p
just for that darkness alone does this book get this rating
man, it's actually an interesting story (ish) but some parts im just .... hm
all the “my lady”s were getting too much , bleh – a bit more of the wit would've been preferable, instead some parts were borderline soppy, oof
well, at least we have a girl – sorry, Lady – who's willing to call him out on his bs
anyway, im now just reading it for the soap opera / drama LOL
5/02/2022: how old is Gen ?! (this is MYA)
25/06/2020 , 2:30 AM on the dot: I forgot how witty and well written this book is, damn...
“You are more beautiful, Your Majesty...But she is more kind” – a gutsy move m'boy
3.5
it's a fun read...nothing revolutionary, and depending on your definition of “fun”... for anyone wanting a quick premise of the book:
Genre: i'd say it's closer to fantasy fiction than pure fantasy... + romance
location: it's a fictional setting...but kind of gives medieval vibes (which is true of Fantasy books)
Other tidbits: the story uses French phrases to add to the tone
one sentence summary: two people from two factions are forced into matrimony and learn to overcome their differences... haters->lovers trope.
the protagonist is ~ 17 i think
royalty
28/01/2022
Honest Review:
This story was exactly what I wanted to read and I love the book so so so much i-
don't know how to explain it LOL
I picked up the book on a whim after seeing a tumblr post about one of the characters in the book, and after seeing all the positive reviews, I was curious about the story.
Sometimes you just want to read a type of story which doesn't fit any one category, but is instead a masterful blend of several genres. THAT'S what this book is. It's (High) Fantasy and Mystery and quite realistic, despite the magic/fantasy components.
I love the way the story unravelled and I was thoroughly engrossed in the adventure. I literally could not put the book down, and while I have been reading quite a bit, those readings weren't quite like the way i BINGED this book (and the 2nd, and now the 3rd LOL).
There were a few times where my assumptions about the trajectory of the story were subverted, and if I hadn't already known about the ending, I would have been thoroughly blindsided because DAMN ... EVEN DESPITE KNOWING THE ENDING I kept doubting it!
Sometimes the Fantasy genre can be confusing, because of all the new terms/lore; I think the author has done a very clever job with this book, and I'm interested in seeing how the rest of the story will pan out.
After finishing the book, I couldn't help but compare it to the other Fantasy books I'd been reading. One of the discomforts that I have with the YA Fantasy genre is that FMC is usually a teenager while the MMC is literally ancient x.x
Or sometimes, the YA protagonist could totally be an actual young adult between the ages of 18-30 but for marketing reasons I guess? they make the protagonist way younger? which can take away from the reading experience. Or, now there's this whole subgenre of New Adult which features characters in that age demographic but it's dominated by (idealistic) contemporary reads – NOTHING wrong with that, but sometimes that's not the story you're in the mood for, yenno?
ANYWAY - all of this is to say: it was nice to read a story that reads like it's for actual young adults, and not only because of the characters' ages. Maturity doesn't take away from the character, but adds a level of depth, making the character more relatable, and maturity doesn't mean that the character can't have fun.
While the story follows some storyline tropes, it was still a refreshing read, and that's why I wanted to add an extra star - not because it's going to be a perfect read for everyone, but it was a perfect read for me.
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26/01/2022
I'm going to update it from 4 stars to 5 stars
because, thinking over it, it's actually better than a lot of the other books I've been reading lately, and instead of the veneer of idealistic hopefulness + a m.c. who's 16/17, this actually had a maturer protagonist
okay wait tbc - just realized I'm comparing what's essentially an adult fantasy with YA
BUT THE THING IS: it's... what i wish YA/NA would be, in that, we have a story about a an adult/young adult, and it's about more than just finding the love of their life. in fact - even if that's what this story wanted to tackle, at least the characters are realistic enough and compelling
again, the genres are different, so direct comparisons can't be made... brb
her BFF susan? died
she has a crush on this guy, ed?
from what i can tell, she ends up with susan's brother (uh, i think they live in diff countries so they were discussing how they can make it work)
started reading this, and then skim-read it to find out what happens in the end
historic-fiction is quite an informative genre - at the very least, it evokes my curiosity to know more about things that i didn't previously know about
alas, there are some things we'll never quite fully know in this world...
I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
17/02/2022: first read of 2022! after finishing it, i finally got into Caraval. what a delightful distraction this read was, i'm curious to see how the conflict will resolve going forward.
it's interesting to be introduced to this version of Jacks before the Caraval verison.... they're kinda different, hey
fun/light read
im debating whether to read the sequel
the story was okay, kinda predictable, but that's alright
royalty
june 19, 2021 @ 12:55 AM:
so no one knows who wrote Beowulf... some mystery author(s) btwn the 8th-11th centuries AD.
possibly the Anglo-Saxons? apparently they “had a similar heritage to the Geats, Swedes, and Danes - a few of the tribes who appear in the Beowulf narrative”.
the Hrothgar kingdom has a demon problem (the demon's name is Grendel) and this young Geatish warrior named Beowulf is like “imma fix it” cuz it's a challengecue record scratch – WAIT WHAT??apparently Beowulf fights this demon unarmed, rips his limbs off with his bear hands, and the demon goes off into the swamp to, just, DIEHrothgar celebrates Beowulf
but the demon's mom - who is a swamp hag - comes to exact revenge on her son's deathshe murders one of Hrothgar's advisors
Hrothgar's advisors retalliateBeowulf dives into the water to fight her and beheads her
so now the Danish countryside is free of monstersBeowulf's like “kay it's been nice, thx for treating me like a son but imma go home now”
home = Geatland, where he is celebrated by the king and queen (Hygelac and Hygd)quoting Sparknotes here: “Beowulf then hands over most of his treasure to Hygelac, who, in turn, rewards him.”
there's a war w/ Shylfings, Hygelac dies, and soon her son dies tooBeowulf rules Geatland for 50 years
When Beowulf is old, a thief breaks in and bothers their dragon (........why wasn't the dragon mentioned before?!!!!)Beowulf senses he's about to die, so he fights the dragon (which - ofc. that's exactly what one does when their death is imminent)
the Wiglaf help, and they all defeat the dragonbut the dragon bites Beowulf's neck, who dies
Geatland's like “shoot, we're in trouble now cuz Beowulf is dead, how are we going to survive D:”Beowulf's wishes are that he's burned in a funeral pyre and bury him w/ massive treasure “in a barrow overlooking the sea” (thanks Sparknotes).
the end.
