Maddie

I wouldn't say that I particularly liked this book but it was entertaining to an extent. This is the young author's first book, so judging it by those standards, it is pretty good. However, beyond that, I found it cringy and unoriginal. I knew going into this that it was going to be romantasy-YA-trope-central, so I can look past that, but the dialogue was infuriating at times. The use of the present tense threw me off quite a bit at the start, and it has made me realise that I much prefer stories written in the past tense. I found the two main characters pretty annoying, but I loved the side characters. I won't be continuing the main series anytime soon, if at all, however I would like to read the novella that centres around one of the side characters that I liked. Will I be reading summaries of Reckless and Fearless? Yes, I will because I'm curious but I am not spending any more time than that on this series - tbh I should've dnf'd this at 50% but I thought such a long and well loved book had to get better, right??? Nope.

Here are some more specific thoughts, but SPOILER WARNING!

- Why was Pae's hair silver and Blair's lavender? Is this just some kind of quirky genetic mutation? It made Pae feel very manic-pixie-dream girl-esque in a bad way. Who else has an interesting hair colour???

- Do we really need Kai to be so moody? I just found his complaining a bit annoying to be honest. I know he has been through a lot, but come on. Maybe that's me nit-picking too much.

- Kai needs to stop saying 'darling' so much. It was cool the first time, but then it just got annoying and a bit creepy tbh.

- I think I would've viewed Kai as more original if we were introduced to him with his full name - Malakai - at the start. Kai Azer is too stereotypical for me not to make certain associations.

- Why was Kitt not concerned that both him and his brother were getting close with the same girl??? It was no secret so why were they both okay with this? Well, Kai got a bit jealous, but Kitt wasn't phased at all.

- The King had no redeeming features at all. I don't understand why he was so horrible. Even with his dying monologue, I felt he could've done with more character development than just 'he's a bad guy'.

- How old was Kai when he killed Pae's dad?? I thought Pae and Kai were similar ages - like three years apart MAX! How did Kai kill a fully grown man at like max eight years old??? Maybe I missed something, but that feels silly. Also, he would've known from the moment he met Pae that he killed her dad, so why did that reveal come so close to the end? It's not like he just forgot the first time he killed someone - we know he struggled with it!

- The first trial felt too close to the Hunger Games to be original, the second task felt too close to the Blood Rite from ACOSF, and the third trial felt too close to both the D&D movie (the panther mirroring? Clearly a displacer-beast reference) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. There was some comfort in the familiarity I guess, but from all the hype around this book I expected there to be more innovative genre-bending reveals and events.

- The most interesting thing for me was that Kai can use other peoples' abilities. Kinda like Aang in ATLA. It was cool how he had to try and be proficient in them all, and how it allows him to sense who's near him.

- I have no idea how Pae survived after getting her foot ripped to shreds (I know it was healed after a while but still) and then all the damage that the King did to her. That 'O' is bound to get infected ASAP.

- Bro it's always the blonde ones please can we get some originality. Never trust a blonde man in these kind of books.

- The whole thing about Pae being thrown into the first trial in a skimpy tank was frustrating. The author had the chance to not sexualise her but alas, of course she was running around in next to no clothing.

- How different were the trials before Kai's one? Would it not be boring??

- Silencers are cool!

- Adena and Lenny are the best characters imo.

I wouldn't say that I particularly liked this book but it was enjoyable to an extent. This is the young author's first book, so judging it by those standards, it is pretty amazing. However, beyond that, I found it somewhat cringy. I knew going into this that it was going to be romantasy-YA-trope-central, so I can look past that, but the dialogue was infuriating at times. The use of the present tense threw me off quite a bit at the start, and it has made me realise that I much prefer stories written in the past tense. I found the two main characters pretty annoying, but I loved the side characters. I won't be continuing the main series anytime soon, if at all, however I would like to read the novella that centres around one of the side characters that I liked. Will I be reading summaries of Reckless and Fearless? Yes, I will because I'm curious but I am not spending any more time than that on this series.

Here are some more specific thoughts, but SPOILER WARNING!

- Why was Pae's hair silver and Blair's lavender? Is this just some kind of quirky genetic mutation? It made Pae feel very manic-pixie-dream girl-esque in a bad way. Who else has an interesting hair colour???

- Do we really need Kai to be so moody? I just found his complaining a bit annoying to be honest. I know he has been through a lot, but come on. Maybe that's me nit-picking too much.

- Kai needs to stop saying 'darling' so much. It was cool the first time, but then it just got annoying and a bit creepy tbh.

- I think I would've viewed Kai as more original if we were introduced to him with his full name - Malakai - at the start. Kai Azer is too stereotypical for me not to make certain associations.

- Why was Kitt not concerned that both him and his brother were getting close with the same girl??? It was no secret so why were they both okay with this? Well, Kai got a bit jealous, but Kitt wasn't phased at all.

- The King had no redeeming features at all. I don't understand why he was so horrible. Even with his dying monologue, I felt he could've done with more character development than just 'he's a bad guy'.

- How old was Kai when he killed Pae's dad?? I thought Pae and Kai were similar ages - like three years apart MAX! How did Kai kill a fully grown man at like max eight years old??? Maybe I missed something, but that feels silly. Also, he would've known from the moment he met Pae that he killed her dad, so why did that reveal come so close to the end? It's not like he just forgot the first time he killed someone - we know he struggled with it!

- The first trial felt too close to the Hunger Games to be original, the second task felt too close to the Blood Rite from ACOSF, and the third trial felt too close to both the D&D movie (the panther mirroring? Clearly a displacer-beast reference) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. There was some comfort in the familiarity I guess, but from all the hype around this book I expected there to be more innovative genre-bending reveals and events.

- The most interesting thing for me was that Kai can use other peoples' abilities. Kinda like Aang in ATLA. It was cool how he had to try and be proficient in them all, and how it allows him to sense who's near him.

- I have no idea how Pae survived after getting her foot ripped to shreds (I know it was healed after a while but still) and then all the damage that the King did to her. That 'O' is bound to get infected ASAP.

- Bro it's always the blonde ones please can we get some originality. Never trust a blonde man in these kind of books.

- The whole thing about Pae being thrown into the first trial in a skimpy tank was frustrating. The author had the chance to not sexualise her but alas, of course she was running around in next to no clothing.

- How different were the trials before Kai's one? Would it not be boring??

- Silencers are cool!

- Adena and Lenny are the best characters imo.

For a book ‘written’ (recorded) so long ago, it remains poignant and summarises a lot of the self-help industry’s messaging succinctly. Obviously it lacks nuance (and you have to look past the male-centricism which is understandable for a 1950s work), but it was still a rapid reminder of basic self-help principles.

My edition also included a bonus book “How To Create Million Dollar Ideas” also by him, which I found introduced more new ideas to me. I particularly enjoyed his prompts inviting the reader to reflect on creativity in their lives.

This little book is an excellent intro to writing systems, with alphabetic systems as the focus. Davies' illustrations and clear style kept me engaged and left me feeling informed by the end. I know this will be a fantastic reference book for me - especially with the more specific A-Z section.