Dina
I'd go with 4.5 stars.
I can't give it a full 5 stars rating because the constant dumbing down for the other officers felt too much. Almost as if, in order for the protagonist to come off as super quick on his feet, all the other investigators had to be the typical angry and dumb cop we see so often.
We could talk at length about the reality of that situation, like how many policemen out there are actually more brawn than brain, but it was a bit much when the main character kept over-explaining things to guys who should be able to keep up faster, knowing their own experiences dealing with this sort of thing and their rank within the police force.
Still, I deeply enjoyed the writing style and the typical life questions that would come up and make it relatable without feeling forced. I also liked the main character and the depth of him, as well as his relationship with his wife, haunted by a tragic past.
I may look into reading more of Verdon's books.
Personally 3.5 stars.
I should probably warn people of some triggers in this one, mainly the very violent and descriptive nature of a rape scene involving a teenage girl and multiple boys, and also the detailed descriptions of violence and murder.
The pacing, the characters and the vibe as a whole are still as great as all the previous ones by these authors, but the sometimes long ass random descriptions that added nothing to the setting of a scene or plot and the explicitly depicted violence of the murders kinda threw me off a bit. I skipped a few paragraphs that went into too much detail about the deaths for the sake of my sanity, so bear that in mind.
Oh wow, what was this?
Such a roller coaster of emotions! When you think you're finally gonna get to breathe after an intense part of the story, you're suddenly hit with yet another plot twist or another thing gone wrong that needs fixing.
The good, heart-warming parts are intertwined with the bad, shivers-down-your-spine bits, and there are sooooo many trigger warnings to be aware of... Still, if you can take it, this will definitely send your brain (and heart) on quite the journey.
What I liked most about the whole story wasn't so much a specific event or a character or something, it was this thing you find in the whole story (the three parts) about how you should be careful when judging things too fast or too harshly. Everyone's morals are questioned in this, and the story almost makes you go down certain paths and take someone's side, only to then find out they may have done some questionable things themselves.
Overall, it was a loooong read, with many ups and downs, lots of screaming into my pillow, a few tears shed, but it left a good taste in my mouth in the end.
I need to process it, as there was A LOT, but I'll come back with a proper review. For now, let me just say this one was very 50/50 on things I liked/disliked, but I'm still curious about where the story will lead these characters.
Edited to add that I've thought about it and I may want to expand on a few things.
The plot
It develops slowly. I kind of lost track of it a bit in the beginning because of all the different fae/seelie kinds and other supernatural beings, and all the titles and names of characters you think will be relevant and then don't get mentioned again. Still, the plot itself is a murder mystery thing wrapped up in some magical long-term plot by the bad guys, so, although you figure out who's killing “ironborns” (half-fae/half-human) in this book, that's only one part of the whole plan and we'll have to see what else is coming in the next books.
The characters
Oh man, this is where we start getting all the mixed feelings.
I appreciate what the author tried to do with Nausicaä, by having her be this powerful being who can scare anyone just by mentioning her old title, but also trying to make her light and fun to create some breaks between all the drama and nastiness of the whole thing. However, it fell a bit flat to me. I kept thinking of Nausicaä as this character that sort of branched either into a respectful 100+ year-old who knew a lot of things that could help solve what was going on, or into this 13 year-old girl trying to be trendy, I don't know. I feel like I'm not explaining it very well, but it felt like two different characters instead of one character with multiple dimensions.
As for Arlo, I was feeling her out in the beginning, and it was fine. I like that she has her mind set on being allowed to fully join the fae and she has her own reasons and fights for them. What really got to me was the constant whining about how she's not made to be a hero and “you got the wrong girl, go find someone better qualified”. It would be okay if it happened once or twice in the beginning, when she doesn't know much about what's happening, but, at some point, you realize that, yes, you do have what they need to solve this, so even if you don't want to be a hero, you could at least help these guys out, since you do care about all the killings that have been going on.
M0ving on to our gentlemen. Let's start with Vehan. The prince is too pure for this world. He's the pawn in a big game of chess without even realizing. Everyone is hiding things from him at the castle and the poor guy feels so alone there. Still, he wants to do what's best for his people, no matter the costs. He's funny and sarcastic too, which helps. Usually, these too goody characters can turn out a bit bland, but I liked him just fine.
Lastly, Aurelian. He used to be a close friend of Vehan, but then he's forced by the queen to become the prince's steward and he kinda pulls back at once, distancing himself and making Vehan feel like he's done something wrong to cause it and he can't fix their friendship anymore. Aurelian is the quiet type. I guess not only is it a bit part of his nature, but also because he's trying to juggle many secrets and doesn't want to accidentally let them out? Idk, that was my interpretation of it.
The romance
sigh Okay, this is another one of those mixed feelings thing. Gonna put this under a spoiler thing just in case.
SpoilerLong story short: I'm not feeling the thing between Arlo and Nausicaä. It was too quick, the characters themselves seemed to be all sorts of confused as to what was going on and why they suddenly felt so attached to each other. There was a line somewhere, very early on, after Nausicaä made a passing comment on Arlo being neither fully seelie, nor fully human, and it rubbed Arlo wrong, because all her life she's been told she's a freak because of it. Somehow, Nausicaä, a complete stranger to Arlo at this point in the story, telling her this hurt her more than all the other times she's been told something similar. Why? You barely even know the name of this person and their opinion means that much more? Idk, it felt weird.
In terms of Vehan/Aurelian, I do agree with what I've seen quite a few people say here, about how it feels underdeveloped. However, considering these two met each other as kids, have been living in the same place ever since and then there's the whole manipulation plot going on behind Vehan's back, I feel like we're supposed to feel that hollow space there. I think this is something that will continue to be developed later. You can tell that there are feelings in there, they just don't express them (for different reasons on both sides). I feel like it will all get to a point where one of them can't take it anymore, maybe in a life or death situation, and it'll all finally be out in the open.
All in all, it's one of those books where the good and the bad kind of balanced each other out for me. Since I'm still interested in seeing where this will go, I'll wait for the next one to come out and see if it gets better.
The story focuses on these 4 astronauts (from different areas of science, sent out to explore and hopefully discover new things using their expertise) who are on a mission to visit and study some planets away from Earth. They're all so far away from home that communication takes literal years to be made. They usually get news that are no longer accurate by the time they're reading it.
In the beginning, things seem to go according to plan. They settle into these new places, in absolute awe of setting foot into a new planet that works under different rules of physics, with the chance of finding exciting new life somewhere.
However, at one point, things get a little out of control and it messes with the heads of these astronauts in all sorts of ways, depending on their own personalities and mindsets. I thought this seemed very realistic.
Having dealt with being stuck at home for a long time, I think we can all relate to a sense of cabin fever now to understand how these people may have been feeling, especially when dealing with some heavy stuff and the consequences of actions they were forced to take.
You see these four people go through cycles where they help each other get through the tough parts. Due to this, there is a very intense section in the book, dealing with some not so fun mental struggles that they go through.
The open ending seems very fitting of the story. SpoilerMuch like in the story itself, where our main character is writing to Earth and asking them to decide where they should go next, so do we get to decide what we think our hypothetical future generations may have chosen to be their fate.
All in all it was a great read.
A realistic wild ride
It's always difficult to rate books that deal with certain issues. In this case, the whole situation involving a Mexican character wasn't based off any personal experience, even if we've all heard of similar situations in the real world.
This book deals with a lot of misunderstandings, complicated family relationships, racism and privilege, and fighting for what you believe is fair and right.
I found myself feeling all sorts of ways and relating to the main character's point of view many times throughout the book. I think the issues were dealt with in a very realistic manner and that heavy feeling of things left unsaid and situations unresolved that we can all relate to gripped my heart very tightly.
I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend reading it if you like reading about stories of people going through rough moments in life and trying to find the balance between what's good for you and what's right.
3.5 stars
I feel like I was really excited about it in the beginning, but then some of the characters started to get on my nerves (I hate it when teens act like such know-it-all with their parents and then shrug it off when it comes back to bite them in the ass).
Also, the way some of the story lines were wrapped up in this felt very uneven and undeserving, in some cases. It's not even because of a personal preference of wanting certain things to have happened differently. For a book about sisterhood, some things didn't come off very sisterly at the end of the day. Just saying.
It rounded it all up and offered me a satisfying ending.
Some parts reflected the worst there is in humanity, which made it scarily real and sad, but the good bits also warmed my heart, so there was a good balance.
I'm still in awe of the format and how it gives the story an extra dimension.
All in all, a good reading experience and a nice conclusion to the Illuminae Files.
3.5 rounded up for its message.
Maybe it's because I wasn't raised in this whole prom culture, and also because some YA out there already feels too teenage-y to me (we grow older and become heartless, I guess), but the whole premise of the thing was a bit of a miss with me.
Though, again, I think there are some really good and solid messages in there and I appreciated that.
I had a great time reading this book. It was exactly what I expected, but maybe that's why I didn't feel completely blown away by it.
The whole brujxs thing was very interesting and the bits with Spanish thrown in there gave it a more real and grounded feeling.
I also liked how this book touches on the subject of transphobia and lets us see it unfold on both sides: the teenage boy trying to overcome some of his fears (like going to the boys' bathroom) and also his family trying to adapt to this change.
The characters were a great, joyful ride. The younger ones were quite funny and sarcastic, and the older ones showed us that, even with their wise moments of passing down some important lessons to younger generations, adults also have some missteps every once in a while. It reflects reality.
Towards the end, my reading turned frantic. Wanting to know how they were gonna get out of that pickle sure kept me on the edge of my seat, and I found the resolution quite satisfactory.
I was hoping this would be a 5 star for me, but I think something in the writing and how it feels very young at times makes me think that maybe it's because I'm not the target audience anymore. That's okay. The story was still good and I still recommend it.
