i do not fear being alone, i fear being forgotten i fear irrelevance”
Overall, this is a really beautiful and moving collection. I especiall 4 Stars
i do not fear being alone, i fear being forgotten i fear irrelevance”
Overall, this is a really beautiful and moving collection. I especially enjoyed it’s structure—breaking the book into categories, ending a section with words that function almost like titles, and the varying line breaks.
In particular, I thought the author was able to really beautifully express feelings of isolation and grappling with sexuality. Some of those lines and poems hit me hard and continued to ring in my head once I was finished reading.
But there’s also a few poems and sections that felt a little… stale. Not that they were poorly written, but just that they didn’t seem to add anything new to conversations or topics already addressed. I think these poems were also the ones I found to be a little too ‘on-the-nose’ in terms of topic and emotion.
In Conclusion:
This was really well structured and had several sections I adored, I’m interested in seeing how Michelle Smith progresses as an author and focuses in on their strengths.
I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review! ...more
Every little thing about you can be a weapon, if you’re clever enough.
Oh.my.god. This was my first Summers book, but definitely won’t be th5 Stars
Every little thing about you can be a weapon, if you’re clever enough.
Oh.my.god. This was my first Summers book, but definitely won’t be the last. Told both from the namesake’s perspective and as the dialogue of a podcast later discussing her disappearance, Summer’s writing created something unique and captivating.
”I’m going to kill a man. I’m going to steal the light from his eyes. I want to watch it go out. You aren’t supposed to answer violence with more violence but sometimes I think violence is the only answer.”
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: my aesthetic is girls with switchblades. Sadie clearly illustrates her motivation very early in the book, but it never felt heavy-handed. Interviews with her family members, discussion of her past and more time spent in her perspective only strengthens her motivation and the tension in the narrative. I adored her character. Every angry, broken, jagged and unlikable piece. She was so many things female protagonists aren’t allowed to be, and this parallels with the theme that strength takes many forms.
Sadie’s story is filled with people who’ve been victimized by family, horrible men, or life itself. This was often ugly, and worked to create a sullen, gritty atmosphere. But it doesn’t stop there, as the story also focuses on reclaiming power and some different ways that can look. (For Sadie, it’s a switchblade.)
At it’s core, this book is about the complicated nature of identity. Due to this layered narrative we consistently have to compare how Sadie perceives herself with how others see her. For example, we frequently see Sadie’s POV during interactions and West later interviews the character she interacted with. Jumping from deep in a character’s head and seeing how she rationalized behaviors immediately compared with other's theorizing about those same behaviors was trippy and fascinating. How much of what other's perceive is us?
But despite all these complicated themes and ideas, there’s never a moment the story fails as a thriller. It’s tightly woven and masterfully paced. Each scene builds anticipation and propels forward like a train on a track we aren’t always certain we like.
In Conclusion: I’m obsessed. I give so few five-star ratings because I’m saving them for books like this.
”But love is complicated, it’s messy. It can inspire selflessness, selfishness, our greatest accomplishments and our hardest mistakes. It brings us together and it can just as easily drive us apart. It can drive us.”
- action starts from the first page and remains high-adrenaline the whole way through. T2 Stars
Mini review because this was pretty unremarkable?
Pros:
- action starts from the first page and remains high-adrenaline the whole way through. This is difficult pace to manage, but somehow worked? - The dialogue feels pretty realistic for a group of teenagers
Cons: - the plot feels really formulaic - LIKE REALLY formulaic. So many tropes from slasher movies and a villain right off of the CW - all everyone did was fight like 24/7 - the lover interest was boring, and the only romantic conflict felt created by the protagonist - all the characters were introduced very quickly, without really standing out... and I couldn't keep them straight/care to? - Jude's whole plot revolves around being super angry at the world because he had two dads and oh god, what if people think he's gay too??
In Conclusion: Meh
I received an ARC of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you SOURCEBOOKS for the opportunity! ...more
There are some reads so poorly constructed I don’t hesitate to slap a one-star on them and move on. But this book 1 Star
Fetishization ≠ Representation
There are some reads so poorly constructed I don’t hesitate to slap a one-star on them and move on. But this book has lingered in my thoughts for weeks... because it’s a completely different kind of awful. Because this really, really tried. It really wants to open a discussion about how some girls—especially queer girls find a place in fandom. But this discussion devolves into an incredibly misguided, tone-deaf monologue.
Our main character, Claire, is obsessed with the TV show Demon Heart. It’s pretty obvious from the start this is a thinly-veiled parody of Supernatural, but when Claire asks a question during a Q&A panel that’s basically a recreation of real events… it’s even more obvious. So how does something based on a real-word occurrence lose all sense of realism? It makes no sense that the producers would spend so much money bringing Claire to every stop on this tour. It makes no sense that her mother just lets her 16-year-old daughter run around all these different cities without asking any questions. The way Claire and Forrest (the actor who slighted her) speak to each other is extreme, stilted and comes across like some sort of parody. None of this feels genuine or possible.
At one point, Claire literally blackmails the showrunner and holds him hostage while she ‘convinces him’ to make her ship canon. This is!not!normal! In the real world we’d see a story about this ‘deranged fan’ on the nightly news. But making matters even worse is Claire’s insistence she’s not taken seriously simply because she’s a teenage girl. The fact that we are supposed to sympathize makes it feel like the narrative believes this irrational behavior IS completely normal for a teenage girl. This is insulting. Claire screams, cries and threatens only to then play the victim and devalue the voices of those actually facing discrimination.
While most of this book is singularly focused on one girl’s experience, there is some diversity added with Tess, Claire’s love-interest. Tess identifies as homoromantic pansexual and is vocal about the lack of POC characters on Demon Heart. At first, I absolutely loved this and was hopeful Tess would aid Claire down the path of some development… instead their relationship turns into a toxic push-n-pull. They both show very little respect for the other, cumulating with Tess outing Claire to her mother. The fact that Claire’s mother is accepting and kind then paints this whole event as inconsequential and neither girl really apologizes.
But perhaps the singular point that pushed this book to dumpster-fire levels is the absurd amount of M/M fetishization that occurs. Despite Claire insisting she doesn’t only ship SmokeHeart because of the sex… she makes every discussion about it revolve around sex?? The first chapter literally starts with Claire googling porn so she can ‘properly’ finish her fanfic. Claire insists that she is focused on the importance of representation… but she’s literally incapable of discussing anything but the physicality of the relationship. To the point that she insists she won’t be ‘satisfied’ until she sees it manifest on the show.
Claire writes real-world fic about the actors of the two characters having sex, and then is flabbergasted when Forrest is upset by this. (Side note: Forrest also has some development regarding his own internal homophobia, but saying that’s the only reason he’d be upset by such fic… feels real gross) Both girls also joke about writing/reading incestuous, smutty Jonas Brother’s fic. They defend this by saying that “slash fic is just more fun!”
Overall:
*camera pans to me, still screaming into the void*
I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review, thanks to Freeform for the opportunity! No quotes were included in this review, as I’m currently unable to compare them to the final printed book....more
““I cried out to the fae to appear for me. It was my ill fortune that it was a goblin who answered.”
This wasn’t really bad, but it wasn’t partic
““I cried out to the fae to appear for me. It was my ill fortune that it was a goblin who answered.”
This wasn’t really bad, but it wasn’t particularly good either?
Taking place in the small, Northwestern town of Bellwater, the story revolves around four friends as they try to escape the spell-work of the clan of mischievous Goblins that live in the woods. Overall, it was a fun, inventive story, but definitely felt more NA Romance-y than Paranormal Adventure.
All of the mystical elements are referred to in colloquial modern English and all the description very straight-forward making them instead feel commonplace. Maybe this is just personal taste, but when I read about twisted goblins and fantastic fae, I want it to feel magical? Not just see our main character haggle with them and tons of debating their evilness.
While the story is rater short, a large amount of it is dedicated to the two romances. Again, they weren’t bad but they weren’t particularly engaging either? I was left feeling very ‘meh,’ but this may be entirely because I was expecting more focus on the paranormal aspect.
In Conclusion:
- If you’re looking for a New Adult romance with urban-fantasy elements, this is the book for you. - If you’re looking for a whimsical, magical story about devious goblin creatures… maybe look elsewhere.
I received an ARC of this through Netgalley, thanks to Central Avenue Publishing for the opportunity! (And sorry this is 15 years late whoops) ...more
"It's a cruel, cruel world. And the people are the worst part."
I just want to preface this review by saying I think this book is extremely3 Stars
"It's a cruel, cruel world. And the people are the worst part."
I just want to preface this review by saying I think this book is extremely important. It's historical fiction with zombies, sure, but it also centers on a very strong, biracial woman. I can't speak for the representation as a whole, but I will say I loved how unapologetic Jane is.
Taking place in an alternate US where zombies rose up during the Civil War, this takes a long hard look at institutionalized racism. Jane is a student at 'Miss Preston's School of Combat' where she trains to fight the zombies (or "shamblers") for 'privileged white folk.' She's also razor-sharp and precisely aware of how others perceive her.
This also has some wonderful discussions about femininity, as both mains are (very different) young women. Jane initially resents Kate, as Kate is more traditionally feminine, and with lighter features that allow her to "pass." Not only do these two learn to work together, but their initial dislike and Jane's assumptions are addressed.
There's also great ace and bi representation
But as amazing as these discussions were-- and as much fun as the zombie slaying was, the plot is a mess. It honestly felt like two different books combined into one, as the entire first half is dedicated to a setting and characters that rapidly shift to something entirely different. Instead of a linear plot that builds things just happen.The story doesn't build much tension, instead relying solely upon character arcs while chaos occurs.
(Side note: I loved how smart and intuitive Jane was, but she also somehow seems to correctly guess everything??)
Jane's letters back home are intriguing and tell a completely different story in-between chapters-- but it adds up to set-up for three separate stories Sadly to me, so much of this build up led to a tiny (and kind of random) conclusion. There's a lot of set up for the rest of the series, but there's still something dissatisfying about how completely unfinished everything is.
Overall: I have a feeling this is going to be one of my most unpopular opinions, as I can see this being very successful (and I hope it is!) But while there were so many great things about this book, the haphazard plot really detracted from them for me.
I received an ARC through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review! Thanks to Balzer + Bray for the opportunity! (Quotes not final!)...more
"Nobody gets to 'well actually' me and get away with it."
This is a really fun urban fantasy with a strong, biracial MC front and center. L3 Stars
"Nobody gets to 'well actually' me and get away with it."
This is a really fun urban fantasy with a strong, biracial MC front and center. Lelia is a foster-child trying to navigate life in her new adoptive family and there was some fantastic discussion about acceptance and what it means to be a family.
This paired well with the strong earthy-vibes and focus on environmentalism. Without spoiling, the fantasy element directly ties to Lelia's connection with nature, and it's written rather beautifully.
Unfortunately, despite so many strong elements the pacing was really inconsistent. The fantasy element isn't introduced until 50% of the way through the book, and the resulting storyline feels VERY rushed.
The only antagonist is intensely stereotypical. She's a mean-girl-cheerleader type who will go out of her way just to mess with our mains... for what reason? Uh... just general bitchiness I guess? It felt really off and the senseless girl-hate really detracted from my enjoyment of the story.
That being said, there's also a really non-cliche romance storyline (with the main girl standing up for herself in a great way!) and lots of fun/accurate internet usage, so this really was enjoyable!
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review, thanks to Flux for the opportunity!...more
“As they linger, any remaining humanness fades. Leaves the shell of a soul, in a sense. Time mutates and warps it all until, suddenly, we’ve
3 Stars
“As they linger, any remaining humanness fades. Leaves the shell of a soul, in a sense. Time mutates and warps it all until, suddenly, we’ve got entities beyond our control.”
Is there a better way to kick off fall than with an old-fashioned ghost story?
(Emphasis on the old fashioned-- as this takes place in 1890s London)
Our main character, Will joins a supernatural organization known as The Black Cross. Able t o see spirits from a young age, Will is especially beneficial to this ghost-hunting, paranormal-investigating team. This lead to a fun, spooky atmosphere.
One of my favorite things was how seamlessly this functions as both a LGBT and historical narrative. LGBT people have existed for all of history, and I love seeing their stories. While the initial blurb I received identified Will as transgender, I’m happy to see an updated version that uses the term ‘genderqueer.’ Maybe not the most specific of terms, but the way Will identifies isn’t always specific or on the traditional gender dichotomy. Appreciated how this was treated with respect and sensitivity, without becoming the primary focus of the character.
Though it held an interesting main character and plot, I couldn’t help but feel portions of this dragged on. For instance, nearly the first 100 pages is devoted to establishing Will’s homelife-- and then the setting swiftly changes. I understand portions of this were necessary for establishing their character, but it felt excessive. Here’s also large portions were character discuss procedures and formalities, and while this fits the 1890s dialect, it often bored me.
My other main problem, that no doubt worsened my boredom was the amount of rapidly introduced characters. There were quite a few, who were very similar and it all got a little muddles and turned into character-soup for me. Everyone's voice was very similar, though the investigators started to show towards the end, it was a little late.
Overall This is a fun, spooky story with a dynamic main character. The side characters and plot didn’t seem to be as well developed.
I received an ARC of this from the publisher, thanks to Month9Books for the opportunity!...more
"It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment's carelessness. If I had
3.5 Stars
"It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment's carelessness. If I had ever believed it, I no longer did.”
Writing this review is hard, because while I didn't love this... I definitely didn't hate it? It just wasn't for me. (also why it took me forever to read... and even longer to review) Not every book is for everyone, and I can definitely see why so many of my friends loved this.
Once again, Miller's writing is absolute magic. Every scene was filled with prose and description so delicious I just wanted to take a bite.
There's also a strong feminist undertone as Circe's views on femininity, strength and motherhood evolve. While I loved this, I still never connected with the character? I enjoyed the thoughts she was projecting, but how she arrived there wasn't always so clear?
I think the main reason I struggled is this feels firmly grounded in mythology. This meant the plot was less linear and more of a somewhat-linked chain of different events. For someone more familiar with the settings, myths or even the gods, I can see how this would all be really enjoyable!
Overall: It's not my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it's a bad cup of tea.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, thanks to Little, Brown for the opportunity! ...more
A book about five complex Indian women and their relationship with culture and race?? How is nobody talking about this gem??
Starting in the 1964 Stars
A book about five complex Indian women and their relationship with culture and race?? How is nobody talking about this gem??
Starting in the 1960s and working towards modern day, this follows a young Bengali family as they move to NYC-- notably Ranee and her children, Tara and Sonia. As the story continues on, we learn more about these characters (Tara secretly wants to perform on stage; Sonia joins the 70s feminist movement) and more are introduced, making this book primarily character-driven. All of the women are complex, flawed and interesting. Several of the characters make mistakes, or have opinions different than the rest of their family and it feels fantastically realistic.
This portrays Bengali culture in a fascinating and nuanced way. From what I can tell, this is an ownvoices novel, and I believe it shows not only in the nuances but the overarching theme that there isn’t a wrong way to be Bengali. Despite not being as conservative as her cousin, Anna, Shanti fights for Anna's right to modesty. Some of the characters are religious, others aren’t. Some are more sex positive, others crave their independence. They all embrace their heritage, but in different and unique ways.
Overall, this has some fantastic things to say about race, and opens up some brilliant discussions. Each of the characters has their own perspective on their race and culture, as stated above, and their interactions clearly show this:
“Who decided having less pigment in your skin was more attractive than having more melanin?"
”I’m not ashamed, but I no longer have a mannequin’s body. I don’t need one.”
“I’m not black enough for some people, but I’m not Indian enough for other people.”
She’s a Bengali feminist Catholic wife of a Louisiana black man. “Now that’s American,” she always says.
As much as I enjoyed this, I did have some problems with the lack of plot and abrupt ending. But more so, I was annoyed by the awkward and repetitive romances. While several of the character’s love interests were interesting (my favorite was Louis and his blended Louisiana perspective) the way the romance progresses were all really similar.
It basically went: Boy likes girl, girl is hesitant or doesn’t feel the same way, girl eventually comes around. The boys were never pushy, and I really appreciated this. (There’s a whole point where one character talks about a boy’s kindness makes him really attractive to her and YES GIRL. Give me a kind soul over a chiseled jaw anyday.) But not only was it repetitive, but it doesn’t feel realistic for it to happen five times.
Overall: I’m still super surprised more people aren’t talking about this book. Ownvoices Indian culture represented in five strong, complicated women. The plot and romance were lacking, but the character’s really drove the story.
I received an ARC of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, for the opportunity! (quotes not final)...more
I’m not assigning a rating to this, as I didn’t get very far-- and as such, this review focuses more on why I decided not to continue, insteDNF @ 15%
I’m not assigning a rating to this, as I didn’t get very far-- and as such, this review focuses more on why I decided not to continue, instead of an overview of the entire work.
The premise for this is really interesting, focusing on a girl and boy separated by past/future, who connect through dreams. But the writing style is very cluttered and filled with info-dumps.
Instead of giving any perception of the characters, the first few chapters are just stuffed with information. Both Babe’s world and Zat’s are just revealed in long rambling paragraphs. There are no sensory details, just historical facts, ramblings about Babe’s many moves or Zat explaining the intricacies of his society.
There’s also something really gimmicky about most of Babe’s backstory being revealed through blog posts and playing it off as “well my blog is just more like a diary I’m sharing.”
My main issue was the run-on-sentences. These paragraphs were incredibly long, broken up by parenthesis with useless information and multiple hyphens. It was just way too cluttered, and completely pulled me out of the story.
I received an ARC of this through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Amberjack Publishing for the opportunity!...more
Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner team back up for the first time since their Starbound series. Taking place on a distant planet, this story follows Jules and Mia as the navigate the ‘temples’ of an extinct alien species who ironically were called the ‘Undying.’ (Basically it started out Indiana Jones in space and somehow turned into Doctor Who.)
[image]
The plot itself is fun. These are the sort of zany, broad spectrum adventures that make me love sci-fi. And the interesting take on exploring a new planet with archaeology really is suppppeeeer fun. All the comparisons to Indiana Jones or Lara Croft or The Mummy (the fun one with Brendan Fraiser, not the one where Tom Cruise looks upset the whole time) are well deserved, as this exists as an exciting adventure story that happens to include: futuristic grave robbers, ancient booby traps and alien technology.
While fun, I think the plot was too narrow. This is a huge setting where earth is overpopulated and humanity was dying until this new undiscovered planet. But most of our time is spent in a very, very, small space following Jules and Mia work through puzzles. While the plot gets to the big stuff eventually, I wish it’d been the primary focus. Odd enough, I also felt this story could have benefited being in graphic novel format-- as all the puzzles are so visual and we’re left soley with lengthy descriptions.
Our main characters weren’t anything revolutionary-- a self proclaimed scholar and scavenger who both have trust issues, but they are solid with fun interactions. My main problem was the kinda-quick romance that distracts from the plot. Again, their interactions were fun, but there was so much focus on ‘wow-they’re-hot’ and ‘oh-no-should-I-trust-them’ in the worst places. Like you’re both on a time-crunch in a dangerous, unknown location… is now really the best time to have this conversation? Should you really make out with explosions so near? It’s not totally instalove-- but it happens fast and took up a large portion of the book. (I just wanted more interesting technology and deep ethical sci-fi stuff, because I’m a nerd.)
I did love that the character’s rely on non-traditional strengths. Jules and Mia solve things using math and linguistics, instead of being the most agile or strong. I love smart characters, and this felt refreshing rather than a school lesson.
Overall: This not only features an interesting world and entertaining characters, but the plot twist-and-turns quite a bit. I had my theories, but wasn’t ever certain what was about to happen. Definitely engrossing, and something I’d have flown through if life allowed.
I received an ARC of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thanks to Disney-Hyperion for the opportunity!...more
“Everything's science fiction until someone makes it science fact”
I’m going to go ahead and say it: It’s not very original. The idea of 3.5 Stars
“Everything's science fiction until someone makes it science fact”
I’m going to go ahead and say it: It’s not very original. The idea of an immersive gaming system where you control an avatar and it has real world complications has been done many times. (Examples: #1, #2, #3, #4,#5, and #6 )
What is new is the fun and diverse cast at the forefront of the story. Our main character is a young Asian female with rainbow-colored hair and a sleeve of tattoos who doesn’t tolerate being underestimated. The rest of the cast consists of multiple nationalities and languages, as well as a wheelchair-bound team captain who slays. (Asher was my favorite)
The character’s were fun-- but that doesn’t mean I loved them. Most of them don’t seem fully-developed yet, and this reflects most with our main character who is astoundingly good at everything she does. I am 200% for bad-ass hacker chicks. Please give me more women in STEM fields. But for Emika to be great at physically catching bad-guys in the real world, have top-notch criminal hacking skills (despite dropping out of high school) and kick butt at Warcross felt too much. There’s a scene where someone points out it took her twenty seconds to spot an error it took a team of trained professionals several days to find. Ugh.
The worldbuilding is quite spectacular, and I found the description-heavy narrative really worked at establishing this futuristic Tokyo and NYC. Everything from fashion sense to modern foods are shown without feeling clunky, so it makes my complaint sound even weirder but-- the world is simply too narrow. Why does Henka Games make this one game everyone is obsessed with? The technology is astounding and should have had soooooo much more impact on life itself. At the very least, there are thousands of games to play on our modern consoles, how am I supposed to believe an immersive gaming experience is developed and everyone uses it to play over-grown capture the flag?? (Can you imagine Skyrim with those glasses?)
It’s weird to me that I have so many negatives and I’m still rating this so high, but it’s also not at all weird because that ending. It ties everything together and elevates this from ‘meh’ status to something much better. Yes, the ending’s as good as everyone says. You’ll think you have it all figured out, but you won’t.
Overall: The isn't anything ground-breaking. The characters and world are both fun, but underdeveloped. The ending is the bomb.com.
I received an ARC of this through Edelweiss, thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the opportunity! (especially since I’m so late with this review, I'm a mess Istg)...more
“You are like a living rose among wax flowers. We maybe last forever, but you bloom brighter and smell sweeter....”
[image]
If you listen ver2 Stars
“You are like a living rose among wax flowers. We maybe last forever, but you bloom brighter and smell sweeter....”
[image]
If you listen very carefully, legend says you can still hear my drawn-out sigh, drifting in the wind…All these mystical, magical things were supposed to be enchanting but I just felt meh.
And it starts off really good! This has a gorgeous setting with a captivating depiction of fae. Rogerson's clever use of description builds picturesque scenes and there are so many fun elements introduced in the first few chapters, including:
- Twin-goats turned into mischievous children - Pompous fae obsessed with self-image, but more than a little out of touch. - Creepy half fae and half-dead human zombie spirit deer thing - Fae who literally die if they create anything (‘craft’) - As such, a whole town who creates for the fae in exchange for magical favors - Fae who often twist the favors into not-so pleasant loopholes (see goat-children) - The town is literally named Whimsy
BUT, it took less than three chapters for this to turn into another story where the sensible heroine goes ga-ga after instalove. Isobel is a master of craft and cleverly receives practical favors from the fae in return. She’s firmly established as smart and careful doing whatever she can to keep her family safe. ...And then Rook walks in. And I just don’t understand? She was sure she loved him… because why? She’s sees sadness in his eyes, and she wasn’t aware fae were capable of human emotion? Just because he’s hot and able to love doesn’t mean you love him, girl! There seriously wasn't a full conversation before she was dropping the L-bomb.
Don’t get me wrong-- conversation does happen! Over a meandering, long journey that exists simply to force interaction between the love interests. Seriously. Rook decides Isobel must stand trial for her heinous actions (She painted him with sadness in his eyes, guys!) and they take off towards Fairy-Land. But then they change directions five-times, more zombie-deer show up, they end up at a spring party and just… a bunch of other random crap? There wasn’t really any plot outside of, “these guys are totally going to fall in love, and they aren’t supposed to.”
However, there were several things I liked about the ending. There is some devious fae twisting-and-turning, and Isobel’s intelligence comes back as she proves she is capable. But by then it was too late, I’d already forgotten to care about the characters.
And there's no good resolution for anything? Everything is either 1.) solved way too easily, - like the incredibly evil and built up Alder-King - ALL his oppressive laws.
2.) it's not really solved at all? - Like the fact that Isobel is going to age and die while Rook stays the same forever?
Overall: Lots of pretty people and pretty words, not enough substance. There isn’t really a plot outside of the forbidden instalove, so if that’s your thing, you’re in luck.
I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review, thanks to Simon and Schuster for the opportunity!
(Also, all this talk of ‘crafting’ am I the only one that remembers: [image] )...more
Look, I can put up with a lot, but once the book goes into details with someone's super funny tale about sending their boyfriends side-chick'DNF @ 31%
Look, I can put up with a lot, but once the book goes into details with someone's super funny tale about sending their boyfriends side-chick's naked photos to EVERYONE she knows... I quit.
Too much drama. All the characters are incredibly self absorbed and it doesn't seem intentional...
Before I start, I’m not screaming 'plagiarism' or anything like that. These books just have a lot of similarities. Examples:
• Story revolves around a girl with a color name (Blue vs Ruby)
• Story starts when girl joins a group of 3 boys looking for something magical (Glendower vs Treasure)
• Ft boy predicted to die (not really a spoiler since like 2nd chapter info for both) (Gansey vs Charlie)
• Ft friend with magic sleeping abilities (Spoiler vs Anne)
• Ft poor friend with Daddy issues and self-worth issues (Adam vs Gabe)
• Ft magical place with lots of trees and riddles and disappearing items (Cabeswater vs Gray Wolf Island)
• Romance starts with girl disliking boy because of his prominent family name.
• Girl falls for boy once seeing his dedication to magical thing and his friends.
• Girl has ill-fated romantic moment(s) with one of the other boys before actual romance.
• “He’s dead but what a noble sacrifice” (spoilery)
• “Maybe the real dead-Welsh-King/treasure is the friends we make along the way”
• “Maybe your lips/kiss are venomous/cursed”
^ See what I mean??
These two books really exist in the same sort of magical-realism-almost-absurd-quest-thing, and share similar friend dynamics. While that’s not necessarily bad this book ended up falling really flat for me. (In ways that weren’t just related to living under the Stiefvater shadow)
First off, our main character is incredibly boring. Ruby’s twin sister recently passed away, but Ruby still defines herself through their relationship. She’s constantly saying she is “shy” and that her sister was “the nice twin” “the fun twin” “the outgoing twin.” Ruby constantly reiterated that she "doesn’t know who she is" without her sister. This is interesting. Seeing a character grieve and grow after such a longstanding co-dependent relationship is fascinating. But nothing is done with it. The whole book Ruby has absolutely no personality except reminding us she doesn’t have a personality. There’s one scene at the end where she jumps into a pond and has fun and… that’s it? That’s her character progression? I still don’t know what she wants. I know nothing about her character and she still doesn’t seem interested in finding out.
Ruby’s twin sister dies in the prologue, in a sad and gritty scene. Usually prologues give you some sort of idea what’s in store… but nope? This constantly and quickly changes tone. After such an emotional beginning this switched over to !lighthearted! and !friendship! before switching back to “uh-oh the island wants us to reveal our darkest secrets and one of us is a murderer.” (Literally) Ruby’s parents are caricatures who only call every so often to interject the story with “make friends!” and “DO YOU HAVE CLEAN UNDIES?” which is bad enough... but made worse because it interrupted all the serious-treasure-hunting and dark-secret sharing?
(Slightly spoilery discussion of Sexual Assault ahead)
One of the aforementioned secrets is reveals one of the boys sexually assaulted a girl at a party. Certainly a bold choice, and not one that sat very well with me. First off, I don’t love sexual assault as a plot twist. But I will say this was handled fairly sensitively. The character doesn’t excuse his actions, does not blame the victim, and feels horrified with himself. His friends don’t excuse the actions, either, and feel properly shocked and upset. This had the potential for an excellent discussion on toxic masculinity (the character says he just “wanted to feel like a man”) and how close to home assault strikes. But instead of dealing with the ramifications, the plot is effectively written out.
I don’t want to be completely negative of this review, as there were several strong points. The whole atmosphere was deliciously magical and mysterious, and there were several plot twists handled excellently. But the whole cast was introduced quickly, and never firmly established. There were several interesting character arcs or points for discussion, but nothing was done with them. As this was a debut, I'm interested to see how Neithercott progresses as an author.
In Conclusion:
Definitely ‘Raven Boys’ vibes. But without fully-formed characters and with rapidly switching tone.
I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for a review, thanks to Knopf Books for the opportunity! (That’s why no quotes used)...more
(Look, literally no one is more disappointed by this rating than me.)
There was very little focus on any of the charHello darkness my old friend... 🎶
(Look, literally no one is more disappointed by this rating than me.)
There was very little focus on any of the characters or dynamics I adored in the first book. Instead, almost all the time was devoted to new characters and relationships that I just didn't give a dang about. (That romance shoehorned in at the end of the last book? Suddenly becomes a BIG deal)
This story starts in high-gear and doesn’t slow down once. Focusing on Tyler and several other teens, the group starts to realize they are co 3 Stars
This story starts in high-gear and doesn’t slow down once. Focusing on Tyler and several other teens, the group starts to realize they are connected not only to each other but something much bigger. (Read: The word assassin is in the title.)
[image] I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review, thank you Entangled Teen for the opportunity!
I’m a sucker for a good assassin story anyway, but I was really excited for this one because the cover resembles my favorite murderchild Natasha Romanoff. However, I wasn’t expecting such a strong sci-fi element. There are fascinating conversations about eugenics and (being vague to avoid spoilers) ‘test-tube babies’ and it raises all those fun ethical questions sci-fi is so good at.
There’s also a fun use of Greek Mythology with everyone’s code-names/personalities matching those of the gods. Hades was a personal favorite of mine (as he usually is) and this interpretation of his character was dark, angsty and really kept the plot moving.
As many fun elements this contained, there were some issues with the characters and writing style. The plot moves so quickly I’m not certain it allowed time to understand any of the characters (outside of Hades). Several of the side-characters seem particularly underdeveloped and have very stilted dialogue. For instance, there’s one scene where an MC smokes pot only at the goading of his friends, and it all felt too bad after-school special for me. The MC’s friend seemed to exist pretty much only for this scene and has extremely little motivation or personality.
Outside of that, there were several places were the word choice was… odd. I’m not a fan of the word ‘leonine’ to describe the hot-guy’s eyes. It just doesn’t flow smoothly and I’m certainly not fan of it multiple times.
Overall:
This was certainly fun, and holds a lot of potential. If the character-work improves and the sentence structure cleans up a bit, I think the scary-real-science and fast-paced-plot will make for an awesome series....more
Despite what a certain review implies, there is nothing wrong with a bisexual female having a relationship with a man. This does not "undermine" her sDespite what a certain review implies, there is nothing wrong with a bisexual female having a relationship with a man. This does not "undermine" her sexuality or make previous relationships any less valid.
... there IS something wrong with info-dumps though. Lots and lots of boring info-dumps that made it really hard to push through this story?
Full RTC soon, probably, maybe.
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I didn't know this was a prequel when I requested it?? But I'm here for bisexuals and blood magic...more
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