Jasper
This book was written by an American, for an American audience. So...not me, a Brit who actually knows about London, unlike the author of this book.
Couldn't get past the huge inaccuracies to enjoy the story (not that the story was wholly enjoyable in the first place) because every time someone mentioned something about Britain that was so not British it just took me out of the story.
Marty was kinda boring, just like every other character in the book. To be honest, everything was kinda boring in this book, even the instrument parts, and I'm a woodwind player myself!
Anyway, I can understand why people could like this book. The story it tells could be compelling for some, and the inaccuracies may not be noticeable or bothersome to others. But not me :/
Ahhhhhghggghhhhhhh!
Okay, this is a jam-packed book so I need to organise my thoughts about it, which I will do with a paragraph about each character and there may be some overlap but you'll just have to deal with that!
Emil
My boy, precious as always. I found his retrocycling to be very intruiging and also raises a few questions like what does he share with Bautista and Keon? Clearly not big things such as sexuality, but do they share ethnicity or eye colour? And if not why not? If the genetics of the reborn specter came only from the previous life, then how would they be different?
Anyway, that's a whole thing that I hope will be explained further in the next book.
I really like Emil and Ness, I think they're very cute and it's really good to have a male main character who is emotional and self-concious.
Brighton
Terrible brother, horrible boyfriend. His demise is really well written and I like how he descends towards the end. All of his chapters have little, cruel things he thinks about other characters (mostly Emil) which finally culminates into his dislikeable, almost evil, character at the end. Also he needs to stop using his father's death against his family and start being better to his lovely mother!
Also I guess murder is fun now...
Maribelle
Oooh she's so cool! I really like her and Atlas together because he was really sweet, but I feel like a relationship between her and Tara might happen? I doubt that Luna's being 100% truthful when she says she can bring Atlas back...
I really like Maribelle's acceptance of Sera being her mother while also still loving her adoptive parents as well. I'm not adopted, so I don't know what it's like to have multiple sets of parents, but I really like the way it's written and how Maribelle comes to accept it.
Ness
I love Ness! He's so cool, and it's such a shame that he spends most of this book doing the Senator's dirty work, but I really like him and Emil together! And the reveal of the Senator's powers at the end! Omg!!
Wyatt
I love this guy! I really like him and Emil, while it lasts, but I also like how he's able to accept that Emil loves Ness. He's great!
Tara
Cool, so cool. I think it's really well written the way that we saw her parents die in the first book and now we see the consequences of that, like with Emil and Dr Bowes and her son, and I like her fierce attitude. She makes a great duo with Maribelle!
So, there are way too many characters to talk about them all individually so;
Luna - interesting to see a softer side of her
The Senator - shut up nobody likes you
Iris - cool, as always
Wesley - cool, as always
Eva - cool, as always
Can you tell I struggled writing this? There's just so much to talk about in this massive book, but loved it!
[4.5 stars]
Loved this so so much!! The characters were great and I really enjoyed Yadriel and Julian's friendship and then romance. While the tone did feel a bit off at times, as Julian seemed waaay too chill about being literally dead, it was mostly fine. Yadriel's struggles with his family and them not really understanding his trans identity, but still loving him so much and him still loving them despite the difficulty hit pretty close to home and it was great to see a depiction of this sort of complicated family relationship with the trans main character.
(Also ahhh the pain when Julian misgenders Yadriel without realising it was so relatable ouch!)
My main problem with the book is near the ending, when it's revealed that Yadriel's uncle is evil and is the one who murdered Miguel and Julian. I feel like the story didn't benefit from this in any way, it just felt like a way to explain the mystery, and the fact that he became evil because of the way he was ostracised just left a sour taste in my mouth. However, that part of the story was quite brief so didn't bother me too much.
This book was honestly just a delight. Reading about Yadriel and Julian's shenanigans as they tried to solve the mysteries and see Julian's friends again (who were also all stellar characters) was just so fun! I really really enjoyed reading this book and it's definitely one of my favourites now.
Good, if a bit disappointing.
I enjoyed this book; it's certainly one of the longest I've ever read! But I feel like it, and the Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy just didn't quite capture the magic of the Gentleman's Guide. I liked Adrian as a character and the way his anxiety was depicted was so soo good, especially in a historical setting. I, of course, loved all the characters, though there were some things that annoyed me, and some loose ends, such as possible a lack of development of Monty's side plots, such as his uncertainty about marrying Percy and the fact that he fell off the wagon and it wasn't really talked about much? Like, that sucks, especially since Monty is my absolute favourite character.
I also wish there'd been more development of Felicity's falling out with the Crown and Clever, and also with Saad and Sim's characters.
Also, it was an utter tragedy that we got as little of Louisa and Percy as we did! Percy is so brilliant I would've loved to see more of him, especially in the last book of the series, and Louisa seemed like a really cool character but we never really got to know her.
It was definitely a very good book, and I would wholly recommend it, it just didn't live up to the first book, unfortunately, but these things never do.
[3.5 stars]
This book was sort of unnecessary. Almost all of the plot and story and focus on Simon was something that I felt just didn't belong in the same series as the first book. I skimmed a lot of this book because there was sooooo much that kind of sucked. Agatha was absolutely horrible to Niamh for most of this book (I do enjoy their farmcore sapphic romance at the end though), and I found a lot of stuff Penelope and Shepherd were doing kind of uninteresting. I was here for Simon and Baz, and it's just a shame that what I was given of them was a very looooong and boring story of relationship insecurity. The first book in this series, Carry On, is one of my favourite books ever, but Any Way the Wind Blows just doesn't hold up. Maybe in a different, non-Simon Snow, context, it would be a great book, but, with Carry On preceeding it, it's just not.
It was alright! Nothing special, but definitely very nice (and has the gayest book cover I own!)
[3.5]
Curse my Warriors addiction for not letting me quit! This book was so disappointing :(
Okay, so I did like Greystripe's return, Shadowsight's character, Snowtuft's character, and the scenes in the dark forest.
But omg the worst thing about this book was Bristlefrost. She goes to the Dark Forest for...what reason? Why does she need to go there? It doesn't make any sense, the authors just wanted all the protagonists to be there. And don't get me started on BristlexRoot. It's so bad!! There's no reason for them to be together except the fact that they're a tom and a she-cat in the same vicinity. I can understand Root's crush on Bristle, but she went from finding him irritating to be hopelessly in love with him for no reason with no development? This is definitely a wider problem with the Warrior Cats series, as ALL main series female protagonists (apart from Hollyleaf) have fallen in love with a tomcat and become passive and uninteresting. Which has happened again to Bristlefrost! Is it too much for these authors to write a strong female protagonist who doesn't fall in love with the nearest guy? I hate Bristlefrost now and I hate that I hate her since its a problem with the writing and not the character herself.
That was a lot of ranting. Of course I could never stop reading Warrior Cats, I'm just hoping that series 8 will do better with Sunbeam and Frostpaw.
I'm honestly surprised I'm still reading these books. It wasn't that bad, but I didn't gain anything from reading it.
This four star rating is as close to a five as it possibly could be because Legendborn was brilliant! I loved the characters, especially the protagonist, Bree, who is so tough while being very vulnerable, making her a very realistic character I loved to root for. She is easily the best part of this book for me.
The magic system was also really interesting. I loved the intertwining between magic and culture, aether and root, and how well expanded upon it was in this universe. Colonialism and African American culture was beautifully and realistically depicted through Bree's grief for her ancestors and the memory walks she goes on with them.
The Order's magic system was quite hard to understand however, which wasn't helped by Bree's seemingly immediate understanding of it, and I even when characters like Fitz died I was focused on wondering...what did he do again? By the end of the book I think I understood, but if I'm being honest, I'm still clueless. Deonn clearly has a huge, complex world which is depicted in this book which I don't think is communicated very well through the protagonist's exposure to it.
Other than that, this book is absolutely fantastic and I'm really looking forward to reading the next one (though it better not have a love triangle between Bree, Nick, and Sel - I hate love triangles with a burning passion haha!)
(4.5) Amazing book. I could empathise with every character. I could understand how awful Frankie felt, knowing that Jojo and Ram had something connecting them forever and she felt like she could be left behind. I could understand how Jojo felt, with all of her future plans being so exciting and important, but all of a sudden not caring about it at all, only wanting to spend time with her new baby. I could feel for Stacey, with the difficulty of not being able to have a child due to Jojo's existence and suddenly having the perfect opportunity, which blinds her to the fact that Albie is Jojo's baby.
I did struggle to connect with Ram as much, so I might have appreciated a bit more time with him.
I also wasn't a fan of the fact that Ram's self-harm was glorified in the book. Expressing his feelings is good, but his self harm and destruction of his car is not a good thing and not healthy. Other than that, this book was so good and special and I definitely recommend it.
So this book was ‘meh' for about the first three fifths, but the last two fifths were some of the best literature I've ever read. I really started to enjoy Rake's character, as well as what Flora and Evelyn's had developed into. The way Flora's gender duality was written is perfect, and Evelyn's transformation from a helpless Imperial girl to a determined and cool pirate was also fantastic! The twist ending was so tragic (although happened possibly too suddenly) but the second twist ending was gorgeous and wonderful!
I like how while Flora is able to find her love for Alfie again, she still finds him difficult and irritating as always, because just because you love someone doesn't mean all their flaws are fixed. I think it's sad but sweet how she leaves him at the end on the Pirate Supreme's boat which, by the way, sounds like an utterly fantastic place and while the story of Flora and Evelyn is clearly over, I would love to see more of their ship and life, especially now with Rake and Alfie.
This book is awesome and was well worth the not so fun first part to get to the amazing last part.
I like how we end the book with Genevieve and how open ended it is - will we see more of her? Will she be a protagonist in a next book? I guess we will have to wait and see.
This book was messy.
In many ways I think that was intentional. The very nature of the ‘reveries' in the book are messy and the perspective Kane has of everything, coming from someone with amnesia, would also make it a lot more confusing.
But at the same time, I simply don't think this book was executed particularly well. It was a really interesting premise with some great characters and cool settings, but the way it was executed kind of fell short of what it could have been. I feel like this is one of those books that if it would've just been a bit longer then the story could have been told far, far more cleanly. We could have dived into Kane's memory loss and how it affected him more, had Eliot be a more prominent member of the Others, rather than getting completely left behind by Usula and Adeline. We could have gone into Kane and Dean's relationship more, so the reveal of Dean not actually being a real person could have held more weight, and we could have given more time to Poesy, to actually understand who the hell she is?
The thing is, I loved this book. The premise was great, basically everything about this book was so cool and interesting; I just wish it had been executed better so that instead of a confusing mess, we could've had a clear and interesting story with no loose ends.
So, I'd definitely recommend this book, but it certainly has its flaws.
I'm so glad they wrote about Mothwing's relationship with StarClan!! It was really interesting to see how it explained her opinions about StarClan after the Great Battle. I really love how she accepts their existence, but refuses to ‘worship' them because of all the horrible things they let happen. Its such an interesting view and I wish we could have more protagonists with this mindset, rather than just blind appreciation.
This book was very informative about HIV and how people live with it in the modern age all wrapped up in a fun story. Definitely worth the read, especially for the very good information about HIV.
So this would've been absolutely 5 stars...until the end.
The way the conflicts were set up as well as the character of Feathertail was so interesting and it felt really realistic. I could completely understand Feathertail's feelings and how she felt about her clan. I was so looking forward to a mature conversation between her and Leopardstar where Feathertail was actually able to reveal and explain how she felt about what RiverClan did, with Leopardstar giving a properly heartfelt, meaningful, and understanding apology to Feathertail, properly sorting through her own issues and what she'd done. But this is a kids book, despite the mature topics of racism it handles, so the resolution was Feathertail suddenly realising she loves RiverClan and its cats for reasons unrelated to her conflict, and Leopardstar giving a shoved in apology after Feathertail has already forgiven her.
Also, the interaction at the end between Feathertail and Ferncloud, where Feathertail was pointlessly cruel to Ferncloud, was supposed to be presented as a good thing?? what does this book want to teach me? that being cruel to your friends for the sake of defending a bunch of people who were racist towards you and give you a load of trauma is a good thing?
Anyway, the art was beautiful and breathtaking, as usual. The artist who makes these clearly works incredibly hard on these graphic novels and it is incredibly appreciated by me. There were several pages I spend 5 minutes just staring at because they looked so cool. The only artistic complaint I have is that Hawkpaw doesn't have his iconic white chest, but this isn't the end of the world at all. (The snowy scenes were some of the most gorgeous)
I loved this book!! So much!! I really love both Hani and Ishu, they really connected with me. I was slightly disappointed at the end when Aisling didn't really get her comeuppance, especially with the cheating incident which just made me mad, but I guess it sort of represents how in life you can't always get absolute justice.
I liked how neither Hani nor Ishu achieved what they set out to with the whole fake dating thing, because they both got something much better; each other!
Really cute! I haven't read any of the related works but this still held up by itself.
Interesting story with a sweet gay couple, although the ending was very unexpected and felt like it happened a bit too quickly. There wasn't really a forewarning to the big reveal of the Returnees so it felt quite rushed, but other than that, I really enjoyed it!
Wow. Alright. That was good.
This book is the first book in the Warrior Cats series to have a scene that genuinely sent shivers down my spine. The scene where Rootspring and the Sisters conjure all of the ghosts of warriors? Amazing. I loved the imagery! Incredible scene!
I also absolutely loved the debates about what to do with Bramblestar's body. The interactions and decisions made by characters on what to do about that felt real, and so interesting to witness. I found all of the views of what to do with him compelling and, although I feel devasted for Squirrelflight, I'm not upset about the prospect of killing Bramblestar because he is a terrible mate, and is also just...boring. Really bloody boring. So the way the authors have utilised his character has been very intruiging.
But, like any Warrior Cats book, Darkness Within is not flawless. The book intends you to be angry when Shadowsigh t is demoted, which I am fine being angry at. But what I don't like are things that unintentionally make me angry. I'm talking about:
- They ruined Mistystar
- They ruined Mothwing
- They ruined Bristlefrost
Mistystar, um....what the hell happened to you?! The authors decided they needed a leader to be unfair on her ‘codebreakers' and just decided to choose the leader who witnessed the death of her brother for being a ‘codebreaker'!! It's ridiculous and an insult to the Mistystar that the original authors created as a kind and fair cat. But who is this? Not allowing her clan to mourn cats who went against a cat who believed in punishment for something that Mistystar actually is? This completely undermines the character they built for her and is insulting to character writing and development, as it makes it all redundant as the Erins will mould their characters to fit the story, no matter who that cat was and what they stood for. I wish they'd killed her off before they ruined her character.
Since when was Mothwing cruel? She is horrible to Shadowsight and acts very un-Mothwing by recommending him to be demoted. Also, rather hypocritical to say he should be demoted for misinterpreting a prophecy when she doesn't even believe in StarClan in the first place. If you want an unreasonable situation for your protagonist, that's fine. At least don't change your previously established characters!
So, you're telling me that Bristlefrost went from finding Rootspring irritating to suddenly and magically being absolutely in love with him? What is this??? She is a protagonist, I'd at least expect her to be written well! Also, the guy doesn't always need to get the girl. Especially when the girl was a lot more interesting when she was independent and didn't spend half of her chapters admiring some random guy she didn't care about until now. It makes me sad, as I love both Bristlefrost and Rootspring, but not as an item.
I think I wrote too much about the negatives, as I would personally say that the positives outweighed the negatives. This was overall a good book and I'm glad I read it (not that I could not read it, I've read 73 Warriors books, I'm not gonna stop now).
Ahhhh yet again I am reminded that Wings of Fire is The Best book series!!
I guess I did find the beginning a bit boring, since Snowfall was very unlikeable, although I guess that's the point. But over the course of the book, helped along by the visions, which I definitely enjoyed (the one with Blue broke my heart! I miss him so muchh), Snowfall becomes a much better and kinder character. This book also introduces us to Sky, and gives us the rather horrifying backstory of Jerboa (how are these books for preteens???) as well as that awesome scene where Snowfall begins to destroys the Great Ice Cliff. So cool!!
I also really liked the criticism of meritocracy through the Seven Circle system, this book is full of tearing down messed up systems and I love it! Extremely excited for the next book, back on Pantala :D
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger was really good! The magic elements and how they tied to and interacted with Native American culture was really fascinating and I found it very intruiging.
Though I will admit that I did struggle quite a bit with understanding the world, since all of the characters knew it so well. I felt like during every revelation I was one or two steps behind. By the end of the book, I think I understood what was going on but I can't really be sure. Some of the big reveals didn't make me go ‘ohhhhhhh' but rather ‘hmm???'. I found the emissary especially to be very confusing and I don't think it was explained entirely enough.
But what really brought this book together for me were the character interactions. The little anecdotes and observations made by Ellie felt so real and human, which is very important in a fantastical world like this. Elatsoe herself (whose name I was mispronouncing for almost half of the book, yikes) was a brilliant protagonist and I loved following her story.
I also appreciate the casualness with which her asexuality is brought up. It's nice to see subtle queer representation.
I would like to start this review off by saying I am a white British man which will of course mean that I cannot possibly have any idea of what the main character goes through, and also means I find it harder to relate to her.
However, I still do not think that Ashley is a good protagonist, especially for the story Hammonds Reed is trying to tell. She is very passive, allowing her friends to completely get away with racism, and also she doesn't do anything in her own story. I would've much preferred this book to be in Jo or LaShawn or even Lana's perspective. Because Ashley just brings nothing to the story, so this important topic is not explored as well and deeply as it could've been.
Also, Ashley is just a horrible person a lot. She sees her cousin for the first time in years because her home is in danger and Ashley's first thought is about the weight she's put on.
As the book gets into the ‘After' portion, it uses so many metaphors, especially for Ashley and Jo's relationship. It's rather frustrating because it feels like so much telling the audience what their relationship is without actually demonstrating it at all besides the annoyance Ash feels about her.
I get nothing from this book, except annoyance for the missed opportunity for a book that could've been really good about a really important subject.