Mari

Jazz hands!

Ryland and <spoiler>Rocky</spoiler> are a dynamic duo for the ages. Every fist bump, every "amaze" made me giggle. The moment Ryland woke up on the Hail Mary felt like a nod to the <spoiler>1968 Planet of the Apes</spoiler>—the disorientation, fear, and realizations hitting all at once that made my skin prickle.

The scientific breakdowns were thankfully limited and used sparingly to drive the story forward. Ryland's wry, sardonic tone definitely helped keep me engaged too. Honestly, I cared more about Ryland and <spoiler>Rocky</spoiler> than Earth for most of the book. Honorable mention for that badass Eva Stratt, who basically lit a match, threw it over her shoulder, and walked away from an explosion in slow motion in an unexpected courtroom scene.

Oh and the ending! The moment Ryland walked through that door I knew and <spoiler>my heart expanded three sizes this day</spoiler>. The final chapter felt 100% earned.

Andy Weir writes the most engaging characters in sci-fi period.

What can I say--this book opens like Hunger Games with a strong, hunting-savvy female lead and then dives into full Beauty and the Beast mode with the addition of fairies and dark fairy bargains.

The story is very straightforward with minimal surprises and uses dark fairytale tropes to its advantage. The first half lags with aimless palace wandering, although gives Feyre a chance to process and settle in.

Some bits were clunky; repeating that fairies were unable to lie too often, the event in the middle of the book, and asking the hero to set snares outside her palace room like fairies wouldn't notice.

I especially enjoyed the beautiful and emotional writing during the blue fairy scene that furthers Feyre's character arc.

Then, the pacing picks up and is maintained through the end with some interesting tension-building challenges. The romantic bits are cute, well-placed and elegantly fade to black. Yet, I wish there were more sister-to-sister scenes with no-nonsense Nesta in the second half.

Best of all: It has an actual natural ending in spite of being a series. Solidly enjoyable read.