Suzi
3.5 stars
This definitely wasn't an enjoyable read in the normal sense, I didn't feel any joy reading it and it was a heavy read in parts, but it was compelling and very readable.
Obviously the themes of racism and homophobia are a huge part in this story, but its so heavy handed that it became a bit repetitive in the middle and second half.
I did like the action and the conclusion, it was very hard to put down once everything started ramping up.
I forced myself to finish this because I'm sick of seeing it on my Currently Reading and I wanted to know what the bloody code was in the end, but honestly I was bored to tears by this.
I loved The Appeal so really thought I'd love this too, but it just did not live up to her first book at all for me.
The format is quite original and imaginative, but it just was not engaging at all. The characters were dull and flat, and I just didn't care about Steve's history.
Given this was written nearly 30 years ago, it still reads quite well! Some parts are a little dated but it was still a compelling mystery.
I do think some details were either glossed over or just never revisited, so elements which seemed important during the investigation were just completely missing from the trial and conclusion.
It's my first from this author and will be trying the others in this series as well as others from her as she has such an extensive backlog.
I love Daisy's books in a different way to how I love Magnolia's books - they're just a different vibe and feel separate even though they're intertwined.
A lot of this book felt a bit slow compared to the others, it was clear Tiller would be gone and she would get back with Christian, it was just a case of us waiting for that to happen.
The things I loved about this one was Daisy and Magnolia becoming friends, more of Julian and his thought process with Magnolia, Christian just being Christian
Well....I was not expecting that!
I went into this expecting a sort of okay domestic thriller that I would enjoy but inevitably forget about in a few months, but this was so good!
The story itself isn't anything new, in fact it reminds me of a couple of other books I've read, but the layers of twists upon twists this gave and the reveals were just so well done.
Definitely a pleasant surprise and I'll be picking up other books by these authors soon!
This was good!!
After a little bit of a slow start, I really liked how this progressed.
The 3 character POVs were all very different and interesting to follow, especially Gimlore, and I enjoyed how they came together later in the story.
The magic of the smokesmiths was quite unique and I liked how it could be used when someone was near death.
I switched to the audiobook about half way through and really enjoyed the narration by Adriel Brant so definitely recommend.
I've enjoyed the previous 2 books from this author (Wordslut and Cultish) and this was just as good!
Clearly very well researched and delivered in an enjoyable and accessible way, her style of non-fiction will always work for me.
I knew a little about some of the topics covered here but I liked learning more about them with the backing of research studies. Most were new to me and were eye opening (and definitely confirmed a lot of the reasons I dislike social media).
I'm so glad I've eventually finished this series!
I loved seeing how the gang ended up together, and despite it being about a year long, I loved the epilogue for seeing how protective they were as parents and Ryder being the stay at home dad! It was so sweet.
I also loved Orion's parts in the book and Gabriel ‘seeing' the twins, along with other little nuggets for the ZA series.
It's definitely too long and still has some really juvenile writing which I wish had been stripped out, but it was a great ending to a great series.
I enjoyed this a lot, there were some things I'd never really heard about and some others I had but this went into a lot more detail about them so I liked learning more.
This is perhaps a little on the academic side if this is someone's first book on some of the subjects, as the author delves into paleopathology as well genomics, genetics, virology, microbiology and biomechanics.
I'll be looing for the other books by the author as this was my first from her.
I'm enjoying how this series is expanding in this second instalment. This one was a lot more political and less action packed, which helped flesh out the different kingdoms and history of the world.
The main characters are still annoying but they had some sweeter moments between all the snark and bitching at each other. I think the side characters are more interesting in this and really carry the story for me.
I still find the audio narrators really over dramatise the dialogue which makes it come across as cringey and obnoxious, but I can get past it.
This was such a unique and refreshing fantasy book that I'm so glad I picked up.
The world is quite unique and interesting - with different houses based on materials they can work with their magic (gold, silver, iron, bone, etc) but also control over the undead. It had a good amount of history and lore sprinkled throughout to build up the setting without info dumping.
I really liked that there the starts of a romance but it didn't revolve around that. The book wasn't written around the tropes which seems to be a trend recently, it wasn't written just to get on a list of “Spicy TikTok books”. Such a nice change.
This was absolutely not what I expected when I started the book, but I was so absolutely gripped by it I just couldn't put it down and read it all in 2 sittings.
It was so raw and unflinching in the thoughts and descriptions of motherhood, some of which resonated with me. It's absolutely terrifying to think of the things in this book happening to your own child, its every parent's nightmare.
I also thought the second person POV was an interesting choice, I normally don't get on with it but it really worked in this case.
This is book is SO loved and SO hyped that I fully expected to also love it, but I did not.
If I'm reading historical fiction, I want to feel like I'm transported to that time. I want to be immersed in the place, the period, the language and the feeling of the time. Unfortunately, this just didn't do that for me. There were a lot of modern terms and words which were jarring against the warn torn 1940's France and brought me out of the story.
There were also a ton of inconsistencies, which other reviewers have diligently listed in their reviews so I wont, so once I started noticing these it was hard to stop and actually enjoy it as a story.
There were some elements I liked and it definitely wasn't awful, but it was far from the amazing hyped book I expected it to be. The narrator (Polly Stone) was excellent, which has earned it an extra star!
I had a few other books from this author on my radar so I still may try them (from the library or on audio) but I'll be going in with lower expectations now.
3.5 stars
Despite this being both generic and predictable, I actually enjoyed the story overall.
The first half of the book was so generic it was like it was ‘How to Write Fantasy Romance - Lesson 1' - there's a teeny tiny girl with hidden powers and a big old manly man with callused hands and a chip on his shoulder, they have a contrived reason to hate each other but end up having to travel together. Add in forbidden magic, warring kingdoms, a despotic ruler and a handy dandy rebellion and you've got yourself a story.
Anyway, after the 50% mark things took a turn and got interesting. The characters got more personality, there was scheming and plotting and secrets to be revealed. A couple of good plot twists towards the end too.
The ending was predictable but as I say it actually was an enjoyable book and I'll be continuing soon.