I have had a lot going on at home and at work...plus I think I have an ear infection that I have been4 Stars
I haven't been in a reviewing mood lately.
I have had a lot going on at home and at work...plus I think I have an ear infection that I have been assuming was a headache or something else for a while now.
For some reason - I blame the blonde - I had it in my head that only kids got ear infections.
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Being that I had ear infections on the frequent regular as a youngling - and had tubes in my ear twice - you would think this option wold have occurred to me much sooner.
Oh well.
Maybe I'll get some cool drugs.
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Happy Thanksgiving to me.
Anyway, about this book....
I love me Penelope Douglas.
She is on what is becoming a very short list of auto-buy authors for me.
There is just something meaty about her characters and her writing that make her books oh so chomp-able.
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This one was different from her other books in that I initially loathed her heroine.
LOATHED.
Seriously though, I found a lot of Ryen's actions to be pretty fucked up.
She was a bully. And she stood by in silence while bigger bullies did some major bully shit.
Now at NO point was I considering a DNF - The story was still good and I trust PD.
I had a feeling she was going somewhere with all this...and she was.
In the "Note From the Author" section at the end of the book, Douglas says something that I think is worth sharing:
"We romance readers can be very hard on our heroines. We often see ourselves in those roles and compare their decisions to the decisions we would've made instead. We tend to judge them more harshly than we do the heroes, because we hold them to the same expectation we hold ourselves."
My first reaction to this?
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My second?
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I was totally holding this poor 17 year old girl to the standards of my 34 year old mature *snort* self.
And I now realize I do this a lot - in all the books I read.
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And I'm sure a lot of you do too. We are all human, after all.
I'm sure we would all act differently as teenagers - care about certain things less and other things more - if we knew then what we know now, as they say, no?
So, to ask Ryen to act as a 17 year old according to how I would act in her position is pretty silly of me.
I think of how much I have changed just from my late 20's to my 30's...
...how much I have learned...
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...and I am amazed at myself for thinking a 17 year old should have the AWESOMENESS that I have fought so hard for.
That I had to suffer for.
That I have started to WRINKLE for.
Pfffft.
Bitch needs to EARN her own knowledge.
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So thanks for the self-awareness check PD.
I am expecting WAAAAAY too much from my heroines *wink wink*
And an attempt at more patience and understanding for my future heroines might result in my enjoying even MORE books.
Penelope Douglas, you say? Teenage drama-angst, you say? Asshole alpha teen H, you say?
Sign me the F up, I say.
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Merged review:
4 Stars
I haven't been in a reviewing mood lately.
I have had a lot going on at home and at work...plus I think I have an ear infection that I have been assuming was a headache or something else for a while now.
For some reason - I blame the blonde - I had it in my head that only kids got ear infections.
[image]
Being that I had ear infections on the frequent regular as a youngling - and had tubes in my ear twice - you would think this option wold have occurred to me much sooner.
Oh well.
Maybe I'll get some cool drugs.
[image]
Happy Thanksgiving to me.
Anyway, about this book....
I love me Penelope Douglas.
She is on what is becoming a very short list of auto-buy authors for me.
There is just something meaty about her characters and her writing that make her books oh so chomp-able.
[image]
This one was different from her other books in that I initially loathed her heroine.
LOATHED.
Seriously though, I found a lot of Ryen's actions to be pretty fucked up.
She was a bully. And she stood by in silence while bigger bullies did some major bully shit.
Now at NO point was I considering a DNF - The story was still good and I trust PD.
I had a feeling she was going somewhere with all this...and she was.
In the "Note From the Author" section at the end of the book, Douglas says something that I think is worth sharing:
"We romance readers can be very hard on our heroines. We often see ourselves in those roles and compare their decisions to the decisions we would've made instead. We tend to judge them more harshly than we do the heroes, because we hold them to the same expectation we hold ourselves."
My first reaction to this?
[image]
My second?
[image]
I was totally holding this poor 17 year old girl to the standards of my 34 year old mature *snort* self.
And I now realize I do this a lot - in all the books I read.
[image]
And I'm sure a lot of you do too. We are all human, after all.
I'm sure we would all act differently as teenagers - care about certain things less and other things more - if we knew then what we know now, as they say, no?
So, to ask Ryen to act as a 17 year old according to how I would act in her position is pretty silly of me.
I think of how much I have changed just from my late 20's to my 30's...
...how much I have learned...
[image]
...and I am amazed at myself for thinking a 17 year old should have the AWESOMENESS that I have fought so hard for.
That I had to suffer for.
That I have started to WRINKLE for.
Pfffft.
Bitch needs to EARN her own knowledge.
[image]
So thanks for the self-awareness check PD.
I am expecting WAAAAAY too much from my heroines *wink wink*
And an attempt at more patience and understanding for my future heroines might result in my enjoying even MORE books.
For this "review," I am basically going to regurgitate what I said for my review of the last book I read in the series (which4 OTT HS Drama Smut Stars
For this "review," I am basically going to regurgitate what I said for my review of the last book I read in the series (which was book four...I skipped book five, because #rebel...and because somewhat uninterested, although I am sure I will go back and read it).
Anyway. As I was saying.
This series is like trashy catnip and I am but a feline slave to its ludicrous premises and ridiculous drama. It's sloppy...it's problematic...it's riddled with nonsense.
But, again:
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Sooooo good.
So good.
I think Cole and Silver might be my favorite couple of this series. I'm sad their story is over. ...more
This book (and series in general) is over the top with immature drama and overall ridiculousness. High school characters, with little to no a3.5 Stars
This book (and series in general) is over the top with immature drama and overall ridiculousness. High school characters, with little to no actual adult supervision (par for the YA/NA romance novel course, obviously) act and get treated more like 30-somethings than teenagers.
Also, this book especially included a lot of triggers topics and scenarios that were handled in potentially problematic ways.
Honestly, I'm glad this series wasn't my first thing by Rina Kent or I might have never made it to the other series I loved.
I really enjoyedOoooooof.
Honestly, I'm glad this series wasn't my first thing by Rina Kent or I might have never made it to the other series I loved.
I really enjoyed book one, but the book two and three writing felt like it was done by a different author. It was SO repetitive with the characters' inner thoughts and motivations. Literally, the same thoughts, emotions, and plot directives regurgitated themselves over and over again here. It just felt very...directionless, messy, and childish, sadly.
The bright side is that at least this was one of her earlier works, which means I have already seen how she has progressed with her writing and storytelling since then (as the series I first read by her were written later than this one).
And in Kent's defense, I also did read these connected series VERY out of order. As a result, I already knew some of the twists that occurred here and therefore didn't have that surprise/tension that I might have experienced otherwise. For that reason, I am rating this two stars instead of the one I was initially going to rate it.
Any why one star? Because of the initial reasons I mentioned above coupled with the fact that I just can't in good conscience rate a book I skimmed so heavily any higher than that.
But oh well. Still gonna continue my Rina Kent binge anyway!...more
I didn't enjoy this one like I enjoyed the first one.
Which is sad.
This one felt very...messy. And redundant. Way too many scenes felt like they were I didn't enjoy this one like I enjoyed the first one.
Which is sad.
This one felt very...messy. And redundant. Way too many scenes felt like they were replicas of each other and the same push/pull pattern played out between Elsa and Aiden over and over again...the same set of circumstances, within similar scenes, with almost identical results...zero plot momentum.
What soured me the most though was Elsa's hypocrisy, which is hard to explain without spoilers and which I am too lazy to do at the moment anyway.
In short: this book felt like filler.
Everything that was achieved in this book (which wasn't all that much) could have probably been tacked onto book one or book three. Obviously, I haven't read book three yet, but I'm still fairly confident that will be the case. Frankly, this series probably should have been a duet (or even just one complete book...remember those blissful days?); but trilogies (and then later duets) were the trend at the time this was written. So I'm guessing this was stretched out in order out to hit that format.
Anyway, despite not loving this, I am still going to sally forth and finish the series. I am still interested in the story and I have faith the next installment will be better. ...more
I've been on quite the Rina Kent binge lately to say the least...but I didn't think I would try this series. I've been really loving her darker4 Stars
I've been on quite the Rina Kent binge lately to say the least...but I didn't think I would try this series. I've been really loving her darker adult mafia-ish stuff and this is new adult and takes place in high school. So I wasn't all that drawn to it as I just haven't been into the YA/NA stuff lately.
But then, well...
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I ran out of Rina Kent shit to read.
And so here we are.
I figured I wouldn't enjoy this as I've read a lot of high school bully romances in the past. Plus, I'm like basically middle-aged now, folks. And, you know...
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I figured I would crack this open and condescendingly bow out shortly thereafter.
Instead, this was me a few chapters in...
* * * *
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That's right folks. It's official. I'm a spazzy band geek with a saxophone, way too much inner delinquency, and a lack of acceptable maturity.
I mean, I'm basically late 30's going on 16, here.
Not that I would encourage anyone who actually IS 16 to read this. The relationship here is completely unhealthy and includes what most would consider full on sexual assault.
Which, is obviously bad, bad, bad.
[Insert disclaimer so people don't get pissy here]
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So, yeah, there's that.
But hey, at least I pretended to be classy and above it all for a whole gif.
Thank God I had Aiden and his sexy crazy asshole-ness to bring me back to who I really am.
Le sigh. I know I'm very much in the minority here, so keep that in mind; but off we go...
Honestly, I feel like I could2 Stars
***Unpopular Opinion***
Le sigh. I know I'm very much in the minority here, so keep that in mind; but off we go...
Honestly, I feel like I could just rubber stamp this with a copy/paste of my review of book one, but I will will endeavor to sally forth some minimal effort.
Well, okay, maybe some copy/pasting. In my review for book one I said:
I feel like Jennifer L. Armentrout (JLA) saw the success of Twilight, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, and Shadow and Bone and said...
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Because this book felt like a mashup of all of those series. Especially ACoTAR...for real though.
And I still feel that way.
I also said:
....holy boredom, Batman. The first 67%+ of this thing was so tedious. SO tedious. It's not so much that I hated it or anything, but more just, well...
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I feel like JLA could have achieved exactly what she achieved in the first 67% with about half the page count...Things finally started to pick up around 75% and I was happy as a clam by a solid 80% - which is the only reason I rated this thing above 2 stars, actually.
I still feel that way as well...with the caveat that I was halfway bored until approximately 80%+ this time.
Seriously though, people, borderline nothing happened in this book for a righteously solid chunk except an endless wallow through Poppy's thoughts. And if we weren't in her thoughts, we were listening to dialogue through which she basically repeated all the thoughts we just read about. There's a word for that, which I will "think" and "speak" simultaneously, you know, to save you the time I lost: redundant.
When we weren't meandering through Poppy's redundant thoughts and dialogue, we were seemingly wandering aimlessly throughout the countryside and low-key mooning over each other while throwing tired witty verbal barbs like confetti at a surprise party.
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Also, at least a solid 30% of the book was any one of the following scenarios:
-Poppy thinking about stabbing someone. -Poppy talking about stabbing someone. -Someone else talking about Poppy possibly thinking or talking about stabbing someone. -Poppy stabbing someone.
-Poppy saying, "I have a lot of questions." -Someone else following that up with, "Of course, you do." -Other characters saying, "I have questions." -Poppy asking a ton of questions. About things we already read her thinking about or talking about.
On fucking repeat.
Very little happened in this book plot-wise until almost the very end. There was just so much chaff that could have been trimmed, so much aimless meandering through redundant everything: narrative, dialogue, even the characters. They all feel very interchangeable. With no development. And don't even get me started on how immature and clueless a lot of these seemingly centuries-old characters act and just feel on the page.
Thank God for Kieran, though (the only character with half a personality) and the somewhat exciting ending, or I would have given this one star. In fact, it's only because of the ending that I will even consider continuing with this series. I must admit I am curious what will happen.
But only then because I am going to wait to get book three from the library (like I waited for this one). Honestly, I just couldn't be bothered to actually spend the money finishing this otherwise.
Edited to add: For those wondering...if I do read book three and dislike it, I won't rate it. That wouldn't be fair and I'm not here to hate read just for a trash review.
Being that this is a modern retelling of Anna Karenina, I feel like I should start with this disclaimer: I've never read Anna Karenina. It's be2 Stars
Being that this is a modern retelling of Anna Karenina, I feel like I should start with this disclaimer: I've never read Anna Karenina. It's been sitting unread on my shelves for years and my lazy ass just hasn't yet gotten around to reading it. And after reading this, I have to tell you...if anything, I feel even less compelled to read it.
I was not a huge fan of this book.
Jenny Lee's writing was amazing. Truly awesome. And very easily digestible.
But the characters? Ughhhhh. Were they well-written? Absolutely. Were they realistic? Probably. Did I like spending time with them? Hard nope.
I actually had to force myself to keep picking this up. In fact, I almost DNF'd it a couple times; but as I've said in previous reviews, I have a harder time DNF-ing physical hardcovers than paperback or ebooks, for whatever reason. So I persevered. Luckily, things picked up for me around page 265 and I actually warmed up to some of the characters...In fact, the ones I found the most irritating at the beginning became the only ones I liked in the end - which, 1) I think was Lee's intent, and 2) Is the only reason I gave this two stars instead of one.
Regardless, I'm happy I read and completed this if only to say that I did. As I said, I did enjoy Lee's writing. I could see myself picking up something else by her in the future and maybe having better luck....more
This book has been languishing on my bookshelves for quite some time now and I seriously considered offloading 4.5 Stars
Wow, talk about a sleeper hit.
This book has been languishing on my bookshelves for quite some time now and I seriously considered offloading it during one of last year's spring clean frenzies. I mentioned in another review that I have been forcing myself to read all the unread books on my bookshelves by grabbing the least appealing one (aka the ones that have been there the longest) and trying the first chapter.
And this is exactly the reason I'm glad I'm forcing myself to at least attempt each book before donating it, because otherwise I would have missed out on this story. And I seriously loved it.
This thing had so many important themes and underlying messages and I devoured it in one sitting. I thought the way Mathieu told the story from the alternating POVs was brilliant. I feel like she also captured the way that teenagers are in some ways cruel and heartless...and yet in others perhaps more brutally honest in a manner adults never are once they learn to censor themselves.
I went to high school in Los Angeles County, California. The schools were large and diverse and I never witnessed any of the clicks and jocks and popular vs unpopular crap you see in books and movies; however, I will never forget going home for Thanksgiving with one of my college roommates. I went to school on the east coast and she was from a very small town in Indiana. While attending a house/barn party (with Natty Ice, no less!), I learned that some of the aforementioned high school stereotypes absolutely come from a place of truth as it applies to small towns. It was fascinating from the perspective of someone who never lived that experience.
But I digress.
I think this was a wonderful book that said a lot about both the teenagers AND the adults in the story too. The way we actually are vs the way we want to be perceived...and the inner voice people will ignore...the lengths some people will go for the latter....more
I must have been high when I read the first book, you guys. Because these last two books have felt like a completely different series withSo very meh.
I must have been high when I read the first book, you guys. Because these last two books have felt like a completely different series with completely different characters.
The only highlight of this book for me was Celeste's character development. Only to have to her unceremoniously (view spoiler)[executed (hide spoiler)] with nary a mention.
The fun depth of the first book was totally lacking in the subsequent books.
...and trust that no one is surprised more than me.
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This series has been sitting on my shelves with the pretty hardcover spine cover g4 Stars...
...and trust that no one is surprised more than me.
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This series has been sitting on my shelves with the pretty hardcover spine cover girls in pretty dresses just staring at me in judgment for years.
And I suppose I put off reading it for several reasons...
1) I just haven't been loving YA books for a while now. Especially the trope-y dystopian variety we were bombarded with for so long...this series being one of them. 2) I heard it was like The Bachelor, which I have no interest in, as well as reality TV in general, really...
In fact, I'm not even sure why I bought these.
But I digress and no one really cares anyway. After all, everyone else has already read these, right?
As most people have probably already mentioned, this book was like The Bachelor and Hunger Games had baby together...and no one is more surprised than me that I was basically a trash panda for it all.
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But seriously, I picked this up on a whim last night and ended up reading the entire thing in one sitting.
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It was fairly basic...and trope-y...and very 2012 YA. All the things I don't usually love anymore. But, you know what?
I don't even care.
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And everyone needs a mindless fat angel sometimes. Off to read the next one....more
So...I'm not in a reviewing mood at ALL; but I figured I better lay something down here before I completely forget any thoughts I have about 3.5 Stars
So...I'm not in a reviewing mood at ALL; but I figured I better lay something down here before I completely forget any thoughts I have about this book and my experience reading it.
I had a hard time rating this.
Because, well, it just didn't blow my mind.
That said.
While I didn't love it... While I didn't really, really, really like it per se... I did appreciate it.
And here's why.
Prior to receiving my copy in the mail and, obviously, reading the book, I received Maas' subscriber newsletter email. In it she had the usual "woo hoo, it's release day" fodder they all send out, but it also contained - what I would later discover upon finishing the book - was exactly what was depicted in the "Acknowledgements" section.
In it, she talked about the process of writing this book and how hard it was because, in the midst of it, her father had a major health scare and almost died. Still, despite this trying time - she also found out she was pregnant - and, despite not really always "feelin' it," Maas trudged through the writing process because DEADLINE.
As someone who loves to write and also lost a parent in the past, I just really empathized with the creative struggle Maas probably had here.
Now, am I saying that an author's personal life issues should be taken into account when rating/reviewing or considering your own enjoyment of a book?
Hell no. Of course not. Absolutely not.
I'm just saying that, FOR ME, reading about that just changed the mindset I started the book with.
I went in knowing that, by her own admission, Maas struggled writing it.
So I guess you could say that 1) lowered my expectations bar, and 2) made me read the book knowing Maas had been experiencing personal pain while writing it.
And I think that emotion was definitely captured in the story.
This book will NOT blow your mind. It does NOT really move the plot forward.
But what it did do, in my opinion, was move the CHARACTERS forward.
It really drilled down into a lot of their inner thoughts and longstanding issues and baggage and - as someone who loves character driven stories - I really enjoyed that aspect of the book.
Also, I mentioned this in a status update while reading, but for some reason, I am REALLY intrigued by Nesta's character.
She was totally selfish in book one and has continued to be heinously bitchy throughout the series, but there is just something about her strength, stubbornness, and just plain fucking resolve that I love. For whatever reason, I am just sometimes drawn to complex, fucked up, misunderstood female characters that everyone else hates. And I can't WAIT for the next book.
In fact, I think the character development done in this book is going to act as a veritable buttress to the next books in the series and make them even better for its existence, as meh as it might have been plot/action-wise.
So yeah, I guess I had more to say than I thought. LOL Oh well.
Toodles!
P.S. I thought I'd share the cool exclusive edition ends papers for anyone who hasn't seen them...
I read three very mediocre books yesterday while being a lazy fatass and not even pretending to put on real clothes and leave the ho3 Stars
*spoilers*
I read three very mediocre books yesterday while being a lazy fatass and not even pretending to put on real clothes and leave the house, and this was one of them.
It wasn't a BAD book, per se; in fact, there was AMPLE chemistry between our two main leads, Elizabeth and Delcan, which is more important to me than a completely solid plot half the time.
That said, as you can see, I still only gave this three stars. I think my main problem here was that I just didn't love Elizabeth and the lack of communication she displayed with...well, with pretty much everyone.
She acted so tough and strong in so many facets, but when it came time to open her mouth and just SAY SOMETHING sometimes, she couldn't seem to get it done and it annoyed me to no end.
She didn't tell her mother and Karl to pound sand when they kept going at their blackmail scheme... She didn't tell Declan who Colby was after he witnesses him harassing her... And worst, she didn't just be a good friend to Blake and BE HONEST with him and tell him she didn't return his feelings when he came to her exposing his soul.... Instead, she kind of strung him along, which I thought was a really shitty way to act.
On top of that, there was just too much going on here. The whole college scene, them being neighbors, the ex-girlfriend drama, the drama with Declan's dad, the drama with Elizabeth's mom, Declan's gym, and the whole underground fighting scene - which is apparently a MUST in colleges everywhere now *eye roll* and this book just had its fingers in too many pies....more
I, like a lot of you, I'm sure, totally called the ending of this thing before I even opened the book - and, for onceWhen the ending doesn't matter...
I, like a lot of you, I'm sure, totally called the ending of this thing before I even opened the book - and, for once, I didn't even care.
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I really enjoyed this story and the characters.
And I really love Yoon's writing style. The mixed media format was really fun and creative and I had a lot of fun with it.
I have read a LOT of books in my life - over 1700 - and, I must say, this is the first time I have ever found myself physically spinning a book in circles like a total jackass to read some of the text.
So that was fun.
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Most of all, I just really liked how Yoon posed some good questions - is life without risk really living? - in such a smooth and lighthearted fashion.
Anyway, I know this book has probably been reviewed and booktubed to death, so I'l stop there.
I have been on quite the high fantasy, YA fantasy, and YA fiction kick lately, so of course I already bought the other book this author recently put out.
#NoSelfControl
Prepare to be bombarded with random AF reviews, my friends. ...more
What the fuck is this "vulgar gesture" that has been mentioned over and over and a-FUCKING-over again th4 Stars
Before I say anything, I must say this:
What the fuck is this "vulgar gesture" that has been mentioned over and over and a-FUCKING-over again throughout all this series, which all the characters seem to gift each other with?
No for real, I would love to know.
Are they all giving each other a different "vulgar gesture" every time, or is it ONE single gesture. And if so, which one?
This one?
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This one?
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How about this one?
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No?
How about the ever tried and true?
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Or, perhaps, MY personal favorite:
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No?
Well, whatever. I would love to know.
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Anynotawave, if you follow my reviews, you know that I didn't particularly love book one and two of this series like most people did. And, conversely, most people who adored books one and two seemed to be less...enthused with this book.
So, of course, leave it to me to be the complete opposite of everyone else.
Because, even though I wasn't OMG in lurve with books one and two, I found myself really into this one.
Maybe it just took books one and two to really dig my heels into the series - who knows - but I was really digging the characters in this one.
Obviously, I loved the relationship between Feyre and Rhys... The group love and loyalty of the Night Court inner circle... And the connection between Feyre and her sisters...
But - and I know this is not the case with most people - I am REALLY loving Nesta's story.
I have been oddly drawn to her and her cold bitchiness since book one and I REALLY loved the growth she displayed in this book, the dynamic between her and Cassian, just everything.
And of course, RHYS. Who can not love Rhys?
In fact, this book actually made me really appreciate books one and two more. I might go back and read them again.
But until then, I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
And I also just obtained the Throne series, so hopefully I will enjoy that one from the onset. ...more
I know I'm late to the Court party. Super late. And I liked this installment, but I also has a few small issues with3 I Wanted to Love This More Stars
I know I'm late to the Court party. Super late. And I liked this installment, but I also has a few small issues with it...
***SPOILERS***
1) Tone
I feel like this book - and series thus far - is one big identity crisis.
I have seen there is an ongoing argument among some readers about whether or not this series should be considered Young Adult or just plain...Adult.
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But being that it won the GR award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction for 2016...I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's intended to be YA.
Now...I've read a lot of YA in my day.
And I've never read a YA that had so much cunnilingus, fellatio, and use of the word FUCK.
For real though.
Now, I am down with the word FUCK. We be homies, yo. I am also VERY down with all the sexy sexy.
But in a book pedaled as YOUNG adult?
It just felt like a little much. In the world of books, I have always felt that young adult included people age 12 or even below.
Per Wikipedia:
Young adult fiction or young adult literature (YA)[1] is fiction published for readers in their youth. The age range for young adult fiction is subjective. Some sources claim it ranges from ages 12–18,[2] while authors and readers of "young teen novels" often define it as written for those aged 15 to the early 20s.
Personally, I always thought it was the latter.
And, in my opinion, the sex scenes and some of some of the other general content just didn't feel YA to me. It seemed a little too racy to be YA.
That said, however, a lot of the content felt very YA.
Now, I'm not a prude...and I don't have kids. My issue here is NOT whether certain scenes are appropriate for young readers or not. I was reading smut at 12 myself....so I don't really give a shit. Plus, I'm not here to judge or decide what parents allow or don't allow their kids to read. It's not my place to argue and I have no desire to anyway.
My issue here is simply that this juxtaposition between scenes that felt too adult for a young adult book...and yet too young adult for an adult book...made for an uneven tone.
It made me feel like I couldn't get grounded in this book.
3) Sex Scenes Soundtrack
During a lot of the sex scenes, Feyre "snarls" or is "snarling" or "barks" a moan....
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Ummm, yeah...No.
3) Length
Per amazon, the print length of this Goliath is 626 pages...
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Or, as I like to call it...
250 pages too long.
There was a LOT of superfluous stuff in this book. A LOT of scenes that felt pointless and tedious. A LOT of things that made the book just DRAG.
Which made the ending...a little frustrating for me...which brings me to...
4) The Ending
All this build up. All these tests and trials. All these missions. All these moments.
ALL of these things snowballing together for 626 pages in preparation for this big ending...
THAT.
WAS.
LAME.
Seriously.
We spent the whole book practicing, training, planning, getting one half of this magic book...then the OTHER half of this magic book...
...We had Feyre getting upset with Rhysand about BULLSHIT (which ate up 20-50 MORE unnecessary pages)...
...for our big huge master plan to be "walk into bad guy's house and expect bad guy not to notice us?"
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Well he does, of course, within minutes.
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And even though Rhysand is supposed to be the most powerful High Lord to have EVER existed...even though Feyre is supposed to be this uber wazoo High Lord Stew of a Fae...even though Amren is supposed to be over 5,000 years old with 5,000 years worth of firedragon (or whatever the fuck she is supposed to be) power...
This ONE king controls and disables them all within seconds?
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Ridiculous.
I mean, for fucks sake, Maas has Feyre conveniently developing all these secret magic skills at just the right moment *eye roll* on every other page in this book, why not then?
And Tamlin?
Don't even get me started on that idiot.
The fact that Feyre ended this book be going back to Tamlin...why exactly did this happen again? I mean, I get that she was trying to save her sisters (a-fucking-gain) and yadda, yadda...
But I don't see why her suddenly pretending to be "free" from the bond and fake brainwashing by Rhysand so she could go back with Tamlin and save them all made sense.
Why would that make the King let them go? Why wouldn't he just kill them all right then and there?
He has them all there. They are at his whim because they are all USELESS apparently. So him letting them all go and not killing them seemed like a lame plot ploy. A reason for a book three.
And that's my main issue with the book as a whole, actually.
All of these spells and magic powers are created and used at very convenient times all throughout the book.
We have 626 pages of all of these convenient spells, escape routes, and just-in-time wraith helpers.
And yet, in the end, to see the good guys so easily thwarted?
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But what do I know.
Anyway, on the positive side...
This story has a very creative premise and plot arc. I enjoyed all the characters - most of the time - and I really do like Feyre, Rhysand, and their Night Court family. I LOVE that Feyre ended up with Rhysand. I LOVE that they are mates.
But other than that, this book just felt too bogged down and convoluted in places for me to say I really like it. And a reminder to those who think this is a negative review: It's not.
I rate books according to the GR scale, meaning I thought this book was somewhere in the "I liked it" range. Plus, I think I will like the series as a whole once it's all said and done. ...more
I originally rated this book 4 stars with "3.75 Stars" written in the text box here.
And then I realized that was fucking stupid.
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So, 4 4 Stars
I originally rated this book 4 stars with "3.75 Stars" written in the text box here.
And then I realized that was fucking stupid.
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So, 4 big ones, peeps.
But moving on.
I love it when I crack open a book - Well, to be fair, I'm not really "crackin' open anything...more like lightly finger tapping; however, "I love it when I lightly finger tap open a book" just doesn't have the same flair, holla?
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Anywordsmithing.
I love it when I crack open a book and see a map.
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Because that usually means that I'm about to enter a fantastical world of make believe as created solely by the author.
And if that map is followed by a pronunciation guide?
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Fucking sweet.
Because that usually means...that we are about to enter a fantastical world of make believe as created solely by the author.
And that I don't have to fumble fuck around trying to imagine how to pronounce shit and spend the whole book trying to make "Tiras" happen.
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That said, the world building in this book was fantastic.
I love kingdom books.
And not only was this a kingdom book, it was a paranormal kingdom book where people have magic powers.
Magic powers, people.
Instant orgasm.
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Lark was my favorite kind of heroine: understated and low key with a spine of steel.
Tiras' character was also very interesting. Throughout the book I enjoyed his interactions and I enjoyed his bond with Kjell as much - if not more than - his growing bond with Lark.
So why not 5 stars, you ask?
The ending action felt a little rough to me as far as the way it all went down and the way it was written.
Other than that, I adored this thing and have already downloaded the next book in the series.
But, I saw this on the library shelf...its protective1 Star
Geeeeez.
This was quite the YA train wreck.
And I probably should have known better.
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But, I saw this on the library shelf...its protective and majestic plastic library jacket just gleaming with promises of fantastical wonder...and I was drawn in like the total sucker I am.
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But then reality hit.
Sigh.
This thing was about 100 pages too long...while still simultaneously feeling like it was 100 pages too short of actual information.
You know, "INFORMATION," AKA...
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON
The "mystery" of what/who Daniel and all the other keys players in this thing are were withheld until the last 30 pages of this 420+ page jackfest, and not only that, but I felt like we were moving at the pace of molasses.
High viscous molasses. Traveling uphill. On carpet.
I mean FUCK, come on.
I don't know if I should beat my own ass for starting this...
Beat my own ass even harder for finishing this...
Or just call it a day and straight off myself over the fact that I am actually considering reading book two.
Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️
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Books:
young-adult-new-adult
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