Bianca

The mood was everything but I didn't vibe with the pacing. It was like a weird feverdream with every chapter a different pacing and shift in tone.

I liked the plot and idea but the execution was not for me.

DNF at 50%

Irgendwie konnte mich die Geschichte bei den (insgesamt) 4 Versuchen in allen Formaten (Buch, eBook, Hörbuch) nicht packen. Der Dark Academia Anteil war mir zu schwach und ich finde, man hätte deutlich mehr aus der Prämisse machen können.

DNF at 30%
It didn't grip me like the other books. I tried several times over the years but it couldn't convice me (or my standards went up over the years).

I guessed the murderer right away but oh noes! There was a second plot (sarcasm off), which bored me to almost death. Such convience such stupidity.

This book started out as a 3 t0 4 star read for me: I didn't love the main character and the loveinterests but boy oh boy the twists and turns turned it around. Beautifully woven beginning of a duology.

And one of the few morally grey love interests in a triangle I can get behind.

4.5 Stars
I loved it. Though the story was not straight to the point (and was overly whimsy at times) so some points got lost on the way and were there for a pick up later on, I quite enjoyed Evangeline and Jacks.

Happy to binge the rest of the series.

There was no chemistry between the main couple. I didn't connect with anyone in this book. I rolled my eyes very frequently, so at least my eyes got a workout. the plot and also its twists were either basic or super random.

Der typische Humor aus den anderen Büchern passte weder zu den Charakteren noch zur Geschichte. Ich hatte auf etwas neueres bzw. eine neue Seite des Humors und Schreibstil gehofft, wurde aber enttäuscht.

I don't see what people like about this book. The main character is neither lovable nor consistent in her actions. Every plot “twist”/ direction could be seen from a mile away.
Part of it reads like a young adult with a “nothing can go wrong” attitude and the next scene is trying to hit heavier topics.

I don't understand what was tried to achieve with this book.

It was good but I guessed the plottwists very fast.

Very whimsical and fairytalesque

4,5 Stars very nice fantasy with a hint of romance.
It got me out of a deep reading slump.

1.5 stars

This sounded so promising but it is just historical fiction with very unbelievable “enemies”-to-lovers with to many conveniences.

The magical elements were not developed enough for me. And I hoped we go from historical war romance to a more magical approach.

There are regular mentions of technologies (lifts, baseball, ...) but the main media is still typing on typewriters for the newspapers. It's inconsistent and not explained enough for a solid world building. This also didn't grab my attention through this boring book.

The language of the two maincharacters changes between lyrical deep lovey-dovey to young teen language which took me out of the story a few times.

Even the ending couldn't have me engaged enough to read the second book.

If I wouldn't have read the audiobook most of the time, this would be a contender for chucking at the wall.

The miscommunication and wierd placed spice scenes almost killed me of boredom and frustration.
This is no cliff hanger, this is a stupid fest.

It's a rollercoaster of stupidness. The maicharacter is so indecisive and naive, it hurts. Character growth? It flies out of the window every second page.
The first third was good. And then we switch between a sex descriptions/ sex talk and actual relationship.

It's not hate to love, it's not slowburn. It's just a ditzy stupid blonde with miscommunication

3.5 Stars

Oh man this was a ride. A bumpy ride.

The first half was good young adult fantasy with a dash of romance. Then it straight up went to steamy romantasy teritory and the last third was just a whirlwind of plot.

The plot had so many inconsistencies: how can Xaden fall of his saddle if every rider except Violet doesn't use one? how can a group of students be missing for only a day if the flight between the post and the academy takes 10 hours one way (so 20h of total flight time)?

These inconsistencies nerved me to no end which soured my enjoyment of the book immensely.

I loved the character progression of Violet and will at least read the next book.

dnf after 20%

this not witty this is petty and dumb. no character I meet in these pages is likeable or funnily unlikeable. The main character is so infuriating noisy and full of herself, I asked myself what is wrong with her or myself.

I am now debating if I ever will want to read any book of this author.

Loved the beginning and middle, hated the way to the ending. Alex was too out of character to me at the end.

Ah a light, fluffy asian romance? Sign me in. Did it meet my expectation? Nope.
Izumi is annoying and does only improve for a few sentences for then to go back to stupid behavior. The romance wad very flat and the cultural references where sadly very basic (I hoped for more out there references or more discourse about tradional vs modern japan).
Even for a fast language learner, Kanji is not the way to start.

dnf at 30%

It was good but the endin did not feel right to me. It felt rushed and too convient for our main characters. Also: Did not buy the romance.

Daughter of the Book by Dahlier Adler - 2/5 stars
You're A Stranger Here by Mackenzi Lee - 3.5/5 stars
The Magician by Erin Bowman - 3/5 stars
Lady Firebrand by Megan Shepherd – 4/5 stars
Step Right Up by Jessica Spotswood - 2.5/5 stars
Glamour by Anna-Marie McLemore - 3/5 stars
Better For All the World by Marieke Nijkamp - 5/5 stars
When The Moon Isn't Enough by Dhonielle Clayton – 2/5 stars
The Belle of the Ball by Sarvenaz Tash – 3/5 stars
Land of the Sweet, Home of the Brave by Stacey Lee –5/5 stars
The Birth of Susi Go-Go by Meg Medina – 2/5 stars
Take Me With U by Sara Farizan – 3/5 stars

There is no real conclusion or life advice/tips in this book. I doubt that it was lost in translation.

Okay. This book made me angry and pushed me in an almost month long reading slump.

I hated the romance. I hated the plot since I saw almost every plot twist miles away (since it is quite formulatic). It made me even hate Chaol and Yrene more.

With every redeeming thing Chaol had done, he does at least one non redeemable thing. The back and forth of the romance like a broken lightswitch got on my very nerves and didn't help my enjoyment. Also not everything needs to be a mating thing.

The writing was good as always but that doesn't help the problematic ways the story uses Chaols “disabilty” being curable through magic, love and a little bit of self reflection got over my head.

I pushed through because I had a similar feeling it would be like Queen of Shadows were I liked the ending but it would be a rocky ride there (snd almost everyone loves this book). It wasn't.

3.5 stars.

The beginning was good but the last two to three chapters had given of a different tone than the previous chapters and I didn't like the shifted tone as much as the beginning. Don't get me wrong it is important to talk about grief and lost and handling emotions but the messages conveyed here where not as impactful and unique (in a sense of not as often portrayed/ seen in other books).

WTF was this book? ._. I still don't love Rhys (don't get me wrong, he is way better than Tamlin but still not what I would love to see for Feyre). If it would have been only a not so slightly beliefable romance it would have been a 4 to 4.5 star rating. BUT... the ending and the sex scenes ruined it for me. I am here for fantasy (worldbuilding, magic, and so on) and not for smutty romance for I don't know how many pages that was too over the top (even Empire of Storms felt light compared to this one (or it could be because I squeezed my reading time into 4 reading sessions). I guessed, as it is for most Sarah J. Maas books the case in the last year, the plot twist/happenings in the last quarter of the book. I wanted to dive right into the last book but now I'm not so sure about this.