hearted he is. Also his relationship with Princess Donut was so sweet to read. Donut is a diva and I adore her. I am looking forward to her character developing more as the story goes on.

This book was on my mental TBR for a little bit then my book club decided to select it for March, giving me an excuse to pick it up. I definitely would recommend and I will for sure be continuing with the series

[homeboygirl]

"it was in 2020" oh so like a year or so ago. a couple years. im sorry 5? did you just say five? five years ago ?

[abwasthere]

I actually go through this everyday

[setyset]

Day 20. Tattoos

[dingbatblr]

reminder that being against ai also means being against character.ai and not using character.ai and not interacting with character.ai

i've never talked to chatgpt i've never talked to character.ai i have no interest in talking to a chatbot even if it's fun or based on my comfort character. if we want companies to stop using ai we need to tell them we aren't going to interact with it - so don't.

don't talk to robots. full stop.

[hemipenal-system]

if you're seeing this it means you're on tumblr. there are like 600 gay people on here who will rp with you, you don't need c.ai for anything

[abwasthere]

I just started watching The Last of Us and why did no one tell me those fuckers could run

[setyset]

Day 5. Legacy

[maezanilla]

Happy burn your house down day for my fellow Fullmetal Alchemist enjoyers ✨

[abwasthere]

Just started my rewatch of Arcane to prepare for the final season in November and I'm starting to realize how little of the plot I actually remember