RiffMonkey

I am so disappointed in this book. I had read ‘if we were villains' and was under the impression this would be a similar vibe. Some dark academia, some murder, excellent character studies. But no, it was long-winded, tedious trash. 

There were so many unnecessary passages in this book it could have been 200 pages shorter. All the characters were vaguely one-dimensional. They appeared to be very complex but we experience most of this book from an outsider's perspective and never fully know any of the characters. Which is less intriguing or mysterious as it is just plain boring. 

There are also many bits in this that are just triggering and add no value other than shock. The incest for instance, or the passage where Richard suddenly has the urge to rape Camilla? What the actual fuck. At least the homophobia had some sort of purpose. If we were villains was a millions times better. 

I quite enjoyed the first book, however this one went a bit in a different direction. I felt like it was much less about the people around the druid than just about him. Which is fine but that is something I loved about the other book. The focus on sex was also kind of annoying to me. He was attracted to fucking everyone and sexual arousal was lowkey involved in so much of this book, which was boring and annoying. Not to mention the iffy consent during the scene with the morrigan. 

All in all it felt like not much happened even though actually a bunch of stuff happened. There was to little emotional depth for me and to much sex talk. Probably won't be reading the next book. 

It started off as a pretty good story. I enjoyed the suspense and the parental dynamics. After Katerina accepted Ben I thought it would get better but honestly, it went super downhill. The whole idea of him being totally obsessed with his namesakes never sat right with me. I couldn't relate to it, but the people he idolised were also never really shown and these amazing people. Barely as likeable ones. 

Then when all the dramatic stuff happens. First it all happens in 50 pages, three very similar scenes that made me feel no emotion, because the book never made me care about the characters at all. Ben only ever described them as his amazing grandparents/family, but it was never shown. So I honestly didn't give a shit. 
The whole thing is very much tell and no show. 

Then there is a TEN YEAR time skip where they sort of explain foreshadowing that I didn't read, because you skipped it, retrospectively. Honestly just a no. 

At first I was a but confused by the formatting of the writing, as I am with many books in the beginning. This one took me longer then usual to follow what story was being told however. 

I really loved every bit of it though. It all came together so beautifully by the end. It might have been because its a very short book but I thought it would come together earlier. I am excited to see where Chih goes next. 

This novel made me feel so much and yet I can't really say what emotions. It was beautifully written and not in such a confusing way as many short novels always seem to start. I was very invested in the story and the characters were all very interesting.  It was as much about grief and loss as it was about love. 

I honestly don't know how to feel, perhaps because I can't easily fit a theme or a point to the story as I usually would. It's as if the point was just to make me feel. 

Honestly I was never going to like this book. Never in my life have I felt the need to read trigger warnings for a book but I should have read these. The  amount of slurs and transphobia in this is ridiculous. I picked this because it said it was inspiring. Fucking how. 

It's also just really bad writing. The characters are all very one dimensional and I couldn't empathise with them at all. The main characters whole thing is being trans and that's basically all she thinks about all the time. This book isn't about superheroes, its about a girl who has no friends or hobbies or a life and is only trans. 

Not to mention she gets multiple choices to get away from her parents and be safe and she takes none of them. The dialogue is cringy as fuck and the story is boring. I was never going to finish this book. 

What another absolutely magnificent addition to the series. I love how the author always seems to be able to make every part of the story interesting even when the book is 800 pages long. I loved the new and old characters. Especially the happenings in the real world were particularly interesting this time around. 

But god the ending. I don't love that I likely have to wait a long time before I can see what will happen next. 

I have complicated feelings about this story. I think it's a very powerful reimagining of historical events. It started off very vague and hard to understand, especially because many voices are speaking throughout. But once you knew who was talking it started really coming together. 

It's a really sad series of events and I like the fact that they show how this affected the presence, with the Topsy t-shirt and the plans for nuclear waste sites. Plans for showing the future people where the nuclear waste is have always fascinated me and this is definitely an interesting way to imagine it. 

What a magnificent heartbreaking story. I love how Riva and Sinne kind of trade places in a lot of ways. Riva is introduced as a high-strung and protective of the old ways, having to be the good daughter, while Sinne is boy crazy and whimsical, not understanding others' emotions. Later Sinne is the first to understand and accept Keyne and the land and Riva is head over heels sharing dangerous secrets with a stranger. The chapter with the song makes this even more clear revealing how they both hurt each other by accident. 

The parallels throughout are amazing and very well done. I loved Keyne's story the most of course, he finally came into himself and the land. The story of the old ways being erased by a Christian priest is also extremely interesting to read. The progression of which can be spotted in the language used, which goes the same for Keyne's transition. Amazingly done 

I was expecting a sort of collection of short stories, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story of Kelsiers wacky adventures in the afterlife. Because of course he can't leave anything alone. The parts where he interacts with our beloved Vin and Eland definitely made me cry. It also made me very curious of the rest of the cosmere collection. 

I love books about immortals and this one is definitely a good one. The fact that he doesn't act as if his being a druid is this big secret that will indanger all of humanity of some shit like that, Like many other books with a ‘secret world' do. He was active in his community and had a social life which is also a change of pace. 

It was funny and went by incredibly fast. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. 

It really didn't improve. The characters were immensely one-dimensional, seemingly only having one trait per person. Or they simply had a situation at home to make it seem like they were well-written characters but really nothing about them was developed or made any sense. 

Our main character Helen Grace was also full of bullshit contradictions. Things that are suggested to be central to her character were totally contradicted by other things. Giving a person a backstory and an inner monologue doesn't make the character engaging. 

The story itself was also quite shit. About 200 pages of this book was them being on the wrong trail entirely by a lying person. Why in the hell would it ever be fun or enjoyable to read about. It was poorly written, not engaging and the character were all badly drawn cardboard cutouts.  

The first chapter was already amazing and engaging. I haven't had many books that are great right from the beginning and throughout. This had great stories and great characters. Once I started I could not put it down. I also always love when a book has small things before a chapter begins. This had sayings and poems and bits of journal which was great. 

I was afraid the ending would be too vague or in the middle of the story but it did feel like the main story had ended and a proper time to stop and start the next book. Which I will definitely be reading. 

Honestly nothing about this book hit right. Everything was weird, which was kind of the point, but that made the things that were weird to the characters not have any impact to me. The tone had this problem as well. Many things were simply said to be funny, so then when I was meant to take the text very seriously it didn't hit right. 

You can't have both and this book trued and missed anyway. Not to mention the ending explained nothing of why Jackie suddenly was able to age. This had nothing to do with all the Troy and King City stuff. It was all very unsatisfying. 

This novel was brilliant. I loved the premis, the story and the ending. I've never really been into zombie stories before and if this was simply that I probably wouldn't like it either. But this story, the narrative, is so good and well thought out. 

I love that while reading you also see in the narrator how he questions things even after you are explained how to world works and what is real. He still constantly questioning himself and putting in effort is believe the truth. It made me start thinking what if this is all a story too. Especcially how it ended with Leila. It was so amazing and kind and completely fucked up at the same time. 

I loved this continuation of the story. In the first as well as in the second book I loved how it was about the people much more than it was about the story. It didn't really matter what happened or whether they reached their destination. It was about their thoughts and feelings. 

I think this story, counting the first book as well, has really changed my way of looking at life and the world and all that. I am very thankful for it. 

I liked this book somewhat better than the last one. I was now prepared for the writing style and it didn't catch me off guard. I still don't love this much fast pace writing though. I feel like it leave something to be desired in regards to characters development and introduction. So much happens you have little time for actually having the characters just casually interact. All that is skipped over in between books. 

I really liked the inclusion of greek mythology yet again. Even some much less well known things come up in the sea of monsters which I definitely enjoyed. I did ditch the podcast this time but I will be reading the next book. 

The story was great. So many things happened and changed in such a small number of pages. Not only Sankofa got character development but many other and even Movenpick did. I am very confused about the ending and wish it was more clarified what she did. But I am going to interpret it as she destroyed all the seeds. I would rather have it be more explained though. I am not a fan of open endings.

Even though this was a very short book I felt like it went on and on about some things. I didn't agree with most of the views on witchcraft in this but I did get some spells and rituals I would like to try. It was more about views and politics and viewing the world in a less restricting way. Which is a good thing but I didn't need to be taught that so for me it wasn't very useful. 

This was a journey. It started very confusing and it took me a while to get into it. But once it kicked off this was great. Great writing, great characters, great story. Knowing what the next book was called kind of made me suspect pretty early on how this was going to end. And I am still mad about it but I also feel like the story needed it. 

The only thing I am annoyed about is that Gideon's origin is still a mystery. None of the weird shit surrounding her has been explained, and given the ending, it's like it doesn't matter anymore. What is the point of harrow figuring out where she came from and why she didn't die from the smoke only for Gideon to be unable to emotionally react to it. Where is the pay-off you know? 

I was very disspointed by this book. It has been promoted so much by so many for being an amazing queer book that is amazing. And I have to disagree on both counts. 

Blake just goes on and on in her writing style. It is conversations within conversations, often interluded with some sort of philosophical monologue that is really saying nothing and going nowhere. It felt like filler in the sense that it would be the same of even better without it, and removing it would make this book so much shorter and perhaps more palatable. 

It waited far to long to come together and it is as if none of the characters are ever fully developed. The last act really isn't meant to describe characters, with an exception made for the surprise reliance of someone who was lying about their identity. Not to mention the book constantly underestimates the intelligence of the reading. Spelling out everything from parallels to character development. If you did it right I wouldn't need to be told you did it. 

I also would not call this book lgbtq, sure some characters has some briefly mentioned gay thoughts. But it was like an afterthought. And I would definitely not identify this as a queer book. If anything it was a million times more about straight relationships.

And the ending wasn't even really and ending. It is obviously setting up for a second book but in a way that I never liked. Because now the book itself doesn't have an ending and can't sit on its own in space. It is now only the first book in a series instead of it being just a good book with a sequel. 

It bothered me how drawn out every subject was. Some things don't need 3 examples and 4 metaphors. It was very much written for someone who doesn't know much about the body. So I guess it also just wasn't aimed at me. I didn't learn much that I didn't already know or things that I felt were actually applicable to me.

I am really just not the target audience for this. It felt very very slow and boring to me. 

Something about this book just didn't click for me. Maybe it's because its about something way to real to have fun reading about. I love me some apocalypse books, but they usually have a sort of magical element. This was to real to be fully enjoyed. To depressing. 

I think I would have had a different experience reading this if I had read it before our own generation's disaster time. After the pandemic though it feels though it makes some things much more mild or unrealistic. Like waiting a couple of hours to go to the store. I know now for a fact that if there was even a whisper of any shortage the public would make it a million times worse by preemptively buying it all out. 

The way this story is told is very funny, I love the way that it doesn't really matter. You aren't tense or scared of what is going to happen next. It's just fun. The random intervals in between definitely make it fun to read about the universe as well. Especially because it's clear that you don't need to know any of that to understand what's happening. It's really just put there because it's funny. I feel like that's how this whole ass book was written. I enjoyed it very much. 

I am so conflicted by this book. The idea and concept of it were great, but something in the execution just doesn't sit right. The way the story is told makes no sense and constantly brings you out of immersion. The people keep telling Nell a part of the story but others are also in the car, which is totally gloshed over. Or more pretends that its not true. But that makes the way everyone tell their bit really unrealistic and weird within the context. 

The way the world works with the maps and the fact her mother was stuck there also just makes no sense. So many things happened, and many characters died unnecessarily which makes the things that happen have no emotional pay off. 

I am happy this didn't end badly because I really thought it was going to. The story pretended that Nell was lost forever, as if the whole reason her mom stayed there for so long was still active. But of course it wasn't. And luckily it didn't end that way. It did leave me so utterly unsatisfied and disappointed though.