|
By: NELS 021
|
2025-07-08 09:46:39 |
|
|
An excellent choice!! Horrible characters that made us laugh and cringe. A very apt storyline of our social media times. |
|
|
By: CHCH 539
|
2025-07-03 10:02:55 |
|
|
|
Hilarious chaotic read. Loved it! |
|
|
By: CHCH 383
|
2025-05-27 09:51:07 |
|
|
Very funny - close to the bone at times though. Laugh out loud moments. Could have done with some quite heavy editing. |
|
|
By: ROTO 002
|
2025-03-12 13:08:01 |
|
|
|
A satirical delight! And so relevant to contemporary life. Great to read something so 'now'. |
|
|
By: BRIGHT 003
|
2025-03-10 12:34:31 |
|
|
|
Some loved it and laughed all the way through, while others struggled their way through it. |
|
|
By: NELS 071
|
2024-10-16 13:44:52 |
|
|
This book was very popular with everyone - very topical and well-written. Amusing but equally disturbing and made us all look again at our devices. |
|
|
By: WELL 168
|
2024-08-21 10:28:41 |
|
|
Our group absolutely loved this book - by far the best this year! We all admitted to laughing out loud to ourselves when reading it. It was a good winter 'pick-me-up'. |
|
|
By: MATAM 006
|
2024-08-12 15:02:31 |
|
|
|
Some loved this book and laughed throughout. Some didn't get past the first few chapters and thought it was too crass. Good discussion however on the effects of social media. |
|
|
By: AUCK 443
|
2024-06-25 11:43:04 |
|
|
|
Some of us would have preferred not to read the author's sad but comedic satire on contemporary society as his response to the brutal mauling he received from his previous empathetic exploration of gender transitioning in 'My Brother's Name is Jessica'. But the book was well-written and the behaviours of the characters and their fads provoked much discussion, leading to many related topics, which extended beyond the time we usually give to one book. We rate it 3.75. |
|
|
By: MATAM 003
|
2024-06-10 10:05:22 |
|
|
|
Most of us thoroughly enjoyed this book. Well-written and clever. Several of us found it hard to 'get into' initially, but as we continued found it gripping. One member didn't read far enough and unfortunately gave up. The remainder enjoyed it from the beginning. We found it well worth reading. |
|
|
By: AUCK 247
|
2024-04-18 14:26:50 |
|
|
|
Very mixed response -some members "got it" as satire and enjoyed it at that level. Others found it too ridiculous or too unpleasant. Some great sections within the book that we went back to. |
|
|
By: RICH 017
|
2024-03-06 12:02:33 |
|
|
Interesting! Some of us (majority) found it a tricky read. Knowing it is satire does help, but the lack of likeable characters made it less enjoyable. We did have great chats about social media and cancel culture. |
|
|
By: OPOTI 003
|
2024-02-29 13:25:25 |
|
|
|
This book generated a really good discussion. It was enlightening, none of us being avid social media users. We all very much enjoyed the excellent writing. We'd really recommend this to other book groups. |
|
|
By: HURUN 001
|
2024-02-28 14:22:15 |
|
|
|
We all enjoyed this book very much, resulting in a lively discussion. |
|
|
By: GREYT 001
|
2024-01-17 12:38:42 |
|
|
|
Mixed reaction to this book. Very funny in parts but dragged in the middle - quite an eye opener to those who don't use social media. We all wish we had read the notes before the book as we didn't know about Boyne's trouble re 'My Brother's Name is Jessica'. Perhaps that would have made his reaction more understandable. |
|
|
By: RAUM 001
|
2023-11-22 13:30:33 |
|
|
|
Very funny, verging on farce. Made us look twice at our experience of social media. |
|
|
By: TAKA 001
|
2023-10-10 09:10:11 |
|
|
|
Several of the group loved it and thought it was a great send-up of social media and its dangers. It was thought of as a clever book with interesting names like Cleverly etc. Another good John Boyne book. |
|
|
By: WAIKA 012
|
2023-08-16 14:45:12 |
|
|
|
Entertaining. easy to read. Very contemporary theme. |
|
|
By: QUEEN 003
|
2023-08-07 11:09:52 |
|
|
|
Most members initially thought they wouldn't like this . Awful characters, every one of them, with few redeeming features. However it became a good commentary on modern life - use of social media, cancelling, political correctness, wokeness - all alive and well in N.Z. Trial by social media is real and is happening everywhere. Very funny book, almost farcical, but also serious. What of the future??? |
|
|
By: MATUA 001
|
2023-08-07 10:16:42 |
|
|
|
Half the group enjoyed the book and the other half were irritated by it! |
|
|
By: MOTUE 003
|
2023-07-10 14:35:23 |
|
|
|
There were mixed reactions to this book. Two started but didn't finish, while four found it a worthwhile read. It certainly stimulated a lot of discussion. |
|
|
By: WELL 093
|
2023-06-22 12:56:11 |
|
|
|
Made us laugh out loud! |
|
|
By: AUCK 230
|
2023-06-19 12:18:14 |
|
|
|
Very accurate comment on social media in our current world! |
|
|
By: AUCK 458
|
2023-06-07 10:30:55 |
|
|
|
Thoroughly enjoyable, funny, provocative about the power of social media and things that influence us, makes you think! Liked the characters with all their flaws. |
|
|
By: CHCH 299
|
2023-06-06 10:11:20 |
|
|
|
Most enjoyed it, some loved it, one didn't finish - those who loved/liked it enjoyed the humour and found it a fast-paced clever read. It was also a good discussion book as it raised lots of divergent opinions. |
|
|
By: TAUM 003
|
2023-05-22 13:06:01 |
|
|
|
Probably our best book of the year - a brilliant satire, felt like reading 21st century Jane Austen. |
|
|
By: WANG 004
|
2023-05-11 10:00:54 |
|
|
|
Some of our group found this outrageous and funny verging on black humour. It was obviously a satire based on our ridiculous society addicted to social media. Our members thought it best to have read the notes first to understand why the author wrote the book. Some of our group disliked the book for its graphic content. |
|
|
By: ASHB 028
|
2023-03-30 14:14:20 |
|
|
|
Varying reactions to this book amongst our group. Some appreciated the humour, all considered the ending rather weak. |
|
|
By: MATAM 001
|
2023-03-23 12:30:57 |
|
|
|
We all enjoyed 'The Echo Chamber' as a very clever satire of a family's various connections to social media, and the catastrophic consequences for the five people when everything goes wrong. A timely warning for us all, on the negative consequences of a distorted life in social media, plus the damage done to impressionable young people. |
|
|
By: WAIHEK 001
|
2023-03-20 10:09:39 |
|
|
|
Very mixed opinions. Too long with rather a lot of social media content. The humour was not a high point. We have enjoyed other books by this author. |
|
|
By: ALEXA 012
|
2022-10-31 11:13:48 |
|
|
|
Some of us loved it (mainly the British people!) but some didn't finish it, or thought it fizzled out a bit towards the end. Very funny and interesting commentary on current times, but full of specific references which some of the group wouldn't get. |
|
| |
