So many fantastic ideas.... but mayhap a bit TOO many for a single novel.
I wish this had focused on a couple of elements and developed them a bit stroSo many fantastic ideas.... but mayhap a bit TOO many for a single novel.
I wish this had focused on a couple of elements and developed them a bit stronger because Kate Pentecost has some amazing ideas here. In a standalone novel without further series space to bring all of them to a full realization, it just starts to feel a bit jumbled.
Steampunk + Western + Witches + Fight Between Heaven & Hell + Dystopian Society + Living in an in-between World and Time + Unlikely Allies + Politics + a LOT of characters + Magical objects + Coming of Age + Romance... Etc.
The Western vibe mixed with witchcraft was a spectacular combination, and it even worked well with the steampunk angle. However, the in-between realm, pus dystopian feel of the "real world" and the memories of what happened before the purgatory living just got to be too much.
This isn't even a long novel to carry these out, so the pace was fast, which didn't let these full elements be told.
The characters were great, but again, rushed in the space they were given.
So much strength here that could be developed a bit more.
This starts out with a girl and her mother and the pond of water they guard from animals and enemies so that they have enough water.
Before long, the tThis starts out with a girl and her mother and the pond of water they guard from animals and enemies so that they have enough water.
Before long, the teenager, Lynn ends up having to leave their home in search for a way to survive on her own.
Along the way, she encounters different groups of people, one that she has seen before, and a romantic potential.
Many dystopian topics that you may expect come up, including a lot of women being more of a commodity than a human.
I'm not sure that there's anything that I would pinpoint as being a standout from any other dystopian novel, but I liked the narrative style, and the pacing was pretty good. It was easy to sit down and get through this one quickly.
This could have been a standalone, but I am intrigued by what a 2nd novel will bring to the table
Huh... I liked it enough, but it wasn't without its share of issues.
The narrator's overly egotistical views about many things skew much of this book. Huh... I liked it enough, but it wasn't without its share of issues.
The narrator's overly egotistical views about many things skew much of this book.
The ex-pats, referred to by their years of whence they came, were the stars of the show for me.
Kaliane Bradley did a great job of showing their integration into today's world, which was the main strength of the novel.
Graham Gore is definitely a male character written by a woman. I will leave it at that, haha.
The end was extremely chaotic and could have been less rushed. This hurt the overall book to rush the ending and leave things unfinished. I'm ok with the unfinished end, given the events in the novel, and time-traveling, however to barge in like a fox in a hen house, stir everything up, and then just end things somewhat abruptly was dissatisfying.
It's good to speculate about, but it could have been better polished and delivered.
I loved the full cast and you could tell that they had a lot of fun creating and performing this.
I would love to see it on stage.
TThis was quite fun!
I loved the full cast and you could tell that they had a lot of fun creating and performing this.
I would love to see it on stage.
These planets and their inhabitants are quite queer in every definition of the words.
I like that it still hold the politics of the sci fi at the time, but that it's a bit more exciting than other novels at the time. Perhaps it was a woman's touch...
Hmm... The Black Key... This is the weakness for me in this book. This needs to be better defined and better established; even the people who are a paHmm... The Black Key... This is the weakness for me in this book. This needs to be better defined and better established; even the people who are a part of it are a bit clueless except for one person. That seems a bit off.
Otherwise, the way that Violet is growing and exploring her powers is a lot of fun.
There is also a big humanity theme here with forcing something and asking something, and I really loved the way that that was put in here... even if someone forced someone to see it... Hypocrite much?
Raven!!!!
Ash is actually kinda lame in this one, and Garnet is a bit better. but there are new characters, and the focus was obviously on Violet and her growth. I can't wait to read the next book.
This idea here is interesting and the book starts out in an engaging way.
Unfortunately, it quickly derails and just becomes both weird and slow-pacedThis idea here is interesting and the book starts out in an engaging way.
Unfortunately, it quickly derails and just becomes both weird and slow-paced.
There is a lot of content about a marriage, mostly in name only and for financial security for both parties involved.
The eldest daughter is possibly a serial killer in the making and tortures her younger sister in weird ways. While this makes Miles uneasy, he never really does anything about it, and a lot of time shows that he simply can't be bothered.
Miles is a bit of a tool; you can see it in his treatment of others and her selfishness in only caring about his financial security.
The company is also in this same boat, which is why they work together so well.
The user experience, while somewhat described, is the most exciting idea of the novel, and yet, while always in the background, for the most part, it is the smallest part of the novel, which ends up being the downfall.
This book feels like it was unprofessionally published and in dire need of a thorough content edit. For example the dialogue and tags feel very amateurish: In less than 300 pages,"he said" "she said" is used almost 100 times.
Ultimately I was just glad that this was ont he shorter end of things.
So much going on after we get confirmation that some weirdass type of vampirism is alive in the world.
As with anyThis was one heap of an intense book.
So much going on after we get confirmation that some weirdass type of vampirism is alive in the world.
As with any apocalyptic novel, there is sectioning of survival groups and fighting for resources.
The depth of the story itself is stronger in this one, but I felt that the Passage was more intimate in humanity. However, this could have easily been intentional by author Justin Cronin as he continues to strip away humanity in exchange for survival at whatever that may cost.
My biggest complaint, and why this isn't a 5-star read for me, was that everything was leading up to this point, and then the ending scene and the fight was just such a short space and was gone too easily and quickly, and I felt like that was a major missed opportunity.
I tried out the audio version two and a half years ago but I was missing the experience of the physical version that I got 7 years ago and wanted to fI tried out the audio version two and a half years ago but I was missing the experience of the physical version that I got 7 years ago and wanted to feel that again
STILL AMAZING!
LOVE what this one adds to the series as a whole!
This one translated even better to audio with a faster pacing and more voices narrating. Reading this one 5 years later, I see all kinds of links that I missed the first time and how the overall stories merge and build together even more. Hanna's journal entries with her anime-style drawings are the biggest thing missing from the audio.
The genius planning and story-telling team of Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff are just delightful. As much as I love Kady and AIDAN, this book is overall better. But they are both still awesome.
A wonderfully exciting ride with many implications leading into the final book of the trilogy.
This one started out strong but lost the pace towards the second half.
I thoroughly enjoyed Eleanor and her refusal to give up on finding her missing This one started out strong but lost the pace towards the second half.
I thoroughly enjoyed Eleanor and her refusal to give up on finding her missing brother. I love that she bowled over any obstacles that tried to hold her back in the time period.
I give props to Susan Dennard, who did seem to do her research to keep the language on par with the time period she is writing about. I appreciate a well-researched historical time period. However, she may have gotten a bit carried away because she would take colloquial words from the time period and overuse them in sections such as "water closet" for bathroom. It got to the point that I could have turned this into a drinking game, and it started to mess up the flow.
I enjoyed the zombie factor and the reanimation. However, I was left with a LOOOOOT of questions at the end.
Most of the issues can be attributed to this being a first-series book, and I think the next book should easily resolve them. I like the characters and the setting enough to continue.
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