lidia🌷
it doesn't get the 5 stars only bc wotf is better and i know this is an unpopular opinion but does it look like i care
(5th reread: kinda wanna give it 5 stars cause its SO GOOD but wotf still better brrr)
im giving it 4 stars bc of how much i love the writing style but the plot was kinda disappointing ngl
this was so... i dont even know if i should say disappointing because i wasn't even expecting much
writing short stories and making each one of them engaging is really fucking difficult. brandon taylor's writing is so beautiful that it has you sticking around even when you don't feel that much for characters you didn't know three pages ago. but suddenly, 5 pages into a new short story you're already invested. i loved lionel and im really glad he's the one character that got more than one story. it is true that some of these chapters felt unfinished, but i think that made sense with the plot and the intention of this book—after all, we're just getting a few glimpses into these people's lives, we're not staying. i can't give it 5 stars simply because i had to skip the two stories that dealt with cancer and terminal illnesses, i would've appreciated a warning. i loved loved loved this.
60 pages into this book i said it was very easy to read, halfway through it became a //struggle//
i was excited when i read the premise because I thought the concept was cool and interesting, but it quickly became so incredibly repetitive and BORING. im disappointed because i think its a lot of wasted potential. the idea was good, but i wish it had been executed differently. exploring multiple characters' lives would've been far more interesting, but instead we stuck with nora the entire book, and the secondary characters floated around like ghosts with no real depth or personality.
there's one chatacter (i forgot their name) that says “Nora, love, it's okay, I don't need a monologue” toward the end. that was me throughout the entire book. this might be the least subtle story I've ever read, the author kept spelling out his (cheap) message and advice in never-ending monologues i had to skim through because i got so incredibly BORED.
lastly, i have to point out that i /hated/ the way this writer dealt with and spoke or depression and suicidal impulses, which SUCKS since those topics are such a big part of the story. im just gonna say i didnt agree with his point of view at all, and that this story felt like a too long self-help book.
I can't believe this one is supposed to be one of the best books of 2020
i am crying
—–
well. i finally FINALLY read this and. eh. that's all i can say.
its not that this book is a //bad book// i just feel like it was pointless and that makes me very sad.
i LOVE carry on. my favorite thing about it was how lightheaded and easy to read it was, and obviously the tone changes in the two following books. i do love the idea of exploring the chosen one's life once he's lost everything, once he isnt needed anymore. its something new and very interesting, but it wasnt executed properly. maybe Rowell should've focused on simon's feelings and self-exploration instead of making up a storyline that was lacking in so many ways.
im gonna start with agatha because what the FUCK happened to her
i read the last two books so fast im just so glad she ended up w dave that's all i have to say
i am SO incredibly excited about these series. ronan is my favorite trc character, he's so interesting and there's so much to explore when it comes to him, i've been dying to get more content focused on him. there's no much i can say about the sampler since it's only 8 chapters long and barely anything happens, but maggie's writing is still really beautiful and magical and captivating. i'm so looking forward to meet new characters and to find out if ronan is ever able to deal with his magical side in a way that allows him have a normal life. i can't wait for the full book to come out, i've missed ronan so much.
(also i really hope gansey shows up at some point, his friendship with ronan has always been my favorite)
Oof. I read this in one go in a few hours. That's how excited I was for it.
This is a good book, it's fun, light-hearted and heart wrenching at the same time. The friendships are so well written, I said this in Carry On already, these books handle f/m friendships better than anything I've read before, and I'm so thankful for that.
The characters got deeper. I didn't care much for Agatha in Carry On and here she's one of the best characters, if not the best. I love the fact that we get to see the aftermath of the war, how it all affects the hero in a realistic and painful way, usually the chosen one stories end before we can explore that. I love the new information about vampires, how we got to see how lonely and lost Baz feels because he knows nothing about himself, how naive and vulnerable that makes him, and how easy it is to take advantage of all that.
This book has so many nice things, but it made me feel incredibly frustrated. I went through the whole book waiting for a conversation that never happens, the miscommunication trope between baz and simon is so frustrating it almost gets ridiculous, it's so painfully obvious how much they love each other, just let them talk it through!! It's really easy to fix!! And the over the top jealousy was so unnecessary and I'd dare to say it was kind of out of character for Simon under those circumstances. It's also super frustrating the fact that the ending is really abrupt and interrupts the possibility of conversation that should've happened in the middle of the book, and also the fact that there were so many questions left unanswered jn Carry On that aren't answered here either (when will Simon find out about his parents? why can't he get his magic back when both of his parts were mages? and so many more).
It's obvious there will be a third book, there's so much to unpack still, and Baz and Simon are far away from the happy ending they deserve. I'm glad we're getting more of these wonderful characters, I just wish the ending wasn't so sudden.
I have to say my favourite thing about this book was the friendship between Baz and Penny, they are family!
I literally just finished it, so I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention many things. Summing up, I was frustrated but I suffered a lot and had so much fun at the same time. Also the final fight amazing.
I can't wait for the next book, I hope we don't have to wait too long!
this is probably my favourite book of the year.
me: i hate resurrection tropes
dorian: resurrects zachary
me: OH THANK GOD
im so annoyed i was liking this sm and then the ending made no sense and when hetty and reese left it was so ooc it made my head hurt. disappointing and im MAD bc i had high expectations and i loved the first half of the book ugh
oof this was so addictive, i couldn't stop reading, i didn't want to stop reading till i was done with it. and maybe this isnt perfect, maybe the fact that theres no proper definition between scenes pissed me off a little, maybe the end isn't realistic, but damn it all. it was beautiful and queer people deserve unrealistic happy endings too, there's already enough sadness in the real world.
i just wanna point out that the friendships is what i liked most about this story. and also that im a bit sad we didn't get to know philip better, what can i do, im a sucker for secondary characters that are assholes but have a big room for improvement and development.
anyway, it was such a fun and cute book.
this book was so incredibly underwhelming....... i didnt even hate it i was just :/ the entire time i dont think its bad i just DONT CARE like AT ALL
