Karol
Dnfed sorta?
I loved the premise, a disgruntled employee/secret genius who didn't reach his perceived potential gets in a crash and it's confronted by the possibility of knowing his death date (which happens to be his trade anyway)
Commentary about how the younger generation is perceived as imprecise, as not caring for details, as instantaneous; commentary about regrets in paths chosen, and the philosophy of what would you do if you knew how long you had and would that change anything and would you want to know.
Problem is... I found it very boring. The book doesn't start until about a third of it. And even then, there is a journey, in which the MC (let's call him unreliable, but then maybe he isn't and I just wasn't following?) starts reminiscing (but like in present tense a little) and going back to now and forth. So, exhausted and whiplashed and determined to know where it went.. Admittedly... I sorta skimmed.
And at some point... Unpleasant stuff hit the fan and it became weird? That is quite a mild way of putting it, unfollowable is more like it. Either he went of the rails or the world did, but it became a different book.
And if you were in it for the premise, well, that wasn't where it started at all, it was like a long half of one book, and a short third act of another.
And then it ends. But it continues. And ends again. And again. Always sorta open-ended, but honestly I was never aware of what was happening. After about the third of those, i stopped altogether. So maybe there was more to explore and i dnfed about 97% mark.
If this review is confusing, so was i, i can't even rate it.
This was a clever premise, the writting was really cool, especially the illustrations of the different ikea-like items.
This is set in an ikea-like store where things start happening and it's up to the staff to figure it out. The characters are easy to root for, the setting is fantastic. My only gripe is within the third act it became a little more traditional horror, but still, the ending was really good and the overall story brought something fresh to the genre. I'd recommend :)
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.
What would you do?
This is quite an uncomfortable read. Especially for a woman. There is always that fear in the back of our heads of being taken or hurt someway. This book is the ultimate nightmare.
We follow the story told in a very silence of the lambs fashion, of a girl who survived the worst case scenario. Or did she? How long was she enduring this, was she a part of it? Can we believe what she says? And from the beggining, although we know very little about her, we are told to believe. And it's terrifying. Not because it's horror, but because of the real human awful things that she recounts.
Her little descriptions of seemingly every day details in this place, even when she got to strangely settle, to survive the day to day, something always popped up to remind her and us of the stakes here.
And to “survive”, she made questionable choices. We are not meant to like her, or even agree. But in a realistic way, we are to question ourselves if we can judge, and what would we do. Like i said, terribly uncomfortable read. But real somehow. Hard to rate too, because while it wasn't enjoyable, i get it, and it feels like an important read somehow.
I don't rate it five stars, because although i liked the resolution, i did feel the explanation as to why we know little about the MC ended up being rather ludicrous and unnecessary. Other than that, it gripped me from start to finish.
(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 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.
Ok, I should start by saying I dnf-ed mistborn. Loved warbreaker though, and haven't read the stormlight archive. But elantris. Simply beautiful! So here's some gushing:
1. The world. I loooved it. The world of the elantrians, their downfall, the current political climate, the religion wars. All of it! Engaging and well presented.
2. The pacing. Not fast, not slow, just flowing. There were moments we spent watching the characters do menial tasks (and how hard it was for some of them!). Moments where they sat and discussed political matters, evaluating every posibility before coming to a consensus, making it feel very real. There were horror moments, that also felt very real, and just painful moments (the toes man...)
3. Characters. Also real. Loved. Them. All. Just all of them, I don't even have a favorite. And again, they felt very real!
4. The story. Good versus evil (but you're not sure who's who all the time) the characters would act a certain way, but their motivations were clearly laid out, so you could be fair witness to all sides.
5. The ending. I know some people take issue with the resolution of all matters, maybe a little neatly, but to me it felt earned and it was the ending I wanted so sue me.
Overall, i highly highly recommend!
This premise was very interesting. I appreciated the neurodivergent MC, however, the MC was to me a bit difficult to follow, as she kept complaining that she was so different, so the book was a bit of a struggle to get through at first. However, when the story picks up, the love interest was well developed, and although i found the worldbuilding a bit hard to understand at times, i can see this story getting better and more interesting in later books.
Thank you netgalley for the ARC.
Didnt love the plot, the scifi was confusing and i didnt care enough for the characters to try to follow it better.
3 1/2 stars really.
Pros
Great premise. The world was really interesting (not at all reminiscing of rome btw). The masks were the highlight, very intriguing. Additionally, there are hints of other magical aspects that can be expanded on in the future. The augurs were also really interesting and i hope we get to learn more of their motivations.
Some of the characters. Helene and her struggles, the commandant too, and although a little whiny, elias was interesring.
Ending. Although not groundbreaking, the ending fixed some of the character of laia.
Cons
The resistance. Just all of it.
Laia. Super gullibe, super predictable, very annoying and whiny and save me save me type. She got slightly better by the end, so i guess she had some growth throughout.
Other people's relationship with laia. We have to protect her instantly even though she things of no one but her brother and believes everything thrown at her, complains a lot about being weak while having everyone come in and save her (in the end gets a little better)
Love stories. I usually need them in my fantasies and although some in here are realistic, there's a good dose of instalove or this is a woman and so i must sort of guys. I mean these guys... (also laia)
Anyway, I'll continue with the series, as I said the world is very interesting and can be expanded upon, the characters can get better and I want to know more about some of them. If you don't mind some inner whinning from the MC, you could kind of get lost in this story.
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.
Better than twilight...
The world is probably the better aspect of this book. It remains a guilty pleasure at times (she gets literally carried around a lot, even ppl carry her and run?). The writting is not great but easy enough to follow. A lot of repeating things, and some character decisions in times of crisis that seem farfetched. All in all, the romance (warning it contains a bit of a square) is sweet, the endgame that is. If you want an interesting world, a bit of cheese and sweets and an overall feelgood book, this might be up your alley. Do keep in mind the cheese though :)
Chef's kiss... Absolutely beautiful!!
Ok i did not expect to like this book much at all. Bought it in an audible sale, and since it was Amy Harmon (looooved the Second Blind Son, didn't love from Blood and Ash), i decided to give it a shot. I was delighted!
It tells the story of Fern, Ambrose and Bailey, in a very loose beauty and the beast retelling. But it's so much more. The characters feel so real, they're damaged by trauma and circumstance, but they trully want to be good people, and make the right choices with the situations they're in. It's so refreshing to see a character like Ambrose, who's made some immature choices that led to serious consequences for him and others, and still, try not to hurt anyone anymore and to recognize where he went wrong instead of being the usual brooding that hurts others because he's damaged love interest.
Fern, is a nurturer, but more than once in the book gets checked for it, and made to see that even that can be a sign of something deeper.
And Bailey, just the most inspirational and yet somehow feels real, character I've read in a while. I laughed and cried with him and it definitely leaves you with a sense of trying to be a better person, in spite of your circumstances.
A book where the parents are mostly not awful, and can be real father figures and wise advisors.
If i have one complaint, its a side storyline, with a mustache turning bad guy and a damsel in distress type. But even that is at times grounded in reality.
Overall, this was beautiful. I cried, laugh had a silly grin throughout, and i swear i left the book inspired to do better and not just take circumstances inwardly, but to make the best of things for others as well. Cannot recommend this book enough!