***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
First of all, I have to say that I have mad respect for ***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
First of all, I have to say that I have mad respect for anyone who can write a story (or 55 of them) in just 55 words. That's such a limiting frame.
Overall, I would say that I enjoyed less than half of these stories. Some were great; some felt a bit meh.
I would not call them "sinister" because most were anything but. Plus I had to re-read some of them to really get them.
He was like family, that's all. He was her backup, her Plan B.
She eyed the wedding invite warily. It hadn't occurred to her that he might be someone else's Plan A.
And a lovely illustration for each story.
She liked things whole. She could only take one bite of a fruit before throwing it away. She broke up with her last boyfriend because of his fondness for fingerless gloves.
But this new guy seemed perfect... (view spoiler)[until she saw the scar.
"I donated a kidney to my father," he smiled, unknowingly sealing his fate. (hide spoiler)]
Overall an okay read but I won't be going back to this one....more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
I'm honestly disappointed. I already read several boo***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
I'm honestly disappointed. I already read several books from this edition most were a great hit with me others not so much. This definitely goes to the bottom of these books.
I believe this is one of the shortest I've read, which is rather disappointing. Mainly because there is not enough space for anything and this is trying to explain drawing not only faces but also different expressions. And I think it sort of fails at both. If this book were dedicated to only one of those, I would give it a better rating, but like this, I cannot.
Especially page 16, which shows different expressions meaning six is very bad. Those drawing are so bad that I have no idea why they are used to show anything at all! It features sadness, laughter, rage, fear, disgust and surprise, but it only includes a short description like "with this emotion, the eyes are enlarged etc.". So not really helpful. And then it closely shows how to draw different "faces" or whatever to call it. All Smiles. Deep in thought. At ease. Aging beauty. And all look very much the same with minor differences.
I do not believe this is good for beginners because it's so brief that it cannot teach them anything....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
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
What was even going on? I'm seriously confused. Yeah, I'll admit that I was reading this in the middle of the night when I could not sleep but [image]
What was even going on? I'm seriously confused. Yeah, I'll admit that I was reading this in the middle of the night when I could not sleep but still?
I wanted to finish this book since it is rather short. But it was so confusing, too many things stuffed into one book, sort of jumping from one to another.
And after finishing this book, I seriously have no idea what this was about.
I'll probably refrain from rating this book because as I said, I have no idea what this was even about. But I have to mention that I was not exactly a fan of the writing style, plus the narration from the POV of the main character Isa was somewhat annoying....more
****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)]
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
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
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
Please, tell me that I'm not the only one who thought this was called "Owned by the BaTman". :D
Yeah, so, me being me, I had to read this one. And I soPlease, tell me that I'm not the only one who thought this was called "Owned by the BaTman". :D
Yeah, so, me being me, I had to read this one. And I sort of wish I did not. Or I wish it was about Batman instead of a Badman.
I don't even know where this book went wrong for me. I do not have many triggers points, this book definitely has a lot of those, but those were not an issue for me, except that I found the plot really annoying. Here is a little run down for you if you are interested. (view spoiler)[You get the girl sold off to a stranger. She sleeps with him right away. You get cheating. She gets kidnapped. She gets pseudo-raped. (Sorry, for calling it that but the author put so much emphasis on the fact that she actually liked it even when she hated it...) All that while pregnant. Then she gets slapped by her husband. Oh, and then the said husband leaves his wife because she did not fight the rape/not-rape. (hide spoiler)] I don't know where exactly to go with this. But the thing is, while I know many people who would hate those things and would consider them a deal-breaker in a book, it's not the point where the book went for me.
But the things that killed me were:
- Maxim's English was perfect but then suddenly turning into a caveman with broken English and don't start with me that he is Russian and speaking in a different language can be hard sometimes. It is hard, but you do not go from a speaking flawlessly to pre-school sentences. That's insulting and rather annoying even to read. - Sorry, was this supposed to be a breading fantasy? - I love a good mafia book/series, but please let the characters be really evil and not have the whole Bratva caring whether he's treating his wife right. - And I do not really know what else to say. Just that sometimes I had problems not to laugh aloud at a somewhat serious situation.
I almost forgot the most important thing. My Russian is not the best; I'm nowhere near fluent. But even I know that the author managed to butcher the bit of Russian that was included! And that made my blood boil! If you want a character speaking a different language in your book and it is a language you do not know then go and find someone who does speak said language. Because as far as I'm concerned the Russian was plucked straight out of Google Translator, and that is disappointing, to say the least....more
Well, were the ACOTAR series was a huge surprise for me this was a great letdown.
I read it right after the A Court of Wings and Ruin, and there is noWell, were the ACOTAR series was a huge surprise for me this was a great letdown.
I read it right after the A Court of Wings and Ruin, and there is no way of hiding the problems of this novella. (Is it even a novella? Yeah, it's very short considering SJM, but normally this would be a normal novel, right? It has over 200 pages.)
ACOFAS took all the things that I was personally annoyed by from the ACOTAR series and tried to make a book out of it. And things I loved? Were not there. Well, except for the writing that it's easy to read.
-There is no action! No fight, nothing! And after the battles from the last two books, it seemed sort of boring in a way? And yes, I do not consider a snowball war action.
-If you read my review for A Court of Wings and Ruin you know that I was unhappy about the ending. And this novella(?) is basically the ending of ACOWAR stretched over 200 pages.
-Let Rhys be mean again! I miss the High Lord of the Court Of Nightmares. He has to be at list a bit evil!
-Can someone kick Nesta out? She is getting on my nerves; she's worse than at the beginning of the series. And honestly? I cannot imagine getting through a book where she's the main character. And seeing that "problems with Illyrians" will probably be one of the key topics of her and Cassian's book. Honestly? Even less interested.
-Elain is doe-eyed and unnecessary. I'm more interested in Nuala and Cerridwen than in her. (view spoiler)[The whole Lucien/Azriel drama does not work! (hide spoiler)]
-I'm surprised, but I really like Varian. Did not see that coming at all.
-There is not much of a plot in this book actually.
-Feyre opening an art studio for kids? Cute and everything. But... I don't know. I sort of don't care?
-And for Tamlin. I never liked that guy. Not even in the first book. But honestly? This is getting ridiculous.
(view spoiler)[After Feyre having a panic attack that she would be just a cute, little wifey for Tamlin. She surely is starting to be a cure, nice wifey for Rhys. Seriously? Is she going to pain with children? I bet that Tamlin would be happy about that. As for the having kid. Well, I sort of get why but at the same time... (hide spoiler)]
I don't think we needed this novella. But I get why it's here. A Court of Wings and Ruin was published in 2017. Book 4 should be published in 2020. That's a long time to wait. But I think it could have been done way better!...more
Did it ever happen to you that you feared a book would go wrong in one way, but it went wrong in a completely different one?
I adore Ian; I always did,Did it ever happen to you that you feared a book would go wrong in one way, but it went wrong in a completely different one?
I adore Ian; I always did, he was my favourite character. Thought that the way he was treated by his friends was uncalled for. Come on, they only had to ask, and he stood by them. But no, they stilled douted him.
“Did you think (view spoiler)[an exchange of blood and some vows (hide spoiler)] would change who I am? Nothing will...
Ha! I feel that this is a bit of a dig at people who worried that Ian wouldn't be the same! Pretty clever.
My main fear was that Ian wouldn't be the same wicked, vulgar Ian we got in the original series. Look at what happened to Vlad. I don't need a hero that is basically a doormat for the heroine. But, I'm surprised to say that actually, he remains the same. Mostly. For now.
But where I liked Veritas before and was actually excited for her to be the heroine, I'm not pretty disappointed. (view spoiler)[1) She's 4000 years old and suddenly behaving like a school girl. 2) I was really happy that she was the traditional "bombshell". I liked that she was small and tiny. But suddenly it's described as a "waif" like. Cute but not really that much... Seriously? I don't remember anyone in the original series mentioning her appearance as a waiflike. And then, boom, her actual appearance is this curvy, statuesque woman. I'm a bit disappointed by that. It would be nice if the character was a bit different than what you usually get. And especially since I was given the promise of this tiny not traditionally sexy character. I really wanted that. So, yeah, I feel let down! 3) She started to feel a bit flat in terms of her character. Who is she? Why? I don't really get her. (hide spoiler)]
Liked the storyline, there was a lot happening. Easy to read. Great pacing. Saw a different part of the world. And then the end came. And I was let down again. (view spoiler)[Amnesia should be forbidden! It's lazy, lazy, lazy! Every time there is amnesia used to forgot that you loved someone, what happened etc. So they would have to go over it again is so damn lazy! And it makes me super angry! And I don't care that in the end it actually did not really work. I'm still angry! (hide spoiler)]
Also the cameo of the other characters from the previous series... Not so happy about that, cause I wanted to punch all of them. Btw, I need Ian/Katie scene!
But yeah. It was great. But those two things really made me angry. Still, the next book is on my to-read list as soon as it's published....more
Brilliant. So my review that took me really long to write somehow got deleted... :( Hate that. (Actually, it almost got lost for the second time, thanBrilliant. So my review that took me really long to write somehow got deleted... :( Hate that. (Actually, it almost got lost for the second time, thankfully I was smarter this time and copied it.)
So, this is it? The end? It seems almost...sad. But definitely strange. Like I should hold a wake. Or maybe I already did.
"Everybody’s here. You’re here."
"You were there."
I finally got to the point that I could finish this series. And this remains my favourite comics series and the best thing Neil Gaiman ever created.
Unfortunately, I had a bit of a hard time remembering what happened at the end of the previous part but thankfully I managed to remember enough to enjoy this one.
"The king is dead, that's what they say. The king is dead. Long live the king.”
I was a bit disappointed by the ending because I expected something truly amazing that would blow me away but the rhythm of this one was slightly off. However, I still really enjoyed it. At first, I thought that it should have ended right after the wake, the other stories seemed wrong. But then I realised it just really makes sense.
“Nobody died. How can you kill an idea? How can you kill the personification of an action?" "Then what died? who are you mourning?" "A point of view.”
I hope that one day I will be able to re-read this series and it will be like remembering a long time forgotten dream.
“That which is dreamed can never be lost, can never be undreamed.” ...more
It was easy, fun read but I felt a bit disappointed. However, I remain a villain fan. I will take villain over superhero anytime!
These are the bad guIt was easy, fun read but I felt a bit disappointed. However, I remain a villain fan. I will take villain over superhero anytime!
These are the bad guys for a reason. There is no turning them good; they will always do what they want. And I'm really getting annoyed with the "bad guy equals a coward." It's like if they want to show the world black and white.
Also, this one has on the cover "ideal start for new readers", and I could not disagree more. This is probably the worst to start with. I wonder who thought that this would be a good suggestion... ...more
Why is my life so difficult? I love Stylo Fantome. I loved the Kane series, I was really surprised by the Mercenaries, and then The Bad Ones found itsWhy is my life so difficult? I love Stylo Fantome. I loved the Kane series, I was really surprised by the Mercenaries, and then The Bad Ones found its way among my all-time favourite books. But then it was a bit like hitting rock bottom with the Twin Estate which I did not even finish.
But I was excited about Church, it sounded great. Something a bit like The Bad Ones, I expected it to be great. And then... nothing happened. Where The Bad Ones went right, this went wrong.
To be honest, I still feel Church was supposed to be something like The Bad Ones, and I believe it may have worked. But the problem was that the characters were not fit for this. Where Dulcie was the big bad wolf, Emma was just... broken beyond repair and even her brilliant moments were so low I sort of wished it would just end.
You see when the book started I hated Margo, how anyone could be such a horrible mother but as the book progressed I found out that I was more indifferent towards her. Why? Because Emma was so... I don't have a word for it. I just don't like her character. I don't know why. I want to call her stupid. But really, she is not stupid. I want to call her weak. But really, she is not. I want to call her many things, but she is none of it. And there is the problem. She is insignificant. She has no real personality. She has nothing I could catch on and maybe like her for it or even despise her. I like characters I can hate. But there is nothing. I feel nothing for the characters which is a huge problem for me.
There are many things I could talk about that make no sense and were brushed off when they sure should have caused a huge problem. But I won't go there.
I liked Church or the promise of Church, but he did not live up to it. The same could be said about the whole book.
Though, I will read the second book just because the ending made a bit curious and I want to know what will happen next. Maybe this book is only suffering the fate of second books in trilogies. It is just filling, the set up for the real story.
I know that the author wanted to show the ugly truth of what life sometimes is but it did not work for me at all.
Several typos found and when I see a typo there is something really wrong....more
So, I'm really busy at the moment, but I could not miss this one! Some of these books were my all time favourite!
So, let's break this one down.
The BaSo, I'm really busy at the moment, but I could not miss this one! Some of these books were my all time favourite!
So, let's break this one down.
The Bad Ones - This book is actually in my top 10! I really really love how wicked those two are. Unfortunately, I wanted a bit more from this. But they were mostly visiting old places and not really doing bad things. However, I liked the ending! I would love to see Dulcie talking to the journalist that would be really fun! So, I'm a bit sad that was not included. 3/5
My Time in the Affair - I did not read that book, so I skipped this part.
The Mercenaries: Law - Okay, I love Law! And Love Damiano - wish there was a part just about those two. However, the story is split into two parts and does not really seem to work together because in the short length it does not make sense. However, I enjoyed this part. 4/5
Muckle Memory - I did not read that book, so I skipped this part.
Twin Estate - Okay, I should have skipped this part. I did not like this series. And I did not like this. These characters do not work for me. At all! And what Liam did in the end? Absolutely wrong! 1/5
While I Was Away - I did not read that book, so I skipped this part.
The Kane Series - oh, this was my first series from Stylo Fantome! I was really looking forward to this! We were teased about this story in Completion (The Kane Trilogy, #3.5). I really liked this, but I felt like several times it did not work with what we were told before. In Completion Tate said that while they were in Russia visiting Sanders, Jameson was angry with Sanders, not her. But here we were presented with a different story. Then there is the fact that Tate was (view spoiler)[pregnant and lost the baby (hide spoiler)] which I think does not work with what happened in Reception (The Kane Trilogy #4). (view spoiler)[Tate wanted to get Jameson's attention she said she was pregnant and he reacted really badly. If things from Checking In really happened, I do not believe she would be joking about it, and he would react that bad. (hide spoiler)] It seems a bit like the author forgot about these since things do not really add up. Or maybe a little confusion in the timeline. 3/5...more
Okay, someone titled this book wrong. It should be "Bound by Aria's stupidity".
Where I was a bit okay with Aria being dumb in the first book since shOkay, someone titled this book wrong. It should be "Bound by Aria's stupidity".
Where I was a bit okay with Aria being dumb in the first book since she was still young and was sheltered all her life, here it was a tad too annoying. Scratch the "tad", it's unbelievable how stupid someone can be.
But let's start from the beginning.
Blurb: When Aria betrays Luca by going behind his back for her family When I read this I was disappointed because all I wanted to say was "again?" First for Gianna and then for Lily, and now again, the girl never learns her lesson.
Actually reading the book: I was surprised (and not pleasantly) to find that the majority of the book was only books 2,3,4 and 5 from Aria's or Luca's POV. I would say 3/5 of this book was a repetition of the series. Then we finally get some new content. (view spoiler)[And Aria again goes behind Luca's back for her family! How dumb this girl is? Seriously, how was she able to think that her plan was a good one! And she gets alive out of it. She just hopped on a plane, went to Chicago and expected to somehow snatch her brother and bring him to New York! I repeat, how dumb this girl is? And she's surprised that Luca is mad. And then the story moves and Luca is a bad guy in the situation? NO! Come on, if he is supposed to be the Capo, he cannot have a wife that goes into the enemy territory and repeatedly goes behind his back, and in the process, she steals money from the Famiglia. She should be dead for it! (hide spoiler)]
This is my main problem. And I will repeat it; Aria is dumb!
Luca spends so much time repeating that he cannot be soft and that no one can see his weakness. But then he goes and acts like a fool just because Aria makes puppy eyes. (view spoiler)[Like when Fabiano contacts them as an Enforcer for Camorra and asks for a meeting. And for some reason, Luca takes Aria with him... WHY?! (hide spoiler)]
As for Fabian, I'm actually interested in his story, so, I may give it a shot. Mainly because I hope he kills their father. (view spoiler)[However, I do not like Fabiano. Is he as dumb as Aria or what? He blames them for the way their father treated him. As if that idiot treated his daughters any better. And if I remember correctly, they offered him to go with them. He decided to stay in Chicago! (hide spoiler)]
Also, I'm interested in Remo Falcone; he seemed like the devil Luca was supposed to be. But let's see. (view spoiler)[However, the book here makes no sense at all. Remo comes and asks Luca not to interfere when he takes over the Camorra. And he sort of hints that maybe in the future that could be allies. But suddenly a couple of years forward they are not on friendly terms, definitely closer to the war than not. WHY?! (Okay, I guess this might be because I did not read book 5 in this series. But if I consider how much was repeated in this book, I don't get why this was not. (hide spoiler)]
As for Dante, I was never his fan but now? Probably even less. (view spoiler)[ I don't know what his plan was, but from where I stand it seems like when he found out Aria was pregnant he did not felt like personally using (okay, I should have said hurting, he definitely used her!) a pregnant woman. However, he sends her back to Luca and makes sure he gets pictures that look as if she cheated on Luca with Dante, with his enemy! And if you consider that Dante sees Luca as a monster, then I would say that Dante was hoping that Luca would snap and hurt Aria that much that she would miscarry or he would kill her and the baby as well. That much for not hurting women, especially a pregnant one. Anyone... I still don't get how anyone even for a moment could have thought that Aria has an affair with Dante like when? How? One would think that Luca would notice if his wife was going to Chicago from time to time without him... (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[In the end, Aria and Luca have two kids that no one knows about and Luca is trying to keep them hidden from the world. And I'm asking for how long? How do they think this will work? The son is Luca's heir, for how long is he going to hide him? (hide spoiler)]...more
Yeah, this is cute and everything and does not reveal much of anything.
(view spoiler)[Except, is there another child like the one Kora and Ashwin wilYeah, this is cute and everything and does not reveal much of anything.
(view spoiler)[Except, is there another child like the one Kora and Ashwin will have? Since it's mentioned here, I would not be surprised. Maybe one of the Riders? But I would be shocked if it was someone who was not yet on the pages. (hide spoiler)]...more
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