Magda
3,5 stars. Until 25% it was a 5-star read for me. Interesting setup, fleshed out characters, good writing, great bookish, historical and academic references. Until 50% it was a 4-star read with some issues like plot points seen from miles away. If the book started with Anabell coming to the Duke's bedchamber, it would be just another OK, explicit read. I'm not against sex scenes, but could really live without them in this book. Even though they were quite good, I wasn't expecting them in this book, so I acknowledge that my expectations are partly to blame. In my rating I had to accommodate a really great beginning, but also some annoying, obviously meant to complicate the plot scenes (proposal) which made me roll my eyes.
Celtic fantasy with mythological themes should be right up my alley. Yet, I do not believe I was so bored and unable to connect to the characters and story in my life. It didn't make me care about characters (maybe except Sidra). I heard great things about ‘Divine Rivals', but since I also mostly saw praise for ‘The River Enchanted', I won't be rushing anytime soon now.
2,5 stars
This graphic novel shows anxiety very well. However, I found the „nothing really matters” message problematic and even dangerous to read for somebody depressed (especially a teenager). Also, the find professional help message was given rather in heavy handed manner. But there is potential and I'm curious about the second book.
I did not care either about the world or any of its characters and decided to do something better with my time on page 222. The book was definitely overhyped on social media by the publisher (This was also the reason why I unsubscribed the Bookbreak YouTube channel). A First dnf (did not finish) book in years.