Suz Duvall
I absolutely loved book 1, A River of Golden Bones, and was so excited for this book, A Sky of Emerald Stars. But it just didn't meet expectations for me.
What I enjoyed:
- Dual POV: we still get Calla's pov but we also get Sadie's POV and I really enjoyed that
- Character development: I feel like we got to see some really good development from Sadie and Calla, as well of some of the supporting characters
- The setting: Mulford never lets me down on her settings and the continuation of this world is no different! It was cool to get to explore more of the world in this book
What I didn't enjoy:
- The plot didn't really get anywhere. Like yes this is obviously stuff we need to know to move forward in the series. Setting up for a war and trying to acquire allies. But it just didn't seem like the plot moved forward. It felt like a side quest.
- The pacing: this dragged. I was tandem reading (ebook + audio) and I still had to take a break because I got so bored.
- The romance between Sadie and Navin: I hate second chance romances. It is so hard to convince me that they can actually make things work a second time. This romance was on the way to convincing me and then!!!! All of a sudden (IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT) all is forgiven and they're saying “I love you”. I went back to reread because I was SURE that I had missed something. I hadn't.
I honestly feel like this could have been a novella and It could have been a 5 star read. But here we are almost 400 pages and a 3.5 star.
** thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me an eARC and an ALC**
I fell in love with Lily in One Night in Hartswood and was so excited to be gifted an e-arc by NetGalley of Lily and Jo's story.
While I already adored Lily going into my read I was delighted to fall in love with Jo and her journey of finding herself. I absolutely adored how cozy and beautiful All The Painted Stars was.
It's packed full of self discovery, character growth, and queerness and what else do you really need.
The fact that I am giving this book 5 stars even though it is in my least favorite pov (first person with fourth wall breaks) is not something i expected when i started it. To be honest i almost immediately put it down with no intention to pick it back up just because i dislike fourth wall breaks that much. But im so glad that i decided to push through my personal issues and continue reading because i absolutely fell in love with this book.
Leo is cocky and sunshine personified and turns that up to 100 to run away from his trauma.
Grimm is a storm cloud hiding a soft heart and trauma of his own.
And together they're a hot mess. And I adore them.
Sorcery and Small Magics is engaging and whitty and whimsical but also deals with a lot of internal conflict and tension the main characters have. I found it to be balanced nicely and never hit a lull in my reading journey which is phenomenal for a debut.
I'm thrilled that I was gifted an early copy from NetGalley but I'm devastated that I'll have to wait for the second book!
Rating: 3.5
tldr;Netherford Hall is a fun read and though I had some issues I will still recommend it and will continue reading the series. I'm invested in the characters individually and hope to see more interactions and growth in the coming installments!
What I loved
- The characters — all of the characters were whole and individual. They all had wonderfully different personalities and felt very real! I'm so invested in them individually that it's the reason why I can't rate this lower than 3 stars!
- The imagery — everything was so wonderfully described and made it so easy to feel like I was there. Could be seen as a bit flowery but not overly so in my opinion
- The setting — I adore that this took place completely in the country. Not many historical or regency tales take that route and it was very refreshing.
- The magic — the magic and magic system felt very similar to other magics but also completely unique in the way it was approached and I think as we get to see more into the magical world it will get even more interesting
What I didn't love
- The pacing — it was very slow. I do think there were many scenes that could have been replaced with something else to help move the plot forward
- Multiple storylines — I think that this is the crux of my issues. There were simply too many stories and plot lines to be fully explored in a novel of this size. The story technically has three main characters: Edith, Poppy, and Auden (who isn't even mentioned in the blurb but gets his own POVs and romance storyline). There are internal and external conflicts for all three to face and not enough time to expand on any of them.
- Not enough time to build the romance — at the end of the novel we are supposed to believe that three couples have fallen in love. I do not. I believe they could fall in love but I don't believe them to be so when such confessions are made. The story was so focused on all the the internal and external conflicts of the characters that there were not nearly enough interactions between the love interests themselves in order for such strong feeling to have been formed.
spoilers, please to not read unless you've finished the book!
The only thing I'm actually concerned about is the relationship and romance between Viola and Silas. He's supposedly in love with her and vice versa but we only saw their initial interaction and so I think if the second book picks up where book one of ends then it's going to be very difficult for Barron to make their romance believable for reader's
I wanted to love this book. I tried to love this book. but here i am with 400 questions, no answers, confused and slightly concerned.
tldr; this could have been a good cozy fantasy if it had been a couple hundred pages shorter and if it wasn't 100 plot holes taped together.
lets start with what i did like:
- the fae world. i love the description and all the different places we get to see.
- Shrike. i adore him and his house and his chickens and goats.
- how the book was split up into seasons
- this book is riddled with plot holes. like so many plot holes.
- how are wren and felix able to able to get through the fairy ring alone? is this something anyone can do? if so, why are there not more people missing? the fairy ring isnt exactly hidding or out of the way.
- why does shrike grow antlers?
- how is wren a mortal but he also has magic? are there other mortals with magic? can they only use their magic in the fae realm? (and so on..)
- There is no romantic build up between Shrike and Wren. they see each other and are in Insta-lust which i'm totally cool with but it turns into insta love there's no falling in love period. theyre just immediately struck on each other but dont really know anything about each other.
- Wren just immediately accepts that there is a fae realm and all these different fae creatures. no questions, no qualms, nada.
- Wren.... is not a great person. honestly Shrike deserves better. Wren regularly lies to Mr. Grigsby regularly, he is selfish, and has mean girl energy and not in the fun way. he's apparently worked for Mr. Grigsby for 10 years but he is never once said to actually be working, just doodling or daydreaming. how does he even have a job still? he's also had 10 years to work on his shit and still has zero character growth throughout the whole book. i honestly kept forgetting he was 30 ish because he acts like a teenager.
- why are there so many plot lines? this book did not need to be 600 pages long. and since it is you would think that the plot lines would make sense or be wrapped up but most of them are not. things just seem to happen with no other rhyme or reason than something needed to happen to get S&W from point A to point B even if it doesnt make sense.
- and speaking of NOT MAKING SENSE wtf is that ending. where the hell did that come from. not only was it comepletely out of the blue it was also comepletely out of character for wren. and what did it accomplish? wren and shrike have a “duel” which is basically a scripted sword dance and then to fit the rules that the Queen has set (the Oak King must die by the Holly king for the seasons to change) without killing one another they have sex on the battle field and fulfill the ritual with La Petite Mort (orgasm). this makes no sense. Wren has never been comfortable with public affection in the form of kissing or simple touches like hand holding so how the hell did he get over that in the span of a few pages and be confident enough to f*ck Shrike infront of hundreds if not thousands of people??
