kaz
i read this in two sittings.
characters were not that memorable,
but 4 stars because the magic system was.
nice ol fuckery of terrible things.
personally always find it challenging when characters are morally grey, but this was done pretty well. pretty conflicted about how i felt about this book but i think the consistency of the suspense and the novel's ending gives it a solid 4.
imo, some of the sections dragged and could probs have been shorter, like the police case n the funeral. lowkey reminds me of murakami's writing cos it just DRAAAAGs on like bro i don't care that ur walking and counting the pavements on the footpath on the way to the coffee shop and the birds gather and oh now having a cigarette outside the coffee shop that is closed and i remember that my first girlfriend took me here haha nostalgia. but also i guess that's the whole point.
unique (?) coming of age story mixed with themes often found in green mythology (obviously as intended). if u know u know.
???I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. And I am not free as long as one person of colour remains chained. Nor is any one of you.???
really powerful collection of essays focusing on feminism, racism + sexuality. easy to read. highly recommend.
okay woooweehhhew
first of all, am very much still enjoying the mystery-solving aspect of era 2, despite it feeling a bit slow at times.
second, kandra galore? always had a soft spot for the species and the appearances in this book made me feel like i was 5 and it was christmas morning. SpoilerMeLaan was such a welcomed addition and her interactions with the other characters were so refreshing, especially with Marasi and Wayne. and finding out about Bleeder's lore made me feel so sad, i felt so much sympathy towards her, and poor Wax, he's really going through it again after Lessie part 2.
Sanderson, again, never fails to make the lead up to the ending so intense, with both a resolving but tense aspect to it. so many cliffhangers (though, i should be expecting this by now, after reading a few of his books).
Spoileralso, TenSoon best boy. would love to gift him some rotten meat.
it took me so long to read this because i kept getting bored but i was curious enough about the hype to finish it.
why i didn't like this book:
Spoiler
1. the narrator is so pretentious for no reason
2. all the women felt very 2-dimensional and the only trait they all had was that they were emotionally dysfunctional but sexually desirable (to the narrator)
3. i was extremely disturbed by the way the female characters were encapsulated in this story because it emphasised the sexualisation and objectification of women, which is/was especially bad in this historical and cultural context.
4. no plot
5. overall made me uncomfortable (especially the sex scenes)
though i will admit i understand why people enjoyed this (the atmosphere of the seemingly mundane and ordinary with awful tragedies embedded in it)
a very important story to be told. thought a lot about what it might've been like to be queer in the 50s in san francisco, especially considering the activism that followed in the 60s/70s. and also the experiences of being a (chinese) migrant/2nd gen at that time. seems like the world has changed so much yet so little since then.
borrowed the book from a friend and finally got around to reading it. wasn't sure what i was expecting but heard that the beginning could be kind of slow so i persisted. ended up being one of, if not, my favourite book i read in 2023. the world is fascinating, with really intricate and deep history but doesn't feel like an info dump or overwhelming because of the pace it's revealed. the characters are so diverse and unique. the ending was crazy. i felt like i was on this rollercoaster adventure the majority of the book. would recommend, especially to those who enjoy fantasy.
dnf @ 40%
beginning was super strong + premise was fascinating but rlly lacked the suspense. the whole atmosphere of the house wasn???t strange or creepy like i expected. at times felt like i was reading a teen drama. disappointing tbh.
super underwhelming overall and the plot felt like it had little direction + was confusing.
3 stars cause i like the dragons
tbh it was okay. decent ending to the first book but felt pretty slow + had to force myself a bit to finish.
read this at work across 2 weeks.
thought about it a fair bit after i finished.
excellent classic dystopian story.
nice ending to mistborn era 2 though it definitely doesn???t match the same scale as the ending of era 1. regardless, enjoyed the story especially the second half of it which i read within a day.
dnf @ 20%
cool hunger games-type premise/idea but hard focus on tropes.
def over-hyped by booktok.
can't get over the writing style. feels weird reading different first person perspectives but there's no variety across the POVs? also writing style is just too reminiscent of teen Wattpad to me.
no rating bc unfinished (i just can't do it).
ahhhh i missed this story so much. such a lovely retelling of events from a different pov.
so so so very tragic and sad.
also absolutely shocking and infuriating (but not surprised) how awful racism was less than 100 years ago (and how little has changed both in the US & other western countries).
It was like reading a collection of short stories of the Trojan war from numerous female perspectives & the author definitely delivered on this intention. Some stories were very short and focused wholly on the events that happened. I enjoyed it, though it wasn't as fulfilling as I hoped it would be.
Despite this, I really loved the Cassandra chapter/s.
cool world building and magic system.
plot twists were unexpected, which is always good.
just want to know why the male lead is called Xaden (it gives me the ick).
