I am grateful for this as I found the first half disappointing and slightly annoying. For me
927056
To be honest, I had no idea what this book was about going into it. I saw the cover and thought this may be the equivalent to a YA version of The Rosie Effect. After briefly skimming the synopsis, I believed this would be another cute quick read. While there were some cute, quirky moments, the second half of the novel does delve more deeply into the emotional impact of Charlotte's illness. I am grateful for this as I found the first half disappointing and slightly annoying.

For me, Charlie was an inadequate narrator. Part of the problem was he supposed genius- I felt much of his mathematics and science jargon was forced and not flushed out enough. Just name dropping famous mathematicians and equations or saying advanced [insert class here] did not feel authentic in proving Charlie's intelligence. Most of his narration came across as unnatural and awkward to me.

I did find his sister, Becca, and Ms. Finch to be great secondary characters that made this be much more than just a teenage love story of the terminally ill. My favorite character, however, was most likely Mrs. Dunwitty, Charlie's cantankerous old neighbor who is much more than what everyone assumes.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, with much of the good cancelling out the bad.
2375726
I enjoyed the beginning which showed promise and hooked me and the ending which was life affirming. The middle I slogged through and found rather silly .
3036576
For some reason I really liked it but not as much as the others although I am looking forward to the fifth
4390547
Enjoyable, although pacing in the first half is uneven.
23926
The first half of the book is fantastic. His definition of love as the will to extend ourselves for one's own or another's spiritual growth makes this book worth it.

I found the second half relatively uninteresting.
2295373
Actually, the first half of this book was good, the second half not so good. The first half has some splendid satire; it is funny, biting, and engaging. Ozeki manages to poke a lot of holes in American and Japanese materialistic culture and consumeristic values while throwing in a few thinly-sliced jabs at the meat and marketing industries. The story had "meat," but it was still amusing. Then Ozeki dropped her story on the slaughterhouse floor, so to speak, and from that point on it was a dreary, painful, strident, depressing, bloody mess. There's some redemption and happy-endings at the end, but I think I would have liked it better if she had stuck with the original tone and style. I was getting the message even before Ozeki started using the sledgehammers. The first half is good fiction with a message; the second half is an emotional mockumentary at the expense of story. Still, I will give her second book a try, All Over Creation.
3399869
I loved this book so much for the first half. It deserved at least 10 stars. I laughed, I cried, and I fell in love with the couple. Which I was rather surprised about because I didn't have a good opinion of Painter going in. But he totally won me over! Which was why the second half was so disappointing. It felt rushed and disjointed. I loved the couple for the first half, and then at the end I didn't feel as connected to them. But the book was still great overall, and definitely worth reading
2898191
I had to push myself through the first 2/3; got better after that.
580703
I'm not sure how I feel about this one.  I was a little bored with the first half and although I'm pretty good with technology, some of the computer stuff was over my head.  The second half, after Raymond uploaded, was more interesting and it kept my attention.  The story was well imagined and well detailed.  Some of the situations were chilling, as they seem plausible in the not do distant future. I was disappointed at the ending as I wanted more of a conclusion.
782420
The beginning half and last 25 pages were very engaging, but the rest I found sluggish. It might have been by design, but it didn't work all that well for me. I was a little disappointed, honestly.
177750
First, I'll say that I was initially drawn to this book by the title.  It's great.  I wasn't looking for a cheese review book, knowing that this was mostly about Gordon's life which, of course, is related to cheese.  The first half of the book was great.  I learned several interesting things about raw cheese and some of the guts behind cheese production that I didn't already know.  I felt this was lacking from the second half or so, however, which is much more liberally sprinkled with political references, cheese meetings and conferences (which I was less interested in), and several circumstances where Gordon is pretty snide about customers and others in the cheese industry which contrasted rather markedly with the mental image I'd formed of him from the earlier chapters.  I really enjoyed the first half, so I'm glad I read the book, but I wish I had stopped about half way in.
2683687
Overall, I enjoyed it.  A few things struck me as a little cornball-y, enough to make me roll my eyes, particularly in regards to Requiem, a place that has been gone for generations at this point.  While I get the idea of wanting a place where they can be themselves and why they're in love with the idea, it just came off goofy to me.  So, while I'm not jumping to buy the other books in the series, I'll probably get them at some point when I need something else to read.
1136335
I really enjoyed the first half of this book, it was creative, entertaining and very enjoyable.  The second half was a little distubing and left me longing for the good times of the first half.
2730411
I wanted to love this so much, and the last third, I did. The middle third was OK, but getting through the first third was painful. I recognized that that the beginning was fiction and I was disappointed. I pulled through, and was glad I did...but it was hard. I was a little mad.
3062605
My hopes were ridicuolusly high for the last installment of the Harry Potter series, but I am suitably impressed. Although many of my predicitons were accurate, I still felt a great sense of anxiety as I read through. My complaints are small  but I felt the pacing and build up was a little off on this novel--I could have used a little less aimless camping out and a little more insight into the wizarding conflicts. The wonder and awe I once felt was also seriously diminished but arguably that was a side effect of the seriousness of the story line. Also, I was left disappointed that Snape was sidelined for most of the novel and I felt a little cheated by the epilogue.

Despite these small complaints, I read this one in one long sitting, and many of my pages are warped and tearstained.  I guess the real question is whether I sobbed with grief over events in the book or I cried in mourning the end of the greatest story of our time.
1815826
I chose this book at random from the Suggested for you list on Audible because I wanted something outside of my comfort zone, something that I would not ordinarily pick.  I certainly got what I wanted.  I am just not sure if I am glad about that or not.

Much like the narrator, I spent a good portion of the time at the beginning of the book in a state of disbelief at the whole state of affairs.  After a certain point, also like the narrator, I reached a level of acceptance that allowed me just to go with the flow of the story.  Unfortunately, flow is an overstatement for how the book unfolded.  It was fantastical and weird and different, but at best that made it vaguely interesting, not good.

Eventually I got into the story in that I abandoned myself to the weirdness, and I definitely became more interested in the resolution towards the end.  Ultimately, however, I was disappointed in the book.  The ending may have seemed clever and twisty and different, but it felt like a cop out.  The author had a real opportunity to do something truly profound after the journey he had put his character through, instead he pulled something a fifth grader might try.  It was not even as sophisticated as a deus ex machina, it was more of this is my story, I can do whatever I want, and did I mention I have a super power that hasn't come up before?  It was annoying, unsatisfying and just plain lazy.

I gave it three stars for the originality of the weirdness.  It gave me an appreciation for why I tend to stay in my familiar old wheelhouse.
I had toyed with the idea of listening to it with my kids, thinking it might be something they would like, but I am glad I didn't do that.  There was enough language and sex to make it inappropriate for my pre-teen.
138867
The first few listens tended to get monotonous then as I listened more I enjoyed it more