Sara
03/01/24: I have picked this already once, read the first part and decided it wasn't for me. The motivation of the MC was for me somehow to weak to even start with. I decided I would pick it up again, mainly because Vippi loved the trilogy and kept talking about it. I hope it will work for me this time.
Review:
From the premise I had started off biased. The idea that the bargaining chip with a potentially dangerous being was kissing had given me the idea that the story was only focused on romance and love triangles or polymers. Until 30% I still wasn't entirely convinced because even though the falling in love was fictitious, the dynamic had the feel of a love triangle. once I got past that hurdle, I was hooked on the story, its mysteries and characters. But let's go in order.
The book is set in a fantasy world. It seems that the continent is divided into a northern part that takes a bit of inspiration from a Nordic and Harry Potterian setting (cold climate, fairy-tale atmosphere, creatures like dragons, lots of legends and magic - with lots of shops selling potions and spell books and very fairy-tale names). Not having read caraval I can't say whether the setting was described in more detail in the trilogy, but I would have preferred more depth and cohesion. Perhaps a map of the whole continent where the events of Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart take place would have come in handy. I note that there is a map of the magnificent North (very nice and in fairy tale style) but not of the Middle Empire (southern part of the containing where the story begins). In short, world building is very interesting but lacks cohesion.
The plot has a strong build-up (tension) and kept me on my toes until the end. I really want to know where and how it will end. The story is told in 3rd person by Evangeline, so it is one of those situations where you either like or dislike the voice of the protagonist. Evangeline is naive and stubborn, but the author in my opinion was good at reworking all the doubts and insecurities of the protagonist, because in the end I cared about her as well as all the secondary characters.
The secondary characters I found them sufficiently characterised and many still remain a mystery, considering the length of the book, perhaps the reason why I'm interested to know more about them and what role they will play in the following books.
In short, this story, the world and the characters are all shrouded in an aura of mystery, with Disney-style curses distorting the truth. Every piece of information is cleverly revealed to the reader drop by drop with a good balance between mystery and characterisation. It all contributes to building up this tension of wanting to unravel mystery after mystery and gives one a thirst for answers.
Unexpectedly, I really enjoyed the book and devoured it. I will definitely read the second one. I hope the second one delves further into the world and setting, bringing us closer to the cause of all the curses and I hope Evangeline matures by learning from her experiences. Recommended!
PS. Jacks & Chaos are in my heart. I hope a prequel spin-off is made about Chaos (unless this has already been done with Caraval).
Recensione:
Dalla premessa ero partito prevenuta. L'idea che la merce di scambio con un essere potenzialmente pericoloso fossero dei baci mi aveva dato l'idea che la storia fosse concentrata solamente sul romance e su triangoli e polimeri amorosi. Fino al 30% non ero ancora del tutto convinta perché anche se l'innamoramento era fittizio, la dinamica aveva il sapore di un triangolo amoroso. una volta passato questo scoglio mi sono appassionata alla storia, ai suoi misteri e ai personaggi. Ma andiamo con ordine.
Il libro è ambientato in un mondo fantastico. Sembra che il continente sie diviso in una parte a Nord che prende un po ispiratione de un' ambientatione nordica e harrypotteriana (clima freddo, atmosfera fiabesca, creature come draghi, tante leggende e magia -con tanto di negozi che vendono pozioni e libri di incantesimi e con nomi molto fiabeschi). Non avendo letto caraval non posso dire se l'ambientazione fosse stata descritta più in dettaglio nella trilogia, pero avrei preferito avere più profondità e coesione. Magari una mappa di tutto il continente dove si svolgono le vicende di Caraval e once Upon a broken heart avrebbe fatto comodo. Noto che c'è una mappe del magnifico Nord (molto carina e in stile fiabesco) ma non dell'impero di Mezzo (parte sud del contenente dove la storia inizia). Insomma, world building molto interessante ma manca di coesione.
La trama è caratterizzata da forte build-up (tensione) e mi ha tenuto sulle spine fino alla fine. voglio proprio sapere dove e come andra a finire. La storia è raccontato ine 3º persona da Evangeline, quindi è una di quelle situazioni in cui la voce della protagonista vi piace o non vi piace. Evangeline è ingenua e testarda, però l'autrice secondo me è stata brave a rielaborare tutti i dubbi e le insicurezze della protagonista, perché al fine mi importava di lei come di tutti i personaggi secondari. I personaggi secondari li ho trovati sufficiente mente caratterizzati e molti rimangono ancora un mistero, considerando la lunghezza del libro, forse ragione per cui mi interessa sapere di più su di loro e che ruolo andranno a ricoprire nei libri successivi.
Insomma, questa storia, il mondo e i personaggi sono tutti avvolti da un'aura di mistero, con maledizioni in stile disneyano che distorcono la verità. Ogni informazione viene sapientemente rivelata al lettore goccia per goccia con un buon equilibrio tra mistero e caratterizzazione. Il tutto contribuisce a costruire tutta questa tensione di voler svelare mistero dopo mistero e dà sete di rsiposte.
Inaspettatamente il libro mi è piaciuto molto e l'ho fivorato. sicuramente leggero il secondo. Spero che il secondo approfondisca ulteriormente il mondo e l'ambientazione, portandoci + vicini alla causa di tutte le maledi zioni e spero che Evangeline maturi imparando dalle sue esperienze. Consigliato!
Jacks & Chaos nel cuore
PS. spero che venga fatto 1 spin-off prequel su Chaos (a meno ciò sia già stato fatto con Caraval).
Thank you, Netgalley UK, for approving my request in exchange for a honest opinion.
I found myself having to read it unwillingly because I received an ARC copy to review. I am very sorry about this because i had a very high motivation to read it. There is a severe shortage of modern novels with mythological sea creatures and above all there is a shortage of good, solid novels!
When I read the back cover, I had already imagined that it would be the best book with sea creatures, given the multitude of mythological creatures and troublesome current issues such as pollution and discrimination.
The world is indeed rich, well-researched and well-thought, but what annoyed me the whole time is that names of spirits and creatures are thrown into the book without explantation (and at least in the arc copy without a glossary). In order to understand what the author was talking about or how that newly introduced character looked like, I had to constantly google them. A few examples are: kappa, saltlick, Fumiho, chang-bi, chinthe.
I had problems with the characters as well. I could never tell Nami from Mira, who was the half-mermaid and who was the water dragon because they had the same voices. The same goes for Kai who was supposed to be the finacée of one two, but it didn't make any difference. I thought it was an initial difficulty due to the fact that I had to orient myself in the new world and adapt to the new characters, but unfortunately this difficulty remained even at the 60% reached. Furthermore, all three of these characters seemed very immature to me and I didn't get attached to them.
the only voice distinct from the others was Cordelia the sea witch who plots and manipulates characters to her personal advantage from behind the scenes. hard to get attached to her, though :D
unfortunately, the story didn't grab me either. i got the impression that nothing happened in the first half of the book and events start to happen towards the second half. unfortunately, by that point i had already lost interest in the whole thing.
It's not a debut that I feel like recommending, unless you are prepared for what to expect.
3 stelle scarse: 2.75 o 2.5.
Review to come.
It was overall a meh read. there were a few points I liked but were treated very superficially to focus more on the romance, which felt shallow, with an immature FMC and toxic side characters.
Glad I have it behind me and I am not sure I want to read about Calladia, which I didn't like, and Astaroth, who was the evil guy.
In terms of plot and pacing, nothing happens, if not towards the end. Many moments are spent around Mariel's mother who is very braggy and toxic and it was totally unnecessary. It just conveys that ridiculous sit-com tone throughout the book that was just cringy. The story was treated very superficially. I was very annoyed by that, because it could have been interesting and more gripping. The book could have been easily 180 pages long to tell the same story without the sitcom episodes with Mariel, her mum and Oz.
Here below a couple of examples:
Diantha took a deep breath, and Ozroth felt a prickle of dread, sensing the arrival of a monologue.
“I suppose I could have gone to the hospital,” she said, “but I wanted Mariel's first moments to be connected to magic, and it's hard to access magic while machines are beeping and a doctor is elbow-deep in your vagina.”
“Please stop talking about your vagina,” Mariel said. Diantha looked at her fondly. “Darling, I don't know how you turned out to be such a prude. We're all adults here, and at least half of us have vaginas. It's the same as talking about an elbow.”
“Is it?” Cynthia asked skeptically.
I punti toccati da questo libro sono in teoria buoni e ben strutturati, ma il libro è troppo corto e non spiega mai alcuna ragione sul perché bisognerebbe fare in un modo piuttosto che in un altro.
Consigliato per chi non ha mai avuto un cane e vuole un riassunto di cosa voglia dire a spanne averne uno. Sconsigliato se si ha già avuto almeno un cane.
4.25 stars.
Un incrocio tra Venom per il concetto e l'atmosfera di Carnival Row.
Il libro è ambientato in quel di Blunder. Purtroppo non sussiste una mappa e non viene nemmeno spiegato cos'è Blunder. Mi sembra di avere capito che sia un regno. Anche se al fine della storia, saperne di più, non avrebbe cambiato molto, mi sarebbe comunque piaciuto avere più informazioni sul setting. Un aspetto a difesa di questa decisione è che contribuisce a gettare un'aura di mistero sull'ambientazione.
E' scritto in prima persona dal punto di vista di Elspeth che, dopo aver contratto un'infezione, convive con un'entità all'interno del suo corpo, con cui dialoga (da qui, il concetto di Venom) ma sa ben poco sul suo conto.
Il sistema magico è basato su delle carte facenti parte di un mazzo (chiamate carte della provvidenza), simile al concetto dei tarocchi. Ogni carta ha un preciso potere magico ma se abusata il potere diventa l'opposto, ad esempio, se la carta fornisce a chi la usa del coraggio, in caso di abuso, fornisce paura. Il sistema magico, descritto nel dettaglio, è il punto forte di questo romanzo.
La trama è di per sé semplice, ma tutto ha un sapore misterioso-gotico, che mi è piaciuto molto, e non manca di suspense. Piccola avvertenza: il libro finisce con un cliffhanger. Nel mio caso, non è stato un grosso problema, in quanto il seguito è già uscito.
Sicuramente consigliato per il periodo di Halloween. Perfetto per una lettura di novembre, hehe :)
Credits for the template below go to Melinda
CHARACTERS
4.5 stars.
Unpopular opinion: unexpected to me, I really loved it. In its simplicity, everything falls in the right place.
This book is dual-POV told by the two main characters. Asia is a Nefas, a monster feeding on fear, while Silas is a herald, sort of messenger of the gods and he who carries the souls of the dead to their destination in the beyond. They ally together to help each other (Silas wants to get his memory back and Atia wants to get rid of curse inflicted on her by the gods) and discover mysteries of their condition as well.
We have a map (hehe, I love maps) and we see that there is a mortal realm, which is divided into four kingdom, one for each of the four elements, and a divine realm, called Oksenia, divided in districts by rivers. In the mortal realm, also monsters live, like vampires and banshees, all subjected to the laws and punishments set by gods. I would usually dislike mixtures from different repertoires, but in case, I felt it worked pretty nicely.
I also loved the side characters and in general the characters and the romance were very lovable.
The weakest point of this books was its predicability. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the characters, the setting and the magic so much that I didn't mind it too much.
Credits for the template below go to Melinda
CHARACTERS
3.5 stars.
Premise:
I wanted to love this book so badly because I was enchanted by the premise, but here we go.
Plot and pacing:
So, what I liked was the part 1 and 4. In the first part, we get to know our main cast, Yumi and Painter, and their respective world. It took me some time to put all the information pieces together due to the constant change of point of view between the two of them. Brandon did his best to make the descriptions rich and vivid, though. I adored the japanese/korean spiritual vibes.
Part 2 and 3 cover the story that sees Yumi and Paint connected to each other, trying to figure out the reasons. The pacing here was off for me. The plot did not hold a grip on me and I had difficulties to see where the clues would lead. I am not sure if it was just me or was meant to be like that because in part 4 we have Hoid explaining how everything precisely went from beginning to end. One reason I loved this final part was all the juicy cosmere information, but on the other hand, it left me with the feeling I didn't really need to read parts 2 and 3. I was not happy with how all the plot, clues, and mystery were handled.
I felt like the stakes were never high enough. I did not feel any suspense or the dark atmosphere that I was expecting from a planet surrounded by a black layer and walking nightmares.
Characters:
The main cast was very well developed but the side characters were just forgettable, besides Design and Hoid, whom we meet in other Cosmere books as well. I loved Yumi's development, where she starts learning what freedom means. Their romance was very cute.
The noodle shop run by Design was everything, haha :D
Conclusion:
Design and Hoid saved this book for me.
Credits for the template below go to Melinda
CHARACTERS
Libro ben strutturato che fornisce una introduzione all'innovativa filosofia di Alexa Capra che cerca di coniugare le nozioni scientifiche sui cani e la sua esperienza pratica.
I concetti esposti fanno riflettere e stimolano ad aprire la mente e a vedere in maniera più profonda.
La base di partenza è osservare il cane, descriverne I comportamenti e il contesto, e farsi delle domande. Sicuramente l'autrice è riuscita ad esporre bene comecambaire mentalità nel nostro modo ai approcciarsi ai cani.
Purtroppo però gli esercizi non sono spiegati in maniera chiara e sono difficili da implementare. Alcuni concetti teorici sarebbero potuti essere approfonditi ulteriormente come la parte sociale del cane.
Spero che il suo libro più recente sviluppi e approfondisca ulteriormente i concetti introdotti in questo libro e che gli esercizi siano spiegati in maniera più chiara con qualche troubleshooting (ad esempio, come comportarsi se il cane prova a prendere ciò che gli è gradito quando non dovrebbe).
2.5 stars.
I was so excited to read this. The premise sounded so cool. I read the first three chapters published by tordotcom and I was captured by the story, Kai and Ziede, their mission and the world.
Unfortunately, the more I read, the more it was difficult to put the information of the world and its cultures together and I had no connection to the characters either. I lost interest 20% through the book, but I dragged myself to keep reading. Hopefully, it would get better, but eventually, the book didn't hold any grip on me and I was happy when I was done with it.
Kai had so much potential to become my favorite character, but I found the characterization of all characters pretty flat. Points in favor of the book are the elaborated prose and the original and diverse world created by the author.
It's still a book that I would recommend trying because it's very well written and everyone is different, but if you see that you start losing interest, don't bother reading til the end.
I have read this book because a friend of mine lend me her copy of this book. I am sure that without her influence I would have never approached any bridgerton book. I have enjoyed the TV show but it's not a genre that I would enjoy reading.
Said that, the books started out fine. I enjoyed Simon and Daphne but my opinion changed after they married. Daphne behaves out of character to get what she wants, which made me despise her.
3,5 stars.
The author manages the story very well aware of the limits she has. She knows where she has to focus: what to tell and what not to tell. It was an enjoyable read, but for me too short to have a good grasp on the world. The characterization was done very well instead I got affectionated to Ester pretty quickly. It also has a little of a bittersweet end.
