Danielle

Once again V.E. Schwab spins a magical adventure with her final volume in the Shades of Magic trilogy. Things get a bit darker and the stakes higher, but our characters continue to charm and surprise along the way. I enjoyed it and felt satisfied with the end, but again I'd say it didn't quite hit that emotional punch I look for to get a 5 star. Solid 4 stars for a good story, adventure and fun characters I was glad to follow till the end.

I would start off by saying this a book may not be for everyone. It is the first fantasy book I have read almost ever that has next to nothing for action. For some people that may be boring, and therefore not for those looking for a rollicking adventure, HOWEVER, that by no means makes it a bad book. The protagonist Maia is a likeable character who deftly takes you on a journey through court politics in this fantasy realm with wit, heart and an earnest will to serve his people. His staunch attitude toward not using vindictiveness, cruelty or spite is admirable. I was truly engaged in the story of the tenuous beginning of his reign, despite the fact that is mostly him trying to maneuver through the court and deal with a never ending succession of policies, decision making and petty squabbles between officials, nobles and nations. Maia is the heart of the story and as a character he has such a big heart, many admirable qualities, but also isn't perfect. His inner thought process makes even the dullest moments quite enjoyable. Overall I really enjoyed him and the story, despite the lack of action and the world-building was quite unique although not overwhelmingly in depth (although the names and titles of characters can be a bit overwhelming). If you enjoy slice-of-life type stories, lighter fantasy and court intricacies, then I don't think you can go wrong with this one. I didn't absolutely love it, but I did really, really enjoy it.,

American Gods is a slow burn of a story. I can see why some people have given up on it. Even 3/4 of the way through I didn't understand totally what was going on, but sensed that the pieces would come together in the end. And that's exactly what happened. Sticking it out until the end is SO worth it. The story seems to have all these pieces that don't have any weight to them. Just a series of events, until the last part of the book where it is all revealed and things that seemed to be random, aren't so random and are revealed to be much more significant to the whole story than I originally thought. The twists and turns and mythic scale that it ascends too in the end was really amazing storytelling and thoroughly satisfying in the end.
The book may not be for everyone, it is quite dark and atmospheric and weird at times, but I kind of enjoyed that aspect of it.
As far as urban fantasy goes, this is far superior to the bulk of what's out there. Today the term ‘urban fantasy' has become related to stories of vampires, werewolves and supernatural creatures prowling the streets of modern cities and that ‘special' someone fighting them for us lesser mortals. Some of them are really good and fun, but a huge portion of them are shotty knock offs. American Gods is truly in a category all its own. This is what urban fantasy should be. Truly unique and well told story and characters that I won't soon forget. Well worth reading if your tired of the usual urban fantasy fair, or even if your just looking for something really good and different and mythical on a whole new level.