***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
When I saw this on NetGalley, I could not have clicke***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
When I saw this on NetGalley, I could not have clicked on the "wish for" button fast enough.
And I'm really happy that I did. I was previously familiar with several of those exercises, especially the scalp ones. I have to say that I love a good massage of head and face, it's so relaxing.
I will be definitely implementing most of these. It definitely helped me to release the stress and tension I tend to carry on my face. I was shocked by how stretched my face muscles felt and then relaxed the next day.
However, I have to say that some exercises felt a bit repetitive, I was certain I saw several at least twice throughout the book or they were very similar. Plus several times, I was uncertain about how exactly to do some of the exercises because it seemed like the illustration and the description showed two different things.
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
This book is basically proof that there is no such th***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
This book is basically proof that there is no such thing as "there's nothing to write about". It gives something to write about each day, and those scenarios are pretty creative; I'm really impressed by the variety. I would recommend this book to people who wish to start writing or have a problem to keep writing. I think I will select several "exercises" I want to try, but I won't be doing the whole year.
However, I have to say that the book so far is not very friendly to be opened on the Kindle app for phones. The visual had to be squished, and sometimes there were just pages of nonsense, some things even out of order. I hope that before publication they'll fix this....more
I was obsessed with his videos for years, it always fascinated me how far he can go with thesMe when I realised that James Veitch has a book.
[image]
I was obsessed with his videos for years, it always fascinated me how far he can go with these scammers, and they still continue.
Most of the stories were previously told by James in one of his videos; however, it did have more details here in the book. But probably my favourite part of his videos is how he delivers them which of course you cannot have in the book except when I was reading the stories with his voice in my head.
Btw, why is it always Western Union?
Anyway, I loved it! Had a few good laughs. I will definitely re-read several of these. The Snail-farm and the novel are always my favourites. (Plus Mary Gary, China Jewelry Corp and Unsubscribing). And if you are reading this and you do not know who James Veitch, then please, find his videos on Youtube....more
1. Talk about Scandinavia as if it's one country. It's not. We're not. We are all friends but we are not one"Quick ways to annoy a Scandinavian person
1. Talk about Scandinavia as if it's one country. It's not. We're not. We are all friends but we are not one. Nobody inside Scandinavia would ever brand themselves 'Scandinavian'."
Do I have to explain why it's ironical to have this sentence in this book?
It was okay. That's all I have to say; it was okay. Very brief, each country would have deserved a separate book.
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***...more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Seeing that this book was by Huda wYAY! Review #700!
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Seeing that this book was by Huda was an instant to-read for me. I enjoy her comics very much. And I like that she does not hesitate to joke on her account as well.
This book is not the usual "comics strips". It actually tells the story of how she got married, from her first crush, through getting her suitors and then finding the one under the supervision of her mother. There is actual text (minimal) which is accompanied by the art.
I actually enjoyed it that it all connected and said one story. Honestly, I would not mind more content, especially on his parents.
Overall, a charming read. I would say that it's probably like 3,5/5⭐....more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Okay, this book had the unlucky fate that I read this***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Okay, this book had the unlucky fate that I read this right after the Awkward Yeti which is a very tough competition and this book just could not compete.
I actually did not realise I knew this artist before but while reading this I realised that I knew so many of the strips which was not very good. (I stated several times before that I do prefer if these online arts to a book have more new content than what was previously posted online). Which is actually rather strange since I could not find a media where I would be following the artist. And Honestly, I maybe chuckled once while reading this, very disappointed. This book did not seem to have a theme, something to tie the strips together. So, it was a bit content dump. While I can understand that some of the comics were not my kind of humour but sometimes I even struggled to see what was supposed to be funny there.
In the end, I was mostly skimming through since I did not want to DNF this one....more
I love the Awkward Yeti. However, I always only followed the comics online; I did not read any of the previous books. But I can certainly say that thiI love the Awkward Yeti. However, I always only followed the comics online; I did not read any of the previous books. But I can certainly say that this is one of the best from online comics to a book I've ever read. I did not expect to get whole stories (over several pages long) instead of the usual short comic strips. And it was so well done. And I believe this is completely new content, I never saw any of these stories only before this. Every chapter tells a story of a different person which is illustrated in The Awkward Yeti fashion (favourite moment was when one image describe what was supposed to be there and then said: above the artistic abilities of the creator - I just loved that.)
It all started so well. The first story was a great start, and I knew this will go very well. It still is one of my favourite moments together with the kidney stones in the amateur geologist story and where's Waldo?
However, there were certain stories that were absolutely terrifying to me. Like the lawn-mover and I cannot imagine how anyone could think that could be a good idea! Anyway, I'm actually a bit impressed. I never saw a land-mower which would be easy to pick up. And then Chapter 15, the bane of my existence, I would be happy if I never had to think about it, my insides twisted when reading that chapter! On a different note, I was a bit sadden by the mother who freaked out because her child was teething, how did she expect the child to acquire teeth? Was she saving to buy dentures for the child?
Yeah, this was so worth it! Loved it. However, there is one way to make this more perfect! Dr. Mike (Varshavski) needs to make a video reacting to thins!
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*** ...more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Maybe all of us have a little pigeon inside of us, w***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Maybe all of us have a little pigeon inside of us, who knows, so, be kinder to them next time you see them running around a square, looking for something to eat.
Well, I've sort of liked this.
The art is not really my cup of tea, and I have to say that unfortunately, this comics does not really stand up to the qualities of similar comics. I was not previously familiar with the author and I'm still trying to decide whether I'm going to follow his current work.
However, I think the visual portrayal of depression is well done, as well as the side effects. It's strange to mark this as something positive, but I think that the author did a fabulous job with this. It was not something I've expected when I opened this book and it ended up being the strongest point of this book. ...more
I'm very conflicted about this book, to be honest.
On one side, I really enjoyed the fantasy element of the story and the plot. It was fun; I was inteI'm very conflicted about this book, to be honest.
On one side, I really enjoyed the fantasy element of the story and the plot. It was fun; I was interested in it.
Yeah, the "villain" was a tad bit too obvious but still. I wanted to learn more about the different kingdoms. More battles and maybe even war. I found it really enticing how opposite and yet the same Elzira's and Ryke's powers were.
And I was sort of excited for the "hate" and push-and-pull between those two, but unfortunately, that disappeared pretty quickly.
But on the other side, I had a lot of issues with this book. Pretty soon, I started to think that this felt like the first draft. It needed some editing. But as the story progressed, it got worse. Suddenly a completely new plot was added to the story, but it was only brushed over. It was just mentioned, and that felt like a great shame. It also added to a certain feeling where the story seemed slightly jumpy and disconnected. If this book was taken and rewritten to a double its length, I believe that it would be a pretty good fantasy.
And then the cringeworthiness (is that even a word?). A lot of dialogue and scenes between Elzira and Ryke were just cringeworthy. Sometimes I had problems reading without wanting to gag a bit....more
The first book of 2020 and... I liked it? Even if this review may focus a bit more on the things, I did not like (why is it so much easier to write a The first book of 2020 and... I liked it? Even if this review may focus a bit more on the things, I did not like (why is it so much easier to write a review pointing out the things I did not enjoy that those I did?). However, I have to say that this review is very far from perfect, I had a tough time writing it, and I'm not 100% happy with the result. And in the end, I had to cut parts of it because I've run out of characters.
Okay, I liked it a lot, I enjoyed reading it, and while it's not perfect and I'll have a lot to talk about, I still consider it a very good book. And I cannot wait to read the next one. So, when is that one coming out?
In terms of a retelling, this is more of "inspired by" and very loosely. Anastacya is clearly Anastasia; however, she only has a brother and no other siblings. Cyrilia is inspired by Russia, same with language (more on that later), then you get bits of Russian Civil War with Red Cloaks vs White Cloaks, but that will probably play a bigger role in next books. But otherwise, the author took these things and set them into a fantasy setting.
The writing was really good, and I have a hard time believing that this is a debut! Well done and I sincerely hope that we will get more books from this author beyond this trilogy. The thing that was sometimes dragging it down was an overuse of cliché sentences which were unnecessary to the story especially since it feels like the author has the means to write the story well without relying on those. But I'm really happy that the story started with action and it did not seem that the action really ever stopped. All the time something was going on, and I do not think I ever felt like something was there just to *fill* space.
The flow of the story was great; I was always eager to turn the next page to see where this is heading. But, I cannot say that this was an unpredictable book; in many instances, it seemed very predictable. But, since it was so well-written, I did not mind that. What I did mind (sometimes) were unnecessary flash-backs. Some of them were fine, but when they came in a middle of (view spoiler)[torture (hide spoiler)], it was torture for me to have to read a flash-back which I was not interested in to know what's currently happening. I felt like the author did a great job at building up the characters; I did not feel like she needed all of those flash-backs to do so. (Yes, some were necessary but not all.)
So, then the characters. I liked Ana. She is the "lost" princess who was accused of murdering her father. It's been a year since she fled the palace, and it surprised me how naive she still was about the reality of her Empire. She's clearly seen how those with Affinity are treated there, but she needed Ramson to drag her through it to finally understand. It was interesting to see her slowly grasp the whole horror of the situation, and while she had a pretty bad time with her Affinity(view spoiler)[ her father gave her to a guy to poison her and basically torture in hopes to heal her from the Affinity. (hide spoiler)], Ana was still not ready to accept that her Empire was rotten. I had my issues with Ana, mainly that I had no idea how any of her plans could end up any other way than with a failure. That's the naivety once again. But I have high hopes for her in the future, and I sincerely hope the author does not turn her into an invincible superhero.
“Don’t die,” he said. “Don’t get kidnapped,” she replied.
Ramson. I also liked him, but for a wicked con man, he did not seem like one. For someone who spends months in jail, he was surprisingly fit. He also had some hilarious banter with everyone which works as a bit of lightening up the mood. But he could ease up on the "darlings", I did not feel like that suited his character.
You focused on the battle and lost sight of the war.
Then little May, she’s hands down the fiercest character in this book. I thought she would tear Ramson to bite-sized pieces. (view spoiler)[And I hope that Ana will manage to find her mother. (hide spoiler)]
Plus I sincerely hope that we will see more of Linn, she seemed like a fun character!
I honestly did not feel much of a romantic vibe between Ana and Ramson, and thankfully, it was very much on the background of the story, and it’s not distracting. However, the couple I’m shipping the most is Linn and the Yaeger she fought against at the end of the book. There is no romance between them, but I want it. (view spoiler)[However, I sincerely hope that there will be no love triangle between Ana, Ramson and Yuri. I cannot stand any more love triangles. Plus Yuri feels like every "childhood friend" who will suddenly show love interest and will be threatened by the girl thinking about someone else. So, please, do not do that! (hide spoiler)]
Those with Affinity in Cyrilia are hated for it, pushed aside, seen as less than human. More like machines sold to work. Other nations mentioned in the book do not see them in the same way, but Cyrilia does. The criminals even try to lure Affinites from other countries to Cyrilia and then force them to sign a working "contract" where they are then treated basically as slaves.
There are different types of Affinity. Some can make fire; others can control earth and grow flowers or chuck huge stones on their enemies; others can fly. And then there are the more complicated. (view spoiler)[Ana is Blood Affinite and can control people by their blood; she can bleed them to death or use their blood to "push" them. Then there are flesh ones which can control people's mind or provoke fear. And then there are Yaeger which can control other's Affinity. (hide spoiler)]There are many types of Affinity from what I can say. It actually reminds me a bit of Shatter Me series. However, so far, I lack some explanation to why some have Affinity, and other's don't. Ana seems (so far) to be the only one in her family with Affinity. I sincerely hope that the author is going to address this in the second or third book. I do not mind that there is no explanation for Affinity in this book, but I would be disappointed that there were none in the whole series.
Also for Ana's Affinity, she first learned that she had it when she was rather young (view spoiler)[ I believe around 8? And by accident, she killed a bunch of people (hide spoiler)], and she was conditioned to view herself as a monster which she continues to do so even during this book, and a change comes only at the end of the book. I'm very curious to see what she'll be able to do when she trains.
The main villain. Who is it even? There are at least two villains who (view spoiler)[seemingly work together even if their goals seemed to complete opposites. I just don’t think that Kerlan would just stop his “trade” with Affinites just because of a deal with Morganya. That’s a lot of money he would be losing. I can certainly see some backstabbing between those two. As for Morganya. I’m really confused by her. She wants to destroy anyone who treated Affinites as less, but in doing so, she does not hesitate to destroy Affinites in her way or ally with those who traffic them? Not gonna work plus me think that lady is hypocritical. Back to Kerlan. I know it’s wrong and that he won’t have a redeeming arc. But I certainly enjoy this guy on-page. (hide spoiler)]
I have to say that my favourite moment appeared almost at the end of the book. I thought "oh, that ended well" only to be slapped in my face. What was I thinking! Of course, that's not how it's going to end.
As I mentioned above the inspiration by Russia is clear. Even the “language” or the way some things are called are clearly inspired by Russian. But even before this book was published, I had an issue that in Russian Ana would be MikhailovA, not Mikhailov. And I kept wondering this was disregarded by the author who did not know or she simply decided to do it differently. But since Anastasia was rewritten to Anastacya, I decided to believe that all that was done on purpose by the author. And despite the clear influence of Russian, I won’t use the author-butchering-foreign-language shelf I would normally use. The only reason why I decided against it is the fact that this is clearly fantasy fiction. It does not call the country Russia, the map is not remotely similar to Russia, and it’s neighbours. I’m going to view it as a pure fiction with some inspiration drawn from Russia and the Russian language.
*note: I did not want to make this review about the whole drama; it should be about the book itself. So, here is just this short statement what I think about it after reading the book. I purposedly left the whole "rant" as a separate review because I do not feel like the drama was caused by this book but rather by someone with malicious intentions.* As to the controversy, I still find it completely unfounded; however, when it was announced that there was another round of editing after the drama, I was a bit anxious whether I should or should not read it. It felt like the author was forced into self-censorship. Then I realised that I would be the biggest hypocrite if I did not read it since I had so much to say when the book was attacked. Someone already wrote to me that they will be doing a comparison review which I cannot wait to read. And if anyone else is writing one as well, please, let me know! I suspected that certain things were changed while reading and after looking at some of the first reviews for the "first" edition, it seems that I was right. And I'm not sure how I feel about that....more
Okay... excuse me if I make zero sense... I am somewhat sleep-deprived. (I may edit this review after I catch a quick nap! I kept thinking about what Okay... excuse me if I make zero sense... I am somewhat sleep-deprived. (I may edit this review after I catch a quick nap! I kept thinking about what I wanted to write before I fell asleep and now I feel like I forgot half of it.)
Right away, I want to say that this was an amazing series, one I did not believe I would enjoy as much as I did. And I believe I will re-read it one day. But that said I had some issues with the finale.
Since I read the second book, I was making theories. I wondered what would happen. Months of this torture!
When I saw that this book is only 300 pages, I was terrified; clearly, that is not enough! But the good thing is that the plot really starts right away! No need to wait for the halfway mark. In this sense, this book is the best in the series.
However, with the book being this short, I feel like something is missing. When I turned the last page, I felt sad because it could not be the last page. After all, there were so many things that needed to be resolved. Here is the list of things I believe are sort of missing from the book: (view spoiler)[ Jude's mortality? She kept mentioning Oak being king one day but... I still wish there was something about Jude becoming immortal. I don't know, it not being mentioned at all is sort of sad in a way. She won't grow old as long as she stays in the Elfhame but still... I expected her to gain the faery immortality since she's connected to the crown and land. Talking about Oak and them wanting him being the High King one day. So, why did Jude think it was smart giving Madoc unrestricted approach to Oak? He can hammer a lot of nonsense into him, then Oak will become king and breaks the whole land. Not really smart. Plus I'm not really sure how Jude worded Madoc's exile but could it be possible that Oak could be able to pardon him once he becomes the High King? What about Lady Asha and what she did. She was build up as this untrustworthy character, and then she was left out. In the previous book, they kept hinting something about Jude's mother, some secret or something but it was mentioned basically once in this book and then nothing of it. Taryn's pregnancy. Exactly why was Taryn made pregnant if it has no connection to the story? I at least expected the child to be born in the epilogue. But honestly, there would be no difference if she were pregnant or not. I needed more of Jude and Cardan's relationship; they went from supposed enemies to sleeping together, then the whole thing happened and then the super cheezy ending. And not much was shown in a way how their relationship is going to work. Jude's revenge! She seemed like such a revenge-driven character, and then it was mostly omitted from the story. (hide spoiler)]
Okay, so somehow I jumped right to the end of this book. I have no idea why I did that.
This book needed more Cardan; I felt like there was not enough of him in the whole book.
Then, Locke, you might know that I actually liked him and his devious ways. So, I have to say that (view spoiler)[ killing him off the page seems very, very lazy to me. He deserved more, and I wanted more conflict on the page with him! I was actually surprised how much he was involved in the story. I did not guess his connection to the Ghost nor his involvement in Jude's kidnapping, and it is a shame that we learned about that once he was gone. (hide spoiler)]
I very much enjoyed how action-packed this book was. It was super easy to read, and the first time I stopped for a moment, I was halfway through the book. The pages just flew!
The cover is a masterpiece, and I would never ever guessed how fantastically it represents the story. That's something... I can only clap, very well done. (view spoiler)[ I did not see that coming, at all. I kept thinking: "The earring! It's going to turn into a spider and bite Cardan! Do something, Jude! And then he turned into a serpent! I was shocked, and I could not stop laughing! That was brilliant. (hide spoiler)] I did not expect this moment at all, but it was the only one in the whole book.
And then there is my main grievance with this book. (view spoiler)[ What did I expect from this book? To be torn apart, even to cry. But now... everything seemed to end so cheesily happy that I'm actually disappointed. No one actually suffered, no huge sacrifices. Taryn, after being absolutely useless and backstabbing for two books, is suddenly pardoned. Gets an estate and what? Nothing. I would expect Jude to get some sort of revenge! No matter how useful Taryn pretended to be in this book! And then you can expect that the Ghost will make a move and they will live happily ever after with Taryn. I would have no problem with this "relationship" if it did not appear out of nowhere!
Vivi and Heather get together. Despite everything. Yeah, fantastic.
Madoc may have been punished but in a very unpunished way. I wanted someone to suffer! Also, the way he just stopped fighting seemed a bit out of character for him.
And the epilogue could not be more cheezy and super happy. Let's buy pizza and take Cardan to the mortal lands for a visit who suddenly behaves like someone completely else.
It just did not seem right that everyone ended so happy. No one died. Jude even managed to play nice with Nicasia because both love Cardan. I actually wish the Roach would have died; it would make it more realistic. I expected him to because he got poisoned and then everybody was staying alive, no one got hurt, no one betrayed Jude and those who betrayed her started to come to her side. I expected some sacrifice but nope. (hide spoiler)]
Right now, I feel that this was somewhat anticlimactic. And too easy....more
I'm not really sure how to start this... Bardugo's books always sound like something I'm going to love. Her characters sound like the type of characteI'm not really sure how to start this... Bardugo's books always sound like something I'm going to love. Her characters sound like the type of characters I'm going to adore. However, in the past, I started two of her books, and I do not believe I did get past chapter three in either of those.
And then this book came, I fell love in with the cover. The blurb seemed fantastic. Reviews came, and it seemed so twisted, I book I would love. Then I noticed that the friends' average rating was way lower than the global one, and I was unsure. Should I read it or not?
Thankfully, Alex being the hero she is offered me a buddy read. So, I finally had a reason to read the book. And you know, it was time to know for good. To finish Bardugo's book. Either to fall in love with her work or to finally accept that her books are not for me.
So, I was finally able to pick up this book. And, now I'm unsure how to write this review. I keep going back, thinking that something is missing. But this is what it is.
I felt like CinemaSins (or BookSins?) every time I thought "hmm, narration." There was so much narration, description of unnecessary things and a lot of it felt like it was just told instead of shown. I got bored, really, really fast. I was reading very slowly, and I was not really interested in the story right from the beginning, which probably was not the best thing. And then Alex DNFed on me and I wondered if I should as well. But I had a goal, to finish a Bardugo book.
I started skimming certain parts which were dragging which helped a lot.
I cannot really say that there is really a moment where the story picks up. It always felt like there was something coming, some tension, some revelation and then the next chapter crashed down, and I was sad that for a moment I thought it would get more interesting.
There was so much said about this book being "adult" and how to expect gruesome things etc. Which were there... but somehow did not leave any impression. This connects to the main feeling I got from this book "plastic" and "flat". It should have been horrible, but it was sort of... just there? (view spoiler)[Even the moment when the guy ate from the toilet. Which feels super yucky just writing down had no effect on my while reading. (hide spoiler)]
If you read the spoiler, you saw that I referred to that person as that guy... which is because I had a terrible time trying to remember the names of the majority of characters. Sometimes after several chapters, a character was mentioned, and I was unsure which one was it, and I had to go back to see who they were and what they did.
Darlington... What can I say? Even people who disliked this book seemed to love Darlington. And you know what? I did not. For a character (view spoiler)[which actually was not in the story, only in the strange flashbacks from his POV (hide spoiler)] I really disliked him. I just could not get to like him. He was annoying, and I wished Alex would punch him. I was glad that he was gone (view spoiler)[I just wish his POV would have stopped soon and he would remain lost. (hide spoiler)] I have no idea how to describe him. On one side he has a bit of Hermione Granger feel to him. And on the other, he feels a bit like the usual bad/mysterious boy which he really was not. And the mix did not really work.
As for the villain. Well, I got two suspects. One became suspect to me the moment they appeared on the page. Because they just behaved suspiciously and the character was otherwise really out of the place even if others were put around to make it like there is a reason for this person to be in focus. It just seemed rather obvious. Then I got a second character I started to distrust. Because they just tried to keep everything way too hush hush. (view spoiler)[What a surprise that there were two villains who were not connected to each other and I guessed both of them. However, I have to say that I also had a moment of stupidity there. The moment Daisy was mentioned, I thought: "That's funny, the author got two characters named after the same flower only in different languages. I wonder if she did that on purpose or it is a coincidence." (hide spoiler)]...more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Oh, I had no idea that this book was happening. I previo***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Oh, I had no idea that this book was happening. I previously enjoyed the first book very much but for some reason this art sort of disappeared from my facebook. In the past, it used to flood my feed but thinking about it; I did not see one in a very long time. So, I was a bit surprised, seeing this book, since I did not hear any news about it being published.
And you can bet that I almost knocked over my laptop trying to open it fast enough.
Overall I was very pleasantly surprised! Since these comics stopped showing on my facebook, I can say that I knew only three before reading this. And trust me, it made it just so much better!
What I love about these is that they are super relatable; it just seems like my life, it gives me the illusion of normalcy. What can I say, my limbs are currently cold, and I'm hungry — the story of my life. At least I'm not the only one suffering the same fate.
This was a wonderful surprise and with a puppy as a bonus! What's not to like? Plus, I also like the cover, it's in such a stark contrast with the first book. Pretty, pretty....more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Well, I have to say the moment I saw this book I thought***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Well, I have to say the moment I saw this book I thought that it would be about Anne of Cleves a.k.a. the luckiest wife of Henry VIII.
I never heard about the book The Princess of Clèves before, so, I was in for a surprise.
As for this comics, it was very well done. I liked the art, the muted colours which I felt fitted it very well. The storyline was simple, but I was interested in seeing where it was going.
However, me being me, I have some issues with it. I suppose the story took several years, but the characters kept wearing the same clothing! (Okay, sometimes the main character changed the colour of her dress, but it still felt like the same dress. I'm here for the dresses!) It may be because it was supposed to help you to tell the characters apart and I can get that because I kept confusing the husband and the uncle of the main character plus another guy was pretty similar but he disappeared pretty quickly from the story. But the unchanged dresses were bugging me! I'm not sure how much time has passed, it started in winter 1558, Henry II of France died in July 1559 which is like 2/3 into the story. So, it may be two years or so. Then, some dialogues were a bit tedious, spreading over several pages, and I had to skip them cause I could not do with the pathos.
But overall, I did enjoy it, it was a fun evening reading this, and I think I may even have a look at the original book!
Okay, what's wrong with Goodreads! It keeps glitching when I want to save/add the review. (So, here is a short version of my review cause I cannot be Okay, what's wrong with Goodreads! It keeps glitching when I want to save/add the review. (So, here is a short version of my review cause I cannot be bothered typing all of it again.)
So, I read this book in January and I somehow completely forgot to write the review for it.
Overall, I was not very excited by this book, I kept skipping a lot mainly because I found a lot of things in the plot as well as the characters pretty ridiculous. Also, the mix between high-school meets mafia did not work for me very much. Majority of the plot was full of classical high-school tropes embellished with mafia background. I cannot say that I was a fan.
For some time I considered continuing the series if only to read Lucca's but since it's nine months since I read Nero's book, I do not believe that's going to happen. Besides Lucca there was also one more character I liked, I believe but I cannot remember who she was....more
Last October I read The Psychopath Test, I had no idea what to expect, and I was blown away. And Goodreads being the amazing place it is, I had peopleLast October I read The Psychopath Test, I had no idea what to expect, and I was blown away. And Goodreads being the amazing place it is, I had people recommending me to read this one.
It sounded very interesting, so, I went and bought it straight away!
And let me tell, I maybe liked it even more than I did the Psychopath Test? It might be due to the fact that I already read Jon Ronson's book, and it made more sense this time around. It was easier to see how it all connected. Plus, I already knew it was not a fiction story. (Yeah, I had a bit of dumb moment with the Psychopath test.)
The story was great; I have to say that I generally stay away from Twitter because I always get angry there and/or disappointed with the world. So, I did not know any of those stories the book mentioned. It was all new to me. I'm honestly thinking about reading up more about some of them because it will be very interesting to compare the initials feelings which I had after reading about them in this book with those I'll have then. I felt sorry for several people. I wanted to ask what they were thinking. One broke my heart. Some "culprits" were not exactly sympathetic to me. And I had a very hard time feeling anything toward them. Then, they were those people who inspired me a bit. They looked the shame in the eyes and remained unbowed.
“As soon as the victim steps out of the pact by refusing to feel ashamed,” he said, “the whole thing crumbles.”
“I suppose that when shamings are delivered like remotely administered drone strikes nobody needs to think about how ferocious our collective power might be.”
I liked the complexity of the story. How those people were shamed. How they dealt with it. What's behind the "public shaming mentality". Also, how differently men and women are usually shamed, which I never really realised but thinking now about it, it's pretty terrifying truth. And I have to say that I enjoyed the little tidbits where Ronson explained how he identified with those who shamed them.
"I consider myself a social justice person. It was my people, abusing our power,[...]"
It was not a crucial part of the book. But it's still my favourite.
Anyway, the important question is which Ronson book I should read next?
I think someone cursed me because lately, I'm facing too many disappointing books, I do not like this.
So, at first, I was really curious about this bI think someone cursed me because lately, I'm facing too many disappointing books, I do not like this.
So, at first, I was really curious about this book. I have to say that I was a bit nervous about the number of other books this book was compared to.
"Game of Thrones meets Red Rising in a debut young adult fantasy that's full of rivalry, romance... and dragons."
"Inspired by Plato’s Republic"
"the story is pitched as Aegon Targaryen and Hermione Granger with dragons, set in the aftermath of a bloody revolution."
Because once a book is so heavily compared to other (popular) books, it better to really deliver.
And for me, it did not. It's simple as that.
In the beginning, I really struggled with the characters. I was unsure if I really enjoyed Lee's POV because just in his first POV, I was annoyed by Annie before we even really meet her. She was just so heavily mentioned that I could not stand her. But in the end, I prefered Lee's POV to Annie's. His character was calmer, more reasonable and less... sensitive in a sense. I felt like Annie was always annoyed by something or someone.
Here, I need to share my favourite quote from this book which really made me giggle at the moment. "Maybe you could be my maidservant or something." "I don't know how to be a maidservant." "I think they just wash things. You're really good at that. Want to plan the trip with me."
However, I have to say that the first chapter was one of the lowest points of the book. It gets slightly better after that, but it still dragged. In all honesty, the book had few "interesting" moments when you thought something would happen and you turned the page and... nothing. Something really started to happen around the 84% mark. And then it all got super rushed. Not sure if it really made any kind of sense. I guess it was supposed to hype the reader for the rest of the series, which did not work, at least for me because I have no plans on continuing with this series.
As I mentioned above, I turned the page, and nothing happened, that's because so much happened off-page. When Lee was somewhere doing something interesting, we got Annie's POV instead. And then we would get some sort of recap of what the other experienced. And even sometimes when the things were happening on-page, I felt like they were not really happening more like we were told and it was described to us what was going on.
As for the books to which it was compared to, I do not get those. I see the comparison and mention of Plato's Republic and the French Revolution, even Blitz and I personally saw some similarity with the Russian Revolution. And this aspect was really good, probably the strongest point of the book. But the rest, Hermione Granger (I suppose that was Annie, but I don't really see it), Game of Thrones... No, nowhere near.
The story may have been good. The idea is good, but I did not enjoy the execution. And the writing is nowhere near the books mentioned above. Those "name-dropping" popular books may have done a huge disservice to the author and the book.
Beyond this, it might be slightly spoiler-ish! But spoiler will be still under the spoiler tag.
The whole book felt just like background noise to Lee/Annie drama. And I cannot stand them as a couple. I like them standing up for each other, but they do not work together as a couple. Annie spends the majority of the book being offended/annoyed/worried or whatever by something Lee did, did not do, how he moved his muscle or whatever. (view spoiler)[ I think that the Lee and Crissa relationship makes way more sense. As for Annie, I don't really get her with Duck, but even that's better than Lee. (hide spoiler)]
In all this, Power was the best character. He was my favourite, he was the only one who made any kind of sense, had a motive and somehow felt like a real character. Plus he was one of the few who could think for himself. (view spoiler)[ Though I do not 100% buy his support of Annie as the Commander. As for Annie being a Commander, I did not get nor liked how Lee handed her that position in the end. It felt really cheap. As for Power, I wonder why he sort of "saved" Lee in the end. (hide spoiler)]
As for dragons, you're probably wondering "this book has dragons, there is a dragon on a cover, why are you not mentioning the dragons?" Well. I sort of did not feel the dragon were that important. Harry Potter was more excited about his broom than these characters about their dragons. They were just tucked somewhere unless they needed to fly on them... And, they were just missing personality if that makes sense.
(view spoiler)[ Okay, so Lee is a son of a dragon lord, supposed to be killed off during the Palace Day. He thinks that the new leader saved his life, but he actually ordered his throat to be slit, which is an interesting turn of events. However, Annie noted how he looked similar to his father, many of the Golds knew his father way better than Annie did, even the new leader, I'm surprised no one noted the similarity. As for Lee's family, let's talk about Julia, I'm really surprised that she got killed off so fast. I expected her to play a more important role in the series, the family standing against each other. Plus she was possibly flying her dragon for longer than Lee, and I suppose she would get better tutors. And still, Lee's win felt very cheap. So, what I would like to see is Lee finding out that Lee killed his cousin for a person who did not save him but ordered his murder. (hide spoiler)]
What I enjoyed and it ties it to the French Revolution inspiration... The idea of bad guys. New regime which replaces the bad old one. Does that make them the good guys? It sort of shows that good and evil in certain cases can be a point of view. Depending on where you stand in one regime, you can see it as a good and others may see it as evil. That was very well done. It just shows that so much is just shades of grey, not white and black. Plus when they were pressured, they reach out to the practices of the previous regime to reach their goals. This was a good idea, and I wished it was more explored along with the idea of different social groups.
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***...more
I got lucky so lucky with this book that I still cannot understand it.
Sometimes, I read the blurb for a book, reviews from my favourite reviewers, a I got lucky so lucky with this book that I still cannot understand it.
Sometimes, I read the blurb for a book, reviews from my favourite reviewers, a couple of chapters which are free somewhere and yet the book is a huge disappointment for me.
Here? I just saw this book on BookDepository, I loved the title, and I bought it.
I had no idea what's this book about, who wrote it, what's the genre.
Starting with this book, I immediately enjoyed it. It was not a quick read for me, but every time I read it, the story pulled me inside, several times I missed my stops! I wanted more. I kept wondering how it all connected because it did not seem like it did.
Then I recognised a name, and I realised that this book is not a fiction.
And suddenly it all made sense how all this connected. And it started to terrify me.
It reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. In the most horrifying way.
Where is the line between normal human quirks and a mental disorder? How terrifying that people might be misdiagnosed?
How do you prove your sanity?
I enjoyed how the author struggled with his knowledge of how to spot psychopaths because he was right if you're not careful, you'll suddenly see them everywhere.
“I've always believed society to be a fundamentally rational thing, but what if it isn't? What if it is built on insanity?”
What I know is that I won't be reading Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. While I enjoyed the information about it included in this book, how it went from a thin booklet to the monstrosity which now has close to a thousand pages. Because I'm certain it would make me paranoid, and I would feel like everybody around me has some mental disorder. And maybe they do. Perhaps we all do. Or none of us does.
“Trying to prove you’re not a psychopath is even harder than trying to prove you’re not mentally ill,’ said Tony.”
This is not a good review, I know it, but the book left such an impression that I have a hard time voicing my opinion on it.
“If you want to get away with wielding true, malevolent power, be boring.”
What I can say is that I enjoyed it. It was nothing I expected. But it is a book which will keep me awake for days and I will be thinking about it for weeks. ...more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love Fowl Language! When I used to have an Instagram a***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love Fowl Language! When I used to have an Instagram account I used to follow it! I feared a bit that it would feel old and something I already have seen, however, there were so many strips I was not familiar before. Which is a huge plus for me.
There is not much else for me to say, other than if you are not familiar with Fowl Language it's something you should give a chance!...more
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