True happiness, lasting happiness is within everyone's grasp through a process known as Self-Actualisation, a …
None
No rating
Sadly, I'm just not feeling this one. It's been almost 1/4 of the book, and I still don't have the feel for the characters. Or the world. Or the plot. There are a lot of cool ideas here for sure. I loved the premise; it definitely tries to do the same flavor of cozy fantasy I enjoyed in Sarah Beth Durst's The Spellshop, the one where the coziness happens on the edge of darker, sadder events and there's a strong focus on healing. But I don't think it's succeeding. There's already been multiple moments when I wanted to dig deeper into the characters or the world around them, but all the interesting stuff is underexplored or mentioned once and ignored.
Sadly, I'm just not feeling this one. It's been almost 1/4 of the book, and I still don't have the feel for the characters. Or the world. Or the plot. There are a lot of cool ideas here for sure. I loved the premise; it definitely tries to do the same flavor of cozy fantasy I enjoyed in Sarah Beth Durst's The Spellshop, the one where the coziness happens on the edge of darker, sadder events and there's a strong focus on healing. But I don't think it's succeeding. There's already been multiple moments when I wanted to dig deeper into the characters or the world around them, but all the interesting stuff is underexplored or mentioned once and ignored.
We were teen girls. Look up the word “blasé” in Merriam-Webster’s and you’d find a picture of us, our eyes burning through your soul from the page.
This was definitely one of the weirder books I've read lately! I feel like it's the kind of novel that is more about shape and vibes than story, and it's rather interesting at that. The prose was simply enchanting; it pulled me in even when little was happening. I was fascinated by the use of first person plural POV—it's always "we," the field hockey team being the real main character. There are definitely downsides to this, such as never getting to delve deep enough into each specific girl's mind to really get to know her, but at the same time, it definitely made managing all the numerous characters easier and created a cool effect that was both intimate and cinematic.
The premise …
We were teen girls. Look up the word “blasé” in Merriam-Webster’s and you’d find a picture of us, our eyes burning through your soul from the page.
This was definitely one of the weirder books I've read lately! I feel like it's the kind of novel that is more about shape and vibes than story, and it's rather interesting at that. The prose was simply enchanting; it pulled me in even when little was happening. I was fascinated by the use of first person plural POV—it's always "we," the field hockey team being the real main character. There are definitely downsides to this, such as never getting to delve deep enough into each specific girl's mind to really get to know her, but at the same time, it definitely made managing all the numerous characters easier and created a cool effect that was both intimate and cinematic.
The premise itself is super cool: a field hockey team of high school girls in the 1980s resorts to witchcraft to start winning games. Or do they? All the witchy parts are deliberately ambiguous and surreal. Maybe there's really magic happening here, or maybe it's just a thing the girls choose to believe—because they're growing up so close to Salem, because it gives them the excuse to do shit they find liberating, because why the hell not. It's not really about witchcraft, anyway, it's about girlhood. It just so happens that the two have a lot in common.
I've made a bunch of notes about the book's structure and highlighted plenty of quotes, and I'm pretty sure I'l lb e thinking about this one for some days or weeks to come. The vibes really stuck with me. My one complaint is, I wish there was a little more in the way of actual plot.
It just seemed like that’s how you know someone loves you, you know? If they’ll fight for you—even if the person they’re fighting is you.
I've been on a messy YA drama books kick lately, and this is a great addition to the list. I was drawn in by the "friends to enemies to lovers" trope that I adore wholeheartedly, and while it wasn't exactly what I've imagined, I enjoyed the rendition. There's such a complex tangle of emotions between the characters and such a layered history to their relationship despite their young age, it was a delight to dig into. Both of them also felt very realistic, with pretty much exactly the amount of poop jokes and bottling up feelings you'd expect from a couple of teenage boys. And I also really enjoyed the side plot with Ridley, the MC's best friend: she clearly meant well in some …
It just seemed like that’s how you know someone loves you, you know? If they’ll fight for you—even if the person they’re fighting is you.
I've been on a messy YA drama books kick lately, and this is a great addition to the list. I was drawn in by the "friends to enemies to lovers" trope that I adore wholeheartedly, and while it wasn't exactly what I've imagined, I enjoyed the rendition. There's such a complex tangle of emotions between the characters and such a layered history to their relationship despite their young age, it was a delight to dig into. Both of them also felt very realistic, with pretty much exactly the amount of poop jokes and bottling up feelings you'd expect from a couple of teenage boys. And I also really enjoyed the side plot with Ridley, the MC's best friend: she clearly meant well in some aspects, despite her approach very much lacking nuance, and was incredibly shitty and controlling in others, and the way Holc treated her also fluctuated between "pretty bad" and "very reasonable," and it was so easy to lean into the toxic mess of it all, but they somehow got to a place that gave me hope their friendship might eventually persevere.
I enjoyed the discussion of the limitations fame places on a person, and generally the show biz-related parts. The name-dropping and pop-culture references that grounded the story in the specific period were fun. That kind of stuff really dates the story, but I feel like this book kind of benefits from focusing on, "this is how certain things were in the early 2020s specifically" in terms of things like the biz's and especially the public's perception of queer artists in particular. Also, it was just fun somehow to see some of the artists and songs from my own playlists namedropped on the page.
One of my favorite storylines included Holc's relationship with his father: how rocky it was in certain places, but how solid the foundation of it was underneath. The scenes Holc had with his dad's employees were also pretty awesome, between all the fun construction/carpentry details and the bonds he had with these people. I'm just sad that the number of these interactions dwindled down and lost depth as the book progressed in a way that felt low-key artificial: like the author really wanted Holc to come to some revelations on his own, so suddenly he was apart from all the adult influences in his life who could have been there for him. Also, that resulted in the "college vs apprenticeship" subplot being just. Completely dropped. Why.
Oh, and another thing I want to complain about is how Holc's "it's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me" epiphany came too late in the story. I wanted to see some pay off from those revelations, the process of him mending what he's broken and not just the fact of it. I really, really want to know what exactly happened between the final chapter and the epilogue. Actually, it's not even just about Holc and his relationship with Chance, I want to know what drove Chance to make that one certain decision at the end. Kind of almost feels like the story ended too early and is missing a few chapters before the epilogue.
All in all, the fun I had reading definitely outweighs my complaints, but the book does have significant structural issues in the latter half.
Will Tavares is the dream summer fling—he’s fun, affectionate, kind—but just when Ollie thinks he’s …
None
4 stars
Nah, but it’s fine. What happens over summer stays over summer, right?
I really enjoyed Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales earlier this month, and it kind of made me crave more teenage messiness. So when I was looking through the unread books on my ereader and spotted this one by the same author, I felt compelled to crack it open. It didn't 100% scratch the itch because the characters here are just a bit younger and everything is so very high school—I think I liked the mixture of teenage angst and reality tv glitz and glamour a bit better, or maybe it was just more refreshing. But overall, this book is exactly what it promises to be, and it was a really fun reading experience with just the right cocktail of drama and laugh-out-loud quips.
I honestly really like how Sophie Gonzales writes teenagers. She just …
Nah, but it’s fine. What happens over summer stays over summer, right?
I really enjoyed Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales earlier this month, and it kind of made me crave more teenage messiness. So when I was looking through the unread books on my ereader and spotted this one by the same author, I felt compelled to crack it open. It didn't 100% scratch the itch because the characters here are just a bit younger and everything is so very high school—I think I liked the mixture of teenage angst and reality tv glitz and glamour a bit better, or maybe it was just more refreshing. But overall, this book is exactly what it promises to be, and it was a really fun reading experience with just the right cocktail of drama and laugh-out-loud quips.
I honestly really like how Sophie Gonzales writes teenagers. She just really, really captures that time when you're already dealing with the big, complex, difficult things, but you don't yet have the experience nor the mental capacity to handle them, so you keep making things worse for yourself in the name of self-preservation and catastrophizing all the wrong parts of the situation and just. You know. Overall living and growing and learning. There's a fine line, I feel, between encapsulating those authentic big emotions and going over the top for drama's sake, and this author walks it beautifully.
One thing I specifically appreciated were all the side characters and how all of them had their own deals and troubles that drove their choices. Some of them—Lara in particular—almost overshadowed the main plotline for me at times. Though Ollie, the MC, consistently drew my attention to his own drama for sure, what with his charming sense of humor and love for music (I really enjoyed all of the music parts in the book, by the way). All in all, this was fun and touching, if a little predictable.
I found this volume more engaging than the first, but also way more depressing. I'm not sure what turn I expected the story to take immediately after the introductory phase that the first part was, but what I got was a deep dive into all the characters in the main group. Given that I'm an absolute sucker for character-driven stories and internal conflicts driving the external plot, I wholeheartedly approve. But damn, all of these people are sure miserable. And for the most part, they've brought it all on themselves. Angela is perhaps the easiest character to empathize is for me because she at least owns her messiness; Ash is the most compelling to follow, because damn.
Despite the focus being on the characters and on filling the reader in on the specifics of their past, the main plot advances, too, if slowly. …
After all, we're all monsters here.
I found this volume more engaging than the first, but also way more depressing. I'm not sure what turn I expected the story to take immediately after the introductory phase that the first part was, but what I got was a deep dive into all the characters in the main group. Given that I'm an absolute sucker for character-driven stories and internal conflicts driving the external plot, I wholeheartedly approve. But damn, all of these people are sure miserable. And for the most part, they've brought it all on themselves. Angela is perhaps the easiest character to empathize is for me because she at least owns her messiness; Ash is the most compelling to follow, because damn.
Despite the focus being on the characters and on filling the reader in on the specifics of their past, the main plot advances, too, if slowly. Just like the title of the volume suggests, the party is split here, and that pretty much always leads to some meandering in actual games. I really appreciate how there are all these nods to the familiar ttrpg structure—it's hard to nail the specifics of interactive storytelling in a non-interactive medium, and the authors here aren't trying to do it 100%, but they do enough to make it recognizable and I like the result. I also like all the outright meta commentary about storytelling and tropes and characters.
Oh, and the way the worldbuilding grows around the story and the characters? Excellent. The Brontё twist in particular was wild, I want more.
If they had to lose themselves to walk this road, would it ever really be able to lead them home?
Getting into this book was initially a bit of a challenge because of how repetitive the writing was in the early chapters. While I can appreciate the stylistic effect the author was aiming for, constantly seeing entire passages basically twice with a bit of variation just made my brain check out. This approach to comparing and contrasting the two MCs was fun on the first time and tolerable on the third, but after a few pages it was just. Overkill territory.
Once Avery and Zib were out of their ordinary town and over the wall, though, and the story kicked off in earnest, the prose turned a lot more engaging and easy to follow. It was from that point on that I started getting hooked. The worldbuilding here is …
If they had to lose themselves to walk this road, would it ever really be able to lead them home?
Getting into this book was initially a bit of a challenge because of how repetitive the writing was in the early chapters. While I can appreciate the stylistic effect the author was aiming for, constantly seeing entire passages basically twice with a bit of variation just made my brain check out. This approach to comparing and contrasting the two MCs was fun on the first time and tolerable on the third, but after a few pages it was just. Overkill territory.
Once Avery and Zib were out of their ordinary town and over the wall, though, and the story kicked off in earnest, the prose turned a lot more engaging and easy to follow. It was from that point on that I started getting hooked. The worldbuilding here is an absolute delight: a dark, twisted version of Oz, basically, with the Tarot-themed monarchs and the kind of logic that works precisely because it shouldn't. Technically, it's a tie-in for Seanan McGuire's adult urban fantasy Middlegame, and I feel like while I've caught a few clever connections, I've missed a lot more (it's been years since I read that one). But I feel like this book works on its own pretty well. It also feels at least loosely related to the Wayward Children series, if only because of the "portal fantasy + kids" theme, but also there are just... *gestures vaguely* Vibes. There's nothing that explicitly proves the Up-and-Under fits into that specific cluster of words, but also, if Avery and Zib turned up at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children after their adventures, I feel they wouldn't be out of place.
What really captivated me was how the narrative plays with storytelling conventions in so many ways. The Hero's Journey structure is there in full view, almost on the nose, and then at crucial moments there are small, clever twists that keep it intact but also infuse the whole thing with new meanings. I also liked that kind of self-aware nature of the narrative, with all the asides about the nature of stories and how they work. I do wonder if this book truly makes a good middle grade story, though, because I thought that many of the elements I found most engaging might fly over kid readers' heads. Then again, perhaps I'm not giving kids enough credit. And surely there are some more whimsical elements of the book that I kind of glossed over while lapping up the meta commentary parts.
Nghi Vo's Hugo and Crawford Award-winning series, The Singing Hills Cycle, continues...
Lambda Award …
None
4 stars
They had been given to Singing Hills at the age of two. They didn’t remember a time when they hadn’t been asked to see and to remember, to recite back with accuracy and to ask for the truth in whatever form it came in. Along with the food they ate, they took in the knowledge of how important their work was.
This book certainly retains a lot of the charm of the previous two in the series. However, I'm sad to say it left me somewhat less engrossed. Perhaps even—gasp—a little detached. I appreciate how the author once again found a new way to play with the story-within-a-story structure and explore the nature of storytelling. However, in this case, I feel like the selected narrative devices and methods didn't fit the confines of a novella. With the narrative being less focused, it begged for some room to …
They had been given to Singing Hills at the age of two. They didn’t remember a time when they hadn’t been asked to see and to remember, to recite back with accuracy and to ask for the truth in whatever form it came in. Along with the food they ate, they took in the knowledge of how important their work was.
This book certainly retains a lot of the charm of the previous two in the series. However, I'm sad to say it left me somewhat less engrossed. Perhaps even—*gasp*—a little detached. I appreciate how the author once again found a new way to play with the story-within-a-story structure and explore the nature of storytelling. However, in this case, I feel like the selected narrative devices and methods didn't fit the confines of a novella. With the narrative being less focused, it begged for some room to breathe, and 100 pages just can't deliver much of that. There were definitely parts of the book that I adored, the ones where the special essence of the Riverlands came to the forefront, and I would have so loved to spend more time journey through this region and getting to know the tapestry of stories it's made of. The lack of it feels almost like a missed opportunity.
On the other hand, it was lovely to see more of Chih and to witness them coming more into their own as an actual character and not just the one who records others' stories. I really liked seeing them contemplate the concepts the narrative is made of, question things that appeared unquestionable before, come to their own conclusion. And Almost Brilliant, the best bird, is back again here, too! Somehow, their interactions with Chih here were even more compelling to me than in the first novella. I also adore how the setting continues to be so vibrant and rich and layered. No matter how I felt about the plot in this book, I continue loving the series and am looking forward to further explorations of storyteling in the next installments.
When their now famous ex-boyfriend asks them to participate in a teen reality show, two …
None
5 stars
"I think our ex-boyfriend might be a psychopath, you know.” “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
I somehow didn't realize this was a YA book going in. I'm sure I knew it at some point back when I bought it, but my brain refused to retain this information. So I was a tiny bit disappointed at first to be faced with all the late-teens messiness... up until I got a few chapters in and, wow, yay! Late-teens messiness! Excellently well-done and so dramatic and just what a reality show book should be! Honestly, I just loved it so much. Even though I do still feel that the whole "second chance romance! the one that got away!" premise of the reality show in the middle of it all makes little sense when most of the characters are 18-ish. Like, how does a guy that age already have that …
"I think our ex-boyfriend might be a psychopath, you know.” “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
I somehow didn't realize this was a YA book going in. I'm sure I knew it at some point back when I bought it, but my brain refused to retain this information. So I was a tiny bit disappointed at first to be faced with all the late-teens messiness... up until I got a few chapters in and, wow, yay! Late-teens messiness! Excellently well-done and so dramatic and just what a reality show book should be! Honestly, I just loved it so much. Even though I do still feel that the whole "second chance romance! the one that got away!" premise of the reality show in the middle of it all makes little sense when most of the characters are 18-ish. Like, how does a guy that age already have that many exes for the producers to pick and choose from? Wouldn't it overall make more sense to create this type of show with people in their mid-twenties and beyond who already have some histories and baggage? Really, the premise is shaky when you think about it too hard, and yet the execution was so entertaining it got me to suspend my disbelief.
Even though this book has a Swiftie title, the songs that played in the back of mind as I read were definitely Olivia Rodrigo's (mostly Vampire and Deja Vu, if you're curious). Considering that the teen celebrity drama that inspired the book's idea, according to Sophei Gonzales's post about it on Goodreads, was the Olivia-Sabrina-Joshua triangle, I'd say it speaks well of the author's ability to capture the vibes.
A lot of the plot here hinges on various miscommunications, and normally, I'm wary of the trope, but here, it just works so well. Not really in the "all of their reasons to miscommunicate make rational sense" way, but more like, "half the time they'll all being so messy and petty and overdramatic, and yeah, I can see how that's exactly the point." Interestingly enough, somehow most of the characters work through it all toward sharing a bunch of genuine, empathetic moments, and those ended up blending surprisingly well with the drama. I really liked how, in spite of the whole premise being "show business pits girls against girls for the sake of entertainment," these girls all found their own ways to bond and grow and be so much more than accessories to the guy in the middle of it all. I was particularly proud of Kim's choices revealed very very late in the book.
The romance itself was pretty cute with some serious moments. I liked how Maya's issues overlapped with Skye's and how their relationship got them to inspect and evaluate a bunch of their choices. I also liked how easy to tell apart their voices were in the early part of the book. Unfortunately, that was something that didn't quite last through the entire book. In some ways, it made sense they would pick up some turns of phrase and such from each other while spending time in such close quarters. But it felt more like an overall blending of two previously distinct voices, and I guess I would have liked a bit more editing to prevent that.
Apparently magic was as inherently fiddly as Latin grammar, and required the same sort of attention to detail even when constructing what Courcey described as a minor object imbuement.
I had such high hopes for this book, but for the most part, it just kind of left me confused. I think it's because of certain structural choices, especially in the beginning. There's this prologue (I don't care it's called Chapter 1 when it is, for all intents and purposes, a prologue) that introduces a character in a stressful, emotionally charged, obviously high-stakes situation, provides a glimpse of his personal history, and makes the reader wonder what happens next. Then it ends, and we get to meet the actual leads in a situation that is a lot more mundane, sort of awkward, and involves lots and lots of telling about the magic system. And apparently the character from the yes-that's-a-prologue …
Apparently magic was as inherently fiddly as Latin grammar, and required the same sort of attention to detail even when constructing what Courcey described as a minor object imbuement.
I had such high hopes for this book, but for the most part, it just kind of left me confused. I think it's because of certain structural choices, especially in the beginning. There's this prologue (I don't care it's called Chapter 1 when it is, for all intents and purposes, a prologue) that introduces a character in a stressful, emotionally charged, obviously high-stakes situation, provides a glimpse of his personal history, and makes the reader wonder what happens next. Then it ends, and we get to meet the actual leads in a situation that is a lot more mundane, sort of awkward, and involves lots and lots of telling about the magic system. And apparently the character from the yes-that's-a-prologue is basically just a plot device to build a mystery around. Though of course the mystery is now undermined by the information given away in the definitely-a-prologue-whatever-you-call-it.
Honestly, I feel this beginning did the story a huge disservice. It also kind of undermined Robin and Edwin, the actual protagonists, for a while there. At least for me. Instead of just, you know, meeting them on the page and getting to know them and becoming invested, I felt let down by their presence because they weren't really offering me what the beginning of the book teased. And the structural problems didn't fully stop there, they just became less glaring. But honestly, the balance between the romance and the mystery was rather off at times, and the relationship felt kind of oddly paced, as if the author really, really wanted to rush the slow burn but stopped herself from doing so for some reason. Or, well, that was the vibe for me.
I did really enjoy the worldbuilding, especially the magic system. It's intricate and fascinating and has some great depth. The main characters, once I got over that "let down" feeling, were really fun to follow. I empathized with Robin a lot, and Edwin had some beautiful moments. I overall enjoyed how the "opposites attract" trope was handled here. The journey had its pacing-related hiccups, but the ending still felt well-earned. And the external plot also delivered its share of interesting moments. It was just that, sadly, I had to constantly make an effort to stay in the loop, and I attribute it mainly to the book's structural flaws overlapping with my usual "fix it" attitude. I loved the idea of it, I just kept thinking about ways to tweak the execution.
He glided through life with effortless confidence and a bottomless appetite for crushing his enemies.
This book sounded like something I was practically doomed to love, but alas, it didn’t quite work out between us. Mostly because it was so full of unlikable people who, with one single exception, committed the crime of also being thoroughly unentertaining. Like, seriously, reading about bad people doing bad things for bad reasons is a special sort of drug, but they must be compelling. They must be three-dimensional. They must be, in some ways that make me question too much about myself, relatable. Or at the very least, they should be fun.
Here, we’ve got an oddly small, claustrophobic political full of people who don’t give a damn about any of the causes they supposedly champion, and they’re all so, so boring. Like, completely flat. I suppose Lennie has her moments, a couple …
He glided through life with effortless confidence and a bottomless appetite for crushing his enemies.
This book sounded like something I was practically doomed to love, but alas, it didn’t quite work out between us. Mostly because it was so full of unlikable people who, with one single exception, committed the crime of also being thoroughly unentertaining. Like, seriously, reading about bad people doing bad things for bad reasons is a special sort of drug, but they must be compelling. They must be three-dimensional. They must be, in some ways that make me question too much about myself, relatable. Or at the very least, they should be fun.
Here, we’ve got an oddly small, claustrophobic political full of people who don’t give a damn about any of the causes they supposedly champion, and they’re all so, so boring. Like, completely flat. I suppose Lennie has her moments, a couple of times, but those are also the times when she’s very openly used as a plot device and the entertainment comes from what she does, not who she is. It is highly unclear why she does it. Beyond the fact that she probably wants power, but why, to what end, with which nuances? Inquiring minds shall never know.
The one actually interesting unlikable character here is Thom, the MC, and he’s the one who fully carried the first half of the novel for me. He’s just a complete sociopathic bastard with so many layers of coldness, ruthlessness, callousness and fake charm to him, and I just wanted to dig into those layers and see if there might be something like a heart buried beneath them. I kind of hated him throughout, but he was really fun to hate. And amidst it all, he had some surprisingly positive moments, too, like his totally chill reaction to his bi awakening.
Clay, on his part, was rather blah, especially during the first half of the book. He’s probably one of the better people in this whole menagerie, but his brand of “clueless dork“ charm was a miss for me, and I couldn’t begin to feel invested in his chapters. That changed around the middle of the story when the guys started spending more time alone in his apartment and he started gaining some depth. That’s coincidentally when I began slowly buying into the romance and sensing some of the chemistry that was supposedly oh so evident to everyone but the leads. I guess in the end I didn’t mind seeing them reach their HEA but I also wasn’t particularly rooting for them. When the HEA came, I might have actually got a bit distracted by counting the plot holes and hanging plot threads…
Why wouldn’t you have Mark arrested? I mean, it makes sense why you wouldn’t. But how would you articulate your reasons?
This was a difficult book for me to get through for many reasons, not least of them being, of course, the subject matter. The premise is this: the author sits down to talk to a former friend who sexually assaulted her when they were younger. The execution involves a lot of meandering in circles, questioning the same things over and over, and, in a rather meta way, meditating on the process of writing this very book. It often felt like reading a highly personal diary, especially what with the short, often disjointed chapters and the lack of proper punctuation in dialogue.
On one hand, I feel this is such an important and relatable exploration of a sensitive subject matter. There are these awful things that can happen to …
Why wouldn’t you have Mark arrested? I mean, it makes sense why you wouldn’t. But how would you articulate your reasons?
This was a difficult book for me to get through for many reasons, not least of them being, of course, the subject matter. The premise is this: the author sits down to talk to a former friend who sexually assaulted her when they were younger. The execution involves a lot of meandering in circles, questioning the same things over and over, and, in a rather meta way, meditating on the process of writing this very book. It often felt like reading a highly personal diary, especially what with the short, often disjointed chapters and the lack of proper punctuation in dialogue.
On one hand, I feel this is such an important and relatable exploration of a sensitive subject matter. There are these awful things that can happen to you, and you’re expected to feel a certain way about them, but reality can be way more complex and nuanced, and it can take a lot of soul-searching and courage to call things what you are, to admit your own feelings, to begin to figure out how to cope. On the other hand, I felt increasingly uncomfortable as I read by how close the author kept coming to… idk, almost taking the perpetrator’s side? She sets out to talk to him because she wants to understand the reasons behind his crime, but it keeps feeling like she’s searching for excuses instead. All those transcripts of their conversations were often difficult for me to read because of how apologetic and oh-so-grateful for his agreement to talk to her she was, and how she kept being so reassuring and basically trying to shield the guy from too much guilt and shame.
It did help that she approached it with a lot of self-awareness, including interactions with her loved ones calling her out on it. But at the same time, when she just kept doing the same thing, I had to kind of wonder, whose side was she on? Why not her own? And like, I don’t want to discard the fact that stuff like this can be a valid part of processing a fraught, complex, messy, painful situation. Trying to shoulder the responsibility for something another person did to you is often a way to assume control. But it was just a thing that happened over and over, that apologetic gratitude extended toward someone she’s still having nightmares about, that kept making me so incredibly frustrated.
You know those movies where a serial killer locks people in a room with a trap that’s about go grind them into pâté? This is that meets Narnia, right?
This was kind of an acquired taste for me. At the beginning, I kind of really liked the idea but found it hard to vibe with the execution. Everything was super rushed—less actual storytelling, more “wink wink, nudge nudge, you’re certainly familiar with premises and tropes like this, so here are some broad strokes to get you going.“ The main cast went through three different designs each in a matter of pages (teenagers in the flashback, forty-somethings in the present, heroes in the fantasy world). It was honestly pretty confusing.
I’m glad I stuck with it past this initial jumble though, because once I got better oriented, the story sucked me right in. The grimdark setting built in-universe on teenage …
You know those movies where a serial killer locks people in a room with a trap that’s about go grind them into pâté? This is that meets Narnia, right?
This was kind of an acquired taste for me. At the beginning, I kind of really liked the idea but found it hard to vibe with the execution. Everything was super rushed—less actual storytelling, more “wink wink, nudge nudge, you’re certainly familiar with premises and tropes like this, so here are some broad strokes to get you going.“ The main cast went through three different designs each in a matter of pages (teenagers in the flashback, forty-somethings in the present, heroes in the fantasy world). It was honestly pretty confusing.
I’m glad I stuck with it past this initial jumble though, because once I got better oriented, the story sucked me right in. The grimdark setting built in-universe on teenage power fantasies and bits and pieces of zeitgeist feels more videogame than tabletop, and the character development remains sparse, but there are a lot of small clever things here that I enjoyed. Such as Ash’s genre-savviness and the increasingly hard choices the party had to make. Also, the art style here is really striking and creates a dark, oppressive atmosphere that perfectly matches the story. All in all, I’m quite likely to pick up more volumes.
No one could have imagined what the Empress did. No one will be able to imagine the next terrible thing that happens.
This trilogy as a whole was sure a wild ride, and I’m going to miss Ghadid and the deserts and cities around it. As far as this book specifically goes, it’s so hard to talk about it because it wraps up so much from all over the series. And in terms of plotting and worldbuilding it does it so exceptionally well! It truly completes the story in all the ways that matter. As a series conclusion, it’s definitely a five-star read, but at the same time, I just can’t rate it as high as the previous one. Because while it has all the elements to wrap up the overarching story, the way they’re put together is not exactly smooth.
I really appreciate how K.A. Doore gives each …
No one could have imagined what the Empress did. No one will be able to imagine the next terrible thing that happens.
This trilogy as a whole was sure a wild ride, and I’m going to miss Ghadid and the deserts and cities around it. As far as this book specifically goes, it’s so hard to talk about it because it wraps up so much from all over the series. And in terms of plotting and worldbuilding it does it so exceptionally well! It truly completes the story in all the ways that matter. As a series conclusion, it’s definitely a five-star read, but at the same time, I just can’t rate it as high as the previous one. Because while it has all the elements to wrap up the overarching story, the way they’re put together is not exactly smooth.
I really appreciate how K.A. Doore gives each of the protagonists such a unique voice and outlook. Illi is completely unlike Thana and Amastan, and it took me a bit to get used to seeing this world through her eyes. She’s definitely a strong character, well-suited for telling this part of the story. But at the same time, I just couldn’t stop comparing her with Thana, because I’ve read their books so close together and because Illi goes through a bunch of very similar story beats, like leaving the city with a caravan or working closely with Heru. And while the way Illi tackles all these things is completely inline with her personality and arc and it wouldn’t make sense for her to be just like Thana, I just loved how Thana had this chemistry with everyone and was constantly conflicted and tended to keep me on the edge of my seat wondering what she’d choose after all.
In contrast, Illi’s arc is fairly predictable. A minor character in the previous book, she was the one who stayed in Ghadid back then while Thana went off adventuring, and so she was among those who bore the brunt of the Big Awful Thing That Changed Everything, the thing that Thana hardly had the time to start processing amidst her book’s events. Now, years later, she has strong (and fairly well-portrayed) PTSD after those events and that forces her to retreat into her shell and be prickly and careful with her affection for other people. And her arc is all about learning that you shouldn’t let fear stop you from loving and living, and that healing is easier when you can lean on others and let them lean on you. Which, cool, great message, except it gets kinda preachy in how it’s delivered and, predictably, makes it harder to put the character into situations where they would have genuine interactions with others and help those others wrap up their own arcs. Which I think was part of the lack of smoothness about the book.
Overall, though, the big plot was quite plainly fantastically resolved. Hetu continued to grumpily entertain every time he showed up. The further expansion of the setting was marvelous. Amastan and Yutif did meet again, and it was nothing like I imagined and everything I could wish for. Every time Thana and Mo appeared on the page together, no matter what dark shit was happening around them, I wanted to squee. Canthem was a great new character to meet. I loved how good they were for Illi, they’re overall the sort of character I’d love to be friends with, and past a bit of awkwardness at their introduction, I felt this was great nonbinary rep.
Definitely going to recommend the series to all fantasy lovers hungry for rich worldbuilding, queernorm settings, and big, diverse casts with plenty of character growth.
It didn't happen overnight, not like in the movies.
…
None
5 stars
There are few things worse than death, but I am capable of most of them.
Wow! I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but this one? This one is where it’s at. Such a stunning and exciting example of everything I love about the fantasy genre. Not a hint of the dreaded middle book syndrome here, just lots of plot development, expanded worldbuilding, and truly fantastic characters.
Where The Perfect Assassin was a contained, city-based mystery, this book takes its characters beyond Ghadid and introduces us to the wider world and the bigger challenges. What starts as an attempt to finish a tricky assassination contract turns into a dark, messy, high-stakes journey through the desert with a visit to the heart of the Empire that wants to absorb Ghadid, and also necromancy, possession, political plotting, and immortality-seeking villains. The way new layers get constantly added to the whole …
There are few things worse than death, but I am capable of most of them.
Wow! I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but this one? This one is where it’s at. Such a stunning and exciting example of everything I love about the fantasy genre. Not a hint of the dreaded middle book syndrome here, just lots of plot development, expanded worldbuilding, and truly fantastic characters.
Where The Perfect Assassin was a contained, city-based mystery, this book takes its characters beyond Ghadid and introduces us to the wider world and the bigger challenges. What starts as an attempt to finish a tricky assassination contract turns into a dark, messy, high-stakes journey through the desert with a visit to the heart of the Empire that wants to absorb Ghadid, and also necromancy, possession, political plotting, and immortality-seeking villains. The way new layers get constantly added to the whole situation is glorious. The plot unravels with so many twists and turns, and the last 4-5 chapters in particular are *such* a wild ride, like, I couldn’t look away from the page for a moment, the whole thing’s just. Asdfghjkl.
Thana turned out to be a super compelling protagonist, torn between her desire to live up to her legendary mother’s legacy and to break out of that legacy’s shadow. She has a great arc, and I love how resourceful, smart, and flawed she is. Also, she’s the type of character who has some sort of chemistry pretty much with everyone else, and that makes all the interactions so exciting. Her easy partnership with Amastan that was just ever so slightly tinged with jealousy, her slow-burn romantic dynamic with Mo, the whole convoluted thing with Heru. Speaking of Heru, he’s SUCH an amazing character! I started off really disliking him and wishing Thana all the luck in her original goal to murder him. Then the more page time he got, the more entertaining he became, and by the end I had to admit I’ve fallen in love with this snarky nerd who might be kinda evil, but it’s for science.
It was also so fun to meet Amastan again, but this time seeing him in the side character position. I loved witnessing his continued growth and development, and his characterization in the previous book was so strong that I feel like I’ve had no trouble guessing at how he must have been internalizing this one’s events, what’s been going through his head, etc. Honestly, the characterization in this series just really is great. As great as the worldbuilding.
In other words: this was incredible, can’t wait to pick up the final part of the trilogy, and also, I want a zombie camel.
First, the positives: this was an incredibly quick and easy read that helped me while away a few hours. Nor is as much a sweetheart as a nightmare demon can hope to be. There’s definitely some of that trademark Lily Mayne monster romance charm here. And there are some super interesting worldbuilding ideas.
Oh, and best of all, the book helped me finally put it into words what kind of hurt/comfort I like and what kind of hurt/comfort I can barely stand. See, yeah, I often dig the type of romance stories where one character is, openly or secretly, in an awful, bad, no good situation, and the other swoops in to save them at some point, and then after much healing they live happily ever after. For me to dig these stories, both characters need to have personalities outside of the situation they’re in. I …
Monsters are subjective.
First, the positives: this was an incredibly quick and easy read that helped me while away a few hours. Nor is as much a sweetheart as a nightmare demon can hope to be. There’s definitely some of that trademark Lily Mayne monster romance charm here. And there are some super interesting worldbuilding ideas.
Oh, and best of all, the book helped me finally put it into words what kind of hurt/comfort I like and what kind of hurt/comfort I can barely stand. See, yeah, I often dig the type of romance stories where one character is, openly or secretly, in an awful, bad, no good situation, and the other swoops in to save them at some point, and then after much healing they live happily ever after. For me to dig these stories, both characters need to have personalities outside of the situation they’re in. I need to be looking at the one who suffers and seeing glimpses of who they’d be if they weren’t living this sad life. I need to understand what drives the one who saves/comforts, what the costs are for them. I need to see why the two are good for each other, why they would likely click even outside of this specific situation. I need to see people (or, well, nightmare monsters), and not just circumstances.
Unfortunately, this is the kind of book that just gives me circumstances and characters who are entirely shaped by them. This was one of my main problems when I tried to read Nik Knight’s solo series, too. Just like that series’ MC, Cody hardly has a personality outside of his tough life. I have no idea who he is outside of the fact that he’s been suffering and in need of saving and then he got saved and there was some great monster sex involved.
And there’s this glaring missed opportunity I can’t stop being mad about, with the video game that turns out to be more than a game eventually, the one that’s supposedly his respite in the worst of times with his family. We get some mentions of him escaping into the game, but for the longest time, nothing about it is *shown*. I can’t compare Cody-who’s-escaping-his-life with Cody-who’s-going-through-the-miserable-motions-again. I can’t figure out what he wants even if he can’t have it, what his values are, what his lines are—all things that could have been so interestingly explored with a gaming storyline. And yes, I get it, he’s very understandably depressed, but if he’s depressed to the point that nothing but grayness exists, maybe he should be getting help that doesn’t involve sex and romance until he gets at least just a bit better. Because as sweet as Nor is, when I think about this relationship too hard, it gets kind of cringey and worrisome and I’m really not sure what makes for a special bond here. Maybe Cody would have ended up in the same situation with any other demon who was kind to him.
So. Yeah. A quick read that I largely spent arguing with the story and urging it to do better with its amazing concepts, lol.
