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| B0DLSRKTN9
| 3.85
| 9,093
| Aug 23, 2022
| Aug 23, 2022
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it was amazing
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You know, I wasn't taking the title "Frendo Lives" too seriously, but man I definitely should have. Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives is devoted to You know, I wasn't taking the title "Frendo Lives" too seriously, but man I definitely should have. Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives is devoted to its status as a slasher sequel from top to bottom. The original was unrelenting and pretty damn violent, and Frendo Lives is even moreso. The first book's biggest problem - its slow first act - is all but eliminated here as we are hurtled into the action after a quick preamble. We are given some swift introductions to Quinn, Cole and Rust's new lives as they try to move on from the Baypen Massacre, while finding themselves in the middle of firestorm of believers and conspiracy theories surrounding the event. Dubbed "The Three" by the media, Quinn has to deal with her classmates at college sharing videos about how the Baypen Massacre is a hoax, while back home a haunted attraction opens up exploiting the event. But The Three barely a get a few hours together after Rust and Cole drive to see Quinn at school, before violence starts all over again, and once again Kettle Springs and the three of them are at the center of it. I gotta say, as fun as this book is, it's very hard to see characters that you have any sense of attachment to be simultaneously in mortal danger while also putting other people in mortal danger. I had to put the book down several times, my nerves were sizzling. And these kids are in mortal danger, Cesare pulls absolutely zero punches here - our kids get fucked up. But in doing so, we get to see what they are made of. We also get introduced to a new character in Jerri, another survivor of the massacre, but younger, who has coped by retreating into her job at the movie theater and watching the world around her. It was very easy to see myself in Jerri, as I think a lot of people will. In all four, we see flaws and pain and drive. Cesare has a great skill for seeing the truth of things, which is essential for any horror writer. In the first Clown in a Cornfield, he took aim at the reactionary right trying to stamp down the younger, more progressive generation. Now he takes a look at the way conspiracy theories spread and are taken advantage of, and how reality depends not on objective fact but by who is in control. It's infuriating, but his handling is very effective. Not only that, but that way he writes his character is so incredibly honest and sincere, even with such simple strokes. The writing is swift and clean, and the pacing....well, this book moves fucking fast. If you're looking for slow meditative moments, you won't find many here. But you will find a lot of blood and a lot of heart and a lot of truth. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 05, 2024
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Sep 17, 2024
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Jul 26, 2022
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Hardcover
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| 0062854593
| 9780062854599
| 0062854593
| 3.73
| 31,666
| Aug 25, 2020
| Aug 25, 2020
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it was amazing
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This book is an absolute blast. I'm not sure I want to get much more in depth than that. I was looking for some fun, punchy horror and I got it. The s This book is an absolute blast. I'm not sure I want to get much more in depth than that. I was looking for some fun, punchy horror and I got it. The set-up is a simple one, and fairly recognizable to anyone who has watched a horror movie, or really any movie centered around teens. Quinn Maybrook and her widowed father move from Philadelphia to a small town in the Midwest called Kettle Springs. They're looking for a fresh start, and the town needed a new doctor. Despite wanting to keep her head down, she finds herself falling in with an unusual band of rebels - as though the popular kids had gone a little rotten. When she's invited to a party out in the cornfield, Kettle Springs starts to feel pretty cool. And then a clown with a cross bow shows up. Clown in a Cornfield is not remotely subtle. It takes a look at our country and the current zeitgeist, and puts it in microcosm. With lots of blood, whirring chainsaws, wayward teens and angry Boomers. This book is about how much we hate young people, and why we keep killing them in the kinds of movies this book was inspired by. And despite taking on all this so unapologetically, it is still so much fun. It does take its time to set up the character dynamics, and honestly I didn't mind that much, because once it gets going, it does not stop. For horror, it's not that scary. It has gore and it has violence, but not really the kind of suspense that gets you spooked, though there is plenty of tension and some great classic horror beats. I actually found the unraveling and the revealing of the villains a bit more interesting than the perseverance of the central characters, but that's a subtle distinction. I kept turning the page, and I had a damn good time doing it. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 15, 2022
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Jul 25, 2022
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Jul 13, 2022
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Hardcover
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| 0593305825
| 9780593305829
| 0593305825
| 3.54
| 22,230
| Aug 03, 2021
| Aug 03, 2021
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liked it
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There's a common criticism you might see in the reviews of this book - that it should not have been YA, and instead it should have been written as an
There's a common criticism you might see in the reviews of this book - that it should not have been YA, and instead it should have been written as an adult novel. Being a supporter of the complexities and wide range of YA for a long time, I wasn't sure how this could be. And then I read it. This absolutely should have been an adult book. Aside from the content and the absolute uselessness of the characters being high schoolers, it's about the type of story this is. Recently , and that it isn't so much about bad words and coming-of-age stories, but rather stories written for people with fewer life experiences. Characters in adult novels travel through the story in a different way than those geared towards teens, who don't have the experience to put certain events in the right context. Similarly, from SuperEyePatchWolf on YouTube (a channel that has some great advice about building character and stories through the lens of anime, game design and even pro-wrestling) talks about the inherently adult nature of Cowboy Bebop. Not because of its content or age of its characters, but because of where they are in life - well past their big conflicts, and now waiting in a kind of purgatory before they end their stories. This is exactly where Felicity Morrow is in A Lesson in Vengeance. A year after her girlfriend dies in a terrible accident, leaving rumors swirling about Felicity's part in the incident and Felicity herself struggling deeply with grief and depression, she returns to the elite boarding school, Dalloway, intent on finishing her senior year at one of the few places that hold meaning to her. New to the school is Ellis Haley, the 17-year-old literary prodigy, who has decided to come to Dalloway to write her sophomore novel inspired by the Dalloway Five - a coven of young maybe-witches from the school's early days in the 1700s, who all fell to a mysterious and violent deaths. Enlisting Felicity to help her, since Felicity had once been obsessed with the Dalloway Five and is also a practicing witch who is trying to now stay away from magic for the sake of her sanity, the two get embroiled in a deeply toxic relationship that is obviously going nowhere good. And that honestly is a straightened out version of the major conflict, because A Lesson in Vengeance does not have a particularly strong central narrative. This book, while sumptuously written with atmosphere and character galore, doesn't seem to want hold too tightly to any part of its narrative. Between Felicity's mental health, her girlfriend's death, the Dalloway Five, maybe witches and curses and maybe not witches and curses, and nevermind what Ellis is really trying to accomplish, there's no aspect of this story that really gets put front and center, and as such it all just kind of blurs together. Honestly, I think Victoria Lee should have saved the Dalloway Five for another book, because that plot point just doesn't gets what it deserves here. I think she took all the things that make dark academia what it is (old institutions, murder mysteries, ghosts, morally ambiguous characters, etc), and instead of trying to refine it, tried to cram it all into one narrative (which is one of the pitfalls of trying to make an "aesthetic," something inherently nebulous, into something concrete). It's interesting that dark academia has fascinated so many young people, and now has resulted in a lot of stories taking it and adapting it for YA narratives. And while "prep school" is one of the potential puzzle pieces that make up dark academia, it's important to not ignore that its seminal text, The Secret History, is an adult book about college students. Specifically it is about that point in life between adolescence and adulthood where you have so many freedoms, but not a proper understanding of them and your responsibilities to them. Trying to take that square peg and shove it into the round hole of high school life - even when they are deeply privileged and educated high schoolers - is just...weird. This is probably why I felt the most comfortable with this book in its finale, when it goes full Secret History, even paying homage to some of its plot elements. The last fifty pages or so is also where A Lesson in Vengeance finally decides what kind of book it is. This is where Lee embraces the ambiguity of her protagonist, having her do some unforgivable things without passing judgment. Which is not something that is often done in YA. The effect ends up being something along the lines of Baby's First Literary Thriller, which is an idea that I'm not opposed to. The kids gotta learn at some point that their characters can do bad things, even your main character, and that "meaning" goes beyond whether something is morally right or not. That said, for me, the moral bankruptcy of Ellis Haley made it really difficult for me to see her as a sexy love interest. A lot of this book rides on the tension between Ellis and Felicity - otherwise you're basically just watching Felicity wander around reading books and cooking dinner with her housemates - and I was not feeling it all. All I kept thinking was that Ellis was very clearly manipulative and abusive towards Felicity, so I just didn't get it. Cool clothes and a Georgian accent can only get you so far. Overall, I feel a little uncomfortable giving this book a star rating at all. Despite its problems, it shows a lot of skill, and I meant it when I said that I liked the ending a lot, despite the fact that it was a bit of chore to get there. Lee shows great flare for atmosphere and character development, she just bit off more than she could chew with this one, and on top of it wrote it within the constraints of a genre (genre? marketing demographic?) that just handicapped it further. This isn't a great book, but its an interesting thesis on dark academia, on literary conventions and perhaps how far you can push things with teens. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 30, 2021
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Sep 13, 2021
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Aug 04, 2021
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Hardcover
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| 1250269504
| 9781250269508
| 1250269504
| 3.87
| 9,302
| Jun 29, 2021
| Jun 29, 2021
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did not like it
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DNF This book...was not ready to be published. It still reeks of a young, inexperienced author trying to figure out how to tell a story, create a world DNF This book...was not ready to be published. It still reeks of a young, inexperienced author trying to figure out how to tell a story, create a world and inspire with evocative prose, all of which Mikuta tries so hard at you can feel how hard she's trying. The world is incredibly flimsy, the different sides only vaguely established. Militaries that don't really behave like military, rebel factions that don't really seem like rebel factions. It all just seems like high school. Gearbreakers reminded me a lot of Honey Girl, in the way it uses a lot of lyrical and flowery prose - or an attempt at it, anyway - and tries really really hard to make the characters sound like they have a youthful camaraderie, but mostly sounds forced. It sounds like a college student trying to replicate the spontaneity of their friend group on paper, but in this case its even more out of place because these are supposed to be trained killers. And honestly, the prose was better in Honey Girl. Here's the thing - it's not enough to make a sentence sound pretty. It has to serve your story, and you have to use words and structure that speaks to what is happening within the story. Mikuta uses a lot of passive voice because it sounds elegant and different, but it undercuts the action at every turn. The moment the Pilot recoils, her palm presses flat beneath his chin, and his enraged shout winds down to a single note before disappearing altogether. Even from here, I can see the point where his eye flickers out, and an almost sweet tone takes the girl's growl as she reaches the same conclusion. But before she can shove him away and leap to her feet, the butt of a guard's rifle falls against her temple, sending the dark eyes spinning back as she crumples. That is way too many words for an action sequence. I honestly could barely figure out what was going on most of the time, it gave me a headache trying to parse things out. I'd say this was a good start for someone working on their first manuscript, but not a published work. Mikuta has some interesting ideas, but not the skill those ideas called for. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 07, 2022
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Feb 10, 2022
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Jan 26, 2021
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Hardcover
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| 1534441603
| 9781534441606
| 1534441603
| 4.32
| 165,049
| Sep 15, 2020
| Sep 15, 2020
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Not for me! Very cringy teen urban fantasy stuff, a la CW shows or that terrible 00s witch boy movie, The Covenant. Also just way to heterosexual for
Not for me! Very cringy teen urban fantasy stuff, a la CW shows or that terrible 00s witch boy movie, The Covenant. Also just way to heterosexual for my tastes.
...more
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Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 26, 2022
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Jan 29, 2022
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Jan 25, 2021
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Hardcover
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| 136802226X
| 9781368022262
| 136802226X
| 3.92
| 17,772
| Sep 03, 2019
| Sep 03, 2019
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really liked it
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There are some writers that you can just rely on. Mackenzie Lee is without a doubt one of them for me. Her writing is always so swift, her characters
There are some writers that you can just rely on. Mackenzie Lee is without a doubt one of them for me. Her writing is always so swift, her characters rich and engaging, and while her stories can twist and turn in unconventional ways they always hold my attention. Loki: Where Mischief Lies is not quite good as the two books of the Gentleman's Guide series, but it has a similar flair and pace that keeps you turning the page. Loki, much like the MCU character we meet in the first Thor film, is a young prince struggling with his identity and his role as a likely second in line to the throne, but never first. His closest friend - and big fat crush - is Amora, a confident and powerful young sorceress who encourages him to grow his magic and take risks. When Amora is banished to Midgard for taking the blame for one of Loki's schemes gone wrong, effectively killing her slowly as Earth will gradually drain her magic away, Loki is left with nothing but to do his best to be the perfect prince, the perfect diplomat, the person his father wants him to be. Naturally, he never quite get its right. When he's sent to Midgard to solve a mystery that Odin can't be bothered to address himself, he finds Amora, some charming humans and gets in touch with his inner villain. Loki is a natural choice for a tie-in book like this, as his portrayal by Tom Hiddleston in the MCU has captivated so many (myself included) but never underestimate what a challenge it can be to write from the point of view of a villain. Especially when he's not quite the villain yet. How gray to make him really? How naive? How dangerous? I think what's so interesting about Lee's version of Loki is that he is so unapologetic about who he is and what he wants that it makes sense that being denied the ability to use the magic that comes naturally to him, to be the sorcerer he was meant to be, is so grating. It's what pushes him towards Amora, what frustrates him about how Thor is so easily loved when his magical abilities and cleverness should be considered just as valuable as Thor's strength, and what sews those seeds of darkness and arrogance in him. His characterization is solid, but I think Lee struggled a little bit with how far to take things. I think there was a lot Lee wanted to do here that she only got to skim over. Loki's relationship with Theo and the other humans he meets is a lot of fun but feels more abbreviated than it should have been. Like, I felt like the story was on a really good roll with Loki developing stronger and stronger ties to Theo and Mrs S until suddenly it wasn't. The more substantial relationship is between Loki and Amora, and don't get me wrong, I loved it. Their energy is incredibly sexy and intense. But even the ambiguity, the inherent danger in their relationship, kind of gets cut off before it can really be explored. As such, you neither get the vulnerability that would have come from him falling for Theo or the darkness and temptation that comes from his love for Amora. What this story does best is the slower stuff. The spooky atmosphere of a 19th century seance, the muck of London streets. I wish the structure of the story had stuck closer to that of a mystery, because that is what really got me invested. When it moves into the third act, which resembles those of many MCU films, I found myself drifting away. I appreciate what Lee was trying to do - cool action on a speeding train, writhing hordes of the undead, and of course a double cross - but I think I would have liked something that was a little subtler. A little more like Loki himself. A very solid 3.5 stars rounded up because I undeniably enjoyed this - it's fun, funny, fast and surprisingly sexy - it's just overall its a little thematically convoluted, and the last act felt too conventional for my tastes. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 03, 2021
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Jun 18, 2021
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Dec 24, 2020
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Hardcover
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| 1594748624
| 9781594748622
| 1594748624
| 3.93
| 134,340
| May 17, 2016
| May 17, 2016
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it was amazing
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There is a very annoying thing that happens when some people realize that they have unwittingly enjoyed a piece of horror fiction - they try to convin
There is a very annoying thing that happens when some people realize that they have unwittingly enjoyed a piece of horror fiction - they try to convince themselves and everyone else that it's not really horror. "It's really about a family struggling!" "It's about mental illness!" "It's about friendship!" It's horror. Those things are all horror. Like every genre, horror is the backdrop on to which a variety of different kinds of stories are told. However, horror is uniquely equipped to talk explicitly and ferociously about one thing in particular - what scares us. It's where we unabashedly explore the terror, violence and agony of family, friendships, technology, strangers, love, loss, trauma, you name it. And yes, high school is terrifying. Loving your best friend more than you've loved anything on earth is terrifying. And being a girl who dares to see things as they are, not as she's been told to, is quite possibly the most horrifying thing in this world. Abby and Gretchen have been inseparable since the day Abby had a birthday party and Gretchen was the only one who showed up. It is the eighties, Satanic Panic and Reaganomics are the ever present background radiation of their world, and they are the upper crust of an elite Southern Catholic school. Abby is the poor scholarship kid and Gretchen the rich girl with uber religious parents, while their two other friends, Margaret and Glee, round out their high-achieving preppy girl squad. And then an experiment with LSD goes wrong. And then Gretchen begins dissolving and lashing out, and then changes entirely and then Abby is suddenly standing on the outside as her life as things begin spiraling out of control. Abby's only care in the world, outside of her social status and her own image, has been Gretchen Lang, and she finally realizes that she may have to give up everything to save her best friend from what has clearly taken control of her - a demon. I am a big fan of demonic possession stories, but they typically fall into a particular pattern. This is because they depend heavily on certain mythology - that there are sentient, evil supernatural creatures that can take control of one's body against one's will, and that the only way to cast them out is by calling on a higher power. There's usually a lot of shouting involved. Exorcism movies often remind me of action films that inevitably end with muscly guys throwing buildings at each other. Like, is this the best we can do in the face of evil? Make loud noises and throw things? How come the best exorcism I ever saw on screen was in the opening scene of Constantine, and I have never seen anything like that again? Without giving too much away, I can say that My Best Friend's Exorcism uses those known tropes while also drastically subverting them in exactly the way I wanted to see. The way Hendrix takes the idea of the exorcist and the hip youth pastor and smooshes them together into a Jesus-talking pop culture abomination that also serves also an commentary on religious institutions and toxic masculinity? Goddamn. And the moment Abby realizes the power she individually has to save Gretchen? It's perfect. It's absolutely on point. Because an exorcism is not just a religious rite - it's a spell. And as any witch will tell you - you can charge a spell any way you want. Even with The Go-Gos. My Best Friends' Exorcism is not relatable teen content for teens (it's too hyperaware of what kind of people teenagers really are to really be appropriate, I mean I'm sure some will enjoy it, but I think it will mean more to adults), nor is it pure 80s nostalgia cash grab. It's an exploration of the horror of being a teenage girl. It puts a magnifying glass to our youth, our insecurities, the things we allowed ourselves to believe and turns it all into a paranormal nightmare. The pacing is so good its almost precise. I knew that when I sat down on my lunch break I would be able to read two chapters in twenty minutes and those two chapters would be barn burners. It takes the tropes of a horror movie - ticking off hapless teens until there is a final girl left - and again twists it. Instead of centering the narrative around a single person at a time, you are with Abby as she helplessly watches the systematic destruction of the people around her. Hendrix uses body horror, psychological horror, and straight up spooky demon shit to create a suffocating atmosphere that is pure genre. Yes, this book has pink details on the cover and 80s references and satirical humor, but it is scary as shit, make no mistake. It's scary because it does not look away. It does not look away from a body wasting a way, from a mind violated, from the oppression of not being believed, from having your life distorted to meet someone else's ends, from being in love and afraid you're going to fail. I loved this. It's probably the best October selection I've made in years, and I'm glad I ignored the reviews that said "it isn't really horror." This book is colorful and satirical and deeply touching, but yes it is horror. It is the definition of horror. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 08, 2019
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Nov 06, 2019
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Sep 22, 2019
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Hardcover
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| 1984831925
| 9781984831927
| 1984831925
| 3.90
| 104,880
| Aug 06, 2019
| Aug 06, 2019
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it was ok
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I'm still very ambivalently confused about this book. I was hoping for something spooky as we moved into the Halloween season. And barring that, I was
I'm still very ambivalently confused about this book. I was hoping for something spooky as we moved into the Halloween season. And barring that, I was really looking for something atmospheric and rich with gothic romance. What I got was a story that while certainly aware of those things and trying very hard to achieve them, thought the best way to do that was to throw everything in the kitchen into one pot. House of Salt and Sorrows follows the second oldest daughter, Annaleigh, of a family of seven girls that were once twelve. In five years, Annaleigh has lost her mother and several of her older sisters, the last of which under what she sees as mysterious circumstances. As her family, especially her newly remarried father, decides to move forward and shake off rumors of a curse, Annaleigh starts seeing ghosts and comes to believe that her sister was murdered. Also, there's a magical portal to some fancy balls, because this is inspired by the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, though it honestly could have done without that plot element as well as several others. So, there's a lot going on here. There's a ghost story, and a murder mystery, and a romance with a handsome outsider, and a court drama, and a high fantasy magic system and world building. Its never really woven together, like, at all. I was never really sure why the story was taking the diversions it was. Why are we spending all this time on this romance when the love interest's personality is basically nonexistent? What was the point of the dancing and the balls when it took so long to get there and its introduction to the story is completely unrelated to the murder mystery at the core? Is this story about gods and monsters? Families and ghosts? A girl driven mad with grief? Its hard to call a story atmospheric when each plot point isn't given the time to create that atmosphere. I could definitely feel the homages to classic gothic literature (there were elements that invoked Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson and Daphne du Maurier) which I have no doubt were intentional. But I don't really like hauntings (or even suggestions of hauntings) mixed up with firmer magic systems. If Craig wanted this to be about trickster gods, the idea of trickster gods should have been introduced at the beginning, not three quarters into the story. It actually took me a while to realize "Oh, when they talk about their gods, they're not talking about "God" they're talking about actual magical beings that effect their world." I don't know, maybe I'm being very particular about my horror, but I feel like that kind of thing rips the bed sheet right off your spooky ghost. That might be why I was struggling with the way Annaleigh's family responded to her suspicions - what the story needed was non-believers, not just people with a vague disinterest in an honest investigation. Getting out of the weeds a bit, I wish Annaleigh was more of a character. She's pretty bland at the beginning, and grows a little bit as the story goes on as a competent "second-in-line" figure, but she's still felt very undefined. Her love interest is so hollow he's practically a ghost himself. He's a mop of curly hair and good manners, but other than that he has no personality. The dialogue felt hokey and unnatural. The pacing is just not right for this kind of story - the scary bits are not tight enough, the slower moments and more contemplative plot elements are given little time to breath and flesh out. I appreciate that in the final act Craig really went all out with scary imagery, and while the detail she went into to create this seafaring culture was lovely, I thought the prose was just alright. And like many YA books I've been reading lately, while it has some mature elements, this felt like it was geared for a much younger audience. House of Salt and Sorrows is readable but far from riveting, and everything it goes for felt weak and watered down. Points for trying, Craig is clearly a horror fan - the love is there but the skill really isn't. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 05, 2019
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Oct 07, 2019
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Aug 08, 2019
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0062691333
| 9780062691330
| B07H58ZQD6
| 3.76
| 20,284
| Feb 26, 2019
| Feb 26, 2019
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did not like it
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This is largely my fault. I had a feeling that We Set the Dark on Fire was not for me. The description didn't hold much interest for me and I am tryin
This is largely my fault. I had a feeling that We Set the Dark on Fire was not for me. The description didn't hold much interest for me and I am trying to read more stuff outside of YA. But I am also currently making an effort to read more from writers of color, particularly Latinx writers. That means reading stuff that I wouldn't normally gravitate towards. Not to mention, there seems to be a much talked about influx of Latinx writers in the YA market, which has always been decidedly more diverse and adventurous than the adult market. So to untested waters I go, and so far....it does not seem to be going well. We Set the Dark on Fire is a dystopia set in its most privileged realm, and Daniela Vargas, a girl from the other side of the wall, has found a way not only in, but to the top. Educated at a school where young girls train to be wives of the upper class' sons, she is married off to Mateo Garcia, a politico with designs to be the next ruler, along with her long-time rival, Carmen. If Dani has shaped herself into the perfect Primera - the wife that represents her husband's intellectual equal and partner - Carmen is the quintessential Segunda - the beautiful, compassionate lover. Naturally, they would be coveted by the same family. Once married though, Dani realizes that Mateo has no intention of giving her an ounce of responsibility or power in the household, and as such Carmen and Dani, despite their years of conflict, begin to gravitate towards each other. On top of it all, a rebel group, La Voz, knows Dani's humble origins and threatens to out her if she does not help their insurgency against the oppressive government that she has worked so hard to be a part of. There was a little thrill that happened where I realized I was reading about a world based in Latinx cultures. The names, the foods, the appearances left me with a feeling of comfort and excitement that I don't get to experience most of the time in fantasy as a Latina. But once that passed, I had very little to hold on to. There was no sense of atmosphere, the prose left absolutely no impression on me. Daniela is difficult to attach to. I couldn't engage with either side of her - the dedicated part that propelled her to the top of her class, or the part that misses the life she left behind. Daniela never asked for this, and if she had been she would have preferred to live a humble life in the small town where she grew up. She doesn't give a damn about being wealthy or powerful. She does it out of obligation, and she's capable of doing it a level that no one else can. Supposedly. Because, as it turns out, there isn't anything particularly special about how Dani conducts herself. See, when you're dealing with the upper crust of society, the devil is in the tiniest of details. Everything is sideways. Everything is about manners or lack thereof. This is one of the reasons why I'm starting to really enjoy historical fiction - nothing is said explicitly, and yet one could dish out the worst of insults or the grandest of compliments in extremely subtle ways. It's infuriating yet deeply entertaining. This book is not subtle. This book is a sledgehammer dragging artlessly on the ground. Mejia's way of portraying Dani's Primera skills is boring clothes and superficial conversations with other Primeras. In the over 200+ pages I read, there was little sign of the clever, manipulative powerhouse that Dani was supposed to be. Likewise, Carmen is presented as vain at first, but is over time revealed to be more down-to-earth. But I'm not sure how Carmen's vanity would have made her a good Segunda. It seems like a very immature way to portray a character that is supposed to be, by definition, emotionally intelligent. And the bond that develops between Dani and Carmen didn't feel organic at all. I would have preferred if they had actually accomplished something together to build their relationship, rather than wandering into each other's rooms when they're bored and ogling each other. And the rebel plot is mostly negligible - it is dutifully ever present in the whole story but carries little weight. Much like everything else in Dani's life - from her education, to her marriage - Dani has no options other than to do what she has been told. I have little idea what Dani really wants so I was perpetually frustrated with this story. I was hoping to like this despite my initial misgivings, but I think this story was told in the wrong way. It would have made a lot more sense as an adult novel, and would have benefited a lot from deeper texture in the setting and in the characters. As a dystopia, it is neither frightening or alluring, and Dani, who has been plopped into this world with little choice or agency, provides nothing in making it feel more real or grounded. Considering how many boxes it checks - girl/girl romance, Latinx setting - this would have been an extremely satisfying home run if it had been good, but sadly this was a dud. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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May 02, 2019
May 02, 2019
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Jun 04, 2019
Jun 04, 2019
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Feb 27, 2019
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Kindle Edition
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| 125014227X
| 9781250142276
| B07C25Z679
| 4.15
| 221,330
| Jan 29, 2019
| Jan 29, 2019
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really liked it
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King of Scars is a fascinating Frankenstein's monster of a book. Born of a young adult series, that came to be in the prime of the special-girl-finds-
King of Scars is a fascinating Frankenstein's monster of a book. Born of a young adult series, that came to be in the prime of the special-girl-finds-out-she's-special genre, but well after it's author leveled up quite a bit, this book feels like an adult book that has been sanded over for a younger audience. King of Scars was released the same year as Leigh Bardugo's adult debut, Ninth House, and you can see the push and pull between YA and adult within its pages. All the characters are literal adults (the titular character is 24) dealing with very adult things like statecraft and war. They are people who've already lived through battles, and buried people they loved. And yet it's written in a swift, even peppy tone that lingers more on romantic and personal angst than on, say, the horrors of war. This book's YA status largely exists for continuity's sake, and I think it struggled a bit with that obligation. Nonetheless, Bardugo still manages to capture what made the original Shadow and Bone special. As Ravka recovers from it's civil war, it's young king, Nikolai Lantsov has to figure out how to protect his country with the help of his fearsome commander, Zoya Nazyalensky, and spy extraordinaire, Nina Zenik. Nikolai seeks to rid himself of the remnants of the Darkling that linger inside him before it takes him over completely and leaves the country he's sworn to serve in darkness without a leader. Nina is in Fjerda, trying to find and rescue oppressed Grisha, until the dead start speaking to her, and she finds herself on a new mission. And Zoya is basically just trying to keep her king alive. This book has far more world-building than the original trilogy ever did. More names, more places, more alliances, and more magic. Bardugo manages to weave these elements into a character-rooted story using buttery smooth prose and the sheer lovability of her characters. But the stakes do feel a bit...flimsy. Nikolai was a great side character in the Shadow & Bone trilogy, and guest star in the Six of Crows duology. He appears as the arrogant and charming royal, and then shows hidden depths through his intrinsic goodness and intelligence. However, as a central character, it's hard to find where the turn is. He feels a little too perfect. The prince who enlisted in the infantry rather than taking a ceremonial role. The roguish charmer who is actually a genius inventor on the side. And through it all, he's actually a romantic who wants to marry for love, and entertains thoughts of democracy instead of monarchy. I think even Bardugo must have realized how ridiculous he started to seem after a while. And his fatal flaw - his need to be loved - is really just not enough to counteract all of that. But, if we're being totally honest, did I care that much? The truth is Nikolai is profoundly likeable, and that likeability carries much of the book, even when his lack of flaws results in a lack of plot. Nina is the most well-drawn of the three, which isn't surprising as Bardugo has spent more time with her as a POV character. Zoya, despite all her fire, also kind of lacks purpose. Nina's story, which is almost completely separate from the other two, is more of a tightly woven thriller, with clear stakes, conflicts and goals, while Zoya and Nikolai's interwoven story is looser and more internally driven. However, this book still managed to surprise me. The addition of Isaak, the king's stand-in when he goes missing, halfway through the book was charming and refreshing. Much in the same way Nina's story was self-contained and independent of the core story, Isaak's is like a mini-comic-tragedy dropped into the middle of this book. It's a bit like a fairy tale or fable. And that's what I find most fascinating about King of Scars. Bardugo seems acutely aware here of the archetypes her characters could fulfill. Zoya even says overtly that Nikolai could gain the loyalty of a future queen through the Psyche/Cupid-esque story that they would have. There's a lot about myths and belief in this book, about people's tendency to be attracted to strongmen figures, and their need to believe that someone - anyone - is in control. If you've read Ninth House, you might notice some... rhyming with this book. Nikolai is a charming, sophisticated and well-read man who has a dark presence lurking inside him. You could almost call him a....gentleman demon. Or how about Nina, a woman who has felt the long teeth of addiction, and can hear the voices of the dead and let them act through her? It's ok, we're attracted to the same stories over and over for a reason. (view spoiler)[It does make me wonder if we'll see Alex Stern literally raising an army of the dead, though. (hide spoiler)] There's also some similar themes, such as the misogyny of institutions and how women suffer in a patriarchal world. It's one of the more adult aspects of this book that Bardugo, again, treats with more lightness than she would have in an Alex Stern book. Overall, King of Scars is a sleek, entertaining read, even when its story gets wobbly and its main character is just a little too wonderful. I am hoping the moral ambiguity and conflict that Nina brings will infiltrate more of the larger story in the next book. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 14, 2025
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Mar 23, 2025
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Jan 01, 2019
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Kindle Edition
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| 1250063167
| 9781250063168
| 1250063167
| 3.98
| 567,468
| Jun 17, 2014
| Jun 2017
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liked it
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**spoiler alert** I might be feeling particularly tender at the moment, but the ending of this story struck me. Everything about it, in fact. People w
**spoiler alert** I might be feeling particularly tender at the moment, but the ending of this story struck me. Everything about it, in fact. People waving the banners of Ravka as they celebrate the destruction of the Fold. Mal and Alina's little life in the epilogue. And their grief - of their losses, but also of who they were up to that point. Of living on while something is gone within them, but still finding meaning in their future. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that I feel this way, as this is a tender book. Which is quite something for a 420 page final installment in a fantasy adventure trilogy. There's battles and action sequences, of course, but they're largely tedious and uninteresting. There's a lot of travelling from one location to the next that made it difficult for me to stay focused. But the meat of the story is between Alina and Mal, as well as their friends (in some ways I feel like this was a precursor to the motley crew of Six of Crows, not as well developed or established, but a prototype nonetheless). There's also a smidge of something spiritual - Bardugo goes into some really fascinating gray areas with her magic system, which I thought was really impressive and creative. Bardugo's writing is a lot richer here as well. Far more than Shadow and Bone, and especially Siege and Storm, this is an atmospheric, immersive book that takes time to notice the people in the background - the servants, the soldiers, children and commoners. She does a lot more to build a more intricate tapestry of Ravka - from its religious zealots, to its street peddlers. These asides detailing the places they pass through and people they encounter does a little bit to show Alina's change in priorities, though in some ways I felt like it was just padding out the page count. The conclusion - from the reveal about the amplifiers, to the final confrontation with the Darkling - I think was all very well done and well-earned. This is a hard book to rate. Past the midpoint, it became too tedious to read for me to rate it more than three stars, but the ending is good. It's too bad this series came to be at the height of YA trilogy madness, because three books seems just really cumbersome for this story, and it makes sense that both follow-up stories in this world are duologies. I'm glad that Alina got her happy ending though - maybe not a fairytale one, and not even the "good for her" ending that I found myself craving at the end of the second book, but one that is real and meaningful. I've been thinking a lot about what it takes to be happy in a painful world, and I think Bardugo nailed it here. A partner who loves you, work that involves helping and raising people up, and a rich benefactor. I think that pretty much sums it up. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 02, 2023
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Jan 28, 2023
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Dec 10, 2018
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Paperback
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| 125004443X
| 9781250044433
| 125004443X
| 3.81
| 657,789
| Jun 04, 2013
| Jun 17, 2017
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it was ok
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Tell me if you've heard this one before - when she is very young and doesn't know herself, a girl falls for a boy. To her, he is everything she is not
Tell me if you've heard this one before - when she is very young and doesn't know herself, a girl falls for a boy. To her, he is everything she is not. He is greater than her in every way she thinks matters - he's more beautiful, more charming, more capable and strong. She loves him so much that she shrinks herself to fit into his life and his world - until one day she can't. Her greatness is forced out of her and she swells. Her strength, her beauty, her absolute otherworldliness explodes for everyone to see. And finally, the boy realizes he loves her too. But she's grown so much that she doesn't fit into his world - which they now both realize is quite small - so instead of trying to fit into hers, all he can do is tell her how much he wishes she was small again. There are a few books that tackle this. The Shatter Me series, despite its many flaws, handles this dynamic very well and calls it for what it is. More likely though, if you're a woman or socialized as one, you've lived it, or watched it happen to someone you know or care about. And Alina Starkov is no different. But man, it'd be nice to read a story for once where men are just a little better. Let's get it straight - Siege and Storm is pretty boring. Unlike Tahereh Mafi, Leigh Bardugo makes sure her heroine goes through the work of becoming a true leader and is faithful to what it actually takes. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to have the ability or the interest in making it exciting. Much like Shadow and Bone, not a whole lot happens in this book, but it isn't nearly as compelling because we aren't propelled by the same kind of narrative. In the first book, we see Alina get the Cinderella treatment and then see her betrayed. We are with her on her emotional journey. Here we see Alina go from fugitive to political and military leader, as she returns to Ravka and the Little Palace having agreed to help the second-in-line Prince Nikolai with his bid for the throne in exchange for control of the Second Army. A classic narrative this is not. There isn't really a core conflict here either, its just Alina fumbling through boring strategy meetings and doing dumb things in order to get something exciting to happen. The emotional core of the story instead lies between her and Mal, her childhood best friend and now lover, which as it happens makes this book even more tiring. This story is about Alina and the Darkling. I'm not saying this because I think the Darkling is sexy or some fangirl shit like that. I'm saying this because the dynamic between these twin forces is what this series is built on. So why did they spend an entire book away from each other Am I even still talking about this book? Were there things I liked about it? Of course. Like everyone, I like Nikolai. Mostly, I really liked the political and strategic elements he brought to the story. There was so much potential for this to be a great court drama but its just not followed through with. The final act was pretty exciting though, it was dark and violent and pulled no punches. I liked how Alina and the Darkling were finally brought together. The fact that their words to each other kind of sounded like marriage vows was not surprising, and reaffirms what I've been saying. But overall this installment was very dull, it expands on all of the lesser elements of the first book and very few of the better ones. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 05, 2020
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Mar 02, 2020
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Dec 10, 2018
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Paperback
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| 0062795325
| 9780062795328
| 0062795325
| 4.05
| 38,662
| Oct 02, 2018
| Oct 02, 2018
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it was amazing
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In my review for The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, I mentioned that its style lent itself to the younger side of the Young Adult category. I w
In my review for The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, I mentioned that its style lent itself to the younger side of the Young Adult category. I would say the same about The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, but that is in no way a demerit. I think that if I had this book when I was 13....honestly, my life might have been much different. Like its predecessor, Lady's Guide has a winding nature to it. Felicity Montague, determined to be accepted to medical school and become a great surgeon, finds herself traveling on a whim to her childhood friend's wedding in Germany, in the faint hope that she may convince her groom, the groundbreaking doctor, Alexander Platt, to employ her. What she discovers though is that Platt and the supposed happy union between him and her estranged friend, Johanna, is not what it seems, and she and Johanna find themselves on a hell of an adventure. And there are indeed plenty of petticoats and piracy. I don't remember the prose being this good in Gentleman's Guide, but this book is really beautifully written. In GG, you had Monty's romance with Percy, but here its Felicity's romance with, well, life. This is a story about a girl learning how to live on her own terms - a fairly complicated task for anyone, let alone a young woman in the 18th century. She's not the most likeable person at first. She's obsessed with her own individuality in a way that teenage girls have a tendency to be - thinking she's the only one who feels and thinks the way she does, and that she's better than others who she views as having more superficial desires. She grew a lot in the first book, but as she sets out on her own here, she is shown again and again there are many different ways for women to be - beautiful, brainy, savage, or all three. Speaking of women - this book loves women. Felicity herself is likely asexual or demisexual, finding little desire to be physically involved with anyone, or desire for romance. But she adores the women at her side - Johanna and Sim, the pirate princess Felicity manages to unwittingly steal the heart of. Seriously, the way the prose indulgently describes Johanna's figure, or the way the page just fucking sizzles whenever Sim flirts with Felicity, I was surprised that Felicity was not actually interested in that kind of thing. But I thought this was an incredible exploration of relationships, friendships and even desire, without it necessarily being about sex. Honestly, it's a little mindblowing. Also, there's dragons. I love how Mackenzi Lee sneaks up on you with that stuff. Genre, who? There is action and excitement, but I think that played second to the great character dynamics. Platt makes a great, messy and complicated villain, and Johanna, Sim and Felicity utterly complete each other. To me, everything about this book just fits together so snug and tight. I don't think there was a single sentence that disappointed me. I know there's some distaste for Mackenzi Lee of late. It's the kind of thing that if you're not paying close attention to book Twitter, you would completely miss it, and now its rather difficult to find first hand evidence of what went down. But I can't claim to know who Mackenzi Lee is as a person, I only believe that she accomplished something truly great in this book. If my angry, moody, sexually confused middle school self had been able to read this, been to see girls exploring relationships with each other, wooing each other, fighting for each other, and building lives for each other, I might have been able to see myself doing the same much, much sooner. I hope that this book finds its way into the hands of many girls like me. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 23, 2020
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Dec 22, 2020
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Sep 13, 2018
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Hardcover
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| 0451478800
| 9780451478801
| 0451478800
| 3.83
| 10,472
| Aug 28, 2018
| Aug 28, 2018
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liked it
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Seafire continuously surprised me. Initially, I thought this was a fantasy alternate history type of setting. Turns out, it's actually post-climate ca
Seafire continuously surprised me. Initially, I thought this was a fantasy alternate history type of setting. Turns out, it's actually post-climate catastrophe solar punk. What I thought was a pirate story was more like a dystopia on water, where a power-hungry overlord has taken control of an entire region and Caledonia Styx and her crew are determined to be the constantly sharpening thorn in his side. When I began to think that this story would likely not move beyond an unextraordinary adventure, it delivers a fantastic climax and a gut wrenching finale. The Mors Navis is a ship helmed entirely by young women, captained by Caledonia Styx and her second in command, Pisces. Caledonia and Pisces built their ship out of their remains of their old home - the Ghost - a ship that was decimated and burned at the hands of Aric Athair and his fleet of Bullets. When a Bullet defects from Aric after saving Pisces' life, they discover that the brothers they thought they lost in Aric's attack are in fact still alive - and serving their enemy. Caledonia and Pisces then have a new directive - not just to hinder Aric Athair, but take back something that he took from them. Even if that something is not what they remember. I love when tropes that we often see women in the middle of are subverted. The obvious one that happens here is Oran's presence among the crew of the Mors Navis - the inverted Smurfette. The other is Ares and Donnally - Pisces' and Caledonia's brothers respectively - as the damsels in need of rescue. Granted, they are likely far from helpless, but they are a prize to be won. Caledonia and Pisces have to struggle with the reality that their brothers are no longer the boys they remember, but rather men who have been made into soldiers and murderers. When Caledonia worries to herself about Ares' fighting spirit and Donnally's more delicate, artistic nature, you know which one is going to be the problem. But still, Parker goes in a way I didn't anticipate, and the idea of a boy as treasure to be saved lives on. The middle portion of Seafire feels largely episodic. It might be an aspect of having a story set at sea. If a conflict arrives, it has to come to the crew, unless they come ashore which by its very nature slows things down because they have to divert from their path forward. Many of the problems that Caledonia and her crew encounter seem contrived and too easily resolved, and after a while it felt a little like Parker was going through the motions - throwing up obstacles and diversions just because that's what plots do. At one point, when Caledonia was considering whether to go in one direction where they may run into pirates that we had met the chapter before, or try the uncharted grassy waters, you knew it was going to be the grass. Its a bit like a video game, the next level can't look just like the last. In this sense, Seafire could be very predictable, but in other ways not at all. I also struggled with the characters and what made them distinct. Most of the characters are identified by their hair color and style, which is really not enough. Especially when the Mors Navis has a crew of 54. All these girls are going to be tough, all battle-hardened. I think Parker could have done more to differentiate them. Caledonia herself I liked but I also never got a clear picture of her. The monkey on her back - the knowledge that she was responsible for the destruction of the Ghost - never felt right to me. She's so convinced that Pisces will not only judge her for this secret, but completely cast her out when its utterly obvious that she won't. Its clear by the end that Caledonia's guilt is supposed to be defining characteristic, but it just never connects for me. I almost feel like she should be, I don't know, a bit more narcissistic to believe such a thing - that everything that happens is entirely her responsibility or a consequence of her decisions and actions. But again, the ending was just so good. It stayed with me. Its exciting, gripping, an emotional roller coaster. And while I wasn't sure the story that came before really justified Caledonia's decision at the end, I got why she was willing to do it. And I'm still thinking about Donnally. (view spoiler)[You know it was his voice that she heard at the end. You know it, I know it, we all know it. And the idea that Lir is likely holding him captive to draw Caledonia out is just *clenches fist* it ticks all my boxes, lemme tell ya. (hide spoiler)] A part of me is hoping to see his point of view in the second book, Because yeah, I'm pumped for the second book. I'm not going to rate this above three stars, even with the stellar finale, because I think there's still a lot of progress to be made. There were too many story elements that were just too predictable, but the stuff Parker decides to subvert she does really well. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 11, 2019
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Jan 30, 2019
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Aug 31, 2018
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Hardcover
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| 0062888196
| 9780062888198
| B07GZZWYQN
| 4.07
| 65,287
| Oct 16, 2018
| Oct 16, 2018
|
it was ok
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Look. I like Tahereh Mafi, I think she is an incredibly intelligent, well-spoken, and well-dressed woman. And I appreciate what she was trying to do w
Look. I like Tahereh Mafi, I think she is an incredibly intelligent, well-spoken, and well-dressed woman. And I appreciate what she was trying to do with this book, and the point of view she provides here is valuable. But I don't think she's a very good writer. Shirin is a Muslim teenager living in a recently post-9/11 world. How recently is a bit unclear, for however Mafi likes to let us know that it is indeed the 00s, there's never any referential sense of time passed from that event. Along with frequent moves around the country because of her father's high-powered career track, Shirin deals with daily microaggressions from her peers that suddenly turn into straight-up aggression when she begins dating a popular white boy named Ocean James. Also, she joins a break dancing group with her brother. There's a handsome Muslim boy in the mix too for some reason. Its very difficult to draw Mafi's books into a standard conflict-driven arcs, and A Very Large Expanse of Sea is no exception. I enjoyed anything that involved Shirin's family, details like her brother's feelings on Ramadan and the culture around food. I like that she tells the experience of a young Muslim woman honestly, with humor, anger and affection. I think this story is a great example of how people who have privilege are blind to it, with how Shirin consistently warns Ocean that the two of them dating openly would lead to a lot of prejudice, but he doesn't take her seriously until it actually happens. This book has decent content, which is why its getting two stars rather than one, but its not an artfully crafted story by any means. The prose style reads like the personal essay of a teenager, and a lot of the story is told in summary, with very little narrative build-up or release. A Very Large Expanse of Sea has a lot of the same problems that other books by Mafi have. Very few to no female characters to support the central one, a whole lot of telling to make up for the lack of organic character and relationship building, and little regard for stuff that a reader might actually find exciting. Those break dancing competitions? Most pass in a hand wave. The town, which is such a massive influence on the events in the story, has zero personality. I mean, yeah, she tells us the people there are racist and obsessed with basketball, but none of that is actually shown. We're only told when it becomes important. Ocean has no characterization - he's a person with pretty eyes that has the hots for Shirin. Shirin is so oblivious to the world around her, she doesn't even realize he's a star basketball player and popular, its a marvel she noticed that he had attributes she found attractive at all. Whatever those might be. To be fair, their relationship reads like how a lot of teenage relationships actually function - two lost horny souls that awkwardly magnetized to each other for no apparent reason. Which is fine I guess if you're a teenager and its actually your life. But does anyone want to read that? Just sitting in a room with two teenagers saying "Oh" and "Ok" back and forth? It got creepy after a while. It concerns me that despite all of Mafi's apparent strength and intelligence as a person, she keeps writing narratives about girls who are never friends with other girls, who fall in love with boys who exhibit pushy and violent behavior, and who never seem to really exist in their own worlds. That no matter how impressive she makes her protagonists, the only character that ends up mattering is the boy. It also amazes me that her books keep getting published when they have very little narrative structure. I have read romantic contemporary YA before, and I actually really enjoyed it. Just because you're writing contemporary doesn't mean you translate the insipid conversations of teenagers verbatim. I don't think even teenagers want to see themselves that way. And it doesn't mean you can write about teenagers whispering into their phones at each other and call it a plot. If I'm picking up a book, I want to see an actual, you know, story. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 19, 2020
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Mar 26, 2020
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Jul 19, 2018
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Audiobook
| ||||||||||||||
| 0451478738
| 9780451478733
| 0451478738
| 3.82
| 8,349
| Mar 20, 2018
| Mar 20, 2018
|
liked it
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My first impression of this book is that it doesn't feel like YA. That doesn't have to do with the darkness of it or the subject matter, but rather th
My first impression of this book is that it doesn't feel like YA. That doesn't have to do with the darkness of it or the subject matter, but rather the style. From the get-go, it felt distinctly adult. Maybe it's a leftover feeling from reading Holocaust novels in school. Matt Killeen's writing is more lyrical than most and it was interesting seeing that applied to this kind of story. It sticks out for YA, but suits this dark and twisted historical novel. Sarah Goldstein, a clever and talented Jewish girl living in Europe during the rise of Nazi Germany, is orphaned after her mother's failed attempt to get them safely out of Austria. After a fortuitous encounter with a man she discovers is an undercover British operative, she agrees to work for him as a spy at an elite Nazi school. There, she struggles to survive and maintain her humanity in the cruel, stark environment of the school while helping stop the creation of a weapon that could change the war. Orphan Monster Spy has interesting twist and turns, and while I enjoyed reading it, I can't say it left a particularly strong impression on me. I think what stands out the most is the atmosphere. The prose effectively portrays a world that is cold and ruthless, in which our main character and the people she cares about are never safe. I also appreciated that Killeen portrays the incompetence and inefficiency of the authoritarian Nazi regime, from the sloppy infrastructure to the horrible food at the school. However, I think that same mechanism that is the book's most striking element - the prose - also creates a degree of detachment. It's abstract when it could be more evocative. Sarah as a character is indistinctly distinct. She has precisely the right kind of skills to be recruited as a teenage spy, and uses some in effective ways and others not so much. She makes friends and enemies. I can't tell you why she never stood out to me, or why I never felt particularly attached to her. I suppose as a spy that's the effect she's supposed to have. Perhaps Killeen did his job a little too well. This is a tough novel in a lot of ways, I feel the need to make that clear. Its not just the atmosphere of perpetual threat, Sarah is exposed to some awful dangers that she is wholly unprepared for. I am intrigued as to where her character will go, and I am interested in the small spark that exists between Sarah and the Captain, especially considering its a much different kind of relationship than what you might see in YA. For all its high drama and deeply immersive setting, I would have expected this book to have more of an impact on me. As it is, it was not a particularly striking novel to me, but a good one. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 07, 2019
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Dec 23, 2019
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Dec 20, 2017
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Hardcover
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| 1250027438
| 9781250027436
| 1250027438
| 3.92
| 1,039,052
| Jun 05, 2012
| Jun 2017
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it was amazing
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I have a lot to say about Shadow and Bone. I might have too much to say about it. There is nothing more wonderful than a book you can’t get out of you
I have a lot to say about Shadow and Bone. I might have too much to say about it. There is nothing more wonderful than a book you can’t get out of your head. Leigh Bardugo’s stories consistently do this to me, and it’s interesting that Shadow and Bone does it when it does not have the same kind of scope as Six of Crows. I know comparing Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone might be an inappropriate thing to do. But I’m going to, because honestly the contrast between the two is fascinating to me. Shadow and Bone came first, but I’m reading it after already completing the Six of Crows duology, and one might assume the first trilogy came about when the world was less developed and Bardugo was not quite as strong as a writer. I don’t think this is the case. I wouldn’t even argue that Shadow and Bone is what it is because it was meant for a “younger� audience. I think it is the way it is because it was made for the only audience that was seen as relevant at the time � the same audience that devoured Twilight, The Hunger Games and Divergent, as well as their many many clones. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before � a plain, mousy teenage girl is plucked from obscurity and thrown into an extravagant and new world due to something inherent in her that is unique (and she has no control over) while attracting the attention of a powerful immortal that also happens to look like a teenage boy. I am speculating, of course, but I think this was very much intentional. I think Bardugo had a world and realized the best way to get it in front of other people’s eyes was to use it to tell a story that had proven effective in the past. But because Bardugo is the phenomenal writer she is, it’s astronomically better. Six of Crows in general is much more immersive. I think I actually have a better understanding of the Grisha and the magical system from Six of Crows than I do from this book (I mean, what is the Darkling’s ability even called?). There’s also a lot about this story that is strikingly anachronistic. In Six of Crows, while the speech and thoughts of the characters are relatable and accessible, Kaz, Jesper and Inej all very clearly belong to their neo-Victorian magical version of Amsterdam. If you took Kaz and dropped him in our modern world the son of bitch would probably adapt as quickly as a chameleon, but he would have to adapt. Alina would not. Her snarky sense of humor, while distinctly her own, is also distinctly modern, as is much of the dialogue and interactions in Shadow and Bone. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of atmosphere. I was feeling the tsar punk, and I cannot believe no one thought to do this before. But, take the Darkling, for example. Going in I expected a dark, mysterious, perhaps slightly inhuman overlord. And there’s a glimmer of that when he’s first introduced. But after that he’s just one of the guys. Casual, occasionally ruffled, not even that mean. Of course, there's a reason for his easy engaging demeanor in terms of story, but stylistically I think it was another means pulling the reader closer. The intention of this story is to tell a grand Cinderella epic that of course falls apart by story’s end. And to be honest, I was broken-hearted for Alina in a way that I haven’t been for other heroines in her place. She’s an orphan that discovers that she has a power that can save the world. She should get to wear pretty dresses, and have prettier women be jealous of her, and fall in love with the dark and powerful prince. When the lie is revealed, I was not entirely surprised but I was sad for her. I think that’s why I wasn’t bothered by the fact that Alina has very little agency and doesn’t make a single decision for herself until the last act. Or that there was so much fixation on the beauty and wealth of the Grisha girls and the catty way they treated Alina. The intention was to tell a grandiose, compelling version of boiler plate “paranormal romance� with significant mature undertones hiding just barely beneath the surface. Shadow and Bone is achingly easy to read. As stated, not a whole lot happens during the first three quarters of the book, and yet they vanish before you even realize it. Alina doesn’t have a central desire, there isn’t much of a conflict (aside from her own initial inadequacy), and the world is very minimally explained. There’s so much about this that just shouldn’t work, and yet it does. The prose is swift, Alina is funny, the glamour of the Grisha world is tantalizing, and the Darkling is just the right amounts of scary and sexy (ok, he could have been a little scarier, in my opinion). And then the shoe drops, and it’s in that last act that I found myself saying, “Ah, there you are, Alina.� Hiding beneath the tropes was in fact a character with a soul, a love interest and best friend who is genuine and real, and a villain whose desire for her is born from his deep loneliness. I want to swim in this world, I want to roll in every word. Logically, I know there are pieces missing from this story, but none of it is sloppy. Everything that Bardugo accomplishes here is intentional, and that's fucking amazing. Now that the initial YA framework that got people in the door is cast aside (ok, I imagine the love triangle thing might stick around for a bit), I am so excited to see how she expands this story in the next two books. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 03, 2018
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Dec 10, 2018
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Oct 16, 2017
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Paperback
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| B0117K9N3Q
| 4.58
| 719,328
| Sep 27, 2016
| Sep 27, 2016
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it was amazing
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I legit nuzzled this book when I finished. I adore this series, I adore these characters, and Crooked Kingdom is a phenomenal second part and a great
I legit nuzzled this book when I finished. I adore this series, I adore these characters, and Crooked Kingdom is a phenomenal second part and a great finale. I had a bit of anxiety throughout much of this book. Kaz Brekker is my son, he’s literally pulling me out of this incoming dystopian-fueled depression, and is currently the lock screen image on my phone. What I mean by that is that no harm may come to child or I’ll have to fight somebody. Wishing for something like that is a fruitless endeavor, of course, for my adopted son is pretty into his game of risk, and his creator is a master at creating puzzles and then tearing them down. Bardugo will often set the gun on the mantle just so, so that if you’re looking for it you’ll know when something is about to go off, but you still will always be surprised. This book is complicated. If Six of Crows was a ride on a swift roller coaster, Crooked Kingdom is a full-tilt run through an entire amusement park. I’m not gonna lie, I got a little lost a few times, but I trust Bardugo, so I was more than happy to just go with it and see how things landed. The character moments are beautiful � the big ones and the small ones. The way these idiots flirt with each other is un-freaking-real. One of the things that I mentioned in my Six of Crows review is that even though this is a young adult book and the characters are all teenagers, they don’t act like it. This book however, takes a few poignant moments to remind us that they are in fact kids. It does this by putting them in contrast to actual adults, ones that genuinely care about them and look at them like people that need to be protected. I love my flashy, brilliant criminal masterminds, but I also love when Kaz and Jesper are just teenage boys (even when that means they’re punching each other), or when Nina teases Matthias with stories of Ravka’s version of 50 Shades of Gray, or when Kuwei shamelessly tries to steal Jesper’s attention away from Wylan. The dialogue, the banter is infinitely clever. I could read about these kids snipping at each other all day long. Can I tell you that Kaz and Inej are like my fantasy romance brought to life? The idea of a woman out sailing her ship, hunting slavers and then every couple of weeks or even months coming back home to her wicked but faithful man? Kaz waiting at the docks for her like the crow he is? Love it. I’m so about it. I want a whole series about Inej and her crew. Bardugo writes Kaz and Inej beautifully, she’s careful and loving with the way she portrays their reservations, their failings and their desire for each other. Even when Kaz reaches out and fails because his trauma is just too great to overcome in that moment, I was achingly proud of him. I feel like there’s something very important about a character like Kaz, even with all his moral ambiguity. As Bardugo has said, he’s the cripple she wished she could be. Even with his limp, he keeps moving. Even with his paralyzing trigger, he keeps trying. If he can cultivate every nasty piece of himself in order to thrive in the Barrel, he can take that energy and shake this monkey off his back. Or keep it at bay when he needs to, at least. He can love a woman he doesn’t deserve. He can be something more than just Dirtyhands. Kaz is an anti-capitalist dreamboat, even though he may claim to be otherwise. Not to make everything about everything right now, but to me, that’s kind of what this duology seems to be about. Kerch’s religion is literally money, and Kaz is its Shadow, as Inej calls it. He dresses like a merch, he does business like a merch, but calls himself what he is � a thief. And as such he calls them what they are. Unlike Jan Van Eck and Pekka Rollins, Kaz has no interest in legacy (I mean, he’s seventeen, so that might just a matter of time). He literally says it when he’s asked what he’ll do with his winnings. “Build something new. Burn it down.� He’s smart enough to know that money means something, but also knows that the bigger reward is the game itself. He’s Heath Ledger’s Joker, just dressed a little nicer. The more books I’ve read in my life the more I’ve seen good endings, even to trilogies. Great endings, however, are still rare. Crooked Kingdom is an extraordinarily on point ending for this two-part series, and even if Bardugo adds to the canon of these characters like she hopes to, this is a complete story. The two books build on each other, reflect each other, and the conclusions she gives each of these characters is so right, even when they’re complicated and occasionally tragic. You might be surprised to know how upbeat this book actually is � its exceptionally funny, far more than Six of Crows. You could not design a more perfect escape. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 12, 2018
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Jul 04, 2018
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Oct 15, 2017
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Kindle Edition
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| 0062382802
| 9780062382801
| 0062382802
| 4.03
| 142,700
| Jun 27, 2017
| Jun 27, 2017
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really liked it
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Ah, boys. No wonder they drive us all crazy. Maybe I've gotten too used to wise-beyond-her-years leading ladies, because I was utterly thrown by this
Ah, boys. No wonder they drive us all crazy. Maybe I've gotten too used to wise-beyond-her-years leading ladies, because I was utterly thrown by this complete mess of a boy that is Henry Montague. Rake, scoundrel, and hopelessly in love. How do they even function? From the beginning of The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Henry Montague's Grand Tour does not go as planned. Instead of a raucous year of drinking and seducing his way across the continent with his best friend and love of his life, Percy, they're saddled by his father's strict rules and a bear-leader keen on exposing them to culture rather than, ya know, "culture" *wink wink nudge nudge*. Thankfully, things get out of hand quickly when in Paris, Monty spitefully steals a trinket from the Duke of Bourbon that turns out to have untold value, and they end up on the run from highwaymen, captured by pirates, and seeking out a master of alchemy in pursuit of a magical cure for all ills. Yeah, I definitely didn't expect the touch of fantasy that this book has. I still feel fairly confident categorizing it as historical fiction, and the fantasy aspect is period appropriate. I don't want to say it felt unneeded - because what is when it comes to fiction? - but it isn't exactly what I came here for. What I did come for was flirting, petticoats and lots of silliness. And there was plenty of that. There was even some very sexy make-out scenes. That said, despite the adult-leaning content level, this feels like its on the younger end of the YA spectrum. The narrative devices, the mishaps and misunderstandings, are on the goofier side, but somehow not goofy enough for me. This book is very much sincere, therefore its not going for camp, but what it nails emotionally it doesn't quite capture narratively. The emotional weight was absolutely there. Our three central characters - Henry, his sister, Felicity, and Percy - all represent different sides of a some of the more oppressive parts of their society. Felicity is a woman who wants nothing more than to study and learn when she's only expected to look pretty and make babies; Percy is a biracial black boy raised in a white aristocratic society who turns out has an illness that ostracizes him from that society even further; and Henry, the most privileged of the three, is a young queer man dealing with the endless physical and emotional abuse of his father that has left him depressed and traumatized. As the the three of them run for their lives, they also confront the secrets they've been keeping from one another and figure out how to accept and live with those secrets. This book is difficult to rate for me, at least by Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ typical star ratings. For me, it's a solid 3.5, but rounding up makes more sense than rounding down. I giggled, swooned, and overall found it incredibly easy and fun to read. That said, the plot meanders in some unnecessary ways. Personally, I think the pirates should have showed up way sooner. And Monty and Percy's constant waffling between passionate lovers and frustrated friends was both delightful and infuriating. Boys! What will we do with you? Monty plays just about every role in this adventure story - the dead weight, the hero, then the damsel in distress - and his growth, while frustrating when he stumbles, is actually very satisfying by the end. This book is exciting, sweet and light-hearted (except when it when it decides to get a little heavy), it's aim just wobbles from time to time. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 24, 2018
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Jun 10, 2018
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Jul 06, 2017
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Hardcover
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| 1627792120
| 9781627792127
| 1627792120
| 4.47
| 1,072,435
| Sep 29, 2015
| Sep 29, 2015
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it was amazing
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There's no reason why you shouldn't read this book. At the very least, hold it in your hands, thumb through and feel that velvety black trim. It's a s
There's no reason why you shouldn't read this book. At the very least, hold it in your hands, thumb through and feel that velvety black trim. It's a sexy book to look at, and it's an even better book on the inside. There are a lot of YA books these days set in fantasy or sci-fi settings that are all about revolution and dystopia. This isn't one of them. This is about a heist. This is about the game. This is six kids from a rotten part of the world who have lived rotten lives giving a chance at glory their best shot. Yeah, there's a little bit of political machinations, and the effect a new drug may have on a global war, but for the most part you are neck deep in the criminal underbelly of a bustling, Victorianish city, and the street kids who live and thrive there. Each one of the six is captivating, rich and well-drawn. Jesper, the sharp-shooter and gambler; Wylan the wayward son; Nina and Matthias, the soldiers and lovers on opposite side of a war; Inej the circus performer, spider, and survivor of trafficking. Six of Crows bounces between each of their perspectives, and no one is boring or unwelcome. And then there's Kaz. Kaz is just enough. He's a brilliant criminal prodigy, looks good in a suit, refined but not flashy, wicked but not cruel. He is bad, though, make no mistake. Ruthless, alarmingly clever, and just fucking mean sometimes. But you know him, you get him. His flaws are deep ones, down to the bone, and his desires are still human. You can feel good getting invested in him, without feeling bad about loving a sexy teenage criminal who is magically good at everything evil. It's not magic - he's just smart and determined and is carrying vendetta, and Leigh Bardugo is a smart enough writer to know how to do that in the right way. One thing that I found striking about the characters is that while this is YA and they are all teenagers, none of them, with the exception of Wylan and Jesper perhaps, act like it. Which, honestly, is appropriate. For their short amount of years, they have lived very long lives. As such, they treat each other with impressive maturity. Inej and Kaz's relationship, despite all its pining and awkward moments, does not feel like two children experiencing a crush. They love each other, they know that they love each other, but at 17 they're already very grown up and very set on the path of who they're going to be, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to be together. Nina and Matthias have more room for pettiness and conflict, but well, he was raised to see her as an animal, and she sent him to prison. They grow in ways that make sense and raise the stakes of the story, rather than slow the story down. Their epic crime, the one that is so supposed to make them all filthy rich and perhaps even save the world moves fast. There isn't much time spent on maybes. These kids aren't the kind for that anyway. I don't want to say this is filled with twists and turns - like I said, this story is a mature one. Everyone involved knows what they're getting into, and it's hard to say their surprised when they know they have a better chance of dying than succeeding. But they do it anyway. That's what makes this so interesting, and every turn of the page worth your time. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 22, 2017
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Oct 15, 2017
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Dec 31, 2016
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Hardcover
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my rating |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 3.85
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it was amazing
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Sep 17, 2024
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Jul 26, 2022
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| 3.73
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it was amazing
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Jul 25, 2022
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Jul 13, 2022
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| 3.54
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liked it
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Sep 13, 2021
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Aug 04, 2021
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| 3.87
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did not like it
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Feb 10, 2022
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Jan 26, 2021
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| 4.32
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Jan 29, 2022
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Jan 25, 2021
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||||||
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| 3.92
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really liked it
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Jun 18, 2021
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Dec 24, 2020
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| 3.93
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it was amazing
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Nov 06, 2019
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Sep 22, 2019
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| 3.90
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it was ok
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Oct 07, 2019
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Aug 08, 2019
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| 3.76
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did not like it
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Jun 04, 2019
Jun 04, 2019
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Feb 27, 2019
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| 4.15
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really liked it
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Mar 23, 2025
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Jan 01, 2019
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| 3.98
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liked it
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Jan 28, 2023
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Dec 10, 2018
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| 3.81
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it was ok
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Mar 02, 2020
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Dec 10, 2018
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| 4.05
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it was amazing
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Dec 22, 2020
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Sep 13, 2018
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| 3.83
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liked it
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Jan 30, 2019
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Aug 31, 2018
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| 4.07
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it was ok
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Mar 26, 2020
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Jul 19, 2018
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| 3.82
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liked it
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Dec 23, 2019
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Dec 20, 2017
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|||||
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| 3.92
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it was amazing
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Dec 10, 2018
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Oct 16, 2017
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|||||
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| 4.58
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it was amazing
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Jul 04, 2018
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Oct 15, 2017
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| 4.03
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really liked it
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Jun 10, 2018
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Jul 06, 2017
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| 4.47
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it was amazing
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Oct 15, 2017
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Dec 31, 2016
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