Not gonna lie, I walked into this trilogy with zero knowledge of the plot other than it involved bones and magic. My initial hope was I was walking inNot gonna lie, I walked into this trilogy with zero knowledge of the plot other than it involved bones and magic. My initial hope was I was walking into a world like Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir or House of the Dead by Nicki Pau Preto, both of which are personal favorites.
This is nothing like those books - and that's ok. I found it to be funny, with modern humor (some bordering on old, going back to the '90s with that Clueless reference), a good plot, a terrible cliffhanger moment in book two, fleshed out characters, decent world building, and an overall fun journey.
Is it amazing? Nah. Do I need a pretty version with sprayed edges for my fancy book collection? Nope. Do I regret reading? Also, no. Fun urban fantasy that is ultimately a bit forgettable with the glut of other urban fantasy out there....more
4 stars for Gideon and Harrow! Wait, wrong book! This is not Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir. I suspect this is a complete coincidence, but you can't just 4 stars for Gideon and Harrow! Wait, wrong book! This is not Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir. I suspect this is a complete coincidence, but you can't just put a main character named Gideon and a side character named Harrow and NOT have me think of the Locked Tomb, right?!! *points to Harrow cosplay profile picture* Ahem.
Annnyway, I initially skipped over this book multiple times because the plot looked iffy and a bit meh, but I caved and I was wrong; the plot was a lot of fun! The world building was solid, the characters engaging, the scenes relatively reasonable for fantasy, and I mostly enjoyed watching the MCs interact. I admit, I do think some fleshing out of characters would have helped - I did find Rune to be more swept up in events than dictating them, and sometimes she was a bit of a dolt, but I was engaged and the writing was solid. So, while I think this is more a 3-star story, I'm giving it 4 because of my love of Gideon the Ninth, lol....more
DNF. Barely started the book and the whole Empressssssss.... coooome to meeeee was getting obnoxious. Maybe I should have given it more of a shot, butDNF. Barely started the book and the whole Empressssssss.... coooome to meeeee was getting obnoxious. Maybe I should have given it more of a shot, but I didn't. Pass....more
I can understand why there are fans of this series, but for me, the writing felt quite juvenile and the MCs behavior were cringe-worthy at times. TherI can understand why there are fans of this series, but for me, the writing felt quite juvenile and the MCs behavior were cringe-worthy at times. There was a lot of potential here that could have been fleshed out a bit better.
With that said, I thought the world building had some solid points and the characters had some flesh to their meat so didn't read as 2D, but even so... pass. I don't have a vested interest in either MC or their story. Sorry?...more
DNF. For all that I'm a goth and I love spooky sh*t, horror is just not my jam. I tried, but the world these days feels bleak enough that I'm realizinDNF. For all that I'm a goth and I love spooky sh*t, horror is just not my jam. I tried, but the world these days feels bleak enough that I'm realizing that I want my escapism to not feel like a worse version of modern day vibes. Sorry. Pass....more
Reading this is like eating too much candy all at once; it starts to feel saccharine-sweet and you're not sure if you'll end up with a tummy ache afteReading this is like eating too much candy all at once; it starts to feel saccharine-sweet and you're not sure if you'll end up with a tummy ache afterwards. But sometimes that's just where the night takes you. It's not necessarily a bad thing; just something that happens every once in a while.
The overall plot was... thin... to put it nicely. Lots of not very fleshed out characters making dumb decisions for dumb reasons. I was thoroughly annoyed by Asher being a thick-headed, stubborn, mule of a male and that specific plot point wore thin pretty quickly. Nova wasn't much better and had way too many 2d Mary Sue-ish moments. Honestly, I'd almost rather read more about Drake, but the way the book ended with Drake (setting up for book two) felt kind of off putting how little emotion was shown all around. Weird, but ok?
I did like the writing style, which flowed and the attention to detail which kept me tethered, so not all bad. With that said, I am curious to see where this goes so I'll give the second book a shot.
As a recommendation, if you need a palate cleanser from some of the darker works out there (looking at you, Liv Zander's Court of Ravens!) and tired of the cottagecore books coming out (no, really, Sarah Beth Durst, I do like Spellshop), this could be it....more
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