I'm not really sure how to start this... Bardugo's books always sound like something I'm going to love. Her characters sound like the type of characteI'm not really sure how to start this... Bardugo's books always sound like something I'm going to love. Her characters sound like the type of characters I'm going to adore. However, in the past, I started two of her books, and I do not believe I did get past chapter three in either of those.
And then this book came, I fell love in with the cover. The blurb seemed fantastic. Reviews came, and it seemed so twisted, I book I would love. Then I noticed that the friends' average rating was way lower than the global one, and I was unsure. Should I read it or not?
Thankfully, Alex being the hero she is offered me a buddy read. So, I finally had a reason to read the book. And you know, it was time to know for good. To finish Bardugo's book. Either to fall in love with her work or to finally accept that her books are not for me.
So, I was finally able to pick up this book. And, now I'm unsure how to write this review. I keep going back, thinking that something is missing. But this is what it is.
I felt like CinemaSins (or BookSins?) every time I thought "hmm, narration." There was so much narration, description of unnecessary things and a lot of it felt like it was just told instead of shown. I got bored, really, really fast. I was reading very slowly, and I was not really interested in the story right from the beginning, which probably was not the best thing. And then Alex DNFed on me and I wondered if I should as well. But I had a goal, to finish a Bardugo book.
I started skimming certain parts which were dragging which helped a lot.
I cannot really say that there is really a moment where the story picks up. It always felt like there was something coming, some tension, some revelation and then the next chapter crashed down, and I was sad that for a moment I thought it would get more interesting.
There was so much said about this book being "adult" and how to expect gruesome things etc. Which were there... but somehow did not leave any impression. This connects to the main feeling I got from this book "plastic" and "flat". It should have been horrible, but it was sort of... just there? (view spoiler)[Even the moment when the guy ate from the toilet. Which feels super yucky just writing down had no effect on my while reading. (hide spoiler)]
If you read the spoiler, you saw that I referred to that person as that guy... which is because I had a terrible time trying to remember the names of the majority of characters. Sometimes after several chapters, a character was mentioned, and I was unsure which one was it, and I had to go back to see who they were and what they did.
Darlington... What can I say? Even people who disliked this book seemed to love Darlington. And you know what? I did not. For a character (view spoiler)[which actually was not in the story, only in the strange flashbacks from his POV (hide spoiler)] I really disliked him. I just could not get to like him. He was annoying, and I wished Alex would punch him. I was glad that he was gone (view spoiler)[I just wish his POV would have stopped soon and he would remain lost. (hide spoiler)] I have no idea how to describe him. On one side he has a bit of Hermione Granger feel to him. And on the other, he feels a bit like the usual bad/mysterious boy which he really was not. And the mix did not really work.
As for the villain. Well, I got two suspects. One became suspect to me the moment they appeared on the page. Because they just behaved suspiciously and the character was otherwise really out of the place even if others were put around to make it like there is a reason for this person to be in focus. It just seemed rather obvious. Then I got a second character I started to distrust. Because they just tried to keep everything way too hush hush. (view spoiler)[What a surprise that there were two villains who were not connected to each other and I guessed both of them. However, I have to say that I also had a moment of stupidity there. The moment Daisy was mentioned, I thought: "That's funny, the author got two characters named after the same flower only in different languages. I wonder if she did that on purpose or it is a coincidence." (hide spoiler)]...more
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.
I’d hoped I could marry for love now that my sisters had already been married off for tactical reasons.
“Gianna and I married for political reasons. W I’d hoped I could marry for love now that my sisters had already been married off for tactical reasons.
“Gianna and I married for political reasons. Why should Lily not be allowed to marry someone she wants?”
And I'm done with this series. I cannot take this any longer. How come that everyone suddenly turned so stupid? Like with the hope she'll be able to marry for love. Who could have even thought that after reading more than a page about their father? They all say how cruel he is and then they hope he'll be nice? Come on! And the huge love story that started back then when Lily fell from Romero when she was like 14- years-old or whatever? Nope, there was nothing between them, felt forced and stupid.
“Mother told me to be happy shortly before she died. And Romero makes me happy. I want to be with him.”
I thought that Gianna was dumb, but Lily takes the cake. This is just completely ridiculous. Luca actually won the Scuderi lottery. He got the only Scuderi girl that is not absolutely annoying and does not act on pure emotions. (view spoiler)[Except for some dumb decisions like helping Gianna run and then hiding Lily's secret. (hide spoiler)]
I went against his direct orders after all. That’s still a crime.”
Yes! He went against his boss, against direct orders. And after three books where Luca was painted as monster etc. he should have just put a bullet in his head and shipped Lily off to her father. This makes no sense. Same with "I won't go to war with Outfit because of this" and then suddenly "Fine, the war is happening no matter what."
Also, there are a lot of inconsistencies. Like the girl, Rocco (view spoiler)[ is going to marry (hide spoiler)] goes from being named Ramona to Maria. That's just sloppy.
So no, this series is so OVER for me. Nothing makes sense, and the characters just get more annoying with each other book in the series....more
I don't really know about this one. At the beginning I did not really like it and thought that it was worse than the first book then it seemed maybe aI don't really know about this one. At the beginning I did not really like it and thought that it was worse than the first book then it seemed maybe a bit better. What I liked more was that we got to see more of the mafia business. But in regards to their relationship, I did not like it all. It did not seem real at all, it was forced and really laughable to read about. Both of them acted very stupidly in unnecessary situations.
And to be honest Aria is supposed to be the timid one and Valentine even describes herself (several times) as a strong woman, but then you can see her as the one really bowing down to her husband and doing what's asked of her. It's one of the tropes I dislike. A heroine saying how strong and independent she is but then she acts nothing like that....more
... Lituji toho, že jsem tohle vůbec četla. (Alespoň můžu vinit mamku, která to dotáhla domů).
Může obsahovat náznaky spoilerů
Můj první problém začal ... Lituji toho, že jsem tohle vůbec četla. (Alespoň můžu vinit mamku, která to dotáhla domů).
Může obsahovat náznaky spoilerů
Můj první problém začal hned na první stránce: Jmenuji se xy, jsem yyy a tohle je můj příběh. Sorry, ale tohle je amatérština. Jenom to ukazuje, že osoba neumí představit postavu, příběh nenuceně v průběhu.
Hned na první stránce se mi postava taky znechutila, když se popíše jako megální krásku a jak je strašně super! Pak se přirovná snad k Selmě Hayek? Tuším. Nevím, někdo jí zjevně zapomněl říct, že skromnost udělá divy.
Furt mává tím, že je profesorka (a lidi kvůli tomu ohýbají pravidla) a učí francouzštinu. Sice je to už pár let, co jsem ji aktivně studovala, ale stejně jsem tam našla několik chyb a párkrát to vypadá, že hodili větu do překladače, protože takhle by tu větu Francouz fakticky neřekl.
A hned z toho vyplývá další vět. Když dělali překlad, tak jim nevadila hromada textu ve FJ, ale museli počeštit Quiche. Přiznávám, že když jsem viděla poprvé napsané slovo kiš, tak ta knížka málem letěla z okna!
Spisovatelka si zjevně něco kompenzuje. Já jsem mega žrout, o jídle přemýšlím furt. Ale co se dělo v té knížce? To už fakticky byla nějaká nemoc. Brácha na to koukl a říká: "Jasný, ženská se hladoví, aby byla hubená, tak se nají aspoň na stránkách." A doopravdy to tak vypadalo.
Jistě, nikdy o Smithových neslyšela, ale bude je hned obhajovat, jak to byli super lidi. A vezme slovo sousedky za daný fakt a žene se za svou pravdou.
Ten konec? Nebyl realistický ani trochu. Vypadalo to tak, že vzala výčet na začátku a jediná chyba v hlavní postavě byla, že to není žádná Lara Croft, tak to musela napravit. Bylo to doslova směšné.
Stejně jako celý románek s jejím doktorem. A sorry, že ti řekne, že k doktorovi moc nechodí, tak to stejně nevysvětluje, že má najednou o ni zájem, jen co se zjistí, že má v "hlavě" kulku....more
I am angry! I couldn't wait for this book, and I've got this?
Easton had his problems in the previous books; yeThis review might be mildly spoilerish.
I am angry! I couldn't wait for this book, and I've got this?
Easton had his problems in the previous books; yeah he's a drunk, has an addiction problem, has a thing for his brothers' girlfriends but he had a good side, too. In this book? He's back to square one. During the previous trilogy, he improved, mostly thanx to Ella. Now, he spends most of the book wasted. Every time he speaks to Ella, he's just mean to her. Saying rude things to her, basically telling her that Reed is cheating on her and is happy that he's away from Ella because she's a controlling him way too much. And then he realises that he shouldn't have said that to her and somewhat apologises. I liked the scenes between Ella and Easton in PP, BP, and TP. But here? No! Really, Easton is bragging and whining how he's always left behind, etc. but honestly? He's just mean and almost bully-ish!
Then the twins and Lauren? I loved twins in the original trilogy; they were fun. And Lauren was sweet, and unlike everyone else in that school, she wasn't a massive b*tch. So I'm asking why?! (view spoiler)[Why did they have to make a bigger b*tch than Jordan out of her?! Like seriously! And now she is even unable to tell the twins apart? Come on! And the whole making slaves out of them? First, before the twins didn't seem to be that dumb to fall for that. Second, I am just asking why! (hide spoiler)]
Then the whole Felicity thing? Ridiculous! Just plain ridiculous! :D Cannot stop laughing. So, she's supposed to be the next Jordan? She's just there for one and only thing. (view spoiler)[Come on, putting the answers in the girl's locker? There are better ways how to get a plot twist. (hide spoiler)]
So, I ranted for a while now, and I said nothing about the girl; Easton's love interest. I think that says something. Easton says at the beginning that she's just plain. And I have to agree. She's just there. I don't even remember her that much. Yeah, the family issue somewhat seems to be interesting but they hid it till the end. So honestly? I don't care for her one bit. Also, during BP I believe, Easton drops some hints about some mysterious girl, but suddenly we get some unknown girl. Come on! Don't drop hints like that just to completely disregard it later.
So what else remains to be said? In the end, Easton was just dumb. (view spoiler)[Hartley's dad telling him that he's possibly Steven's son. Don't buy into it. First, I don't think that if that were the case, the author would have done the Ella/Easton kiss in PP. Second, previously it was said that the twins are more like Steve, not Easton. So, if anyone would be Steve's kid, I think it would be the twins. (hide spoiler)] And since I'm talking about Steve. (view spoiler)[I thought that he gave most of his money to Ella, so how come he's out of the prison and has money for lawyers? Seems confusing to me. And him coming to see Ella? Really? (hide spoiler)]
In the end, there is a huge cliffhanger, and yet I don't really care. The cliffhangers at the end of PP and BP were more WTF for me. Yes, I wonder how it's gonna end (view spoiler)[hopefully without the twins dying (hide spoiler)]. But honestly, I know that we are going to be in for a lot of Hartley drama, and I don't care for that. (view spoiler)[Don't know American law but driving in the car like that with the rearview mirror practically unattached and unusable? That screams prison to me. (hide spoiler)]
Even though this was huge let down for me, I'll still read the next one just to see what's going to happen. (view spoiler)[I just hope that Hartley's dad won't do something to free Steve that would seriously p*ss me off! Because where the original trilogy was sort of "resolved" with Steve being arrested this is undoing that which I do not like that much. (hide spoiler)]...more
První kniha v roce 2017 a hned zklamání? To se docela děsím toho, co mě letos čeká.
Mělo to poměrně pomalý začátek, kdy člověk neví nic jiného, než že První kniha v roce 2017 a hned zklamání? To se docela děsím toho, co mě letos čeká.
Mělo to poměrně pomalý začátek, kdy člověk neví nic jiného, než že spadli. Pak se konečně něco dozvíme a začne to být aspoň trochu zajímavé. Jenomže cokoliv zajímavého je zabito koncem, který je nudný, zdlouhavý a utopicky otravný.
Ani tomu moc nepřidávají hlavní postavy. Harper a Nick jsou totálně na pád letadlo. Vlastně z těch pěti, co to dotáhnou do konce, je snesitelný pouze jeden. ...more
Okay, I LOVE the author. Unfortunately, this book was a bit disappointing. I saw a lot of parallels with the Degradation.
Wulf - Jameson Eden - Ang KatyOkay, I LOVE the author. Unfortunately, this book was a bit disappointing. I saw a lot of parallels with the Degradation.
Wulf - Jameson Eden - Ang Katya - sort of Tate but with zero self-esteem
I hated that she was constantly putting herself down.
But the ending was shocking - NEVER saw that one coming. Stylo again managed to prove that she is a great author. So even though this is not my favourite work of hers, I will read the sequel....more
...After months of reading this, I've finally finished!
I loved the idea. The beginning was awesome. Then it started to be soooo boring and so repetiti...After months of reading this, I've finally finished!
I loved the idea. The beginning was awesome. Then it started to be soooo boring and so repetitive. I slowly started to hate every single character. Then I stopped reading for some time. I almost thought that I would DNF it but then decided against it.
And the ending? Was freaking amazing! Did not see that coming at all. Which made me happy that I finished the book. However, overall I have to say that I would still call this book a slight disappointment.
A piece of advice: Do not bring the book with you if you have an internship. (Mainly if you're also reading a different edition, in Czech it's called "How to kill your boss".)...more
For future reference - Always have a different book to read.
If I did have something else to read while travelling, I would DNF this like two chapter For future reference - Always have a different book to read.
If I did have something else to read while travelling, I would DNF this like two chapters in. I did not like the characters at all. And the plot was just a background noise for them to get to the bed.
We've got several plot twist/actions that were introduced during the "series": Taylor leaking the video, Lively, PRISM, (view spoiler)[ Her daddy killing some poor girl who said No (hide spoiler)]. Yet, none of this was ever solved. Just background noise....more
For future reference - Always have a different book to read.
If I did have something else to read while travelling I would DNF this like 2 chapters i For future reference - Always have a different book to read.
If I did have something else to read while travelling I would DNF this like 2 chapters in. Did not like the characters. And the plot was just a background noise for them to get to the bed.
The plot with Lively might be interesting. Unfortunately, the author rushed the whole thing to the point where it would be way better just to skip the "plot" and make it just about sex....more
Absolutně nechápu, proč jsem to dělala? Protože mi pořád nezabraly prášky na spaní a Coraline vypadala moc zajímavě. Ta holka je totálně na kulku, i kAbsolutně nechápu, proč jsem to dělala? Protože mi pořád nezabraly prášky na spaní a Coraline vypadala moc zajímavě. Ta holka je totálně na kulku, i když nejste u ní v hlavě! A nejhorší je, že on je pak absolutně stejný. Hrůza, hrůza, hrůza. Jinak miluju autory, kteří něco napíšou, a pak to přepíšou z pohledu jiný postavy. Za chvilku se to bude psát z pohledu podlahy. ...more
EDIT (June 2020): I just want a book focusing on Dorian and Eugenie from start to finish. Am I really asking that much?
I have to say that my opinion oEDIT (June 2020): I just want a book focusing on Dorian and Eugenie from start to finish. Am I really asking that much?
I have to say that my opinion or feelings on this book did not change.
I still hate Kiyo (from the first moment in book one). I still want more of Dorian. I still want to shake Eugenie to finally wake up! I mean no matter what Dorian does, she makes it the biggest betrayal ever and when Kiyo (view spoiler)[tries to kill her and her kids (hide spoiler)] she's totally shocked and hurt. Where's the rage? She's just surprised Pikachu. I mean Kiyo was always a bad boyfriend, and for some reason, Eugenie always tried to find some stupid excuses. In the name of "being human".
"I see. It's your turn again."
This sentence still breaks my heart.
(view spoiler)[I have to say that the whole "I already broke up with you in my head, so, I did not cheat" is some serious mental gymnastics. I mean, how hard one would have to try to come up with nonsense like that? That's not how breakups work. (hide spoiler)]
EDIT (11/4/2017): Grr! No way! Kill Kiyo! Kill him! I'll start a petition: Kill Kiyo!
I love Richelle Mead. I love her stories. Unfortunately, Eugenie is killing me!
I would love to give 5* to this book. But I cannot because of her.
I love Dorian more and more with every book. She does not deserve him. And why is she still surprise that he has his own agenda? (view spoiler)[ Come on! Is the crown just a trinket? How could she believe it? I did not think that she was really stupid. Other than liking Kiyo which is really stupid. (hide spoiler)]
"I see. It's your turn again." (view spoiler)[ Yes! She goes from Dorian to Kiyo again and again! She knows what an idiot Kiyo is! And then she is surprised that he's trying to kill her! How come that she did not see it coming? Everyone else did... (hide spoiler)]
And at the end, Dorian saves the day again....more
For future reference - Always have a different book to read.
If I did have something else to read while travelling, I would DNF this like two chapter For future reference - Always have a different book to read.
If I did have something else to read while travelling, I would DNF this like two chapters in. I did not like the characters. And the plot was just a background noise for them to get to the bed....more
tahle knížka MĚLA potenciál. příběh se dál krásně rozvinout, bohužel se to nepovedlo. Na začátku dostaneme Wren bez pocitů, která už na třetí stránce tahle knížka MĚLA potenciál. příběh se dál krásně rozvinout, bohužel se to nepovedlo. Na začátku dostaneme Wren bez pocitů, která už na třetí stránce toho cítí docela dost.Takže vlastně nemáme nic. V jeden moment mě napadla paralela mezi resety a divergentnimi z Divergence - V.Roth. Celkově to bylo jedno velké zklamání....more
Loading...
