Karol
This was lovely!
This story was clearly written by someone with love for the source material. The characters are given a lot of care and are very reminiscent of their original counterparts.
It was a joy to be back in the company of these characters and the author takes their traits and exposes them to a murder investigation, during that time, with the limitations that entails.
We follow the Darcys, the Brandons, the Berthrams, the Wentworths, the knightlys. And juliett and jonathan darcy. And those two are magic!
It was refreshing, cozy, fun and nostalgic.
Now as far as mysteries go, the ending might not work for everyone, but to me, it was in tone with the rest of the book and it helped the wholesome feeling you get overall. Some of the ways in which the author unites these worlds and the connection to Mr Wickham was a bit off, especially in the Brandons i think. Still, these are small things. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone! But certainly to fans of the originals and for anyone who wants a big smile on their faces :).
Also the audiobook is fantastic!
This is 3 stars for me, but amy harmon 3 stars which is still pretty good. The characters, well, if you read the author's note she took great care in making them historically accurate while also giving them the resolution an author may decide fits.
So the characters were good. Well crafted, and real for their time. Dani was good, a little too obsessed with putting things to right, but sure of herself and who she was. Malone was... More pessimistic than he should, and self sabotaging. Their love story was slow burn/insta love combined... Hard to explain, but i stand by it.
The mystery was a little slow for me, not too thrilling, although the character of eliot was very layered. The rest of the side characters felt a bit one note.
The resolution was good, hopeful, satisfying.
Overall? Not my favorite Amy Harmon, but then the bar is set very high there. 3 stars for me.
This was a great ride! Sci-fi that felt very real and frightingly plausible. The science (at least for a nerd) kept me impressed, in a way the martian's had me bored. The character of ryland was very relatable and likeable, and the audible narration was fantastic.
This was surprisingly sweet, with a friendship that was beyond touching. The plot was vert engaging, with the flashbacks providing fascinating details and character development.
The ending, although wrapped things up, was slightly mixed for me, on one hand, the emotional aspect and character growth was fulfilled, however the resolution of the plot wasn't as satisfactory for me as was the journey.
I recommend this book for those who like a relatable, likeable character, a lot of science and a plot that seems extremely plausible, and a tender story of how it's never too late to do the right thing.
4.5 stars
This is a perfect read for your kids. Simply told with impressive depth, beautifully illustrated, entertaining and relatable. Anya Damiron is an author to watch out for!
(three and a half really, the other half goes to the audiobook narrator which was fantastic!)
So first of all, the controversy. I'm not american really (hispanic I guess), so maybe I'm not as involved in this, but I did not find this book racist at all. Also, this is a fantasy world created by someone's mind with someone's rules, and so if in this world, dreadlocks are a bad idea (and she explains why) it's her world building, nothing against dreadlocks or whatever other thing, maybe in a certain world people can't wear purple or can't braid their hair, or whatever. It is a choice in your worldbuilding and I think you should be allowed as a writer to build your world as you will. She probably didn't even realize that that particular detail would send haters all over the place. Mind you, she was clearly trying to be inclusive.
That aside, the book has a very interesting premise. A school with no teachers, in which you try to survive everyday by learning new spells. And our poor protagonist, all the spells she gets are, well, inappropriate at best. And she is very unlikeable, but entertaining, and does grow by the end (only a bit though). And you have her befriend the popular guy and the side characters are also interesting too. The developing friendship between her and the popular guy, while strange and at times annoying, it's endearing by the end.
However, some have described this book as an ikea manual. I get it! There is quite a bit of infodumping, and for that I think the audiobook helps a lot. So the world is interesting, the premise holds promise, and the story (when progressing) is also very good. I think these series has potential and I hope the internet didn't cancel it ;(
If you like a slithering story, can take a bit of infodumping and like school settings and a bit of battle royale, this can be the book for you!
This was a pleasant surprise for me! Got me out of a reading slump, this story, although the pacing could've been faster, and the magic system better developed, in truth was really engaging.
We follow three sisters (we're supposed to think they're really close, but when apart, being so different, is really hard to grasp) who were trained by her mother from birth to marry into kingdoms and destabilize them.
From there, we see them struggle with their training almost instantly, navigating their missions completely differently than what was planned, and al in all, the presence of the mother looming in everything they do, and their obvious need for her approval. The three perspectives were interesting, and although i expected the story not to turn to where it ended, it definitely left me waiting for the sequel.
Premise 5Pacing 3
Character development 3 to 3 1/2World building 2 1/2 *Romance 3
Ending 2 1/2 *
I received this ARC for an honest opinion
This was a fun ride! The setting is interesting, the pacing is good. However, the standout is the love story! This friends-to-lovers was intense, very slow burn, believable, very touching! I loved every minute of their relationship and it really carried the book. The last third actually, was a little more political intrigue and the resolution was a bit rushed. But overall, just to follow in their journey was fantastic. Would definitely recommend!
This was a fantastic story!
1. Worldbuilding. Probably the best part. The magic system is simply beautiful.
2. Story. Political intrigue, characters to root for, funny, great pacing.
3. Characters. The sisters are great, completely different but very easy to root for, the elder sister i found extremely naive, but still likeable. The side characters are funny, interesting and distinct.
4. The love story. I really liked it, even though it wasn't the main plot.
5. The ending was probably the weakest part, but still pretty good.
Its weird in its descriptions of the magic, the forest and gore. The magic system is vague and plot-serving, a bit of instalove.
4.5 rounded up
What did I just read?? I had to keep going back to pay attention at the details. For those of you expecting your classic dark academia, nope. There is an element of black widow sort of training, but the worls building, the nature of the library take over that pretty quick.
Our MC is fantastic, and at the same time, we're not necessarily rooting for her. The side characters, especially Erwin, but also David, Michael, Jennifer were great to learn about. Father was also a very compelling character, though i wished we had time to learn more about him.
Like i said, the world was just amazing. And when things went south the stakes were very high. We aren't necessarily invested in Carolyn's emotional quest, we just want her to succeed and see what happens next. There was a lot going on in this book
I highly recommend this for people who like sci fi, a bit of dark academia and mayhem. The descriptions were pretty graphic, especially when describing smells, it really made you be right there in the story, grossed out and graphic.
Absolute batsh*t ride, different, exciting, dark, inventive, just something different to clean your palate (mind you it has very gross moments)
Instalove to obsessive degrees, a completely unreasonable main character. An unlikeable fmc, a mistery that i couldn't find myself caring about. An ending that worked.
Didn't grip me, couldn't connect with the characters or the lore. Sort of magical realism, sort of romance, sort of wimsy, not enough of either.
This was a fast paced horror, with interesting moments and two timelines, I definitely found the past more interesting. Both leads make very questionable decisions but then you wouldn't have much of a story otherwise. Overall fun and easy read.
The premise of this book was interesting, but i definitely had some issues with the execution.
First, the story. The groundhog day premise can be a pretty good plot device if done right. I liked how it changed along with the concept of time throughout thd book, but sometimes this was waay too convenient to advance the plot. Also, they initially had one goal, but midway decided on a subplot that would suposedly help achieve said first goal, but why? (if you read it you'll get it). So that made the plot sort of aimless.
Second, the characters. The secondary characters are awful people, as they insist on showing you, and again, but why? We know too little about what actually drives them, we know they fo awful things, nothing more really. We're suposed to believe they're the perfect circle of friends, but really, they never show to care for one another in any profound way, nor am i even sure they knew anything of each other save from superficial traits. And the MC... She's not a terrible person, or so they keep telling you, and yet, annoying, insecure, cryptic, the worlds biggest pushover, this is who we follow through a neverending ride. So, yea, fun.
Then finally, the ending. Thrillers live and die for their twists and endings, and the actual ending is good enough. And then it goes on, in a really long epilogue. By then, they lost me. But i guess the ending wasn't the worst.
So overall, it was an interesting read, better characters and a clearer goal would have elevated my enjoyment. It was a quick read.
Well then.
This is a space horror/claustrophobic/unreliable narrator/body horror/ psychoscifi.
We follow G rendell.. That's clever. Other than that, it may remind you in parts to the martian or hail mary, but weirder.
We are to believe that humanity found a structure, clearly alien made and decided to board it. And as it goes with space stories, well, it doesn't work out. But all the while we follow G rendell's perspective, and he's been wandering this thing for who knows how long, eating ‘stuff', drinking i actually don't know since he ran out of piss... So his state of mind is questionable. And the little bits we get are... Confusing. But they do hint at the end if you pay attention. Which i didn't
So in the end, this review is sort of like the book, kind of incoherent, but if you read the book you'll see it makes sense in the end hehe.
2.5 rounded up
Not the space opera I was hoping for. I went into this book because it was recommended as if you liked Dead Space.
You have an astronaut who was going to mars but had to turn back and sort of sacrifice a crew member because equipment failure. And that's fine, she was damaged after that and nasa sort of went off grid.
Now, there's an issue, discovered by a guy from an elon musk-like company, that nasa undertakes. And this Nasa guy decides that the astronaut who wanted to go to mars is the girl for the job. Well, nevermind her issues, or that the rest of the crew consists of the company guy, a biologist, and a militaty guy. What is this threat? Should we go and explore it?
That has a lot of potential for space shenanigans, people with poor training, great curiosity, issues and bad decisions. However, the issue with this book is that for the most part, nothing happens!
I had to skim through the second half just trying to get to a plot. And ok, you expect in a horror sci fi that characters make bad decisions, otherwise there would be little conflict (if they see danger and decide to turn back, end of the book). But this fellas man... This astronaut in particular... I can't even. And even with her doing nothing but putting herself and others in harms way, for a good chunk nothing even happens.
TW for body horror, but other than that, the story moves slowly and the resolution is way too convenient. Also, i don't want to spoil it, but i thought it left most of the problem potentially unresolved.
Overall, interesting premise, tough execution. I recommend it for people who like slow burn space operas, with a bit of body horror, lots of cuestionable choices and not a lot of science. And maybe if you connect with the characters a bit better, it would make for an easier read.
Found it very boring, did not believe the love story, characters had no chemistry and mmc just claimed over and over to love fmc, the change in pov wasnt a great choice.
Oh man... Were to begin...
So this was a fun read. Twisty and fast paced. All the while though, since you see everything from the MC head, you're just thinking... Girl.. For real?? I mean half of what happens in this book is a product of her sheer stupidity and we get to follow that thought process...i mean man... Her inner monologue as she gets to one dumb conclusion after the other... You're screaming at her NOOO! I mean she asks you, right? And you're like nope, absolutely not. I mean, how she has survived this long... Still, the crazy plot works because of her musings... So yea, fun ride, twisty turny scream at the MC sort of fun.
Characters, especially peeta, are developed much better than the movies, tatiana meslany does a great job w the narration, katniss is far more complex, the world is expansive.
I agree that this is a whydunit, albeit a slow and sort of murky one. The premise was interesting, but it wrapped the mistery about 30 percent into the book, mostly. The details remaining came from an unreliable narrator, in a disorderly and at times claustrophobic setting. I pushed through to find out the resolution of it all, and i have to say, without spoilers, it kinda disappointed. Made sense, but i wanted a different ending I guess. So overall not a bad thriller, the premise being interesting, the pacing i found difficult to follow, the atmosphere was good, the ending i didn't love.