Tresen

This was wholesome, but the postscript??? That was just too sweet for my small heart. ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ

Where the magic system in Elantris had let me down, this one delivered.
A quick read, fascinating magic and high stakes - everything I could have wished for in a novella.

So listen, was this enjoyable? Yes. Would I recommend it? Not really.

Elantris is a perfectly competent story. Just nothing more than that. Which is a shame, because it did have a lot of intriguing thematics in it.
Like communism or the critique on institutionalized religion.

But as a fan of Brandon Sanderson, I gotta say - it definitely shows that it has been his first published work.
Some events just occurred without much of reason. It was a lot of: This happened, then this happened, then this... Rather than: This happened therefore this happened despite this happened. You know what I mean?

And another thing that Sanderson learned over the years - you might have heard of this little storytelling phrase some industry specialists talk about - SHOW DON'T THELL GOD DAMMIT.
(Yes, that's the official saying.)
Sanderson was definitely an offender of that but god bless, is not anymore as far as I can tell.

A few other things I cannot bring myself to write down in a cohesive way, slight spoilers:

Why was the mystery around Raodens death just forgotten halfway through? Like it was such an engaging part of Sarenes character introduction and then she just didn't care anymore?

Why has the magic system only been part of the unraveling in the last third? Like the magic system has been sooo interesting. Give me MORE of it throughout the book. This is my drug of choice!
(Maybe I will get it when Elantris Part 2 comes out?)

Sadly, epic scenes where really cut short in the end. Everything was amping up and then: Over? Oh, okay I guess. The first third was really to slow for the end to be this quick.

That's it, that's my Senf to it.

Honestly, this just feels right.
Do 5 stars seem a little exaggerated?
Yes, and I would never put it on the same pedestal as other 5 star reads of mine.
But Legends and Lattes is perfect in its own way. Accomplishing everything I expect and being everything that I needed in a book at this point in time.
This is cozy fantasy at its finest.
I do think that some people might disagree, which is no surprise since “cozy” itself can mean variously different things from one person to the next.
But I expected my kind of cozy and it delivered my kind of cozy.

Coziness for me is a warm hug, the feeling of comfort, sharing laughs with friends, knowing that in this moment everything is just and right, like having all my troubles seem puny and irrelevant, because right now feels good.
Realising I have everything that I need right next to me.

Legends and Lattes encapsulates the feeling perfectly. It truly is lighthearted with a pinch of humour and a lot of endearing characters.
To all of you who can get enjoyment out of the smallest things in life: Be my guest and read this book.

Damn, who would have thought I'd finish it in this lifetime.

Soooo, this was fun? I guess. Maybe?
The thing is, I enjoyed many parts. In theory.
The world building wasn't fully fleshed out but intriguing. Especially in the first chapters when we got to know how Gods in this realm behave and what rules they are bound to.
Truth be told, lore is like my elixir of life.

The cast of characters was diverse and lovingly created.
But the character development, if there was any, was so unbelievably slow and too insignificant throughout. We have a lot of interesting scenes between our protagonists, but it often felt like they weren't used to their full potential.

The stakes of the story were HIGH but they got delivered without any real impact. I didn't care as much about the outcome of their quests as I might have should.

But even though I have a lot of criticism, I have to say that it was a fairly enjoyable read. (And a fast one if you aren't me.)
I'm looking forward to the next instalment and hopefully see improvement in Kaner's writing as this has only been her debut.

Me, rocking back and forth under tears: “That was nice.”

The. Fuck.

So let me put this first: I would have liked it more if I wasn't that stupid.

For me it was completely enjoyable based on the vibes alone. At first I thought the writing was tacky, but it grew on me. With each page I understood more and more of what to expect, which made it easier to enjoy the prose as I went along.

But you know what I couldn't comprehend better after each page: the world building. And with it, the plot.

I didn't have the slightest clue of what was going on. If I would have dissected each line piece by piece and thought about each new information given - then maybe, just mayyybe I wouldn't have understood everything. But I am not in school anymore, you will not see me doing this ever. (Except for Brandy Sandy maybe.)

BUT let me tell you: When I watched this 2min TikTok explaining the plot, the penny dropped. And it dropped HARD.
It was so obvious in hindsight. And by god did it enhance my thoughts about this book.

So yeah, read it. Maybe if you're halfway through and don't have a clue: Firstly, welcome to the club. Secondly, just read the tiniest bit of information about the setting and you'll be fine. Or ask me, I'll be glad to help you out.

Or should I say “GLADstone” to help you out? (Yes, I hate myself as well.)

That's a good book.

I honestly didn't expect Prachett to make me cry. On the other hand, I didn't expect to love Brutha as a protagonist, but then again here we are.

This book is inherently about the relationship that we as humans have with gods and our faith. Why do we believe? And more profound: In what exactly should we put our faith?
And this part is tricky, because I would count myself as an atheist - but this question resonated with me, why's that?
Because faith doesn't start with gods, holy figures, prophets or commandments and most definitely doesn't end there.

For me at least. And hopefully for you too.

The world is ever changing, here or in Discworld, though history keeps repeating itself over and over again.
One would think: “What good can I do? Nothing matters.” And I get it. It's tiresome.
But I believe that this train of thought is only for the truly faithless - and where's the fun in that?

It was to be expected.

Soooo, I read this book wrong.

I full heartedly thought it was a short story collection. Expecting tales or folklore out of Elfhame with a few mentions of some beloved characters here and there...

So my monkey brain read the first story and was like “ohhh nice, very cool - off to the next one!” completely and utterly forgetting what happend as I started the next chapter. Meaning I was rather confused to find Cardan appearing in all of them, but I didn't think much about it nor connected the dots to the main trilogy. To my defense I exclusively read it before sleep (hence I was only like 40% awake) and the whole plot of the Cruel Prince is nowhere to be found in my brain anymore.

So no, this wasn't a random short story collection. I take full responsibility. This ones on me.
That my friends, happens when you don't read the blurb.

But nonetheless: It was so enjoyable! I am a sucker for Blacks atmospheric writing and Rovina Cai creates such well drafted and mesmerizing artworks that i was pleased before even opening the book. I am a simple woman what can I say.

This is a definite recommendation for everyone except those who loathe Cardan with all of their soul.
But that begs the question why are you still reading this? Maybe you too thought it was about short stories... then you're welcome to stay, my confused comrade.

You know, sometimes there are books that you put down for some random reason. But when you pick them back up again after months - it's like you've never even left?

This was nice, very nice ending. Yes yes :)

Yeah, I am not kidding. I finished a book. This is not a drill. I read my first book this year and it's the end of February.
God of literature please forgive me for I have sinned.

Now let's talk VENOM:

It was okay. Definitely not as bad as I make it look like. (Taking months for finishing it. Oops.) The story is fine. And it has various unique aspects but Bex writing just didn't do it for me.
It worked in the first novel, but nowadays I just need a bit more. This very simple prose is just not for me anymore.
I really want to care for these people but I just couldn't.
I didn't care for anything that was happening even though the premise was so good.
Partially because our protagonist Marianne was getting less and less sympathetic. And I get the reasons why she was written that way, but I know that it could have been achieved differently as well.
This works as a quick summer read. But I wouldn't prioritize it any time soon if I were you.

I was really close to DNFing it, but what can I say: I am a completionist.

I probably won't read the last part of the triology but I'll keep checking out Bex' work. I mean this is her debut series. And if she improves the way she tells stories - count me in.

Okay, wow.
This book was a ride. A ride on the railway to emotions town!
(I don't why I picked this metaphor but ist 1 a.m. so I'm excused.)
So lemme tell you, I had high hopes going into it.
1. Good cover
2.character focused sci-fi
and
3. A good friend of mine really - like: REALLY - likes it.

An I gotta say, it didn't gripped me from the start. I was fairly intrigued by all the characters and their interactions with one another, as well as curious about the interplanetary locations we were going to discover.
And a major selling point were the characters for me. Hence I was a bit taken aback by the lack of individuality in their dialogue. Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of funny banter. Which is always nice to read. But I had my issues with bisecting the lines from one another. If you removed the name - pretty much everybody could have said the sentence. At least it felt like it.
But it definitely improved later on. Probably because I learned A LOT more about the personalities the crew mates are made of.
And oh boi do I love them now.
I do think that there is a lot more character development to be had and a lot more conflicts that could come up. Something that I am not content with.
Because I won't get it. It's pretty much a standalone and I dislike this fact and won't accept it. >:-(

And even though I love me some good conflicts between characters, that's not really the point of this story. (tho I got my fair share of it)
Sure there a high stakes, a plot and all that –
but I believe this story is about something deeper than that.
It's about Forgiveness. Acceptance. Love. Kindness. And Tolerance. Just life itself.

I don't really care that I didn't like the pacing of the first half or that I wish it had a different prose.
It doesn't matter to me as much. Because I saw what Becky tried to achieve with this novel. Values and themes she conveyed in such beautiful analogies.
Idk.
I just don't want to put my finger on the points that I wish were different.
She clearly focused everything about the things that matter most.

So why should I do it differently?

Hm i don't know how to feel about this. Because tbh it was a BORE to get through. Like the first two thirds? I don't want to experience that ever again. Everything that happened was a constant flow of nothingness - drugs, parties, indifferent dialogue and the protagonist feeling numb in this world.
And it's just not something I would have ever picked up for myself. Like reading it didn't felt good. Not once.
And I get it. That's the point of it, but I just wanted sooome sort of plot line. Which I got in the last third, where it really picked up. It's just wasn't soon enough.

I am for sure happy that I went through with it and kept reading. It's nothing I'd have experienced otherwise.
But would I ever recommend it? Hard to say yes to that, but I somewhat get the appeal and importance of stories like this.
You'll have to decide.

So I cried. A lot.
Cried to much my vision became blurry.
Cleared my nose of snot.
Thought about the ending again.
Cried some more.
Revisited the first book.
Cried again.

I gotta say. It's not my favorite of the three.
But nonetheless as a whole: Brandon Sanderson has crafted an unfathomably vast world filled with characters - that undoubtedly (tho personally) are the best ones I have ever experienced. I'm already longing for the feeling when I first dived into this story.
I know it can never be replicated.
It also means that this story will stick with me.
And that's all I can wish for.

I don't what to do. This book struck me. Harder than anything I've ever read.
I am trembling.

If u think that I've read all the spells, then u probably don't know me.

4*5

4.5*

There are books you like.
Some of them you even love.
And then there are books, who hit differently.

Those become your favorites.

Ok. Sooo we all agree to love League of Legends for what a fantastic world it brought us?
Good.

No, for real: With every short story, every cinematic trailer, every artwork - I fall in love with the world of runeterra again and again. Sure the lore is not perfect in every aspect and riot still got a lot of revamping to do. But damn, I haven't seen such a varied and rich world in a while. Every country has something to be curious about.
I'll consume everything that the people of riot delivery with great pleasure, cause I just can't get enough content from them.
I mean, jesus, I'm already thinking on how to implement a D&D campaign into this setting.

So how is this official companion book now?
Even though I am a sucker for everything that riot does, I gotta say this book is not flawless. Some of the shortstories where teeeedious to read, and the way the layout editors worked with varying fonts was... at best fun and interesting to look at, and at worst just dreadful to decipher.

But maybe that's just the design student in me...
(It's not. My brother disliked it as well.)

Still, Kudos to all the artist and authors who worked on this.
Pls give me more.

3.5*
This one was a blast.
I was intrigued because of the world building, and a bit let down, when Schwab didn't deliver as much as I would have liked. The different Londons we're distinct but not totally fleshed out. Something was missing for me.
But this wasn't a huge bummer, because the characters kept me reading.
At first I was annoyed of Delilah's actions and Kell was stone wall I couldn't really connect to. But as the adventure went on I came to understand those two a lot more and loved their interactions and banter towards the end soo goddamn much.
But why only 3.5 stars?
Well, the story follows the Macguffin plotline - which isn't a death sentence by any means, but maybe a little predictable and dare I say: lazy?

But the last third got me hooked and I hope we'll learn more about the world's lore in the next one.
It's a fast and enjoyable read, so go for it - you have nothing to lose

Kings of the Wyld is a book I'd recommend to probably everyone I know.
This story hits hard in all the good ways.
It knows what it is and executes it fucking perfect.

And god damn are the characters are a blast, let me tell you.

edit:
Ok, as I thought this book couldn't get any better I found the official playlist on spotify with songs corresponding to each chapter. Yes, I repeat: EACH CHAPTER. Guess who's jamming to some good old classic rock right now.