Kati

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

5 sparkly stars! It's always great when you finish a book and feel the need to silently stare at a wall for 10 minutes after because you don't know what to do with yourself now.

There's some gorgeous writing in this and an infuriating countdown. What more do you want?

This is a favourite of the year. Stuart Turton remains one of my all-time favourite authors. He made me enjoy an environmental dystopia that has hints of climate scifi, a subgenre I usually don't like at all!

I can't say much about this book since I believe the less you know about this author's novels, the more fun you'll have. What I will say is that, although The Last Murder at the End of the World shares some characteristics with his previous books—namely, that they are all mysteries featuring a small number of core characters who are surrounded by a larger cast and they all have lengthy titles—it is also, once again, a completely different book compared to the other things Stuart Turton has written. In the same way that The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water are very different books!

Basically, if you love how Stuart Turton builds his stories, you won't be disappointed. If what he does is not your cup of tea, then I'm not sure this will work for you.

Personally, I can't wait for his next book! And with all due respect, please write faster, sir.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Solid 4 stars. This is great as a fantastical historical comedy that has a little romance in it! However, I don't think it works as a genre romance. So, depending on what you want this book to do, it might be a hit or a fail!

Tonally and story-wise, this felt more like a cross between The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels and Terry Pratchett's Witches books, with a tiny dash of genre Regency romance thrown in the mix, than like a true romance novel, to me. Which was great! Just not what I had expected going in!

I adored the narrative structure and writing style of this! By far the best part of the book for me. The story is told from the perspective of a snarky Fae. (Think Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.) His narration is truly hilarious and brilliantly done!

And although, said snarky narrator calls out the reader for potentially not having read the first book in the series—Which was such a funny moment!—I think it works perfectly well on its own!

Overall, it felt a tad too long and the romance could have been a bit stronger, but I had an amazing time with this book until the ending. That sadly knocked it down from a low 5 stars to a middle-of-the-road 4 stars. I am kind of angry at it. I just felt that several of the things that happened were truly unnecessary and I could see parts of it being genuinely upsetting for other readers. SPOILER: On-page animal sacrifice.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2 disappointing stars. This was such an interesting concept, but it really did not work for me. There was so much potential for this to be a great mystery-focused thriller, but I felt the execution was really bad and boring.

There was no depth to anything. Not the characters, not the plot, not the writing. Everything was surface-level and none of it made much sense.

The characters don't sound or behave like people at all! It got quite infuriating. The main character is annoying and a horrible person to a degree that goes beyond an “unlikeable” character who is fun to read about. The plot is weak and very slow-paced. You have to wait quite a while for that blurb- and title-promised reappearance and you can figure out most of what's going on about 20% into the novel. The documentary and the people making it? Not actually that important or involved in the story!

It's also insanely repetitive. The same ground gets covered again and again. There is no tension at any point and with so little going on in this, it could have been a novella. It might actually have worked in that format!

Some of the commentary on parenting is also more than questionable.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A low 3 stars. Just not as fun as the blurb made it seem, but not a bad time overall. A lot of potential!

I love a space opera with a bit of romance, but this one was very flat and felt lifeless. The concept is great and for a novella, it wasn't too bad, but I never really cared about the characters or the plot. I was expecting rompy fun in the vein of a Jessie Mihalik book, but sadly, this story never quite got there.

The protagonist gets dangerously close to being annoying, rather than quirky-cute, sometimes. And this story definitely isn't a “high octane sexy space heist!” It's not sexy or dangerously heisty in any way, really. There are many elements of this that are conceptually fun, but it came across as slightly half-baked and unfinished.

Also, the writing thought it was funnier than it actually was. I could tell when it was trying to go for a more comedic tone, but it rarely actually succeeded in doing so.

It's entertaining enough for a quick read. But not much more! I probably won't continue the series.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A low 4 stars! This is just a really fun, little coffee-book-style book!

If you are in the mood to get entertained by snarky and fun little lines of text for half an hour, definitely give this a go! Obviously, not every single one of the titular 109 Things will be funny to you, but most will make you laugh or at least smirk!

However, if you are looking for a self-help or advice book and don't recognise sarcasm when it hits you in the face, then this might not be the book for you!