Tabea

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.

What a whimsical story. Very different and somewhat light (although there is plenty of love, friendship and sorrow). It felt atmospherical and completes nicely as a stand-alone.
Plotwise I had a theory in the beginning but the story seemed to not develop along those lines - only to then come back around and boom, my theory was right after all. IMO this “plot twist” was well executed.
I'm really starting to love Asian folklore retelling or settings. I'd say it makes for a cosy and fast read (never mind my reading took forever but that was thanks to life not because of the book or a reading slump).
To me the snake-like dragons will forever look like Fuchur of the Never-Ending Story. Just in different colours.

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.

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.

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.

This book professes the authors love to language and tackles very important topics which are still current today although the time setting is early to mid 19th century and thus the peak of the British empire - with all the good and bad that entails.

Somehow I felt this book was divided into two books and my opinion on that is somewhat divided.
First you have the linguistics and translations which are the foundation of this Oxford's magic. As a fellow translator I loved the display of the power of translation and understanding other cultures. Intervowen words in other languages made me glad to have read it in English, the footnotes give the text a sort of commentary feel (I did have trouble finding the little asterisks within the text though) and the overall style of the book made me think of academia throughout. Usually I never annotate books (also because they are from the library) or even feel the urge to do so. However this book had some sentences or paragraphs that I was tempted to highlight.

Now to the second part. Let me tell you, the subtitle “arcane history of violence” is not to be taken lightly. As part of the colonialism and basically the Industrial Revolution aided by translation, the society of Britain is divided, if “the others” are allowed at all or not ignored. Topics like racism and sexism, even classicism, are unfortunately still relevant to this day and this book does not shy away from it. To me these parts seemed very realistic though painful to read. The descriptions were thought-provoking and made me think of life and loss and society and history and so much more.
There is the saying that history is written by the winner. I don't think there was a real winner at the end. And put in historic context, well you have the Empire and her colonies. Greed and exploitation (of person, land, resources) come with the territory of that.

The transition between these two parts of the book was not gradual. Some underlying or open aggression against our foreign students was always there but a very drastic happening changes the tone of the book and obviously also of the story.

Overall this book was utterly thought-provoking and I couldn't stop relating the writing to things I know of history, from colonialism to German national socialism of WW II, and even to current state of economics relying on finite resources and putting profit on a pedestal above humanity.
Definitely recommend to read!

I love a retelling of Arthurian legends and updating to modern days or making the middle aged times more interesting. This book did not miss on making things interesting. A whole new kind of magic system (or at least knew to me as someone who unfortunately does not know much about African or afroamerican folklore) and the always current discussion about race, sex and class connected to your place in the world.
Without spoiling the end, but I absolutely did not see the ending coming, I thought it quite a brilliant plot twist - and cliffhanger for the sequel.

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.)

Solide Fantasy Story. Die Welt, die die Autorin geschaffen hat, finde ich ganz interessant. Es handelt sich dabei zwar um die bekannten Elemente Elfen- bzw. Faeland, in dem Magie und Exzesse herrschen, während bei den Menschen Magie gefragt und verurteilt wird. Getrennt sind diese beiden Völker von einer Mauer und niemand darf diese übertreten. Der interessanteste Aspekt hieran war für mich die art der Magie - die Elemente - und dass es sich um 2 verschiedene Fae Völker mit unterschiedlichen Kulturen handelt.
Das Setting ist also nicht komplett neuartig und auch die Handlung selbst war vorhersehbar. Dafür waren die Figuren akzeptabel. Dabei haben mir insbesondere die 2 weiblichen Charaktere gefallen, die sich nichts von den Männern sagen lassen und ihren eigenen Kopf durchsetzen. Gerade der Charakter Ceylan will für das kämpfen, was sie für richtig hält und was ihr wichtig ist.

Wow - aber nicht im positiven Sinne.
Tl;dr eigentlich interessante Geschichte mit X-Men Feeling kann sich durch schauerliche Charaktere nicht entwickeln.
Den ersten Teil fand ich noch einigermaßen spannend, mich reizte daran insbesondere der Aspekt, dass eine Gentherapie bei einigen Menschen dazu führt, ein Element kontrollieren zu können. Interessant war auch, dass die Protagonistin nicht nur unwillig, sondern auch extrem schüchtern war. An sich finde ich es eine nette Idee, dass die Hauptperson nicht schlagfertig ist und sogar Panikattacken hat.
Damit hat die Autorin es im 2. Teil allerdings übertrieben. Deutlich sogar.
Malia scheint nichts alleine auf die Reihe zu bekommen und muss immer gerettet werden. Von Chris, der ein weiterer Faktor ist, warum ich die Story nicht mag. Eine gute Liebesgeschichte könnte über das Gerettet-werden-müssen vielleicht noch hinwegtäuschen, aber die Beziehung zwischen den beiden ist nicht gut, sondern schädlich. Chris ist kein Bad Boy mehr, sondern ein ausgewachsenes A*. Er belügt und verletzt Malia dauerhaft, von seinen fast schon größenwahnsinnigen Plänen (über Leichen natürlich) mal ganz abgesehen. Die eigentlich interessanten Aspekte zu Gentherapie, Elementkontrolle und den damit verbundenen ethisch-moralischen sowie politischen Fragen rücken absolut in den Hintergrund der toxischen “Liebes”geschichte.
Andere Rezensionen finden den Schreibstils der Autorin gut, hier bin ich unentschlossen. Vivien Summer schreibt jugendlich, locker-flockig und durchaus ansprechend, wenn man dies mag. Aber einige formulieren ließen mich stolpern, weil sie wie etwas schiefe Übersetzungen aus dem US-Englisch klingen - was bei einer niedersächsischen Autorin unwahrscheinlich ist...

Ziemlich gutes “was wäre wenn”. Ob eine solche Entwicklung der Technik nun stattgefunden hätte oder nicht, das Buch regt zum Nachdenken an: Was hätte anders sein können? Wie hätte ich selbst reagiert? (Schlieslich wirkt die NSA-Welt unserer viel ähnlicher als die Erzählungen unserer Großeltern) Wie sieht es heute aus?
Beim Lesen wurden die Schrecken der NS-Herrschaft nach und nach deutlich, auch wenn dies uns rückblickend natürlich schon bekannt ist. Doch die Handlung bleibt packend, das Ende im ersten Moment überraschend, rückblickend allerdings ein logischer Folgeschritt.

Every now and then, it happens. A movie is as good - or even better - than the book. Of course, we must thank Tolkien that he gave us the story about an unlikely fellowship that Jackson could turn into the awesome movies. Having said that, when you like to find out more about the history and the background of the extensive Middle Earth Universe, then reading the book is great. With its detailed description, it gave a lot of input to Jackson but also makes reading quite tiresome. So when you like exposition paragraphs, this is for you.