****I received an advance review copy for free in exchange for an honest review, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.
I have no idea what t****I received an advance review copy for free in exchange for an honest review, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.
I have no idea what to say. This book sounded AMAZING! I was excited to read it, but when I started, the disappointment came really fast and unfortunately never left.
I'm going to give this one extra star for great potential. ⭐ It really pains me that I disliked the book so much but it was mostly caused by characters. If Tina was different it may have been a fantastic book. I liked the complexity and possibilities of the Dead School! (I want Oscar de la Renta dress for prom!)
So, where this went wrong? Tina. The main character was very unlikeable. Okay, in the whole book there was not a single character I liked, but this is about Tina right now. She starts as this timid, unsure girl who is obsessed with playing the guitar. When she dies, she mentions the guitar two times (maybe three) but in her time on the other side does not try to obtain a guitar to play. (She can get a dress from Oscar de la Renta, you can get anything there!) And she had to throw a huge tantrum for not being placed with crafters since she is this amazing guitar player, who does not play very often. And the nerves? Nowhere to be seen. Suddenly she argues with everyone, does stupid things, is all focused on herself and does not listen. I have a feeling that the author tried to make her funny, snarky with clever comebacks (A bit like Sophie from Hex Hall) but it fell flat. I'm sorry, I was rooting against Tina. I wanted her to fail and just be over with.
Then who? The Alexei who is mentioned in the blurb? Well, I don't even know why he was in the story. Was he supposed to be a bit of romantic interest? Did not work.
Melinda? No feelings, really.
Anna. I had no idea if I should feel sorry for her or what. There was nothing. She was so much ridiculed that like with Tina I did not care at all how she's going to end.
Carl. How can you like someone who speaks for the whole book like this? "Butitmightbetheendofyoursifyoufail!"
As for the storyline, I don't know if I missed some things or what but I kept thinking that it does not really make sense. (view spoiler)[It seems like no matter what people would fail their life. Anna's life goal is Integrity. Tina's Love. Like... I'm sorry. So, even if your life was great and you did great things, if you failed the one thing that was supposed to be your life mission, you're done? That's stupid. The timeline seemed a bit strange. Do all of them graduate at the same time? Alexei was in the same class, but his protégé was a baby. Clearly, he is not done yet. They never told them, you have xx weeks to get it done. Seems strange. How can they get to Anna at the right moment? They do not follow her all the time? Is it somehow "programmed" that they will go to her in the right moment or something? Also, Anna had a possible great destiny ahead of her. The key to it? Meet Greg, her future husband. Without him, she will fail. Like really? Really?! (hide spoiler)]
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I sort of hate myself for this review.
When I started, I***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I sort of hate myself for this review.
When I started, I thought that this quite possibly could be the best read not only in February but in 2019 as well! It was that good! I loved the story setting, loved the background, the magic part, and the main character was amazing! Elisse is an androgyny male, and several characters are confused about whether he is a male or a female at the beginning of the story. And I was confused as well for a moment, and I thought that it was so well done.
I loved how he was getting used to the Western world after coming from India.
The story was going so well until it was not.
Suddenly the whole world crumbled.
Nothing made any kind of sense. Elisse started calling a group of strangers his family or/and his brothers. I did not get the connection. I did not like their relationship cause it was so fake it was hard to even read their conversations. And suddenly I did not even like Elisse where at the beginning I liked him and thought that he was a great protagonist now it was gone, and I did not care one bit for him.
About 60% I almost gave up on the book but I did finish and I have to say that I liked Samedi and Loas but that's about it....more
****I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.
I am seriously confused by this. But right from the st****I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.
I am seriously confused by this. But right from the start, I want to say that this was a very pleasant read which surprised me. However, there are certain things I need/want to point out, but I would say that those are mostly minor things. I’m certainly going to read the rest of the series because the end was just shocking, and I need to find out more.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that the cover is gorgeous? It's gorgeous!
I am still on the fence whether I should rate this three or four stars. (Okay, after writing the review I decided to give this three stars. But it has great potential. If the author would go over this one more time, tweaked some things, added a couple of chapters to spread the information I would not hesitate to give this four stars.) ⭐⭐⭐
I was surprised how much I liked Taylor, she was generally very likeable character which felt surprisingly real. Not some overly strong superwoman. I felt so bad for her when she was forced to accept her role. And when her mum basically told her “just make him happy.” I wanted to take Taylor out of the story and protect her from all evil. It was so hard to watch, and I’m surprised that she was the only one who had a problem with it. However, the one issue I had, not only with her, was that they were sneaking around/doing something they should not and they kept yelling or screaming. I don’t care how scared you are or whatever, if you do not want to get caught, you do not yell.
The action starts right at the beginning, so, at least there is always something happening, and I was focused on the mystery. However, I have to say that from the beginning I was a bit confused and I had so many questions regarding their society, how they work and why. Which was a bit confusing at first and it even seemed like maybe the author did not think about it. But when I’ve got past the halfway or a bit more, we got a bit of an information dump. And so many things suddenly started to get explained that I was struggling to keep up and even had to re-read some of it to make sure that I’ve got everything. I would appreciate if it was more spread throughout the story. The book is relatively short. Several more chapters to start the book more slowly and to explain things more at the beginning may go a long way.
The main characters also attend school, and they are currently tasked to pass the final test which is based on struggles the original founders faced when they came. And I loved this idea; it was so fun. I would love to see the other questions the other teams got. But even here I have to question, how is it possible that some kids did not try to get the answers back at home, their parents had to pass the same test. Big potential for cheating if you ask me.
The “castes” were confusing at first, I wondered how they worked, but then we got little pieces along the way. I liked the idea, but it does not seem like a sustainable system. (view spoiler)[They are there for several generations. The Fallen (Christians) can have only one child, and if the child dies, then there will be no more children for them. I would suspect that their population would be down pretty fast. Because each generation is smaller by half than the previous one! (hide spoiler)]
I have to say that I do not read Christian fiction or any other religion, to be honest. So, if I knew how much religion is a part of this book, I would probably pass on this. And that would be a shame. „divided by religious castes “ – When I read this in the description of the book I’ve expected more “fiction”, different religion not only Christianity. But I do not find this problematic. It was interesting to see the(view spoiler)[Taylor’s (hide spoiler)] struggle to understand. (view spoiler)[Thought, I have to say that Taylor going from not believing in God and needing evidence, to believing was rather fast. Maybe if she started with acceptance, that they have no right to limit someone’s faith and then maybe believing herself in the second/third book? (hide spoiler)]
Some other questions I have or some observations I would like to share but could be a bit spoiler-ish. Better safe than sorry. (view spoiler)[Okay, so the Fallen are Christians. What about other religions? Were the people specifically chosen that no other religion was included? I cannot buy that some Fallen families were taken and promoted to Founders. Every single person had to see it happening. And I can get that they were threatened into silence but what about the other Founders? Do they want their children, unknowingly, mix with Fallen’s children? Don’t they suspect that maybe that those Fallen did not leave their faith behind? Which sort of showed to be true with Priya (their teacher) revealing herself as a Christian. They failed, they only managed to force the Christian to hide their faith if they wanted to move past their caste and now you can imagine that Christians might be almost everywhere. A serious flaw in the system.
Also, it seems that people can move from Fallen into Reformed by marriage. But the marriage is agreed to by their parents. So, how does this work? Children are brought up in a religious family, but then they are “forced” to marry someone and leave their faith behind? Or at least hide it?
When Teresa gave those books to Taylor, it was just stupid, especially Bible. If someone saw Taylor with it… I can only imagine that she would be executed pretty fast. Also, she then took the Bible with her, to school and took it out of her bag. For everyone to see! I would expect more common sense from her.
I’m sorry, but I do not see any chemistry between Taylor and Isaiah. It seems very forced for the sake of the storyline. (hide spoiler)]...more
Okay, this is so amazing! I literally freaked out because I cannot take it how amazing it is. And this is my second time reading it!)
[image]
Team Kira Okay, this is so amazing! I literally freaked out because I cannot take it how amazing it is. And this is my second time reading it!)
[image]
Team Kira all the way and I feel no shame at all! And I want Ryuk! I would give him all of our apples! Btw, can I say that detective Raye Penber deserved what he got? I seriously disliked the way he talked to his fiancée, Naomi....more
Okay, first, did I miss something? I thought this was meant to be a duology; why is there another book?
So, since I have a feeling that this review migOkay, first, did I miss something? I thought this was meant to be a duology; why is there another book?
So, since I have a feeling that this review might be a bit of a mess, here is a little TL;DR. I was really enjoying the book; I thought it would end up with a good rating. But then the end hit, and it seriously threw me off, and last night when I finished, I was seriously angry with the book. Today, when I slept on the review, I'm just disappointed.
So, back to the review.
When I started the book, I was really enjoying it, and I had a hard time not grinning. It was fun.
So, I already mentioned in the review for the first book that I'm uncertain with Veritas. For someone that old and powerful, she just reads a bit too immature for my liking and does way too many reckless and not logical things. And that did not really change in this book.
Same with her and Ian, I do not necessarily feel any chemistry between them. Which definitely drags the story down. But still, the plot and Ian were able to hold the story without me exactly rooting for them as a couple.
Ian is my all-time favourite character from the Night Huntress Universe. I was terrified that he would lose his backbone and will be just walked over all the time. While that did not happen, he's definitely loosing some of his charms. But even despite that, he's still the best character. (view spoiler)[I just need to say that I loved how he went to the Council and filed charges against them to get Veritas to talk to him. That's what I expect from him. (hide spoiler)] Oh, and I completely forgot to mention something the first time when I was writing my review. Thank you, Lien, for reminding me! ❤(view spoiler)[I hate amnesia in a story. Because it just feels like it erases the progress of the one book and sends the second one to start basically at the beginning. Yes, here it did not play such a big role because Ian remembered something and then got the rest of his memories back pretty quickly. It just feels rather lazy to use amnesia. But here I wonder what was even the point of it? It realistically killed the little chemistry they had; we got Veritas thinking how this Ian was not that Ian since he had amnesia. Then we had some time Ian chasing Veritas to get her to talk to him, again the Bones and Cat echo. Then Ian gets his memories back, and it does not really matter that he had amnesia because it did not really have any real impact on the story other than he had to chase Veritas for several chapters. (hide spoiler)]
I really liked Ashael; he was an entertaining character and fun addition to the story.
So, where exactly this went super wrong for me? I was reading this book as the final one. And where the book was nearing the end, I started to feel like it was way too rushed. It was rushing to solve the Dagon problem. But then the (view spoiler)[Law Guardians (hide spoiler)] show there and more drama. And we are almost at the end of this book. So, I'm confused. (view spoiler)[But my guess was that Veritas and Ian would just go to that island and live HEA. This is still my guess for the third book since so much was spent on the island which did not feel that necessary for this book and Ariel said that she loved it there. So, yeah, I would not be surprised if that was the end of the trilogy. (hide spoiler)] But then a completely different plot for the third book dropped out of skies, and I'm over it. Because it was introduced at the very end of the book, it just feels so unnecessary and just creating a problem for the sake of having another book. I might have been more okay with a third book being added to the series if the "plot" started to show way earlier. But this, all of sudden in the last two chapters or so? (view spoiler)[ For example, how Ian mentioned that he felt Dagon from one of the Law Guardians, if then one of them showed out to be the top bad guy who was controlling Dagon all the time, I would not be ecstatic that there is yet another book being added to the series, but I would be okay with it. Because there would be some sort of a connection with Veritas being one of them and stuff. It just would feel less forced than Ariel's fiancé she did not know about just appearing. Btw, side note, can I just say that this feels a bit too much like an echo of Cat and Gregor? (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[So, since Timothy is finally found after being mentioned since the beginning of the Night Huntress Universe I guess we will see more of him. But probably not in the third book since that seems to have a different problem/plot than Timothy/Cain cult whatever. But I would say that Timothy's story would also heavily feature Katie since she's most likely key to waking Cain. So, the question is, will it be a spin-off on Katie or Timothy? Btw, I just hope that those two won't be a couple. (hide spoiler)]
So, overall, the book is now a 2,5 ⭐ for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, hold on... January 28, 2020
[image]
I could swear it was supposed to be published in 2019.
[image]
Am I going crazy? Did I miss something? Or am I confusing things? Someone, please save me!
This is probably the longest it took me to finish a Cora Reilly book.
I was not really a fan of the first Dante&Val book, but I was ready to be convinThis is probably the longest it took me to finish a Cora Reilly book.
I was not really a fan of the first Dante&Val book, but I was ready to be convinced. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
And so you do not need to read my whole review which is rather long (sorry!) the main reason why I rate this book relatively low is that I just did not enjoy reading it, it was dragging for me. Plus it started when Dante was nineteen and ended when Dante's what forty-eight or nine? It covers a pretty long time and therefore it's very jumpy, a scene here and then a scene that takes place months/years later. It was tough to get into the story and hardly even felt like a story, more like notes on what was happening in the Outfit when the focus was on different characters.
I would like to mention a few things - a bit on the side.
1) What is it with the new covers? I feel like the black&white ones fit the books better.
2) The author should fire her editor and get a refund. I feel like the editing is getting worse and worse.
3) Plus the author should probably get an editor who checks for *continuity* or maybe just more beta readers? Because in this book Nino was called Remo's oldest brother. Liliana is called Vitiello instead of Cancio. Plus I believe that even the colour of Anna's hair changed from the first book. And it's these little things which personally throw me off while reading.
So, I have to say that I quite liked the idea of the book being split into several parts and each focusing on one betrayal.
The First Betrayal Not going to lie, I loved this one. It was fun to read, and it gave me hope for this book. Dante's POV was fun; I enjoyed the way he was thinking and how he took action. (view spoiler)[ I had to wonder how much the things would have been different if he did not kill Jacopo. (hide spoiler)]
The Second Betrayal I actually thought that this was a bit of wasted opportunity. I wanted to see more than this one scene.
Side note: both of these parts were very short.
The Third Betrayal And this is when my problems with this book really started—the moment when we hit the previous content but now only in different POV. This one follows their first book, and I'm not sure what to say here, so, I'll put my comment which I have for Dante&Val relationship as a whole here. Even from Dante's POV and him saying I still do not feel like he loves her. And for how small Carla's part was his feelings toward her resonated more than anything towards Val. And I don't mean it just here but the moment I finished the book I still had a hard time believing his love towards Val.
The Fourth Betrayal I don't know what to say here... it just reminded me of how idiotic plan Aria had. What else can I say?
And to Orazio, I always wondered what was behind his betrayal. I had no idea what it could be, and I have to say that Orazio just became totally precious. On that note, I have to say that while I liked Val's father in the previous book, he seemed like one of the few decent parents in the whole series, I now take that back.
The Fifth Betrayal And my biggest issue with the whole book. This one probably takes a little less than half of the entire book, and it's again Twisted Pride from different POV. We got Twisted Pride, then Twisted Pride retold from Nino's and Kiara's POVs and now through Dante's and Val's POVs. While I liked Twisted Pride, I don't think that we needed to read it in so many different POVs, it's getting too much. Yes, I did expect that this book would reflect on it, but I did not expect that that would happen to this extent. While it was interesting to see what was Remo only predicting in the Twisted Pride, it also got a bit tedious. I mean different characters using precisely the same words to describe something?
Danilo called to inform me that Serafina was kidnapped by the Camorra. I assume we'll have to postpone the wedding then.
I feel a little bit bad that I laughed at this sentence. I cannot help it, at the moment it felt like such a sass! I mean, sure, go ahead, we can proceed with the wedding right away.
And I have to say that from this part the story turned rather sad. I was sorry for Ines and her family and how much they hurt. I was sorry for Serafina. My heart totally broke when I heard everyone talk about the children. I was like: "Take them and run!" I was sorry for Emma; she deserves better!
The Aftermath And my sadness continued. I was sorry for Anna (not only here but thought out the whole book), she has unexpected sadness about her which I did not see coming. Plus, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed by Val here, I expected more from her. (view spoiler)[Okay, I expected an arranged marriage for Anna, but I sort of expected Val to be against it, wanting her daughter to choose. I mean, she's the lady who got her husband, the Capo to let her work! I totally expected her to fight, so, that her daughter will have more choices in life. The fact that she suggested plus an outsider (Orazio called and demanded answers!) was totally shocking to me. And while it is said that Anna would be able to "handle a mere Outsider" (which sounded really bad), I have to disagree a bit. To me, Anna read rather meek, timid. Yeah, she may bicker with Leonas, but she then seemed to be very shaken by everything. Not sure yet on her. (hide spoiler)] The same with Anna being homeschooled for the majority of the book. I just felt sorry for her. I was sorry for Sofia. Poor girl does not deserve to be a consolidation price.(view spoiler)[ And seeing how she's pretty much locked up for *her safety* was totally heartbreaking. (hide spoiler)]
And while the end of the book had *positives* vibes, I still have to say that I do not really feel that Dante loves Val, which is a significant setback in the story.
Few notes (again?) which I was a bit unsure where to put in my review: I found it interesting that Dante was mentioning that Camorra was a problem, etc., how he had Luca on one side and Remo on the other before they were allied. I have to say that I sort of missed a scene where he reacts to Nino and Kiara's wedding and the pact between Luca and Remo. It would have been interesting to see.
I was actually surprised that when he learned that Fabiano disappeared he did not try to look for him, especially knowing that Rocco was a poor excuse for a father who just recently got another son. Also, speaking about Rocco, (view spoiler)[ I actually find it really hard to believe that no one thought it strange that he went missing for months before Dante gave him to Remo. I mean even like mention that he went into hiding or something. I would expect that the Consigliere being nowhere to be found and on top of that impossible to reach even through phone would cause quite a chaos. (hide spoiler)]
I have to say that I believe Val&Dante deserved a better book which would be more about them because sometimes they seemed a bit like an afterthought in this book. Since so much of this book was a content we already saw in other books and the story was focused elsewhere, this made Dante for the majority of this book in defence. More like he was only reacting to things rather than setting them in motion, which then has to do with why I felt this book was dragging.
The bad guys. [...] I wondered if little boys in the Camorra asked their dads the same question when they spoke about us? Would Luca's son ask his father that question when he talked about Dante? Bad was always a matter of perspective.
Okay, hands down the best quote from this book. I can totally sing under this. Not only regarding this book but in general. And it beautifully paints why Dante and the Outfit are my least favourite by this author. Dante's book was the second in the series, and to me, it did not establish him as a character I enjoyed reading about. And ever since the Outfit was in the position of the *bad* guys. The other side. And it is now hard to again get him as the *hero* (very loose term in this series), and the *heroes* (or maybe protagonists would be better?) of the previous books are the bad guys. It just does not really work for me. The series is lacking some other bad guy....more
At first, this seemed very much like Aria and Luca at the beginning of their story. Which was not a particularly good comparison.
Rating: 2,5/5⭐
HoweveAt first, this seemed very much like Aria and Luca at the beginning of their story. Which was not a particularly good comparison.
Rating: 2,5/5⭐
However, it turned out differently (at least something). However, I'm not really interested in Kiara. I prefer the scenes between the Falcone brothers + Nino's POV. Or when Kiara was interacting with them. The romance between Kiara and Nino soon turned out to be rather tiresome.
Plus I have to say that not much really happened in this book (if you do not count the romance part, of course) which was disappointing.
Remo didn’t have the necessary patience to read bedtime stories. Besides, he had a habit of letting the Death Eaters and Voldemort win.
Let's just say that I'm way too excited for Remo's book. ...more
I'm not sure what was the purpose of this "novella". Was it supposed to show that Taryn didn't do it to hurt her sister? That she's somehow brave? ThaI'm not sure what was the purpose of this "novella". Was it supposed to show that Taryn didn't do it to hurt her sister? That she's somehow brave? That she's an active player and not just a bystander?
It was written from her point of view! I expected that I would be a bit more convinced by what she was saying! But come on, any villain would do a better job trying to persuade us that his intentions are good than Tarny did.
[image]
Taryn needs a smackdown in Blair Waldorf fashion! She's a pathetic little girl that's worried that no one will like her and she will have to do something! So, she did the easiest way to possibly secure a comfy, little life. 😂😂😂 Well, let's wait and see how that will turn out for Taryn.
I'm honestly disappointed. This Harley, do good just to go terribly wrong, seems very out of character for my liking. It seems like the authors are unI'm honestly disappointed. This Harley, do good just to go terribly wrong, seems very out of character for my liking. It seems like the authors are unsure who Harley really is and what to do with her without Joker on the scene.
There are too many hallucinations going around; they seriously need to stop with this. It destroys the flow of the story, and it's annoying because it means that simply nothing happens.
I adore Harley and Ivy, however, here, it did not work because it was very fleeing and only several scenes that did nothing for me.
The highlight was Harley in evening dress; she looked stunning.
Where several scenes had potential, it got destroyed by the poor storytelling....more
EDIT: Okay, so, yeah, 2020 is a distant memory now and I did not even think about starting the second book. I guess that it's two stars then.
It took EDIT: Okay, so, yeah, 2020 is a distant memory now and I did not even think about starting the second book. I guess that it's two stars then.
It took me a month to read this. And I mean a month to read, I was reading almost daily.
[image]
I was unsure of how to rate this book. On the one hand, I did not like it. On the other hand, I did like it a bit more than Serpent & Dove. The first would make this two stars, the second probably two and a half, therefore, three to make the difference visible. I've been flipping the coin on this for the whole day. And I settled on three stars for the time being. The reasonings are quite simple. While this one definitely was not my favourite, I'm seriously considering reading the next one because I believe and I hope that it has potential. So, the deal is, I give this three stars for now and if 2020 passes without me reading the next book, I'll change the rating to two stars. However, I'm saying it now; this is a two and a half stars, one of the weakest three stars I ever gave and I still do not feel right with giving this book three stars. (Hello, Goodreads? Yeah, it's me, I'm just calling again, we still need a bigger range in rating books, thank you!)
Okay, to the book.
I have to say that as someone who speaks a Slavic language I just find it so strange to see so many Slavic/Slavic inspired names in the middle of English text. Same with the "Slavic inspired languages" suddenly being spoken. I don't know why, but I personally find it a bit distracting. Also, why suddenly so many authors are obsessed with taking inspiration from Russia and at least here also from Poland I would presume? Tranavia is based on Poland, right? Or is that just my imagination? Anyway, I did not read it as Tranavia, but instead, I read Travian every single time, and it really reminded me how much fun I had with that game!
As for the story... I don't think that it was terrible. It seems like a story with very good potential, unfortunately, all that all was clouded by the fact that I was bored a couple of chapters in and things only became interesting with only a handful chapters left. I mean if I were to sum up the story, it sounds quite fascinating. However, between the good parts, there were just too many fillers where nothing happened, and they just talked. Even when we get to the Rawalyk, it seems so pointless. Yeah, someone dies, there is a dinner, and then the story moves from it. Feels a bit pointless that for more than a half of the book, the characters did not talk about anything but Rawalyk.
Nadya, what should I say about her? She's very unmemorable to me, she's fading in with so many others not really that great YA/fantasy heroines. She also needs to get off her high horse. Because that was one of my main problems with her, aside from being unmemorable, she was on the highest high horse I've encountered in a very long time. The horse was that high that all the other characters did not reach the horse's hooves even if they were at the top of the Pelageya's tower.
Her quest was divine and the Tranavians were heretics
You are a heretic. You just laid out sheer heresy in front of me. And my power is divine; calling me 'holier than thou' i just trite."
Did I mention that Nadya is on a high horse?
Her "heretic" this and "heretic" that made her so unlikeable that it became quite hard to even care about the Kalyazin at all. It's so funny how one moment she's like "oh, they are not all that bad, I don't want to kill this person or that person" and the next she's on the heretic tirade once again.
Maybe you noticed, but Nadya was one of my main problems with this book. She would need some serious character development for me to get past book two.
(view spoiler)[Why there is romance forced into every YA/fantasy story? Zero chemistry between Nadya and Malachiasz. Totally forced. And it felt like the romance was forced so that Nadya would have a reason not to attack Malachiasz in the end. I mean she spent most of the book saying that she would kill him anyway for being Tranavian. Then he is revealed to be worse than she thought that he is the worse. And she does nothing? Pathetic. (hide spoiler)]
Malachiasz... He is definitely a more interesting character than Nadya is. But I'm going to say it here and now. At first? Yeah, okay. But in the last let's say 15%? Yeah, that's the character I want.
"We're all monsters, Nadya," Malachiasz said, his voice gaining a few tangled chords of chaos. "Some of us just hide it better than others."
Why do I fell that the sentence missing from here is: "You're monster as well, Nadya."?
Parijahan and Rashid seemed like very interesting characters but did not have enough space to get properly developed. And for some reason, they feel like the characters who will die trying to save the main character, which is disappointing.
Serefin. In a very tentative way, I'm going to say that I like him. But. I did like him more at the beginning of the book, where he was a bit more fierce? Cruel? Cutthroat? Slightly opposite to Malachiasz. But still, he is one of the more fun characters in this book.
Which connects to Ostyia and Kacper, totally my favourite characters and I need more on them! I can take just books on Ostyia, Kacper and Serefin. I have nothing more to say; they are just the best....more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Romanov family fascinates people for a century. Well***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Romanov family fascinates people for a century. Well, mainly their end does. And I was curious what Nadine Brandes would do with the story. And mainly how she's going to end the story, that's what I'm always curious to see.
I believe that the book had great potential. However, it seems a bit like a miss. Like the story is always the one note away for me to really enjoy. But it's still an enjoyable read, and I think that you won't be disappointed reading this.
Roughly the first 60% follow the Romanov family from Tobolsk to Ekateringburg. Here, it seems very precise. The author then said that she did a lot of research. However, it seemed like she mainly used the Wikipedia article about the Execution of the Romanov family. There are some sentences that seem very similar. Or they might have the same source. (No judgement, only stating my subjective feeling). However, the result is that it seems a bit textbook said from the POV of a teen girl. And I'm not sure this is the desired result.
Then the last 40% is a fiction. Following the myth that Anastasia and fully developing the fantasy element of this book.
Strangely enough, I prefer the textbook beginning. Why? Because it at least makes sense. Unfortunately, the author seems to be lost when she suddenly does not have a history to follow. What to do now? And suddenly there are so many problems for me to unsee.
I have several things I need/want to point out.
- There is a lot of Russian words used to describe things. Budenovka, fortochka, droshky. I understand all of them. But, I really doubt that someone who does not speak a Slavic language will know all of them. And unfortunately, it is not a good thing to be forced to google things, especially in fantasy. Also, I saw that several times the Russian was done wrong as well. In a basic sentences. If I remember correctly the "Good morning" was wrong.
- The Romanov family was shown as the nicest people ever. And while I understand that of course, Anastasia would love her parents... It does not work. The author claims extensive research, but here I believe she fails. Nikolai was very much a family man who loved his wife and children. But, he was a very bad tsar. Meek. Under the influence of his wife who was HATED by the Russian people. But here Nikolai is suddenly the perfect leader who leads his family and supposedly was a devoted leader to his people. It seems fake. Romanticised. (But I have to say that I loved the relationship in the family! Well written).
- The book should have started at a different point; not everyone is familiar with the Revolution and the Romanov family. If the book started maybe with the abdication, it would make more sense. Explain why Nikolai was forced to abdicate. Why people hated him and his wife. Explain Bolsheviks, Mensheviks. Why the revolution started, how badly the Russian people were affected by the First World War. And I wish Grand Duke Michael was at least mentioned in the book.
-This is one of the problems. People need knowledge. One time Nicholai talks about his cousin King George V of the United Kingdom. But he does not say his name and people are left guessing. Or confused. (view spoiler)[From the book it sounded as if Nicholai was hurt that George did not take them to Britain to save them. But he did not know that George refused; he believed that it was the UK's government! So, do not try to be historically correct and then drop things like that. (hide spoiler)]
- There is a lot of talk about the White Army, but once again I felt like it was very confusing unless you know the history. And by the way, correct me if I'm mistaken. But wasn't it the Czechoslovak legion that was reaching Ekaterinburg? They were going East so that they could go back to Czechoslovakia if I remember correctly.
- Also, Maria went with her parents first and once they left her sisters sewed the jewels in their dress. So, how is it possible that Maria wore jewellery in her dress as well in the end? The jewels had to be put there before leaving Tobolsk but they started to do it once Maria left.
- Do I have any Russian friends here? If yes, please, help me here. Zash. I'm really confused by the name. I know the name Zasha exists, but I never saw Zash. I know that защитник (zashchitnik) means defender. But is there Zash as a name?
- Also, Zash is supposed to be from an aboriginal tribe from Siberia, but his description makes him sound more Scandinavian than Siberian.
- Talking about Zash. (view spoiler)[ The supposed romance between him and Anastasia does not work. At all. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Oh my main issue! The anjin spell takes them into a shadow world or whatever and whatever happens to their bodies after that will be erased. But not before. Anastasia says it after the execution while lying in a car. And then when they come back, she only has bruised ribs. The way they were killed was a massacre. They were butchered; there is no way she would be shot only one time. They would put more bullets in her and then take a bayonet on her. This is nonsense! (hide spoiler)]
- And the ending: (view spoiler)[ Anastasia asks to be buried with her family. And it's true that she and Alexei were found in a different grave. But still, I don't like this because if they lived a long happy life and then they were buried with their family, their skeletons would be of old people. I know fantasy... but still. And talking about this I just want to point out that the point where Alexei tells the soldiers that he is now the tsar there is no way they would just let him go! If they were truly the Whites, Alexei is the most important thing to them. They would have stayed with him, protected him and tried to get him to their leaders. They would have not just waved goodbye and watched as they went back to the enemy. (hide spoiler)]
- Also, Anastasia is injured if only cracked ribs, but she was starved for months with a minimum of exercise. She's wearing a skirt, corset and heavy coat. But suddenly she's able to walk for a day while carrying her brother. Then she manages to jump out of the train on a horse and then from horse to the train... Oh, I almost forgot, MOVING train. I'm saying no. Making her a superhero is stupid and I hated this part.
- The problem with this book is simple. It tries very hard to be historically correct but always fails in small things which matter. And it does not work with the fantasy element. I want to believe that if it was fantasy all along, different names, different family, setting it might have worked. This book needs to be more fantasy, or more historically correct, the mix right now is very in between and seems artificial....more
I can certainly say that 2019 started way better than 2018 ended. And thanks to all of my friends who published fabulous rWell, this was interesting.
I can certainly say that 2019 started way better than 2018 ended. And thanks to all of my friends who published fabulous reviews for this book and pushed me to read it!
I adore mythology! I would like to say that I know quite a lot about it. I read The Greek Myths from Robert Graves, to begin with, and then more, much more. That's why I was so intrigued by this one, Circe is interesting, however, she is always on the background and it seems to me that often she is mistaken for Calypso by some people.
I honestly expected something like Percy Jackson. The mythology on the background, as the foundation of the world and then working with it freely. However, this is more of a... I do not know what to call it. It simply gives POV to Circe, which is something new.
And it worked amazingly at the beginning of the book before she was exiled to the island. Unfortunately, after that, it became slightly boring. Because I already knew all the stories that happened during that time. Minos, Minotaurus, Odysseus, Medea... (view spoiler)[Btw, I always thought that Circe and Odysseus had three sons not only one? But then again, it's mythology; I bet there are sources that claim otherwise. (hide spoiler)]
I would personally much rather have more of the "before exile" and "the last chapter of this book" than the in between. However, it is mainly caused by the fact that I was having mythology for breakfast as a little kid. I do not know if ma teacher at my primary school was more impressed or shocked when I told her that the homework she gave us was a Sisyphean task. 😂
Overall, the writing in this one is really good, and it is rather enjoyable. I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in Greek Mythology but does not have extensive knowledge about it.
Btw, I never liked Odysseus, and this book did not change that, at all. However, I'm currently harbouring a little crush on Hermes. Don't mind me. 😂...more
You may ask me why I keep reading mafia books when I mostly disappointed by them. The fact is that ever since reading the Ruthless People se2018 read!
You may ask me why I keep reading mafia books when I mostly disappointed by them. The fact is that ever since reading the Ruthless People series, I keep looking for something similar.
I want the characters to be mean, evil and enjoy what they are doing! Because when I'm reading about criminals, I do not want a sap story full of excuses. I want evil people, doing evil things without excuses.
And where I sort of liked this book, it did not feel like a mafia book. It was strangely sweet. Vine was inconsistent. So was Anton. It seemed more like a Young Adult book.
I wanted to rate this 3 ⭐ but since once again (view spoiler)[the main female character has to get pregnant (could someone, please, explain to me the obsession with the main female characters getting pregnant all the time? Even when she and the main male character know each other for a few days only?) (hide spoiler)]I need to rate it 2⭐....more
I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems withStill read in 2018.
I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems with this whole series. Because in all honesty, there is not a lot of difference between the 11 books in this series.
To be honest, at this point I was very tired, and I only wanted to finish this series.
Almost considered giving this an extra star just because this is the only book where the female character does not end up being pregnant. ...more
I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems with this whole series.I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems with this whole series. Because in all honesty, there is not a lot of difference between the 11 books in this series.
This was supposed to be a spin-off featuring Devyn's brother(s), but I don't understand why it's labelled "spin-off" because it's just another book in this series, nothing unusual or original...
(view spoiler)[Well, basically, the girl was/is whored out by her own father, then handed over to the Russian as a... bit of a change in their brothels. The main hero gets her as a bit of a gift from Timofei. When he likes her way too much, he BUYS her for three million. (hide spoiler)] I could get past these things if I felt something between them, but I fell nothing. She is just a wh*re he purchased.
I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems with this whole series.I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems with this whole series. Because in all honesty, there is not a lot of difference between the 11 books in this series.
At this point, I cannot even say that I had high hopes for this one... or any hopes at all. However, this whole "I do not want a girl trapped by a contract" was sort of nice from Konstantin. But, it was too good to be true.
Where Pasha chose the worst possible husband for Oksana, Kirill did the same with Akim. How original, right?
(view spoiler)[The epilogue showing Kiska pregnant and Konstantin throwing a surprise wedding for her only cemented this book as a copy paste of the rest of the series. (hide spoiler)]...more
I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems with this whole series.I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems with this whole series. Because in all honesty, there is not a lot of difference between the 11 books in this series.
⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇ Might be a bit spoilerish!🛑����
First, this cover is absolutely awful! The worst in the whole series.
Second, I was interested in this one, however, by now I should have known better. Especially since Timofei went on and promised Devyn that he would behave nicer to her than her father was to his mother. So, he promised to be a good husband, no violence or cheating on his part. Let's say that he went back on the first part pretty fast.
Third, again with the pregnancy thing. The contract states that Devyn has to be pregnant in a year otherwise the marriage is void. (And then Timofei amends it to three months! 😲) And Devyn does not know! She asked Timofei if she should get some kind of contraceptive and he's like "No, you need to get pregnant". Like WTF!!🤯🤯🤯🤯 That's so DISGUSTING.
Fourth, when the contract is no longer is a problem and they agree that they do not want kids now, there is an epilogue that shows that in 18 months she will be pregnant.
What's the fascination with pregnancy in this series?...more
I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems with this whole series.I do not know what to say. Let's just leave it at the fact that my reviews for the book 1 and 2 pretty much sum up my problems with this whole series. Because in all honesty, there is not a lot of difference between the 11 books in this series.
Please, someone, shoot me, because I still had sort of high hopes for this one. (view spoiler)[Sana chose Mike! One would hope that this one would be a bit different since he is not "forcing" her but now. Slowly it just slides into the same pattern as the rest of this series. (hide spoiler)]
My milaya moya - Please, do not use Russian. This sentence looks really bad. ...more
Loading...
