So, I recently re-read the Dirty series and it made me think about trying another book by Meghan March and this was the first the Internet algorithm sSo, I recently re-read the Dirty series and it made me think about trying another book by Meghan March and this was the first the Internet algorithm sent my way.
And I have to say that I'm rather disappointed.
There was a lot of similarities between the two series, to the point that I'm wondering if the author has a certain "template" a certain setting which she uses.
However, what I missed the most about this one was the easy readability the Dirty series possesses. I found it hard to connect with the main characters. Especially, Keira, she was seriously bordering on the unlikeable line. (Side note: I hated the nickname Ke-ke and I cringed every time I saw it.) And maybe a bit ironical but I felt like Mount lacked a certain presence about himself on the page. Which is funny since he was supposedly portraited as a huge alpha male. But still, I found him more tolerable than Keira. He's definitely an interesting character and I would be interested in knowing more about his past. However, if that comes at the price of Keira being there as well I think that I will rather pass on that. Plus, the terms of their relationship really make me uncomfortable.
The cliffhanger/twisted at the end was rather unexpected even though it is a bit of cliché.
While there might be some things which I would like to know more about... I do not find this series worth continuing. So, anybody knows good spoiler-filled reviews for book two and three?...more
To all of those who kept recommending Sanderson's books to me. I should have listened to you sooner.
I decided that Warbreaker would be a great start tTo all of those who kept recommending Sanderson's books to me. I should have listened to you sooner.
I decided that Warbreaker would be a great start to Sanderson after it was recommended to me by several people, and I liked that it could be considered a standalone even if it's getting a sequel which it really needs!
I had no idea what to expect from this, and I was pleasantly surprised. I won't say that I love everything about this book because that was not the case. But even being unhappy about certain things was so much fun that I did not care.
I do not have much to say about the story, so, I will only write a bit about the characters.
Vasher, definitely my favourite POV, I wish there was more of those. And honestly, part of the reason why I enjoyed that so much was Nightblood. The whole best "character" in the entire book! I could read the whole book from Nightblood's POV.
Siri is still a bit of an enigma for me. I love her then I dislike her then I'm unsure about her then I'm annoyed by her and then all above. She was introduced as a free-spirited girl, but that aspect was very soon lost. She was so obedient. I expected her to flip and scream at the next person who calls her "Vessel". Like, come on! How was she okay with that? But then she got into the "scheming", and it was so much fun. I had fingers crossed for a showdown between her and Blushweaver.
Vivenna. It's very surprising at; first I thought that I would prefer her to Siri, but in the end, I just wanted her to keep quiet and get lost. I have to say that sometimes when I turned the page and saw that the next POV was her's, I felt a bit sad, and I hoped for Vasher's instead. Denth and Tonk Fah were mostly the only reason why I could get through her chapters. This duo is so much fun, and I would not be angry to get more of these two! Denth and Tonk reminded me a bit about Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar, which made me so happy and wanting more of them. Together with Nightblood, the best parts of the book. I wondered if they were meant to be only a comic aspect to the book or something to carry Vivenna's chapters, but I quickly decided against that and started listening to what Denth was saying and doing! (view spoiler)[I very quickly realised that what they were pushing Vivenna to do was more likely to cause the war than anything else. And I was sure that it was what they were trying to do. I'm really surprised that Vivenna did not think about that. (hide spoiler)] It's also why I'm so annoyed with Vivenna; she was all about how she was prepared for Hallandren that they taught her everything but then she has a meltdown when she sees a Lifeless. What preparation. She's constantly bragging about not judging people but judges everyone all the time. "Poor Jewels, she is a Drab." Then. "Poor, Stupid Jewels, she does not realise how poor she is that she's Drab." "Poor Siri who loves colours she must be terrified in that horrible city. I must save her." "Siri is not ready for this! I'm I was so prepared for this." "I must be really careful in the city, but I will only dress in such a way that I do not compromise how I would dress at home, spending money left and right! But I will also judge "my friend" who's doing a better job to blend in, and I will subtly call him stupid."
Somewhere halfway through the book, I wished that those poor statues, which she could not stop badmouthing (how people dare to have a different customs in how to honour/remember something/someone that she does?!), to step down and slap her stupid. (view spoiler)[And when they turned out to be the secret army I had a really good laugh! (hide spoiler)]
Wow, finally done. I really, really dislike Vivenna if you did not get the message.
Susebron is probably one of the purest characters I read about in a very long time. I kept wishing that he had a POV, but in the end, I was happy that he did not have a one because it was not really that important. Because even without one, it was really easy to get his view on the story, he was that much of an open book. (view spoiler)[But I have to say that I still find it hilarious that the priest kept pushing Siri to sleep with him when he had no idea what to do. One would expect them to give him some... pointers? (hide spoiler)]
And now, Lightsong. Another character who was up and down for me. He was hilarious! But sometimes it crossed the line and the funny aspect of his acting got lost, and it was very forceful and just asking for an eye roll. But then I enjoyed when he got stuck in politics, so much fun. And the end? PERFECT.
So, the end? Yeah, it was a bit rushed. Suddenly so much happened a bit out of nowhere and I wanted a bit more time spend on it. I wanted more on those priests and Bluefinger.
I may be complaining a bit... a lot, but overall I really enjoyed this book. Even Vivenna's chapters which were horrible could be so much fun because of Denth and Tonk Fah. So, even if I was unhappy about something, other aspects could outweigh it very quickly.
And the important question now is which book from Sanderson I should read next? Or does any of you have a good reading order for his books?...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)]
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.
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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
The first one was bad. What did I think? :o Well, I did not think, and it's not my fault. Completely. My friend and I pretty oftWhy am I reading this?
The first one was bad. What did I think? :o Well, I did not think, and it's not my fault. Completely. My friend and I pretty often switch our e-readers, and we just did. I told her about reading the first one in the series, along with the problems I had and she told me to read the rest of the series with a bit of threatening and laughing. So I did. Because I figured it could not be much worse than the first one was.
Man, was I wrong?
Where I liked the main female character more than the previous one, I seriously wanted to chuck the book out of the window.
There is not much I'm going to say about this book, but I need to say one thing.
My Russian is a bit rusty (okay, a lot).
But even I see that the author butchered it!
moy chernovolosyy koroleva
moy - is used for a male
chernovolosyy - also for a male
koroleva - and suddenly a Queen. A female.
It is not something that is in English, so I get it that it is confusing. But trust me, it looks really really bad.
There were more problems with Russian, but I think this is enough to illustrate. And the thing that bugs me is the fact that if I was writing anything and had a sentence in a language, I do not speak I would get a native speaker to check it for me. Honestly, it would take me thirty seconds to go to Facebook, find a local Expat group and I bet if I posted a question "Hello, writing a book/story. How would you say this sentence xx in Russian? Thank you!" And I'm telling you, you would get tens of answers! Was it hard? No. I have no idea why the author did not do that.
Another thing that bugs me. The main male calls the girl "his blyad". I'm not going to go into the fact this word has really, really bad connotation. But the thing that made me angry is the fact this is a five-letter word, and the author managed to mistype it three times as "blayd". And actually, it is as first used in the wrong spelling and it really confused me. No one edited this book or what? You do not need to speak Russian to see that there are two different spellings for one word!
Nope, nope, nope.
Btw, every book had so many people betraying Bratva; I'm sort of surprised there is anyone left. Or that they are not in jail, seeing that they are so many people just waiting to betray them for the right price tag.
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
Well, this time around it was probably more tolerable than the first time around. But I'm still not really sold on London because what she did was supWell, this time around it was probably more tolerable than the first time around. But I'm still not really sold on London because what she did was supper dumb. If the character was younger than okay, maybe. But a grown-up woman and she does not realise that what she's doing cannot have possibly any good outcome? And honestly, I dislike Jessica. Is it bad that I sort of wish she'd died? Or stayed away at least.
Honestly? London was annoying. I loved Picnic/Hunter scenes... so awesome! :D (view spoiler)[I wish Picnic'd have ended with someone younger :D (hide spoiler)] <--- Not really. :D I don't know why. I always imagined it that way. ...more
Years ago when I finished the Hex Hall series I was excited for this one but never read it. So, after the Hex Hall re-I'm actually very disappointed.
Years ago when I finished the Hex Hall series I was excited for this one but never read it. So, after the Hex Hall re-reading, I just had I decided to tackle down this one as well. Bad decision.
The thing is if there was a time between reading the Hex Hall and this one I think the disappointment would be smaller. The thing that is missing the most is Sophie's humour. Izzy is dull in comparison with Sophie, and I realised that Sophie's smart comments (and Archer's as well) are actually a very important part why I loved the Hex Hall series so much. With them missing, the book is just sad.
I also always thought that Izzy would go to the Hex Hall, not just some sort of random high school. I do not know how I feel about that. And where I liked Izzy in the Hex Hall she was getting on my nerves here.
Also, nothing was solved in this book. Only pointless plot/drama that was introduced but would have no value in the long run.
And I feel cheated because there was so much potential far fabulous plot. Just more of Torin (because we all waited for that anyway, right?) and if you're going to start the book with Finn missing, then I expect the book to actually be about Izzy trying to find her sister. Not her living the life as a normal teenager.
I don't care for Romy or Anderson. Adam was really stupidly written character. I like Dex, but that's it. I could go with this book without them.
And I'm gutted that Sophie and Archer did not appear. They were only mentioned like twice.
I was going to rate this one three stars (weak ones but still three). But then I did a bit of digging. This was published almost six years ago, and it's clearly unfinished. Then in some comments, I read that the author changed publisher and she won't be finishing this one. Really angry and I even feel generous for giving this book two stars. Because yeah, it was okay, easy to read but it was wasted book. I want to know what is the deal with Torin instead I got some fictional soap opera Ivy Springs Izzy talks about all the time!
This is just filled with an unnecessary plot, but the thing that kills me is that we won't get another book that would solve the unanswered questions. If the author did not waste this book on teen high school drama, it could have been amazing. Right now I'm disappointed, angry and where I was really excited that I loved the re-read of the Hex Hall I'm left sad.
Personally, I find unfinished series very unprofessional, and it reflects really bad on the author. I won't trust said author ever again. I will not start any of their series unless they finish it. Because "trust issues".
As always I wanted to include some quotes, but where I had trouble to choose some for Hex Hall because there were so many great ones, here, I found none. ...more
So, where to start? I had this book on my shelf since 2012 or 2013, but I never had time to read it. And toI am absolutely obsessed with Jackal!
3,5/5⭐
So, where to start? I had this book on my shelf since 2012 or 2013, but I never had time to read it. And today I finally did. Right away I have to say that if I read this six years ago, I would have been ABSOLUTELY ecstatic. I would have freaked and asked for more... And where now it was a pleasant read, it was lacking. Somehow. I would say this is 3,5 stars for me.
So few points:
- I love the whole world - At first, I thought that a rabid was a typo for a rabbit. Dont's ask me why. - I was actually pretty okay with Allison; she was an interesting main character. - I want to know more about Kanin. - I am obsessed with Jackal! He's just thy right character for me. - Stick is a useless idiot. - Can someone, please, explain to me how Jeb's group survived that long? Because that's absolutely beyond me. They have zero survival skills, and it seems like pure luck until Allison joined. And you want me to believe that they were okay for over three years? - The Ruth disliking Allison was pretty cheap. (view spoiler)[As was killing her off. Made zero sense. (hide spoiler)] - These people, including the children, are running for years but they still have no idea when to keep quiet? - I hate Zeke! That guy is useless and boring as Monday morning. It reminds me about books I've read when I was younger when the good guy was way too good, way too perfect. I hated that, always rooted for the bad guys. And Zeke is just that. - I'll definitely continue the series because I like where it's going. Especially with the promise of Zeke not being there for a while.
“Strange how a few short hours could change your view of the world.” ...more
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