Tabea

Die Story selbst ist gut, wenn auch das recht typische Auserwählten-Klischee, gesprenkelt mit Magie, Rache, Liebe, Verrat und Verlust. Diese Art Geschichte les ich gerne in ihrem zig Variationen, also immer her damit. Einige angeschnitten Themen, z.B. ob Macht korrupt macht oder nur korrupte Menschen nach Macht streben, finde ich besonders interessant und hoffe, dass dies im vermutlich nächsten Band noch vertieft werden.
Zum Stutzen gebracht hat mich allerdings teilweise der Schreibstil. Das Buch ist fast ausschließlich aus der Perspektive von der Protagonistin Elen erzählt, 3 Kapitel jedoch aus der Sicht von 2 weiteren Charakteren. Die Sprünge waren mir zu holprig, ich konnte mich auf die Charaktere nicht einlassen, sie kennenlernen oder sie sprachlich von Elen unterscheiden. Mit Elen selbst konnte ich mich auch nicht so recht anfreunden, mir wirkte sie zu egozentristisch (welch Überraschung bei der Ich-Perspektive) und überzogen bis fast schon hin zu einer Karikatur dieser typischen Auserwählten-Protagonistin. (Außerdem haben mich Rechtschreibfehler und so! Viele! Ausrufezeichen! Immer wieder aus der Geschichte gerissen, aber das ist jetzt definitiv kleinkariert von mir.)

Something in Asian stories gets me, in a positive way. It feels whimsical and different enough to make me forget dull reality, without being whacky.
We (only) have Shiori's POV but she sees quite a character development, especially in acceptance of her role in life. When the story started out in book one, I wouldn't have liked her as the spoiled little princess of the beginning - but she grows and becomes more mature while not being perfect.
I especially liked her love sub-story with Takkan. He is not just a fighter with buff muscles and simply there for thirst and pining and drama. He supports her while giving his honest thoughts, cares for her without being doting or patronising, and most importantly they learn to build their relationship on trust and talking with one another. This kind of relationship seems to me to not be popular in the Romantasy/Fantasy genre which I think a shame.
I won't give this story a full 5 star rating because: as far as I know it is a duology but it feels like it was supposed to be a trilogy. Somehow second and third instalment didn't have too much of a plot or would be too drawn out and boring, so some parts were edited out and the shortened plot parts mashed together in one book. To me there was a distinct disconnect between the parts of the travels and no smooth transition. However I had to return the book to the library shortly after starting the next leg of travel, so in the end this might have been the real reason and it reads just fine while zooming through in one go.

What a convoluted story. Entertaining enough to keep going while on a longer car drive, but still not too complex too keep in mind while having breaks in between.
Now, we were listening to the German audiobook (and I don't know if it'd be different when reading or in a different language). There are time jumps between present time of Niemi as detective and previous time of Niemi as a late-teen on a quest to find herself in Italy; the jumps between these sections were stumbles really. In the beginning it seemed like the audiobook had skipped chapters or parts were missing as in a bridged version (all was in order) while there was no instrumental interlude between present and past; however there were interludes between immediately subsequent moments of the present. It was absolutely confusing and normally I don't shave problems with different POVs or times. To make this even worse, the story in Italy does not seem to have much to do with the present time plot line and at best gives some background info on relations but has no consequences for the case.
And the case... it wanted to be utterly “meta” as murders recreating fictional murders of a thriller - all within an actual thriller.

Sufficiently entertaining for a long car ride but it tried to outsmart itself way too hard.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the first instalment, I was utterly lost in this second one. Our FMC has parts of her memories altered or erased so she doesn't remember and trusts the wrong persons. But it is all so convoluted and we have double or even triple agents. Or they just have their very own agenda. I honestly couldn't keep up with all the intrigues and plans and plan B's. It certainly didn't help that the MMC goes by two names of which we as readers are aware but it depends on the involved persons and it is not a nickname; and so the names are just randomly thrown around. Also characters that were present in the first instalment, kind of disappear - only to be name dropped and we're supposed to remember what their story was.
From what I think I understood of the plot, it is a story of finding yourself. That there is good and bad in all of us and we decide on which we act. Of these aspects I approve. It also seems to have put a spin on the traditional archangels set way into a future of our Earth that falls back to somewhat medieval style. I haven't quite decided yet if the spin on the known legends makes it easier or even more complicated
Honestly, this book was a letdown and I'm not sure if I'll continue reading.

Cozy background story for the sidekick of one of the most famous European legends

The BBC's series Merlin is one of my all time favourite cozy TV show. And this book had the same vibe, I was constantly reminded of it and in a good way, not copycat like. Admittedly, it must have been the other way round, given the dates of publication.
We learn about Merlin's life, starting in childhood all the way to him becoming a young man and understanding his given powers. At times, Merlin feels a little too self righteous and overly confident, but then again what teen doesn't?
My biggest issue is with the lack of female characters and the portrayal of women; what a surprise for a book that was first published in 1970 and takes place in the European Middle Ages. Im looking forward to more female characters in the next few books!


Mild spoiler for those who have never heard of the Arthurian legend.
* I personally preferred this way of Arthur's conception but knowing what I know of history... the other version is more likely *

Not bad, not good, somewhere in between

I have grown wary of hyped books and this was no different. While I did enjoy the very character-driven story, I feel like there was not much of a plot. Characters were also not too nuanced in their broodiness and rage, but somehow I did feel their chemistry. The structure and story arc are also something different which I'm not yet sure if I like it or not. The magic system seems to be closer to steam punk but was quite fun.
Overall, I'm not swept away by it but was still sufficiently entertained.

What did I read?

Nothing of the blurb gives away that this story is actually set in modern day New England, complete with smartphones and SUVs. Made me halt when I started reading. Then when she's at the school, there is no reason to think that we are in modern times (no mention of anything more modern than paper - including letter openers). So setting was already an issue for me that made no real sense. But I guess authors choice, whatever, fine.
Now characters. There wasn't much relation between characters from the FMC to others. Well, besides lusting over the age-old school director. Which in itself is already problematic.
And last, the plot. Um, what plot? Some revenge served with a side dish of, oh, the dirty deed. Maybe I was not paying enough attentional the „actual“ plotting and scheming but the finale came out of nowhere and I still don't know what happened. I was way too confused as to how it ended up as it is, and not in a good way.

Perplexing premise but flawless execution

Ever heard the saying “Behind every great man is a strong woman” (or something along these lines)? Well, that's about the premise of this book.
There is a secret(-ish) all-women magical order who guide people to fulfil their potential as heroes. The initiates train as girls and finally have test guiding their first hero to heroism in order to become a full fledged immortal and nit humanly strong member of the hero-making order.
We as reader follow one young girl on her path as initiate. She is young, she makes mistakes, she has trauma to unpack, she is full of self-doubt and she has hard decisions to make. But she is determined, she has loyal friends and gains new allies and friends (and more than that), she experiences the real world with emotions and setbacks and just life, she learns a lot and grows a lot. Her decisions are depicted in a way that is understandable even if someone else would not repeat them. Many of the side characters are also very interesting and the saying (or the premise of this book) starts to make a lot of sense when we read it fleshed out.
Overall it was a very fun read. After I got over my initial bewilderment of the premise

Even better than the first
While I thought the first instalment was pretty good, I was not as blown away by it as some bookfluencers have hyped it (yes, I‘m easily influenced). Specifically the MCs weren't as interesting as some of the side kicks.
Well, NOW I know why the series as a whole was hyped. In this second instalment we have different POVs and we have a slightly shifted focus on whose story is the focus (of those more interesting side kicks, yeah!). The storylines fuse intricately into each other and while they conclude the duology nicely, there is an opening for more. And those storylines were interesting and fun to read. Actually, „fun“ might be a wrong choice of words...
The setting remains very gothic and mysterious, I still couldn't shake the feeling of a play with limited props. But this time round, there were a few setting changes so it felt less claustrophobic.

Just like many other SciFi stories, it had me wondering at times about the science. Most of them try to sell it as quite likely (and not some basically fantastical mumbo-jumbo) and this was no different.
The timeline of the story arch was complicated as it was to be expected. I only realised now that it's supposed to be a series of books and otherwise I would have felt that the ending was not satisfying.

Overall, quite an entertaining read without overcomplicated plot, but rather known tropes and little surprise of the outcome.
The FMC felt a little too much like a pick me girl and I could not see lots of character development (just of her abilities and generally learning about... life, I guess - exposition for us readers) and the MMC was a cookie-cutter handsome brooding and supposedly grey character. I wasn't really expecting too different.
Now to the things that still irk me:
The first chapter really is like Hunger Games: a girl in the woods hunting to provide food for her family, taking place on a sort of choosing ceremony day to appease a frivolous ruling class, girl worrying about a sibling to be chosen for certain death - only to the herself end up as the chosen one.
The title is “scepter of blood” - why is there a crown on the cover? (Mild spoiler, the title fits the plot, the cover doesn't)
What on earth is up with the graphic representation of names?! German (original language of the book) is already equipped with funny graphemes ä, ö, ü and we theoretically know of other diacritic marks, e.g. in French and Portuguese. But this book mashes all diacritics of multiple languages together and then some. Without providing a pronunciation guide. Think along the lines of “Reighfyl” and you have the gist of this book's naming.

Okay, everyone seems to love this book but I just...don't? I already felt meh with the first instalment but at least the games made the plot interesting and entertaining to read (what does that say about me?). Now, this second was a lot happening and nothing happening at the same time. Solutions seemed very out of nowhere ex-machina style. Interesting aspects (like a society of vampires frozen as children with a deeply disturbed „mother“) were over in the blink of an eye. And there was no character development, just learning to wield powers (that again were pretty ex-machina convenient)

An important topic in a nice package
Overall, it reminded me of somewhat of Babel, questioning the legitimacy of white superiority and alienation or rather cultural bulldozing - just with a less bleak outlook. Magic is approached in a very scholarly scientific manner. And then there's dragons and a school to learn dragoneer stuff! (So basically a cooler and nicer version of Basgiath) we readers now experience a lovely blend of learning about dragons as well as cultures, both Native American and quirks of the “English” cultures while not seeing either one as superior and saviour of the other.
Note on the world: it's fairly easy to draw the parallels between fictional and true worlds but my highlight was reading the English version with random German borrowings.
Regarding the main characters, I kept forgetting that most of them are around 15/16, there was rarely childish behaviour but a lot of grown up reactions and still plenty of character development.
I am pretty excited to continue on this journey!

DNF ~35%
This book presents itself like something full of social critique while it was just horrible.
We are promised a young woman outside of slim beauty standards who (while somewhat unsure of her own body because of its shape) is smart, witty and capable to successfully run a country at a 10 year long war. We get a deeply insecure, timid and self-loathing grey mouse with no sign of outsmarting the society she's thrust in. Throughout the parts that I read it fell flat on all promises. There is a trigger warning about the fat phobia and body shaming but I went into it expecting uplifting defiance at some point. Instead it pulled me down with it.
The supposed love interest (enemy to lovers? Responsible for her physical disability?) is a horrible and demeaning person and would get domestic violence warnings as another trigger.
Maybe, just really really maybe, the book would have started to become what it promised but it was overly shaming that I couldn't deal with it.
I will give it the point that it read fairly smoothly simply from a language view.

Potato Chips Book
I was recently introduced to the notion of a “potato chips book” which is a book that is objectively bad but you still nibble it away.
Our heroine Arwen (that's already the start of it, there can only be one Arwen in fantasy!) is such an annoying pick me girl looking down on girls actually liking girly stuff. The MCC is cookie cutter good guy with a terrible secret only she can know. And only she can save him - or doom him. So yes, the plot was fairly predictable but had a story line that I thought absolutely weird.
And now the last weirdness: the ending of this book basically gives away the ending of the second book which apparently is somewhat at the same time. Why would the author do that?! (Even though the ending might be just as nicely predictable anyway)
That all being said, it was somehow entertaining and an easy read. Maybe a little bit of “so bad it's good again”? Keep your expectations low and it could be fun.

Entertaining but no novelty 3,5*
If The Selection and The Hunger Games had a magical baby... then it would probably be this book. Which isn't bad by itself but it also wasn't something that swept me of my feet.
Our FMC was fairly cookie-cutter: devoted to save her family, making friends and being kind even to “enemies” (or at least unfriendly competition) in the eyes of adversity, a fighter not easily giving up. Our MMC was also pretty cookie-cutter: brooding fae with muscles, magic and ruthless brutal appearances, but a kind well-hidden heart for his people.
The major plot twist wasn't much of a surprise for me, the breadcrumbs hinted sufficiently for me to smell the twist miles against the wind. And that's something as I'm usually more of a passenger princess, not thinking too critically about theories.
Overall, I wasn't too surprised or invested but still entertained.

This has the potential to become my new favourite series! A world in which everything has a god (from war over beauty to white lies and broken sandals) and where humanity started a war on those gods.
We follow a godkiller who has a personal vendetta against the gods who left her disabled. Her disability is not mentioned once and then glossed over, but rather every now and then it will be referenced with minor details that factor into her daily life. We follow a disillusioned warrior who now kicks ass as baker and is rowed back into the war on gods. We follow a young woman who is somehow bound to a small god. All those storylines come together nicely, forming a larger picture. The development of all characters was believable and well executed (I think at least). I am very happy that there is further material and can't wait to read how it goes on.
And as a last aspect, I don't think I've seen a cover lately which was not just pretty to look at but also makes incredible sense reading the story and starting to understand the different elements of it.

So so good! It has dragons, it has academia (dark academia? Although usually everyone knows how someone died or who killed whom if anyone even cares), it has witty banter and it has strong characters. Plus friendship and companionship, hard work and growth, secrets and betrayal.
We only get one person's view but our heroine is definitely no damsel in distress but can stand her ground with smart thinking and dedication. She is supposed to have a variation of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and is not a badass in spite of it but because of it.
The finale had me immediately wishing for the second book but here we are, waiting...
Readers beware, spicy scenes towards the end and lot of thirsting leading up to it. For me personally, it scraped by ruining our smart badass FMC as a lot of the later part is less about academia and dragons but more about love drama; however there is a reason making it make sense in the end and it did not ruin any previous growth.

Wow, what a joy ride, and a long one at that.
I read The Roots of Chaos in chronological order of the plot, not by publication date. That being said, I might come back to edit this review after reading #1.
Approximately the first third of the book is filled with world building and setting the plot. After that, it felt like a plateau of mostly action packed and high-stakes plot with one storyline quickly unfolding after another. While it was hard in the beginning to figure out characters and places, it is worth it:
Rich world building with lots of their own history, culture and myths/religion/cults/whatnot and great character development.
All of the 4 major characters are interesting. (I'm still puzzled about the obviously deliberate decision to not follow the story through one of the prologue babies but a different character.) The characters are of different ages and especially Tunuva in her 40? 50? was refreshing to other fantasy MCs.
Connecting the different storylines had me think of so many theories and kept me on my (mental) toes, only to surprise me and be different yet similar and I am absolutely looking forward to reading The Priory of the Orange Tree to find out how the events of A Day of Fallen Night are viewed and have implications some couple of years and centuries down the line.

Re-read (or first time listening)
Tolkien started my love for fantasy but ever since the first time reading it when I was a teen, I have only watched the movies which are my favourites of all time.
I had only read it in the established translation to German but knowing the genius of Tolkien, I have long wanted to read it in its original English version. Now for reading I didn't have the time but I listened to the audiobook read by Andy Serkins. He is an amazing voice actor and this added yet another beautiful layer (although heavily influenced by the movie version and his co-actors)
I forgot plenty of minor details from the first read (because impatient and action-loving teen me wanted the plot not the blablabla surrounding it).

First, LotR is a musical, and I'll die on that hill. What the hell?

While I loved the first one, this sequel had me wondering at times. I sometimes feel like second instalments come with problems: pacing, new characters, old character's development. And this happened in Bloodmarked as well; we get to meet new characters and like them - only for them to disappear into nowhere for the second part of the book and to have more new characters plop up which does none of them justice. Then there is the love triangle and I have to remind myself that they are 16 and somewhat in their early twenties respectively so making mistakes, being stupid, learning about love / expressing it, learning about oneself and growing as a person is a big part of becoming mature. Maybe I am growing too old for YA (you're as old as you feel? Damn.)
That being said, I enjoyed Bree finding out more about her powers, specifically about her non-traditional Western root. We get a view in to century-old powers and different types of power. It was an interesting take how it likely would play out maintaining the power throughout such a long period. Some takes on the traditional Arthurian legend may be different than expected and I am still intrigued to find out how the stories unfold.
Overall I thought this second instalment to be not as strong as the first but I will continue and read the next one.

Conclusion with a major bang

This book feels so very essential human. Throughout the trilogy, we as readers are constantly confronted with questions what makes us “us”, how we take set backs in our lives and how far we are willing to go.
I was first taken aback a little because there is a large time jump of 2 years from the last battle on Gaelung to this, and lots has happened. Somehow, I wished these happenings would have been part of the story and not just in flashbacks. But that would probably have made it way too long and badly paced.
Our MCs are all various shades of grey and no one is beyond redemption or always acting angel-y like good. For me this is the part that memes the story so compelling, how and why they act as they do.
This instalment gave us even higher stakes as before and delivers. It is no cookie-cutter story of either just drama or just sunshine and rainbows and unicorns - but just like real life, brutal but with a glimmer of hope.

Dark Academia with developments I did NOT see coming. (Would be 4,5 stars if I could)
The entire writing has a feeling of scientific study to it; even feelings are carefully dissected and analysed and probed. The content however is some wild mind f*ck games of philosophy I couldn't think of (and I'm honestly not sure if I understood everything). This weird combination is half the fun IMO. I read Babel only a couple of months before and was reminded of it often but not in a negative copycat-like way; it would probably be the same the other way around.
Especially in the beginning, I had trouble distinguishing the powers of our main characters, always forgot one to only come up with different five MCs each time and the story drags on and on with philosophical blablabla. There is a lot of talking and nothing really happens. For a long time. And then some more. Until...
Still not sure about how I like the characters, some feel human with their flaws, some are just... vile, even in their own POV. And I get that this is essential for the story - but I don't have to like the MCs as persons to like the story.
The plot seems to lay out tropes and I was a little smug to already have guessed some of the things that seemed to be happening, thinking to see the trope a mile away. Maybe I was even close to disappointed that it was all so obvious? Let me tell you how wrong I was. About every theory. Every. Only one of my theories was sort of there but not even close to how I thought of it.
In summary: you have to power through a little scientific and philosophical bore at the beginning to receive the curveballs. The slow development is my only reason for not giving 5 stars. My bad.

Quite unique magic system with rather bland MCs but all the more interesting side kicks
4,5*

My feed was filled with fellow book nerds hyping this book as under-hyped (ignore the irony of that statement). First things first, I really liked it but. But. It was not the take-my-breath-away awesomeness that I went in expecting.
The magic system is not inherent to the persons and there is no way to learn or otherwise achieve magical proficiency. It's passed on via cards. Admitted, I haven't read any books with a similar system. But there is also another way to have magic: the people are infected - and then hunted and executed. There is always a downside to the magic that card or the infection grants so now we're back in familiar territory. And our FMC is infected but hides her abilities well - until she meets the MMC. And her abilities are so much more than it leads on. And the ruler is a tyrants, so obviously there is rebellion brewing.
These parts of the story are not as unique as I was led to believe. Unfortunately.
Both of the MCs were pretty bland and nothing special. Way more interesting were some of the side characters and I find myself wishing for their POV or more development of their story arc. Ione does what suppressed women do to gain a sliver of power and seems to have yet more planned but we don't know more! The nightmare seems to not be such a nightmare after all but rather a tortured soul.
The setting was indeed very gothic with fog everywhere and a nameless evil within this fog. But it did feel like a Theater play where you have limited setting options. Not quite sure what to think of that part.
Now the end has twists and turns that do keep me entertained and I will certainly read the next instalment hoping for a nightmare.