Look who's back just in time to make this my last book of 2020. And how fitting is that? (Side note, thank you, everyone, for your kind messages regarLook who's back just in time to make this my last book of 2020. And how fitting is that? (Side note, thank you, everyone, for your kind messages regarding why I was MIA here. I'm well and healthy as one can be at this time. However, GR became somewhat a toxic environment for me in the last couple of months and I just needed a break. I will go more into detail in my review of 2020. But I just wanted to say thank you.)
So, this was a buddy-read with the amazing Antonella, thankfully she supported me through this. And thanks to her I managed to leave this book in 2020 because that's exactly where it belongs to.
After the last book was such a great disappointment to me, I had zero expectations for this book. I just wanted to finish this series. (Since once again it was promised that this would be the last book and thankfully that seems to be the truth for once.) I'm going to be brief, I don't want to waste much time here. Plus, I wasted all of my patience on the previous books.
So, here are my feelings, opinions and things that came to my mind while reading. (Again, I repeat my personal opinions and feelings which means this review is subjective to me.)
Oh, so we are flipping the script again? What a surprise! Not. Suddenly Calliope is the poor little victim who is so hurt but she's trying to save everyone. You see, she is such a good girl. So smart, selfless but no one gets it how much she gives! Because no one apparently gets anything in these books. Just Calliope and Ethan, only them. And Ethan is the string master and he knew everything, he pieced everything together. And certainly, no one is being bothered by how Calliope was humiliating him in the past book? What A strong boss.
And suddenly every single character besides those two does not have a single brain cell left to share between all of them. I have to say that whatever I felt about any of the characters in the previous books is gone. They are all bad, stupid and just pathetic. Wyatt, Helen, Nari, Sedric, Darcy, Neil, Evelyn just everyone and yes that includes Mel and Liam.
Let me tell you, by including them this series stopped being about the children. It just meant that there was no story for the children to be strong enough to carry without the parents there. And yes, even Mel and Liam are completely lost to me. Their own series became unreadable to me. Because I'm sorry but Mel was just such a brat that I had a very vivid flashback to Olivia.
And when I'm talking about people not having a single brain cell that includes the villains in this book. Because... what did they do? The biggest ace in their sleeve, the meanest meanie did what? (view spoiler)[Oh, he shot himself, how terrifying! (hide spoiler)]
Which brings me to another thing, what really happened in this book? Not much, a lot of talking. Some people died for the show of it. And nothing. I was bored out of my mind, it was dragging so much! It was just an eye-roll fest, nothing to be excited about, not even angry! I just kept eyeing the progress bar and hoping that it would move faster. And again, with so many flashbacks... or should I say rather rewriting what was said in the previous books?
Also, back to the characters. I feel like if you were to take each of the books in the children series and change the names of each character in each book (Meaning, because I know I'm making zero sense, that Ethan would be Ethan in book 1. Marc in book 2. Joseph in book 3 and so on. Calliope in book 4, Martha in book 5, Jessica in book 6 etc.) they would rather like completely different characters. There is no continuity in them.
Okay, these two spoilers are regarding the deaths in this book. The first one is more general, more just my feeling about how deaths were handled in this book. No name is dropped but by reading the spoiler you may get a slight idea about who lives and who does not. The second spoiler is a real spoiler with a name in it, so, beware. (view spoiler)[I mentioned some people dying and yeah, in my opinion, those were just token kills, like, see this world is so ruthless! People die. Well, you took the easy hits. (hide spoiler)](view spoiler)[ Honestly, Liam being paralyzed from waist down? Is this the best the author can do? Because it really did feel like she was too afraid of killing any of the main four that she just injured him. (hide spoiler)]
So, overall, a book I had no expectations for managed to disappoint me by how bad it was. However, I'm glad that I can leave this series in 2020. It's finally done and I do not have to drop it and then wonder what if the author managed to come up with something decent. (She did not if you are wondering.) A couple of years ago this author was one of my favourites which was the reason why I kept giving her chances. But honestly, it's time to let it go.
Oh, and almost forgot the book was again very poorly edited, a lot of typos/missing words. Which is kind of the norm with these books but since it was dragging so much, I tended to notice more.
Anyway, this is more of a rant just after finishing reading this book (just to finish review before midnight, am I the book Cinderella?), so, I might change/add some things later. Sorry, if I make zero sense, it was done in a rush!...more
However, I still loved this one. And I'm going to tell you why. These times are stressful for most of us and I just loved curling up with this book and enjoying it for an hour. A cup of tea and sitting in my favourite armchair and for a moment I was just lost in this book.
So, thank you for bringing us this little book, it's all I needed.
I have to say that while I follow Catana, lately her posts were not showing up on my feed and therefore I can say that I did not see the majority of these comics, therefore, it all felt like new content to me. Which made it more fun....more
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
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I recently had an ARC for I Hope This Helps by Tommy Si ***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I recently had an ARC for I Hope This Helps by Tommy Siegel and while that was not the biggest hit with me, in my review I said that my favourite parts from the book were those which included the candy hearts. So, of course, I could not pass on this one.
And I was not disappointed. It was a very quick read. Very clear, concise and straight to the point/punch line.
It took the best from I Hope This Helps and gave it it's own space. It feels more neet, that there is something connecting all the comics.
So, if you are trying to decide which Tommy Siegel book to get, I would recommend Candy Hearts. But! I have to say that it only shows a part of his cartoon style. (Though, in my opinion, the best). Which means that if you like this still does not mean you will like all of his other work or the other way around. This is more of a sample....more
Okay, I'm going to be brief (for once). If you're looking for a more in-depth review, I recommend the one by Phuong ✯. She did amazing work her reviewOkay, I'm going to be brief (for once). If you're looking for a more in-depth review, I recommend the one by Phuong ✯. She did amazing work her review.
Fair warning, this might be slightly spoilerish.
So, I do like Remo and Serafina. However, I've had enough. We do not need another point of view on their book; we already got like four. (And we are probably getting another one because I can just expect Samuel to spend half of the book on how Serafina betrayed him and half of the book being a flashback taking place during Serafina's book. EDIT: oh, and also Adamo. His book is totally having flashbacks to the torture in Twister Pride if not the kidnapping of Serafina as well. And then the mom plot. I really need fewer flashbacks in these books. Especially on plot, we've seen through a different POV.). I mean just enough. And if it was not enough that it was another POV on the Twisted Pride, Serafina was mentioned so much that it was making me uncomfortable. And I repeat, I actually like Serafina and Remo, yet the constant mention of Serafina was making me sick. I cannot imagine all those who actually do not like her having to read this book and having Serafina mentioned every other page.
Well, me being brief probably just went out of the window, it seems.
If I were, to sum up, this book, it's just watered-down version of Twisted Hearts. (view spoiler)[And the terrifying thing is that Samuel and Emma seem to be heading the same way. (hide spoiler)]
I did know that Sofia had a crush on Danilo based on Serafina's book. But to this extend? She and Gemma could have exchanged some pointers. However, I have to say that the "confrontation" at the party went better for Gemma than it went for Sofia. And I'm saying it now that I'm still not okay with that scene. (view spoiler)[Well and a couple of others, mainly Sofia flashing her boobs at Danilo. (hide spoiler)] Which is the main issue with a large age gap when the story starts at the time when one of them is underage (and Sofia being underage for half of the book did not help), it just tends to cross certain lines. And yes, age gap story can be done well but this is not it.
As for Danilo, I'm actually surprised. Before reading this book I've expected that he would still have Serafina issues (view spoiler)[Okay, he has Serafina issues but different than I've expected. (hide spoiler)] I really thought that he would put pressure on Sofia not being like her sister and actually same with Sofia's family. I don't know. Based on the blurb and everything I really expected Sofia to be forced by her family to be like Serafina. (I even expected someone to suggest that they can remake Serafina's old wedding dress for her).
Maybe you should stop mentioning her." (Anna to Sofia).
But no. From what I read, it felt like that only Sofia was putting the pressure on herself to be like Serafina. (view spoiler)[The whole dying hair to look like Serafina? Using her perfume? (hide spoiler)] I have to say that most of the characters in books by this author had some serious issues and traumas. But the whole time reading this book there was a voice in my head that was screaming that someone needs to get a good therapist for Sofia. (Or maybe I was just watching too many videos by Kirk Honda).
Even if I was ashamed to admit it, I barely missed Fina anymore and often even forgot all about her - until someone reminded me. Well, not true.
Oh, yeah, I was talking about Danilo. I mean, I liked him better in Twisted Pride or even Bound by the Past. He gets major extra points for his relationship with Emma, and I mean major! (view spoiler)[I expected him to be angry. Very angry. But that sort of went out of the window after the wedding and he was actually kind of a softie - which admittedly felt a bit fake and out of character. But where he lost me was when he said that he never thought about Sofia in a "sexual" way before... A chapter or two before that he was totally checking her out. A bit of consistency? (hide spoiler)] Also, I felt like he did suddenly a one-eighty. He was all so suddenly extremely committed to Sofia and felt like he was the one wanting a Disney fairytale.
So, I called this book Twisted Hearts 2.0 and same with that book, here they actually get married pretty late in the book. I believe it was around the halfway mark, which then also leads to the problem that their relationship post-wedding feels a tad rushed. A plus compared to Twisted Hearts the pre-wedding section felt less jumpy.
But the issue was that it felt that nothing much in the book really happened. If you take Serafina out of the story, you're not left with much. And while I get it that this was sort of stand-alone, it's then strange that it so heavily relies on Serafina drama. But there is nothing besides Sofia and Danilo finding a way to work as a couple. No additional drama. No additional plotline. It even got to the point that I wanted to know more about Marco and even his issues with Bria.
To conclude, yeah, it wasn't great, but Twisted Hearts were worse. EDIT: A few days later I'm not sure it compared that well even to Twisted Hearts. At this moment I think that both were terrible. So, one star may go missing from this rating pretty soon.
A couple of notes on the side: - Well, I wasn't sure about Anna in Bound by Past. She seemed very timid, and I actually felt really sorry and sad for her. In this book, she is nothing like that. This Anna and Anna from Bound by Past feel like different characters. And honestly, while Anna was saying some hard truths, she was kind of annoying. - And while I like her more, I'm still not sure with the whole Santino/Clifford thing. - With each book, I like Samuel less and less. He does not deserve Emma at all. - I still have hopes for Nestore's book and Greta's and Amo's book. - And clearly, I was not brief, but I still recommend Phuong's ✯ review....more
I never really read anything by Dr Seuss when I was younger (only recently I read Grinch). And I just remember how I've always seen his books being meI never really read anything by Dr Seuss when I was younger (only recently I read Grinch). And I just remember how I've always seen his books being mention in YA and wondered what's that about.
And I still don't know why only two of his books were translated into Czech (if I can trust Czech version of Goodreads).
Anyway, this was quite fun and quick read. But the important question is if anyone ever did a horror version of The Cat in the Hat because it's just asking for it, isn't it?...more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I read this book without any prior knowledge of the auth***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I read this book without any prior knowledge of the author or his art... which I usually think is a bonus because it cannot happen that I already know the majority of the work. At first, I was enjoying the art quite a bit, but as I was getting more into the story, I was finding it hard and hard to keep my focus and interest. And for me, the biggest downfall was the texts which sometimes accompanied the images. Mostly I thought that it did not add anything to the story.
My favourite part was all the comics which included candy hearts!
Overall, it was an okay read, but I cannot say that I would come back to read another book by this author. However, I have mad respect for the author to try to challenge himself to draw 500 comics in 500 days, one each day. I would be exhausted on day 5....more
Well, I wanted to rate this book 2⭐ , but then I sat here and asked myself what is the extra star for? And I could not come up with an answer.
So, I wWell, I wanted to rate this book 2⭐ , but then I sat here and asked myself what is the extra star for? And I could not come up with an answer.
So, I wanted to read this book since it *was* the last one in this series. I was somewhere around the 40% mark, and I thought that the story was really dragging and nothing was happening, well, nothing which would move the story closer to the end and resolving everything. (And I believe that was one of the issues I had with Vicious Minds Part 1, I thought that there was so much unnecessary stuff that if half of it were cut there would be no need for book five.) And this book really seemed to have the same problem. And what a shock. This is not that last book! It had to be pointed out to me because I had no idea. I would absolutely finish this book, and then I would stare at the: "To Be Continued". Why?
Every character is just destroyed, completely shredded to little idiots only to built up Calliope. (view spoiler)[Even Liam and Mel, I mean they were shooting at her in a room, and they were not able to get her? (hide spoiler)] I mean Calliope supposedly teased Ethan in public, I would say more that she humiliated him, to be honest. At this point, Ethan is Calliope's Ivy. (view spoiler)[And I'm sure that the author has an explanation ready, how he did it only so that he can get what is his ultimate goal and whatever. The point is that Ethan just turned into a totally meek character who is just there to play second fiddle to Calliope. (hide spoiler)] And I do not care how the next (not going to call it last just to be sure) book is going to spin this. That he was again lying in his POV? Oh, and I almost forgot, since I'm talking about Ethan here (somehow this is just Calliope show now), let's just mention that I do not feel any chemistry between him and Calliope. None.
So, to probably the biggest thing that happened in this book which was basically almost at the end of it. (view spoiler)[ Calliope kills Coraline and I honestly thought that she was poisoning her for some time because she was coughing at one scene (maybe Cora was sick again?) but no, Calliope stabbed her. Plus then Mel and Liam attack Calliope. (hide spoiler)] And right after that I just went to cook lunch. It was probably the most *shocking* moment, and only a couple of chapters left, and I did not care one bit.
And that's the problem. With everything going on. With trying to build-up Calliope. And maybe to even trump the Ruthless People? Like to show that the children's series can be more ruthless and more everything than the original. Unfortunately, for me, it does not work. It makes it forced. Unbelievable. Even artificial. Sort of like a fake version of the story? And slowly while reading this book, I realised that I did not care for anything. Not for the story. Not for the characters. Not who's going to die, live, rule and whatever. And not just in this series, this includes the Ruthless People as well, one of my most re-read series ever.
I just cannot find it me to be interested in the story anymore because no matter what the next spin of the events will be, I won't trust it.
And I mean that. The author could take every single character I loved, kill them all and I would be like, yeah and? This spin-off or more precisely adding more books to it destroyed all characters for me, even Mel and Liam.
And the thing is I wish the events made me angry because then I would at least feel something towards this book. J.J. books usually made me feel so much, laugh, be angry and even cry, so, this emptiness is just shocking, and this really is a 1⭐ from me. ...more
Really conflicted here. I love the message, but I do not like the rest.
Explaining all the issues of *Oh, I just noticed that this is my #750 review!*
Really conflicted here. I love the message, but I do not like the rest.
Explaining all the issues of Fake News and what it involves, Media, Politics, how we get fooled, how media get fooled etc. This is a very strong point. My favourite was IV Part which focused on the history of fake news; I just wish it was a bit more detailed.
However, I have to say that I disliked the art, and I found the text hard to read. As for the art, I expected something with a similar vibe to the cover. Plus, I did not entirely like the tone of the book. It is shelved as "nonfiction (Adult)", but I totally disagree. The way things were said and explained, I thought for a moment that it was targeted at a younger audience. It was just irritating.
Overall, I would probably rate this somewhere between 2,5 and 3 stars.
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***...more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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.
So, I read a book The Book Love by Debbie Tung some time***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
So, I read a book The Book Love by Debbie Tung some time last year, and when I saw that she has another one, I just went for it. However, I have to say that I do not follow this author anywhere, so, the whole content in this book was new to me.
And while I found the Book Love rather relatable and sometimes it was just funny because I was very guilty of all things the author showed in her book. However, in this one, I was missing it. It was the daily life of a young couple. I did only very few funny moments; I could probably count those on the fingers of one hand.
This is just very much the case of me reading this book just because of the author. It was cute in an okay way, meaning I did not love it, nor did I hate it. Just very average....more
And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.
I enjoy Edgar Allan Poe so much; however, I still did not manage to get thAnd Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.
I enjoy Edgar Allan Poe so much; however, I still did not manage to get through all of his short stories, but I'll be definitely working on correcting that oversight.
This one was short, straight to the point. It won't go between my favourite Poe's short stories but yet, it was rather chilling.
With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think....more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm conflicted here...
I love political satire.
I love p***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm conflicted here...
I love political satire.
I love political cartoons.
And I like Matt Bors's content.
This should be a five stars read for me. But it is not.
The problem is that those cartoons do not relate to something currently happening. It's old news, and it just feels like it's missing the target. It feels like it's missing something.
It definitely feels like making a book on political cartoons definitely does not work. At least for me. Because it has to be quick, react to what's currently happening. It just does not reflect when you read it two years later.
So, yes to political cartoons. Yes to Matt Bors. But no to this format....more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Wow, I cannot believe that it's been two years since ***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Wow, I cannot believe that it's been two years since I've read the last Kit Rocha book.
To be honest, I had a bit of a hard time with this book. The idea is good. It's set in the same post-apo/dystopian world as the Beyond series. But except for the Flares, there is very little in common. It takes place in a different part of America, and I could not find any direct reference to the previous series. (Meaning, I did not notice any mention of the character from the Beyond series. But if I missed some and you find any, please, let me know! I was really curious to see if there would be some.)
While the world and the story were not a problem, the characters were. I could not connect with any of them. They seemed like vaguely similar to some characters from the Beyond series but way less fleshed out. I did not like any of them. I did not dislike any of them. I just did not really care about them in a way. As if they were just shells, a mirror reflection. Something was missing from them.
I wanted to write a couple of sentences for each character, but then I realised that there is nothing much I have to say about them. (view spoiler)[However, what I can say is that I did not get any connection between Knox and Nina. I did not feel the romance or love between them. (hide spoiler)]
So, while I said that the story was good, I also have to say that it was somewhat predictable. The twist? It just felt like the foreshadowing was done by Hulk. (view spoiler)[The whole Ava-is-alive thing was just a bit obvious. (hide spoiler)]
And while in the past I read Kit Rocha's books mainly when I wanted to just relax, I still enjoyed them very much. Because the characters were fun and the writing was well-done, it just drew you to the story, and I was missing this here a bit. Sometimes I just read a chapter, and then I stopped for two days. I have to say that sometimes I caught myself skimming through certain parts just to make some progress.
I don't want to say that this is a bad book. More of an okay book. I'm not angry or even disappointed by it. It's more of the same case as with the characters. I don't necessarily care. And while I give this three stars, I do not think I will continue reading this series....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
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
After finishing Twisted Hearts, I was rather unsure if I want to read this book or continue with this whole series. (Well, not a series what is it eveAfter finishing Twisted Hearts, I was rather unsure if I want to read this book or continue with this whole series. (Well, not a series what is it even? Since we had two series and now a stand-alone.) But then I thought that I sort of liked the little glimpses we got on Guilia and Cassio in the Camorra series, so, yeah, I decided to read it.
(Why do I have a feeling that it's pretty obvious what I'm going to say about this book since I started this review with this "Explanation"?)
Anyway, I really liked the first third. It was fun, and I thought "redemption"! Guilia was super fun, one of the best female characters in this whole... thing. She knew who she was; she had personality, hobbies (I'll get more to that later), personal style and opinion. I enjoyed the push and pull between her and Cassio. It was interesting to see how they would make this work. Plus the situation (Cassio already having two kids) was so different from all the other books in the previous series. It was just the shiny new thing. Don't get me wrong; I was annoyed by Cassio's behaviour but... at least was not as bland as for the rest of the book.
And the thing I need to say here is that I thought that I disliked Guilia's parents in Kiara's books but let me tell you now that I'm 100 % sure that I cannot stand them even a bit.
But then it started to drag. For multiple reasons.
And the biggest one was that I was not feeling Guilia and Cassio; I did not feel any chemistry between them. In the first third, maybe a bit but then for the rest of the book? No, nothing. Plus he still kept thinking about her as a child and teen which was killing any chance for some chemistry. And every time he called her "honey"... I just could not, it felt so weird and not fitting.
For me, this is not Guilia's and Cassio's book. It's Guilia's and Cassio's children's book. Because this was a story about how Cassio got the perfect nanny for his kids. You see, she never really held a child before but same for one child crying the first time she held her and the second one acting a bit aggressively the next day she's Mary Poppins! She even got a previously untrained (and clearly neglected) dog to listen to her commands! Anyway, I do not get what the huge deal was that Cassio needed a wife to care for his children. He just needed a better staff. Like, what sort of staff who cares for the kids was just so bad that they did not go shopping for six months to buy the children new clothes which fits them. (Well, actually only the two-year-old boy had small clothes, somehow the infant had appropriately sized clothes.) You don't need a wife to buy clothes for your children, just get a better staff!
So, Cassio. He's a major idiot. His obsessive and controlling behaviour was way too much. I secretly hoped that Guilia would set all the clothes he wanted her to wear on fire. Everybody, including Cassio, kept saying how cruel Cassio is but the problem is that we did not really get to see it. Since there was almost no "mafia business" in this book we did not get to see Cassio in working mode and therefore it was just the talk, he certainly did not do the walk. So, and now to the big plot-twist! (view spoiler)[ The whole Gaia thing and poor Cassio being all broken because he's just so evil and he's the reason his wife killed herself. I'm sorry, it was just so pitiful that I did not care at all. Gaia was probably made to be the villain in Cassio's story. But it was so over the top that it did not work. Plus it very much felt like Cassio's perspective. All I have to say is that: There are always three sides to a story. Yours, Theirs and The Truth. Maybe the whole issue comes from Gaia sleeping with her half-brother! Like, please don't? At least make it a step-brother if anything. So, because of this, it just felt so forced to make Gaia as bad as possible that it became a satire. It just got so much in a bad way that I stopped caring about the whole situation. (Minus the half-brother thing because no.) But I was more upset by how Cassio was treating the dog than anything to do with Gaia. Plus the fact that the children are not Cassio's just screams another book in future. (hide spoiler)]
Now to Guilia's hobbies I mentioned earlier. She mentions liking Pilates but not once in the whole book she's seen exercising. She loves to paint; she brought canvases with her. She sets up a studio and paints once. When she moves in, she mentions adding colour to the kids' rooms, and I expected her to have a bonding scene with the kids where they paint on the walls. Which would totally fit the story and her hobbies would be more than just a farce.
The book ends with a nine years time jump which disconnects the story and the characters. At the moment I found it boring and just dragging.
As for the rating, I'm going to leave it at three stars (rather weak) and only because I rated the Twisted Hearts two stars. And despite my problems with this book, Twisted Hearts was just way worse....more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Not really sure what to say. I very much enjoyed the ***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Not really sure what to say. I very much enjoyed the beginning, let's say the first 30 % but then the story suddenly changed and I could not care less to be honest. Sometimes I just felt like skipping some pages. The art is pretty but that's it for me....more
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
I'm really starting to enjoy the Europe Comics public***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
I'm really starting to enjoy the Europe Comics publications.
This one follows the murders of women in Mexico where they keep finding decapitated bodies and the heads are missing. As this suggests, it was very gruesome and violent, so, beware, it's not for everyone. I enjoyed the sort of "dirty" feel to it; the art is grim and smudgy. However, the font used for the dialogue was the same, and sometimes I had a hard time reading it....more
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