Katie
I was intrigued by My Lady Jane when it first came out. Of course it has a pretty cover, but the plot grasped me as well. When I got a copy in the monthly subscription box Owlcrate, I immediately dove in.
I didn't know the story of Jane Grey, but I feel as though I have a better picture of it now. I like that this book taught me a but of real history. And being that I watch Reign, the TV show about Mary Queen of Scots, I could also link some of that to the book. It gave the plot some sense of historical legitimacy.
Beyond historical legitimacy, the book also doesn't take itself too seriously. Dialogue and narration were often interspersed with modern language and commentary from the authors. This struck a nice balance between being too historical (and possibly boring) and too contemporary (and generic, imo).
The other pieces of the book - characters, romance, etc - were all a smashing hit. I loved it. But the one drawback here is pacing.
I felt as though we moved glacially through the first 300 pages (which is fine), but then the last 190 pages covered several days. We were in France for a short bit, we snuck into the tower for a short bit, we confronted Mary for a short bit. It's as though the authors wrote the book how they wanted, initially, but then saw they were running out of pages so they jammed everything else into it. It's very disjointed, and maybe representative of how authoring duties were divided?
This was quite disappointing. I surprisingly enjoyed Shadow and Bone, after resisting reading it for a while. I naturally picked up Siege and Storm but I had a completely different experience.
This felt like crap to me. She has these little kerfuffles with the Darkling but most of the time she just sits in the Little Palace doing nothing. Engaging in petty drama I guess. Fighting over different boys, one I absolutely hate but can tell she will end up with. The other one I like much better but you barely see him and clearly it's not happening. Even the Darkling is a better love interest.
I guess I might be confused on this but why is there all this hate for the Darkling? Obviously he is a.major antagonist but he doesn't seem super villainous to me. His followers talk about whatever he's doing is for the good of Ravka....getting rid of the Fold. I agree....that would be good. Sure he's not handling it in the best way but isn't what hes trying to something good? I'm not sure why everyone is against that. It seems to me like it's just Alina battling an ex over their failed relationship. Idk.
Still going strong!
I can see where people thought this dragged though, and the major reveal at the very end I saw coming SEVERAL MILES away. I also think there might be too many things going on at once, and the details get lost or skipped over, leaving me a little confused or saying “hey, wait! what???” Other than that, this was quite enjoyable.
What's this? I've given TWO books in a row a 4 star rating! Has my seemingly endless 3-stars-or-less streak finally been broken??
I LOVED THIS!! And it's VERY hard to get me to LOVE a book. But I enjoyed it so much that I stayed up late the day I started it, and then hammered out the rest the following evening. I liked this so much I binged it.
I miss it, too. I kind of wish I hadn't binged it because then I would have more time with the characters. Kady and AIDAN especially. Ezra, I wasn't feeling as much. AIDAN was beautiful for a computer.
The plot. The ending. The setting. The writing. THE PRESENTATION. All amazing.
I don't really want to drag this down by pointing out flaws, but there were a few things that held me back on my trajectory to 5-stardom. The relationship was...immature. Maybe I'm just old, but the premise of the break-up was stupid. Kady & Ezra getting back together was stupid. Their declarations of love for each other were forced. I didn't believe much about Ezra & his buddy James. Relationships (platonic & otherwise) were definitely the weakest part. Oh well. Nobody's perfect.
Brb, off to pre-order Gemina!
One of the best books I've read in a LONG time.
I was completely enthralled in Maya's story. Her, her strength, the plot, the romance, the ending, etc, is ALL wonderful. BUY IT, READ IT, LOVE IT.
So instead I will explain the missing star. Chokshi has such beautiful writing a la Nova Ren Suma. It CAPTIVATES you (just like with Suma). This is also a curse (just like with Suma). Lost in these overwhelming words is any coherency. There is nothing to ground the reader to any description, fact, reality. Yes, you are painted a beautiful, almost dreamlike experience, but the caveat to dreams is that you can never be certain of anything. Did that really happen? Was she asleep? Was she drugged? Is it just her imagination? I can't answer any of these questions re: several important scenes in this book. Because that's where it lets you down the most - during plot-critical scenes where you NEED to know what exactly is going down.
I like concrete truths. I like things I can know. I also like this style of writing. But for MY best enjoyment of a novel, these two things are wholly incompatible. Written with more clarity, I would be a lot happier. But written in a different way, would that cost my rating a different star? Maybe you just can't win like this.
I really tried to enjoy this.
This is, after all, the book that led me to abandon this series so many years ago. Now I can say I've finally made it through it!
But it was SUCH a struggle. I almost didn't finish it.
I didn't really care about Marcellus or Etheldredda. She didn't even seem all that threatening or scary. I think it's hard to write for this audience while keeping the attention of older readers. Sure, it's not written specifically for older readers such as myself, but I'd like to pretend I could still enjoy the series. I think it's losing me, though.
There is some kind of emotional disconnect between all the Heap siblings. Outside of a few, none of them seem to care about any of the others. Some kids are conveniently missing from the story. Pivotal events from previous stories (like uh, the princess was kidnapped??) aren't even addressed, nobody thinks about them...it's like they didn't happen. Nobody even mentions Simon being evil anymore. The parents don't even hardly notice Septimus and oh, 3 or so of their other kids are MISSING IN ANOTHER TIME until they've al,let come back. There's no seamless transition from book to book anymore, just rigidly segmented different stories. Hmmm.
Might have to take a break before the next one.
3.5 Stars
SO conflicted about the rating. I can easily see myself giving it a 4, but then I feel like that's too generous. Maybe a 3.9?
I went into this with a lot of expectations. Everyone knows (and has read) Throne of Glass except me. It (and the series) is supremely loved and adored. Popular books never really work for me, though. Whether that's due to a subconscious desire to go against the grain or genre preferences or hype culture, doesn't matter. Normally, not all the time, but normally I don't like popular books.
This is the exception. I really enjoyed this despite it being a book that I've heard so much about, yet knew so little of the plot. Despite the avalanche of fan support that Throne of Glass rides on, I haven't been spoiled at all. Usually I don't mind spoilers because I like to know what happens, but in this case, I'm glad I don't know anything.
This might be one of the best books I've read in a long time. Although the opening is slow, I do feel a real passage of time. The romance triangle feels like a genuine, slow burn, not something contrived. Normally I can't get into romances a whole lot. Sometimes they don't feel genuine, sometimes I just hate the pairing. I did become invested in the will-they-wont-they, and got excited as things unfolded. That's REALLY strange for me, so points there.
I do feel Celaena grow as a character throughout her time in the palace. She becomes a much more complex character as the contest goes on. Her attitude softens, she feels love, she is sad. Celaena is definitely one of better developed characters I've read about.
There isn't a whole lot else to say other than the conflict was a little hollow for me. I felt like I was being told how scary and ruthless the king was rather than being shown it. The other members of the plot were clearly evil and marked as antagonists from the beginning. There was no mystery as to who was behind everything. But we can't win them all.
I really look forward to Crown of Midnight.
One thing that is interesting is the fact that for my first reading, I had the benefit of having read Assassin's Blade first. When Throne of Glass first came out, readers didn't have that backstory for reference, and I think some parts of Throne of Glass would seem too deliberately vague or confusing as a result. I've read Assassin's Blade, so I already knew who Sam and Arobynn were, and all the little side quests Celaena mentions. But I wonder how initial readers perceived this book without knowing all of that?
3 stars for sure.
I didn't anticipate the general consensus of this. I thought it was supremely hyped when it first came out and I didn't follow it much after that, so I assumed everyone had enjoyed it. I guess not.
Totally flawed BUT I like the concept. I love the cover. I like the abilities. I like the revolution plot and of course the plot twist at the end. I actually didn't see it coming (some have said it was obvious, I didn't think so).
Lots of lines, terms, catchphrases were repeated throughout the book. I'm not normally that observant, so if I notice it, it's a problem. Lots of conflicting statements on one line vs the next. I get repeating themes, but this was just lazy. Very heavy-handed.
World building was interesting, but I felt as though it really lacked. I tried to picture this diamond world but I struggled quite a bit. I don't know what diamond and “something” mixed together look like...I really anticipate this getting better though.
MC wasn't all that great, she came off as bratty to me. She's also a bit of a heartless c*nt, as others have pointed out (in terms of naming the targets and how she treats Cal), which does nothing to endear her to me. I like her ability (and the concept) but she's just another all-powerful mystery-power special snowflake. WHY is she so powerful?? I would've thrown the book across the room if she had been able to overcome ability silencing, but thankfully even she couldn't.
Romance was basically a square, maybe with a hint of a pentagon? Not only is it desperate to have 3 love interests, cliche to make 1 the longtime best friend and the other 1 a handsome prince, then sad to make that 2 handsome princes, and tacky that the princes are BROTHERS, but pushing someone else into it as well?? COME ON!
All in all, I felt a very strong connection between this and several other popular YA novels. I don't need to name them, other reviewers have already done so. Sure, there was originality, but it was overshadowed by a feeling of “I've seen this before”. I will be checking out the novellas to see if the world building improves.
I grew up reading the Princess Diaries series. I remember sitting in the reading nook I had made in the corner of my bedroom and just devouring the first few books. It's when my love of reading first started picking up some steam.
I was pretty disappointed with this, and I'm kind of surprised by the amount of great reviews.
It's nice that we had the opportunity to grow with Mia. Looking back at the original series at my current age, I probably wouldn't like it as much. So I'm glad that this is a more adult novel so that I can fairly judge it.
The problem is that it isn't quite an adult story. Mia and everyone around her is definitely older, but they don't act any different. Everyone still seems exactly how they were in the original series and it bothered me. All the “adult stuff” that happens (ex. sex, getting engaged) feels so forced. Like Cabot took 14yo Mia and just layered awkward sexual conversations and adult life events on her, as if that would convince us that time has passed. Mia didn't sound or feel any different, as though she completely refused to mature or change in what, 8 years? I've aged, but she clearly hasn't at all. I'm a very similar age with similar life events going on, but I couldn't connect at all. That led me to the conclusion that I probably wouldn't enjoy rereading the original books back when she really was 14.
Ugh and then it's like Cabot couldn't decide what kind of twist to include so she dropped a bunch in all around the same time. Seriously, the sister, engagement, parents getting together, babies...there wasn't even any time to respond or reflect on each of the events because another twist would be dropped a few pages later. It was really gross.
I received my copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I really like mermaid mythology, but it seems like mermaid stories are few and far between. Those you can find, are usually executed poorly (if anyone has evidence to the contrary, I welcome it). Descent is no exception. When I first saw it on NG, I was surprised. Excited. Then hesitant. Mostly because of what I just stated. But I requested it anyways.
First, the plot. It moves INCREDIBLY slow at first, and is interspersed with sections of infodump. It gives off the impression that the reader has not actually picked up a book about mermaids, but rather one about farm life in Plainville, Oklahoma. Due to a tornado and a family tragedy, our MC Shea McNamara moves to Cape Cod to live with his grandmother, Bleach. Her name isn't Bleach, but every time we see her, she smells like bleach. Shea proceeds to bop around town, take his dog illegally on the beach, hang out with Cardboard Girl, and have weird feelings in his body (not puberty, guys). And for the first 58% of the book, this is all he does. FOR FIFTY EIGHT PERCENT OF A BOOK ABOUT MERMAIDS, HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THEY EXIST.
Okay let's switch gears to after that 58%. He finds out all the backstory needed to wrap up the book, takes multiple stabs at resolving the conflict, and finally succeeds IN ONE DAY. ONE DAY. Something I specifically took note of was a certain chapter in the book where not a sentence goes by without something major to the plot happening. Except, when you write like that, nothing really matters to the plot, does it? All you're illustrating to me is that nothing I'm shown matters because in a few pages you'll whip something else out of your ass that completely contradicts the plot.
So here's what goes down in the chapter: some running around in secret, several different family reunions that all amounted to “who's this? omg ur the prince we've never met before!1”, two royals are murdered (one is important and one is not, gotta keep things balanced), a seemingly flat-as-all-else character becomes a two bit villain and is defeated within 3 pages, a poisoned monarch is healed by a black Caribbean mermaid with “chocolate skin” (so creative), and everyone pieces together and figures out how to dismantle an entire evil scheme to take over the Atlantic throne by the REAL villain (who read more like an angsty teen). ALL OF THAT IN ONE CHAPTER. And it all just flies by with a paragraph or two devoted to each, like gosh, who needs details or groundwork for anything in the plot??
There was maybe a love triangle, I say maybe because I have no idea if Shea was supposed to like Cardboard Girl or not. He was too busy making lovey eyes at Servant Girl and kissing her at the most inappropriate and unromantic times.
Every single character was flatter than Northern Ohio. I guess if you don't lock your characters into silly things like personalities or motivations, you don't have to worry about them getting in the way of your plot!
And the ending! Like I could even be more upset about this book, but then everyone is patting each other on the back and happy, but HELLO PRINCE DEMYN GOT AWAY?! Didn't anyone notice that??
UGH.
I really enjoyed Across the Universe so I sort of knew I would like A Million Suns. Of course, just because you like a series starter doesn't mean you'll like the sequel, but something in me just knew. And I did like A Million Suns! It had everything I really enjoyed about Across the Universe - scifi premise, spaceship, very light romance, an intelligent female MC, and lots and lots of secrets.
The aspect I like most about this series, in both books, is the mystery of Godspeed and its mission, and the little plots Amy/Elder uncover. I like how things are gradually discovered, not infodumped in a villain's monologue. Each piece of the puzzle is solved by them naturally, not through some unrealistic, convoluted back and forth guessing or figured out behind the scenes. This makes it all feel very real, like it could easily be happening on some spaceship in our solar system.
Real mysteries like this are solved in this way. Real mysteries have clues that will stump you for days, clues that are very easy, and clues that will go missing or be tampered with. There are some clues that won't be solved by the MC, but rather by someone she shares them with. There are people who want you to solve the mystery, and people who don't and will do anything to stop you.
In short, I loved this book. Some things that made me drop a star were Bartie and Elder, Doc, and Amy and Victria. Bartie and Elder are quite good friends, but he's born to lead the ship so they lose touch over the years. When things start going south, Bartie is Elder's most outspoken detractor. He incites riots, physically attacks Elder, and tries to mutiny the ship for THREE MONTHS. Yet in the last 5o pages they make up like they were old friends. Nobody really apologizes, they just sort of forget. It's quite funny because Elder actually thinks about this, something like "the last 30 minutes were enough to forget the last 3 months between us." No. That's really not how that works in real life. If I think of any of my best friends that I've lost touch with over the last few years, and they were my biggest public critic for 3 months to the point where they deliberately dismantle my ability to govern the show and keep everyone safe, I would not just let everything go because of that 30 minutes. We WERE friends long ago, who knows what we're really like together these days, and after all they did to me, even after that 30 minutes they had together, I'm not going to let it go. Things will not be all sunshine and roses between us. Another problem I had was Doc. Why did Doc kill the specific people that he did? Why did he kill Luthor or Lili? Because he didn't want anyone to threaten Orion's rule? Did someone else kill them? Who was it? And Victria, she was in love with Orion, so she wanted him unfrozen. But then she gets killed helping Doc unfreeze him and Amy is super upset over her dying. I didn't think they were really that great of friends. I know I was supposed to believe that, but it came across as forced. It seemed like Victria hated Amy because of what she did to Orion and Amy sort of tried to be friends with her anyways. Just because some guy raped her and tried to rape Amy, they're super tight now? I'm sure Luthor had lots of other victims too. And she points a gun at Amy, threatening to kill her just to have her psycho unrequited lover unfrozen, and Amy is TORN UP when she gets shot on accident. She won't shoot (to kill) Doc because she just couldn't. She could barely dump Luthor's ALREADY DEAD body out the space chute. But she thinks Orion should drown in his cryo liquid. She's thinking about how he left her to die EXCEPT IT WASNT HIM, IT WAS ELDER. So shouldn't you be more upset about Elder leaving you to die? I didn't care for that.
I just can't pretend I'm going to finish this anymore. I won't. It could've been good, but it wasn't.
Was there a point to any of this? They're just driving around murdering people. This is a day in the life of a murderer, her showering, eating, driving places, arguing with people, etc. What a snoozefest. I don't even care at this point what's going to happen with the brother.
I received my copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Right off the bat I want to say that I've read some other reviews, and I don't 100% agree with their conclusions. I thought this certainly had cheesy or predictable moments, but it wasn't like that made up the entire book, and really, think of the genre. These are cute, fluffy books about teenagers - they're meant to be light-hearted. They aren't psychological thrillers or high fantasy with crazy plot twists or complex characters.
That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn't go into it expecting a lot because of some of the reviews and my previous history with contemporary romance. I found that I enjoyed the plot (despite a clear lack of the actual competition part - let's be honest this is a romance), MC, best friend, two love interests, and “villain.”
I thought that she would fall in love with the other guy first, just based on how he was set up, then switch. To my surprise it occurred the other way around, which was good because I think it's easy to set-up people as sensitive, artsy guy or the dumb, hot jock and have her end up with the sensitive guy. While I could see it coming once I made it to ~30%, before that I completely believed the opposite.
Some of the characters were quite flat, but like I said, think about what kind of book you're reading. These characters are here simply as a means to an end. I don't believe what happened with Liza and Demi at the end. Being someone who has experienced the same type of situation, things aren't just resolved that easily after all that time, so that rang hollow for me.
Something that other reviews mentioned was somewhat juvenile dialogue or relationships. I have to say I agree with this. These people are all supposed to be 15-18 and some of the things they say or the way they react to subjects is just unbelievable. Sure they're all in high school, but this read like it was written towards more like 13 year olds with hints of sexual activity like it's a taboo topic and can't be outright mentioned. Let's be honest, 13 year olds are having sex, they know about it, and they can handle reading about it.
Overall a quick, easy read. I recommend it as a beach read.
I don't know how I could have possibly enjoyed the last few chapters LESS. So much random bullshit came from every corner. The author must have found out whilst writing the ending that she had to wrap it up in one book, so by god did she try to deliver. LITERALLY EVERYTHING is jammed into the last few pages.
F THIS BOOK AND ITS BULLSHIT CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Obviously these books are supposed to be easy reads. That doesn't make them any less enjoyable! I've read this before and in deciding to finish the whole series I had to reread for a refresher.
Likes
- Spy premise
- Dialogue
- Most of the characters
- Pop culture references
Dislikes
- Cammie & what's-his-face's relationship being forced at us
-What's-his-face
- Didn't engage me enough
- Seems like it was written to be a movie
Before reading this, I could see both the good and bad sides of Christian. The good because there was some mystery to him, so the things he said and did weren't so easy to dissect. Maybe things were misunderstood, maybe he seemed like a horrific abuser but there was a lot of hurt underlying it. Not that it would excuse him but without a full picture, we're only guessing. Now that I've seen things from his perspective, I actually like him less. His motives are out there plain as day, and it does nothing to help my opinion of him. I see that no, he's simply the horrific abuser we all thought. His reasoning and his actions are very selfish and aggressive. I can't say I feel bad for him anymore.
Not as good as Ali's Pretty Little Lies. Also, I started watching the show, so none of this was exactly a surprise. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series because I hear it quickly goes off the deep end (like the show). It was okay, but like I said, I saw all of it coming because of the show. Note to self, read book first.
Yikes. This series finale didn't live up to my expectations considering all the praise and adoration showered upon the series. I expected things to end with a BANG, but it was more like a fizzle, small pop, fizzle, small pop, fizzle, small pop, etc. It was a lame firework that wouldn't go off right. Over and over again you're led up to a climax, only to be dropped down several pegs, then led right back up. It was such a constant up and down that I just got ANNOYED that the book wouldn't end already. Not a pleasant feeling to have when you know you still have way to many pages left to go.
Speaking of that, wow does this drag on. Not just in length, not just in useless characters, but in scenes that are literally over and done with in the span of a few pages. If something can be wrapped up that quickly, there's a good chance that it's not important enough to show. Or at least, don't keep all your scenes like that in. It seems like there was tons of filler added and nobody cut any of it out.
Don't forget to mention how beautiful Winter is!