Jordyn
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor publishing for providing an ARC copy of this novel.
I'm DNFing this at 32% of the way in. I hate to do it, I really do, but I am bored to tears reading this book. Flint and Mirror is written the way a particularly dry text-book is written. Everything is described matter-of-factly — there is little to no imagination used in the language. Now this might be because a great deal of actual history is used in this novel, but that doesn't excuse the book being drier than the Sahara.
Flint and Mirror takes place back around the mid-1500's during Queen Elizabeth's reign. The Irish clans are fighting to keep their land, while Elizabeth and England are fighting to take Ireland for their own. Very little magic is weaved throughout that I saw during 32% of the book, but it is there.
There are little interspersed scenes of actual conversations between characters, but these are few and far between. The bulk of the book as far as I read, is just told to you. Very little showing or experiencing the actions at hand, just told as flatly as possible. Each paragraph is enormous, and sentences drag on and on before they get to the point. It's possible that's just how John Crowley's work is, but whatever the reason, I did not enjoy how Flint and Mirror was written.
There are battles in this book! Mentions of fae-like creatures. Murder! Plots and schemes. By all accounts, this book should have been action-packed; it should have been a page turner. Despite all of that, all I wanted to do was put it down, so here I am, putting it down.
Flint and Mirror comes out April 19, 2022.
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy of this novel.
DNFing at 22%.
This book is literally badly written info-dump after info-dump, followed by some gratuitous violence and detailed sex scenes. The info-dumps are bad. Like really bad. Every single character I've met at 22% of the way into the book basically speaks in info-dumps. I've heard there's detailed rape scenes as well, but at 22% into the book I haven't seen one. And to be honest? I don't want to see one. No, thank you.
Now, the violence and the sex scenes by themselves wouldn't bother me, but when you follow one with the other, and include mentions of dead children while your characters are having sex, well, its not for me. Not every book is for me, I know that, but just don't with this one.
To my ultimate shame, I am DNFing this at 32%. When I am actively avoiding reading a book, I know it's time to put it down.
Anyway, this had been on my most anticipated books this year, because I really love Martha Well's Murderbot series. Unfortunately, I can't follow a dang thing that's happening in this book. It is DENSE with information, but absolutely none of it makes sense. There are approximately 23048234 characters, and you don't really get introduced to them. They're just suddenly there, and important. They all have unfamiliar, wildly fantasy-sounding names. Yes, there is a character sheet, but I shouldn't have to refer to it literally eight million times a chapter just to know who is who and what their allegiances might be.
I loved what I saw of Kai, I will give you that. He was sassy, interesting, and I so wish his story had been easier to follow. I feel like I'm going to be missing out on something, but when the book LITERALLY GIVES ME A HEADACHE, I'm not reading further. I'm so sorry, Tor, because I really like your books most of the time. This one just is not working for me, and I have a feeling a lot of people will feel the same way.
Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
DNFing at 24%.
This is a hot mess. I understand what the author is going for - a paranormal romance - but there's just too much thrown in all at once. Too many info dumps, not enough real character work. The dialogue is clunky, and doesn't feel like how someone would really speak. I love a paranormal romance, but most of the time they need to start off simply. This one just...jumps right in without bothering to slow down for ANY thing. Not a good way to make me feel anything about your characters.
Not to mention the hero of the story sounds like a conceited jerk for all of the 24% of the book that I've read.
I'm passing on this one. Thank you for the opportunity to read it, though.
Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I have picked up this book and started reading it about eight million times. I've gotten to about 25%, and I can honestly say that I am dreading picking it up again. So I'm just going to DNF it, life's too short, yadayada. The plot is set at an absolute snail's pace. Nothing really happens, and when it DOES happen it's only for a few pages before we're back to doing nothing. And not to mention that I don't really understand why Gharek is so upset with her? Siora was doing her best to help them, and all she gets in return is chased across country like a criminal. I don't see how they're going to fall in love, and I'm really not all that invested, either. So I'm putting this down at around 25%, a shame because I really love Draven's Wraith King's series.
Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Got about 10% of the way in and am now nauseous with how stupidly sweet this is. I know romances are supposed to be ‘ideal' but so far Charlotte doesn't seem to have anything wrong with her other than her taste in men. Not exactly easy to empathize with. Not a fan of too-much-energy, makes-important-decisions-quickly, does-no-wrong Barbie, myself.
Plus I heard this is closed-door, and...no. Keep that door open, please. DNFing at 10%.
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
I'm very nostalgic for this series, which probably colors my opinion of it a bit, but uh...even after 20+ years this book holds up. The Golem's Eye is a bit more cluttered than the Amulet of Samarkand, but it's still just as much fun, just as hilariously funny as the first book.
I can't recommend this series enough – for people of any age, honestly. If you like sarcastic, funny narrators, than you'll like Bartimaeus.
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
How do I review a book that I've read so many times I've actually lost count? For starters — this is a warning that I probably won't be as objective or unbiased as I could be, because at this point it's pretty hard for me to be either of those things. The Old Kingdom is one of my absolute favorite series. I first picked up Sabriel in seventh grade. I was a wee pre-teen, and I just fell in love with this story. And I have to say — it's held up pretty well for being close to thirty years old!
At it's heart, Sabriel is about a young girl thrust into an awful situation, and how she grows and learns from her experiences. A coming-of-age story, to a T. What I've always loved is that Sabriel doesn't really have YA main-character syndrome. She's not really described as being better than other girls. She's not described as beautiful when we first meet her. She's just a teenager, a young woman about to graduate from her school. She's shown to be competent, but not overly so, and there are more than a few times where she makes mistakes and owns up to them. Sabriel is an excellent role model for young girls.
I love the world, too, though we don't get a huge sense of how big it is in this particular book. It gets explored much more in the subsequent sequels, so I won't mention much of it here, other than to say that Nix does an excellent job of making the world feel old. We see the history in bits and pieces, the way the cities and towns are described, and how the people are living in them.
I'm also incredibly partial to the other characters in Sabriel, though my absolute favorite doesn't appear until Lirael. Mogget is a pretty close runner-up, though. Talking animal companions are some of my favorites, always, and he is so mysterious and funny that you can't help but love him. And then when you do find out what he is, oooh. It's such a good reveal, though you don't really understand the gravity of it until later books, again. Touchstone is another fascinating character — a berserker with royal blood. He and Sabriel fall in love very quickly, but they do spend the majority of their time together saving each other's lives over and over.
The villain of this book, Kerrigor, is properly terrifying, with some serious oomph behind his threats. Who and what he is just sends shivers down my spine every time I read this book. And the way they defeat him? GOD, IT'S SO GOOD.
See how it's hard for me to be unbiased?
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
It's hard to write a review of this book because I usually speed right through it until the end. I love it, I do, but there a few things that always bother me. (And actually, this is probably my least favorite of the trilogy.) But the BIGGEST point that irks me is that Diana doesn't REALLY face any adversity in this book. She sorta steamrolls over quite literally EVERYONE she has to fight/argue with. I know she's supposed to be a VERY powerful witch, but I would have love to see her actually have to fight, maybe take a few hits and have to deal with that. Second biggest irk is that Gallowglass basically disappears halfway through the book and never comes back. WHY, MY GIANT GAEL VAMPIRE, WHY MUST YOU DISAPPEAR???? You are my favorite.
Diana and Matthew's relationship in this one gets a little rocky, but of course they work it out. It was fascinating to see more of Matthew's blood rage and how it affects him. It was also really cool to see how other vampires reacted to finding out that he had it. It was neat just to see more vampires (and witches), period.
The Book of Life nicely wraps up this trilogy in a neat little bow. Most, if not all, questions are answered in neat ways. I know the author plans on writing more in this universe, which I will be HAPPILY picking up as soon as they come out.
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
An excellent wrap up to this trilogy. Bartimaeus is just as funny and witty in this book as in the first two, however we DO get a better look at his past in Ptolemy's Gate. This look at his distant past gives us insight into why he is who he is. It helps with the fantastic character development that happens in the last bit of the book. And speaking of character development, Nathaniel and Kitty both go through serious transformations in this book. Timely, hard-won transformations.
As with the other two, I highly recommend this book. You can't go wrong with a Bartimaeus novel.
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
My feelings for Shadow of Night are almost identical to my feelings for it's predecessor, A Discovery of Witches. I love this book, just as much, if not more so than the first one.
Shadow of Night includes one of my all time favorite devices: Time Travel. Diana and Matthew go back into the past to avoid The Congregation and so she can learn more about how to control her magic. Once there, they meet a whole new cast of characters including my some of absolute favorite of the series, Gallowglass and Phillipe. Real historical figures dot the book, like Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Queen Elizabeth just to name a few. It's fun to see who Matthew knows, and who is going to turn up next.
This book is slightly more fast-paced than A Discovery of Witches, but really not by much. There's a lot going on, and at some points it does feel like the plot has been lost. But don't worry – it circles back around! Most everything gets tied up at the end, and the next book ties up what's left. More about magic is explained, and finally we get to know why Diana was spellbound. The world gets bigger and more complicated in the best way possible.
This series continues to be one of my favorites, even on what is probably my 5th reread, and is absolutely a comfort read.
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
I loved this series when I was younger, and I'm happy to say that the first book, at least, holds up quite nicely. This series IS for young readers, so don't expect great literature here, but for what it is, it's a fantastic fantasy series. The story is told between two different POVs – Bartimaeus's (a djinni) and Nathaniel's (the magician who summoned him). Bartimaeus's POV is infinitely funnier, with many asides and footnotes about what's going on included.
I WILL say reading this book on my Kindle was slightly more difficult than reading it in paper form. The footnotes have to be tapped individually to read, instead of being printed in small type at the bottom of the page. On Kindle, they're still totally legible, but slightly more cumbersome.
ANYWAY – at 31 years old, I still enjoy this children's series, and I think you probably will too.
DNFing this at 60%.
At 60% of the way through a book about a heist SOMETHING INTERESTING should have happened. Nothing has. The plot is plodding along, the characters (which SHOULD be cool) are only half formed, and nothing. is. happening. How is a heist book this boring????
The reveal of what Archer is is literally the only semi-interesting thing that's occurred, and honestly that reveal does not make sense within the world-building that we've gotten. Which, by the way, is absolutely atrocious. The world-building in The Frame-Up feels so half-assed. The beginning of the book reads like a regular old heist novel, and then suddenly there's magic involved? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM??? I genuinely felt like I had been slapped across the face at the reveal that the main character had magic.
It doesn't fit.
This novel feels like a bunch of puzzle pieces someone smashed together, not caring if they make a decent picture at the end. It doesn't work. It's boring. The characters have little to no chemistry together, and the world doesn't make sense. DNFing. No regrets.