goutham

What a great book!!! 4.5 stars

It was so much fun to read: the writing was amazing, descriptions and dialogue were immaculate, and the characters were endearing. It was short but vivid and the only reason its not 5 stars is cuz the conclusion was a bit unsatisfying in the way it played out

3.5
a sweet easy fluffy read - didn't think too deeply about it but enjoyed it and its straightforward perspective on books

v v v fun read had such a good time. Loved the characters, wholehearted embrace of sci fi and Faustian bargains all in a story about found family and music. It was v cool huhu

What a banger. I loved it. The writing was excellent. The magical realism induced the perfect level of weirdness into the revenge plot. The characters were pretty flat but fit super well. And an old-school western was so much fun to read.

I also thought it did a solid job breaking up a whitewashed Western genre with its MC and the sequences in the book while still following genre conventions. I read the book feeling like it was a Western even though it was breaking the stereotypes of the genre. It reminded me of something Neil Gaiman said where genre fiction is defined by what people would be disappointed if a book did not do. In that regard, this book did a great job both hitting the feeling of a western and subverting its norms.

I also was reading through some reviews that basically said it was a ‘missed opportunity' to dive into some of the Chinese heritage and stories of the railroad. I can see that but I subscribe to the idea that stories just exist and we have personal relations with them. Its not on the author to write a story for an agenda. Thats not on them.

Besides the cover is dope.

3.5 stars

Lot of really great essays in here and an amazing concept. Lot of them didn't land for me but the one's that did chef's kiss

Feel-good space adventure with a lotta math n science which made the book a ton of fun. There was a bunch of cringey humor in here that didn't land but it still added to the atmosphere of the book and gave it character. Good stuff

I picked this books up off a whim since I was bored at the bookstore and I'm super glad I did. This book was really touching and deeply moving. Coming out of this book felt like taking a shower and feeling awake for the first time that day. I think Matt Haig touched on parts of the human condition that are really important to people today and did it in such a way that we go through the main character's journey of self-discovery in a way that makes us think about our own lives. I certainly did. Apart from a bit of stilted dialogue, over-explanation, and tendency toward self-help books in the later bits, this book was great and it felt like a great way to refresh my perspective on life

i was v bored with this book and it is not a first book of the series. The entire time i was giga unimmersed cuz there are novellas with the worldbuilding and context before this. Also the mystery was so uninteresting lmao

2.5
kinda boring tbh like i expected more suspense but it was aight i suppose. it just felt like daily life of a scientist and her clone??? idk it felt like it was trying to be a character exploration but it was so dependent on flashbacks and telling me what shes feeling cuz the plot just didnt have tension to it.

but it was still pretty readable and i like the premise i think

I think I want to dig into more novellas after reading The Empress of Salt and Fortune. I've only read a few novellas before but this one felt above and beyond a lot of other longer length books. Even though the setting felt really familiar to other time period fantasies, it was still really evocative and the main locations felt lived in. The format of the story was also excellent with the story of the Empress dropped through the items Rabbit remembered her by. I couldn't help but wonder what the story would've been like if it had been told during the events rather than after but I'm happy with it either way.

3.5 stars

such a great ending. It was so fulfilling emotional and rewarding. The themes of family defining our identities and growing with us will stick with me for a while.

I think overall the series had such strong characters and strong arcs. But i think the politics and the worldbuilding kind of held the series back. All the locations that we visited in the series were so wonderfully built but there were so many more we barely touched and only heard about through politicking that it made me so much less invested in those sections.

Also while the character arcs were so rewarding, it felt like there was so much telling of the characters rather than showing. The transition from the first book's action packed gangster/clan warfare to a more strategic story that carried the same values and characters was really elegant but it led to some weaker development especially when we skipped around in time so much.

Solid!!! I got the message but didn't stick with my but I loved the writing and storytelling.

Books set in fantasy schools are always so much fun to read. I'm not sure whether its just more relatable or whether there's something else to it but they get me into a good mood.

A Deadly Education was a really solid young adult fantasy novel. The setting of a school that's trying to kill the students was pretty unique and I appreciated the main character El a ton. She felt super relatable and her thoughts, actions, and emotions were all befitting her character and growth. She had a great arc through the book and it was super satisfying to see her progress.

It felt great to be thrown headfirst into the world but I did feel like there was a ton of exposition to set up the world in the beginning. I feel like that was necessary for the young adult tag but other than that I think the book was pretty mature. El's thoughts about her classmates felt really tied to the way I felt about college and it definitely felt more relatable in reflection rather than living through it. Other than that, my only issue with the book was that El sometimes explained too much and sometimes it didn't feel earned for the reader. I'm definitely going to speed through the next book when it comes out.

3.5 Stars

Zhu POV chapters were a ton of fun to read but Ouyang POV chapters felt like a chore. Also the whole desire + suffering bit felt repeated to no end. Overall enjoyable read and I think that the journey was well worth it. Just wish there was a bit more depth to the themes and a more compelling second perspective.

solid enough. same issues as the rest of the series but there were a lot of cool moments and character growths. watevs i had fun

badbadbad

1.5 stars

This book giga jumped the shark

Worst parts of sci fi shit with worst parts of fantasy

Only redeeming thing is that i like the names of the characters

What a wholesome feel-good book. It was a joy to read and the characters were just so much fun to read about.

Had some qualms about how the narrator's descriptions and Linus' actions felt at odds like they were tryna typecast the character but eh

Overall big big big fan

3.5 actually p good. i think the ideas of this books and character arcs were pretty intriguing and i was invested in the mystery. but man sometimes the writing and scenes were just so clunky or confusing and contrived. like enriques arc was good til like the end and laila arc made sense and was awesome in many points and zofia is my fav character but generic growing brave arc and severin actually had a character in this that wasnt just generic edgy protag (still edgy but less generic) but each of them has super contrived moments that made me go like ok the story beat hits but execution wasnt there.

if the book was tighter it would actually be super compelling but instead a lot of it was like wait what god what mythology why is this happening. so much felt drawn out too long or too rushed!! but cool nonetheless

reminded me a lot of sword of kaigen in its character driven fantasy and drama. It treated its characters realistically and made sure that the story happened as a result of the characters rather than to the characters which i think is an important distinction for this genre. I think it wasn't as good as sword of kaigen because a lot of character motivations/emotions/rituals were told rather than shown (ie. we are told that stealing jade is scummy asf rather than shown it through a story action) but i liked it a lot!

4.5

“Go, she managed. “Grow.”

What a wonderfully small story. Themes of growth, roots, and love were immaculate in this book. Lots of great metaphors, slices of action, and good pacing made things super enjoyable to read and v cozy

I was pretty skeptical going into this book because I've had bad experiences with magic set in the real world (re. Middlegame, All the Birds In the Sky). I just think its really hard for these type of books to feel immersive and not gimmicky but Ninth House definitely impressed me in that regard.

The magic in this book felt secondary to the overall mystery and I really appreciated that it didn't revolve around gimmicks that made things feel forced. The way Bardugo introduces magic and its uses felt pretty natural and within the realm of the setting. As a result when Yale and its students misused magic, it felt like an organic extension of the impression the book sets out for the students. The fratty prep kids in the secret societies felt like fratty prep kids. They just happened to cut open hobos on Thursdays to read the future stock market because it was normal for them.

The story felt pretty involved and I liked the two timelines/two perspectives going on for the first half of the book. However, I felt like the mystery felt a little... contrived. The first few discoveries were based on the main character Alex feeling like something was up and the final reveal I just didn't feel too invested in. I mostly just cared about the characters.

The characters and the themes were the best part actually. Alex was an excellent MC and it was awesome to see her growth and her dealing with challenges. The themes of rich vs. poor, surviving vs. thriving, protecting the right people, and feminism were super well played and each of them clicked super well with me due to Alex.

All in all, definitely would recommend this book.

I was really excited to read this book after reading The Broken Earth trilogy. That series felt super involved and immersive and I loved it. I didn't feel as good about this one.

The City We Became felt a bit too gimmicky for my taste. The initial idea of cities being ‘alive' was pretty cool at first. Having avatars that embody their spirit seemed like a good take on the idea and it introduced a set of unique rules and characteristics to the book. But the characters in the book felt pretty static apart from that issue. Most of their personality was determined by the part of New York they embodied and they just felt way less deep than some of the characters in The Broken Earth.

In addition, a lot of the plot felt repetitive and the cast felt too big. Each character basically had to learn about the central conflict of the book in the same way and fight small battles against the BBEG in order to learn how ‘powerful' it was. At first these encounters were really cool: the first chapter was my favorite part of the book. But after a couple chapters I couldn't help but skim since it was really hard to feel anticipation during the scene.

I'm not sure whether this book would've been better had I known more about New York but it felt like a drag and I wish that the characters did more than find each other in the book.

I initially went into this book not expecting too much. (Side note: I really hated the quote on the front because it was so blatantly oversimplified that it set my expectations for this book way off.) Gothic horror and necromancy always seemed cheesy to me and putting it in space? Eh.

But I enjoyed this book immensely. The main character was a ton of fun to read as she was the right mix of impulsive, intelligent, and entertaining to make it worth the binge. The book suffered from too big of a cast at first so it was super overwhelming to keep track of names. But over time the other characters became very distinctive and enjoyable as well. I could picture all the side characters really clearly after a bit and I surprisingly was able to tell them apart just by name for once.

A lot of that was due to how well Tamsyn Muir used her exposition and description. While there was a lot more than other books, the descriptions set the scene really well and made some of the gothic nature of the setting stick out to me. There was one scene around halfway through the book that kept me up at night because of how well it was set up and how spooky it was.

The general plot was gripping though it was never super clear about the overall purpose of the whole story. It was passed over in a few sentences and each character seemed to understand the goal implicitly but it wasn't satisfying to me as a reader. I assume the whole background story and the lore is expanded on in the next books so I was happy to just read knowing that this story was pretty insulated from the rest of the world.

Overall this book was another solid 4 stars (third this week!) and I am going to start binging the second book :)

4.75

book was badass and i really enjoyed the character arcs. they felt so fleshed out and meaningful

it felt like a far better poppy war that touched on far more interesting themes of family and tradition and pride and sacrifice. and it was done in such an eloquent and impactful way. i never felt pandered to or that scenes were overdramatized. furthermore it had such an interesting plot arc that i dont want to spoil. the climactic scenes in this book were so excellent in the plot sequences, writing, and internal character growth. it feels rare that a book is able to make climaxes that are so deeply tied to the character arc. big big fan

only reason it wasn't a full 5 was cuz it honestly felt like a setup for the author's other series and that the external baddies felt like a faceless antagonist. also race felt kinda weird to read about but it was minor things

i had a good time!!!! i love the lil worlds and the romance was p sweet – letters are so sick damn