Mairin
I was lucky enough to be gifted this for a review
I like to always give indie books a try and this had a strong premise. However the execution was poor. The writing brushed over a lot of deeper moments between characters, the world felt a bit shallow (nothing they usually bothers me too much) but it was the short scenes that got me. Where there were moments to delve deep into the characters and friendships and motivations they were brushed across. I was told the MC could do this instead of going through the trials with him. It left me wanting. It made it hard for me to suspend my disbelief.
The story idea is strong and I have no doubt that this book has its readers. But for me I like more depth to my books therefore I had to call it quits in this.
If you love the idea of someone going to seek to become a wizard then this is for you
This god damned book!
Islington dove into my heart, carved out what I most like in and a book, spit out the will of the many,
This book is incredible! I can find no faults with this book. I was put under a spell and couldn't put it down.
I love Vis as a mc, he is comeplling, reminds me a lot of fitzchilarly Farseer,
The plot look some turns I loved and didn't always expect. The friendships in this l adored! Its not quite found family but close!
And the magic system! People can take will from others.
everything about this book is fascinating and perfect. Need book 2!
This has elements of the farseer trilogy, critical role calamity triwizad tournament, and Brandon Sanderson
A definite must read!
This has got to be the weakest Hobb book I've read to date.
It was fine. Nothing much happened that I would expect from a Hobb book but I'm prepared to sit and wait for the emotional damage I know she'll give me.
I am enjoying that characters especially the dragons. She manages to make something so old come across so new.
But oh Hobb can write terrible men! First there was regal then Kyle who I thought could get no worse and now HEST. Please tell me he gets what's coming to him cause my god.
This book felt more of an introduction to the characters and the dragons. It teases the implications on what could happen because of the deformed dragons and hints at certain character arcs. A slow book but one I enjoyed. O feel book 2 and onwards is where a lot of the things I love about Hobb will come forth.
3.5
What to say about this book. It's beloved but didn't hit for me.
I loved the start (though I wished it would hurry along a tad. Took too many pages to get to the school) and I ADORE the neurodivergent rep in this. The characters leapt from the page but that's where my enjoyed of this ended.
There is a tension that is missing throughout the narrative if this book. A threat of the MC loosing her dragon if she fails and yet it's mentioned once with no tension after or fear. Things happened in this book but they failed to connect in a cohesive plot. Little to no character development. It was boring.
I wanted more from the book. More exploration on the school and frankly more dragons. For a dragon book there is very little dragons in it.
Seeing the life native Americans lived through the lense of the MC was a lovely insight. I enjoyed the culture and their ways immensely.
It's a shame this book failed for me I started off loving it.
A very palate cleanser book
It was fine. Nothing new nothing brilliant. I like the world and the first story in this had me hooked but I was lost a bit toward the second story. I feel as if the author skirted along the edge of what could have been a deeper more meaningful book. There were themes that he touched on but because he didn't delve deeper into them it came across shallow.
I do wish there were more female characters in this. Having read other works by this author I know he does write them well enough but they are lacking in this book.
I've been reading this for months now and I haven't even gotten to page 100.
This feels like it was published a tad too early. The writing is super clunky and telling there's no emotional connection and I have no care about the characters or the world. The pacing is super off scenes often rushed which makes them clunky.
I feel super bad as I got an arc from the author and I want to support indie authors but this just didn't work for me.
If you can get past the writing I feel the story could really be good.
Dnf 50% I tried. I really did but I had no drive to continue. I found the characters to be boring and if I'm honest I feel the author chose the wrong MC for this book.  The traitors son and senna would have been far more interesting  Also I couldn't see the point of this book? There was next to no plot and hardly any character development. Hardly anything had happened. And I get that Gehrin storyline you won't get a lot but I would still expect to see more connection between the brothers instead of being told. And to go from one brother hating him to being fine the next minute is a bit jarringBut to have no threads of storylines woven throughout the book was a choice and one that isn't for me. There was no hook to keep me going no questions and answers happening. Why was the kings son killed ? What is Master L plan? Why was he taking the kids to what purpose? Having his POV i feel we should have been told the why of things. We're told a lot of the political manoeuvring and they feel very shallow and unbelievable. The author has obviously put a lot of thought into the worldbuilding but in some cases it doesn't translate well to the page but I can see this being the strongest part of the story. I found the writing to be a bit jarring. It would repeat itself and meander on long sentences when it's not needed. Towards the end I skimmed a lot to try to get to the point of each scene and chapter and yet I couldn't seem to find one. Overall I find the story very shallow and it's not for me.
Never have I laughed so much in the first chapter of a book.
This book started off in the best way. Rambo! Oh how I love him to death. The cutest character ever. All the characters were so well written with each complimenting the others. They all fit this story perfectly.
There was humor throughout this book but it's underlying message was of love and friendship. Something cosy.
T J Klune always writes some of the cosiest stories with a bit of a heavy conflict to them and do love them. I love all the oddities of the characters, how each have their quirks and fears and they all feel so real, even if they are robots.
The world building lost me for a moment. I wasn't completely sold on how Victor was made but I didn't come to this book for excessive world building, I came for a good time, a story where I didn't have to think too much and In The Lives Of Puppets delivered.
The romance side was a bit strange to me. in its essence it's sweet and wholesome but one party is a robot and I couldn't get passed that. Its just not my thing.
There is little at fault with this book. it achieved what it set out to do and I had a good time reading.
I highly recommend the audiobook the narrator really brings this book to life
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. The devil makes three vibes are strong.
Characters.
I loved the characters in this. Preston especially. Effy annoyed me in places but as the story continued, she grew on me. But Preston will forever have my heart.
Everyone keeps saying his is the best book of the year and I can see why hey love it so much but while enjoyed it, it had some issues.
Mainly the ending. I loved the last chapter, how Effy grew from the start of the book. But the ending before that, the fight for survival, the boss battle if you will. it felt cheep. it ended too quickly for my taste and I would have loved to see more of a struggle with the antagonist since they have been plaugines Effy from the start.
My other issue is with the fantasy element. The Fae king. I believe the book would have been stronger if it was clear from the start that the fae king was real. Only Effy believes in the fae king and it left doubt is he was real. I had a feeling reading that it was going to toy with the is it real or inside Effy's head. Not until the end did we get the answer.
Now I loved the romance. it deep deep and meaningful.
I loved the vibe. The vibe of this book nails.
Overall I had a good time reading this.
Merged review:
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. The devil makes three vibes are strong.
Characters.
I loved the characters in this. Preston especially. Effy annoyed me in places but as the story continued, she grew on me. But Preston will forever have my heart.
Everyone keeps saying his is the best book of the year and I can see why hey love it so much but while enjoyed it, it had some issues.
Mainly the ending. I loved the last chapter, how Effy grew from the start of the book. But the ending before that, the fight for survival, the boss battle if you will. it felt cheep. it ended too quickly for my taste and I would have loved to see more of a struggle with the antagonist since they have been plaugines Effy from the start.
My other issue is with the fantasy element. The Fae king. I believe the book would have been stronger if it was clear from the start that the fae king was real. Only Effy believes in the fae king and it left doubt is he was real. I had a feeling reading that it was going to toy with the is it real or inside Effy's head. Not until the end did we get the answer.
Now I loved the romance. it deep deep and meaningful.
I loved the vibe. The vibe of this book nails.
Overall I had a good time reading this.
This is the sweetest story.
A romance that has equal plot, worldbuilding, and character development.
And EDWIN AND ROBBIE!
I would die for them. They are my Joe to my ox. The Sam to Frodo. THE couple.
The plot really enhances the romance in the best way. Edwin and Robbie both are well developed, interesting characters. I loved reading about them both.
And Edwin is just the best. So awkward and book smart. I love him.
It did surprise me this had spicy scenes in it but they worked well with the story and complimented both characters on their arcs. it was sweet and awkward.
I did like how it ended. I have found alot of fantasy romance focus too much on the romance and net on the plot but it was int the case here.
I highly enjoyed this book. I want more from this plot and characters.
If the dude bros Wrote a book.
DNF at 56%.
This doesn't have enough women for me. Meaning any!
Yes you heard me right, there is no women. And what two that show up are a housemaid mother type figure and a healer that sounds so much like a robot its insulting.
I really want to give the author the benefit of the doubt. This is a book about fighting. It's male centered. Yes women can fight but not really against men. The world the author has set up is full of fighting slaves, a fighting hiarchary and corrupted people in power. Yet no women. I feel that the author has simply forgotten, in the society he's created, to think what role women would play. And it shows. To me, it feels like a shallow world.
The two main characters have the potential to be really interesting but it fails to deliver. The plot of the book moves rather fast too fast for any real character deveoplment or connection. Yes its a book about fighting, but it lacked the quiet moments between that makes me care for the characters.
It is clear that the author knows how to fight, but he's forgotten that the story is fiction and not a lesson. The fight scenes lack any emotion or anything interesting. To put it plain, they were boring.
Aside from the lack of women, I was bored throughout this book. And it had such a good premise.
Where to begin my thoughts on this book.
Its a mixture of historical and fiction but I do believe parts of this book is based on true events.
The historical parts was nailed. it felt very believable.
The characters. They were fleshed out and well written, but it was hard to read about their story. Women put against women in fear of being labeled a witch. The trials they went through. Especially the SA scene.
And the men in this book. Knowing this is how they most likely were in real life, abusive, threating to put the skull on women is horrifying and makes me so angry.
This book was hard for me to read because of the themes it covers, how angry it made me on behalf of the characters. it was beautifully written and a story everyone needs to read.
A bittersweet ending but worked for the story. I was so happy to what happened to certain characters.
A great story that had me thinking about women history and about how many were wrongly accused of being a witch and what happened to them.
DNF at 21%
As a child I loved zoro I thought I would love this. Alas, not the case.
My main issue is with the writing. It's bland, none engaging and info dumpy at times. I'm often left wondering about where the characters are, it feels as if the characters are in a white room. And the pacing. it jumps a little too sudden to scenes with no natural flow. There's little moments for the mc to process and to convey her motivations instead, we jump to another scene where the questions I had before weren't answered when I expected them to be.
Lenora. As a character she is bland and boring. I get the impression that's she's the typical ‘not like other girls.' there is no depth to her character or any of the characters really.
I was most interested in the world. Granted, I didn't get far into the book, but I found the world lacking, especially in explanations. And what I was given was info dumped in a massive wall of text. How do they have magic? What are the limits of said magic? There was little answers. it felt weak as a result, not to mention the one point its mentioned that Lenora can hear at great distance yet this came on quite sudden and I would have thought it would have been mentioned or shown before hand.
This book does have the feel of a fantasy romance and I don't like that genre. Which is strange as this is meant to be historical fantasy and there was little of the historical, the one thing I was really looking forward to.
Overall this story, from what I read was week and boring. Some one else may find enjoyment in this tale but it is not me..
What a sequel!
I was hooked from the first page of this book.
The characters leapt from the page and while told in first person, there was no doubt to who's head I was in. I love both Gormflaith and Foedla. Gormflaith feeling trapped and caged by the men in her life, was so fun to read about. How she grows and starts to do things for herself and not others. The relationships she has... I was glued to the page.
Gormflaith is a character I knew I would love but Foedla took my heart. Kind and sweet characters are not who I find myself liking and yet I love her.
Both characters are complex, and opposites of each other in more ways than their personalities.it makes for a great story. I love reading about different persepectives. Not to mention the plot and politics!
The worldbuilding was effortless. The writing flowed but the characters are the strongest part of this story.
This is by no means a fast book, but the moments between the characters, the hints at what is to come pulled me through the book in the best way.
The ending chapter has me salivating for book 3 as my suspicions of what could happen could come to pass and I just know I'll have the best time reading.
A huge step up from book one. Highly recommend.
I had the best time reading this.
I loved the winnowing Flame trilogy and did Talonsister live up to it?
It did!
Talonsister is a slow book. There is a lot of plots at work here but I loved the mystery. Who is Yins and how did she come to be raised by Griffins? And Leven why can't she remember her past?
I loved all of these characters. Yinis was the storyline I struggled with most more because the other storylines were more interesting than Yins was boring. but Williams knows how to tie things together.
Trust in the author. Things were slow but it all has a point and came together in the best way.
The world was fascinating. Williams took a lot of inspiration from Britan and she doesn't hide it, but with queens and Griffins, a wild seniant forest, druins and Titans it made for a world I loved to explore. Also queernormative:
The characters were what drew me to this story. Keato I loved. His relationship with Belise almost broke my heart.
I did find the romance a little rushed however.
The ending. Everything beforehand was written to the ending and it made the slow book worth it. Questions were answered and characters coming together. I almost cried.
a lot of things were set in place for future books and I cannot wait to read them
I cried. The ending with painter did bring me to tears as much as I wasn't a massive fan of this book. THere were repetive moments, and I'm not a massive fan of religion in hows it can indoctrinate people, but I see in this, Sanderson was making a critique of sorts and I was meant to feel this way.
I wanted more from the relationship. I wished there was more to show them getting closer.
The plot was the most interesting (appart from Painter) the ending sold me on this book, and I would have enjoyed it more is if it wasn't so repetitive.
Painters journey was what kept me hooked to the page. I liked yumi but ter religion annoyed me so much.
I did like how everything came to an end. The ending had me glued to the page in true Sanderson fashion.
Not a bad book.
My heart is heavy. There was no other way for this to end.
Coming from Dark Age this book was abit of a let down. I loved Dark age, with all its brutality but light bringer was softer. There are so many character moments I loved in this. But for quite a bit of the book it felt as if we were going nowhere.
There were the epic battles, one duel scene I loved but looking back on the book as a whole, the characters were stuck in places. Granted, they needed to be, but I was always waiting for more.
The beginning of Lyria storyline felt dropped, and I wondered why I followed her through it all for it to come to nothing.
I am one of the rare people who love Lysander. I find him interesting and while his story for the most part of this book was meh, by the end I was screaming at him.
The strong points of this book are the villains. I love Atlas. Volga grandad. Incredible characters.
And Cassius. Oh I loved his arc from the first book to now. He's become one of my favourites.
The ending is what is strong in this book. The whole beginning was leading up to this point and I can't wait for the next book.
As soon as I started reading this book I knew I was going to love it. And it was amazing.
The Dark Lord trope is used as backstory and I loved it! With a DND vide I was sold on this classical feel of the story. Oh, and the talking sword.
I enjoyed the characters and where the story went. I do wish that the female lead while well written wouldn't come across as damsel in distress. I Would have enjoyed her storyline more otherwise. I want more murderous mummy!
I will add the other side female characters were well written and strong, even is they didn't get a lot of page time.
The deeper into the story I went the sense of a wider world and plot encountered in the best way. I wanted to know more about the gang who destroyed the Dark Lord years ago.
A really enjoyable tale with an expansive world.
I Highly recommend if you like First Law but at not as grimdark and the kings of the wild with a splash of DND.
This book had me loving it, rolling my eyes, to finding it a decent book.
There were moments I found myself enjoying the book quite a bit but also moments that I was bored. Mainly Reginn storyline. Her story started out good, but as a character she was pretty stupid. Her story did pick up toward the end and became engaging.
The other POV was Eiric and his story was the most interesting to start. I love his sister Liv.
The story while long and winding in places it concludes in a way that makes me want to read the next instalment. it took a turn that I did not expect but loved.
A tale of heroes, villains, gods and magic with a dash of Secrets. I enjoyed it. I can't wait to see where book 2 takes me.