Jojo is a 13 year old mixed boy. Normally, his Black grandparents would take care of him and his 3 year old sister, but his grandmother is dying of caJojo is a 13 year old mixed boy. Normally, his Black grandparents would take care of him and his 3 year old sister, but his grandmother is dying of cancer, so his chronically absent mother is in charge, and has decided to bring the two of them with her to pick up their father from prison. But this family is haunted by its past, figuratively and literally.
I picked this up on a whim because the audio had no wait at my library, but also because of the NYT Top 100 list - Jesmyn Ward was the only author to appear three separate times, so I thought it was time to finally read her stuff.
I definitely understand why Ward is so lauded. This book packs so much into less than 300 pages. I was so surprised how many topics this covers, to different levels of subtlety. We talk about generational trauma, the prison and justice system, drug use and how it affects a family, racism, and police brutality among others. The speculative element tied very well into what is otherwise a very realistic, gritty story, and absolutely warrants the Morrison comparison. The setting and atmosphere of the sweltering South was well-done. Possibly the most successful part of this was how it complexly characterizes everyone we see. Leonie, the mother, is a drug addict who has basically abandoned her children. She literally neglects to feed her children and worse, but has no problem going to lengths for drugs, and then is jealous of her 13 year old son for having a better relationship with her daughter. But we still feel empathy for her and all she's gone through, and want her to be better! SeeingJojo and Kayla go through this trip is entirely harrowing on multiple levels and can be hard to watch. However, my main detractor from this book was that it felt like not a lot happened. I could've used more plot, but also felt like we could have seen even more from all of our characters and gotten more resolution. Everything in the book was good, but I felt like there was more to go through.
On a side note, I wouldn't recommend the audiobook. One of the narrators in the first half of the book consistently drops in volume for every sentence, whispering by the end of it so it's hard to hear. It's not there in the second half, but it was enough to really frustrate me.
Overall, this is a great literary fiction that covers lots of thematic ground. I'd highly recommend it although I wish there was a little bit more plot....more
The third book in the Murderbot series, the company that screwed over Murderbot is coming under scrutiny. At the same time, Murderbot is helping alongThe third book in the Murderbot series, the company that screwed over Murderbot is coming under scrutiny. At the same time, Murderbot is helping along a new crew trying to secure an artifact, while hiding its presence from the crew's humans.
Look, I'm not a huge novella person. I'm trying to branch out into them. I liked the first book in this series okay, then quite enjoyed the second one. It's been long enough since the first one that I can't tell if I liked that one better than this one, but I wasn't enthused by this. I kept going back in the audiobook because I felt like I had missed something, but nope things hadn't happened yet, not until like 2/3 through. I liked Murderbot's interactions with Miki, where Murderbot starts to see that it's not compulsory for androids to be treated poorly - themes there were great. I generally enjoy Murderbot's desire to do nothing but watch TV and pretend apathy for humans. This was an alright read and only took one sitting to listen to the whole thing, but I could've done with more of it.
Overall, I liked this less than the second book, but it was alright. I do think I'd like this series more if they were longer. ...more
The seventh book in The Wheel of Time, the gang's up to some stuff, shockingly.
I'm probably going to stop reading this series. The only thing stoppingThe seventh book in The Wheel of Time, the gang's up to some stuff, shockingly.
I'm probably going to stop reading this series. The only thing stopping me from stopping is that I can get the audios for free from my library. Plus I also have people in my life who love this series... but I don't get it. Most of what I'll be saying in this review is retreading ground from the previous ones - it's almost as if these books get redundant! And to be fair to the slog books, I also haven't liked the last 3 books.
As always, the plot I liked most is about the White Tower and Egwene. Those politics are some of the only times I felt interested in the book. I thought that the grim-ness of the battles we saw were good. And Rand's relationship with the previous Dragon was interesting.
Let's talk about my complaints unique to this installment. First and most egregiously, one of the most sexist things I've ever read occurs in this one. It has to do with Nynaeve, and I was blinded with fury for her. (view spoiler)[So the only way for a woman to have power in this world is to "submit"?? And men have nothing of the sort? Absolute bull that this is the "one" power. It's the double standard, patriarchal power. (hide spoiler)] Matt's relationship in this book is supposed to be questioning his own sexist beliefs about courting, but the lack of consent was gross. Also, the fact that the Perrin/Faile jealousy argument continued on into this book is ridiculous and I wanted to commit an act of violence.
Now my complaints that are repeating from previous books: the gender essentialism, the men-are-from-Mars-women-are-from-Venus, the "all men are stupid" and "all women are unfathomable and jealous and have breasts I need to comment on" is too much. It's clear at this point that it is the opinion of the author and not a fantasy culture thing. It's also crazy to me that these characters, who have gone through seven books of adventures, still hold all these close-minded beliefs (and even characters who aren't from the Two Rivers have them). They haven't changed an ounce since they left, except they all have powers. Yippee. I also thought that in the last several books, not a lot of plot has gone on for the amount of pages we get through. I think doing a GRRM and splitting books between characters would've helped. Finally, when I'm not mad about stuff happening in this series, I'm bored because I'm no longer invested. I don't care about most of the characters because they're stock and feel like every other character. I don't care enough to follow all the plot nuances. I can't even remember what's happened once it's done. Cool other stuff can't save infuriating characters. To be very clear - I'm a huge fantasy fan. I love books that are a million pages long; I just can't stand these ones.
Overall, I hate that I put myself through another one of these books. Save yourself the time, read anything else....more
Humanity has always revered the Fhrey as gods - they're seemingly immortal, they can perform magic, they can't be hurt... until a human kills one. NowHumanity has always revered the Fhrey as gods - they're seemingly immortal, they can perform magic, they can't be hurt... until a human kills one. Now a war is coming between the races, and the humans are ill prepared.
I read this for a vlog in which I read the best books of 2023 according to the booktubers that have the most similar taste in books as me. Watch it here!
I feel like with such a premise, and such a glowing recommendation of the series, very little happened in this book. I was hyped up that the events of this series are legendary and epic, and maybe that happens in the next books, but not here. There seems to be big stuff going on in the background, but the scope of what we actually see seems very small. I kept going back in the audiobook thinking I missed something, but I didn't. I thought that having a Bronze-ish age setting was interesting and different from what you usually see in fantasy, which makes sense because this is a prequel to a normal-set series. I wasn't particularly invested in any of the characters, but Persephone - who's the wife of a late chieftain trying to keep her town from being killed by the Fhrey - was the most interesting to me. I felt like we got hints toward interesting fantasy things, like the magic system, going on but nothing got expanded on, and that was my main qualm. There are some setups of things that might happen in future books, and also I can get these audios for free, so I won't rule out continuing.
Overall, this felt like a first act rather than a full book. I kept waiting for something to happen, and they didn't - yet....more
Pip is a high school senior assigned with creating a senior thesis on anything she wants - and she decides to investigate the disappearance of Andi BePip is a high school senior assigned with creating a senior thesis on anything she wants - and she decides to investigate the disappearance of Andi Bell, a popular girl who went to her school. Andi's boyfriend, Sal, was presumed guilty when he was found dead of apparent suicide days after she went missing. But Pip isn't convinced, and with a bit of help from Sal's brother, she's going to find out what really happened - if someone doesn't stop her first.
I read this for a vlog in which I read the best books of 2023 according to the booktubers that have the most similar taste in books as me. Watch it here!
Well, I was avoiding this forever. I didn't believe the hype at all. I thought, from the type of people I saw reading this, it wouldn't be for me. I really don't read that many YA thrillers (I didn't as a young adult either), so this being so great really blew me away. The plotting of this book is fantastic. Every single scene is relevant and is throwing so many pieces of information at the reader. This is told in interviews, so most scenes are rife with clues; so much so that I decided to take notes on this to solve it! There are so many moving parts and people that we're talking to that there are twists at every turn, which made this have a breakneck pace that I couldn't put down. The unraveling of the mystery is incredibly satisfying: I got a good amount right, and was pleased with the things I got right AND the things I got wrong. Not only that, but the thriller aspects of this where Pip are in danger definitely went further than I thought they would. Too many thrillers pull their punches and I didn't expect this wouldn't do the same! I liked the relationship with Ravi a good amount, especially towards the end. When I was around halfway through, I had some reservations about Pip. One, that she didn't seem to have much going on outside the mystery - and then the book addressed it directly! That Pip is such a workaholic when it comes to school that she's realized she doesn't have much going on herself. I liked how self aware that was. Then, I thought she had a bit of protagonist syndrome (hypocritically not telling people what she's doing/learning), and she does, but I think she's going to learn from this from what I've heard of the next books. Lastly, I did listen to this on audiobook and that is the way that I'd recommend consuming this. The audio production around the recordings is truly top tier immersion.
Overall, this really did blow me away. I immediately recommended this to a lot of people and want to gush about it!! Cannot wait to watch the show....more
Eleanor Bennett has died. Her children, Byron and Benny, are recently estranged from one another, but have to come together to fulfill their mother's Eleanor Bennett has died. Her children, Byron and Benny, are recently estranged from one another, but have to come together to fulfill their mother's final wish: to listen to the recording she left them, detailing the secrets of her life she never told them, and to eat the Caribbean black cake she left for them.
I totally understand how this was one of the most popular general fiction books of its year. There's a lot of good to this book, but it's also a kitchen sink drama, which helps it be so widely appealing. We spend a good amount of this book hearing Eleanor's recording, as she describes her childhood on an unnamed Caribbean island (inspired by Jamaica) and her young adulthood in England before she was the woman her children know. She goes through so much trauma and strife to try to live a life of freedom. However, her plot felt like I'd read it several times before, so I wasn't as invested in what is an objectively emotional story. It also got kitchen-sink-y, with everything dramatic that could happen happening. What did get me emotionally was her children's reaction to her recordings. The present timeline, as we deal with the complicated relationships that these family members had and have, felt very real and fleshed out. I also really enjoyed the ending portion of this where so many strings of Eleanor's life come together in such a satisfying and heartfelt way. Most of all, I loved the discussion of identities across all of the characters, and how complicated it can become when you don't fit into the "box" associated with the identity.
Overall, this is a solid general fiction. I was more invested in the present timeline than the past one, but thought it came together very well by the end...more
Arthur less is a middle-aged gay author who's struggling. His books aren't selling and his publisher doesn't want his new ones. His boyfriend of nine Arthur less is a middle-aged gay author who's struggling. His books aren't selling and his publisher doesn't want his new ones. His boyfriend of nine years just got engaged to someone else. To run away from his problems, he decides to travel the world on random writing and author gigs he'd normally say no to.
Mid life crisis! Yay! I read this because it got so many awards (namely the Pulitzer) and knew very little going in. Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of those literary fictions that doesn't really go anywhere. This book does not deviate from the reader's expectations at all. I thought it was great to have a story from an older queer character because it's not a popular point of view. There were some funny moments, especially with Less being quite dopey. I just didn't think this really went anywhere and anything it wanted to say was apparent from the opening chapters. It didn't do anything wrong, it just felt very typical.
Overall, this book does exactly what it says on the tin, no more, no less (ha). Mid-life crisis adventures with the expected lessons learned. ...more
Isaiah and Samuel have been together since they were young. As enslaved men on a plantation in the American South, they have to keep their re3.5 stars
Isaiah and Samuel have been together since they were young. As enslaved men on a plantation in the American South, they have to keep their relationship quiet. When another slave decides to try getting the master's favor by preaching, he starts turning the slaves against each other, and especially against Isaiah and Sam.
This does such a fantastic job portraying the complexity of slavery and the social politics surrounding it. It captures a lot of elements of slavery that aren't necessarily touched on all the time while also staying away from being gratuitous - though it's still painful to read these people's experiences. Here's some great things that this touched on: Many relationships slaves wanted to have were forbidden or broken because of the slave owner's whims, and relationships that did exist were molded by them. Slaves were not a united monolith and had many divides, often caused by the slave owner. Social politics at the time (and today) caused oppressed people to beat down on those who are perceived as lower than them to try to gain an ounce of power - as seen in the preacher character and the slave owner's wife. Enslaved people were exploited wholly, not just in their labor and being beaten. Being stolen away from their cultures and families stole away the identities of enslaved folks. And a million other things this talked about. Plot and content wise, this book was brilliant. However, the execution I was less of a fan of. While I appreciated that this was an ensemble piece, I truly had problems keeping all the characters straight. The writing style wasn't my favorite - I've heard it compared to Morrison, who I've enjoyed, but this felt a little ethereal to me, straying from what was going on. From reading other reviews, the style either works for you and you give it a five, or it doesn't and you give it a three-ish. I think that if this was turned into a tv show, I'd adore it more.
Overall, this is such a great book for conveying the complex lives of enslaved people, but I wasn't a fan of the delivery - though I know others will be. ...more
Told through the eyes of her husband, brother-in-law, and sister, a woman begins to have violent dreams about meat leading her to go vegetarian. As heTold through the eyes of her husband, brother-in-law, and sister, a woman begins to have violent dreams about meat leading her to go vegetarian. As her family refuses to support or help her, she experiences a psychotic break. Translated from Korean.
This is such a thought provoking book. This is a literary fiction that borders on horror at times when we occasionally see through our main characters' eyes, experiencing her troubled reality. I liked that this decided to tell this story mostly from outside perspectives, so we as the reader see the more three dimensional person, but while seeing the thoughts of those who see her as just one thing. All three of our stories about her were interesting in their own ways and told a different part of her journey; I was personally most invested in the middle one. It's hard to see her be treated the way she is, but also to see from the outside the mental state she's in. She's so troubled by her dreams that she no longer feels comfortable in her own flesh, and takes all her guilt and fear out on her body. The author said in an interview that this was inspired by the idea of the potential impossibility of innocence for humanity, and she ties this specifically into the choice to eat meat before it spirals from there.
Overall, this book will keep you thinking about the nature of violence and humanity as well as how we treat one another....more
Ballet teacher Bree and football player Nathan have been in love with each other since they were teenagers, but since they've never been single at theBallet teacher Bree and football player Nathan have been in love with each other since they were teenagers, but since they've never been single at the same time, they've never admitted their feelings. When they now are and a clip of drunk Bree talking about him goes viral, they decide to fake date. But Nathan and his team have made a cheat sheet up his sleeve to get Bree to finally see him as more than a friend.
I read this with my book club, Three of Clubs, for our quarter where we read Friends to Lovers books. Join us in June 2024 for A Lady For A Duke! Link to the discord: join us here!
Sometimes you can't trust BookTok because the books are problematic, but sometimes you can't trust BookTok because the books just aren't good. This is the latter. I read too many romances in a row (as a non-romance reader) and they all had a venn diagram of things I didn't like about them. The couple of good things: I did believe that these two have been best friends for a long time. There was a panic attack scene that was really good. The football team making the cheat sheet was actually really funny (but that wasn't much of the book). The not great things: so much of the relationship stuff made me cringe so hard that I had to pause the audiobook and not return for a while. That happened multiple times. This is made worse by the fact that there is NOTHING in this book except the relationship - it doesn't feel like these characters exist outside each other, with very few scenes of exception. In the first chapter, Bree acts like such a terrible person to Nathan's girlfriend at the time and we're just supposed to root for her in that scene? There's not any other scene where there's a girl liking Nathan, so this ugly side of her isn't shown again, but multiple people were turned off the book because of this. The ending - while Bree says it's what she wanted and to each their own - left a weird taste in my mouth. There were a few good scenes hidden amongst an otherwise not great romcom. Hopefully her future titles have a better proportion because I actually own a different one of her books... oops.
Overall, while there were some scenes that were great, the majority of this book had me cringing and regretting picking it as a book club read....more
Claire signed up for her remote outpost at the edges of human-inhabited space for a reason - she doesn't want to get attached to people. On the last dClaire signed up for her remote outpost at the edges of human-inhabited space for a reason - she doesn't want to get attached to people. On the last day before her job is going to be automated and she's to go back to society, her crew picks up on a distress signal. They find the motherlode: the Aurora, a luxury space cruiser that mysteriously disappeared 20 years ago. Her crew decides to board to claim their findings, but months later, Claire is held for questioning as the only survivor of her crew.
What a fantastic combination of scifi and horror! I listened to the majority of this in one sitting on a long car ride and I couldn't read it fast enough. Space survival stories just do something for me emotionally - I was so invested in Claire and the crew, wanting them to get out safe even though we know some of them are dead. They stumble across hundreds upon hundreds of dead bodies, which is eerie on its own, but the way that the author unravels their discovery of the state of the ship elevated that. Not only that, but Claire has struggled with hallucinations all her life - and now the crew is having them too. This makes all of the characters unreliable in a way that doesn't feel cliche. I really enjoyed the split timeline of the crew's exploration alongside Claire telling the story of it - that was paced really well. I also liked that it decided to go further than just the crew's exploration. I feel like a lot of authors would have solved it there, but I liked that we went further in time to solve the mystery rather than solving it the first time. Speaking of solving, I thought that the solution to this book was great - it felt logical given the story but wasn't easy to predict. The audiobook narrator was also acting her head off, she did such a good job!
Overall, this was a rollercoaster I didn't want to get off. If you like horror or scifi, I need you to read this!...more
In this version of Victorian England, spirits are very much real, but only men are allowed to interact with them - with terrible consequences for womeIn this version of Victorian England, spirits are very much real, but only men are allowed to interact with them - with terrible consequences for women who are found out. Trans boy Silas, unaccepted as his real self, is discovered practicing spiritcraft publicly and sent to a girls school to become the "proper lady" he can never be. But this school is haunted, not only by its tortured tenants but by those girls who have been killed by those in charge for not becoming marriage material.
Despite reading the trigger warnings (very kindly) included in the book and being very uncomfortable with the first few chapters, I decided to finish this book because I really wanted to know what happened. Unfortunately, the unending medical gore made me so viscerally uncomfortable that I had to keep pausing because I was having physical reactions to it. I can't do gross-surgery-goes-wrong stuff, and our main character is always thinking about or performing it. I can read so many horrible things in books, but this one type of thing is the only one to physically upset me. Because of this, I won't be rating the book. If you're like me, I'd avoid this book. If that's something you can take, I do recommend this!
Now my otherwise thoughts on the book. I really enjoyed Silas as a main character. He was well characterized and I deeply wanted everything to be okay with him. The author is also trans and autistic, so those aspects are Own Voices. While it's great to be reading about trans, queer, and autistic characters in a historical setting, this is a more realistic book that depicts the horrible ways such people were treated in the past (and in some places, today). There is deep tragedy in the way that these children are treated and experimented on. I also appreciated that the author acknowledged the history of Black people particularly having horrifying medical experiments done on them. In terms of this being a speculative fiction book, I thought the magic and spirit stuff left some to be desired. I wanted to know more about how this world was affected by spirits being a part of life. I wasn't 100% on the relationship because they don't know each other well and have basically one thing in common, but for the sake of a HEA, I'll take it. I also am unsure that this should be categorized as YA; yes, it follows teen characters, but the content is so very adult.
Overall, I should have DNFed because of the medical gore, but otherwise I think it's a high quality book....more
Feyi lost her husband five years ago. She hasn't gone on a single date, until she hooks up with handsome Milan at a party. When she breaks up with himFeyi lost her husband five years ago. She hasn't gone on a single date, until she hooks up with handsome Milan at a party. When she breaks up with him to be just friends, his friend Nasir steps up to bat as he seems like he wants to get to know her for real. Feyi agrees to nothing serious, but when Nasir invites her his island home to help her show her art, Feyi meets Nasir's celebrity widower dad and is immediately interested.
Your first question is of course, "Julie, why did you read an age gap romance if you already think that's problematic??" Because Emezi has written taboo relationships before in great works of fiction and it didn't negate the greatness. I was hopeful - despite the reviews - that this would be the same, but it was not. Fundamentally, I don't think this book succeeded in what it set out to do - talk about people finding joy and connection after grief. I hardly found that in this book. The pacing of this book doesn't make any sense with its romance shelving - we don't meet the love interest until halfway through, which makes it hard to attach to the love interest or for the characters to get to know each other. The first half follows Feyi seeing two other men, which all could have been backstory rather than the actual meat of the book - it felt to me that the author just wanted to include spicy scenes up top. It could have been trimmed to include more about Feyi herself or more about her connection with the love interest. I wish this was a literary fiction that spent more time with Feyi on her own rather than only focusing on her relationships. Yes - the plot is her trying to find companionship after her husband's death, and she has been on her own for a while. However, I didn't feel like I got to see her nearly enough outside of how she is in relation to other people. The one thing I really did like was hearing about her artwork, which also happened to tie into her grief - this was a small part of the book, though. Emezi's writing style has impressed me before, but I didn't have that here either.
Then the romance itself. First off, this is a 200ish page book and we don't get to see him until halfway through the book, so again, there's no time to develop it at all. These two jump from saying they're in love at a pace that would make even a Disney Princess shudder. This feels so gross because of the major power dynamic between the two: he is old enough to be her father; he is a celebrity; he is actively funding her budding career; the only thing that they actually bond over is her greatest trauma. I can only see this as him taking advantage of her, even if his trauma is similar, this is not the basis of a healthy relationship. I also felt like we could've skipped the "boyfriend's" dad part and just had her date this older character. The main characters acting like there's no reason that his kids would be upset by the whole thing is wild. Also, Nasir being awful to her didn't surprise me because I saw the red flags Emezi put down early - but we're just not supposed to see any red flags with his dad?
Overall, I wish this book was entirely different - I liked the themes it was trying to cover, but didn't like any of the execution. I think this is meant to be about healing from grief in a healthy way, but I don't think the main character was developed enough as her own person or that the relationship that she pursues is healthy....more
Written as a letter to his teenage son, Coates describes his relationship to his own Blackness throughout his life.
Disclaimer: I am white, reviewing Written as a letter to his teenage son, Coates describes his relationship to his own Blackness throughout his life.
Disclaimer: I am white, reviewing a book about Blackness by a Black author. I highly encourage you to also read reviews by Black reviewers!
I listened to the audiobook of this, which is narrated by the author, and I highly recommend that as the method to read this book. Because this book is so short, I slowed down the audio to lower than my usual to make sure I sat with Coates' words. I thought this book was so insightful and well put together. We see how Coates grows up Black, and how the different eras of his life have changed how he sees himself and his Blackness. How he, at various points in his life, had to repeatedly come to the realization of how intent American tradition is on destroying the Black body. I think that the memoir-like style works for this book so well because rather than Coates coming out to the reader directly with his philosophy, he travels through the path he took to get there, from the streets of Baltimore to the halls of Howard to his apartment in NY. Coates isn't trying to encapsulate everything about everyone's experience to be a manifesto for others, he's trying to explain his struggles to his son who is going through similar ones, ones that every Black person in America has to go through in one way or another when one's nation is so heavily predicated on hatred for one's people. Not only did I think the content of this book was great, but its organization and narrative style also lend themselves to highlighting its content. There were several times I rewound the audiobook just to hear the author say the same sentence again.
Overall, this letter from father to son about the life of a Black American will stay with readers through its simplicity and insight....more
60 years ago, a man named al-Jahiz opened the portal between the magical and real worlds, and they have existed together. Now in 1912, keeping the pea60 years ago, a man named al-Jahiz opened the portal between the magical and real worlds, and they have existed together. Now in 1912, keeping the peace is the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities, including Fatma, its youngest female employee and one of its most successful. When a magical man starts wreaking havoc, claiming himself to be al-Jahiz, Fatma is set on the case, alongside her brand-new and way-too-enthusiastic partner, Hadia.
I really liked the vibes of this story. The flavor is possibly its best selling point - it's historical with the djinn fantasy elements and a light steampunk twist. On another level, there's also a mix of the seriousness of the fantasy with plenty of humor, which gives the book a fairly unique tone. I liked the platonic grumpy-sunshine dynamic we got between Fatma and Hadia. They also have different religious beliefs which was talked about well. I also liked that the main relationship in this WAS platonic, even if Fatma is sapphic and has a relationship. Plot and mystery-wise, I think there could have been a couple more red herrings. It was very clear who was being set up as the bad guy, and there weren't many other options to choose from after them. I don't know that I will recall much of the actual plot itself in a few months. I may only remember the setting/characters if that, but not what they did. I also thought that - because of its goodreads listing as being #1 in a series - that it would be the first in a series, but instead it's a standalone novel that's connected to previous novellas. I feel like these characters and their journey could be expanded upon so I'd love to see a direct sequel!
Overall, this is an SFF to read for the vibes, and I can appreciate that....more
In the sixth book of The Wheel of Time, Rand struggles to keep his sanity while making power plays. The girls have to deal with the splitting of the WIn the sixth book of The Wheel of Time, Rand struggles to keep his sanity while making power plays. The girls have to deal with the splitting of the White Tower.
This book is over 1000 pages long, but very little of consequence happened. Compared to some of the previous books, I was bored. May I review in bullet points?
• The boys did damn near nothing. Just bided their time until the end of the book. • Most of the individual character plotlines in this book were redundant for 80% of the book before their resolution. Could've been cut down. • Rand having Lews in his ear was interesting at first but it didn't end up doing much. • Rand's otherwise struggle for power as people try to control him wasn't bad. The stuff with Alanna took me aback (it's essentially magical r*pe) and while it's obviously not a good thing it might have interesting repercussions. • The splitting of the White Tower and the fallout of those politics was the most interesting part for me. • Egwene getting that upgrade (not specifying bc spoilers) made me drop my jaw and want to continue reading. • Nynaeve's block has been getting progressively more annoying, but hey now she's got a new superpower that makes sense with her background! • The massive violence/brutality at the end was shocking, and felt like such a twist into darkness from what we've seen before (in a good way). • A lot of the magic things I liked about the previous books (e.g. dream world) weren't in this one. • People complain that Jordan describes too much, but that's not his problem: it's redundancy, in both plot and phrases. • Every ounce of romance in these books makes me want to rip off my ears. • Aviendha/Rand are the only exception to that rule but they're not even in this book. • Egwene is suddenly in love with a man she's never given a second thought to, just because she finds out he's obsessed w/ her. Ew. • Min having to sacrifice her identity and use her body to have Rand finally see her as a woman was gross as hell. • The whole "sharing" Rand thing is handled in a gross way. It's physically possible to have made it poly and made it work, but it doesn't. I've said it before, but there could've been interesting implications with Rand's weight on the pattern manipulating these girls to be obsessed with him, but again, no. Don't get me started on how Elayne barely knows this man. • Perrin literally has a superpower so that he can read his wife's emotions and he's STILL too stupid (just like every other man in the books) to understand her feelings. Oh yeah, and those feelings she has are the jealous emotions every woman in these books has to have. This whole plot felt like an 80's sitcom episode that hasn't aged well. IDK, why marry someone who you can't communicate with effectively, or even understand on a basic level? All these two do is fight. Get a divorce, please. • Every single woman is written the same way - their only difference between each other is their appearance and what boy they're into, or maybe what their superpower is. • It's exhausting to read the words of someone who clearly believes women can only be one thing. Just giving a woman superpowers does not a powerful, well-written woman make. I liked a lot of the women in the first couple books, but as the series has gone on, all of them have condensed into a stereotypical monolith. • Even if the boys all think the same way about women being incomprehensible, at least they have DISCERNABLE, UNIQUE PERSONALITY TRAITS. • I give more of my thoughts on the gender essentialism in this series in my review of book 4: read it here. • I'm sure I have more to say but I'm so sick of writing this review.
Overall, I feel like I could have skipped the first 700 pages and still have absorbed everything that happened in this book. Am I going to make it through the slog? Place your bets now....more
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