This is how he likes me best... when I am in need of rescue.
So the author wrote this in the cover reveal for Damsel, anTentative rating: 3.5 stars
This is how he likes me best... when I am in need of rescue.
So the author wrote this in the cover reveal for Damsel, and I think it sums up the book quite nicely: Damsel is about waking up female in a manâs world. Itâs about power, and abuses of power by powerful men. Itâs about secrets. It's about pride, and anger, and action. I put my anger into this book, and I surprised myself with what my anger and I created.
RTC! đ _______
PRE-REVIEW
I've seen a lot of mixed reviews on this, but it oddly just makes me want to read the book more. I've been waiting for a dark fantasy Sleeping Beauty retelling practically all my life!
[also I'm confused as to why this isn't being marketed towards an older audience because the content matter seems v mature for YA?]...more
This book shook me to my core. I devoured it in ONE DAY, in ONE SITTING.
Mindy McGinnis is the Absolute Queen of contemporaries and can I just point oThis book shook me to my core. I devoured it in ONE DAY, in ONE SITTING.
Mindy McGinnis is the Absolute Queen of contemporaries and can I just point out how hauntingly beautiful that cover is? I started Heroine right after A Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, so reading it was akin to metaphorically swallowing down a mouthful of hot, raw, burning whiskey after treating yourself to sparkly-sweet unicorn fluff.
This was fun and addicting but also a little disappointing at the same time, you feel? The banter was fabulous and the killer sirens were fabulous butThis was fun and addicting but also a little disappointing at the same time, you feel? The banter was fabulous and the killer sirens were fabulous but the ending fell a littleâokay, REALLYâflat. IT HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL. (view spoiler)[I mean, was the romance really that necessary. (Okay, yeah I predicted it from three hundred miles off and the synopsis basically tells it all but... still.) (hide spoiler)]
Now I'm going to retire to my cave and weep in disappointment while attempting to piece together a coherent review. )':...more
wow, this was a WILD RIDE. it was so delightfully creepy and dark... and I basically adored it so much? I mean:
â� morally ambiguous antiheroine[image]
wow, this was a WILD RIDE. it was so delightfully creepy and dark... and I basically adored it so much? I mean:
â� morally ambiguous antiheroine â� even more morally ambiguous love interest (and i say this veryyy broadly) â� deliciously gory descriptions â� frankenstein!!
also, just look at that beautiful cover. I want to marry it.
Who could have guessed that she used to be a fairy?
I adore fairy tales, and this is basically the fairy tale OF ALL FAIRYđ Rating: 2.5 stars. đ
Who could have guessed that she used to be a fairy?
I adore fairy tales, and this is basically the fairy tale OF ALL FAIRY TALES. It has practically three different plots mish-mashed into one very dense storyline. Though undeniably a creative twist, this makes the book more than a little difficult to follow (particularly for someone as daft as me).
Basically: there was a prince and a fairy, both madly in love. There was magic. There was a wicked king, a 14-year-old narrator, a war with green cloaked archer assassins, and a marshmallow shop. (The marshmallows sounded delicious, by the way.) THERE WERE SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS AND I AM ALL THE CONFUSION.
Perhaps some of this confusion can be attributed to the nuances lost in translation, considering The Book of Pearl was originally written in French (and from my understanding, quite popular in its native country). Regardless, the seemingly abrupt shifts from first to third person POV threw me off. One minute I'm reading from the perspective of an angsty 14-year old narrator, then he's suddenly an adult, and then suddenly I'm watching fairy tale characters flouncing about in Paris during WWII? AND THEN TWENTY PAGES TO THE END, THE LITTLE BOY NARRATOR POPS UP AGAIN. I'm sorry, but my brain simply. Cannot. Compute.
With so many different stories tangled into one, you'd think the pacing would be fast-paced, maybe even confusingly so. Quite the opposite, actually: the book moved slowly for me. Veryyy veryyyy slowlyyyy. I can't put it any other wayâI was bored. Which is never a good thing when you're reading fairy tales, because hello, fairy tales are an absolute delight. This is most likely a matter of personal taste; the plot had that languid, cat-stretching-in-the-sun feel that inches by like molasses. Some readers like that. I didn't.
To be sure, I acknowledge the author's incredible literary talentâthe writing style is truly very lush and whimsical, perfect for the magical fairy-tale setting. (Or settings, considering that the storylines seemed to shift 1000 times.) I can imagine being forced to painstakingly dissect this, sentence by sentence, inside an AP Language class; it's chock-full of the figurative language and complex syntactical patterns and everything else that would make my high school English teacher cry tears of joy.
But stories change us. And there are some encounters that flip us onto our back like tortoises, forcing us to wake up and listen.
Despite that beautiful writing, I never quite connected with the characters as much as I'd hoped. Like many of you, I'm the type of reader that prefers to fall COMPLETELY in love with the story. I like books that make me feel. I like having my heart torn to shreds. I like to be destroyed. (But in a fun way, of course.) Unfortunately, with these charactersâOlia, Ian, Joshua Pearl, the 14-year-old narrator whose name I can't ever seem to rememberâI just couldn't. I definitely felt that fairy-tale vibe of WATCHING the characters interact on the page, but never really empathizing with them. (I'm serious. If the protagonist had suddenly choked on an acorn and died, I wouldn't even have BLINKED.)
Don't get me wrong: there was something refreshing in the black-and-white morality of all the characters. Happy couple GOOD, wicked king BAD. There was something refreshing about observing such a wholesome, idealistic love that stretched out across decades.
Ultimately, though, I'm sorry to conclude that this just wasn't my type of book.
đ”đ”
I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Candlewick Press, as well as to the translators of this edition, Sarah Ardizzone and Sam Gordon. All quotes are subject to change in the final publication.
: đđđđđ Now I Rise: đđđđđ Bright We Burnđđđđ
A bittersweet ending to a gorgeously written series. Also, Lada will always be my prince.
Review
: đđđđđ Now I Rise: đđđđđ Bright We Burnđđđđ
A bittersweet ending to a gorgeously written series. Also, Lada will always be my prince.
Review to come!
đ đ đemail yours truly ______ my friends literally just hid this book from me because they knew i would get distracted from finals are they the best... or the worst, idk :'') ______ i just got an arc of this book I HAVE BEEN BLESSED...more
I remember reading this sometime last year, and thinking how uniquely inspiring this novel was. Maybe I'll reread this later on and write a more thoroI remember reading this sometime last year, and thinking how uniquely inspiring this novel was. Maybe I'll reread this later on and write a more thorough review. Also, I can't emphasize enough how pretty I think the cover is. It has a sort of "tumblr" aesthetic, if you know what I mean, and for some reason I find it very pleasing to look at.
Plot-wise, Exit, Pursued by a Bear was personally slow and hard for me to get into, which is why I didn't rate it higher- I think the pacing dragged at times. However, the overall message is undeniably so, so necessary and impactful. Johnston ultimately built the novel around strength and growth, friendship and family. Needless to say, I finished this book with a smile on my face and a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart....more
Let me just start out by stating: MAJOR trigger warnings for this book. Do not be fooled by the đRating: 4.5 stars.đ
Review first published on my .
Let me just start out by stating: MAJOR trigger warnings for this book. Do not be fooled by the cutesy yellow cover. I repeat: Do not be fooled by the cutesy yellow cover.
I know, I know, itâs gorgeous and I would totally marry it, but it is so not the lighthearted YA romance that one usually associates with cutesy yellow titles. Maybe the authorâs just trying to be ironic, advertising a dark thriller with a bright colorful cover. (I really really love it, though- GAHH itâs adorable).
(Also, news flash to myself: NEVER claim youâre going to review a book âlaterâ�, because later will never come. Nope.)
Before I go off on yet another tangent, I will start my review, numbered very neatly in an attempt to make my all-over-the-place review seem at least a little bit cohesive.
đ€Itâs dark, and itâs violent. Maybe even too violent.
McGinnis includes deeply shattering, incredibly insightful social commentary on issues that pertain to todayâs society, and she refuses to sugercoat anything. I know a lot of the events that unfold are horrific, almost cartoonish in their barbarity. The truth is, these kinds of atrocities are heartbreakingly common, even today. Rape, animal cruelty, stereotyping- just some of the many problems that McGinnis touches upon- are all things that we, as a society, need to address.
But boys will be boys, our favorite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.
Everyone tells you to turn the other cheek; to fight cruelty with kindness. In this book, however, I loved that McGinnis explores justiceâs more vicious side, and sheâs not afraid to blur the lines between right and wrong. When the law fails Alex, she decides to take matters into her own hands, even if it means getting them dirty.
âDo no harm. Be nice. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. But what if I donât want to catch the flies? What if Iâd rather see them swatted?â�
At first glance, Alex might seem like just another kind of twisted vigilante. But the thing is, although you know what sheâs doing is politically, and arguably morally, WRONG- especially considering she feels absolutely no remorse for her oftentimes brutal actions- you canât help empathizing with her. Her motivations are, in many ways, pure- she âfeels too muchâ�, as she states in the book.
đ€So much girl power.
Alex Craft WILL NOT take your crap. She will punch you in the ballsack, tear out your earring (and, incidentally, take out your ear with it), burn down your house, and not even feel bad about it.
I am a wolf that my sister kept in a cage, until her hand was removed. I have been out, curious as I wake up from a lethargic solitude, self-enforced because I know I donât belong here. Itâs not safe for me to be out, but they rattled my cage.
I loved how the author developed her character arc throughout the novel. Alex doesnât stay the same; she learns so much about herself as she struggles to let others in. Her budding friendship with Peekay was absolutely precious.
At the same time, itâs almost hard to believe that Alex is only a teenager in high school. I donât know about you, but the ones I know sure donât walk around reflecting upon the meaning of life and all that crap. Where I live, FIDGET SPINNERS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE WORLD.
I guess thatâs what makes her stand out- her voice doesnât sound like the voice of any "normal" person. Rather then telling someone âIâm going to kill youâ�, she says, and I quote, âYour existence should ceaseâ�. In many ways, Alex is wise beyond her years (and, in many other ways, absolutely clueless, especially in all things social).
đ€The romance was just eh. Jack Fisher was just eh.
McGinnis purposefully develops Jack Fisher as the resident classic, all-American golden boy. (Why does it sound like I just described a burger? Disclaimer: He is not a burger.) I understand that heâs only human, and a teenage one at that- his brain is still developing, heâs not mature yet, blah blah blah. And as humans tend to do, he makes a bunch of stupid, insensitive mistakes.
Yes, Jack Fisher is still growing. All the characters, in fact, still have a lot of growing up to do, especially after everything they went through. Regardless, I didnât particularly connect to him, nor to his romance with Alex. Which, by the way, sent off slight âinsta-love! insta-love!â� signals. He keeps on describing Alex as âspecialâ�, as âthe oneâ�, in comparison to all those other poor girls he went through like clothing.
(I vividly recall this one scene where Fisherâs mom talks about how she can always smell other girlsâ� different perfumes on him, and how heâs lucky that she mentioned âperfumeâ� and not some other bodily fluid. Can I just sayâ� yuck?)
In fact, I donât even think their romance added anything to the plot. It was justâ� there. Where does it say that every single main character needs to be in some sort of relationship with some sort of cute guy? Even when it seems a bit unnecessary?
đ€The author smashed negative stereotypes.
The perfect example of this is her development of Branley, who initially seems like an overused caricature of your typical rich, white, Barbie girl. In the end, though, readers discover that sheâs so much more than that. Obviously, I do not condone cheating in any way, but Branleyâs flaws made her such a complex character. They made her real. It was fascinating to track her growth throughout the book as the three narratorsâ� perspectives of her changed.
And you know what? I am so, so tired of slut-shaming in books. We shouldnât judge others for the clothing they choose to wear, or for the way they decide to carry themselves. (I mean, unless theyâre going outside naked or something, because that will surely be enough to scar some innocent passersby for life.) McGinnis emphasizes that itâs okay to be typically âfeminineâ�, itâs okay to be âmasculineâ�- the most important thing is to just be yourself.
Branley always looks put together in a way that tells me she spends hours in front of a mirror before going outside. And while I donât understand that, I can respect it.
Thank you, dear author, for finally acknowledging that both girls and boys should be able to like whatever they like without fear of being judged.
đ€The pacing was fast and kept me on my toes the entire time.
I gobbled this book up in practically a day. I wouldnât exactly describe this as a book filled with life-altering plot twists, but I couldnât hold my breath until I finished. And that ending. That ending. This book was undoubtedly bittersweet, haunting, and most of all, real. I loved that it wasnât all sprinkles and sunshine, because life, unfortunately, doesnât always work like that.
Overall: A dark, fast-paced feminist read, and definitely on the heavier side. Everyone should pick this up.
Now here's your assignment: Connect the dots. Is everybody in it together, or is somebody pulling strings? Who's the puppet master, and who's the pupp
Now here's your assignment: Connect the dots. Is everybody in it together, or is somebody pulling strings? Who's the puppet master, and who's the puppet?
Rating: 3.5 stars!
I'm not going to lie. This has got to be one of the most cliched, trope-y contemporary novels I've read this year- and I loved it.
All of these characters- the Brain, the Princess, the Bad Boy, the Jock, and the... Gossip, I guess?- are basically living, breathing stereotypes, but the author somehow makes it work. They're all forced to spin different lies in order to protect their own secrets. Cooper isn't just an all-American, cookie cutter Perfect Jock, any more than Nate is just an Angsty Teen with nice hair and criminal tendencies.
Now, I want to take a moment to appreciate Addy. I know her character arc wasn't exactly mindblowing- some may even consider her vapid, especially considering what her arc revolved around- but she grew so, so much, and I was here *claps* for *claps* it. YOU GO, GIRL. ROCK THAT HAIR.
Frankly, I came into this expecting a dark, twisty thriller, and what I got was more of a very contemporary novel meshed with some Gossip Girl elements.
Don't get me wrong; I found the book fun, fast-paced, and witty, BUT it didn't have that extra oomph factor that I look for in most thrillers. You know... that incredible plot twist, that adrenaline-inducing punch of action. Put simply, it was a different type of thriller than I had originally thought, and it didn't quite keep me on the edge of my seat.
Regardless, One of Us is Lying is still an amazingly quick, amazingly entertaining read. The author hides the answer in plain sight, but the big reveal turns out to be absolutely delicious. Plus, I'd like to announce that I, arguably the most clueless person in the entire universe, *flips hair modestly* figured out the mystery. *flips hair again, for added emphasis*
[image]
It concerns me you're avoiding a promise not to murder me.
The romance took me completely by surprise. I didn't think I'd find any kissy scenes here, but turns out, I was completely wrong. Sparks flew. Passion burned. Tongues were inserted into mouths. It was great. (view spoiler)[I found myself quite enjoying this budding romance between Miss Goody Two Shoes and Hot Delinquent. (hide spoiler)]
My heart melted for this slightly predictable, yet extremely sweet, couple. I loved that the two characters didn't immediately fall madly in love upon laying eyes on each other. It took time and effort on both sides for their relationship to build, for them to get to know each other as real people instead of blown-up stereotypes. (view spoiler)[(And those late-night, sort of shady phone conversations? YES.) (hide spoiler)]
The sibling-to-sibling, heart-to-heart conversations also had me dabbing tears out of my eyes. Maeve and Bronwyn, Ashton and Addy, heck, even Cooper and Lucas, all had each other's backs when it mattered most. I wish I could say the same for my sister and me, but unfortunately, we're still stuck on that screaming-at-each-other-for-stealing-clothes phase.
The writing style is fun and lighthearted, so the pages fly by. Most of all, though, I loved the slow-burn friendships that the Murder Club developed as they weathered the storm of paparazzi, school politics, and online harassment.
I guess we're almost friends now, or as friendly as you can get when you're not one hundred percent sure the other person isn't framing you for murder.
Sometimes, however, the different POVs were difficult to distinguish. If I didn't read the chapter title, I would have no idea whose voice it was until I figured out the context of the situation. All of the characters, tone-wise, kind of sounded exactly the same?
(One time, it took me two full pages- and the mention of feeding Stan the bearded dragon crickets- to realize I was reading from Nate's point of view, not Bronwyn's. But, in retrospect, that's probably just a me-being-clueless problem, not a book-being-bad problem.)
Overall, this is the perfect book to hook you in on a hot summer day. It's an addicting contemporary mystery, chock-full of enjoyable cliches (WOW. I can't believe that I actually typed that) and cutthroat high school drama.
I have to admit, it was the description that really intrigued me, not to mention that gorgeous cover art (it resembled a certain draRating: 3.5 stars.
I have to admit, it was the description that really intrigued me, not to mention that gorgeous cover art (it resembled a certain dragon princess on Game of ThronesâŠWINK WINK WINK). Kudos to the genius that made it!
Roar follows the adventures of a young Stormling princess born without any magic, (view spoiler)[who falls prey to a charismatic manâs deceitful charms and then proceeds to run off into the wild (both figuratively and literally) with a troupe of friends. (hide spoiler)]
I should have known from the words âhandsome young storm hunterâ� that this was going to entail a romance, though itâs definitely not the novelâs entire focus. At first glance, this seemed like just another one of those typical, âvulnerable princess discovers sheâs a special snowflakeâ� fantasy novels- however, I was pleasantly surprised by the heroineâs stubborn refusal to stay caged.
[image]
Carmack repeatedly emphasizes that the protagonist, Aurora- sorry, Roar- is bold and powerful and fierce, just like her namesake, but in some ways, she still resembles a fragile little girl in constant need of protecting. Which makes complete sense- she lives her entire childhood sheltered under her proud, stern, yet loving mother, isolated from the world and from friendship. The character development is definitely there, but I just couldn't connect to her.
I enjoyed the world-building, and I loved learning more about âStormlingâ� abilities. Mrs. Carmack did a wonderful job weaving together descriptions and anecdotes to create a fascinating kingdom filled with mystery and magic, storms and illusion. I felt truly immersed in the Stormling world- the sharp divide between the sheltered castle environment and the commotion of the black market was especially well done. The writing is truly beautiful. I'm SERIOUS; it really, really is.
I especially appreciated Novaâs character- she was probably my FAVORITE within the novel. She is such a fantastic friend to Aurora, even after being ignored by her for practically her entire childhood. I think her name's a fun play on the word "supernova", and I can't wait to see more of her (view spoiler)[(and her flame abilities!) (hide spoiler)].
As for the romance... I personally didn't care for it. I've never read any of the authorâs novels beforeâ� maybe this is just her particular style? Cora Carmack overdoes the whole âdominant-man-delicate-princessâ� stereotype, and I could practically taste the testosterone oozing off of Cassius and Locke. Fear not, it is not a love triangle in the least, although I harbor a dark suspicion that one is brewing in the making.
The speed with which Aurora fell in love was also a bit unnerving, though again, understandable because of her naivete. (view spoiler)[I mean, she practically fell into Cassiusâs arms, and as soon as she realized he was manipulating her, all her feelings for him dissipated in a second, leaving her to run once more to oh-so-handsome Locke. (hide spoiler)]
HOWEVER, I would like to once more emphasize that Aurora does grow significantly as a character, and I do want to see where sheâll end up going next. As naive as Aurora is, she stands up for her beliefs. Sheâs initially shaky, vulnerable, and unsure, and that's perfectly fine. Everyone has their insecurities; you'd have to be practically inhuman not to. Roar eventually plants her feet on the ground and gains her confidence, truly coming into herself.
Sometimes she was Aurora. Confident. Clever. Cultured. Sometimes she was Rora. Afraid. Alone. Ashamed. And more and more, she was Roar-bold, brash, and increasingly baffled by the situation in which she found herself. And sometimes she was none of them, lost and adrift somewhere in between, like the wildlands between Stormling cities.
Though I have to admit, itâs quite unrealistic (and very disturbing) to see some of the characters lusting (*cough* you know who I'm talking about)- yes, lusting- after Aurora. Why do certain people keep trying to âclaimâ� her like sheâs some sort of possession? Obviously Roar doesn't stand for it, which I appreciated, but... Please take it down a notch, thanks.
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I didnât particularly look forward to the love scenes, to be honest. In comparison to her world-building, I found this story was a little lacking in the romance department. Actually, a better way to say it would beâ� a little bit too excessive. This is a perfect example of a it's not you, it's me moment- my dislike is simply a matter of personal taste.
Cassius's annoyingly, overwhelmingly alpha-male attitude really really rubs me the wrong way. At the same time, I find a guilty sort of fascination in his character. (view spoiler)[He suffers from excessive manliness and unnecessary acts of aggression- it's like he's a caveman or something. I honestly don't know a lot about him other than the fact that heâs super powerful, wants more power, and has killer abs. (hide spoiler)]
Overall: Undoubtedly a light, fun read that I would recommend to fans of YA fantasy. Considering that this is only the first book in a series, I know that we readers are in for a long, steamy, and storm-filled ride.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via Netgalley.
Basically: Not what I expected, and not exactly in a good way.
ACOWAR was one of my most anticipated books for this year
Review first posted on my !
Basically: Not what I expected, and not exactly in a good way.
ACOWAR was one of my most anticipated books for this year, so I canât deny that Iâm a little disappointed. Donât get me wrong- this wasnât bad, hence the three stars. It's not that I hated it; it's just that I completely expected for this book to blow me away. (It didnât.)
1. More Unrealistic Perfection
Am I the only one who tires of all the perfection in this book? Or, at least, all the âgoodâ� High Fae are legendary warriors, have some magical gimmick that makes them special, and have hearts of pure glittering gold. I noticed that the characters from this series share the same base characteristics as those in ToG- I was surprised that (view spoiler)[Aelin (hide spoiler)] didnât suddenly pop out of the middle of nowhere waving her sword. Almost everything goes well for our admirable band of heroes- (view spoiler)[every battle they won, every escape attempt was successful, every potentially life-threatening injury was healed- (hide spoiler)] though admittedly, they did endure their fair share of harrowing experiences and tragedy. I know her other books are like this, too, but for some reason, it didnât really bother me as much until ACOWAR.
2. The Romance Excessive Crooning and Rhysandâs Violet Eyes
I liked the first two books, probably because I like reading about the slow burn of a relationship. Two completely different people learning how to joke with each other, trust each other- even love each other. However, in this book, it is CRYSTAL CLEAR that Rhysand and Feyre are 1000000000% in love and CONSTANTLY REFERRING TO THEMSELVES AS âMATESâ�. Like, YEAH, RHYSAND, WE GET IT. Sheâs your MATE. The HIGH LADY. And yes, Feyre, we know that Rhysand is your favorite âmaleâ�. You donât have to constantly nip at each other all the time. SHUDDER.
me basically throughout the entire book:
rhysand: sheâs the high lady of the night court
me: yeah feyre! you go!
rhysand: sheâs my mate, the high lady
me: mhm we know
rhysand: sheâs my mate, my mate, my
me: *hurls shoe* shut UP
Thereâs also only so many times you can read about Rhysand crooning. Iâve noticed that Sarah J. Maas tends to repeat certain words throughout all of her books. Every time I saw the words âpurrâ� or âsmirkâ� or âviolet eyesâ� I sank lower into my seat (by the time I finished the book I was practically on the floor). I also found myself skimming over most of her steamy scenes- so, like, 40% of the book. And as many other reviewers have pointed out, she uses so much animal imagery when describing them. Personally, not really my thing. I mean, Iâm surprised that Rhys and Feyre didnât just transform into mating tigers.
However, I would also like to note that the book also included other slow burn relationships and solid friendships that I enjoyed far more than Rhysand and Feyreâs little trysts.(view spoiler)[Lucien and Elain, Cassian and Nesta, the Night Court fam, and so on. (hide spoiler)]
3. Villains & The Heroes
Another significant problem I had: the King of Hybern. Heâs supposed to be the ultimate enemy; in fact, the entire series builds up to meeting him in all his cruel glory. But his introduction was soâ� how do I say it?â� anticlimactic. In my opinion, the King of Hybern was a one-dimensional villain with no purpose other than to serve as the âbad guyâ� that Feyre & Crew fight against. Put simply, Old Mr. Hybern was so evil it was boring. I know, I know, heâs supposed to be bad and all that, but I wished the author added more to his character. At least our dear Amarantha had a backstory- which still doesnât excuse her actions- but I know nothing about Hybern other than the fact that he wants to enslave humans and has magicky powers. Or maybe I missed something? Jurian, however, was much more fleshed-out and surprisingly complex, and donât judge me for this, but he ended up becoming one of my favorite new characters!
The Suriel, the Bone Carver, and the Weaver, were also all very interesting, morally ambiguous characters that deserved so much more. (view spoiler)[Suriel... You will be missed. (hide spoiler)] On the other hand, Feyre & Crew stagger under the weight of a heck ton of plot armorâ� mountains of it, in fact. (view spoiler)[Seriously, both Feyre and Rhysand die and come back to life, albeit through magic, and all of a sudden these powerful, vicious entities agree to fight for them in the war. (hide spoiler)]
4. The Plot
Alas, I predicted that ending from a mile away. The pacing inched toward awkwardness in many portions of the book- especially during the *ahem* amorous sessions *coughs* and it was just incredibly cheesy. I know that Feyre & Crew deserved happiness after everything theyâve experienced- maybe Iâve just grown too accustomed to heart-wrenching epilogues (Iâm looking at you, Marie Lu).
Also, quite a few people have already pointed this out, but the âdiverseâ� aspects of the book seemed a little forced. Regardless, it is not my intention to denounce the author; I admire Sarah J. Maas so much for her ability to weave different worlds together and keep on doing her thing despite all the backlash she receives. I know that Iâve mostly just criticized the book so far, but as I stated in the beginning, there were quite a few other parts that I enjoyed, which, again, is why I gave it three stars.
5. What I Enjoyed
First of all, that gradual sisterly love made my heart melt. I loved that Sarah J. Maas thankfully emphasized the strength and power of not only romantic âmatingâ� bonds, but sibling relationships. Though I never really took to Nesta, I eventually began to admire how the author portrayed her stubbornness and vicious spirit. Sarah J. Maas developed her character excellently- Nesta eventually grew up and learned to let others in (though, understandably, she was quite traumatized after that whole Cauldron ordeal). Elain is probably hands-down one of my favorite characters in this series. Her gentle nature proves that you donât have to be stubborn, mean, and vicious to be strong. Sheâs too pure for Prythian. And Az, as usual, was my little shadow baby and I will continue to cry for him forever. (view spoiler)[Donât kill me for this, but I was starting to slightly ship Az and Elainâ� I know! Moving on! (hide spoiler)]
I still disapprove of Tamlin and his overly macho act, (view spoiler)[but Sarah J. Maas eventually redeems him, in a way, making him not appear as buffoonish as he initially seemed. (hide spoiler)] It would be unrealistic to paint him as a COMPLETE tool, especially since she spent the entire ACOTAR describing how he and Feyre were âin loveâ�. (view spoiler)[Also, another new character: Viviane! Iâm surprised that I enjoyed reading about her so much, and her friendship with Mor starkly contrasted with the tensions apparent between the High Lords. I can totally see Viviane and Mor gossiping over tea about everything: the latest trends, how many monsters theyâve killed, how idiotic their High Lords are. (hide spoiler)]
Sarah J. Maas introduces many more new characters without really developing them, which confused and irritated me before I realized that she was probably just leaving her options open for the spin-off series she has planned.
6. In Conclusion
All problems aside, I applaud Sarah J. Maas for another hugely popular book, although it might not have exactly met my expectations. Admittedly, my expectations were pretty high. (I bought this nearly two weeks after the release date, and the saleslady informed me I had taken the last copy and that it was their most popular novel!)
ACOWAR was mildly disappointing, but I still wouldnât have missed this series for the world. Iâm glad that Feyre and Rhysandâs arc is finally over, but Iâm looking forward to those spin-off novels and still curious as to where Sarah J. Maas will take us next.
hannah â�/á�-ê�-á\ (on hiatus)
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