Nadine K
After a my unfortunate run of unimpressive reads, this finally felt like coming home. I've put off reading this book for a while because I loved the first book so much I didn't want to ruin my memories of it, but those worries were proven to be unfounded. The second instalment to the Gentleman Bastards series is just as fantastic as the first.
A heist story in a fantasy setting done RIGHT.
How Scott Lynch balances intrigue, suspense, drama, and humour so masterfully is beyond me.
The structure, the writing, is all meticulous and effective, but somehow also never fails to be exciting and entertaining (EVERY. SINGLE. LINE.).
Not a second of it was boring. It knew when to be light, when to be heavy, and when to be both.
The dialogue is truly the star of the show, the way these characters swear should be considered an art-form. It's almost poetry.
Word of warning: this man has a way of making you fall in love with characters just to murder them in the most brutal ways. I learned that in the first book and this one just served as an unfriendly reminder.
I was so disappointed.
Keep in mind, personally when I read a story, its characters will always be the most important element to me.
That being said:
1. The characters here have no agency. They never get an opportunity to do what they want to do rather it's always what they HAVE to do.
2. They are barely three dimensional, they all feel like caricatures, especially the villains.
3. There is no chemistry between any of them, it's even expressed multiple times that they dislike one another.
4. There is MINIMAL character development for each of them.
Other complaints include:
A lot of exposition through dialogue. Like, a lot.
A lot of “how do I know that? I guess I just do.” THAT IS NEVER EXPLAINED.
There are no clear rules to the magic in this universe, including the use of the character's powers. It's just whatever is convenient for the the plot at the time.
Just a nitpick at this point, but there were a lot of “quirky” one liners or lines that were clearly put in to feel heavy and badass but just feels flat and unearned in the context of the story.
Speaking of trying to be badass, GOD that ending was cheese. To have all the buildup then be saved by divine intervention? Climax killer. RIP.
It's not garbage but I had much much higher expectations and was let down less than gently.
I came into The Fire's Stone very excited with inflated expectations because I've been on a fantasy kick and when I first heard about this book sounded like it would hit all the right notes for me. Let me preface this by saying I didn't hate the book. I liked the message, I liked how the three mains played off of each other, and it had some solid writing.
That being said, my main issue with the entire story was that it was too simplistic. The world-building was barebones, the characters (even the 3 mains) seemed slightly underdeveloped, the plot and writing style were both equally basic, as in nothing new or innovative was done with the story.
More nitpicks include:
The cuts between scenes are so abrupt. The passage of time isn't the clearest. I always feel as though I missed a scene that happened offscreen.
The story is told in third person perspective but it shifts very often even within the same paragraph or consecutive paragraphs from one character to another so it's very hard to keep track of who's eyes we're seeing through at any given moment.
There were so many interesting concepts that Huff introduced that I feel like could've added so much depth had she given them more time and attention such as:
1. The Nine Gods Pantheon (and the rest of the religious systems in this world tbh)
2. The mechanics of the magic system they use
3. The different cultures of all these different countries in their world.
4. Locations and geography of the world (architecture styles, landscapes, climates, languages etc.)
Maybe I've been spoiled by all the other great fantasy stories I read last year that anything less than the standards Le Guin, Hobb, and Lynch have set are disappointing to me.
Lastly, this is very much a young adult story and I can definitively state that this is the book that made me realise that maybe I've grown out of the genre.
Excellent.
I don't even know where to begin
I could talk about its effective exploration of gender roles, I could talk about how much I loved the characters, I could talk about how the lightness of the romance only made the darkness that shadowed the book seem even darker. I could even compare it to The Poppy War trilogy though that would be a disservice to both books/series as they are strong separate pieces of work.
The weaponisation of empathy, how understanding other people so deeply can be used as a means to an end, stuck out to me. As well as the idea that ambitions of power will always be incompatible with kindness and will always corrupt. “Like knows like,” as they say.
It was as excellent as it was devastating.
I don't know if I have the strength in me to read the rest of this series but it's not because this book wasn't good. Almost the opposite, it was too good. Everything I wanted to happen has happened and now I'm too scared to see what comes next. It's the feeling of reaching the peak of a rollercoaster and knowing that what comes next can only be the descent. Some people enjoy that but there's a reason I don't get on rollercoasters.
3.5 stars rounded up
I started out really enjoying the book with it's suspenseful writing style and fast pacing. I liked how a lot of the chapters ended with mini cliffhangers and how its penchant towards the dramatics weren't ever too overdone but just right. The shifting point of views I could take or leave but that was never a problem. I liked Paul as a character and found him even painfully relatable at times. Parts 1 and 2 were solidly written and actually a lot of fun.
That being said, Part 3 kinda let me down. The first twist was confusing to me and it felt like the story lost a bit of the realism it previously had. THE SECOND TWIST lost me. Whatever the opposite of a Chekhov's Gun is, this twist was.
Overall though the good outweighed the bad and I did have fun reading it. It for sure met my expectations.
It was absolutely everything I wanted and more.
This was my first Stephen King book and I couldn't have chosen a better introduction to the man.
I could go on and on about how much I loved the characters, how satisfied I was with the ending, how I was on the edge of my seat every single page, but right now I just finished the book and, over everything, what I feel is awe.
The edition of the book I got is extremely dense, 480ish pages with a font size so hilariously minuscule, but the words just flew by.
“He wanted to tell Luke that he was brave, maybe the bravest kid ever outside of the boys adventure book. He wanted to tell Luke that he was strong and decent and his folks would be proud of him. He wanted to tell Luke that he loved him. But there were no words and maybe no need of them. Or telepathy.
Sometimes a hug was telepathy”
5 Stars, I am warm.
I realise I haven't written a review on this book yet which should be criminal considering how much I loved it.
The Raven Tower is one of the most unique books I've ever had the pleasure of reading for so many reasons. It's a book without chapters and a strange combination of first and second person omniscient point of view. It has 2 main characters who's stories touch briefly, Eolo who is the aid and best friend of the prince, and The Strength and Patience of the Hill, an ancient God who watches over Eolo whose existence he isn't aware of at all.
It is a story about devious political machinations, the corruptive nature of power, class divide, and nature versus manmade institutions. The book is a slowburn that happens over thousands or years or maybe even hundreds of thousands which makes the ending even more satisfying to read.
I can already tell it's not for everyone, but if you like slow reads with explosive payoffs, this is definitely the book to read.
3.5 Stars
Immediately after reading (which was last night), I rated this book 5 stars because it was beautiful, well written, and ended on a hopeful note that resonated with me, but thinking more critically on the story did poke holes in my original rating.
There is something deeply unrelatable about Nora as a protagonist. Sure she has regrets, sure feels alone and these are all valid and relatable... if we can look past her privilege. Nora Seed has a book of regrets that is heavy and painful because she was born talented, into a good home, with middle class parents, in a rich country, with the right skin colour. The only thing stopping her from reaching her “full potential” is her debilitating mental health. Making ONE “correct” decision led her down the path of a Nobel Laureate, a Rock Star, an Olympian, a 1%-er in California with multiple vineyards. Am I to believe that this is the same for most of us in the world? What of us born with a disability? What of us born with chronic illnesses? What of us born in war-torn countries? Everything Nora could've become with one “right choice” is something most of us will never achieve even if we made “right choices” all our lives. There are some futures that just don't exist. It's even stated plainly in the book that Nora's cat Volts is destined to die young because he was born with a heart defect. So the book posits that there are choices and there is destiny. There are somethings that, no matter what choices you make, cannot be changed and that lies in the cards you're dealt at the start. As hopeful as the book is, this take is also highly fatalistic.The one thing I had in common with Nora are my regrets, my roads not taken. But by the end of the novel we didn't even have that in common. Nora knows, she's seen all her other lives and she decided that her root life is the best one for her. Nobody in the real world has that privilege. There is a moment in the book when Nora's... spirit guide (?), avatar for God (?), Mrs. Elm quotes The Road Not Taken at her, and it is a poem wildly misunderstood by so many people. What Robert Frost meant by the poem is no matter what road you chose to take you will always wish you had taken the other. The poem is about that ambiguity, of not knowing the other possibilities and maybe living in peace with that ignorance. The poem is the antithesis of this novel that actively shows Nora ALL the other possibilities. I remember thinking as I read parts of it “This is a self-help book disguised as a novel”. This is made especially clear in her final social media update where she sums up all her lessons learned. It felt... condescending. Be brave! Carpe Diem! Says the woman who knows for a fact that this life she is leading is the best life for her. So I still have my regrets and I'll probably never be able to see all my branching lives like Nora did, and neither will you or anyone else reading this. But I don't need to because I've always know that the future is mutable. There is no point in dwelling in the what-ifs especially if you are depressed. I'm glad Nora realises this in the end and can feel hopeful, but she only gets to this point by knowing for sure that this is the best life for her which again, is a privilege none of us will ever have.
This is gonna be a spoiler free review so I'm gonna omit anything that even alludes to the twist(s) because I feel like that would rob anyone interested in picking this book up of its best parts. Let me start off by saying that I love this book. I loved it! I'm writing this review 2 days after I finished it and after reading one other (critically acclaimed too!) and yet this is the book I'm still thinking about.It took me back to the books I was assigned to read in elementary school in the sense that I came in with an open mind not knowing what to expect (and maybe because the books I was assigned to read in elementary school included [b:Where the Red Fern Grows 10365 Where the Red Fern Grows Wilson Rawls https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518702249l/10365.SY75.jpg 115] and [b:Hatchet 50 Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1) Gary Paulsen https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385297074l/50.SX50.jpg 1158125]) and just falling in love.As much as I loved it, it took me almost a month to get through this relatively short novel. It starts off slow and stays slow for most of the story, and there are many instances of very deliberate foreshadowing thrown in that effectively informs us readers that something terrible is just in the horizon. It's a creeping sense of dread that was hard for me to push through at times because I am a sap and I don't like it when bad things happen to characters I love. Don't let this put you off because even through the feelings of impending doom, Griz is such a natural storyteller and beautiful mind that there is warmth and comfort interspersed between the harrowing story of a kid exploring a mostly abandoned world. But then it hits that MASTERFUL twist and things go from 1 to 100 at light-speed. It was like being doused in cold water in the best possible way. A shock to your system that makes you want to reread the entire book again with the new lens you are given. The last part of the book is so different from the start and middle. I was sweating, my heart was beating fast, I needed to turn the page to see what happened next. And I needed to know whether the whole journey I took with Griz through the ruins of a world that this character never experienced, that was once my home, was worth it.So was it worth it? That's for you to find out :)
Something about the experience of reading this book felt like coming home. I've read so many books from so many genres but the Assassin's Apprentice reminded me why high fantasy will always hold a special place in my heart.
I've always been aware of the Farseer Trilogy, how could you call yourself a fantasy fan if you aren't, and have always been meaning to read it. Now that I have read it, I'm kicking myself for not having read it sooner. It's breathtaking. The writing is absolutely gorgeous vivid and engaging. The characters all so lifelike and provoking. The plot, the world building, everything about it was amazing. I managed to get my hands on an illustrated copy and I have to mention how gorgeous the art was as well.
I'm already itching to get my hands on the second book. Robin Hobb, aku padamu
Exactly the dark, urban fairytale I was hoping for.
It's been a while since I've read Gaiman's works though he remains one of my favourite authors. I took a break from his novels to give other authors and their books a fighting chance but now, returning to his work, I'm suddenly reminded how effortless it all is.
Effortlessly funny, effortlessly gripping, and absolutely effortless to read. I suffer from what some may call a tragically short attention span, even in the books I enjoy some passages take me two to three rereads because my brain just wont process the words but amazingly this has never been an issue with any of Gaiman's works.
Reading a Gaiman novel to me has always felt more like watching a show than actually reading, so rich it is in its description of people and places without ever being boring. Definitely would recommend and now I feel like checking out the audiobook!
I wrote this review when I was only halfway done with the book and hoped that it would get better and I would have to scrap what I've already written, but it didn't. So here are my issues with this book:1. Chunky blocks of exposition, all done through dialogue where one character is explaining something to another.2. One dimensional characters, most of whom are just unlikable.3. Stiff dialogue, many of the conversations feel unnatural. Sometimes they use phrases and words that just don't fit the setting and it really takes you out of the book.4. Some things just happen so conveniently that when the character's accomplish something it feels un-earned.5. A lot of terrible cliches that make my eyes roll.6. The pacing is... not great.7. There's so much superfluous detail added in that doesn't add to either the plot progression or the storytelling.It's very hard to immerse yourself in this book.The concept was really exciting, I was drawn to it even before realising that the author was a co-creator of ATLA, but overall I feel very let down.The only compelling storyline was that between Zanobius the tulpa and his creator, I found myself wishing I was reading about them instead every time I had to slog through another chapter with the kids and Pietro. But even his story got progressively less interesting as the story progressed.I would be harsher to it if not for the fact that I know this is a middle-grade read and I am by no means its target audience, but that being said I've read plenty of middle-grade books that I could rave on and on about ([b:The Thief Lord 113304 The Thief Lord Cornelia Funke https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327960342l/113304.SY75.jpg 3313414] by Cornelia Funke comes to mind), with vibrant characters, gorgeous world building, and emotional payoffs that feel significant and don't read like an insult to the reader's intelligence.DiMartino is super in your face about the moral takeaways of this story, almost to a point where its offensive. Maybe this would've worked out better as an animated series like Avatar was but for sure a novel was not the media to go with for this story or author.
A secret order of con artists, revenge plots, and the vicious politics of a criminal underground all on the backdrop of a pirate fantasy world that D*sney could only dream about.
Absolutely fantastic. The literary equivalent of watching a truly spectacular blockbuster movie, the kind that sticks with your days and months after the end credits roll.
World building A+, characters you fall in love with, wonderful treatment of female characters (which is a shame that it still has to be praised instead of being considered the bare fucking minimum but so many male fantasy writers are so bad at this...).
One of the books that makes me wish we could experience novels like we experience movies. So many moments in this book made me wish I could turn to a friend and share excited screaming or gasps of horror. But I guess I'll just have to settle for recommending this book to everyone I know.
Stellar, will definitely check out the entire series.
I didn't really know what to expect going into this book. I read the premise and got super excited, then I read the most liked review here and grew a bit wary, but it just sounded so good that I decided that should figure it out myself. And when I tell you I was more than pleasantly surprised.
I saw people were having issues with the pacing and how slow everything felt but I didn't feel that way at all. I personally prefer the slow reveal of the world and the rules that contain it over authors who spoon-feed us the bulk of their world-building in chunks of jarring exposition. It just feels more organic, like Bardugo respects her audiences intelligence enough to place them right in the story with Alex to unravel this world's mysteries together.
I loved Alex and the entire cast of characters. I loved how distinct each character's voices were, how every single character has their own agendas, wants, and needs even down to the most minor of them.
Mostly I love how the book is structured. The multiple timelines that weave between each other, the way the introductions to each new house seem to bookend a portion of the story, and the way everything ties up so neatly at the end. You can really see the meticulous care and attention-to-detail that Bardugo put into this book. It's obviously the start to a series but stands strong as a one-off as well, and I think most series starters forget how important that can be.
The Ninth House is a book that expects its readers to be active participants in solving the mysteries within it rather than a passive observer. You either pick up the hints the author plants throughout the slowburns or you should try reading it again. Eitherway, it was a very fun read and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
ONE THING THOUGH! I wish there was a warning on the amount of sexual assault that happens in this book. It genuinely distressed me how often it happened and put me on edge as I continued reading.
I'm still in awe of that ending.
A short read but, seeing as it was originally published in 57, it had that old writing style thats made the experience of reading it very similar to what I remember reading books for school used to feel like. People who are more used to or read exclusively contemporary “modern” books may have a harder time with the style but you HAVE to stick it out because the pay off is just absolutely phenomenal.
The Midwich Cuckoos is a book exposing how flimsy the abstract ideas that make up the foundations of our society truly are when faced with the threat of, while not immediate, inevitable annihilation and a person's role as both an individual and as part of a larger society in this situation.
As I was reading, I had it firmly placed as a 4 star read then that ending happened and it just blew itself off the chart entirely. I'm so glad to have picked it up and wish I could experience reading it for the first time again.
If you love found family and misfit magical kids, you're in for a treat. But this is less of a story about the kids and more about the adults, flawed and human as they may be, who love and care for them.
This is a story of Linus Baker, a man with a good heart trapped in a repressive bureaucratic work environment, as he learns that there is more to the world and more to himself. He struggles with reconciling his empathetic and caring nature with the bland objectivity demanded from him at work.
As the story goes on both we and Linus are introduced to a cast of colourful, bright, larger than life characters, each making the most of their individual tragedies and we watch as they change Linus and how, in turn, he changes the world for the better.
The book is funny, in that sharp and dry, quintessentially British way, but also so full of heart that it'll make you melt. Reading it feels like receiving a warm hug that lingers and makes you feel like everything will be alright. Magic doesn't need to be in the fantastical, most of the time it can be found in the mundane.
5 stars, would definitely recommend!