A small little frolic. Not quite a romp, but a nice and stately skip through a manicured field.
Um, so remember I do not prefer books with obtrusive roA small little frolic. Not quite a romp, but a nice and stately skip through a manicured field.
Um, so remember I do not prefer books with obtrusive romances and this one, while chaste, is still The Point.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ book burning, violent revolution, ecological disaster, mention of homophobia, mention of child abuse. (hide spoiler)]
Things to like:
-Very pleasant. It's cozy. Hot cocoa for the brain.
-Cool world. mermaids, merhorses, talking plants, spell winds... lots of cool stuff to look at.
-How magic worked. I liked the blend of magic and science. I wish we'd had more of it!
I don't really have any dislikes, other than the "HEA" focus and that fact that it felt a bit clinically banal. I didn't feel heart or glee or even mirth. It was just a lovely undyed wool sweater of a book. Perfectly fine, very cozy, no frills and a bit homely....more
For my book club, I spend the last few months of the year reading with the specific intent of finding things I think will appeal to our readership. ItFor my book club, I spend the last few months of the year reading with the specific intent of finding things I think will appeal to our readership. It means I try and toss many, many many books and finish but am frustrated with at least a dozen others in the attempt to find a handful I can recommend with no reservations.
This is one of those books. It's well written with darling characters, a very cool world, and a compelling set of issues for a plot. Is it groundbreaking or breathtaking? No, but dammit it is a good story well told from an angle I do not see much of, despite my over-saturation on books.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ non-consensual relationship / kidnapping, child abuse, lots of death and blood, slavery (hide spoiler)]
Really this book just ticks all the boxes. The characters were varied and interesting. The world and magic were fun and hung together well. The writing was masterful. The plot was multi-layered and there were consequences to character choices. The character choices made sense and were followed through with consideration of how those choices might change things. There was plenty left open but the story itself came to a conclusion that felt earned.
My small gripes are too much talk about kissing and a few times the baddies wobbled into moustache twirly territory.
I think this book would appeal to a wide variety of fantasy readers and should be one on the TBR if you like stories of plucky heroines who do cool magic....more
This sounded so fun, and it is, but only if you're ready to exist in the drunk/high space our MC lives in.
Things that were fun:
-Super power is friendsThis sounded so fun, and it is, but only if you're ready to exist in the drunk/high space our MC lives in.
Things that were fun:
-Super power is friendship. Our MC is whatever, but she's mega good at making friends, and that's cute.
-A fae take on post-scarcity. Imagine striking a bargain to end war and starvation. I don't actually think it did a great job exploring that, but it's a fun idea.
-Exuberant writing. Turn off brain, words make the happy thoughts.
It wasn't good though:
-Vapid. Our MC just wants to get stoned and make out with people. She knows she's pretty and while generous and kind and other worthy virtues, the main thing that does her thinking is her pleasure center.
-Cringe. There are a few points, the, uh, climax, in particular, where you're like "surely it won't be so cliche--oh, wow, no it wasn't because it was even more trite."
It was short, and this week I don't hate feeling like I'm a few brain cells lighter, but my highest praise is that I didn't actually roll my eyes except the once at the end, and I did want our plucky girl to get hers....more
Another book I sampled for book club. Honestly, I initially found it a competent but common haunted house novel. The end however surprised me in a wayAnother book I sampled for book club. Honestly, I initially found it a competent but common haunted house novel. The end however surprised me in a way that reminded me of the "social horror" a la Jordan Peele's works, except of course we're talking about white folk here, so with a different social norm being interrogated.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ graphic bodily harm, including to animals and children. Toxic families and relationships, drinking, work place harassment (hide spoiler)]
Things to love:
-Spooky house. it's real spooky!
-MC. The middle child, twin, art student, only one been to therapy, only one not in a relationship or with children at a family retreat. I bet you can feel all your energy draining. She knew what she was getting into, and was fortified for it, and it's still very extremely relatable.
-The end. I've read a lot of haunted house stories. There's a cadence to them. This one followed all of them until it didn't. And what it did was a smart twist on what it means to never be able to go home.
Not quite perfect:
-A little OTT. Mostly she avoided this, but a few of the characters were just toooo obviously The Bad Guys.
-Wanted more depth to the actual villain. Again, lots of cool and smart choices here, but the central one of motive I found unremarkable.
Overall a surprisingly good entry into the Haunted House subgenre and I'll be following this author more closely in the future.
Gosh did I want this book to Say Something. I just don't think it ever did. I could probably give you a list of 10 books that contemplate war, the ludGosh did I want this book to Say Something. I just don't think it ever did. I could probably give you a list of 10 books that contemplate war, the ludicrous nature of nations, the nature of rebellion, and the fall into fascism better than this book
It was very earnest in its thoughts, even if they weren't enlightening, however.
I honestly am trying to remember much about this, but 2 months later, the big takeaway is that war never solves a problem, and that propaganda is the best tool of the state, no matter which state.
Maybe I'm just jaded, but nothing in here was shocking. A lot of it was grotesque, like the torture and depravity, but none of it made me think new thoughts.
Yeah, kid, this is what war looks like. Yeah, kiddo, revolutions fail.
-Gothic feminist vibes. Mm the widow who preys on everyone's sympathies but only because of their own inability to conscience a powerful woman who had lost the men in her life. Chef's kiss.
-Dark and decadent. Just relax into a good little horror story.
Things I did not love:
-In novellas I prefer if we go hard on the themes, and I felt a few times we abandoned ship a little. I think a little more padding around the story would have been its strength. Maybe 10 more pages and we'd have had perfection....more
I haven't read a Merlin-fic before and this is highly rated. It was a fun one, and some of the choices that must be made to keep it in line with the tI haven't read a Merlin-fic before and this is highly rated. It was a fun one, and some of the choices that must be made to keep it in line with the text were well constructed to make them more palatable or interesting, but for someone so important in fiction, he sounded quite boring in this tale.
There was nothing wrong with it. Yes, some of the text is quite dated, yes, it's part of the fad to make something that would have fit in within an ancient time period etc. that weren't stellar, but I found it well written, consistent, in a neat world.
However, it's not engaging either. Right about the time in the zero to hero arc you're expecting hero things to start, he kind of plateaus. The cool feats the author wanted to harp on were things like moving stones to Stone Henge, which is cool to tell people about, but painfully boring in terms of plotting a work of fiction.
3.5 rounded down as I doubt I'll continue the series....more
I count books as "read" if I make it to at least 50%. The release I got from DNFing this book was greater than any our gal Mal got.
ITime of death: 51%
I count books as "read" if I make it to at least 50%. The release I got from DNFing this book was greater than any our gal Mal got.
I had few expectations from this book, but it disappointed them all. If you want a book about ghost sex, without any of the erotic bits, pick this up! Otherwise, it's entirely forgettable, and that's a sin I don't think you can just pray away....more
I don't know for sure if this series is based on a campaign the author ran/joined, but it sure feels like one.
My problem with books that feel like thaI don't know for sure if this series is based on a campaign the author ran/joined, but it sure feels like one.
My problem with books that feel like that is that games, while immersive and fun for those involved, are often not great stories. Players make weird choices, there's no omniscient narrator because there are multiple people without telepathy involved in the telling. Twists that work in person might not work as well in a traditional story arc, etc.
I was really hopeful for this series. The first book seemed like it was setting a lot up that would lead to something fun. I didn't love the "twists" in book 2, but I liked where the characters were going.
Book 3 basically tears book 2 up and spits on it, retells almost everything, further splits the party and then does a series of LOTR endings for each character...except that most of them end on (sometimes literal) cliffhangers and most are not happy. Indeed, one ends in what I would argue is rape.
So. There's that.
I am let down by this finale, and the news that the second series is in a much different time period.
2.5 rounded up for the effect of having read the whole series.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ rape, torture, mutilation (including graphic depiction of hands being mutilated), murder of children, war, mental manipulation, casual sexism. (hide spoiler)]...more
This is such a good series. I do kind of wish it pulled a bit less from actual Earth nomenclature for political and religious structures, but if you wThis is such a good series. I do kind of wish it pulled a bit less from actual Earth nomenclature for political and religious structures, but if you wanted to read about a lady Indiana Jones, with the added benefit of cooperation from the culture whose artifacts are being discovered, this book is perfection....more
I think this is a great book for tweens and teens experiencing the essential loneliness of being in puberty. There's a point, I think, a la "The BreakI think this is a great book for tweens and teens experiencing the essential loneliness of being in puberty. There's a point, I think, a la "The Breakfast Club" when all maturing kids realize that what is expected of them, the environment their peers and the adults at school create for them, and their own burgeoning sense of self, and those three go into conflict. This was a lovely, fairytale-laced look at common traumas in kids" lives from bullying to poverty to sexual assault.
The only reason I don't give it five stars is that I can't tell if something was missing from the translation, my understanding of the fairytales invoked or just being [redacted] years removed from these concerns, but something about it just didn't quite grab me. Also, the beginning is quite prolonged, while the action parts are rushed.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ sexual assault, child abuse, suicide, childhood cancer, loss of a loved one, loss of a child, alcohol use (hide spoiler)]...more
Empire of too many words in the Glacial Torrent series, more like. A bit grounchy by the end. It definitely needed some editing in the last like 20%, Empire of too many words in the Glacial Torrent series, more like. A bit grounchy by the end. It definitely needed some editing in the last like 20%, min.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ Graphic and extended torture including to hands, internal organs. Parental abuse, slavery, casual misogyny, xenophobia, plague, loss of a loved one (hide spoiler)]
Things that kept me reading:
-Foreshadowing. Curious about how we got to where this hints things go from where we started. Lots of cool hints and shiny red herrings. -So very broody. So broken, so many travails. -Everyone else liked it. What can I say, apparently if all my friends jumped off a cliff, I'd put it on my TBR. -Audionarrator. He did a good job, I'd look up his other works.
Things that make it doubtful I'll continue:
-Overly long. While this book is very fluent to read, a lot of it is fluff. Pretty fluff and or perhaps meant to be thought provoking, but in the way that a hoard is a collection. Sure there's good stuff in there, but when there's this much of it, the focus is not on how cool your stuff is anymore.
-It's not like *that*. He's a good fighter who gets his ass beat. But he's REALLY good, like professionally, until the story is more fun for him to fail for some reason. We watch so many failed and useless plans from their inception to their execution to their eventual failure. While this might be true to life, the cool thing about writing about it afterward is you get to pick your scenes. He's a softy who would never abuse his power or cause harm for knowledge until the first opportunity to do so? Things like that all over the place. Whatever you think, nerds, this isn't like that, ha ha, gotcha.
-The torture scenes. For a book that starts with a desire not to torture anyone, it sure has a lot of it. I mean, a lot. I think at least 2 chapters are full of it. I skipped several pages of it because it gets graphic and there are who pages of *bad thing is done in exquisite detail to this person* between "Tell me what you know!" and "I don't know anything!" type dialogue. And this is also seen in the beginning where it's just chapters of people being mean to this (admittedly very whiny and stuck up) teen.
-Nobody until he's somebody. While stewing about the torture scenes, I had mental space to muse on how the whole set up of this book and how we're meant to think of Hadrian as a nobody with nothing going for him and no one on his side until the story needs him to use his power. It's, like, every single major plot point (and even some minor ones) is solved by people suddenly giving him authority.
It wasn't necessarily bad. I see the fun things. I liked a lot of what the author was going for. I stuck it out. But I think I just require much tighter writing and this, while cogent, was still very much too "seat-of-the-pants" plotting for me to engage fully with it....more
A little disappointed with this one. A very long introduction that I don't think needed to be this drawn out. And some really upsetting choices.
CONTENA little disappointed with this one. A very long introduction that I don't think needed to be this drawn out. And some really upsetting choices.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ an extreme and graphic abuse of a cat. He lives, but I had to skip multiple pages of it. Loss of a parent, ostracism, classism, child abuse. (hide spoiler)]
Things to love:
-Fun magic system. A little pat, but also nice to see something a bit more "hard magic" feeling.
-Good boy kitty. Love a good sidekick kitty.
-Lots of mystique. Definitely things I want to know more about!
Things I didn't love:
-Characterization. The evil folks are evil because they're evil, and they do really torqued things in great detail. I didn't care for that. I'm used to the cast of the Verus series, which I think are generally more complex and interesting in their own rights. Not so much here.
-A little young. This one reads more like it's aiming for the YA market, which is fine but YIKES on some of the content then.
-Overly drawn out. This one falls into the "but how will they know all about the cool stuff in my notes if I don't tell them every detail!" category. This book should have been a subplot in the next book.
I don't think I'll continue, and the bits that stick out to me do so in a not so positive way, so this is 2.5 rounded down....more
Honestly, not my favorite. This reads a lot like the patronizing feeling of "I remember what it was like to be your age." Weirdly mature for the youngHonestly, not my favorite. This reads a lot like the patronizing feeling of "I remember what it was like to be your age." Weirdly mature for the young sections and surprisingly jejune in the more mature sections.
-The mythology. Really fun to see Lipan folktales writ large!
-The family love. I still really appreciate books for kids with supportive grown ups in it. It's such a nice and important shift from the Disney orphan epidemic I grew up with.
-Friendship. No romance plots! And yet there were many complex and frought relationships!
Things I didn't love:
-Narrators. Okay first of all, bias out in the open. I listened to this and the one narrator tried to do voices he couldn't do so they all came out scratchy and nasal, and the other one was using generic YA voice and not really paying attention to the words, so the cadence didn't match the book's. If you read this, I recommend doing so with your eyes.
-Young Nina. She wrote a journal when she was 10 with sentences like "[quote], he said to her, his words harsh." Completely false as a kid.
-Meeting Oli and friends. Again, this was meant to just be happy, there was no natural reaction to stories coming to life or magic-wielding animals seeing the sun for the first time.
-Really snippy with mom. This kid guilt tripped her mom no end, and we didn't really see how the mother/daughter relationship or the family's lack of money impacted the characters really at all except in how unkind they were about it with each other.
-Weird internet culture references. There are some things in here that really date the book and make it hard to share with the right audience, like references to furries. I think that's sort of age specific as to when it's titillating, and that's also the age that's least likely to ask their parents if spirits are like furries, so I'm not sure how this situation arose, and it was odd to read.
It was quick and cute and fun, and I still really like this author, but the whole thing rang false to me....more
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