Tabea

Entertaining and bloody with sprinkles of kindness

At the beginning, I was not sure if I'd like the story. It felt quite a bit like The Hunger Games with vampires and then started to develop into the direction of From Blood and Ash. As I enjoyed FBAA those parallels didn't bother me much.
Was the book a literary masterpiece? F*ck no. Did the characters develop? Grey is a wide colour shade. Was the tension rising between the MCs? Sure, though it honestly had me laughing out loud at a point. Did this book entertain me? Absolutely.
That being said, I will read how the story goes on but I'll have to see if I read further instalments (six books of 3x duologies; let's see about that character switching)

You don't have to like the MC to like a book. Sort of

When I say, I don't like the MC, I mean it. He is self-righteous, selfish and calculating; feels superior most of the time and is not really bothered by being knocked off his pedestal; and talking about pedestals: women are either put on pedestals to be worshipped and adored and thought of without flaw - and every other female character is not worthy of being thought of as female.

All of the above would not stop me from liking the story if such a character was the entire point of the story. Well... it's complicated. We as readers only have our MC's POV and lacking at that. There is barely a mention of plans ( and to be fair, a big fun part of rebellion stories is the plans, the failing of said plans and then the subsequent quick thinking). Things happen and then it turns out to have been the plan. Deus ex Machina for the win! Maybe I could understand this IF we had Multi-POV and the plan or rescue or whatnot is part of another POV. I repeat, we only have MC'a thoughts - for my dislike on this, please refer to the beginning of my post. The few occasions where a plan was discussed, it was hinted that it was plan-ception and a bigger plan was hashed out before - and we were not invited to read about that!

Story wise a lot of back and forth between parties and loyalties happens and I have to admit, I lost track. If you liked the first one for its gory violence, this one will not disappoint in that regard. Admittedly, the relation between Darrow and Mustang evolves (not necessarily meaning the romantic aspect) and we finally get more information on Ares.

The 2 last chapters (no kidding) saved my rating on this, finally some planning, finally an actual goal where it's going. While not liking the MC, some ideas are interesting with regard to philosophy, politics and the state of our planet; and I would have loved to like this book more because of those aspects. They are few and sparse and the other IMO negative aspects put a heavy damper on me while reading. I will hesitantly continue, at least I now know what to expect.

Intriguing setting that somehow delivers and doesn't

I was quite excited to start reading this book with a retelling of Scheherazade and the grander scheme around it. We get these bits at the very beginning - and then it sort of fizzles out, I think we're supposed to guess that it continues? That was a little disappointing but still the rest of the story is beautifully told and the developments between the two main characters are cute. Two of the other POVs to me always seemed like an interruption of the main plot. While one makes sense for the finale, the other one just seems unnecessary and meandering, it could have been either completely omitted or blown further up with the development of the rebellion playing a larger part. That's my main critique but I have hopes for the next to delve deeper into that aspect.

I'm somewhat angry to have read this - and wasted time on it.
The first instalment was okay, somewhat predictable, nothing novel; but still entertaining enough. Now the second instalment... WTF
My major problem with this book: it pretends to be plot-driven while having what felt like at least 50% spice. Maybe I was naive going into it but I did not expect that much spice scenes while it's supposed to be plot. And those spice scenes are... bad. Both as in written badly and even if I could see past that, it's supposed to be the best sex ever and the description is of a normal BJ or something.
There has to be at least one nickname and of all words it is either “inmate” (and at some point when overheard explained with aforementioned spice, specifically role play) and it kept giving me the ick, or her true identity within the grander scheme of things - and if someone overheard this, you're all dead! Stupid.
Now to the little plot that we were gifted with. Again nothing novel, but making somewhat sense in the development. The love relation was unfortunately (besides the spice) pretty repetitive of getting it on - and then rejection “to focus on what matters.” Our FMC keeps emphasising that everything she does, she does for her siblings. Well then stop telling me that and actually do something?
Overall, I am seriously contemplating if I should continue. Having read some reviews, my opinion on this book is not alone and judging from reviews of the third instalment, it is not as bad. Maybe I'll have a peek if I have nothing else to read... (TBR laughing in the distance)

Felt like back at school
Having read a poem-style story now in adulthood, I can confidently say... that I'm no fan.
It took me a while to get into the style and honestly, interpreting what a stanza or canto was supposed to mean made me feel like back in class. Not sure that without the notation I would've understood much.
That being said, the writing style was hauntingly beautiful once I got used to it.

Hunger Games in Space with even more bloodshed
Coming from a long stretch of reading just fantasy, I had trouble at the beginning of getting in the story. Once in the flow, I was shocked at the described violence and abyss of humanity. A society divided not by blood or skin colour but by birth caste. Throw in some well established slavery, injustice by the ruling parties and terrible death, you have yourself the beginning of a revolution at hand. But to understand the enemy and to get close, you have to become the enemy? The “school” to become the highest Golds does teach survival and victory by all brutal means necessary. It reminds of an even more bloody version of the Hunger Games, complete with allies and “allies”, weapons, butchering, betrayal, determination and cheating. Our MMC feels holier-than-thou and everything roots back in an event I in the end call hypocrisies. Overall however, I did get sucked in his portrayal and depiction of human error and psychological missteps (way too tame an expression) and am intrigued in seeing this self-deceiving mess further in his story. Obviously I root for the caste society to crumble and I will gladly read how it burns.

Double-retelling of Sleeping Beauty for wolf shifters

Sleeping Beauty doesn't appear once but twice in this story which admittedly bewildered me. But they're not even the focus but rather someone else entirely. Mother sleeping beauty / wolf shifter queen had twins and one is also put to sleep. The other twin was usually in the shadows and is now put front stage. Besides venturing out to save the twin, they end up finding themselves. It sounds a little cliche but the strict wolf pack structures are definitely a not so subtle nod to patriarchal society and within this, the character development makes sense. This mostly took a backseat in favour of the plot and for me, it ended up being a little too random and not sufficiently felt and developed (but then again we never had much of a story „before“ where these aspects could have been better included and pondered).

Worthy ending of a great series

I kept putting off finishing this series, partially because I read a spoiler in the Crows duology (or so I thought) and partially because I didn't want it to end.
There is again set backs, fights, and fear. But most importantly the story emphasises friendship and what even a ragtag team can accomplish if the put their differences aside and focus on their shared ideals and goals.
Bardugo also doesn't shy away from including the ugly sides of war concerning the people fighting in it, both physical and mentally.

While I'm still somewhat in love with the whole Merlin story (and now sprinkles of Arthur) I realise that Merlin ist pretty manipulative and pulls plenty of puppeteer strings in the back. The scheming was quite entertaining. The character that was the most interesting to me however was Morgause. What she did - knowingly - is beyond appalling. But looking at when and where the Arthurian legend takes place, Society did not take kindly to smart and determined women, and this also includes Merlin. Expressions about other cultures and peoples, just as well as the competencies of women made me queasy.

A little more bewildering than the first

The first book, I immensely enjoyed because it was so different from the rest (regarding both characters and a unique magic system). This does continue in this book and we learn a lot more especially about Inara and Skedi. From the story arc, it was very similarly structured as the first book, with three distinct storylines that eventually intertwined, and I'm somewhat torn on this aspect. We have quite a few plot twist that were very entertaining but one character development leaves me scratching my head a little. Here's to hoping that it will resolve in the next book which I'm very excited to be reading

Light-hearted story with bonkers concepts. Makes for a fun read (or listen in my case; Stephen Fry has a soothingly amazing narrator's voice)

Not quite sure what to think of it. The story reminds me of Divergent and Red Queen; a girl with astonishing talent and unexpected defiance stirs up a rebellion against the ruthless and inhumane ruling body. Maybe I would have loved it had I read it like 10 years ago.
Of course our heroine is strikingly beautiful and every male character gawks at her. She's had like one meal a day with little nutrients and no exercise or even sunlight for nearly a year, she must look more like a skeleton than a human but sure, she's sexy.
That creepy aspect aside, the language and writing style are something very different. I would even call it flamboyant; it might not be to everyone's taste and certainly had me torn. Not gonna lie, between story and writing the middle part of the book had me struggling to continue reading. But then all of a sudden, the book is over and there is a sneak peak for part II. I would love to know more about the world building and characters' background so I will read on. But after a little break.