Josh
I liked Into the Labynth, a good story about a magic academy. I read it for my optimistic square of Book Bingo 2020.
I thought the magic system of Attunements was great. i really enjoyed the archive scenes. where origami animals lead them to the books, and every origami was different. Also I did expect him to choose to make a pact with the Archive, but i was rooting for it every since they started "talking" it. did not expect the archive to not be the archive.
Thought it was well paced, but a bit small for me. i would've loved more of this book
I will be covering this on Libromancy on 6/11/23
This was a great collection of short stories. Every story was written to fit a challenge given by another author and after every story is a little bit of a deconstruction about what happened. They were all a good length, but some i was so engrossed in i wanted more. :(
Some of my Favorites from this book
JACK
Sea Witch
Julian breaks every rule
Sera
and The Evil Vaccine
a Great and thought provoking book
8/10
Very good book, great characters with a great story and a lot of level 2 and level 3 with a bounteous hand of Level 1. so pretty much everything you could want in a book. set up for more books in the series to come, but has a payoff at the end this book, so if you don't want to continue you don't have to.
Impressive Worldbuilding and an impressive Magic system. Characters felt real and whole very few if any felt 2 dimensional.
I loved Ryxanders magical ability and the steps she went through to protect others and herself.I thought it fitting that Ryxanders ability to love her grandma no matter what, was what "saved" the day. Looking forward to dealing with demons and perhaps Ryx being able to focus her power and use it better. (no Judgement)Things i predicted.Fall for Severin or KessaDoor openedknew it wasn't just a portal but a bandaidKnew her power could affect demonsThings i didn't predictGrandmother being possessed but combined.Aurelio being a Zealot trying to kill her. Portal to hellWhisper was a demon. (predicted not chimera) what demon is he?
So many thoughts about this book.
I enjoyed it, but less than the first 2. The Series as a whole is great and amazing.
The quality of Mark Lawrences writing is still as amazing as always and the story is exceptional.
I was not a huge fan of the constant time skip that happened where we start 3 years in the future and that is the constant. I really wish we had seen some of these scenes in person rather than in flashback. I was also confused because the flashbacks were actual flashbacks and not flashforwards. and that we seemed to have left the attack the last two books showed us.Abbess Glass continues to be amazing even after death. I didn't like seeing her die off screenRegol was my main "ship" for Nona, little sad she didn't change the rules about it. but glad she gets to be with Ara, my secondish choice for her and the obvious choice from the story.Zole attaining "purification" was interesting and unique something i enjoyed.Nona choosing peace and mercy with a "love conquers all" was not what i was expecting from the end of this book. and while i liked it, it didn't fit 100% with her character to me.
https://libromancy.podbean.com/ it will be up after 3/7/2021
finally finished A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer. 3/5 I personally did not enjoy this book. I was expecting a college of MAGIC. I got a college of manners, being told we don't teach magic but if you're meant to do it, you'll do it. but no learning about it or doing it. decent plot, good characters. wish the magic was a bit more involved
This was an interesting read. somethings i thought would happen didn't somethings did.
Nice fun story.
I knew something was up with normand from the very beginning. it suprised me she didn't get powers. i thought she would manifest later in the book, but i'm pleased with the way she didn't. The ending was abrupt. i personally wish there was more, but it was still goodDoes being good at calibration means she's easily suggestable. I liked that even some of the supers didn't know what was going on.
I enjoyed this book. Being a Utah resident it really made me feel like she did her research talking about the origins of park city. Nice to see, people talking about more than just the LDS religion here.
This book had a bit more “spice/heat” than i was expecting. wasn't bad, just unexpected. i prefer a bit more fad to black.
I thought that when the repeating started She was going to end up with Theo, kind of a you thought it was a mistake but it wasn't kind of thing. am i sad she ended up with Andrew? No, it was well written and honest. i thought there would be more repeats beyond just 3. Parts near the beginning of Theo picking her color in clue, trying to get a rise out of her, made me feel for him as i was once a teenage/adult boy that did similar stupid thingsI kind of thought Benny buying the cabin was kind of out of nowhere, but it wasn't a deal breaker.
This was a great book. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, because of where the last book leaves Volke, but i felt this book switched it up enough that it felt fresh and exciting again. I'm excited to read the next one and i feel like Shami Stovall has a good handle on where the series is going.
Wow, so much to talk about with just this one though.
Light Spoilers
Loved that we get to see more of Karna and her crew. I was really starting to miss the interactions between Volke and the rest of the Frith Guild.Karna gets a petty revenge on Theasin by cutting the bottoms of all his pockets and sanding down 1 leg of his chair. great revenge
Heavy Spoiles
So Volke is running to find Theasin, (Adelgis' Dad and still a huge dick) to hopefully find a cure. among the crew of the ship happens to be his actual father. which felt a little contrived but didn't bother me that much.going through the lightning Strait with calisto of all people and helping him kill a bunch of piratesWatching the Plague slowly start to affect Volke and his mindset was scary. Learning more about Second Acension and their goals was crazy cool and important. That Kirin Arcanists can bond 2 creatures and that the Autarch, The head of Second Acension can bond 3 creatures and Plans to bond the World Serpent and The Soulforge. Oh also excited we got a (full) list of the God Creatures.Volke's new sword. Retribution that he made with before were unknown but freaking parts of the apoch dragon, and that it cuts through MAGIC completly. a very powerful weapon to go along with his amazing shield. Learns more about Aura and practices with Fain who grows a lot. Watching Zelfree's memories through dream was an interesting choice to show how Zelfree and Calisto got where they are. i thought it was an excellent addition to the book, if not necessary.So Volke refuses 2 cures to the Plague, Killing Khepera which Theasin has been doing, or letting Theasin cure him, but not stopping 2nd Acension. so whats the only other way to cure the plague. Its TRUE FORM ARCANIST, which i calledAlso Coolest part which i Loved. "I would rather die than watch another Arcanist fall" so awe inspiring and cool. and the abilities of His True form are amazing. That his armor can shift and change, he can do aura correctly now. and hopefully his magic won't hurt anymore. 3 v 1 and True form saves the day. only thing i didn't like near the end was that Volke tells Illia he loves her and then immediatly tells addy that things are going to be different between them implying dating. which i don't want. Volke and Illia all the way
its a good book. Parts are a little predictable, but like all good books not everything is predicted. Volke is a typical youthful protaganist who lives in unfair circumstances. From the title and the summary i had thought his bonded creature would be a nightmare horse, not a Knightmare a Knight of shadow. I enjoyed the magic system, and the general story i'm excited to see where it goes from here. The Magic system is very creative and an enjoyable changeup to “contract” magic
the fact that his magic hurts him physically because he is second bonded was interesting and i liked it.Finding their Magical creatures in the swamp after accident was a great scene.The stairs will all the sayings on was a great touch, able to help steer our protaganist along, I liked the idea.Some predictions i'm pretty sure will happen.Illia in her drunk scene obviously shows her love of Volke which is obviousSuprised that Atty wanted to play cards and basically play tell me your secrets with VolkeThe final confrontation with Ruma was good, I though Ruma was just infected with the plague and trying to gain power for powers sake, but i didn't see him trying to bring back his wife. the resurrection was subtly hinted at earlier as a power of the "true" form of phoenixs. that battle was great. showed that our Apprentices' are still no match for a Master of the Magic, but that they could sway the battle in little ways.Not sure how I feel about Zaxis starting to be more friendly towards Volke seems legit but...Character ThoughtsVolke: Naive about girls and life, very diligent likeableIllia: Mischievous from the beginning, Smart cunningZaxis: Arrogant kind of a jerk at beginning, more likable at the endAtty: Talented, beautiful, Mary sue, if she was on screen more or at allHexa: fighter, not afraid to get dirtyAldegis: Smart, not a fighter,
crazy this book is crazy. I loved it. wasn't the biggest fan of the way the book is layed out with by following a character and then going back and following them and going back, but once i had finished the book it made more sense why it was done that way.
Bancroft really knows how to keep up the suspense/anticipation. everytime we leave a character it is at exactly the wrong moment because something has just happened and now what. a different POV and i have to catch up to that time again. Well Done, Well Done
i'm glad that this book answered most of my questions from the last book mainly questions about Marya's baby but i'm glad to report its Senlin's and that Marya still loves himLoved the purpose of Pelphia as a giant circuit breaker. made a roller coaster for replacing fuses.
Senlins story this part was great and i'm anxiously awaiting what happens in book 4
CAWPILE SCORE
C-9
A-9
W-8
P-9
I-7
L-8
E-10
TOTAL-8.57/10
CAWPILECharactersAddie (Adaline) LarueHenryLucEstelle—Loss of her friend vs loss of her familyBea/RobbieFamilyAtmosphereBeautiful atmosphere, especially during the Tense moments and the dates really brought it alive for meWritingGreat writing. Interesting use of going backwards and forwards in time. Giving us a slow drip of informationPlotAdaline LaRue doesn't want to get married or be tied down, so she makes a deal with the Dark. She gets immortality and forgetfulness of her person. 300 years later she meets henry another with a deal from the dark. To be loved. To be enough. They fall in love and then Addie learns that Henry is set to die in a month because of his deal. She renegotiates with Luc, the Darkness to stay with him as long as he wants. InvestmentMade even more wary of fairy deals, which I'd like to think I'm pretty aware of already.LogicGreat EnjoymentVisuals of people forgetting her and the RepetitionIs she still human is she not.Luc and her relationship. Anger betrayal acceptance. Mutual destruction the LONG LONG GameThe emotion she was able to pack into the story was phenomenalMiscVisual Glaze that goes over people.
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 07/24/2023
What a great book. This book was very enjoyable, it was very gripping and hard to put down when i was reading it. The characters all felt very real to me, and the motivations of the many different groups felt accurate to what i would expect. The Science in the book was well thought out and expertly explained so all can understand what is going on. I also thought the plot was well executed and fell in line with how people act in real life
Spoilers for entire book
Going into this book i thought everyone was going to die. no lie. I'm glad everybody didn't die. Notable Deaths and my feelings:Heather: incredibly sad. loved the twins, didn't expect it so quickly or brutally. wish it hadn't happened.Ray(cameraman): didn't expect it. didn't like it. but i wasn't that involved yet. Ryan (Ex-BF): Glad he died. loved the method, accidently pricked with crustaceans. then his boss dies as well. made me laugh, they both died from their greedRandom Scientists: ehCaptain: called it, should've fixed those shudders soonerDolphins: I thought the dolphins might do something besides die. they didn't. loved getting the Dolphins PoV. if one had escaped would've been fine with me.Hunters (couple): predicted they were going to die from beginning, wasn't disappointed. I didn't predict the way they would die, but after miche? the wife died. i knew the husband would do the blaze of glory death. although it wasn't that glorious. Survivors:Dr. Toth: great, so focused on science, knew the mermaids were bad the whole time. very prepped. Loved that she learned some sign language, but only the science nothing else.Victoria (Tori): several scenes i thought she was going to die. and didn't. appreciated the fact that we get our main Character through everythingLuis (lab Partner): Thought he was going to die from foot wound, but didn't. also liked his attitude, and his mostly practical nature about whats happening.Holly, Hailee: Twin and Sister of Heather Accurate depictions of grief. anger, throwing yourself into work.Olivia: great representation of Anxiety/Nervous. loved this character. (didn't hurt that the last name was Sanderson)Theo: Imagine's director and "in Charge" of ship. lots of good scenes with him and him eating pot cookies at the end was really funnyWell thats everybody, that i want to talk about. Loved the fact that all the mermaids were Male, and the female was a super mermaid. like anglerfish. made sense to me.
This was a tough book for me to get into. i would get pulled in then, then lose interest. The amount of focus of the language that was spoken was a bit much for me. I enjoyed the names of the characters until i didn't. it was a unique naming but there didn't feel like a lot of substance behind it. any number and a thing. just didn't work for me.
I liked the ending, i thought it was good. I didn't predict it, but it was still plausible.
Good book, but not great
Marked
Benedict Jacka
CAWPILE SCORE
C-9
A-6
W-8
P-8
I-9
L-8
E-10
TOTAL-8.29/10
CAWPILECharactersAnne vs Anne its dark Anne calling the JinnMeredith the coward—to scared to not do something she knows is wrong, but unable or willing to leave.AtmosphereThe setting is almost irrelevant to the story taking place.but the Elsewhere stuff has a great feel to it.WritingPlotAlex is on the council, working to retrieve the imbued items. They want Morden to coop betray drakh. Find out where drakh is. Council goes in gets butt handed to them. Dark Anne breaks Morden out of jail. Alex rescues Anne in elsewhere and Vari/Luna rescue her bodyInvestmentLogicSomebody in the council had to know about Dark Anne before hand or why specifically get Verus to Prison. Drakh riling up the adepts to weaken the position of the light mages. I'd be surprised if the council makes it through the series without exploding. Senior Council is again a bunch of losers with their heads so far in the clouds as to be virtually worthless.EnjoymentMiscVisiting the DRAGON again. What your choices would have been Talking with Deleo. Luna calling out Verus about calling her RachelAlex taking down the Splintered Crown. And calling out Chimaera for being hired to kill him from Levistus. The Adept Talis being sent back to Levistus in pieces at a party.Alex finally telling Anne about his feelings.Dark Anne breaking Morden outThree way tie. – Dark Anne—Drakh—Jinn Elsewhere Fight DarkAnne and the Jinn
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 08/14/22
Bound
Benedict Jacka
CAWPILE SCORE
C-9
A-8
W-8
P-9
I-9
L-9
E-10
TOTAL-8.86/10
Wow, what an start, middle and ending. Lots I didn't predict and lots I did. For having read this I remembered very little. I was clearly wrong when talking about the last book thinking more time had gone on than actually had. Great changeup to the writing style. Loved where the story went. Good foreshadowing.
CAWPILECharactersAlex and Anne, Just tell her how you feel Alex!!I feel like it's a small backtrack for vari's character that he is obsessed again, with just attacking. But he had good Alex-Anne adviceRichard—Jinn whats the goal mysterious as everLuna-Backslid because of a loss of direction. And depression loss of selfworth.Rachel-thought we were making some good progress til the end and maybe we are.Atmosphere/SettingGetting the Shadow dimension is a nice thing. Alex spending more time in the council.WritingInteresting writing, breaking it out into months. Good technique. Lots of foreshadowing that its Anne not Alex. PlotAlex has to work as Morden's aide, and perform odd jobs with “Archon”. Tasked with getting a dreamstone, gets 2 . can't train with it. Morden's council attack sneak attack on Vault. Anne bonds a Jinn InvestmentLogicThe tricks that they pull. Morden attacking the council. Deleo and her let Alex dieTemporary loss of magic from Richard at lightbringer and at Verus.????!!!EnjoymentLoved every minute of it.Misc“Lightbringer and Zilean” talking about why nobody trusts the council. How many are truly loyalAnne's TortureRichard has Untyped?? Black magic. Some dark mages aren't as bad cinder, chaliceLuna restarting Arcana EmporiumALEX is ACTING JUNIOR COUNCIL MEMBERAlex's temptation to go full dark. History of Genie's in the lampThe snark. I love it. What am I supposed to do while I'm experiencing this honor.Zilean – it wasn't personal. Its always personal to someone
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 08/07/22
Hidden
Benedict Jacka
CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-7
W-8
P-8
I-8
L-9
E-10
TOTAL-8.29/10
CAWPILECharactersLot of growth and understanding of Anne, plus some growth for Alex.Sonder still being dumb, but potentially coming around. More Caldera Less Luna ☹AtmosphereMore time spent in Sagash's Shadow Realm which isn't that specialWritingSolid writing, lots of putting characters into hard places and watching them struggle through it.PlotEverybody says that Richard is back, Then Anne gets kidnapped. And that's the storyInvestmentCan't stop reading. Does such interesting things with the characters and plot. It's tough to know what is the end game for the series.LogicEnjoymentAbsolutely love this seriesMiscThe Blink Fox.Richard is back and wants Alex to work for him.Annes' dual personality. She's thinking it, just not saying it.Infiltrating Party and the guy shows up. Onyx
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 07/10/2022
Chosen
Benedict Jacka
CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-9
W-7
P-8
I-9
L-9
E-10
TOTAL-8.57/10
CAWPILECharactersThe character revels for Alex and Deleo/Rachel were good. Learning that one reason why Rachel/Deleo is crazy is because she harvested her best friend after being manipulated by Richard. And something snuck in and she has to deal with that and her best friend in her head.AtmosphereGood as always. Going into Richards mansion was very scary but also not. It really hit the mark there. Also the Emotional atmosphere was on point.WritingGood writing as always. The A and B plots coming together perfectly at the end.PlotAlex being asked about Richards return, and then being attacked by nightsiders a group of adepts that are attacking mages. InvestmentCouldn't put it down. It was very good.LogicThe knowledge we learn about Worldgates and about Imbued items was great. Exciting EnjoymentSuch a fun book.Misc
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 7/10/22