Cel
cw: discussions of domestic abuse, misogyny and homophobia
now, let me out myself as a basic b*tch before we get into this review: i absolutely adore the cinderella story, used to be obsessed with it as a kid and grew up with my own lovely illustrated german copy of the grimm fairy tales. and to this day cinderella retellings can get my attention quite easily if they bring something new to the table.
“cinderella is dead” is not a typical retelling in its structure. it is much more about the question of “what if that story was real and what if an entire country decided to live by that fairy tale's lessons”.
as you can probably tell by my 1 star rating... the book didn't really hit any marks for me. i will try to put some structure into the aspects that turned this book into the disappointment that it ended up being for me, so hold on and fasten your seatbelts
the writing
the writing itself often felt a bit too modern for the setting of the world. i am not quite certain when this is supposed to take place - and bear in mind that this is a made up world - but there are some hints in the world building that it would probably be around the 18th century in our real world? it doesn't really matter what the answer to that is, but it sure isn't 20th/21st century. i know that this is a ya novel but i think that teens are smart enough to understand non-colloquial english, too. i am being a little bit nitpicky on that aspect so let's move on.
aside from the modern style i also feel like the pacing was quite off. sometimes scenes went on for too long and sometimes scenes that should have been really important were over in a flash. what adds to this is that most of the time the atmosphere of the scene wasn't brought across properly. i could somewhat tell what the vibe was but i just wanted more of that. the same goes for how emotions were written in this book. most of the time emotions that the characters, especially our protagonist, were feeling, weren't given enough time to breathe. this is where more words would have been great. writing something along the line of “she felt fear” made the scenes fall flat to me because in my mind i just went “yup she sure did”.
the language
let me start by saying that i almost lost it when it was revealed that the kingdom is called “mersailles”. i was like huh did the author mean to write marseille (big city in france)? or maybe versailles (that's where the french king had his castle)? but no, here we have it, the kingdom of fantasy france is called mersailles. i do not like the name. it's subjective of course, but man this immediately took me out of the story and its fantasy world because i felt like the delivery man just brought me the wish version of france.
the problem isn't just the name of the kingdom, it is the language itself. the fairy tale cinderella is also known as cendrillon, which is basically the french version of the fairy tale, and afaik it is the more well known version thanks to disney & co. so it makes sense that our fantasy world is maybe at least inspired by france. and the name “mersailles” sure sounds like that too. well, why do some characters have french names and why do others have english names? honestly, this confused me a lot. the setting became a linguistic hodgepodge. obviously it is still a fantasy world but i can't help comparing it to our real life countries and languages because that is what the setting is using too. but why is there a character called luke when the author could have just gone for the french version luc?why is one brother called édouard and the other morris instead of the french version maurice? little details like linguistics are something that can make a fictional world feel much more real very easily, especially if you use languages that the readers can recognize, because they associate something specific with it already. and listen, if you want to use english sounding names in your french sounding fantasy kingdom? then use that as an interesting excuse for some background world building, language tells a story. i don't expect every author to be on tolkien levels of linguistics, but at least putting some thought into it can have such a big payoff in the end.
the world building
this is the first big aspect that made this book not work for me at all. the world building here is. not great. and it doesn't make sense.
so, this kingdom basically uses the cinderella fairy tale as its own version of the bible. everyone has to have a pristine copy of the story in their house and the girls have to read it aloud every evening. they have to learn the story by heart like some weird bible verses or whatever. girls have to try to live after cinderella's example and then they might get their own fairy godmother who grants them a wish to help them find a suitor at the ball!! okay obviously this isn't supposed to be something good, it is something that our protagonist is working against actively because it's fucked up propaganda and a tool used by the king to control the people but let's just look at this part separately for a second. why are people doing this? just because the king told them to? cinderella apparently lived 200 years ago - WHICH ISN'T A LONG TIME TBH - and suddenly everyone worships her and her story? that sure is wild. and extremely unrealistic. even if the old king told them to do that 200 years ago... that is such a specific thing to worship, especially when it's just a random woman who managed to get married to the king two. hundred. years. ago. it's as if the king of france suddenly told his people to worship the betrothal story of him and his queen. and 200 years later people were still doing that. in reality, people might be like “okay sure i guess?” and maybe some might believe in the fairy godmother part but also why would they - it is not like magic is deeply established in this world. it doesn't help that the king seems to be enforcing this rule in a very tyrannical way here. i think this part of the world building really discredits the people of fantasy france and makes them all seem a bit.. let's say gullible.
everything about this fantasy france kingdom mersailles just feels like it can be broken down to “evil king oppresses his people, especially girls and women, no one is having a good time”. i really, really wish there were more to it. i had so many questions while reading it. why can't the girls just run away to another kingdom? what are the borders here? how big is this kingdom even? how big is the capital? how does anything work in this kingdom? i don't even know anymore, all i know is “evil king makes people do things”.
i think the cinderella idea itself with the balls and whatnot has a lot of potential. but translating it directly into the world building like this just seems sort of ridiculous and unbelievable. i just feel like this could have been done in a more intriguing and clever way.
the misogyny
i can't NOT talk about this. i understand what the author was trying to do here. mersailles and its laws are misogynistic. women are constantly oppressed and treated badly. one might be able to draw some parallels to how the world is for women in our modern times but also back when being a woman meant not having many rights that men had. so, in theory, this isn't too unrealistic.
but then i dive deeper into the text and think about it for one more second.
the way that this story and world were written reminds me of a very superficial idea of what feminism is about. the stereotypical way that feminist are often portrayed by less well meaning form of media aka “all men are bad and should die”. this book, in its core, unfortunately carries that message. with very few exceptions every single man in this story is a piece of shit. they are either mean, creepy or just flat out abusive. and please do not accuse me of trying to go “not all men” right now, but what i am missing is some realism. all of this is very over the top in the book. as soon as a man popped up i just knew he was either going to say something extremely inappropriately sexual that objectifies women or he was going to be very horrible to his wife. yes, all of that unfortunately happens in real life too. but this is not what makes misogyny the problem that it still is today. i am missing the subtle forms of oppression, mindsets that have developed over centuries that women are for some reason “inferior” to men. being disgusting, creepy and abusive is not where misogyny starts or ends. it felt like a bad caricature.
simply put: i am missing so many nuances on this very difficult and important topic. instead the whole story feels like someone dipped their toes into feminist theories and now thinks that the big takeaway of that is “okay, men are bad, i have learned enough”.
let's talk about the female characters. the two main characters give me girl boss vibes, and you know what, good for them. but what i want to focus on is almost every other female character that we come across. most of them are extremely passive, they just accept that life sucks apparently and that men treat them like shit. oh you beat me half to death every day? guess that's just how it is! guess i should have lived more like cinderella! why. just why. this book wants to show us some kind of feminist stance but then it writes the female characters like this? only our special snowflake protagonist and her love interest are allowed to be smart and strong enough to not believe the propaganda or to not just give up and accept life as it is. yes there are a few minor characters like that too later on but they do not really matter. what matters it the overall impression that one gets from the story: women just let this shit happen to them and think that someone who tries to defy that is simply taking unnecessary risks and should just follow society's rules. amazing. outstanding. i will not travel back in time and show this to the women who always protested against any kind of injustice that they experienced. i don't get it. this also ties into the world building aspect but, like, why would they just accept it as normal that their husbands might treat them like shit and beat them up daily without anyone interfering? and why does every other man just accept this too? wish there were more moments of women rebelling. because that is how it has always been in real life.
once again, i was missing some nuances.
the resolution doesn't make any sense. the way that this story was written made it seem like one singular person aka the king was responsible for introducing the oppression of women into this world. we don't really know how it was before that but from some tidbits i guessed that women were at least allowed to work in the same positions as men, maybe they were even equal in everything, who knows. and then prince charming comes along and is slowly making the laws more restrictive for women under the guise of trying to protect the people. this is NOT how misogyny works. or oppression in general. it is not just cause by one random dude and everyone else just nods and goes along with his new ideas. societies don't work like that. especially considering how fucking awful it gets for the women in this kingdom. this is pretty much pushing the blame onto one person even though it is never just one person. i wish it were that easy.speaking of easy, i wish we could abolish sexism as easily as this book did it. obviously i am exaggerating right now but when we break it down it's like this: evil sexist king is killed, new reigning person is a girl, yay she abolishes every law that oppresses women, problem solved! and the book does mention that it of course isn't as easy as that and that many people will still think like this but it doesn't change the fact that it seems like the problem was suddenly solved very easily.
all in all, i feel like the topic of the oppression of women was treated on one hand in a very exaggerated way and on the other hand in a very superficial way. you don't really gain anything from it, especially since the blame was, in the end, pushed onto one man instead of society itself
the antagonist
it seems fitting that i continue with this aspect now. the antagonist. oh man, this book gave me “cartoonishly evil villain” as the final boss with a sprinkle of sexism on top of that. let's just say that i did not like it.
everything that we learn about the king and then later on the witch/his mother doesn't make him a compelling villain at all. and that's what he is. a typical evil dude who just wants to be evil and have power. this man lacks motivation. yes he wants power and wants to live forever but who is this man?? we barely learn anything about him except that he is EVIL and DISGUSTING and SEXIST. also greedy for power. but why? no one is just born like that. tell us more about him!! in theory i liked the idea of this eternal king who keeps coming back under new disguises and i loved the necromancy angle but i wish the author would have done so much more with that. and then the big reveal that the fairy godmother aka the witch is his mother. i went through the five stages of grief in like 0.1 seconds. once again, in theory i like that idea. i LOVE the idea that she was the one who brought him back and who is now tied to him. but that reveal happened way too late and in such a weird and comical way. it didn't help that the witch dies immediately afterwards. I HAD SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ALL OF THAT. what was that woman even doing? why did she have to bring her son back from the dead? and what was her big plan in the end?i was hoping to learn about their motivations but i guess i didn't get my wish after all, worst fairy godmother, 1/10 would never book her again for any of my gigs.
the romance
another aspect that i was let down by a lot: the romance. dare i say it, but this book suffers from the “insta love” problem. now let me explain this for a sec: i'm not talking about teens feeling intense crushes and thinking “omg they are the one for me” even though they don't know the person yet. i am talking about a character going “wow i am so drawn to her, idk why, and i need to stay with her no matter what, we will save the world together, yes we have only known each other for two days what about it?” i did not care for the romance here. it was very rushed and honestly it almost felt like it was just a rebound for the protagonist who was still in love with another girl two days ago. i could see the author trying to bring across that inner conflict, but it didn't really land.
this romance had potential to be something cute and powerful, if it had not been this rushed. of course it was fine that our protagonist was immediately attracted to her love interest, i think that is something that most people who experience sexual and/or romantic attraction have felt at least once. but it is everything that follows that initial attraction. this story takes place in the span of like 2 weeks. why are these girlies ride or die for each other after two days. it didn't help that a lot of the time of those two weeks happens off screen, which means that we don't really see them grow closer. why should i be rooting for these two, i barely know them as individuals and i certainly don't know them as a potential couple yet!!
the queer rep
we have at least four known queer characters in this book. i appreciate that.
but there's more
1) the treatment of the one gay man that appears in the story. luke doesn't appear a lot in the story itself because he is mostly locked up in some dungeon in the castle for daring to be in an altercation with some bully who forced himself onto sophia. the glimpses that we see of him include some tropes that we see a lot in media. the angsty backstory where his boyfriend and him were outed against their will and something terrible happened to his boyfriend. gay suffering as we have seen it many times before. why is it always like this. and then he gets beaten up by a guy who was essentially his school bully? luke is not having a good time, but he at least survived? yeah the bar is barely above the ground right now.2) erin and sophia's relationship. my problem lies within the crux of their “breakup”: sophia wants to basically come out and run away with erin at the beginning of the story, erin is scared and doesn't want to do that, she just wants to stick to what society tells them to do. if we ignore all of the fantasy elements it should be a very familiar trope when it comes to queer couples: partner A who wants to come out, partner B who does not want to do that yet (and usually has a very legitimate reason for that). it is a very tired trope. most of the time it is also written in a way where the one who doesn't want to come out yet is the “problem” which is just unfair. let's look at sophia and erin here. sophia was being pushy about coming out and running away. erin on the other hand was very scared because the consequences of running away would be very awful and pretty much tells sophia to move on. she wants to find some guy who will marry her at their first ball. it all climaxes at the end of the story when erin has gotten married to a horrible man who hits her and sophia tries to save her one last time. erin is suddenly ice cold and blames sophia for leaving her alone. she still doesn't want to leave and gets mad at sophia for wanting to save her. sophia gives up at that point and returns to constance.my problem is that this story blames erin for not coming out, even though her fears were absolutely valid: they live in a homophobic world and being outed might get them killed. running away isn't a great option either, they don't know where they can go, etc. i get why erin is scared. she is now stuck in an awful, abusive marriage. and she has become an asshole herself now all of a sudden. and her first love chooses the free, more interesting girl instead. all of this in the span of two weeks, by the way. it is incredibly mean towards any queer person who hasn't been able to come out (yet). i was just imagining some random queer teenage girl with parents who wouldn't be okay with her sexuality reading this book and feeling absolutely awful about herself. i don't think we need this. especially if you look at how sophia literally chooses the girl who she can be openly gay with. i know that this is a very difficult topic in real life but i wish this would be treated better in media. because if it is treated like this? you are essentially blaming someone for not coming out.
the idea was great, the execution left much to be desired
i do not want to trash this book but man i am just disappointed. sapphic titanic heist!!!!! it could have been so good
instead every aspect from that concept was lacking something
- the heist was..... boring. no stakes at all, the plan was whack and somehow all four main characters managed to look like dumbasses most of the time. it just wasnt any fun??? i came for an exciting heist story but ended up asking myself if there was even a heist at all in this book
- the romance was...... also boring? idk, i feel like there was so much going on, but also not a lot going at all, the relationship barely had any time to breathe and i think......... the story wouldnt change much if we left it out. WHICH IS A SHAME BC I DO WANT MY TITANIC SAPPHIC LOVE STORY
- the titanic aspects were........ super underwhelming. i dont quite understand why this setting was even picked when the ship itself and how it must have felt to be on such a marvelous and grandiose ship were barely described. this truly could have been on any other ship that sinks at some point. which is a shame as well. the tragedy of the titanic is a very popular historical event and i think one could have done so much more with that. let the reader FEEL like they are actually on that damn ship. there is enough info out there to do that. and it doesnt even have to be super accurate, but lets at least get the vibe across. honestly this could have taken place on land too. i feel like the titanic factor did not add anything to the story except for the fact that the readers and the author all know where this journey is gonna end.
generally speaking, i was also unhappy with the writing and structure of scenes that were supposed to be exciting or emotional. it was either way too fast paced or it fell completely flat. or they included cliches that took me out of the story because wow i have seen scenes like this one too many times in other media.
the characters were also not developed enough. all of them seem like they could be well rounded but in the end..... i think they are still extremely two-dimensional and i didn't care about most of them. their personal arcs barely existed and felt rushed in some parts. the characters' last scenes all felt very undeserved. i dont even know, i'm disappointed that i didn't like this crew of girls that wanted to do a titanic heist. i also wish they hadn't all known each other already. this story could have worked better without the flashbacks and with more focus on the girls NOW. my favourite kind of a heist story is partly about a group of different people coming together and learning how to work together. and that structure works for a reason! a heist alone can't save the story, you need good characters that make the reader root for them.
and now the last part that irritated me unfortunately: the historical inaccuracies. now, i'm no historian. but i did notice some stuff that was weird and felt off and got the confirmation that: yup, that wasn't a thing at all. and that happened several times. i don't really mind if a historical novel isn't 100% accurate, it's a work of fiction, the author hasn't lived in that time period, etc etc. i can still enjoy a novel for what it is. but in this case the author came up with things that didn't make any logical sense and that then caused issues for the characters that got solved pretty quickly most of the time. i do not understand why we need to make up things that only lead to scenes that could have been avoided - especially scenes that make the protagonists look dumb. it just feels like fake conflict where someone made something up just to put a hurdle in the protagonists way. this kind of plotting/writing doesn't appeal to me at all. please let the story make sense !!! we can have interesting conflicts that don't fall apart if i think about them for one second too long.
the pacing also has major issues. problems always get solved super quickly and i never feel like anyone has to actually work for the solution. sure, there is a lot of running/crawling around the ship. and sometimes they talk to people. i guess. but they really make it seem like the easiest heist ever. the interpersonal conflicts are also kind of benign and get resolved for no reason. nothing ever feels deserved.
all in all, it was a disappointing journey for me, but at least i could get through the book quickly and i do appreciate the inclusion of BIPOC and/or queer people as protagonists.
a solid 2 star book for me.
eher 1,5 sterne
hexenzirkel in seoul - klingt eigentlich vom konzept her cool und spannend! ich wollte dieses buch wirklich mögen, aber leider wurde das potenzial für solch eine geschichte überhaupt nicht ausgeschöpft.
eine zusammenfassung meiner verschiedenen probleme mit dieser geschichte:
- das magiesystem. ursprünglich fand ich es richtig interessant. die idee, dass die hexen die magie aus gegenständen herausnehmen müssen, um selbst magie wirken zu können, war mal etwas anderes und ich mochte, dass die hexen dadurch auch ein gewisses limit hatten. nun aber mein problem damit: es wurden regeln für diese magie etabliert, die dann im selben buch andauernd nicht eingehalten, eigentlich kommt es mir so vor, als ob die regeln nur dann relevant sind, wenn es für den plot des buches irgendwie bedeutsam sein kann. wieso diese regel aufstellen, wenn man sich selber nicht dran hält? es war für mich ein bisschen frustrierend und ich denke, man hätte mit der grundidee im endeffekt auch noch mehr machen können als fast nur energiebälle auf gegner zu werfen, ein bisschen einfallsreichtum wäre cool gewesen - aber hey, vielleicht war das auch eine bewusste wahl für diese protagonistin
- okay kommen wir zum nächsten punkt: die protagonistin. hana ist...... vieles aber auch nichts. ich könnte euch im nachhinein nicht allzu viel über sie erzählen, zumindest nicht was sie ausmacht und wie ihre persönlichkeit ist. da ist irgendwie nicht viel. und die dinge, die bei mir hängen geblieben sind, sind leider alle negativ. hana ist.... ein bisschen naiv, aber auch extrem egoistisch und manchmal fehlen ihr wohl ein paar gehirnzellen, da sie nichts dazulernen kann und immer wieder die gleichen fehler macht und dann völlig überrascht ist, dass sie - wenn sie völlig unbedacht etwas tut - vielleicht keinen erfolg haben wird. sie ist durch und durch eine mühsame protagonistin, die mich definitiv manchmal wütend gemacht hat. aber hey, sie hat ein süßes maskottchen und einen heißen dämonen an ihrer seite, man kann ja nicht absolut perfekt sein, das muss reichen!
- apropos heiße dämonen, hier hätten wir es schon, die romanze, die quasi den b-plot des buches ausmacht. hana hat bobby als ihren gefährten und ihr love interest. und oh je, es hat einfach nicht funktioniert. es fängt leider damit an, dass man ganz am anfang erst einmal plump erzählt kriegt, dass die zwei sich schon kennen. obwohl man mir ein paar abschnitte davor weißgemacht hat, dass hexen und dämonen gar nicht miteinander klarkommen. aber auf einmal sind die zwei zumindest bekannte, die einander dulden. ich würde das als “missed opportunity” für den ersten eindruck für die beziehung zwischen den zwei bezeichnen. erzähl mir doch nicht im nachhinein in zwei sätzen, wie sie sich kennengelernt haben und wie ihre beziehung entstanden ist, gerade das macht die beziehung doch so interessant - in der theorie zumindest. zwei personen aus verschiedenen welten, die einander hassen sollten, lernen sich kennen und bauen eine besondere bindung zueinander auf. aber nein, das kriegt man hier nicht. man wird vor vage fakten gestellt und so ist das halt jetzt. kein guter start und es wird meiner meinung nach auch leider nicht besser. es hilft überhaupt nicht, dass der erste eindruck, den der leser von bobby kriegt, ist, dass bobby zuerst hana zwar rettet, aber sie dann total übergriffig und ohne jeglichen grund oder erlaubnis küsst. ich war zu diesem zeitpunkt schon ziemlich fertig mit den nerven was bobby angeht mein nächstes problem mit der romanze ist die geschwindigkeit - das pacing. das buch spielt nicht über eine allzu lange zeitspanne hinweg, aber dennoch wird viel zu schnell von liebe geredet und dass man ohne ihn nicht mehr kann. hana, du hast gerade sehr viel größere probleme, bitte fokussiere dich darauf und nicht auf den waschbrettbauch von bobby, der bleibt dir nachher auch noch erhalten. ich weiß nicht, ob ich es in diesem fall als “instant love” bezeichnen würde, aber es ist zumindest nah dran. abgesehen von der tatsache, dass bobby hana halt hilft, gibt es für mich als leser nicht viel gründe, mit der romanze mitzufiebern. die chemie hat leider auch nicht gestimmt. ich gehe mal davon aus, dass im zweiten buch noch einiges passieren wird, aber leider habe ich den punkt erreicht, wo ich eigentlich eher möchte, dass bobby "böse" bleibt, das war tatsächlich der einzige interessante moment für diese figur. ich bin eher nicht dafür, dass die zwei nochmal irgendwie miteinander anbändeln oder ähnliches... hana, love yourself first maybe
- der plot an sich ist... na ja. hat man schon oft in dieser form und mit dieser struktur gesehen, diesmal nur in das konzept “hexen in seoul” eingekleidet, und ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob das setting im endeffekt dabei relevant genug war, um die geschichte an sich doch als etwas “anderes” hervorzuheben. die struktur an sich hat funktioniert, ich war nur allgemein nicht wirklich gefesselt? viele dinge sind einfach nur passiert, hanna hat zwar versucht, sachen zu machen, das gelang aber in der regel nicht und am ende hatte sich dann doch aufgrund von purem glück oder dank einem ihrer retter erfolg, ihr fällt vieles regelrecht in den schoß. das ende war auch etwas vorhersehbar, war aber grundsätzlich nichts schlechtes sein muss. eines meiner problem war jedoch, dass ich das gefühl hatte, dass versucht wurde, so viele eindrücke und kultur wie möglich in dieses buch hereinzuquetschen, wodurch die story an sich gelitten hat. ich würde es als “episodenhafte” momente beschreiben, es fühlte sich manchmal tatsächlich fast wie ein fantasy abenteuer anime an, in dem es in jeder 25 minütigen folge ein neues problem gibt und die protagonistin schlussendlich nicht viel draus lernt, ab und zu passiert dann etwas plot relevantes.
- hier kommt nun mein größtes problem, und es ist eigentlich fast schon ein appell: wenn deine story in einem anderen land spielt, du die story aber auf deutsch schreibst, dann füge nicht einfach wahllos wörter der landessprache in deine dialoge ein, obwohl man ja eigentlich davon ausgehen kann, dass die figuren grundsätzlich IMMER in dieser sprache sprechen, selbst wenn das buch auf deutsch geschrieben ist. ich kenne das nur zu gut aus fanfictions von anime oder kdramen oder ähnlichem, das ist zum teil sehr beliebt, aber ich finde es überhaupt nicht gut.
gründe, weshalb ich das einfach nicht befürworten kann:
1. wie bereits oben erwähnt, es macht logisch betrachtet keinen sinn. in emerald witches, welches in seoul mit koreanischen figuren spielt, sprechen diese figuren auch auf koreanisch miteinander. was genau bedeutet es dann, wenn auf einmal wörter wie “nein” oder “danke” dann doch auf koreanisch sagen? koreanisch hoch zwei? doppel gemoppelt hält besser??
2. der lesefluss wird hierdurch ungemein gestört. ich persönlich verstehe diese koreanischen wörter, weil ich gerade selbst koreanisch lerne, und mich hat es trotzdem gestört. es wirkte so klobig und fehl am platz, wenn die figuren auf einmal zufällig wörter auf koreanisch sagen obwohl wir perfekt übersetzungen dafür auf deutsch haben. *disclaimer: ich finde es wiederum natürlich wichtig, koreanische wörter, die für den kulturellen oder gesellschaftlichen kontext relevant sind und nicht wirklich ins deutsche übersetzt werden können, dann auch im text zu lassen. aber das wurde hier in dem text nicht darauf beschränkt. wörter wie “nein” “danke” “mama” “großmutter” “tut mir leid” “ich liebe dich” werden in koreanisch geschrieben. insbesondere für personen, die kein koreanisch verstehen, muss das doch unglaublich befremdlich und anstrengend sein. wer will schon non-stop im glossar hinten blättern müssen, um das buch zu verstehen?
3. es fügt nichts sinnvolles zur story hinzu. ich bin mir nicht sicher, was der gedanke dahinter war. wollte man einfach zeigen, dass man ein bisschen koreanisch kann? dachte man, dass man nur so rüberbringen kann, dass das buch in korea spielt? das geht auch ohne random koreanische wörter!!! und lässt sich dann deutlich besser lesen. koreanisch wird dadurch auch fast schon als etwas “exotisches” dargestellt, ich kann es momentan nicht genau beschreiben, was mich daran gestört hat, am besten kann ich es gerade nur “koreaboo vibes” nennen. viel substanz ist dahinter zumindest nicht zu erkennen. ich frage mich, ob dies bei einem buch, das zum beispiel in den usa oder england spielt, auch so gemacht worden wäre. ich möchte hier natürlich niemandem etwas unterstellen, aber es wirft bei mir einige kritische fragen auf.
ich werde den zweiten teil lesen, weil ich wissen will, wie das alles ausgeht, aber ich glaube nicht, dass ich diese reihe empfehlen kann. viel potenzial, die umsetzung ist dem jedoch nicht gerecht geworden.
okay, first of all, i wasn't sure if i wanted to write a review for this or not but i kind of needed to write my thoughts down at the end of this whole kpop journey.
i have to admit, this book definitely first got my attention because of the cover and was maybe 50% a cover buy BUT i also like to look at all the books inspired by kpop and have read a few already, so the genre and plot was also right up my alley and i was excited!
now, the beginning of the book was promising. i liked the idea of the gossip blog and the articles were way too realistic lmao, i have definitely read articles about kpop like this. so, that was fun. i was also rooting for alice at the beginning and liked seeing her be thrown into this whole new world of preparing for her debut in a kpop girlgroup. this, unfortunately, didn't last though. i have nothing against an unlikable protagonist, they can be extremely fun. but with alice it was more than that. she wasn't just unlikable, i also read this book thinking “wow she doesn't really... deserve any of this?” and i wasn't rooting for her anymore, i definitely had my moments where i was actually thinking that i wanted her to fail spectacularly just so that she can finally learn her lesson.
and i really, really needed something like this here to save the character and the plot. but no, alice doesn't really learn her lesson, until the last few pages it's still always about her and god i know, she's a teenager, the world revolves around oneself at that point in one's life, at least to a certain degree, but with her it's definitely too much. i genuinely don't understand why she made friends with the way that she behaves. i was honestly also really disappointed that we don't get more of the group interacting/trying to get closer. although that is also thanks to alice's behaviour. but seriously, alice can't even apologize for her fuck-ups unless someone tells her to.
what didn't help was the pacing of the book. the beginning was solid but i feel like we lost ourselves a bit in the middle but suddenly had to resolved everything in the last third while still adding more drama. it.... didn't work. the ending doesn't feel deserved and gave me whiplash because suddenly everything was getting resolved in very lazy and unsatisfying ways? it just made me, as a reader, feel like the book was clapping its hand and shouting “let's wrap this up guys, i wanna get home” at the end of a workday even though there was still so much more to do.
i don't want to be just negative so here a mention of things that i appreciated about this book: the kpop industry and especially the trainee process were portrayed pretty well for the most part and i think someone who doesn't know kpop would have still understood what was going on. i also really appreciated joon being bi, that was a nice little surprise. also thank god that he and alice didn't have something going on in the end because i don't think that would have worked out for them or fit into the book
i don't know if i would necessarily recommend this book to someone who wants to read about someone living the kpop debut dream because of my issues with the protagonist but the book is very easy to read and the writing style keeps you engaged, so if you are looking for an entertaining read but don't have too many expectations then this might work for you
okay, i was looking forward to this book a lot. like, boyfriend material was such a joy to read and genuinely funny, i laughed out loud so many times - and i truly only wanted the same reading experience one more time with husband material.
well. i got the opposite of that. i must admit, most of the time i just felt bored. not entertained at all. i think there were like 3 or 4 small moments in the entire book that actually made me laugh. and then i had moments of actual frustration while reading it. mainly because i kept thinking “what happened to the characters from the first book and why do i suddenly dislike them a lot?” - and yeah. that's exactly what kind of happened to me. i started to hate the characters. especially the protagonists. and the side characters who were mostly there to be funny in book 1 and then once more in book 2 were just starting to annoy me because it was the same thing again and again and again.
i also must admit that i personally don't care about wedding stories at all. but i was still in it for the boys (luc and oliver). but man, i think even if you like wedding stories, i don't think you would get much out of this book. i honestly wanted this book to have an open conversation about marriage and how not everyone has to get married or how you sometimes just aren't ready for it yet and that's okay. and i wanted it to end with luc and oliver deciding that they shouldnt get married (yet). in THEORY i got what i wanted. but it felt super rushed and kind of out of nowhere? like you can't just throw in the towel in the last 5% of the book. give me some proper foreshadowing. the conclusion just wasn't satisfying at all, i'm genuinely sad about this.
i wonder why this book is as long as it is because so much of its content just feels like filler. maybe filler that turns into a backdrop for luc and oliver's arguments but still. this could have happened anywhere and wasn't exciting at all. i think this book was missing some of the “high stakes” of book 1 that led to a proper plot and a red thread. sure we couldn't have had fake dating again but i'm sure one can come up with smth that isn't just “watch this established couple fight during weddings and then resolve the fights only to fight again”? this leads back to me being bored for most of the book.
as a conclusion, i just want to throw one question into the void: Did we really need this sequel?
- my answer would be a resounding NO. boyfriend material was fine where it ended. it was a very nice standalone book and i felt like the characters got their time to shine and grow. the sequel didn't give me any of that. especially when it comes to character development. and i think it didn't help that a lot of the issues that luc and oliver had got resolved in boyfriend material. there wasn't a lot to work with for a sequel. so maybe, the concept of “two 30 year olds don't know if getting married is the right next step” could have worked better with a fresh new couple. it could have even taken place in the same universe with luc and oliver as a power couple in the background who are like "nah, marriage just isn't for us, but it's good, we love each other"
i am wary about the third book that's gonna come out at some point. i will probably read it too just out of curiosity but i am just kind of disappointed and done right now
dnf at 57%
okay i will keep this short: the book has already one subplot that made me go huh. yep it's the fact that suddenly christians are the ones being persecuted in this undefined setting - in a very similar manner to how the jews were persecuted in germany in the 1930s. there are in general way too many similarities to the weimar republic/the third reich. what is even going on??? and why would you put christians in that place instead? it just feels like the author picked a real life event that affected so many people and decided you know what i want this for my historical fantasy novel but lemme just ignore that the people who actually suffered were jewish people. it feels gross to me and unnecessary. i dont know if there is a point to it in the end but i am also tired of authors using the shoa as “inspiration” like this.
now, since i was starting to become a bit skeptical of what was going on in this book i also decided to look up the ending and boy oh boy, paired with the fact that the author has liked transphobic tweets in the past that confirmed that she is a terf... this is not something that i want to read. no thank you. goodbye, this isnt worth my time or my nerves
2.5 sterne, schlussendlich 2 sterne weil ich mit dem ende nicht so glücklich war
ich habe mir extra donuts für das ende des buches gekauft, musste einfach sein, dieses review wurde aber leider nicht von dunkin' donuts gesponsert (wenn ihr das lest: sponsor me, dunkin donuts, please).
positive dinge:
- guter schreibstil, wie immer, anne pätzolds bücher lesen sich alle sehr gut und schnell. es schwingt auch immer ein sehr verträumter und herzlicher vibe in ihren büchern mit, was ich persönlich angenehm finde.
- es wird respektvoll mit den problemen der protagonisten umgegangen. ich hatte nie das gefühl, dass ihre probleme nur für die dramatischen momente verwendet wurden, man hat auch wirklich das mitgefühl der autorin gespürt und das schätze ich sehr.
dinge, die mich störten:
- das buch ist da zu kurz, wo das erste buch zu lang war, obwohl eigentlich zum teil auch nichts passiert, aber aarons seite der geschichte geht ein bisschen unter und wird dann am ende zu schnell gelöst - und das, obwohl seine geschichte mich seit buch 1 interessiert hat! es ist etwas schade, auch wenn marleighs probleme natürlich auch interessant waren. ich hätte dennoch gerne mehr von aaron gesehen, aber bei ihm ging es dann im großteil des buches auch nur noch um marleigh.
- die romanze..... funktioniert nicht. dies ist eigentlich mein hauptproblem. die zwei trafen sich, kamen ganz gut miteinander klar, haben sich mal getroffen. und auf einmal ist von einem date die rede. und mir erschloss sich nicht so ganz, wann die beiden jemals irgendein interesse aneinander bis dahin zum ausdruck gebracht haben. bis zu dem moment kam es mir eher wie der anfang einer SEHR platonischen freundschaft vor. und das zieht sich auch durch den rest des buches. ich kaufe es den beiden leider so gar nicht ab, dass sie sich zueinander hingezogen fühlen, man hätte den teil einfach weglassen können und es wäre faktisch das gleiche buch gewesen, nur mit weniger küssen. das reicht mir leider nicht und so richtig mitgefiebert habe ich auch nicht, wieso auch, es passierte einfach so, das buch gab mir leider keinen grund, darauf zu hoffen, dass die beiden zusammenkommen - außer halt die tatsache, dass ich durch den klappentext wusste, dass die zwei das hauptpaar des buches sein werden. und weil new adult nun einmal ein genre ist, in dem auch die romanze im mittelpunkt steht, hat das im endeffekt für meine bewertung gesorgt.
- achso und noch eine sache: marleigh ist eine sehr.... eindimensionale protagonistin. abgesehen von ihrer angststörung und ihrer agoraphobie ist da irgendwie nicht viel. was schade ist, weil man natürlich mehr als nur seine psychischen krankheiten ist. ansonsten ist sie einfach... eine sehr flache persönlichkeit, bei der es eigentlich nur um donuts, anime/netflix-shows, querflöte und nochmals donuts geht. wenn ich für jede erwähnung von donuts in diesem buch einen euro gekriegt hätte, dann hätte ich mir heute auch eine von diesen fancy donut-boxen damit kaufen können. aber es blieb bei den zwei donuts. aber hey, aaron findet marleighs donut-obsession wenigstens süß - fast schon zuckersüß (haha. ja ich fühle mich witzig)
ich weiß nicht, ob ich das buch empfehle. wenn man etwas schnell lesen möchte und gerade nichts anderes hat, das einen im gleichen maße anspricht, dann ist es sicherlich nicht verkehrt, dieses buch zu lesen. meins war es leider nicht, aber das ist ja am ende des tages auch nur subjektiv.
eher 2.5 sterne, aber ich habe es abgerundet, weil ich schlussendlich doch mit zu vielen dingen nicht ganz zufrieden war.
mir hat hier zuerst einmal eine richtige struktur mit spannungskurve gefehlt. spannung an sich gab es irgendwie selten, es ist halt alles irgendwie passiert.
der schreibstil war an sich gut, sonst hätte ich das buch auch nicht zu ende gelesen, auch wenn hier eines meiner größten pet peeves auftauchte: wenn figuren beschrieben werden als “der australier” “der amerikaner” “der student” etc etc anstatt, dass man einfach ihre namen verwendet. es ist etwas befremdlich für mich, aber das ist natürlich auch sehr subjektiv.
jade war für mich zu 80% eine viel zu passive protagonistin. alles um sie herum geschieht irgendwie und sie reagiert darauf. das kann funktionieren!! hat hier aber irgendwie nicht für mich geklappt. die momente, in denen sie dann mal wirklich von sich aus etwas entschieden hat, waren für mich dann auch die charakterstärksten momente.
ich muss leider auch zugeben, dass ich die romanze zwischen jade und hyunjoon nicht so interessant fand. ich fand es definitiv schön, dass die beiden sich verstanden haben und gut miteinander umgegangen sind, aber irgendetwas fehlte mir. ich weiß nicht, ob es die chemie war oder die sehr antiklimatische entwicklung der romantischen beziehung. oder vielleicht lag es auch daran, dass jade sehr schnell dann doch ihre meinung wechselte, ob sie eine beziehung eingehen will. das sind wahrscheinlich alles faktoren, die eine rolle gespielt haben. chemie zwischen den beiden habe ich leider auch nicht so richtig gespürt.
im gegenzug fand ich mal wieder alle nebenfiguren weitaus interessanter und hätte gerne mehr über sie erfahren. (wann kriege ich mein buch mit lauren als hauptfigur??
tatsächliches rating: 2.5 sterne
das buch ist in ordnung. auf jeden fall um einiges besser als die anderen zwei aus der reihe!
aber ich hatte dann leider doch einige momente, wo ich entweder dem buch die handlung nicht abgekauft habe oder einfach nur gelangweilt war.
ivy und jane sind grundsätzlich ganz süß zusammen, aber mal wieder mein typischer erzfeind bei NA romanen: dieses “sie ist so besonders, ich habe mich noch nie so gefühlt wie bei ihr”.... honey, ihr kennt euch keine zwei tage. für mich ist das in der regel nicht wirklich romantisch sondern eher befremdlich, vor allem wenn die figuren schon in beziehungen waren. ich wünsche mir doch nur eine normale geschichte in der zwei leute sich zuerst ganz normal attraktiv finden
okay ich will mich kurz halten.
disclaimer: new adult ist überhaupt nicht mein genre, ich habe dieses buch eigentlich nur gelesen, weil ich sehen wollte, wie das vierte buch der reihe mit der queeren repräsentation umgeht und ich alle figuren wenigstens etwas kennenlernen wollte, bevor ich das mache.
der anfang war ganz okay, man lernt alle figuren kennen und die hauptfiguren haben ihr erstes treffen. ich muss sagen, es hat mich doch zum lachen gebracht.
jaxon und emma haben für mich aber leider die meiste zeit nicht wirklich funktioniert. das buch leidet an dem sehr typischen NA syndrom von “er/sie ist so besonders, omg, so anders wie alle anderen, aber ich weiß nicht was es ist” anstatt einfach mal die figuren am anfang anmerken zu lassen, dass sie die andere person attraktiv finden etc. nein, es muss immer etwas besonderes sein