Intention: modern, mythical Atlantis meets Chicago? (The city, not the musical.) Execution: Shark Tale but with less depth.
I get what this book wantedIntention: modern, mythical Atlantis meets Chicago? (The city, not the musical.) Execution: Shark Tale but with less depth.
I get what this book wanted to be. There were moments when I felt like I could see the structure of what it could have been. But, unfortunately, none of those intentions ever felt realized for me.
Part of the issue may have been because the author simply wanted to do too many things. There were too many characters and creatures, the world-building needed to be scaled back a bit so that the reader could find their footing in the story. And instead, it just felt like a constant stream of random information that was expected to make you emotional.
On top of that, as the first line of this review indicates, the vibes were just not there for me. This is going to be super niche and an example of my Christian homeschooled upbringing, but if you've ever seen the Christian show Kingdom Under the Sea from 2003 - that's the energy I was getting. If that show had a baby with Shark Tale and Barbie in A Mermaid Tale, while somehow being incredibly boring and empty.
Overall, this wasn't a terrible book. I see the good in it. I just... think it could have been so much better....more
TW: alcohol, blood, cancer, car accident, cursing, death, death of a loved one, grief, infertility, infidelity, injury/injury detail, medical content,TW: alcohol, blood, cancer, car accident, cursing, death, death of a loved one, grief, infertility, infidelity, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma, miscarriage, panic attacks/disorders, pregnancy, vomit.
I'm tired and don't really feel like writing a review for this one, so to put it bluntly: this book lost an entire star after the 75% mark. I won't expand on what exactly caused this, but I will say that I'm not usually the type to lower my rating because I disagree with the author's creative choice.
That being said, the point of this event was to show we can choose happiness even amidst tragedy. However, since the entire point of the story and literally every other experience made this point, that event felt traumatic simply for the sake of being shocking. Maybe it was more realistic, but I think a magical Christmas story can handle a little unrealistic happiness?
I liked how this book handled grief and Eva finding her way back to herself. Even the way she handled the body-swapping was more reasonable than most stories with that plot and I appreciated it.
This still (even for a book about healing from grief) felt incredibly bleak.
I kind of regret reading this and I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. (This isn't against Rachel Greenlaw as an author. I loved "The Woodsmoke Women's Book of Spells" and enjoy her writing even if I disliked this one.)...more
This was the kind of book I should have read in one sitting.
Alas, I have lacked all motivation to read lately and therefore, did not.
I keep finding This was the kind of book I should have read in one sitting.
Alas, I have lacked all motivation to read lately and therefore, did not.
I keep finding cozy books that succeed in the cozy, atmospheric vibes but seem to fall short in all other departments and this was one of them. Most of this book wasn't bad; a bit derivative, Hallmark-y, rife with every surviving petty HS drama available, but the vibes and family relationships could have made up for it.
If I had read this in one sitting, I think I might not have noticed the shortcomings of the book as much as I did - because I would have consumed it the same way I would have a quick Hallmark movie.
Unfortunately, as the book kept going on, the flaws just became really unavoidable. Already, the characterization was similar to playing MySims on the Wii, even with the types of tasks given to Emma as she prepared events. (I understand this might be niche, but imagine Violet ((from MySims)) was an eccentric author and you basically have the vibes) The plot was... a mess. The mystery was laughably absurd and the reveal was not only stupid, but also the most misogynistic way to go about anything.
(I want to clarify: I know a lot of people go into cozy books looking for vibes only and I'm not lessening that. For me though, I think a book should be able to have cozy vibes and a coherent plot, as well as not pitting nearly every female character against each other over extremely petty shit. <3)
Overall, while I didn't hate this, I do kind of feel like it was a waste of my time....more
TW:(view spoiler)[ abandonment, blood, car accident, confinement, cursing, death, death of a loved one, domestic abuse, drug use, emotional abuse, firTW:(view spoiler)[ abandonment, blood, car accident, confinement, cursing, death, death of a loved one, domestic abuse, drug use, emotional abuse, fire/fire injury, grief, gun violence, homophobia, infidelity, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness, outing, panic attacks/disorders, pregnancy, sexual violence, stalking, torture, violence. (hide spoiler)]
I wasn't planning on ever reading this book but I just finished season 2 of the TV show (which I liked! It's not perfect, but I really like the casting and enjoy watching it) and wanted to see if this would tie up any of the loose ends that would have been the focus of the next season, if not for the cancellation.
Operating under the assumption that the show and book would have carried the same plot twist/reveal, it technically did that? and the reveal was... a bit on the stupid side. When I say a bit, I mean really on the stupid side.
This whole book was kind of a rushed mess where nothing majorly happened? The mystery was boring, with next to no suspense. The ending was insanely convenient. Anything of consequence was either incredibly predictable or brushed over like it meant nothing.
The only thing I enjoyed were the characters and even then, I struggled. (Nate having an "Except for me, though, right?" response to someone saying all men are pigs was incredibly annoying.)
So... this wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, which is the only reason I'm rating it, but I still really didn't like it. Every time I read a book in this series I feel like I must be missing something because everyone else seems to think they're phenomenal and that is not my experience lol.
Overall, not very good, not terrible. A disappointing mystery but an easy read, especially if you have any affection for the original characters. I wouldn't say I recommend it, but I also wouldn't not recommend it. ...more
“We're the children of the gods." I lift my chin. "If someone's running away, it's not going to be us.�
TW: abandonment, blood, body horror, child abus“We're the children of the gods." I lift my chin. "If someone's running away, it's not going to be us.�
TW: abandonment, blood, body horror, child abuse, child death, classism, colonization, confinement, cultural appropriation, death, death of a loved one, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, fatphobia, fire/fire injury, genocide, gore, grief, hate crime, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness, murder, physical abuse, police brutality, racism, slavery, suicidal thoughts, torture, trafficking, violence, vomit, war.
This was the fantasy version of playing Episode with no gems.
I have never (that's a slight exaggeration) seen so many characters make every single wrong decision possible. There wasn't a single, solitary erudite decision made on the political, emotional, or literally any other front. When faced with two options, the characters somehow found a secret third option that was worse than if they'd just done nothing. (And it wasn't just the children, but the adults too.)
I know that this book fell flat for a lot of people so I went into it with lowered expectations, yet I still feel kind of shocked at how this book played out. Not in a plot-twist way, but in a, 'How was this the plot we landed on?' kind of way. Somehow, despite the fact much more happened in this book than book one, it was incredibly boring and repetitive.
Now, while I'm complaining about this, I will say that I thought the ending of the book was better than the beginning. The very, very end felt rushed and kind of cheap but the events leading up to it felt more like what I had liked about book one.
Overall, I don't have much else to say about this other than the fact I'm disappointed and wish I would have been pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed this even more than book 1, but alas. I will be carrying on with the series as I'm curious to see how the trilogy ends and I do genuinely hope it's an improvement on this installment. ...more
“Which came first, being treated as unworthy or being unworthy? In the end, it didn't matter. If others believed she was evil, or beautiful, or guilty“Which came first, being treated as unworthy or being unworthy? In the end, it didn't matter. If others believed she was evil, or beautiful, or guilty, they made that true.�
ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
TW: abandonment, abuse, adult/minor relationship, animal cruelty, animal death, blood, body horror, body-shaming, cancer, child death, confinement, death, death of a loved one, emotional abuse, fatphobia, fire/fire injury, gore, grief, infidelity, injury/injury detail, misogyny, murder, pedophilia (one line in particular), physical abuse, sexism, sexual harassment, sexual manipulation, sexual content, suicidal thoughts, terminal illness, torture, violence, war.
I have a lot to say, but I'm going to attempt to only hit on the most important aspects that formed my rating.
I had initial misgivings about this book, but a reviewer I trusted really loved it and made me excited for it. While I can see what would draw people to this, my reading experience did not have the same outcome. The humor in this book reads like a 2014 tumblr post collection used to shame past generations, something that only exists now for people to be confused on how they ever found that funny. Only, this is the actual humor of the book.
Many things about this novel actually seemed to be better suited to 2014 - which a lot of readers might be really happy with. But even the way feminism was discussed or the meta fandom/fantasy conversations were all so incredibly recycled that it was eye-roll inducing.
(There's also a lot of internet references, such as "You sweet cinnamon roll. Too good, too precious for this world." which is something to note if that kind of thing irritates you.)
Next, this is pitched as a book lover gets sent into her favorite world. That's not entirely the case. The fmc's sister loves the books and introduced the fmc/Rae to them. Rae skimmed the first book and didn't complete the series, but her sister was reading them to her. The books are her favorite stories and she loves the musical (more on that later), but I wouldn't pitch this as a reader gets the chance to live out her favorite book when she never even finished it.
I think the point of this was meant to communicate that there's no right way to consume a story/be a reader, which is completely true. However, in this instance, it feels a bit insincere to say that the book lover gets sent into her favorite book.
This is not beginning on the amount of references to Lady Rahela's monstrously gigantic bosom (and there were a lot) or the scene where they attend a fantasy ball and distract everyone by performing the book's musical equivalent from the real world, complete with the most... interesting lyrics I have ever seen lol.
As for the characters themselves... I didn't connect with any of them. This disappointed me, because I was hoping for the kind of story that humanized the 'evil' characters and made you connect with them - even if they remained evil. There was an attempt for that, but it never felt fully realized.
Rae was a pain to read from. Before the story starts she had been through some terrible things that both jaded her and stunted her maturity, so it makes sense that she reads like a whiny, childish ass for the majority of the book. The problem here is that knowing why she's that way didn't make it any easier to be in her brain.
The romances were very stilted and (to me) felt like nothing more than the fulfillment of tropes, with a romantic scene having one of the worst lines of dialogue I've ever read. Ever.
Here's where my thoughts get conflicted. Everything about this book was clearly purposeful. Even the "anatomically impossible" breasts were supposed to prove a point (namely, curvaceous women are not evil seductresses). However, that point feels undermined when your own story falls into the same patterns as what you're attempting to critique. There was the discussion of agency and purity/virginity and how a woman's sexual actions shouldn't have any hold on her worth (all good discussions) but it still felt empty.
There's also the fact it really is obvious how much this story means to the author. How much fantasy as a genre means to the author. That's perhaps the thing that is keeping this from being a one star read, is that I felt the amount of heart put into this and how important it was to Brennan.
I'll even say that there was a lot of work put into the world-building of the fantasy novel. It wasn't always coherent and oftentimes meant to be satirical, but I know this must have been a pain to write and even with the confusing moments, I was impressed on how the story was formed.
Overall, this may not have worked out for me but I don't think it's a terrible book. It has a lot of flaws and cringeworthy moments, but it also had a meaning that I'm sure will touch a lot of readers.
I'm grateful for the chance to read it and I hope it finds its perfect audience. ...more
“It wasn’t the end that mattered, but every word leading up to it.�
lovely premise with an arguably less lovely execution.
I want to start by saying th“It wasn’t the end that mattered, but every word leading up to it.�
lovely premise with an arguably less lovely execution.
I want to start by saying that I get why so many people love this. The idea of stumbling upon the town from your favorite books when you need it most is a beautiful thought, like finding yourself in Stars Hollow after the worst year of your life. There's something so beautiful about getting to be there for a world the way it was for you. Truthfully, those were the only aspects of the book I liked.
Everything else... oh boy.
The writing style is terribly redundant and self-indulgent. From the repeated "minty eyes" catastrophe to two characters clenching their hands into fists in the same paragraph to an insane amount of repeated phrases (such as, "perish the thought"), I was repeatedly hit over the head by how much I wish this book had been written slightly differently.
I also struggle with grumpy x sunshine, especially when the man is grumpy (usually just code for obnoxious asshole issues) and the woman is sunshine (usually quirky to an alarming point) and this book did not prove me wrong. It's also an incredibly hard line to walk for the author to convince me their feelings are changing and in this one, the chemistry felt so forced.
Not to mention the first time they kiss, she says he tastes like onion rings. I get it. I get why this was meant to be comforting. I would rather not have read it though :)
This might have been a 2.5 rating if not for the end. I won't go into spoilers, but damn. This isn't about the plot reveal, but about everything that happens afterwards. What the actual heck.
One final thing I wanted to mention, I did feel like the BIPOC were talked about slightly odd in here, but as I'm not in either of the communities mentioned, I can't speak on it. I did want to include it here, because ignoring it felt weird. To put it briefly: The only Black character we meet (unless I missed the description of another character, which I very well could have) is an older lady running the diner and Eileen immediately thinks she looks like she's the town therapist, carrying everyone's problems on her shoulders. Then, there's a Samoan character that's described as "always wearing Hawaiian vacation shirts, with the charisma of Dave Bautista and the swagger of Dwayne Johnson."
Overall, I get why this book means a lot to certain people, but I just couldn't make it through my issues with it....more
"It’s hard to remember sometimes all that goes into a life, all the different versions of a person, throughout the years, all the ways in which people"It’s hard to remember sometimes all that goes into a life, all the different versions of a person, throughout the years, all the ways in which people are capable of changing."
TW: body-shaming, child death, death, death of a loved one, fatphobia, gun violence, infertility, injury/injury detail, murder, racism, sexual harassment, stalking, violence, xenophobia.
A well-intentioned book that I didn't feel accomplished what it wanted to.
There's a clear message and hope for this story and I appreciate that, however; the message was rushed and lost to the convoluted, dull character plotlines. There were so many long paragraphs about mundane things and instead of connecting me with the characters or showing their humanity, it just made the entire book a bit tedious.
As for the plot itself, I couldn't bring myself to care for any of the characters beyond the barest hint of sympathy. Even the attempts at redeeming a specific character felt rushed, performative, and too sudden to have any meaning.
The narration - in an attempt to be accessible - felt extremely stilted and cringy. There are parts where the characters discuss having the entire mall put on a flash mob in hopes it will go viral, thus ensuring a character gets into college. There's another entire paragraph about the mucus of a dog. It's... a mess.
Overall, I see what the author wanted to do and I think - based off of the reviews - a lot of other people really connected with that. Unfortunately, I didn't feel anything aside from boredom and irritation.
While I don't necessarily recommend it, it's worked for so many other people that I know I'm in the minority. If it sounds interesting to you and the subject matter doesn't seem triggering, then I'd suggest checking it out....more
“She walks with grace upon the clouds, and the stars know her by name.�
TW: adult/minor relationship, alcohol, blood, child death, confinement, death, “She walks with grace upon the clouds, and the stars know her by name.�
TW: adult/minor relationship, alcohol, blood, child death, confinement, death, death of a loved one, emotional abuse, fire/fire injury, genocide, gore, grief, injury/injury detail, medical content, misogyny, murder, torture, violence, war.
Within the past year, Rebecca Ross has become one of my favorite authors. I loved the Letters of Enchantment duology and adored the Elements of Cadence duology. After loving both of those so much, I decided to revisit this book - which I had originally dnf'd in 2019.
And my final thoughts are that I probably could have left it dnf'd and my life wouldn't have changed.
This is exactly what I thought it was when I started it a few years ago. Not only is it incredibly predictable and lacking any/all sense of mystery/magic, it also features one of the worst romances I have had the displeasure of encountering lately (which seems dramatic, because I haven't enjoyed most romances lately.)
The man is at least 8 years older than our 17 year old protagonist, which is already pretty funky, but! He has also known her since she was 10 and has been her teacher (referred to as master in this book) since she was 14. It is known that he has favored/loved her for the majority of this time. This is never questioned/condemned and every time I tried to forget their age gap, it was brought up. Again.
(I understand this book was inspired by history, but this was also a YA fantasy that did not need to pull on the historical accuracy of icky power dynamics in relationships.)
Beyond that, most of the book felt incredibly convenient or just simply stupid. I don't understand how any of this actually worked out in their favor, since they were all dumb as rocks. The villains - one dimensional and glorious as they were - were also incredibly stupid, gullible, and walking stereotypes so perhaps that's all the explanation required.
There are a lot of random things I could complain about with this book (such as the fact an evil character is conveniently killed by a dog or that the MC just so happens to find a secret passageway in her new prison/room) but this is already long enough.
I want to be clear: I did not hate this book. There are far worse books and I could still see Rebecca Ross' writing I love so much within the pages, particularly in the atmosphere and world-building. Unfortunately, these aspects were overshadowed by all of the other things I hated.
Overall, while this was a quick and easy read, I would not recommend it and I (most likely) will not be carrying on with the series. ...more
“Some adventures require nothing more than a willing heart and the ability to trip over the cracks in the world.�
TW: abandonment, abuse, adult/minor r“Some adventures require nothing more than a willing heart and the ability to trip over the cracks in the world.�
TW: abandonment, abuse, adult/minor relationship, blood, body horror, body-shaming, bullying, cannibalism, child death, death, death of a loved one, eating disorder, emotional abuse, fatphobia, fire/fire injury, gore, grief, homophobia, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, lesbophobia, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness, panic attacks/disorders, pedophilia, physical abuse, pregnancy, sexism, sexual content, torture, violence.
I preferred this over the first one, but not by much.
Every Heart a Doorway is one of my least favorite books but people kept telling me to try the rest of the series, as the books follow different characters/plots. After having read this one, I see why they suggested that. This one was better, but I still think this series is just not for me.
A lot is personal preference, with these stories just not working for me. Some of it is technical. In both circumstances, I think it is better if I don't carry on with any further installments.
I see why everyone likes this one so much, however, I had too many problems with too many aspects to feel capable of enjoying it....more
“Run away with me. You like tea. I like books. Care to open a shop and forget the world exists?�
TW: alcohol, animal death, blood, confinement, cursing“Run away with me. You like tea. I like books. Care to open a shop and forget the world exists?�
TW: alcohol, animal death, blood, confinement, cursing, death, death of a loved one, dead-naming, emotional abuse, fire/fire injury, gore, injury/injury detail, medical content, mental illness, misgendering, panic attacks/disorders, sexual harassment, sexual content, sickness, stalking, transphobia (view spoiler)[ (non-binary people with neutral pronouns aren't accepted in the Queendom) (hide spoiler)], violence, vomit, war.
Call me picky but when I decide to read a cozy fantasy, I do - in fact - hope to find myself reading a cozy fantasy. Unfortunately, that was not the case here.
This felt like reading the first draft of a novel where the author hasn't quite figured out what to do with the story or the characters. The plot with the Queen is both rushed and sloppily resolved. The actual mystery is poorly handled, due to the author wanting to extend the plot to the sequel. There's a bit of transphobia? For no reason? We could have had non-binary characters without saying they weren't accepted elsewhere, especially in what is meant to be an escapist, cozy novel.
The entire book is a repetition of the same collection of scenes that usually end up with someone a.) sick, b.) fainting, c.) fighting, or d.) having the most melodramatic love confessions and flirtations at the most awkward times. Sometimes there was a magical fifth option where all four happen in the same scene, complete with thinking about how much she wished to kiss her girlfriend senseless (if she could stop vomiting long enough to, of course.)
I understand they're in love and I'm happy for them, but why so much kissing and vomiting? Please stop. I beg.
This isn't even delving into the fact that the plot was a whole mess. A rip-off of Legends & Lattes without any of the heart or actual cozy elements that made that book the success it was for me. This wasn't a cozy fantasy; it was a rushed and underdeveloped regular fantasy that had an undercurrent of steeping tea and a bookstore. A bookstore we're barely in.
The sad thing is, if we had actually spent more time on the bookstore and tea shop, if the story had been cleaned up a bit, if the characters had acted a bit more maturely, I might have really enjoyed this. There were moments in the writing when I felt how much I could have loved it and it only made me more sad that I was having such a poor time with it.
With all of this being said and my critical review, I get why people like this. I wanted to love it and - as I said - I really think I could have. It wasn't a terrible book, but unfortunately, the negative aspects were just too glaring for me. I did love the griffons though!
While I won't carry on with the duology, I'm glad so many people love it and I hope it continues to find the right audience....more
“Bravery wasn't an identity, so much as a choice.�
TW: ableism, alcohol, chronic illness, classism, cursing, domestic abuse, drug use, emotional abuse,“Bravery wasn't an identity, so much as a choice.�
TW: ableism, alcohol, chronic illness, classism, cursing, domestic abuse, drug use, emotional abuse, medical content, panic attacks/disorders, physical abuse, sexual content, toxic relationship.
If Redford Morgan has a million haters, I'm one of them. If Redford Morgan has ten haters, I'm one of them. If Redford Morgan has one hater, it's me. If Redford Morgan has no haters, then I am no longer on this earth.
I am the first person to admit that I am picky about my romance books, however! I don't think my pickiness was the issue here. Between the phrase "Then he cracked, like a perverted egg" (not the only egg comparison in the book either?) being used in the male POV when he accepted he was sexually attracted to Chloe and the incessant use of the word sticky, this entire book was a sensory nightmare.
Beyond that... you cannot simply have your MMC think "oh, that was perverted" or "oh, thinking like that makes me sound like a pervert" after every creepy thing he thinks and act as though that has redeemed him of how entirely fucking creepy he is. There were so many lines in this book that made this man sound like a nightmare. In fact, his entire POV was a glaring red flag - one that his past relationship trauma did not excuse.
(This isn't mentioning... in public....)
If this book had been simply about Chloe and her family, particularly her grandmother (whom I loved) I probably would have really enjoyed this book. If the romance had been absent, I feel like - beyond being freed from the sticky clutches of Superintendent Pervy Yolk - we might have actually gotten more of Chloe's character development, which I really wanted.
As it was, the focus is so romance based (when I say romance, I mean sex. Any of the "romance" aspects just felt like a side-effect of the fact they were horny) that despite the fact we do see Chloe accept more help, I feel like we missed out on her rediscovering herself. I wanted her to make more friends, to realize that more people could accept her for who she was. Maybe even a realization that some of her past friends just thought she didn't want to be around them anymore because she had never properly communicated her needs. She does have this development, to an extent, but I wanted more.
All of that being said, this book was not for me. I appreciated Chloe's chronic illness rep and thought it was really well done, I loved every second her grandmother was on page, and hated pretty much everything else. ...more
"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." - C.S. Lewis
ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opi"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." - C.S. Lewis
ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
TW: abandonment, abuse, child abuse, child death, death, death of a loved one, domestic abuse, drug abuse, emotional abuse, grief, homophobia, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, medical content, mental illness, panic attacks/disorders, physical abuse, sexual content, terminal illness, torture, violence.
There are no words for how sad I am that I didn't love this book. Everything about it seemed like it was created for me, but unfortunately the brilliant concept and the execution of said concept are two very different things.
The Lost Story was an overly ambitious novel, that attempted to fit an expansive story into 330 pages, whilst also struggling to ride the line between mature and whimsical. There were moments when this was successful, when the intention of the story was so clearly felt and realized that I knew I could have adored this novel if things had been different.
Unfortunately, they were not.
I struggled with the characters. I struggled with the dialogue. I struggled with the pacing. I struggled with the world-building or lack thereof (which gets explained at the very end, but by that point, it felt like it was being thrown in there so we didn't question the lack of world-building.) I struggled with the timeline (acting like the characters were there for years when it was only 6 months, felt weird). I struggled with the relationships between each of the characters. I hated the interjections from the Storyteller.
I say I struggled with many of these aspects because - for most of them - I could see what the author's intention had been, I could see that I would have liked them if they had been executed differently. As it was, attempting to create a contrast between the maturity of the characters and the magic of the enchanted world by having the characters say things like "Magical horses are whores for berries." did not work for me. It made the story feel strangely like it was written by a homeschooled child trying to create an edgy story with how they think adults speak. (I can say that, I was homeschooled.)
This might be considered a spoiler so if you consider romantic relationships a spoiler, I wouldn't read this next paragraph.
Rafe and Jeremy's relationship was another one of those things that I could have loved if it was done differently. I appreciated the queer rep and how meaningful it was that the enchanted world was a safe haven for them to finally be their true selves. However. When the entirety of their relationship is built off of a year they spent together when they were fourteen (half of which one of them can't remember), and the reader is consistently reminded that they're a.) both nearly 30 and b.) how physical their relationship was at 14, on top of them being called brothers within the narrative... it made it really hard for me to feel much more than a topical concern for them.
This review is getting too long and at the risk of just becoming me ranting, which isn't what I want to do at all. Despite all of my criticism, this was an easy read and there were things I really liked about it. I appreciate what Meg Shaffer was attempting to do with this book and I'm grateful for the ARC, but unfortunately, The Lost Story missed the mark for me. ...more
TW: alcohol, car accident, chronic illness, death, death of a loved one, grief, medical content, mental illness, racism, sexual assault.
I finished thTW: alcohol, car accident, chronic illness, death, death of a loved one, grief, medical content, mental illness, racism, sexual assault.
I finished this book hours ago and have subsequently spent that time trying to figure out how to review this.
I want to start by saying I received an arc of You've Reached Sam in 2021 and adored it. I've also since followed Dustin Thao over the years and I really admire him as a person/author. I know this book was important to him and I don't want to diminish that.
However... I felt like this book fell flat in nearly every way possible. Due to the nature of the story, I can't go into much without heading into spoiler territory, but I can say that this was structurally messy and incredibly redundant.
For a book about grief, I felt like the grief aspects were actually really side-lined? Much of the story follows Eric after Daniel's death and we see his life in a downward spiral, until he finally caves and gets a job at a theater. This begins the absolutely thrilling saga of Asshole Coworker 1 and Asshole Coworker 2 taking him to party with a bunch of rich people, whom Eric subsequently allows to use him/actually gets assaulted by. This was not only painful to read, but also really tedious.
I understand that he was in that particularly place due to grief, but we focus a lot more on him trying to assimilate to really awful groups of people with little-to-no growth happening from those moments.
Carrying on from that point, Haru could have been written out of the book and none of the core aspects would have changed - other than a handful of scenes that they spend together, exploring the city.
Also... this might be spoiler territory, but Eric read as someone experiencing severe mental illness. Not just grief, but other severe issues that went unaddressed by anyone in his life. Haru aside, we see multiple instances of Eric hallucinating. These moments are referred to as daydreaming, but in some of them, the reader is told he has a sense of foreboding, like something is wrong/he's forgetting something.
That doesn't read like daydreaming as a coping mechanism. That reads as someone that is struggling to distinguish fiction from reality and needs people in his life looking out for him (Kevin tries; we love Kevin.) But for most of the story (due to him pushing people away, I'm aware) he continues these extremely harmful cycles that no one is noticing.
By the end, he's doing better but that's mostly because he's... decided to do better, which isn't exactly the best message.
I also found the romance insufferable, but I probably should have guessed that when two movies I hate kept being referenced and even had the characters act out scenes from them. But I also struggled to connect with their relationship for two specific reasons.
The first: Haru was unbearable. Even in the prologue section where everyone could see him, he came off self-centered. One of the first times he shows up in the actual book, it's in Eric's bed (whilst Eric is asleep) and that's just supposed to be accepted and not questioned. (view spoiler)[I get that this is because Eric was imagining this, but it's still odd, especially as you're reading it. (hide spoiler)]
The second: we see Eric show interest in at least 5 guys during this 304 page novel, some overlapping time-wise (view spoiler)[i.e. going from a date with Haru to a date with Christian, then being shocked Haru might be bothered by this. (hide spoiler)] It's not so much that I'm upset that he was interested in that many people, but when you have an entire book that hinges on a "strange, fateful connection" between he and Haru, that gets painfully undermined when it seems as though Eric feels connected (at least briefly) to every man that he perceives as being interested in him.
With all of this being said, there were a few things I thought this book did well. The family relationships, being the main ones. I really appreciated any scenes with Eric's family and wish we'd gotten more, even if I understand why that didn't happen. I also really liked the last few chapters. They reminded me of why I'd loved You've Reached Sam and I wish the whole book had been like that. (I don't like the epilogue, but that's just personal opinions.)
In the acknowledgements, Dustin Thao acknowledged that this wasn't the book he'd always wanted to write and how much he'd struggled with writing it. I wonder what this could have been if he hadn't been quite so restrained and had been allowed a bit more creative freedom.
Overall, this was kind of all over the place. It was a mess in a lot of ways, but it does still have an undercurrent of hope and finding your path after grief. I would recommend this, but maybe not to people expecting this to be as touching as You've Reached Sam....more
"And I was what I was - What Nacea had made me, what Erland had made me, what Our Queen had made me. There was no innocence left in this world, left i"And I was what I was - What Nacea had made me, what Erland had made me, what Our Queen had made me. There was no innocence left in this world, left in me, not after all we'd done."
� 2.5�
TW: blood, body horror, child death, confinement, death, death of a loved one, gore, grief, homophobia (minor), injury/injury detail, medical content, physical abuse, stalking, torture, transphobia, violence, war.
This was an interesting concept that did not deliver the way it could have.
So. Many. Things. made absolutely no sense. And that's not talking about the fact it was unbelievably difficult to connect to any of the characters due to the lack of information we had about any of them or how little I believed in the romance between Sal and their love interest.
If someone was just getting into YA, I could see them enjoying the story and the faults that felt so... unavoidable to me, being extremely minor to them. But for anyone that can't help but read critically, this was a struggle. ...more
ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
TW: blood,"Imagination is what gives rise to reality."
ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
TW: blood, confinement, death, death of a loved one, injury/injury detail, misogyny, violence.
I'm going to pretend I'm not dreadfully late in getting to this ARC and move on straight to the review.
Every time I read an updated book adaptation of a Disney classic, there's always the concern of whether or not the characters feel authentic to their animated counterparts. I can't imagine it's an easy task. Unfortunately, in that regard, I felt like this book missed the mark.
In what world would Aladdin want Jasmine to become Sultana to stop people from getting executed, but throw a temper tantrum the moment she makes a hard decision? Jasmine herself felt very quiet and subdued, which could have been due to the grief but it was so odd.
So much of the book felt like the skeleton of a story, where some scenes get way too much attention and others get far too little. For a relatively short book, it dragged rather excessively.
I'm grateful for the chance to read it and I could see how much the story meant to the author, but unfortunately, it fell flat in nearly every way for me....more
“In her mind, every last Queen lies at the bottom of the sea, drowned by the Goddess the moment she was done with them.�
TW: abuse, animal cruelty, ani“In her mind, every last Queen lies at the bottom of the sea, drowned by the Goddess the moment she was done with them.�
TW: abuse, animal cruelty, animal death, blood, body horror, body-shaming, bullying, child abuse, child death, confinement, death, death of a loved one, drug use, eating disorder, emotional abuse, fire/fire injury, gore, grief, infidelity, injury/injury detail, mental illness, murder, physical abuse, ritualistic sacrifice, self-harm, sexual content, torture, violence, vomit, war.
Not much of a review for this one because I really didn't like it and honestly, don't have much I want to say.
This wasn't a terrible book. The concept was interesting, but the execution fell unbelievably flat for me. I don't know how this book managed to have so much going on and still be incredibly boring, but it was. Every single character was insufferable, even the characters you're supposed to sympathize with. The world-building was... confusing. And every choice made felt like it was trying to be as inconvenient as possible. This almost felt like the idea of a book, rather than a fully-fleshed out novel.
I can see why people enjoy this, it just wasn't for me....more
“Sometimes, the hardest thing to be is the one who lives.�
TW: abandonment, abuse, animal cruelty, animal death, blood, body horror, child abuse (graph“Sometimes, the hardest thing to be is the one who lives.�
TW: abandonment, abuse, animal cruelty, animal death, blood, body horror, child abuse (graphic), child death, claustrophobia, confinement, cults, death, death of a loved one, domestic abuse, drug use, emotional abuse, fire/fire injury, gore, grief, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, medical content, mental illness, murder, panic attacks, pedophilia, physical abuse, pregnancy, rape, ritualistic abuse, ritualistic torture, self-harm (graphic), sexual assault, sexual content, stalking, suicide, torture (graphic), violence.
In startling contrast from the last book, this was my least favorite in the series lol.
For some of it, I almost felt like the book couldn't decide on what plot we were following and by the time we chose, it drowned out all other characters and their motivations. I understand that this series was about Cassie, first and foremost, but for the last book in the series, I wish the other characters had been more present.
Beyond that, I'm not a big fan of small town murder plots, even when they do involve (view spoiler)[cults, which I mentioned enjoying reading about in my review for the previous installment of this series. (hide spoiler)] I'm also someone that struggles with violent plots that include/surround/involve small children and there was quite a bit of that in this book.
I'm just kind of disappointed, I guess.
With that being said, this series was still highly addictive and I did enjoy it. I just wanted a bit more from this book, and maybe a bit less... in the gratuitous self-harm department. ...more
”To witness one life's miserable devastation and see her reach, instead, for joy.�
TW: body shaming, child death, death, depression, fatphobia, grief, ”To witness one life's miserable devastation and see her reach, instead, for joy.�
TW: body shaming, child death, death, depression, fatphobia, grief, gun violence, homophobia, mass/school shootings, misogyny, pedophilia, postpartum depression, pregnancy, religious imagery, sexism, sexual content, suicidal thoughts.
A bit torn on this one.
Rating poetry always feels a bit like I’m judging someone’s emotions, which feels pretentious but I also want to be authentic. It had a few really heartfelt, moving poems; but there were also plenty in here that felt like Atticus for mothers. There was always quite a bit of religious imagery in here that really pulled me out and made me uncomfortable?
All in all, there were moments that I really saw where the author was coming from, but it also still felt forced and familiar....more
"I’ve been playing the part of a girl who escapes a serial killer every night for months. It’s not a game this time. The consequences are real, but we"I’ve been playing the part of a girl who escapes a serial killer every night for months. It’s not a game this time. The consequences are real, but we still have to play."
TW: animal cruelty, animal death, blood, body horror, death, death of a loved one, gore, gun violence, (view spoiler)[human sacrifice (hide spoiler)], injury/injury detail, murder, ritualistic abuse, torture, violence.
I was enjoying the first half of this book, but the second half was another story entirely. Once the actual plot started, the book progressively went downhill and I absolutely hate the turn it took/the culmination of the story. It was also such a short book that it read more like a long short-story, which made everything feel super rushed and half-formed.
I love Kalynn Bayron's other books so I'm bummed this didn't work for me, but I do think that it could still be a fun, easy read for people that already love this genre and don't mind the story being rushed.
Also, justice for the owls. They did nothing to deserve this lol. ...more
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