Firstly- was anyone else tempted to try the recipe? I know I was, ludicrously so, despite the apparent risks.

Anyway…Absolutely excellent until the very end, when it becomes absolutely terrible. Last chapter excluded, a very good book, ruined by a bad ending which was unsatisfying, cliche’d and generally eye-rolling, no offence to any religious people but why did she have to get God involved in a book which centred around logical, scientific thought, it was just… boom. let down. Could have had the same ending written better to be less terrible, but I suppose you win some you lose some.

I thought it started out good, a little shaky, got very good, got a little bad, stayed shaky and then ended terribly- very disappointing for a book which I felt I had invested so much in. Still, at least it only took a couple of days to read.

I have to say I prefered the film, it was a lot more cohesive and had a better flow and sense of magic. To me, the book felt a lot like a dream which had been written into book form, which isn’t a particularly good thing- A lot of stuff didn’t feel like it had any real purpose or place, felt like it was just “there” The whole Wales thing, for instance, was not missed when left out of the film. I have to say that definitely, had I read the book first I would not have watched the anime, which would have been a waste as it’s one of my favourite movies ever.

Like a previous reviewer, I found it hard to keep track of which “she/he” referred to which “she/he” in conversations and often found myself actually having to count backward through the remarks until I found a name. Plus the ending was slightly ridiculous (SPOILER) the whole “everyone laughs and holds hands” thing was ridiculous, there was no sense of a building romance until suddenly at the end they’re all “LET’S GET MARRIED OMG!” the movie handled this much better.(END OF SPOILERS)

While I’m happy this book spawned such an awesome film (and apparently inspired Neil Gaiman for Stardust, another plus), I doubt I’ll read anything else by her- sorry, it was just ok.

Oh, man, several of my really good friends keep teling me how good this is, I’m like… a fifth of the way in and it’s such hard going. Is the beginning the worst? Does it get better? These guys are 2 of my best friends, we’re very similar and usually like the same sort of things, but all the memo’s are driving me crazy, I just want to get into some plot, so far it all feels like waffle.

I WANT to consume this, I really do, but I just don’t know if I’ve got it in me to complete it.