Nadine K

Really should’ve read this trilogy before the Tawny Man Trilogy but reading it after the Tawny Man Trilogy is really it’s own fun too.

The funniest volume so far. The story is finally picking up. Finally excited to read the series lol.

Still waiting for Izutsumi.

The art is GORGEOUS and so so magical.

Coco is a sweetie and I can't wait for her to learn more magic.

4.5 stars tempted to round up because of that feel-good ending. (I’m a sap.)

It was good! Well written, great characters. Perfect ending.

But what it really says to me is that I need to read The Imperial Radch trilogy.

I’m sure my reading of this book would have been much elevated if I had prior understanding of this universe.

I really liked it :'(

:')

Solid 4 stars. I enjoyed it!

Definitely beautiful and had moments that pulled hard on my heartstrings. It's crazy that all this happened so recently. I'm just imagining what my parents were doing at the time, preparing to get married, preparing to start a family, meanwhile in the background the regime was kidnapping, torturing, and murdering student activists. With this image in my head, reading this was like a tale of two separate Indonesias interposed atop one another. Masterfully told and devastating.

However, the prose was just too flowery for me. While I love poetic writing (One of my faves is Ray Bradbury) I feel like all 'serious' Indonesian literature has this same style whether appropriate for the topic and tone of the story or not.

I also hate how the women were described, specifically Anjani with her pale skin, tiny hands, tiny feet, tiny face, tiny teeth. She's so small and petite and beautiful but she can eat like crazy and still be tiny and feminine and adorable. Risih aja si wkwkwkwk.

Additionally, I feel like the epilogue was too long and watered down the ending. It should have been just the letter from Laut or the sea burial with Asmara.

But a solid 4 stars!

2.5, I'm not even angry about it, more sad.

I cannot fault the writing. The writing is good, the characters well developed and rounded, the flow and language great, the story solid.

However, if there is a more pessimistic book I have yet to read it (as far as I remember). I would give it points for realism but it's realism is entirely one sided to the worst parts of society. Children are abused, the abusers get away with it, the greedy get rewarded, the weak suffer, the world turns, just another day in a life, move along nothing to see here. Sick.

I didn't like any of the characters. Note, they are well written, but in such a way that they are all either terrible people or boring. What they all have in common is their strong sense of individuality, that is to say, every one of them is selfish. There is no sense of community aside from when they are working as a collective to cover up a scandal. If there is a lesson to be learned I have missed it entirely.

Additionally, many reviews talk about the humor of this book. While I didn't find anything funny about it I did find large chunks of it horrific. What a let down, ESPECIALLY after reading Demon Copperhead.

Also CW: Sexual Abuse, Heavy Drug Use

I liked the story, I loooooved the writing, the mystery was so fun. It was all so good.

But I CANNOT get over that age difference. It is so disgusting to me. I need that man dead. I need Polly to wisen up.

Oh what a beautiful ending. What a beautiful book.

I was confused, at first, at all the comments talking about it’s slow pacing because I thought it was paced just fine. Then that last 200 pages hit and we were suddenly in a mad sprint.

How enchanting, often funny, overall a great joy.

Susanna Clarke, the woman that you are. After this and Piranesi, I am devoted to consuming all your writing for the rest of my mortal life.

A cute story, wholesome.

I liked the game, I liked clock island, I liked Jack.

I did not like Lucy, I didn't think it was realistic, and I did not like the romance.

That being said, I'm not a romance reader and I need a very fleshed out and textured relationship for me to fully enjoy romances in books.

But overall, I enjoyed most of it and I liked the authors writing style. Had some scenes that I felt pretty touching.

4.5

Laughed out loud multiple times, love Murderbot as always, loved ART even more.