Nathalie
I'm not sure how I felt about this one, to be honest. I liked the world, and it was really easy to get into (from page one, actually), but all in all it didn't leave that much of an impression on me.
The book is very character-heavy, and they take precedent before what story there is in here. I actually really liked that aspect of it. Unfortunately most of the characters fell sort of flat for me. For some reason I just wanted to know more about Corbin (even if he is an asshole throughout the majority of it) and I really liked Ashby by the end, but because I was never properly invested in them, a lot of the dramatic and emotional moments didn't have much effect on me. There may have been too many characters? There are a few in there who seem like they never get the proper time to shine.
I liked it, but it's a shame that I can't stop thinking about how it could have been slightly more, because I loved the concept and I loved the idea a lot. It's still a worthy read, even if just for that.
It feels strangely good to be emotionally traumatized again.
The first third was a bit slow, but once it gets going, it gets going. I can only imagine the next two are going to be really great, since they get to build off of this one.
As an aside, if you're going through the Realms of the Elderlings series for the first time, I highly recommend you read the Liveship Traders trilogy first before jumping into this one (instead of going directly to this right after Assassin's Quest). It gives tons of background information, gets referenced every now and then, and maybe most importantly, it makes the time that has passed in between books feel more natural.
Enjoyable and quite intriguing. There's a few stories that really work, and some that make less of an impact. Stories that are fairly straightforward, and stories for which you may need to look up other people's interpretations of them (I may be guilty of this).
I don't think i'm that big of a fan of his writing style, but it was still easy to get lost in some of the worlds that Gaiman was able to create from within a few pages.
My favorites were definitely the shorter ones. The longer ones were intriguing and interesting, but often also very drawn out, and I felt the shorter stories therefore left much more of an impact by the time they ended. My favorite of them may have been “A Calendar Of Tales”.
I had pretty high hopes for this book, so it might be partly my own fault, but I'm a bit disappointed.
In theory I should have really loved this. The world is great and wonderfully detailed, and the characters all sound interesting, but for some reason it never fully clicked for me. Events were unfolding and I found myself struggling to care much, even if I knew that what was happening was exciting.
Though there were a few parts I really liked, and they were all around the first half of the middle and the very end. Especially the last few pages (excluding the epilogue) I really liked and was one of the first times this book made me feel something. Aside from a certain other absolutely terrible event.... Poor fellas :( I do love the Locke/Jean relationship, but it's not enough for me to love this book or to check out its sequels, unfortunately.
One of my complaints about Theft Of Swords was that the story and the characters sometimes felt a bit shallow, and I wish we had gone deeper into what they felt or thought or just in general. I do not have that complaint about Rise Of Empire.
This book builds upon the previous one (in worldbuilding, characters, even writing) and is a direct continuation. Royce and Hadrian are as wonderful as ever, but we also get tons more on Arista and Thrace and a few new characters. As always, these books just scream “Fun!” while still maintaining a serious story.
Unlike Theft Of Swords, I listened to this one as an audiobook (I did finish the short stories inbetween some of the novels as audiobooks as well) and I think that's my preferred way of reading this series. Tim Gerard Reynolds really brings these guys to life. I had to get a bit used to Hadrian speaking in a sort of “posh” way, but now I can't even imagine him sounding different. A lot of the humor also comes from the delivery of the dialogue, and he absolutely excelled at that. He makes the entire thing just feel like “hanging out with Royce and Hadrian for a while”, and it's so worth it.
A lot of celebrities books I've read (or rather listened to) have all been a collection of different experiences and essays and what they've learned from them. This one might be the first that put more focus on how the person broke through and what they've learned from that.
I've always liked Felicia Day, and this made me like her even more. My favorite chapters were definitely the one criticising how gamer culture has evolved over recent years and how much effort they put into making The Guild, from when YouTube was just a relatively new website. There's a lot of references here and there that made me feel totally nostalgic.
The audiobook also has an added chapter that comments on the reception on the book, and experiences she's had during the book tour(s). I always would recommend the audiobook version of a biography, if the person narrating is also the author, since they usually come with a few extra stuff, and this one is no exception. Very much recommended.
In which Shonda Rhimes talks about learning to say yes. Yes to events. Yes to compliments. Yes to badassery. Yes to being confident. Yes to being happy.
Speaking for myself, I don't watch any of her shows. I have never seen an episode of any of her bigger shows (though I did see How To Get Away With Murder and a few of The Catch), but I do know of her and admire her for all the work she does, so this was still pretty interesting to me. The parts I loved the most were the taped speeches (which you probably don't get with the physical book or the ebook) and some parts really wanted me to get more out there and not be afraid to be myself.
She tends to not get to the point easily, and she talks around it a lot, and while that can get frustrating after a while, it's also in a way part of the charm. The book feels more like a (albeit very one-sided) conversation than anything else. Loved it.
In short: a team of six very different people get together to pull off an impossible heist.
Quite the pageturner! I finished it more quickly than I usually would. I loved the dynamic between the characters and I liked most of them in general. Each of them (well, five of them) get their own POV chapters, so that made for a great way for you to get to know them. They're all also very different, so there's bound to be one or two you might be drawn more to, and to others less.
So yes, a very enjoyable read even if just for the characters alone. They're a fun bunch! I didn't always care for what was happening in the story itself, but I was already invested so it was easy to get through those parts.
I don't know when exactly it happened, though it was more than likely at the beginning of this book, but the characters all suddenly clicked for me. After spending most of the first book being vaguely interested in these characters, though not particularly invested, I am now finding myself being excited for all of them (even if I don't like the character, I'll still find them interesting to read about).
What Hobb excels at is characters, and in that case a slow burn is often necessary. Who's going to care about all the exciting action going on if you have no clue who your characters are? Most of the conflict here stems from the characters themselves and their motivations, and it makes for an addicting read.
On a sidenote, I just really really really love Amber. This has nothing to do with the review, but I just wanted to mention that.
Overall I found this an easily digestable story (though it got emotionally compromising at times!) that is easy to get into and to follow. Then suddenly before you know it, you're caring for these characters.
The story is relatively simple, which was both a positive and a negative - I enjoyed the story a lot because it wasn't an overly complex one, but I did get tired of it when it was nearing the end because the way it all started to unfold wasn't overly interesting to me (anymore). Because of that, I'll likely not check out the rest of the trilogy.
This was fun! And it was great to finally see who characters like Thrawn and Mara Jade actually were (or are, in the case of Thrawn).
As fun and enjoyable as it was though, I'm not sad most of this was wiped away. Leia being interested in using a lightsaber is always going to sound weird to me. As well as Jedi clones.
Am now really looking forward to Rebels season 3 though. As well as Timothy Zahn's new Thrawn novel!
I read this in one sitting, and I thoroughly enjoyed it (and I imagine it very much comes to life if/when you see the actual play), but a part of me can't help but see it as glorified fanfiction and so that's how I'm looking at it in my head. Which might change if it ever actually becomes a fleshed-out novel or something.
I don't really like it overall as an official part of the Harry Potter story, but seeing it separately I actually really liked it and enjoyed it. Mostly it just makes me want to reread all the books again.
It was marginally better than the first book, but I still felt a bit disconnected from the original main characters (except for Sinjir, that lovable fellow). The Norra/Temmin drama feels played out, Jas is kind of stereotypical and Jom is just kind of there. But I absolutely loved the interludes and I loved Sloane and her chapters and I liked the extra information we got concerning Jakku and the state of the galaxy.
Loved this! As with most books, there are a couple of chapters that fall a bit short and then others I really liked. I think my favorites were definitely the more serious ones whereas the more comedic ones didn't quite work as well for me. Though I loved the last chapter the most, which was read in front of an audience, and that interaction with the audience made it even more awesome.
I think all books that are narrated by their own author and are personal to the author, should be read as an audiobook to get an even better experience reading it. This one was no exception. Amy is great, but all the guest appearances are fun too. And there's even some clips from Parks and Rec!
I would most definitely recommend if you like Amy Poehler, because otherwise there's no point. :)
I'm starting to think Brandon Sanderson's writing might just not be for me. I always like the story ideas in theory, but I always feel like I'm reading a adult novel with the writing of a young adult novel. Everything I've read so far has been prioritising plot over character (my personal preference is usually the other way around), which makes the characters feel a bit too shallow to me, and so in the end I just don't care about anything going on.
I don't hate it of course, but feeling neutral at the end of the book isn't a very good sign either.
Robin Hobb is quite the master of the slow burn. This entire book is basically just there to set up the characters and their history and their motivations, and only at the end it all comes crashing down. Sort of. A bunch of things happen right before the end and then it's over.
I'm not sure I'd be jumping with excitement to get to the sequel if it hadn't been for the Realm of the Elderlings connection, but I hear it gets really great, and the characters are all pretty well developed (even if I don't like a great deal of them), and I am actually pretty curious on where it's all going next.
This was enjoyable and fun and interesting, but overall I'm just a wee bit underwhelmed. I wasn't really drawn to any of the characters (more annoyed with everyone than anything) and I wanted the ending to be a bit more fleshed out instead of just glossed over.
Also the slang they used at the battle school..... Why? I cringed every time there was a scene with that, though maybe that was slightly because of how the narration did it.
It was weird, a little fucked up at times, but also pretty cool. It also made me want to stop every now and then and look up where some of the Gods mythology came from. So, overall I liked it and I'm looking forward to the adaptation.
I think I liked the interludes more than most of the main story though. They were great! (And I'm glad at least a few of those will also be part of the Starz series!)
Oh, this was a fun one! And yes, I realize that it's weird that a book in which lots of people die in gruesome ways just makes me think “fun” is pretty fucked up, but that's this book pretty much. The things that are happening at times are horrible, but they're never explicitly described or gratuitous and the overall tone remains fun.
I loved the main characters, Hadrian (especially Hadrian) and Royce and the only thing I think it lacked was more development for them. I also just want to know more about them and spend way more time with them, but I guess that's what the other books are for!
I liked the ending and I especially liked the potential of it, but overall I spent quite a lot of time being annoyed by this book.
There are two female characters in this. One is barely in it, and whenever the other one is there the main character just can't stop thinking about how hot she is. That's fine, it really is, but every damn time? Really? It made me dislike his character as well as her character because that was nearly all there was to her. Until the end of course, which kind of made me curious and I haven't decided if it was worth getting through all that yet or not.
I didn't really get attached to any of the other characters either though. Except Cody. I loved that guy.
But as I said, I liked how it ended and I liked the revelations there were, so I am pretty curious about the follow-ups, so I might as well check those out eventually.
Oof, okay.
So this was a weird one. There was a lot I really loved, and there were a few things that I really didn't like at all, especially towards the end (and perhaps the ending itself). It kind of leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth and that saddens me because I loved everything else a whole lot.
My favorite book of this trilogy is probably Royal Assassin, with this being last. Other than the end, I didn't have that tense feeling I had during the first two, and certain twists that happened were sometimes so obvious that I wanted to scream at them for not seeing it. But good god, I loved the beginning so much and most of the middle but I'm so sad about it overall.
Still, I'm completely in. As much as the turn of the story sort of disappointed me, I still am in awe of all these characters, who are each so different and fleshed out in their own ways, and I care for them and wish well for them. I'm glad to be able to spend some time away from them though, and move onto the Liveship Traders trilogy for a while.
I just wanted Fitz and Burrich/Molly/Nettle to reunite, damnit :(
Okay so, overall I loved this. At the start and all the way towards the middle I mentally had already put this in the four star-range, but then towards the end I just got a bit frustrated with everyone's actions (or lack of actions) and how overly lengthy some parts were.
I like the story. I actually like Frankenstein (in a way that I find him very interesting, even if extremely flawed). And I like the questions it gives you about life.
But it just got very muddled towards the end. It started to lose me a bit during The Creature's tale which went on a bit too long, and then when Victor finally decided to take some action against the creature, and didn't realize what exactly the Creature had meant with "I will be there on your wedding night". Why oh why wouldn't you suspect that he wouldn't just harm you?? Also, how disrespectful towards Elizabeth to promise to tell her everything the day after their wedding, so if she wanted to back out after hearing it all, she couldn't.Also, as sorry as I felt for Victor overall, man, he sure didn't think things through. As soon as The Creature was created and he wasn't what he had expected, he just goes "screw this, I'm outta here" and leaves it there and then that's it. I was fine with that, because for him it was a surprise for him and like, what do you do in that situation, but that sort of inaction went on for way too long and it got very frustrating, I thought.
I do have to say, I am very glad I read/listened to this. I'm slightly interested in the classic gothic horror stories, but especially with Penny Dreadful, it's fun to get more into them. And this is still my favorite of the (albeit few) ones I've read by far.
I also love how much Penny Dreadful took from this (because of the adaptations I've seen, it's amazing how many just plain ignored a lot of stuff concerning The Creature). Especially him asking for a companion and being able to speak fluently after having taught himself. I loved that.
I listened to the Audible version, narrated by Dan Stevens, and I probably wouldn't have had it any other way. He was excellent and it wouldn't have had the same effect on me if it had been someone else or if I had just read it. His voice is great for storytelling and it helped a lot in the immersion.