really impressed by how the author built this vivid, fantastical world in just a few short pages - i enjoyed the africanfuturistic elements, the 3.5/5
really impressed by how the author built this vivid, fantastical world in just a few short pages - i enjoyed the africanfuturistic elements, the strong narrative voice, the propulsive storytelling that had me flying through the book. i just wish the ending hadn't been so rushed....more
the last 20-30%, along with the ending itself, really made this book for me.
for the most part, i thought lonely castle was just okay - i didn't 3.5/5
the last 20-30%, along with the ending itself, really made this book for me.
for the most part, i thought lonely castle was just okay - i didn't have a lot of strong feelings about anything that was going on, apart from mild pity for our protagonist, kokoro. i don't think we spent enough time developing the friendships between our seven core characters and i also wish we could've learned their backgrounds a lot sooner - i get that the author was saving that information for an emotional punch towards the end but that meant the characters felt like two-dimensional caricatures for majority of the novel.
that being said, i absolutely loved how everything came together towards the end - how little pieces of information we learned along the way ultimately connected to form a whole picture. the full-circle moment in the epilogue was so beautiful and memorable - definitely worth the read! ...more
breath of the dragon is a love letter to martial arts, so much so that if you're not interested in martial arts or a plethora of fight scenes, t3.5/5
breath of the dragon is a love letter to martial arts, so much so that if you're not interested in martial arts or a plethora of fight scenes, this book is very much not for you.
the worldbuilding is easily the strongest aspect of this book - it's a fully realized world, with a rich history and mythos, built upon a compelling conflict and held up by well-written political intrigue. the plot is pretty straightforward and could've been so much better if it was carried out by more memorable characters and stronger relationships.
our protagonist jun starts off as a fairly infuriating, ungrateful, bratty kid but he does eventually face some harsh reality checks and undergoes much-needed growth and learning. i like seeing flawed characters grow and change. i also liked that the authors did a sort of reverse chosen one trope with him and actually stuck to it - jun isn't born with any special breathmarked abilities and doesn't somehow magically gain them over the course of his journey either (at least in this book). his triumphs are hard-won and i did feel for him, especially towards the end.
my major issues with this book are the lack of truly stand-out characters and the lack of genuine, strong relationships. i feel like the authors could've really delved into relationships like father/son, mentor/mentee, brothers, best friends/rivals that were only touched upon. this book needed strong emotional bonds to anchor the story and give more urgency and heft to some of the fight scenes.
there were points where the writing with all the fight scenes started feeling repetitive and tired - it just needed something more to it. when you have a generic plotline that's so full of fight scenes, you need great characters and relationships to make your story memorable. like this was a story that was crying out for a found family - i don't know how the authors missed that (and no, characters simply travelling together does not automatically make them a found family).
all in all, a fairly good young adult fantasy book with missed opportunities that could have made it something truly special. the ending does open up lots of potential for the story moving forward, so i'll definitely be checking out the sequel.
thank you to netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review....more
this book started off with quite a bang - the first 30-40% was pretty good stuff with lindon and jai long's duel and seeing how lindon struggled one-othis book started off with quite a bang - the first 30-40% was pretty good stuff with lindon and jai long's duel and seeing how lindon struggled one-on-one against a much stronger opponent. i also liked all the external elements affecting their duel (jai daishou's rage, eithan and naru gwei's personal issues with each other, jai chen's powers, even jai long's own reluctance) and the eventual lead-in to a larger conflict.
the second half is where it kinda fell apart for me. the plot was all over the place, way too many new factors were introduced, and the pacing was ridiculously rushed. plus, the skysworn have to be one of the most boring and uninspired aspects of this series - it's clear they're just a bridge to get our protagonists from one point of the story to another but at least SOME effort to make them interesting would've been nice.
it's also disappointing to see this series constantly prioritize plot over characters, to its own detriment - there's a moment in this book where lindon is genuinely hurt by eithan and instead of giving us an emotional, memorable scene between these characters, or having it affect their relationship in any way, the book just skates past it. sure, it might come up in the future, but i feel like this was the perfect time to dive into character relationships and really get the readers to care about these people. unfortunately, the author is way too enamored with his world and magic for that.
(i also wonder if this series will ever have anything meaningful to say about power - we get lines like "no matter where you are, the strong write the rules" but nothing about how power can corrupt or the burden of responsibility that comes with power)....more
alizayd al qahtani......someone massage this man's shoulders for HARD CARRYING the entire series on his back.
well, i have a lot of complaints s2.75/5
alizayd al qahtani......someone massage this man's shoulders for HARD CARRYING the entire series on his back.
well, i have a lot of complaints so let's just get right into it.
dara - just an absolutely awful character in every sense, and the fact that he got SO much page time is mind boggling to me. did we really need pages upon pages of him pathetically wallowing in his own self-pity?? when we could've had more interesting and dynamic POV chapters from characters like zaynab or aqisa instead? putting aside the fact that i think dara has a terrible personality and infuriating train of thought, i can't help feeling like the author did a huge disservice to his character (or the concept of his character) - refused to let him take any REAL accountability, refused to let him confront his genocidal past beyond his self-pity, refused to let him actually unpack his prejudices against the shafit, let him get away SCOT-FREE after committing mass murder. like what are we doing here??? there is a way to write a compelling tragic antagonist or anti-hero and this is not it.
(if you want to read about a former mass murderer who actually earns his redemption and is a genuinely likable character, read the spear cuts through water instead).
absolutely despised dara's character arc and how it wrapped up - the narrative seems to have an odd and entirely unearned compassion for him. his so-called redemption was a joke - the only reason he finally took a stand against manizheh was because of how her actions started affecting HIM and his tribe and the woman he loved - because dara has always been a self-absorbed, bigoted, hypocritical freak and that never once changed. he has been the exact same person since the beginning - zero character growth, zero learning. the fact that his arc ended with him wanting to make penance with literally everyone EXCEPT the shafit, the people he committed genocide against, was just the cherry on top.
speaking of the shafit, the politics - this series started off with complex political issues and strong themes about violent oppression and revolution and the empire of gold reduced it all to a simplistic 'daevas vs geziris' conflict. suddenly, the quest for liberation and justice is now vengeance and apparently justice for the shafit means to handwave away the reasons for their systemic oppression, ignore any root causes, refuse to let them have any form of retribution, and have that all be okay because hey we're a democracy now and everyone gets a voice! it's just so typical of adult fantasy authors to introduce themes of oppression and then go on to ignore the actual oppressed class for the rest of the series (the shafit sadly have a lot in common with the skaa from mistborn era 1).
alizayd was truly the saving grace of this novel and i absolutely hated how he was treated by the narrative and by the other characters - because why was everyone acting as if the one person who has to make apologies and amendments is ALI of all people??? in the same book where we have characters like dara and jamshid, belonging to a blood purist tribe and having horrible bigoted views and NEVER ONCE apologizing for their views. nahri having all this understanding for her brother's bigotry because that's all he's ever known really soured me on her character.
anyway, i loved ali and his unwavering faith, his relationship with his siblings, his strong sense of justice, his constant support of oppressed people - he's the one character with the spirit of a revolutionary and it's disappointing that the author pushed that aspect of the story aside to focus on manizheh's boring ass revenge instead.
i really wanted to like nahri more, and i do understand the author wanted her to be a complicated person with divided loyalties between her nahid daeva and shafit ancestries - but this series did not have the skills to pull that off. ultimately, nahri was far more committed to her nahid identity and the daeva tribe, mourning her ancestors and the injustices they faced while barely acknowledging the fact that they were violent oppressors, and the fact that the daevas continued to oppress the shafit till date. i get that she stood for equality for everyone and peace in daevabad but i wish she realized there could be no real liberation and no real peace without liberation and justice for the shafit, and the shafit alone.
overall, i did enjoy reading this series and i loved how the author built such a rich, lived-in world with elemental magic and otherworldly creatures - i'm just sad that this book couldn't live up to its full potential and lost its way (and that no one chopped dara's head off but oh well)....more
i really liked the post-climate disaster, dystopian concepts of a world in which humans are crammed into half-submerged towers after the dangerous risi really liked the post-climate disaster, dystopian concepts of a world in which humans are crammed into half-submerged towers after the dangerous rise of sea levels. the portrayal of a strict hierarchical society with an oppressed lower strata is par for the course in any speculative novel but i liked how it was explored within a tower where people were restricted from moving above or below their level and how that worked as a metaphor for borders and migration. i do feel like these concepts were a bit too ambitious for a novella and i wish the ending wasn't quite so vague and open-ended. ...more
this trilogy is just an exercise in mixed feelings for me.
in some ways, mirrored heavens improved from fevered star and in other ways, it remain2.5/5
this trilogy is just an exercise in mixed feelings for me.
in some ways, mirrored heavens improved from fevered star and in other ways, it remained the same or got even worse. the pacing is just as bad as in the previous book - way too much build-up was happening for a finale and too much page time was wasted on useless POVs. too many new plot threads were introduced - dreamwalking, serapio's prophecy, xiala's teek arc - and they weren't really resolved in satisfying ways (except for the prophecy which made sense thematically for serapio's character). balam's POV chapters were interesting but felt like second book material to me - did we really need this much backstory and exposition in a final book?
serapio's character arc remained the most well-written, coherent aspect of this series. his struggle between following a pre-determined destiny and taking fate in his own hands is just as compelling here and i think the prophecy plotline was a good way to highlight that internal struggle. i just feel like the author chickened out a bit towards the end from really confronting serapio's terrible actions and kinda waved them away instead.
what this book improves upon (sort of) is xiala's and okoa's characters. at long last, xiala gets her own space in the story, her own goals separate from serapio, and comes into her own powers (although we never learned why the teek lost their magic??? it seemed like the author just needed a reason for xiala to be the super special chosen one). i was just happy to see that, for once, xiala's world didn't revolve around serapio and she got to do her own thing for a while. i also think her personal resolution was the most satisfying out of all the characters.
as for okoa, i was pleasantly surprised that his chapters weren't a complete bore for me like before. his inner conflict between his duty to his clan and his bond with serapio finally made sense and i actually started sympathizing with him. i also really liked his relationship with serapio and i was looking forward to seeing how it would evolve - until the author completely fucked things up of course. (view spoiler)[like you're telling me okoa ends up pointlessly killed by a completely random character?? we never get to see serapio finding out??? we never get to see serapio mourning him???? what was the point of developing their bond in this book??? (hide spoiler)] so yeah, i hated how his arc wrapped up and the resolution given to carrion crow.
naranpa was done so dirty in this book, i was kinda shocked. her arc really peaked in fevered star and honestly, if THIS is what the author gave her in the final book, i'd rather naranpa's arc ended in fevered star. we had to watch her go on this inane side quest that was not only divorced from the main plot but was eventually rendered completely useless. and her main conflict in this book is with BALAM? that was so out of left field for me. (view spoiler)[and then she ends up in a years-long coma and that's how we leave her???? iktan is now just her mourning spouse trying to cure her?? sorry but that was lowkey queerphobic to me. (hide spoiler)] hated everything about her chapters except her relationship with iktan.
the main plot with the war between tova and the other cities had a pretty good build-up and i liked seeing serapio as a war leader - but of course, this author is allergic to satisfying resolutions so the war plot we spend significant page time on is concluded in the most anti-climactic battle ever with the most anti-climactic final confrontation between serapio and balam.
also, i absolutely hate that we didn't get serapio's POV in the last couple chapters. i wanted HIS reflections on everything - it felt like his character arc was just left hanging in the air towards the end. the last chapter with him and xiala felt like such a cop-out to me and showed me that the author just didn't want to deal with any actual consequences of serapio's actions or figure out what a viable future between him and xiala would look like. we had to see them constantly pine over each other and make these huge love declarations just for that?
overall, this book had way too many things going on and nothing actually happening at the same time. i wasn't happy with where any of the characters ended up, except for xiala. the more i think about it, the more i want to lower my rating but i'll leave it at this for now....more
easily the best entry in the series so far - i'm finally starting to see the cradle appeal. really solid training arc, an interesting villain, wo3.5/5
easily the best entry in the series so far - i'm finally starting to see the cradle appeal. really solid training arc, an interesting villain, worldbuilding that actually ties in with the plot instead of being relegated to us through gigantic info dumps (mostly). and of course, lindon finally gets his own path - it was pretty fun learning about the strengths and limitations of the blackflame sacred arts. my one concern is whether lindon will actually face setbacks because of his insanely dangerous powers or if he will keep miraculously finding cures for them.
also, i appreciate yerin having her own arc and goals separate from lindon - bare minimum, i know, but a refreshing change for any seasoned shounen fan (my only other point of reference for progression fantasies). i just hope the author continues growing her character like this and doesn't end up making her play second fiddle to lindon....more
i wanna root for adult queer fantasy books by authors of color so badly but they're making it really hard for me.
unfortunately, i have very few good i wanna root for adult queer fantasy books by authors of color so badly but they're making it really hard for me.
unfortunately, i have very few good things to say about this one. but some positives: the writing flows well, it's fairly easy to get into. the worldbuilding with the gods living in a magical underground world is pretty cool. i like the ecological fantasy premise, with the concept of humans having destroyed the natural magical forest and in response, a god rising up to shatter the existing lands to remake and restore them. basically, good concepts and ideas, beautiful gowns, but the execution left a lot to be desired.
my biggest gripes: poor character building, poorly written dialogue, utterly uninteresting plot. it's all well and good to have unique fantasy concepts and i can tell the author put a lot of effort into these ideas, but without good characters and an engaging plot, it's all useless. all the characters were so frustratingly single-minded that their POV chapters quickly became unbearably repetitive - i had to read them having the exact same thoughts and the exact same conversations over and over and over again (funnily enough, a problem i had with the author's previous book the bone shard war).
hakara and rasha's relationship as estranged sisters on opposing sides of a war was supposed to be the emotional core of this story but it made me feel nothing. at most, i felt mildly annoyed but also i just didn't care much. they didn't feel like fully rounded characters and frankly, they just weren't compelling enough for me to be invested in them. same goes for the other relationships in the story - none of them felt developed or genuine. there are a couple of potential romantic connections being made (one f/f and one m/f) but again, both were shallow and unconvincing. only one side character stood out to me....and i don't know if i can forgive the author for writing a story with prominent women characters and giving the most interesting backstory to a man.
overall, everything about this book is just surface-level and underdeveloped and boring as hell. i was bored out of my mind the whole way through, right to the very end. there aren't even any strong themes here - something about how the world isn't what the characters think it is, religion as propaganda, etc, but they're only touched upon. there's literally no depth to this book.
anyway, let's end with some recs: if you want an actually good ecological fantasy about climate disasters and magic, read the fifth season instead. if you want a story about doomed sisters actually done well, watch arcane instead. if you want to read a fantasy about religion as propaganda and how the world isn't as it seems, check out blood over bright haven instead.
thank you to netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review....more
he pressed their foreheads together. "this means i'm keeping you," he added, his voice fierce with warning. as if it wasn't exactly what ellwood wantehe pressed their foreheads together. "this means i'm keeping you," he added, his voice fierce with warning. as if it wasn't exactly what ellwood wanted to hear.
i had my issues with this book (the pacing, the overly long separation, the way too short last few chapters) but i can't deny the insane rollercoaster of emotions this book took me on and the fact that i devoured it in 2 days.
also, i have to mention these incredible post-canon fanfics i recently read: #1 and #2. lowkey feel like increasing my rating just because of these fics....more
i really love first contact sci-fi stories (in the vein of arrival) and this book definitely scratched my itch in that sense, though not entirel3.75/5
i really love first contact sci-fi stories (in the vein of arrival) and this book definitely scratched my itch in that sense, though not entirely in a satisfying way.
what i liked: how completely alien and monstrous and utterly inhuman the aliens felt and the mystery surrounding them, and the attempts to communicate with them. the plot felt more exciting and high-stakes than the first book. i wasn't sure how i'd feel about the additional POVs of nine hibiscus and eight antidote but i actually enjoyed them - they were a welcome reprieve from the often-repetitive POV of mahit. i also appreciated seeing mahit's struggle between loving a colonizing culture and the grief of being distanced from her own.
what didn't work for me: i wish more time was spent on communicating with and figuring out the aliens rather than the lsel station/teixcalaan politics, which kinda ended up going nowhere (or at least needed another sequel to fully round them out). i'm also not sure how to feel about the themes of colonization and oppression in this book - at times, they were quite clear even in subtext but at other times, they felt so murky that i wasn't sure what the author was trying to convey. like with eight antidote being the only teixcalaanli to show humanity, are we supposed to assume that teixcalaan might have a better less genocidal future with a more humane emperor (even though it's the system that's the problem)? also i wish we had a main POV from lsel station that could've balanced out mahit's disconnect from her culture.
overall though, i enjoyed this book more than the first one. i do think the author's narrative style is a bit too dense and slow-paced to be appealing to everyone - but if you're a sci-fi fan and can get past that barrier, you'll definitely have a good time with this duology....more
a story that i thought was going to be a conventional take on the bluebeard folktale turned out to be something quite unexpected. i enjoyed the 3.5/5
a story that i thought was going to be a conventional take on the bluebeard folktale turned out to be something quite unexpected. i enjoyed the plot twist and the subtle seeds planted leading up to it, but i do feel like this series is starting to wear out its welcome a bit. if there's another installment, i'd want a change in the narrative format and more from chih as a main character....more
this book is both deeply engaging and extremely difficult to read - it's difficult for me to read about women so trapped in their roles by society andthis book is both deeply engaging and extremely difficult to read - it's difficult for me to read about women so trapped in their roles by society and the men who rage and lord over them, women who have to fight tooth and nail and give up self-respect just to survive and live a decent life.
the way i connected on so many levels with these african women living in colonized zimbabwe (rhodesia back then) in the late 1960s showed me that the struggles of women really do transcend borders and time. but i also appreciated the look into african culture at the time of colonization, particularly the bonds between women living in a severely patriarchal society where the patriarch of the family would be likened to a god.
i liked seeing our protagonist, tambudzai, fighting against expectations to get an education and got frustrated when she succumbed to traditions along the way (even though i completely understood her). there's this running theme of being torn between tradition and progress that speaks to a lot of us from the global south - this urge to tear out the ugly, backward, misogynist aspects of your culture and at the same time, wanting to preserve your culture and customs in the face of colonization. wanting to be proud of where you come from and wanting to grab at any chance of a better life. it's a difficult story with an uneasy, tense atmosphere and no answers at all. but i'm so glad it exists. ...more
one of the most original and unexpected stories i've read in a while - i really enjoyed the breakneck sci-fi mystery plot, the bittersweet and h3.75/5
one of the most original and unexpected stories i've read in a while - i really enjoyed the breakneck sci-fi mystery plot, the bittersweet and hopeful love story, the shocking revelations, and the absolutely unputdownable second half.
the book does falter in other areas, like the worldbuilding and characters. the worldbuilding didn't make much sense - only two countries are left on earth, one is extremely bigoted, misogynistic, homophobic, etc. while the other is the complete opposite, and that's all we know about them. it's very strange. i also think the character writing could've been stronger. ambrose and kodiak really grew on me but i wish they had more distinct personalities and more natural interactions with each other. i understand the fast-paced plot made this tough but i still wish we could've seen more on-page development of their relationship.
that aside, it's not often you come across a gay young adult book with a truly unpredictable and gripping plot that goes to some quite dark places. i'm glad the author took risks with his story and had an ambitious vision for it. this book does a great job portraying the loneliness and claustrophobia of deep space travel, the horror of being far away from everything you've ever known, the joy of new beginnings, and the freedom that comes with taking control of your own destiny. and of course, how even the most hopeless of situations can be survived if the right person is with you. easily recommended....more
some books tend to inspire very little thoughts or feelings in you - that's basically what the familiar was to me. like i was on a very long commute asome books tend to inspire very little thoughts or feelings in you - that's basically what the familiar was to me. like i was on a very long commute and occasionally passed by a beautiful bit of scenery but was mostly zoned out and staring into space.
the best part of this book for me was luzia, our ambitious and driven protagonist, but the narrative often kept her and other characters at a distance from the reader, so i never felt emotionally engaged with them. the pacing was painfully slow, the romance was okay but not all that memorable, the plot was meh not bad, the climax was a bit underwhelming and the last 20% of the book was strangely a slog to get through. the ending was nice though....more
if only will wight loved his characters as much as he loves his worldbuilding and magic system (and could he love his worldbuilding enough to stop witif only will wight loved his characters as much as he loves his worldbuilding and magic system (and could he love his worldbuilding enough to stop with the info dumping and repetition please)....more
the yangchen novels are definitely a major departure from the avatar-verse as we know it - not just because they're focused so heavily on politics, spthe yangchen novels are definitely a major departure from the avatar-verse as we know it - not just because they're focused so heavily on politics, spycraft, and backroom business deals rather than action, but also because of the lack of genuine friendships or any kind of altruistic, caring relationships. it was a bit jarring for me to see how emotionally isolated yangchen was (as well as kavik) and that probably her only true, most trustworthy companion was her bison. sure, she has a group of companions but they weren't really her friends or people who cared about her outside of her avatarhood. kavik had real potential to be a more sincere friend but the plot decided otherwise. there was even a point where it seemed yangchen and her companions could've had an actual bonding moment but again, the plot had other demands.
basically, i'm not a fan of how this book chose callousness over emotional bonds - like the climax is literally hinged on exploiting a relationship of love. it just made me feel so distant from the story and characters. even when it came to emotional scenes - grieving a death, finally forgiving a betrayal - it all felt rushed and empty. obviously this is a very subjective take on a book that's quite well-written and very well thought-out.
overall, the yangchen novels made me realize that yes, i love elemental magic and yes, i love the world of the avatar, but none of it means much to me without a strong emotional core holding it all together. ...more
"if you're such a good thief, then why haven't you stolen me yet?"
3.5-4/5
an art thief falling in love with the son of the man he's stealing from - a p"if you're such a good thief, then why haven't you stolen me yet?"
3.5-4/5
an art thief falling in love with the son of the man he's stealing from - a premise doesn't get any better than this and the book delivers pretty well on it. icarus and helios's romance was definitely the highlight of this book and i'm so glad the author spent a satisfying amount of page time showing their developing feelings. i loved how gentle they were with each other, i love seeing two people being soft and kind to each other when the rest of the world has been so harsh to them. and yeah i'm a sucker for romances that feel fated.
i really appreciated the portrayal of different types of parental abuse - the physical kind and the emotionally neglectful one - and that they're both equally damaging in their own ways. the author also shows the importance of friendships and community and that's always great to see, especially in queer books.
the plot, i have to say, is extremely unrealistic and you're just gonna have to suspend your disbelief a little and go with the flow (trust the process).
i did have a few gripes along the way - the dialogue at times felt like it was trying too hard to be deep and meaningful, and sometimes the way these teenagers interacted with each other didn't feel entirely natural - but the final third of the book was so worth it.
the last 10-15% was absolutely brilliant, beautifully written suspense and tension that had me on the edge of my seat. i only wish the ending was a bit longer - if ever a book needed post-canon fanfiction, it's this one.
(also, if anyone's wondering how to write conflict into a romance without including a third-act break-up, please read this book)....more
i think my mistake going into this book was thinking it would be a fantasy romance in the vein of half a soul - and i can't help thinking it would've i think my mistake going into this book was thinking it would be a fantasy romance in the vein of half a soul - and i can't help thinking it would've been so much better if it leaned more into the romance than the plot. all the references to half a soul here just reminded me how much more i enjoyed that book. honestly, i wish this book wasn't labelled as a romance at all because it's simply not and gave me false expectations.
ultimately, i wanted the witchwood knot to be a different book and couldn't fully appreciate what it had going for it, namely the gothic dark fantasy atmosphere and a strong-willed protagonist....more
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