Every time I visit my childhood home, I lose some space. Here I remove some of my t-shirts, here is a drawer I can empty so my parents can use it. AndEvery time I visit my childhood home, I lose some space. Here I remove some of my t-shirts, here is a drawer I can empty so my parents can use it. And every single time, I find some of my childhood treasures. This time I found all of my Egypt related books. I had so many of them which I read start to finish; I had dozens of bookmarks in them! Yeah, I can blame my love of the Stargate series and my wish to be an archaeologist (or to join the air force depending on the day you asked me). I probably read all of these books more time than I did the Harry Potter and that's an achievement!
But, there is nothing to say, even years later I still enjoy reading this and flipping through the pages brings me immense happiness. And with certainty, I can say that I will never get rid 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
This was a rather hard review to write. I have to say that it seems that with hyped/popular books, it seems that I either love them or hate them; unfoThis was a rather hard review to write. I have to say that it seems that with hyped/popular books, it seems that I either love them or hate them; unfortunately, this was the latter.
This book having an average 4,15* and 4,11* friends' average rating, seemed like a sure good read. Especially since even people who I "always" agree with seemed to like this book, the thing is while many people recommended this book to me, I still cannot blame it on having too high expectations for it. I honestly did not expect anything from this book. Yet, it did disappoint me.
I have to put the only/most positive thing right here at the beginning; the cover is truly gorgeous.
Back to why writing this review was hard, and it connects to why I found reading this book hard. It was hard to care for it. It took me a long time to finish; I fell asleep several times, I found different things to do rather than reading this. And when I was finished, it was hard to find the will to write this review because the book just left my mind. I usually think a lot about the books I read; I replay scenes in my mind etc. but not this one. I did not think about this book once since I finished it.
I found the story building and the background setting lacking. There was so little. Clearly, it was inspired by France even if it's totally fictional land. And for some reason, characters drop French here and there. Why is it necessary to say that they had chocolat chaud? Just say hot chocolate. Why they suddenly "speak" French? It does not make the book or the setting more french. Same with "they were hunters, Chasseurs." So, they were hunters, hunters [in French]. What?
Also, since Belterra is clearly fictional why the religion is so clearly Catholic with the Bible and everything? It's just such a strange middle ground. On one hand, going full fiction creating a new kingdom but then sticking the Bible in there.
(view spoiler)[So, basically, the reason why she got into this mess is that she needed to pee real bad. Yeah, she had a ring which makes her invisible, she knew that there would be a huge crowd and wanted to remain unseen. Seems like a splendid moment when to use the said ring. But now, she just goes there and hopes no one notices her. And I'm asking why!? It seems to make no sense. Why not use the ring now? Or any other time when she needed to be unseen. Why? What's the point of the ring if clearly that's the right moment for it, but Lou does not use it just to "move" the plot. (hide spoiler)]
A few people told me that the romance part is the best thing about this book. I have to speak about it as well. (Btw, I just noticed that I did not mention anything about the characters so far.) I don't like the romance part of this book; I don't get it. I don't see it. It feels very artificial. It does not help that I did not really feel them getting closer together more like deciding "we're married, so, we should care for each other and love each other." Did not really work for me. Plus, Reid seemed to have a personality of a blank page which did not help much. Note, I finished this review and only after that, I realised that I did not really talk about Lou. So, here I am with not much to say. She goes for a thief to a wife pretty fast, and while I like the glimpse, we got of her at the beginning of the book that person never returned.
(view spoiler)[As for the ending, Coco is just like "my aunt is La Voisin". and everybody is so shocked but why should the reader care about this revelation since this La Voisin was mentioned not once in the whole book? Sort of kills the supposed cliffhanger. (Yes, I know that La Voisin was a real person and that goes back to the sprinkling France into a clearly fictional land. Speaking French here and there and giving things and people French names does not make it France-like.) Same at the beginning Lou was like "She's after me", and I'm so over the pronounce game. (hide spoiler)]
But since this review was so far rather negative, I would like to mention a few more things which were the reason why this has two stars from me and not one. The magic system had potential. I was interested in the difference between the Dames Rouges and Dames Blanches since in the "legend" only the latter were mentioned. And I could get behind Beau and Coco that seemed like a potential for a fun arc. But then the author was clearly pushing Ansel to the mix, and I cannot suffer through another book just to get a love triangle or Coco ending with Ansel.
So, yes, this is me saying that I won't be continuing with this series. And yes, I know that this review is a mess, but I just cannot find the will to spend any more time trying to make it more presentable.
Reaction after finishing:
Big Titty Liddy? What was even that? Who thought that that was a good idea?
RTC but I can say that I was not a fan of this one....more
I started reading this on October 11, 2019. The beginning totally blew my mind; it was that great.
And then Armin appeared I just could not stand him. I started reading this on October 11, 2019. The beginning totally blew my mind; it was that great.
And then Armin appeared I just could not stand him. So, I took a break. Then it was almost the end of July 2020; it felt like this book would remain on my Currently reading shelf forever. So, I sort of challenged myself.
August 3, 2020, and I did manage to finish this! Really proud moment for me.
While I did manage to finish this, I still cannot rate this very high if only because of how long it took me to read this.
Anyway, the beginning was amazing. Then it started to drag. Then my problem was removed, and it started to pick up. I loved the Above. It certainly had the potential to be great. I enjoyed all the different creatures and everything.
But then the story shifted once again, and it was again hard to care. I can absolutely acknowledge that the story ended on a high. There is a pretty decent built up for the next book. However, here is a bit of the usual "it's me, not the book" and it's just the reason that I do not care. So many things are unanswered. What will happen to everyone? What is even going on? This is absolutely an open ending. And yet, I'm fine with not knowing. If you ask me now, the answer will be no. No, I won't be reading the next book.
But despite all of this, I certainly think that many may and will enjoy this book. It just did not sit right with me.
Also, what is "the Third Reich" in the blurb? My mind totally went to the Third Reich of 1933 - 1945, which is the reason why I was interested in the story. The Third Reich and magic sounded intriguing. But either I missed something, or the Third Reich was only in the blurb.
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
EDIT: This book maybe did not win the Goodreads Choice Awards but it's my winner the Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction category and that's enoEDIT: This book maybe did not win the Goodreads Choice Awards but it's my winner the Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction category and that's enough for me. EDIT: Finding out that this book did not make it into the final round of the Goodreads Choice Awards. [image]
EDIT:
[image] IT WORKED! YES!YES!YES! You cannot imagine how happy I'm when I go to see the second round of the Goodreads Choice Awards and The Shadows Between Us are nominated in the Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction. The write-in worked!
EDIT: Wow, I have to say that I was quite surprised that I did not see this book nominated in Young Adult Fantasy for the Goodreads Choice Awards. So, let's see if there is some power in the write-in option.
ORIGINAL: Was this book perfect? No. Did this book deliver on everything I've expected from it? No. Do I care? No. Why? Because it was such a long time since I enjoyed "YA"/fantasy book so much as I did enjoy this one.
As I previously mentioned, I was sold when this book was labelled as "Slytherin".
If only he knew I have my sights set a bit higher than that.
Yeah, I was hyped when I started this book, and the beginning was so good, I had problems to remember to breathe, and then I was close to hyperventilating. It was everything my Slytherin heart wanted.
"People are staring." "That's the point, isn't it?"
Alessandra was the kind of character I wanted. I'm so over the shocked girls who have no idea why people think that they are pretty or don't want to be in the situation 'cause they just want a nice simple life. Who are shocked by the evil people and don't get it why people are just so mean. Finally, a character who is very self-aware, has a goal, is ambitious and does not care what it takes to get what they want. Love it, and I need more books like this. I also loved every single time Alessandra chewed up someone or schemed.
What I did not expect was to get more characters like that in the book.
See that all the men who accompanied us on our outing are hanged.
The King is just as ambitious. And at that point, I practically want to propose to this book.
Plus the fact that Alessandra has an obsession with pretty dresses which she creates for herself, (Which made me realise how rare it is for female characters to have hobbies besides reading.) and that the friendships are a surprisingly fun and great addition to the story are not helping to me not being obsessed.
There were several side plots which kept the story moving, so, I never really felt like nothing was happening.
So, where did it go wrong? Because yeah, I love this book, but there are things which irked me, to say the least.
First, the main "villain" (if you do not count Alessandra as the villain of the story) was very obvious. Plus the reason or explanation behind their actions was pretty easy to guess as well. I'm not angry by it, just disappointed.
Second, Alessandra started great, but then I felt like a bit of her disappeared. The part which had a plan and was ready for everything. (view spoiler)[Like, please, if you get poison to kill someone and then change your mind, don't just chuck it somewhere. (hide spoiler)] The dumb move is the season.
Third, I did not really feel like we got a good grasp on the background, on the setting, and sometimes things just felt a bit confusing. But yeah, I get it, it's standalone, and while I may have some grief with the lack of world setting, I love the author for keeping it a standalone.
Fourth, Kallias just sometimes felt a bit too mushy.
And now, fifth and last, the ending. What is it with endings? I hoped for a different ending. More original. (view spoiler)[ It was again way too roses and pink. Everything was well and happy. And I just felt like something had to give. Something bad. Or just some huge power move. Just something which would leave me speechless the moment I would close the book. Only being able to say WOW. But this was a very forgettable ending. Average. (hide spoiler)] And while I had four more issues with this book. The ending is the reason why I took one star away.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Honestly? I'm still sad that I was declined for an ARC. ...more
When it comes to books, I can be a very simple human being. Did I saw this Sandman on NetGalley and almost went through my screen because I was so eagWhen it comes to books, I can be a very simple human being. Did I saw this Sandman on NetGalley and almost went through my screen because I was so eager to request it? Sure I did.
(I had pretty much the same reaction when I learned that Netflix would create a Sandman series... Now? I'm scared if it will be a good adaptation or not. And I keep wondering if I want them to follow closely the original or to go the same way the creators of Lucifer went.)
Back to the Dreaming. Turn the first page was so exciting! I could not believe that I was back! The Dreaming! And the first pages, wow, back. I was ecstatic!
However, as I progressed, the excitement started to die down. I kept wondering "Didn't we all read this before? Lord of the Dreaming is missing." AGAIN?
And that feeling never left me. What worked once, or twice or even three times... did not work this time.
Plus, I just cannot stand Dora.
However, despite all that, The Dreaming and Sandman is something... it's so high up there that it's so hard to achieve that level of brilliance.
Was this good? Yes. Did it measure up to the original series? No.
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
So, when I went to sleep last night (more like this night since it was after midnight), I kept thinking about what I'm going to say about this book. ASo, when I went to sleep last night (more like this night since it was after midnight), I kept thinking about what I'm going to say about this book. And I was drawing a blank. But let me just tell you, fantastic debut! This author is definitely staying on my radar. Plus massive praise for a stand-alone.
So, let's start at the beginning; my interest in this book started when I saw the gorgeous cover! It's just so pretty. Then I knew there were twelve sisters and a curse. And that's it, I know, I know, I pretty bad at knowing what's the book about before reading it. That's just the story of my life. It was actually pretty surprising for me when at around the 34 % mark, I realised that this book was actually a retelling. And of one of my childhood favourite fairytale. The 12 dancing princesses, I adored that fairytale so much, if only because we had an illustrated book of the Grimm's fairytales and I loved just to look at all the pretty dresses the princesses had. Of course, this book is getting extra points for being a retelling of this fairytale, plus some extra points because I never saw a retelling of this fairytale, you see all the cinderellas, beauties and beasts but this was rather original as far as retellings go.
We start right in the action... okay, I know it's pretty bold of me calling a funeral action, but it does throw you into the story right away. It gives a space for the main character to reflect on all the dead sisters and on those of them who as still alive. I have to say that I found it easier to distinguish the dead ones than the living one. Ava, Octavia, Elizabeth, Eulalie all died in more or less suspicious ways. And now Camille is the oldest one, the heir to their father's estate. Annaleigh is our main character and has the worst timing ever! She asked her father to talk about something always in the worst moments possible. But then the issues start. You have Lenore, Rosalie and Ligeia who are triplets. And the rest were Honor, Mercy and Verity collectively called the Graces. I have to say that I had a problem to remember all of these characters and especially to distinguish between them.
The girls live with their father, who recently married a very young girl named Morella, she is not from the island, and she does not know their culture and customs. Generally, Morella was just so clueless that I had a very hard time deciding if she's truly that "stupid" or if she's secretly an evil step-mother. (view spoiler)[ She went on to announce that she was pregnant with a boy at the wake after Eulalie's funeral! Plus she had a very rude awakening when she found out that no matter how many sons she had, they would go to the back of the line when it came to the inheritance. (hide spoiler)] I was also unsure when it came to daddy-dearest. Annaleigh said that her father was nice and never violent right at the beginning of the story. However, his behaviour was anything but nice.
Then we got Fisher who I disliked. He seemed like the friend who did not care about the girl until there was another guy interested. I feared a bit that it would end in a love-triangle, but thankfully it did not. And as for Cassius, he was a cutie, but I wish he had a bigger role in the story. Or maybe not. Because this way, the romance did not become the most important part of the story, rather the sprinkle on top.
And now to the important part. I loved this story so much! It was sometimes so scary (especially when I wanted to read the last chapter before going to bed) that I even had to look under my bed. It left me speechless, worried to take a breath and wanting to get more. And then the rhythm would shift to a soothing one. And then a shock once again! And then the last 25 % got so scary and crazy that it's a true retelling in a Grimm fashion! The end of the story is just the best; it got so mysterious and really creepy. Yeah, here I wish this mysterious aspect was introduced much earlier in the story. You could see little bits dropped here and there, but I never grasped the whole thing. Because I did not see the ending coming at all, I was pretty much freaking out and thinking "What's even going on?!" And then the whole story flipped and all I knew or thought I knew crumbled under my eyes. I'm not even going to say what the huge plot twist was, not even under the spoiler tag, it was just that crazy, but I may say that it reminded me a bit of the Mara Dyer series in the sense that nothing could have been trusted.
But you know me, I have to have little grievances with the story, and this time it's that I could actually do without the epilogue. If I'm going to re-read this book, I'll skip the epilogue. ...more
I am very pleasantly surprised here! For a debut? It is pretty damn good!
And also the fabulous buddy-read with Mary helped me to enjoy this book even I am very pleasantly surprised here! For a debut? It is pretty damn good!
And also the fabulous buddy-read with Mary helped me to enjoy this book even more!
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- This was me while reading all the time! Since we were reading only 5 or 6 chapters per day (okay except for the last but one when we read 12 but WE NEEDED ANSWERS!)
- Mary had to suffer through numerous of my conspiracy theories and since I had so much time to think about those theories. Some of them were crazily correct! I have to say; my theory game was on point with this one!
- When I first found out about this book, it really reminded me about Three Dark Crowns. With the title, with the cover (I know it's blue, now but my screen colour is always so much down that it seemed black). And I even thought that this was the last book in that series. And now I just hope that people won't mistake it for TDC because this is worth reading!
- You get action from the first page! Somethings happening all the time and you're trying to connect all those dots, and then you find out that you completely overlooked something. (Or you did not think that it was important!)
- I like Kera! She's snarky, rude and resourceful! She's fun, and I really liked her, it was a long time since I liked the main female character that much!
- This book made me laugh at the most inappropriate moments!
"To be safe, she emptied half the bottle."
“So no to breaking into the palace, but yes to stealing more clothes?”
- Varin is cute and everything... but I'm not here for the cute!
“Go, you stupid Eonist!”
- Talking about Eonists, I could not imagine living in Eonia! That Quadrant freaked me out! (view spoiler)[ The moment you're born they determine when you'll die. But not determine, they set the date! Like finding that you have an illness, but you will be fine for the next 20 years, so they give you the 20 years and then set your death date because you would be a burden on the society! Or if you fail at your job, they can move the death date closer! (hide spoiler)]
- And Mackiel? That's what I'm here for! I loved his character! Loved to watch his plans!
- The timeline of the story was a killer!
- Romance: (view spoiler)[Not a fan of it. Kera is going to eat Varyn alive! I still don't get it how they got "in love". (hide spoiler)]
- And obviously the one thing I did not question (but messed every my theory) came to bite me!
- This book made me slightly paranoid!
- And huge thanks to the author that she made this a stand-alone! Because most would try to make a trilogy out of this, but thankfully this was not the case. Instead, we got actioned packed one book which is totally worth it!
But, you know me, I have to point out some things that I did not like. Four quadrants and the kingdom (or should I say queendom?) is called Quadara? A bit originality, please! (view spoiler)[ The end is a bit too happy for me! I know, three Queens are dead, but it's written in such a way that you know that the things will move towards the better. That the one Queen will unite the Quadara and will be Queen for everyone! She will try to remove the death date for Eonist and stuff like that! Kera's father is healed; she will reunite with them, they will love her again. And she'll live happily ever after with Varin... (hide spoiler)] --> This would be minus 0,5 ⭐....more
I still feel a bit confused, because, for the first time in any of these novels, I actually really liked the main female character!
I was excited aboutI still feel a bit confused, because, for the first time in any of these novels, I actually really liked the main female character!
I was excited about Remo's book, because, let's be honest here, he is the kind of character I like. I love how cruel and twisted he is. And I feared he would just turn into a nice, lovestruck slob.
When the pairing with Serafina was revealed, I was not convinced. I wanted some really strong character. Why not some mercenary? That would be fun.
However, I loved Serafina, who I expected to be a second Arya, actually stood her ground.
My favourite about this series is the dynamics between the Falcone brothers, that did not change.
However, while reading, I did not wish for Serafina to disappear so we could get to the Falcone brothers. It was fun.
Speaking of brothers, I loved the relationship Serafina had with her brother at the beginning of the book.
Remo is officially my favourite psycho.
(view spoiler)[I already mentioned it in some other reviews, I'm not a fan of the "insta-children" but... I sort of did not mind. It's fun seeing the Falcone brothers with children. However, I wish there was more or Remo and Serafina really like a couple. They went from kidnapping to being parents. Btw, what did they expect there? None of them even mentioned contraception? And Remo being Remo, I would expect Serafina to freak out because of STDs.
Then the thing I did not really like was Dante letting Remo just go. Like, really? Does not really seem plausible.
And can I say that the fact that Danilo was engaged to Serafina is now engaged with Sofia seriously gives me the creeps? Danilo is already older than Serafina. And Sofia is what? 11 or 12? I just cannot. And okay, Danilo seems decent, but still.
Also, I hoped that Rocco's children (Fabiano's half-brothers) and their mother would be mentioned. (hide spoiler)]...more
And here my problems begin. I still like Kira but... Did you see Mello? How can you not be obsessed with him? I'm obsessed with him and his chocolate! And here my problems begin. I still like Kira but... Did you see Mello? How can you not be obsessed with him? I'm obsessed with him and his chocolate!
And I think that if Mello was the one against Kira from the beginning, I would be supporting him. But now? Can I get both?
And, yeah, sure Near. I don't know; he always reminded me of a little monkey. Cute and everything but other than that? Nope....more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not a newbie to watercolour but I was still interest***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not a newbie to watercolour but I was still interested to see what this book has to offer. And in all honesty, the cover is way too pretty to pass. And I was delighted to find out that the inside is even prettier than the cover. Love the work which was done on this one.
This book is very detailed and suitable for beginners, the author takes you step by step through watercolouring. You will learn about brushes and papers which is something I knew when I started.
I surprisingly liked the "Getting know your colours" part; I never gave this so much thought nor did I go and play with the colours just to see what I will be able to create with them. However, this part gave me so many ideas
I adored the parts on the diffusion effect and gradation since these two I'm still struggling with. I'm excited to go and use the tips from the author.
The part involving painting the flowers is magnificent! I cannot decide which one is my favourite if Carnations or Hortensia. All the flowers were so pretty and so easy to paint! And I could see where I went wrong when I tried to paint them before! I'm looking forward to seeing the results next time.
I'm definitely planning to take out the watercolour paints out this weekend to create something! Violet circlet is a must for me, one of the most beautiful designs featured it this book!...more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For me, it is always a good test if an author publishes ***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For me, it is always a good test if an author publishes a prequel or 0,5 story if you can understand it without reading the first book in the series. It should be understood, but sometimes it misses the mark. I did not read Black Dawn, it was in my to-read pile for a very long time, and I thought this might be a good place where to start. However, I found myself grasping and confused by the story and the world. I felt like I would need to read the Black Dawn to fully understood the story which was disappointing. I can also say that I was surprised that this prequel was rather lengthy!
From what I understood it seems like the original story of the villain from the series which is a fun thing, I love the idea. Now I wonder whether my opinion of the villain would be influenced by reading the prequel.
Where the writing is enchanting and the villain becoming a villain is definitely fun to read I need to include where the book fell flat for me.
The whole school setting with magic/fae/vampire/whatever is getting a bit overplayed and here it did not seem particularly original.
I cannot say that I have a favourite character and that is a problem, not one character caught my eye enough that I would care for them.
Sometimes, especially during fight scenes, it seemed jumpy? Like they suddenly did something, and it did not seem continuous, I felt like I missed a part of the action which would explain it. I found myself re-reading quite often.
And lastly, my favourite part of Renegade was the prologue, and I was very disappointed that there was the time jump, I wanted to follow the early days after the prologue, and the disappointment never disappeared. The prologue is the high point of the book, and I do not think that that's what you want in a book.
***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
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