Kali

I managed to guess one major twist in this book for what is probably the first time ever in a Sanderson book, yet that one twist felt like nothing compared to the multiple other developments I wasn't at all prepared for. I'm not even entirely sure how to process the direction this book went in and what it means for the next book and the rest of the Cosmere. With every new development, the scale of this second era just continues to grow and I feel bad for ever doubting that I would grow to love this expansion of the Mistborn universe. Now I'll be anxiously awaiting the final book with everyone else!

4.5/5 stars

While I enjoyed the previous book, I was still iffy about how invested I could get in Mistborn era 2, bu† this book managed to surpass all of my expectations. The story here felt so much grander in scale, despite still not being at the same level as the original trilogy, and all of the new references to old characters made this so much more enjoyable to read. I kept trying to anticipate how this book would end while reading and in typical Sanderson fashion he completely surprised me with the twist in this book. This book has me questioning so much now and I'm beyond excited to see how the story continues to expand in the third book, and also what certain plot developments could mean for this universe.

I had been skeptical about picking this book up after seeing some mixed reactions to the second era from other Mistborn fans, but I'm glad I decided to give it a chance. This first book definitely felt less epic than the original trilogy, and in many ways it felt like an entirely different world. That being said, the magic system felt extremely familiar, just with some new and exciting twists, and I appreciated the interspersed references to the original world and characters.

The hardest part about getting into this first book was that I'm not normally a fan of Westerns. Thankfully, Sanderson wrote this era in a way where the Western elements weren't too overwhelming. I think that the characters helped as well, as I was invested in them early enough that I wanted to keep reading for them at the very least.

The epilogue on its own had enough hints of what's to come in future books that I'm even more excited to see how things continue from this point on. While this first book was pretty small in scale, it feels like future books won't be the same and I look forward to that.

If you're already a Mistborn fan, I definitely suggest at least giving this book a chance, if only to have the experience of being brought back to this universe.

This story is extremely impressive for its time, which is a huge part of why I'm being generous and rating this 3 stars. I love scifi, but this leaned a little too heavily into the science aspect than I personally enjoy, and the complex terminology truthfully hindered my enjoyment of the story. The overall concept of this story was still interesting regardless though. I may not have understood everything, but it was nice seeing the journey from the overall plan to the actual execution.

Originally I planned to stop after reading this first story, but my ebook apparently includes the sequel (and I spent months being close to finishing this without realizing because of that) so I'll probably continue on but at a slower pace so I don't overwhelm myself again. I'm hoping that the continuation is a bit more enjoyable and not just pure science though.

I really wanted to like this book because the synopsis had really intrigued me, but I really was just not a huge fan of this. The main issue for me was how incredibly unlikable both of the main characters are. I honestly have no idea if I was supposed to feel for either of them at all by the end of the book or just be more frustrated by how everything was tied up. The mother in this book annoyed me more than anything though. I know the whole point was that she put on a fake persona online but god did I hate how fake she felt throughout the whole book. I maybe could have felt the tiniest bit of sympathy for her if she felt even the smallest bit of remorse for how her careless decisions affected other people's lives but nope, she was able to just move on and somehow become even more successful which she did not at all deserve. Honestly, I feel like she didn't even deserve her own kids considering how their sole purpose in her life seemed to be for her to find a way to monetize them and profit off of them. She was just beyond redeemable for me in this book.

The stalker was the only remotely interesting character in this book due to her backstory, which I can acknowledge was tragic. Her motives at least made some sense to me, despite me still thinking she went too far with some aspects of her plan. For how highly thought out her plan was, it also ended way too anticlimactically for my tastes. This book was full of so much slow buildup, that truthfully didn't feel suspenseful because it was pretty obvious what was going to happen for the most part, and after about maybe 50ish(?) interesting pages, suddenly everything is just fixed and she's gone. The ending might have been a bit more satisfying if she at least succeeded in a single thing she attempted to do. Instead, it just feels like there were no consequences for any character except for her, and even she didn't have many herself considering she still hasn't given up on her goals.

I'm too disappointed to leave a much better review than this because there was so much potential for this book. I do appreciate it for its depiction of how bad internet culture can be, but it really fell flat in every other way.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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I'm very torn on how to feel about this book now that I've finished it. I went into it only with the knowledge that it was a Gatsby retelling of sorts and that there were sapphic elements to the story. In this regard, the book actually delivered very well. It's been a while since I read The Great Gatsby, but I could still easily recognize where the author took influence from the original story. At the same time, while it was definitely a retelling, it was a loose retelling which made it feel fresh and a bit harder to predict where the story was going. The prevalence of the witchy elements in this story really made this stand out in my opinion. The mix of that and the Gatsby-like parties made for a nice atmospheric read as well, and it even leaned more toward the spooky and unsettling side at certain points which I hadn't been expecting.

Despite loving the mood set by this story, the main thing holding me back from giving this a higher review is the characters. The three main characters, as well as plenty of side characters, are all very clearly flawed. That on its own isn't a negative for me as I actually really enjoy reading about flawed characters. Unfortunately, certain characters felt a bit one-dimensional, and the constant indecisiveness and hesitance to follow through with any decisions got more frustrating the longer the story went on. I actually find behavior like this to be pretty relatable but it was still a bit of a struggle to see characters develop in some ways and yet exhibit this same behavior in different situations. It also got harder to support the decisions being made by these characters as the consequences of their actions gradually became clearer. There were moments where I was truthfully more interested in the side characters, even those that were supposed to be antagonistic. Even saying all of this, I never got bored reading about anyone in this book.

While I wasn't crazy about all of the characters, I did enjoy seeing the main sapphic relationship develop throughout the story. Their dynamic had just the right amount of tension to keep me waiting for something to finally happen between them. When something finally did happen, it met my expectations and felt like a genuine development for the two characters. The platonic and familial relationships were all handled pretty well too. There may have been a lot of drama and miscommunication, but the extent that which everyone cared about one another was very clear to see. These strong relationships made certain events in the event pretty hard to read, even without feeling that emotional development in each individual character.

I listed a lot of criticisms about this book, but I still overall genuinely enjoyed reading this. I flew through this story in just a few sittings solely because the near-constant drama kept me interested and I never wanted to put the book down. The author is also clearly talented and I would love to pick up more books by her in the future. With the characters being the main flaw in this book for me, which in a book retelling The Great Gatsby isn't terribly surprising, I can see future books written by her not having this same issue.

Overall, I would give this book 3.5/5 stars. It's definitely worth checking out if you're interested in atmospheric witchy vibes and sapphic (though messy) relationships!

Thank you to NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review!

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I actually have very conflicting feelings about this book. I absolutely love the concept for this story, and it felt unique compared to a lot of other fantasy I've come across. The fact that every house has its own distinct magic system really caught my attention. I feel like it can be hard to pull off a magic system like that, while also making it feel cohesive within the story, and I feel like the author handled this really well. The main conflict of the story also kept me interested throughout the book, because while I could predict some aspects, a lot of developments throughout the story still managed to genuinely surprise me. By the end of the book I was in awe at how different the final moments were compared to anything I had expected.

That being said, I still struggled to get through this book at many points. While I found the plot and magic to be interesting, I was frequently frustrated with some of the characters that we follow in the book. I understand that there is a younger cast of characters here, and many of their actions do make sense for their age, but I still struggled to like a few of them throughout a decent portion of the book. By the time I finished the book, many of those characters had started to grow on me. Some things they did still frustrated me but I could at least appreciate their gradual growth over time.

The pacing of this book also made it a bit harder to get through at times. There is a lot to explain due to how complex this universe, but that unfortunately made many parts of this book feel really slow and like they dragged on. I actually had to put the book down on more than one occasion and take breaks before returning so it wouldn't bring on a reading slump of sorts. While I criticize the pacing, most of the information we got during the slower bits still felt important to the story, so I'm not sure how much better that could have been handled.

Overall, despite how negative this review might sound, I'm really glad that I read this book now that I finished it! The entire end of the story was so full of action and kept me on the edge of my seat wondering how the various conflicts would be resolved. I even read the last 20% of this book in one short sitting after having to spread out my reading of the first 80% because I was so invested at that point. This first book answered many questions, but also created so many more to the point where I'm actually genuinely excited for the sequel now.

I definitely think it's worth it to at least give this book a chance, since I found the payoff to be genuinely worth the slower parts throughout the middle of the book. If you're worried about this book reading too young, it did have a slight young adult feel throughout it, but still felt adult enough for me to read, and I generally don't enjoy young adult as much myself.

I'd rate this book 4/5 stars, mostly due to the ending making up for any other issues I had earlier in the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free copy to read and review!

This book initially caught my attention because of how strong the focus on justice would be. I anticipated some moral grey-ness on Vonvalt's part due to how much power he held, and that's something that will always intrigue me.

The story itself had a slower start and it took me some time to get into it. Once I did, I was fully invested, and also came to appreciate how important the beginning truly would be. For a little while, it felt like this book was mostly going to focus on Vonvalt solving various cases with Helena and Bressinger, and then later started to feel like more of a murder mystery. By the time I reached the final third of the book I realized how complex the story really was and how everything tied together. After how explosive the ending of this book felt to me, I feel a mixture of excitement and fear at the thought of seeing how this story will continue.

The characters themselves were also very well written. I initially was surprised to see that the book was told in first person from Helena's perspective when the book description implied that the story was about Vonvalt. It still did heavily focus on Vonvalt, but once I was far enough into the book it only seemed fitting to be told from Helena's POV. Helena developed more than I honestly anticipated during this book, but in ways that feel fitting for a nineteen year old that has had the types of experiences she's had. She could be frustrating to read from at times when she would make some particularly questionable choices, but I found that those mistakes just made her feel that much more real. By the end of the book I was truly impressed by how far she'd come as a character, and I'm sure she'll only continue to grow alongside an also changed Vonvalt.

Vonvalt himself also went through some drastic developments throughout the book. I was initially somewhat indifferent to him, but the more I saw him interact with Helena and Bressinger throughout the book, the more I grew to care about him. It's hard to talk about Vonvalt's further development without spoiling major details of the books but wow did those moments hit hard. I had such complicated feelings for him by the end of this first book and am truthfully not sure what to expect from him in later books, other than some even more morally grey behavior than was seen in this first book.

Overall this was a great debut, and was probably one of the best books I've read in a while. I am 100% in this universe at this point and will without a doubt get myself a physical copy of this book and also future installments in this series.

Thank you NetGalley for providing a free copy for me to review!

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I went into this book knowing very little about the plot since I typically enjoy experiencing a story completely blind, and wow did this story end up blowing me away. This story primarily revolves around three separate characters who have very different backgrounds but whose lives are still interconnected. Each of these characters is looked down upon by their current society due to the fact that their mere existence goes against societal ideals. Throughout the story, two of the protagonists have to come to terms with the truths of the world and how they contradict what they've been taught their entire lives by those in power. Meanwhile, the third protagonist, who is of a race most people were told no longer existed, is stuck working alongside one protagonist as she helps him unlearn false truths and to be less naive, and is also working against the other protagonist who has suddenly gained tremendous powers and is seemingly on a path of destruction.

This world and each character are so incredibly complex that it's hard to even do the plot justice in a simple summary. The worldbuilding in general was fascinating to me, especially as the story branched out into places other than Bassa, where most power is held. Each location the characters arrive at unravels even more about Bassai society and does a great job displaying its flaws.

I loved seeing the character growth as all of this occurred as well. No character was the same at the end of this book compared to the start, and despite being exposed to similar truths, each character still went down a drastically different path. Many characters had storylines I wasn't expecting, and some reached drastic extremes in terms of their actions later on in the story. After seeing how dark this book managed to get, I am very curious to see how these characters continue to grow in future books. I am particularly curious about one of the protagonists' future developments because despite disliking her by the end of this first book, her character growth was fascinating to me and I would love to see if she continues to seem unapologetically bad, or if she later becomes a more sympathetic character.

Overall, I loved this story and how it balanced feeling like a fantasy book while incorporating aspects that still made this feel very relevant to modern society. The examinations of how different races and cultures interact, and how those in power can so easily oppress others that they deem beneath them, hit hard, especially regarding the suppression of information in order to further push their ideals on members of their society. The way in which certain characters tried to push their beliefs on others felt almost uncomfortably real because it mirrored things I have seen happen in politics in recent years. Okungbowa really nailed this, as it made it that much easier to understand each characters' perspective on events throughout the story.

This was a great start to a new trilogy, and now that I feel invested in this fantasy world, I look forward to seeing how the story further develops in the final two books!

After owning this book for about a year, I finally sat down and read it as a darker book to jump into fall with. I knew this would be dark but wow, it still managed to surpass my expectations. Parts of the middle had slower pacing, but I was too engrossed in the story to care. The final quarter of the book made up for any pacing issues I had though. Everything I thought I knew was suddenly all wrong, and now the wait to see how that ending is resolved in future books may actually be the death of me. Overall this was as dark and gruesome as I had hoped, and was a great start to a new series.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book that has had my attention since I first read the description for it months back. An Indian-inspired fantasy novel with a sapphic romance sounded extremely unique and like something I would absolutely love. I went into the book not fully realizing it would be such a slow burn, but the slow pace suited this story really well since it allowed more time to explore this world in detail. I personally loved spending so much time with each character and getting to know both them and their backgrounds, as well as the various different cultures each character is a part of, seeing as how they are all tied together while still being distinctly different.

I didn't immediately love every character in this book because I couldn't tell who I was meant to trust for a while, but by the end of the book I was invested in every characters' storyline, and some of those storylines made me feel incredibly emotional. Despite how much certain plotlines hurt, the stakes felt so much more real and I knew that nobody was truly safe in this world, which adds a layer of suspense that I enjoy in fantasy books. Disregarding the painful aspects, I loved how morally gray many of the cast were as a whole. While it can be fun having clear “good guys” and “bad guys”, I personally really enjoy seeing characters make morally questionable decisions but for reasons that I can also understand. It's hard to pull that off in a way where I can understand multiple sides of the same conflict, but Tasha Suri handled that really well throughout this book.

Overall, I found this to be an excellent start to a new trilogy! There were so many storylines set up in this book that are inevitably going to be important in future books, and I am beyond excited to see how the next two books handle these.

I recommend this book to anyone that likes fantasy books set in a non-traditional fantasy setting, and that have a slow-building plot with a satisfying ending.

This book didn't end up being exactly what I expected, since I was prepared for more prevalent magical themes than we got, but as a historical novel with hints of magic this was a truly enjoyable read!

I absolutely love books that explore events at different points of history. This book really nailed that concept, and I was constantly curious how one timeline would end up tying into another. This story both hit hard in how it showed a tragic turn of events as it occurred, while also keeping me on the edge of my seat while the same mystery was slowly being discovered and solved in modern times. By the end of the story I felt equally invested in every character and found each ending to be emotional in its own way.

As I was reading, I had initially wished there were more cases of the apothecary brewing mixtures for other customers, but now that I'm finished I'm glad this didn't turn out to be a monotonous case-by-case story like that. If anything that would have detracted from the point of this story.

Overall, I found this to be a solid debut, and once I adjusted to the story not being what I expected, I had a great time reading and flew right through it. I would definitely recommend this to others who enjoy women-centric historical fiction!

I went into this book knowing next to nothing about it, and after finishing the book I'm really glad I didn't look into a more in-depth synopsis first. A lot of what made this book so interesting to me is that I never knew exactly where the story was going to go. The developments in this book became more and more disturbing the further in I got, and for a while, I genuinely had no idea who could be trusted and who couldn't be. Despite how intense this story got at times, there were also a good number of peaceful moments mixed in so the story wasn't so overwhelming. Those moments made it that much easier to get attached to the various characters in the story. By the end, I couldn't help but root for them as they tried to fight against the main power responsible for the main events of the book.

In addition to the overall plot, I also enjoyed the way other themes rooted in reality were seamlessly incorporated into this world. Gender and sexuality were prominent in this book, and racist practices were at the forefront of this story, as well as much more social commentary, which made this story still feel very real despite the fantastical and horrific elements in it. I think that Rivers Solomon did a great job addressing these issues and used the fantasy elements in the book in a way that seriously shows how disturbing these issues actually are.

Sorrowland is a truly genre-bending book, and I recommend it to anybody who can handle the dark themes and at times truly disturbing imagery, even if only for the unique form of social commentary seen in the story.

That...did not end how I expected. This trilogy has had enough plot twists that I genuinely have no idea what to expect to happen anymore. No matter how many times I feel like I'm starting to understand what's going on, I'm proven to be totally wrong. Needless to say, I am more excited than ever to begin the final book because I desperately need to know where this is going now.

I've been a fan of this franchise for years (and due to this my rating for this and future novels may be biased) but only ever read the manga, but now that there are novel translations available I decided to finally read them all. After going through a period of approximately 2 years where I had fallen behind on BSD content, this light novel really helped rekindle my interest. I've heard people say that they believed Asagiri's true strength was writing novels, and I can already see why. Despite Kunikida not being one of my top favorite characters in the series (though I still do like him), I had no problems reading this from his POV. I truthfully can't imagine this specific story being told any other way. I appreciated the extra insight this novel gave on his character, as well as Dazai's, and in my opinion, this version of this story accomplished its goals much better than the brief anime adaptation did. I look forward to continuing on with the rest of the light novels in this universe even more now.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

I was drawn to this book the second I read the description because it seemed painfully relevant to my current situation in life. After finishing the book, I can say that this met all of my expectations and I wasn't disappointed at all.

It's hard to really review this book in depth because of how personal a lot of my feelings toward it are, but I will say that this book released at exactly the right time in my life. I feel like this story completely nails so many different experiences that come with early adulthood, including mental health issues, loneliness, not knowing what to do with your life, among many other things. Every issue depicted in this book was handled really well, and they felt so real that I couldn't help but relate to the various characters dealing with said issues. I have never been a crier while reading, but this book nearly drove me to tears on more than one occasion due to how close to home some aspects hit.

The prevalence of LGBT+ characters was appreciated as well, as someone who is also LGBT+. I loved the romance in this book, and I like that their struggles that they had to work through were more than just communication issues which is what I'm used to seeing in romance. Their relationship was messy, and they had a lot to overcome both together and apart, but it was so refreshing seeing how hard they tried to work toward having a truly solid relationship. On top of the main couple in this book, the other casual representation throughout the story was really nice as well. I can't speak personally about the racial diversity in the book, but this seemed to be handled tastefully as well.

Overall I had a great time reading this book, and I am so happy that it was a BOTM selection because I'm not even sure if I'd have heard of it otherwise. This is 100% going to be a story I look back on in the future because it holds a special place in my heart now. I am beyond thankful that Morgan Rogers wrote this, and I eagerly anticipate any of her future books if the quality of them is anything like this book.

This is one of those books that I was scared to read for years because of the hype and was afraid I would somehow get let down but wow, this did anything but let me down. I loved everything from the world-building, to the really unique and interesting magic system, and to the loveable cast of characters. Brandon Sanderson seems unable to let me down with any of these things so far.

I was not at all ready for all of the reveals and everything that happened in general in the last part of this book, but wow that was quite the ending. Some things make a lot more sense now and I'm surprised I didn't pick up on the twist, but this also makes me both curious about and scared of what's going to happen now in the next two books. I'm already addicted to this universe so I'm sure I'll be moving on to The Well of Ascension within the next day or two just to know what comes next.

I finally finished this...it took me so much longer than I expected.

I read this purely for nostalgia and it definitely delivered there but wow, adult me enjoyed this story a lot less than teen me did. In a way it was fun how cheesy some of this felt. At the same time, both Bella and Edward constantly frustrated me throughout this. I've decided that basically every other character in this series would be more interesting to follow than them. Edward's perspective was more interesting than Bella's in some ways, mostly through the added bits about his past, but god did I find his constant angsting to be obnoxious. I basically speed read half of this book because I knew I wouldn't miss anything too important that I didn't already know.

I don't regret picking this up because I did love the original series when I was younger but yeah, I've definitely outgrown this and notice the flaws more.

*I received a free ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I don't normally seek out military fantasy, but I was too intrigued by the premise of this book to pass up the opportunity to read it. No matter how I feel about the genre, I am always weak for morally grey and LGBT+ characters, and I was satisfied with how both of those were incorporated into the book. The way that this book incorporated themes of colonialism and racism also caught my attention, and as hard as it was to read about, I do think that the topics were handled in a realistic way. This definitely made me cheer for one major group of characters over the other while reading.

I found Touraine and Luca to both be really interesting as characters throughout the entire story. They both had good motives for what they were trying to accomplish, but despite having similar goals, their actions at times were so different from one another's. It was so frustrating watching them both make decisions I didn't agree with and that I could tell would probably backfire on them, but I also really enjoyed that because of how much more real it made them feel as characters. People can easily make mistakes even when they're trying to do the right thing.

I also loved how normalized being LGBT+ was in this book. There were a few different identities represented here and those characters were treated the same as anyone else. As an LGBT+ reader, this casual representation was greatly appreciated. Continuing on about representation, I enjoyed the disabled representation in this book as well. Luca is a good example, where she is a major character with a prominent disability, and while it is acknowledged as something she struggles with, it never stops her from trying to accomplish whatever goal she has at the time. The same could be said for any of the supporting characters who either had lasting injuries or diseases impacting their life in some way.

While I did genuinely enjoy this book, I will admit that the beginning was a bit slow and it took a while for me to fully get invested in the story. I don't think this is necessarily the fault of the author, but more that this isn't the type of story I normally read. Once I hit the halfway point and there was more action, I felt a lot more invested in the book. The last two parts were particularly enjoyable, and I found the book hard to put down in the middle of everything going on.

The only other real negative for me is that the magic wasn't as prevalent as I had hoped it would be. I found the concept of how the magic worked and how it was tied to religion and faith to be really interesting, but I wished we got to see more of it. What was shown in the later parts of the book did a bit of a better job meeting my expectations, but I guess I just prefer magic systems to be more important in what I read. I know that this is only the first book in a trilogy, so it's definitely possible that this could get expanded on in later installments, especially considering certain plot points that weren't fully resolved in this first book.

Overall, I thought that this was a solid start to a new trilogy, and I'm definitely curious to see how this story will continue in the next couple of books.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

I've heard so many good things about Fredrik Backman's writing and knew how hard-hitting his books could be, but wow, I was not at all ready for how emotional this would make me. I never thought I would have it in me to care so much about a grumpy older man but here I am, caring a lot. This book was both heartwarming and heartbreaking and everything about it felt painfully real. This is a story I can see sticking with me for a long time.

I've been wanting to get into Sanderson's books for years, and I have no idea why I waited so long because I really enjoyed this!

I've heard many people say that this is one of his weaker books considering it was his debut novel, and while I can understand that, I personally still had a really good time reading this. If anything, this makes me even more excited for everything else he's written.

The plot of this book was so unique and interesting to me. It definitely moved pretty slowly, but the slow build made it feel more engaging to me, though I don't tend to be bothered by slower-moving books as long as I enjoy the characters and/or other aspects of the story. I found the characters to be fun and interesting and I really liked seeing how they developed over time. Even the side characters were interesting to me, and I'm not always inclined to feel as invested in them as I am in the main characters.

I've also always heard people bring up how much they love the magic systems in Sanderson's books and I can definitely see why now. The magic wasn't even a huge part of this story, but it still ended up being so complex and in my opinion well thought out. This could also be because I'm more used to soft magic systems, so seeing something like this was new and exciting to me.

I am really excited to see how this story is going to fit into the rest of the Cosmere, and also how this story is going to continue in the apparent eventual sequel(s) that will eventually be written. I already have so many questions, and I feel like it's going to be fun trying to find little easter eggs in his later books.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story, and now I'm just that much more eager to jump into the rest of the Cosmere and see how much Sanderson's writing has evolved over the years.

I am so glad that I got to this book before winter ended this year, because it felt the most fitting for a story like this.

I was truthfully a little nervous going into this book despite loving Uprooted, because I knew many people said these stories were very different. I had also seen mixed opinions on the way multiple POVs were used in this. Neither of those ended up being an issue for me, and I think the differences actually made me like this more than Uprooted, though both are still 5 star reads for me. The frequently changing POVs flowed very well in my opinion, and at most it only took a paragraph or two for me to realize whose perspective the story was being told from every time it changed. I found that it added to the story for me having a chance to see at least some things from most characters' POVs, and it helped me feel more connected to each character and understand where they were coming from. Some characters did things in this book that I wouldn't necessarily have agreed with until seeing their reasoning for what they were doing. Ultimately, that made it difficult to truly dislike much of anyone in the book, though there of course were still exceptions to that.

I found the plot very engaging throughout the story as well and it was interesting watching everything gradually come together, even though some plotlines initially seemed somewhat unrelated from one another. I also personally really enjoyed the balance of action scenes and quieter scenes that focused more on character dynamics. Both plot and characters are very important to me in anything I read, and I felt satisfied with how both were handled in this book. I especially loved the emphasis on found family.

Overall, this book had an interesting premise, kept me hooked with the constant developments in the story, and had an ending that felt genuinely satisfying. Now that I've read both Uprooted and Spinning Silver, I would love to see Naomi Novik write more fairy tale/folklore inspired stories in the future, because I truly love how she writes them.

4.5 stars rounded up

I felt very immersed in this story the entire time I was reading, and it kept me wanting to read more without putting it down. This was my first experience with Okorafor's writing, and I'll definitely be reading more of her works in the future! I really loved how satisfying this novella was, even with it being so short.

Also, that ending just makes me want to see more of this universe now.

This book was a really easy read, and it kept my attention well enough that I was determined to finish it all in one day just to see how it ended.

I'm still not too familiar with thrillers, so a lot of tropes and twists in them seem new and exciting to me still, and this book in particular kept me guessing all throughout the story. The major plot twist caught me totally by surprise despite me having felt like I knew what was going on.

While I found the book fun and enjoyable overall, I wasn't completely satisfied with how everything came together, but I think that was just because of my own expectations and not because the book itself did anything wrong. I'm still glad that I decided to read this, and will probably keep an eye out for more of this author's adult works in the future.

3.5 stars rounded up

I went into this book knowing that westerns probably aren't for me, but the premise of this seemed interesting enough for me to still give it a chance. While I did end up overall enjoying this book, I didn't absolutely love everything about it either. I struggled with the pacing of the novel, where until a little over halfway through the book, the pace felt slow to me, and then picked up quickly again after that. I don't mind slower paced books, but something about the way it was handled here didn't mesh well with me, though that could just be a “me” problem regarding the genre of the book.

For some reason, I had a hard time connecting with many of the characters and struggled to even keep track of who some of them were at times. Many of the members of the gang were very distinctly different in my mind. Despite that, there were a couple whose names I'd see and I would realize I didn't fully remember who they were. That didn't impact my enjoyment of the story as a whole, but as someone who tends to like having characters to connect to, it still bothered me a bit.

Despite my criticisms, I enjoyed the overall plot of this book, and it was nice to see how it tried to tackle issues related to marginalized genders, races, and sexualities. There was still more of a focus specifically on fertility in the story than on these other points, but I did still appreciate that all of this was addressed in some fashion. This genre may still not be for me, but I can see anyone who would like to see a feminist twist on westerns enjoying this book.