This one started out really strong for me. It had a unique writing style that was initially engaging and I liked the concept of the story. UnfortunateThis one started out really strong for me. It had a unique writing style that was initially engaging and I liked the concept of the story. Unfortunately, it started wearing a bit thin for me. It felt like I was reading a Gilmore Girls script where everyone was going out of their way to sound pithy. Theo was initially humorous, but eventually it made no sense that he went around acting unhinged all of the time and literally no one thought to ask him what his motivation was. You know that scene in Truman Show where Jim Carrey's character starts to suspect he's living in the world built around him and he just starts behaving erratically to try and elicit a response and everybody pretends like everything's normal and peachy keen? That was Theo in this fic, only that isn't the storyline of the fic. It's just Theo behaving increasingly odd and all of his friends completely ignoring it. It felt like believability was sacrificed for humour, which would be fine in a short crack fic, but in a work this long just kind of started to grate on me. Hermione was also missing all of the emotional intelligence that we know she has from canon and was written more like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory: logical to the point of hyperbole. The romance between Draco and Hermione was not bad though. It was just a story of two people slowly falling in love, which I kind of liked. I liked that it wasn't this grand romantic thing, but rather more of a realistic representation of a growing relationship. Went with 2 stars because "It was ok" is the most apt description of my impression of this....more
There are some real gems in here but overall it just didn't have me laughing as much as her first and some of the entries just felt a bit meandering aThere are some real gems in here but overall it just didn't have me laughing as much as her first and some of the entries just felt a bit meandering and not quite fully-formed. Would definitely still recommend though....more
Well, shit. I was literally about to write that I think this might be the end for me and this series because it's just gotten so boring and repetitiveWell, shit. I was literally about to write that I think this might be the end for me and this series because it's just gotten so boring and repetitive. And then I got curious and checked what 18.5 was about and it's about Qhuinn and Blay?! Fuck...well, of course, I have to read that! That pairing was one of the last times I actually really LOVED this series.
Honestly, I wish she would just put this series out of its misery already. It's not horrible, but it's just so repetitive. She puts zero effort into constructing unique and interesting characterizations anymore. Every single dude and every single dudette sounds identical to every other one. Ward's heart doesn't seem to be in it anymore, so I wish her brain/hands would read that memo....more
This was too long. There were parts that were more enjoyable, and all of them were parts where Bella wasn't there. I really didn't need to see all of This was too long. There were parts that were more enjoyable, and all of them were parts where Bella wasn't there. I really didn't need to see all of the Bella/Edward scenes redone just from within Edward's mind. I wish this had focused more on all the facets of Edward's experience of this that Bella wasn't there for and therefore we had no knowledge of. Edward is also comically mopey around Bella, to the point where I laughed out loud multiple times at his broody angst....more
I really enjoyed this. I didn't find Cath particularly relatable, personally, but it was a sweet read and I loved Levi. I found the ending felt rushedI really enjoyed this. I didn't find Cath particularly relatable, personally, but it was a sweet read and I loved Levi. I found the ending felt rushed though. Cath spends most of the book as a puddle of mush poured into vaguely human form and yet by the end she's got an air of unearned (and unexplained) calm? Levi is definitely magical because that's the only thing that has changed is that they started dating. I wish Cath had been less neurotic and obviously mentally ill (and in desperate need of help that she was not getting) in the first half of the book because it would have made the ending flow better....more
3.5, but rounding down because of the excessive and almost entirely inaccurate use of semicolons. Seriously, it's like the author just loaded up a can3.5, but rounding down because of the excessive and almost entirely inaccurate use of semicolons. Seriously, it's like the author just loaded up a cannon full of semicolons and shot it directly at this work. They are used indiscriminately and barely ever correctly (I think of the 1111 times a semicolon was used in this work, there were perhaps 20 that were used correctly.) It was incredibly distracting and despite a note in chapter 13, I believe, claiming they got betas to fix their semicolons, the betas either also did not know how to use them correctly, or this author just refused to take their grammatical corrections.
It has promise, but honestly...it's kind of boring. If you just want a story where two people fall instantly in love with each other and then spend the remaining 80% pining for reasons that would be pretty easily overcome, then this is for you. I get that it is set in a time when homosexuality is still illegal and that is a major hurdle for their love, but then the author includes a lesbian couple in the story that are quite happily loving together, which somewhat undercuts this difficulty for the boys.
It is a story about Nazi spies, so I expected some sort of twist or surprise in the ending. My money was on the best friend secretly being a Nazi spy and betraying Az, but nope. The story gets every shred of espionage and mystery and suspense out of the way right at the beginning when we find out Rose Montgomery's secret identity and the rest of the story is just a threadbare excuse to have Az and Crowley pine for each other. The mutual pining was good, but not enough to support 130k+ words for me. I wanted a little more actual spy story. There was nothing in this that really gripped me and compelled me to keep reading. I kept putting it down and not even thinking about it for a week at a time.
Very good characterization of Aziraphale and Crowley though. I think the author did a phenomenal job with their voices, quirks and mannerisms. Especially Aziraphale. Top notch Aziraphale....more
It took me forever to get through this, but not because it was not immensely enjoyable. Every time I would pick it up and read a few chapters, I wouldIt took me forever to get through this, but not because it was not immensely enjoyable. Every time I would pick it up and read a few chapters, I would think to myself how funny her writing is. Then I would put the book down and not pick it up again for weeks. 2020 is a weird year and I am in a huge reading slump, but this book made the few times I did feel motivated to read thoroughly enjoyable. That ending was so beautiful and positive and I just loved it. What a great place to leave the story at (for now, anyway...)...more
Cassandra Clare got her start in fanfiction and it really shows with this. Don't get me wrong: there are a lot of very talented wRounding up from 1.5.
Cassandra Clare got her start in fanfiction and it really shows with this. Don't get me wrong: there are a lot of very talented writers in the fanfiction community. However, there is a problem I have noticed with fanfic that some authors don't seem to know what to cut. You can have a really great idea, but if it doesn't further your story, you need to cut it. Some fanfic works have a lot of potential, but end up being bloated and weighed down with filler and unnecessary crap. And that's what I mean when I say that Clare's fanfic origins are shining through.
Seriously, does she not have an editor?! Whoever her editor is should be ASHAMED of themselves for letting this bloated carcass of a book be published. Who's the main characters of this? Who knows! Because there is like 6 different storylines and they're all boring as hell. Kudos to her for including some transgender and polyamory representation, but unfortunately I didn't give a shit about those characters because they were just distracting from what I think was supposed to be the main storyline. Pick. A. Story. And the polyamory was so ham-fisted and forced that I never bought into it at all. I am ALL HERE for a polycule that has real emotion behind it, but it was just Mark/Kieran with Christina squished onto them with dollar store sticky-tack. Stop trying to make Christina happen. She isn't going to happen!
Thank goodness I just did the audiobook of this (which was beautifully narrated, I must say), because if I'd tried to slog my way through this monolithic beast, I would need psychological evaluation to determine why I want to torture myself so badly (30+ hours of listening was bad enough, though I did speed it up to 3x speed just to get through this by the end.)
I keep trying out Clare's books because I keep hoping she will be able to recapture the magic of TID, but she keeps failing me miserably. Now I'm just starting to wonder if my memory of TID is flawed and it actually sucks too......more
Abby was pretty repellant for a huge chunk of this and I just couldn't get into this one.Abby was pretty repellant for a huge chunk of this and I just couldn't get into this one....more
Kind of repetitive and boring. A little too much pining. I would have enjoyed it more if it had been shorter and they didn't think so much about how hKind of repetitive and boring. A little too much pining. I would have enjoyed it more if it had been shorter and they didn't think so much about how hot the other is....more
Listened to the Podfic. Not much changed from the original, but seemed like it laid the groundwork for Draco's later involvement.Listened to the Podfic. Not much changed from the original, but seemed like it laid the groundwork for Draco's later involvement....more
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Books:
2020
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