It started out strong and interesting but the story lost itself completely in very strange details and a very constructed and implausible plot. As much as I liked the Shakespearean mystery about one of his most famous plays and even the link to the modern day, there where too many things that did not make it believable. Characters that come and are killed off, weird time lines (like flying from London to New York and back and driving up into the Scottish Highlands in under 24 hours on a deadline, not even considering time zones, and the main character has exactly one hour of light sleep), the main villain(s) appear out of nowhere, while keeping the main character under permanent surveillance. It feels like the author wanted to squeeze in as many rumors, facts, and trivia on Macbeth as they could.
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I love big Fantasy settings and like to delve deep into far-off realms. I read for fun and to relax, though not as often as I would like to. Apart from Fantasy, an occaisonal crime/thriller might cross my path. I usually read the books in English, sometime in my mother's tongue German (e.g. if it is a German original or has been translated from another language than English). Not a big fan of e-readers, I have one, but I love the "feel" of an actual book.
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inkwing reviewed The Shakespeare Curse by J L Carrell
Great idea, but implausible plot...
2 stars
It started out strong and interesting but the story lost itself completely in very strange details and a very constructed and implausible plot. As much as I liked the Shakespearean mystery about one of his most famous plays and even the link to the modern day, there where too many things that did not make it believable. Characters that come and are killed off, weird time lines (like flying from London to New York and back and driving up into the Scottish Highlands in under 24 hours on a deadline, not even considering time zones, and the main character has exactly one hour of light sleep), the main villain(s) appear out of nowhere, while keeping the main character under permanent surveillance. It feels like the author wanted to squeeze in as many rumors, facts, and trivia on Macbeth as they could.
inkwing finished reading Playlist by Sebastian Fitzek

Playlist by Sebastian Fitzek
Musik ist ihr Leben. 15 Songs entscheiden, wie lange es noch dauert
Vor einem Monat verschwand die 15-jährige Feline …
inkwing reviewed Playlist by Sebastian Fitzek
Gelungen
4 stars
Nachdem ich bei den letzten Fitzek-Büchern eigentlich immer diese "Was-zur-Hölle-lese-ich-hier-eigentlich"-Momente hatte, habe ich "Playlist" fast schon wieder genossen. Spannend bis zum Ende (auch wenn ich genug Fitzek gelesen habe, um schon eine Ahnung gehabt zu haben, wer sich später als der Täter herausstellt), mit einigen netten Twists, einigen schönen, wenn auch teilweise konstruierten Rätseln. Aber ein interessanter Take, einen Psychothriller rund um eine Playlist mit eigens komponierten, realen Liedern zu schreiben. Für mich einer der besseren Fitzeks.
Nachdem ich bei den letzten Fitzek-Büchern eigentlich immer diese "Was-zur-Hölle-lese-ich-hier-eigentlich"-Momente hatte, habe ich "Playlist" fast schon wieder genossen. Spannend bis zum Ende (auch wenn ich genug Fitzek gelesen habe, um schon eine Ahnung gehabt zu haben, wer sich später als der Täter herausstellt), mit einigen netten Twists, einigen schönen, wenn auch teilweise konstruierten Rätseln. Aber ein interessanter Take, einen Psychothriller rund um eine Playlist mit eigens komponierten, realen Liedern zu schreiben. Für mich einer der besseren Fitzeks.
inkwing reviewed Der letzte Wunsch by Andrzej Sapkowski
Solid prelude
4 stars
DE: Nach Serie und Spiel gebe ich mich nun auch mal an die Bücher. Band 1 der Vorgeschichte hat mir gut gefallen, auch wenn natürlich einiges in den Grundzügen bekannt war. Es ist eher eine lose Sammlung an Kurzgeschichten, was ich vorher wusste und dem Lesen keinen Abbruch tut. Einzig mit dem Schreibstil (bzw. der deutschen Übersetzung) werde ich nicht ganz warm.
EN: After the TV show and the game, I will now delve deeper into the Witcher saga by reading the books. I really liked Part One of the prelude, even though most of the general story was already known. It is more a collection of short stories than one continuous story, but I knew that beforehand and enjoyed it nonetheless. Just the writing style (or at least the German translation) is not quit my cup of tea.
inkwing reviewed Finsternis im Wunderland by Christina Henry
A violent mess
1 star
I was intrigued by this take on the old story of Alice: a girl escaping from an asylum.
But it turned out to be an extremely graphic depiction of violence from start to end. To me, very flat characters, little cohesive story, just murder, rape and other cruelties added together to fill the pages.
inkwing reviewed The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas (The Sunbearer Duology, #1)
A combination of the Hunger Games and Mexican mythology
4 stars
A world where, every decade, it is up to ten of the gods' children (Golds and Jades) to save the world from the Obsidians by competing against each other in The Sunbearer Trials: the winner will be selected as the Sunbearer, the loser will be sacrificed in order to save the world.
An epic competion that reminded me strongly of the Hunger Games, but had its own twists and rules. A coming of age story about underdog teenage Teo and his struggles to prove himself to others and himself, too. I really liked the story, the setting, and the characters, although most of them have some potential to evolve even more.
It is a young adults book, so I was sometimes bored or frustrated with elaborate teenage struggles and stubbornness, but overall I enjoyed the book.
A world where, every decade, it is up to ten of the gods' children (Golds and Jades) to save the world from the Obsidians by competing against each other in The Sunbearer Trials: the winner will be selected as the Sunbearer, the loser will be sacrificed in order to save the world.
An epic competion that reminded me strongly of the Hunger Games, but had its own twists and rules. A coming of age story about underdog teenage Teo and his struggles to prove himself to others and himself, too. I really liked the story, the setting, and the characters, although most of them have some potential to evolve even more.
It is a young adults book, so I was sometimes bored or frustrated with elaborate teenage struggles and stubbornness, but overall I enjoyed the book.
inkwing finished reading The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks (Lightbringer, #4)

The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks (Lightbringer, #4)
"The Seven Satrapies have collapsed into four-and those are falling before the White King's armies. Gavin Guile, ex-emperor, ex-Prism, ex-galley …










