koelkat
This book had a lot of interesting premises and inclusiveness, but I found most of the stories really lacking any horror. Saplings and Hags were probably my favorites out of all of them.
By the way y'all, I'm so brain-rotted because the legend of Tam Lin was mentioned in Saplings and my first thought was ‘TAMPON??'
the ending of this book made me cry. but not because it was moving or sad, even. it was because, for some reason, most the characters decided to be STUPID. like, I need to put on a meditation session and do some mindfulness exercises. I need to ground my soul and repeat mantras to not completely fold in on myself
anyways, great story and lovable characters. Though, I'm looking at the great wave that is book 4 and silently strapping myself into a seatbelt.
thx for reading! <3
This book was like the ride Splash Mountain: it starts off slow and kinda boring like a lazy river with some little splashes that are a little fun but nothing much to mention. Then you get to the climbing. And suddenly you're plummeting down the biggest fall and screaming to where your lungs hurt and you're rising from your seat and then you reach a lazy river again and you're like that was the best ride ever.
I don't normally read nonfiction. Most of the titles in the genre I was either forced to read or dnfed bc they were very boring. But this book is different because it is written like a thriller and keeps a fast pace—everything coming in punches, one after another.
The only thing I didn't like was how real everything got and it made me a little queasy.
Thx for reading <3
I've always known the story of Pride and Prejudice after having watched the 2005 film a million times over and knowing all of the 1995 version's lines by heart. Because of this, I never saw a reason why I should read the book. After finishing it though, I can say that even though both adaptations are amazing, the book is better like always. The only criticisms of the book is that Austen has a style of sometimes telling and not showing that I didn't really like, and also that Mr. Collins' mouth was not duck-tapped.
In the book she has to adopt a cover story of being a jewelry thief and that backstory fits her waaayyy better than being the best assassin in the world. Also also, are you telling me the ‘world's-best-assassin' doesn't know not to take candy from strangers? She just gets up one morning and sees a box full of candy and decides to eat half of it without thinking that it might be a part of the killing spree happening! Really??
The only good attributes this book had was the worldbuilding and character banter. Other than that, it felt like the bare bones of a story like the author was just making sure all of the plot points were checked off instead of thinking about a story to tell. By the way, the book was too long for my liking, major ‘this-could've-been-an-email' vibes from me around the 300 page mark.
Everyone I know has been singing its praises, but I just didn't like it. I'll continue the series to find out what people mean when they say it gets better. But overall, this book just did not do it for me.
Oh and it gets two stars instead of one because there's a book she picks up called ‘The Walking Dead' and that made me chuckle.
Thx for reading <3
I absolutely loved the atmosphere of the book. I find that in a lot of books that are either ‘fairytale retellings' or claim to be ‘modern fairytales' they miss the overall whimsical feeling and charm that a fairytale has. This book hits it on the head even if it does have some rather dark topics.
If I had to pick my favorite thing about the book (other than the atmosphere), it has to be the characters. I can't say which is my favorite because they all are. The grumpy witch, the ADHD godmother, the demon-possessed chicken, the curious dog made of bones, the himbo knight, and our determined protagonist are all lovable. And, I have to say the romance was very good also (I love soft love!!).
The only things that I didn't like about the book was that the first third of it were all flashbacks and towards the climax things got jumbled and forgettable. Even with these slight grievances, I'd still recommend the book anyway.
If you liked Neil Gaiman's Stardust, this book is for you. It had a similar vibe of quirky characters, a fairytale plot, unexpected twists, and adventure. In fact, the vibe of this book actually reminded me a lot of DnD.
I now want to binge read all of T. Kingfisher! I'll definitely be re-reading this book in the future!
After hearing WithCindy and The Book Leo's rating of this book, I thought that I had to give it a try especially since I was on the brink of a reading slump. Reading fun stories have been proven as a reliable remedy for it.
First off, I've never read an Ali Hazelwood book before this one so I didn't know about her writing style. I didn't hate it, but there were times the protagonist (and all the characters really except for Ana) that felt younger than 25.
I really did like Misery as a character. I felt that I could relate to her interpersonal relationships and her way of dealing with things throughout the book. However, I did not like Lowe in the second half of the book. I'm not going to say much bc of spoilers and all that jazz, but I would very much have liked to slap him if I were Misery.
There's also a part near the climax where a character is exposition-ing and it's them basically rambling and Misery saying ‘W-What??!?!' as a reaction each time
and then more rambling. This continues for five pages.
Overall, I did enjoy the book even though some of the spicy scenes made me set the book down and contemplate all of humanity's creations and legacy upon the universe. -cough cough the kn*t scene cough cough-
But knowing that there might be a sequel and that it might be a relationship with a Were...and knowing how they do it... yeah I don't think I'll be picking up the second book.
This was a hard book to pick up, but it was very hard to put down. Though I didn't really understand all of the politics of the world, it was still a good book. There were times in the beginning that made it feel like it was just a sequel, but it was towards the second half of the book that really made it feel more like a book in its own right. As good of a book as it was, I don't think anything can compare to the first book.
I am absolutely in love with the prose of this book. All the uses of metaphors and similes made me feel exactly how Natsuko felt, especially feeling oddly comforted with all the surreal dreams she had throughout.
This is a great book that provides commentary on bodily autonomy and what it means to be a woman. I felt myself relating to the protagonist a lot with her feelings and thoughts on her sexuality. Overall, I have to say I enjoyed both books, but the first definitely would be my favorite despite the impact of the second book.
It's been a while since I was shaken up over a book.
That being said, I loved the setup of the story. You don't really know what the tox is, there's the question of a cure, and what's going on behind the scenes. But as the book progressed, it left me feeling intrigued, but none of the questions were getting answered.
And then the ending. Oh my God, the ending. I am so confused. The last line makes no sense, and I'm left with so many questions. The most important one being: what was the point?
{Spoilers}
I HATED the fact that, as much as Hetty had a resemblance to plain white bread, her only good quality was that she thought of other people. But at the end, after she goes on her spiel with the headmistress about the other girls' safety, she totally abandons them to be eaten or to be blown up. Hetty also says multiple times that her dad is in the Navy but it's never built on. When she and Reese go to the visitor's center, I expected her to call up her dad since they must've had some communication with the mainland if they were able to evacuate. The ending, as I mentioned, was very disappointing. There's no concluding statement about waiting for the bombs to arrive or at least trying to go to the mainland in Reese's boat. There's no cure for the tox and there's no reason as to why the tox even started. It's vaguely suggested that it's due to global warming, but we're never given a straight answer.
This book does a great job of creating stakes, but I feel like the questions don't get answered. The ending is very disappointing and left me confused and angry if anything.
I love the story as much as I love the characters. Finding out the riddles of the puzzles is always fun to solve with the characters. Yet, I still find the fight scenes to be confusing and the sequence of events that happen offstage that are explained later for the plot are just as confusing as well. But I did enjoy the book and will be reading the next one!
I really thought this book would be it...but it's not.
I didn't realize it was literary fiction otherwise I wouldn't have picked it up. I don't know why but it seems like every single literary fiction book is devoid of characters and plot. There's nothing to grab onto the story and nothing that makes sense. Honestly, when the ‘twist' came at the end, I was so confused.
I love this series. It's so thrilling yet easy to read! It keeps me on the end of my seat and keeps a nostalgia with every book. The only negative I have with this book is how badly they treat S.Q. Sure, he's an antagonist, but he's not vindictive or outright evil. I hope he gets another chance in the third book.
The character was so passive...and the plot didn't make any sense. Instead of being determined and filled with grit in a competition, the protagonist decides to just wing it. It would've made for a great character arc if she put on this forefront of a determined character while dread and doubt was still inside, and she learns to become more brave and determined to where she becomes more independent and strong. There was even one time where she was asked what she wants and she can't even answer it!
The romance was so...stupid. Stop talking to Pretty Boy, we need to get the tea leaves and win this competition! A good book would either put romance in as a crucial part of the story, work romance organically into the narrative via sexual tension/similarities, or will have romance be like a cherry on the cake. All of these do not get in the way of the narrative. This romance does. It was infuriating and sometimes it felt like she cared more about Pretty Boy than her DYING SISTER.
Basically, this book had no character, no payoff to the promises in the set up ( i.e. a thrilling championship), and a magic system that needed to be a hard magic system rather than the author's attempt at a soft magic system.
