lilia
all i can say is i want to take this book and wear it’s words like a second skin. i want to be swathed in it until it’s the only thing i know. bury me with it.
Oh my god, where do I even begin? Please note that I am still undergoing severe book hangover right now (and that should tell you enough) but I really wanted to get this mini review done while I was still stewing in the emotions.
This book... Took me on a real ride. I feel like I went through the the five stages of grief just reading this from start to finish. It felt like a barrage of emotion from all sides because every single character was going through their much-needed growth spurts (growing pains and all) and I felt it all.
This truly felt like the proper finale to the series; the adventure, the danger, the love, the loss. It felt like everything in the previous books built up to this moment. I can tell you I was blindsided by a lot of the twists and turns this book took but I was so sure they would end up where they did and it didn't let me down (despite the amount of pain it took to get there). Honestly, I just want to take my metaphorical hat off to the author for doing such a good job weaving in the multiple plots and subplots.
To quote myself (from my live tweets): this book has stolen my entire heart and wrapped it neatly in its little digital pages. Will I ever get it back? Who knows. But this is a definite must-read if you love steampunk era aesthetics, light fantasy (to be honest i feel like this borders more on magical realism than true fantasy), and interesting characters + we have bipoc and lgbtqia+ rep <3
Honestly would give this a solid 4.5 stars really instead of 4 but THIS. I do not have any coherent thoughts other than I could not put this book down at all and I became so invested in the characters from really early on.
What started as a recovery read after I finished a much heavier book (The Vegetarian) turned into so much more. I am definitely set on the rest of the series now and will probably check out the author's other books too :)
I may or may not have binge read all three volumes in one go but this was just what I needed — cute, warm, and fuzzy while still covering slightly heavier topics. I am now really invested in every character in this book and I can't wait to read the rest!
I don't think I've ever read a book that's made me want to sit down and cry while simultaneously contemplate my existence. This was such a beautiful story - when people say ‘coming of age' this is exactly what they mean.
Honestly, I had no idea what to expect going into this. I hadn't really read the synopsis or heard people talk about it beyond saying that it was a good book and I'm glad I didn't. Not knowing made it even better, it made me feeling like I was growing up alongside Ari. Maybe I have.
It was an incredible read. I'm glad I started the year off with this book.
I was not expecting to like this book much but this was truly such a beautiful story about not just the fragility but also the strength of humanity and being human. The duality between the strength of the machines and the weaknesses that lie in the limitations of their programming versus the inherent weakness of being human and the strength that comes from free will.
And I got all of that without actually thinking about it while I was reading. The story itself gripped me from
the beginning, Gio and Victor and their relationship with each other and the other machines. And Hap. Oh Hap. I fell for all of them so hard and so fast, Nurse Ratched being my favourite. Obviously.
I even loved how it was not so much a ‘romance' subplot as it was just an overarching plot about love and I am nothing if not a sucker for love (and stories about it), in all its many forms. I kid you not when I say this book made me tear up a little, and I'm not a crier. I don't even cry watching movies but this story made my heart ache in just the right way.
If you're looking for something that is humorous and warm while still being compelling and thought-provoking then this is definitely the book for you. If you're here for the emotions, the feeling of belonging, the going against all odds. then read this. I will never forget someone describing TJ Klune's House in the Cerulean Sea as a warm hug and I promise this book is the same. There is just something about his writing that makes you feel welcome and at home in his world.
I enjoyed this thoroughly and my only gripe is that there isn't more for me to sink my teeth into.
This is my first time writing something here about a book I've read but this was such an amazing story! Not only was it a warm-heated narrative full of found family and queer experiences, it was a narrative that took serious topics like prejudice and systemic racism and packaged it into something so palatable and so easy to read and digest.
Everything about this book was something else, from the characters to the discussions they had to the prose style. I don't think I've ever come out of a book feeling both the warm fuzzies and like I need to sit down and deliberate life for a good, long while.
I don't think I can recommend this book enough.
The goodreads app kept eating my review so here is my last attempt. Very slow start but ramped up extremely fast beyond the 50% mark. Left me extremely confused and very deliberately does not answer the questions it forces you to ask, which I think was a key point of the book and something commonly found in other books by the author (from what I've heard). I know it sounds negative but I don't mean this in a negative way, it means we have to come up with our own answers, which isn't always a bad thing.
Ultimately was a study of human behaviour, interaction and motivation in a future that doesn't seem too far off from where we are. I was interested enough to keep reading till the end and, honestly, if you make it past the slow beginning, and enjoy stories like this, it is truly worth the read.
Honestly, I couldn't put this book down from the minute I started it and finished it within a day. The story and its characters have sunk their claws into me and I cannot escape. The writing itself definitely isn't extraordinary by any means (I mean this is a YA fantasy and not literary fiction) but Tara Sim definitely has a way of hooking you into her stories so quickly and easily I'm honestly surprised this book doesn't already have a cult following.
If you're looking for a quick and easy read that is still exciting and tense enough with enough emotional points and plot twists to keep you moving forward then this is definitely a must-read.
THE WAY THIS ENDED. I feel like I got so much only to end up with nothing (and I mean this in the best, most tragic way). All I can say is, the author really knows how to keep you reading.
This took me a lot longer to finish than I expected and I was wondering for the longest time if it was just me who found it extremely boring and uninteresting but I see other people have thought the same thing. There is so much I can go into regarding this book and while I acknowledge the classic nature of it within the genre, the only way i can describe it is as a story that's given me a whole lot of nothing. Like A LOT of nothing. So many words later and I still have zero attachment to the characters, and while that can be overlooked in generally plot-heavy books, it felt like this book also had zero plot. I'm mainly just disappointed because I expected to like this book a lot more.
The way they ended book 1!! I have so many thoughts but it makes me even more interested in learning more. The start of the book was slow going but mainly because I'd already watched and read other versions but I absolutely devoured everything else that came after.
I am completely invested in Hua Cheng and Xie Lian's relationship now (and even in Xie Lian's relationships with Mu Qing and Feng Xin). Honestly, I thought it would take me longer to finish but here we are, I guess.
I already know there is so much more to Xie Lian than his current image and he's suffered 800 years of terrible luck so his story cannot be a happy one. Not to mention the number of people's he's lost throughout his life. The ending was a hint at what he is truly capable of and I can't wait to read more.
On to the next book!!