Riri
I've been waiting so long for an Arthurian YA book, and this is so bland I want to cry. Guinevere is bland. Arthur is bland. The side characters are mostly bland. The pacing is awful. The majority of the book is so painfully slow, and not only we are kept in the dark until much later, but Guinevere also does nothing but talk to people and being afraid of water. It is so mind-numbing that when the story finally picks up, I'm simply unable to bring myself to care. You can skim through 70% of the book and not miss much.
As a person who couldn't care less about morality in fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed Red Hood in all its bloody glory. While I can see why some people think the book encourages murdering abusive men, the characters clearly say that not all men become wolves. The male characters who play a big part in Bisou and her grandmother's lives are clearly depicted as being unproblematic, and in the end the message is not about how women defend themselves from men. It's about how men need to stop becoming predators. Sometimes we just need to stop taking things too literally to get the message.However, I do agree that the book might make some people uncomfortable, and that the second person perspective is not for everyone. It is also slow-paced at some points, particularly at the first section before Bisou gets to hear her grandmother's story. The ending is also quite abrupt, though personally I think it is a fitting ending for the book.For those who think this is a fantasy book, it's not. Not really. It's set in the modern world, with the wolves and the hunters being the light fantasy elements. It's different from [b:Damsel 36260155 Damsel Elana K. Arnold https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518818837l/36260155.SY75.jpg 57912874] in terms of settings, so don't expect them to be similar.
Actual rating: 3.5 ★
It could've been a 5 ★ read if only it had better pacing, and if only the female empowerment messages weren't so blatantly inserted it felt like an attempt to win brownie points.
The book starts off strong with Alessandra showing the full extent of how shady she is, so in addition to it being marketed as a “Slytherin romance”, I expected her to be super questionable in terms of action and morality. Since the story opens with her murdering her first love, of course I loved her instantly. Unfortunately, this only lasts for like the first few chapters. Once she enters the palace, her shadiness considerably starts to fade. She grows tamer and tamer as she interacts with the Shadow King too, but I thought maybe she just needs to adjust before she can carry out this plan of hers.
So I waited and waited as the story drags on, veeery slowly going through Alessandra's life in the palace, hoping that she'll go back to how she was in the beginning eventually. That did not happen. What happens is she turns into a blushing maiden, and the Shadow King himself isn't any better. Save for their occasional cunning and stomach for murder, nothing else is shady about them. This is not what I signed up for, so I can't help but feel disappointed. I wanted grey characters, not sometimes grey but most of the time white characters. It doesn't help that once Alessandra falls in love, her plan just goes out the window... though she gets what she wants anyway due to a very convenient proposal from the Shadow King.
To be fair, the writing is very easy to digest. The world is interesting, but lacks proper world-building to fully bring it to life. We only learn a little about the empire and the conquest, and even less about everything else. We don't even learn much about the land outside of the palace. Due to the lack of information, the climax and especially the ending feel terribly rushed. I feel like some parts in the middle could've been cut shorter to allow room for better build-up.
I wanted to love this. I didn't, but it was a fairly entertaining read.
That was so beautifully written.Having been disappointed by the Warcross duology and [b:Rebel 42121526 Rebel (Legend, #4) Marie Lu https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557505626l/42121526.SY75.jpg 65927270], I picked up this book with low expectations, wondering if the magic of Marie Lu's writing is wearing off on me. But I was pleasantly surprised by how good it is. It has the perfect blend of fantasy and reality, while staying faithful to history and also portraying the hardships a woman had to endure at the time. Nannerl is a fantastic lead with a lot of contradicting emotions, making her very realistically human. The book makes it clear at the beginning that this is her story, and it definitely delivers in that sense since the story really does put its main focus on her all the way to the end.My only complaint is about Nannerl's love interest Johann, who really doesn't make enough appearance to establish relevance. Like, what is the purpose of his character? Is he the Johann Baptist Franz von Berchtold zu Sonnenburg who became Nannerl's future husband? I doubt they're the same person but if he is, I wish the book explained his identity properly because it feels like he only appeared to add spice to Nannerl's adolescence and then disappeared just like that.But anyway.Marie Lu should write more fantasy.
Beautiful, atmospheric, and somewhat nostalgic. There's just something magical about this story, with its spirits in the woods and old gods that protect people's homes. It may feel rather slow in comparison to most YA books these days, but that's exactly what makes it good. You can take your time getting familiar with the countryside of medieval Russia and the protagonist, Vasya, who is fierce and rebellious but is never rude. Even when she wants to make her own decisions, something that is uncommon for a woman at the time, it is easy to understand why she feels that way instead of having it shoved in our faces in a nonsensical way.
It was amazing. It even has a little bit of schadenfreude towards the end. I love it.
Oh, and for those who are curious. The romance is thin. Like I'm sure it will develop further in the next books, but in this one, it's barely there.
Beautiful world-building, interesting magic system, intriguing political plot, all go to waste because the protagonist is rude, selfish, judgemental, and makes very dumb decisions that literally doom everyone because she never stops to think of consequences. The trend of spitfire “strong” heroines seriously needs to go. You can be strong without being rude.
WHAT IS WITH THAT ENDING.I didn't mean to fly through this book so fast cause it's gonna be a long wait until the final book comes out, but yesterday there was a 10-hour power outage and before I knew it, I've gone through 80% of it. Similarly to the first book, the plot twists come one after another and the last one hits you at the last chapter.[b:The Queen of Nothing 26032912 The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) Holly Black https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553624975l/26032912.SX50.jpg 45959205] is only coming out in November.At least we won't have to wait until 2020, I thought.3 months of waiting won't be that bad, I thought.I THOUGHT VERY WRONG. CARDAN. YOU BETTER HAVE A REALLY GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THAT ENDING.
Honestly, you'll only see all the plot twists coming if you trust literally no one. Everyone is shady, including the main character Jude, and I love her for it.
My only issue with this book is that there are quite a few instances of telling instead of showing, and it makes me feel so emotionally detached from what was happening. Jude and Locke's relationship, for example. It was never believable. If only there were more scenes of them that didn't get summarized in only a few sentences, maybe it would've given the later scenes with Taryn much more impact.
Also, Cardan can be such a little shit. A lovable one. I mean, his reaction to having a crush is to write her name over and over so intensely the pen tore through the paper, and then hide said paper in a copy of Alice in Wonderland. THAT IS SO SAD. I love him. :')
It's nice to see Taryn's perspective on the events in [b:The Cruel Prince 26032825 The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) Holly Black https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493047153l/26032825.SY75.jpg 45959123], as it definitely helps me understand her better. The thing is I absolutely loathe Taryn as she is the exact embodiment of all the aspects of humanity that I despise, and reading this half-assed self-justification makes me hate her even more. I do think Taryn and Locke deserve each other in that sense, as Locke is a real piece of shit and not in the endearing way that Cardan is. If they could just fuck each other over, then it'd be perfect.
It was promising until halfway through the book, and then it just went downhill. There's too much focus on the school life instead of the paranormal activities. It reminds me of all those times I played an otome game and had to wade through endless school days before the story gets to the point, and you have no idea how much I despise that. It really doesn't help that there's a lot of telling and not showing, and that both Miyoung and Jihoon feel so flat as characters, and also how the writing is so very choppy in many places. The story really feels like a bad K-Drama, which unfortunately is just not my thing.
I wanted to like this book, especially since it explores Korea and its culture, but I couldn't. Sadness.
⚠ TW: suicide attempt, implied sexual assault, animal abuse
For a good while, this book led me to believe it's dystopian. It's not. It fooled me as much as it fooled poor Ana. This is a darker, sci-fi version of Disneyland, complete with all the disturbing things such as abuse towards the animals and even the Disney Princesses. The story jumps back and forth between a trial for murder and the events leading to it, but it never gets confusing because the trial and interview chapters are presented in the format of a transcript. The mystery of what actually happened is also kept a secret all the way until the end.
My only complaint is that the ending feels unfinished, and that the book never really fleshed out all the other Fantasists. Even Nia and Eve who played pretty important roles in the story. The ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel though, so it'd be nice to see this world revisited to tie up all the remaining loose ends.
NOOO THIS SERIES IS NOW FINISHED AND IT MAKES ME SAD, I DON'T WANT TO PART WITH NONA AND HER FRIENDS. The ending is perfection, though it leaves me wanting for more. Especially after reading how precious Nona and Ara are in [b:Bound 42865580 Bound (Book of the Ancestor, #2.5) Mark Lawrence https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542641859l/42865580.SX50.jpg 66366292]. It's been two years since I first picked up [b:Red Sister 25895524 Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1) Mark Lawrence https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481038440l/25895524.SY75.jpg 45777900] and both girls grew up brilliantly, I love them.
Well, that was beautifully done. All the people dissing the world-building and slow pace are clearly not familiar with Chinese dramas and novels, because this one is more like those than your regular YA book. I agree that the majority of the book has a really slow pace for the buildup, but the multiple plot twists make up for all of that. Plus, you can't have good political drama and backstabbing if the story moves too fast. There would be no tension, and all the little things wouldn't help hammer that final nail in the coffin as much.
As far as the protagonist is concerned, Hesina is exactly what Akira said: the kind of queen who'd get assassinated in broad daylight. What makes her different, however, is that she owns up to her mistakes and never does obviously stupid things that YA protagonists seem to love doing. She gets into tricky situations not because she's dumb, but simply because there are better players who are steps ahead of her. She's also willing to learn, and she never lets her budding romance control her action. Is she a good queen? Yes. She's just too nice for the court and its political games. For now.
What annoys me about this book is that how it's marketed as a standalone, because it's obviously not. In fact, the story ends with a cliffhanger that screams there will be a sequel. I don't understand how this could be labelled as a standalone while the story isn't even finished yet, not to mention all the things dropped by the epilogue. I know the author said Hesina's arc is 80% complete, but as a reader I need the remaining 20% because why would you read an incomplete story?
In any case, this is a great book with morally grey characters, layers of manipulation and deception, and a lot of political drama. Please read and support this book so we can get the companion books and the rest of the the overarching plot. :')
Honestly, I only picked this up because I used to like Christine.
There's absolutely nothing to like in this book. The first half drags on forever, and while it does get better in the second half... the writing is bland, the side characters are shallow, the love interest is unlikable, the protagonist is immature and boy crazy, the romance is purely instalove, and you know what else is there? Cheating. You can call it a grey area if you want, but to me it counts 100% as cheating and I just cannot.
Actual rating: 4.5★Rounded up because I really liked the romance. Don't judge me. Some people really like this sort of thing, and I am one of those people.Similarly to [b:The Ghost Bride 16248223 The Ghost Bride Yangsze Choo https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1356671808s/16248223.jpg 22277074], this book is full of everything familiar to me as a Chinese who grew up in South East Asia. The plot moves rather slowly, as the book has two main perspectives that eventually connect and get things going. This time, however, the story revolves heavily around a string of murder mystery. Personally, I am quite fond of the genre so I enjoyed it thoroughly. There are some loose ends and things that I wish would've been expanded upon, such as the appearance of the weretiger. The book does leave enough clues for you to piece things together, but a clear conclusion or explanation would've made it much nicer.Also, the romance makes up for it so in the end it's still a really enjoyable read. I really like years of repressed yearning and desperation okay, so I find the whole thing with Shin super cute. Especially the hotel scene. :')There's a lot of flashbacks and dream sequences, which may make it confusing for those who aren't familiar with Asian beliefs and superstition, but for me the trip to the “train station” was quite fun since I quickly realized what the “river” was supposed to be. I don't understand why some people said the issue with the five virtues disappeared along the way, because it remains as a stable theme all the way until the end. Then again, maybe it was too subtle for those who aren't familiar with the culture.The ending is wonderful too. It left me wanting for more, but I love how the story closed with both main characters linked together, as they had been throughout the whole book. Definitely a refreshing read for me, who has been failing to muster any interest in recent YA books. We need more books like this.
Actual rating: 3.5 ★
Not really liking the pacing, it makes the book feel like a 500+ page read while in actuality it's really not that long. The characters are also kind of flat and all the time skips aren't really helping either, though I'm hoping it gets better in the next books. The writing, the world-building, and the politics are where this book really shines at, so much that I wish the characters at least share half of that charm since it'd make the book a lot easier to love.
The blurb does not lie. This is truly a dark, twisted, unforgettable fairy tale, and I love it in all its nasty glory. There will definitely be people who find this sickening, because the nastiness is what makes this book beautiful. There is no romance here. If anything, this is more like the unraveling of a potential romance.
The story starts with our prince in the middle of a quest to slay a dragon and rescue a damsel, who later on wakes up in the arms of the prince with no memories. As he brings her back to his kingdom to become his queen, however, she quickly realizes that it's... not the happily ever after kind of life she's heading into. The kingdom has questionable views of women, the men are nasty with fragile masculinity, and the prince himself quickly turns into a sexual predator.
Through the entire book, Prince Emory constantly belittles and talks down to Ama. He judges her openly, jumps on every chance he gets to molest her, humiliates her in front of everyone in the castle, threatens to kill her pet lynx, and later on even hits her when she refuses to play by his rules. Plus, we later find out that Ama is the dragon, whom Emory turned into a human by raping her via a sword cut. You read that right. He raped the dragon by proudly inserting his pee-pee into a wound. He also demands her to thank him for this, because he "made her beautiful".
I picked up this book knowing exactly what I was going to get, and it feels weirdly satisfying to see Emory acting like a completely irredeemable asshole that I was expecting him to be, even more so whenever Ama questions his behavior despite the acceptance he drilled onto her. I read this to the end expecting Emory to get punched in the face for all the nasty things he's done, and in that aspect the book does not disappoint at all. In fact, the ending is SO satisfying.
Read this if you want to see trash men getting what they deserve.
This book feels like pure suffering, which makes me sad because of how much I loved [b:Forest of a Thousand Lanterns 33958230 Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress, #1) Julie C. Dao https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496338822s/33958230.jpg 53186285]. Xifeng was an interesting protagonist, but even though I knew Jade would be nothing like Xifeng, she still ends up boring me to tears and I had to put the book down repeatedly just so I can find the motivation to keep up with her.First of all, it takes like 40% of the book just for the main plot to start. Before that, it feels like a really long introduction. So once Jade gets out of the palace it should be more interesting, right?N O P E.The rest of the book, aside from the finale and epilogue, is filled with Jade's journey and folktale-based side quests, and they all feel so rushed and forced. It's like reading an RPG event progression list. Done with side quest #1, time to move on to take side quest #2, and so on. It makes the pacing feel really, really weird, and yet somehow there was still room to squeeze in some romance that is on the level of sweetness that'd give you toothache.Okay, I understand this is a Snow White retelling and so Jade needs a prince who can wake her up with his kiss when Xifeng inevitably screws her over, but it still feels really forced. The journey part noticeably got cut to make room for the romance, which ends up making both feel lacking instead.Also, Jade. She is such a ball of everything that is good and nice, and that is the main reason of me not enjoying the story too much. There were attempts to give her depth as a person when she feels rage towards Xifeng and her lackeys, but still when it comes down to it, she's just... so pure, so good, so kind-hearted it's kinda annoying. This is like a story of The Chosen One that I might've enjoyed in a classic RPG, but not here. And not when the protagonist is a Disney Princess.I read this for Xifeng, and finally saw that Xifeng got a fitting (albeit anticlimactic) end to her story. That part was nice. The rest I didn't enjoy.
If you want your soul destroyed and healed again in the span of a single book, definitely pick up this series. Again, how come this isn't more popular? This series is nicely written and well-researched, plus it also has gradual, believable development for the main characters.
Emi especially has grown a lot since Red Winter. She started off as a sheltered miko who was understandably naive, fragile and prejudiced, but in this book she has really matured. Aside from gaining a lot of courage and determination, she also learned how to hold her ground and stand by her decisions, even though her situation is really restricting. Shiro, too, grew much more stable as his past and current selves start to blend together. The change is gradual, making the whole thing feel so seamless that Emi herself barely noticed.
There are a few things that made me go ? ? ? such as why a female character is named Saburo, which is a male name. But there's another character from the same group named Taro, so maybe it was intentional if they follow the Taro-Jiro-Saburo naming pattern? Anyway, it didn't really bother me. I just found it a little weird.
The ending is perfection. Maybe not really for you if you dislike truly happy endings, but Emi and Shiro have suffered so much through the whole series that I think the happiness is well-deserved. There is also a clever twist about Izanami near the end that links to her fate in the mythology, which was, again, a pleasant surprise even though I kinda saw it coming the moment they mentioned the place's name when talking about the Bridge to Heaven.
By which I mean Yomi, the land of the dead, where Izanami ends up in and Izanagi has to go down there trying to get her back, only to find out that she's rotting already.
It didn't get that grotesque, fortunately, but the first half does happen. I like how the author always links the seemingly small things together, it fits the actual legends while still keeping the story's originality at the same time.
Help. I literally cannot stop reading and I'm afraid of the withdrawal that will definitely come when I finish the series.
Dark Tempest is just as good as Red Winter. It's a proper sequel that expands on the worldbuilding, adding more details and depth as Emi ventures further outside of the shrines she's familiar with, explores other regions, and encountering more deities in her journey. Emi herself also grows stronger, but not in the way that she suddenly becomes an expert warrior that kicks everyone's butts. It's more like she gains inner strength, while still staying consistent to who she is and what her goals are. The growth is subtle, but that doesn't make it any less impressive.
I'm rating this 5★ because of one reason. When it comes to stories based on Japanese mythology and deities, there is one figure that always makes an appearance because of how nasty it is in the legends. I'd been wondering if that certain creature would be a part of this story too, and this book not only answers that expectation but also goes beyond it by providing more details about it. There is also a plot twist about Shiro which I saw from a mile away, but it's still nice to see all the pieces fall into place.
The creature is, of course, Yamata no Orochi, and the book even connects him to Susano-o and Ame-no-Murakumo while still maintaining a close link to the main plot involving Inari. Bless the author, really.