**spoiler alert** Representation: Asian character Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, death of a sister and others, sword violence, phy**spoiler alert** Representation: Asian character Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, death of a sister and others, sword violence, physical assault and injury, murder, blood, grief and loss depiction Score: Six and a half out of ten.
The trilogy is finally over. After so long, I read Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber. I haven't read from this series since 2023 but only because I waited for the library to get it. I found it okay when I closed the final page, though.
It starts with the characters that need no introduction, Rose and Wren. It's getting predictable at this point. Rose and Wren go on separate journeys. Again. They meet familiar characters, like Shen. Again. The battle between the witches and humans loom. Again. You get the idea.
Now that I look at it, the series is repetitive. Burning Crowns is the shortest instalment by far at less than 500 pages, less than Twin Crowns or Cursed Crowns for example. However, the pacing is as slow if not slower. I'm getting tired of slow-paced novels like this one if there's nothing happening sometimes. Doyle and Webber could've removed some filler to tighten their creation. Scenes where characters' lives like Rose's are on the verge of death could've been more impactful. However, I felt a disconnect from the characters. Doyle and Webber could've made Wren and Rose develop more or add more depth.
All characters like Rose and Wren stopped developing after Twin Crowns. Their only development is their tenuous relationships between their partners. I didn't seem them as being more advanced as they were an instalment ago. The worldbuilding, particularly the magic system, remains the same across all three narratives. There is light magic and dark magic. That's it. Everything is the same. Nothing has changed or expanded. Other than that it feels like a world set in early modern times. Perhaps I would've liked it more if Doyle and Webber made some expansions.
The climax is short at 50 pages but it gets the job done. Wren and Rose kill Oonagh, the witch antagonist. They've resolved every problem there is to solve....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Imprisonment Score: Seven out of ten.
The trilogy is finally over. After so long, I read The Bloo**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Imprisonment Score: Seven out of ten.
The trilogy is finally over. After so long, I read The Blood Traitor by Lynette Noni. The Prison Healer was outstanding, but The Gilded Cage was disappointing. I hoped The Blood Traitor would make a comeback. I enjoyed it since it had less flaws.
The Blood Traitor is so heavy that Noni had to insert an author’s note providing trigger warnings. It starts with the character that needs no introduction, Kiva Meridan, or should I say Kiva Corentine? She’s back in Zalindov prison. Again. She stays there for a few places until she escapes again.
Like other books in the trilogy, the pacing is slow. The Blood Traitor is the longest by far at around 450 pages. The characters stopped developing after The Prison Healer. Kiva is as strong as she was in the first instalment. The others remained the same. I'd consider The Blood Traitor to be the second best instalment in the trilogy. The Prison Healer was the best by far. There is a looming battle between the kingdoms of Wenderall, but it takes a back seat until the final 100 pages. There's almost nothing to put in the spotlight except filler scenes which Noni could've removed to tighten her book. If there isn't a filler scene, there's dialogue, and lots of it.
Noni's writing style tends to be dialogue heavy, which I find tedious to read. Noni tends to tell what Kiva and other characters had done with a 3rd person POV but I disconnected from that. The magic system, an elemental-based one with extra healing powers, is unchanged. It's like it was in The Gilded Cage, for example. The scenes where Kiva gets the four elemental rings were intriguing but made me think why she would need them.
The wait for the climax should've been more suspenseful and filled with more tension but I didn't feel this way since the battle is in the background. I felt like I was in a waiting room rather than on the edge of my seat. The subplot where Kiva is part of the Corentines, a royal family, wasn't intriguing. The conclusion was brief and had the most action. Kiva's side won, but I only remember her contributing minimally to the conflict....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Near-death experience Score: Six and a half out of ten.
Finally. I read The Gilded Cage by Lynett**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Near-death experience Score: Six and a half out of ten.
Finally. I read The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni. I wanted to read it since 2023 after I read and enjoyed The Prison Healer, written by the same author. The ratings were high so I headed in with high expectations. Despite that, the conclusion disappointed me, making me feel it was worse than the first.
It starts, well, more like continues, with Kiva Meridan. She recently escaped from the Zalindov prison and is now free. Kiva also endured the four-part Trial by Ordeal. She can explore the world now, and that’s what she does, but she’s on edge because of tensions between her and her family. Her only plan is to deliver justice against those who wronged her in the prison but the tensions complicated everything.
I found some aspects of The Gilded Cage more enjoyable than others. With little happening sometimes, the pacing feels sluggish. Noni should’ve removed some filler scenes to improve the reading experience. It didn’t need to be almost 450 pages. The writing style is accessible for a YA audience, allowing me to turn the pages. There are some detailed scenes written ornately but there’s lots of dialogue and pages that tell what Kiva did.
Kiva didn’t develop after the events in The Prison Healer. Thus, she and other characters had no character development. I prefer seeing characters developing over them becoming stale and remaining the same as they were in the previous instalment. I suppose Tipp is there for comic relief as he stutters all the time but I was tired of it. That was his only attribute. Adding more depth and character development could improve the reading experience.
The Gilded Cage is a high fantasy with a basic elemental magic system based on four elements: earth, fire, air and water. Also, there are magic lights and healers. Other than that it feels more like a early modern style world. I can't believe Noni wrote the conclusion like that. There's more action toward the end.
However, Kiva made a questionable decision and found herself in Zalindov prison again. Why would she make a decision like this? I thought she was smarter than that. I would've liked The Gilded Cage more if Kiva didn't blunder her life away. I've read The Blood Traitor, so I'll provide my thoughts on in soon enough....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Sword violence Score: Six and a half out of ten.
Finally. I read Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Sword violence Score: Six and a half out of ten.
Finally. I read Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I wanted to read it since 2023. I can't believe I put it off for so long, though. The ratings were high, so I headed in with high expectations. I enjoyed Maas' debut but it didn't blow me away. I'd like to read more of her creations.
It starts with Celaena Sardothien. She works in a salt mine in Endovier now. She used to be an assassin but she got caught and this is her punishment. However, Captain Westfall offers her a chance to escape. Celaena accepts but there is one condition. She must fight in a tournament to the death to decide who's the winner. That sounds familiar when I look at it.
The pacing is sometimes swift, sometimes not. It's 400 pages overall. I liked the scenes with more action than the filler ones, even though they built suspense. Removing those could help the reading experience. The pacing was acceptable but that came at the cost of the characters. I can say Celaena and Westfall developed, but not by much. I can't say they have chemistry. They only started a tenuous relationship which got in the way of the central storyline. I can say the same for the side characters. They're only there to move everything along.
Throne of Glass would be a high fantasy since Maas set it on another world. However, I didn't see that much magic or anything. All I saw were medieval duels and battles. The worldbuilding left me with some questions. What kind of magic system is there, if there is any? The king must use Celaena, but what for? To win a war? Perhaps reading other instalments in the series should clarify everything.
Throne of Glass intrigued me enough, explaining why I didn't give it a DNF. The writing style is accessible for a YA audience. There is some detail but it's minimal. I presume Maas sacrificed that, too. The stakes are high but I felt disconnected from Celaena. She dies if she loses. With such high stakes, I should feel connected to Celaena. I wasn't. The conclusion is okay. I hope Crown of Midnight is an improvement....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black character Trigger warnings: Death of a child and brother in the past in a body of water, grief and loss depicti**spoiler alert** Representation: Black character Trigger warnings: Death of a child and brother in the past in a body of water, grief and loss depiction Score: Seven out of ten.
I should've read Delicates by Brenna Thummler before reading Lights. I can't believe it. Anyway. I knew Lights was the final instalment in the Sheets trilogy, which I haven't read in years. My expectations were high given the ratings and I enjoyed all its aspects.
It starts (more like continues) with characters that need no introduction, Marjorie, Eliza and Wendell, a ghost. This time the focus is on Wendell and the central storyline is why he died. I already know how, but I'll find out the reasons why. Lights assumes a non-linear structure which flows well and isn't too disjointed. I was afraid there would be confusing scene cuts but that didn't happen. The art also helped as it uses two palettes, a full colour one and a palette only using shades of pink. One palette was easier to look at but the other feels unsettling. At least they're distinguishable.
Thummler explores Wendell's character deeper here with all these flashbacks so that I could see what Wendell was like as a human. He looks young (he looks like he's six,) which makes it all the more tragic when he died. That doesn't mean Thummler leaves out the other characters like Marjorie and Eliza as I saw character dynamics which didn't detract too much from the narrative. There's no writing style as Lights is an illustrated novel but I'd say it's more appropriate for a YA than a younger audience because of the heavy themes and content, but there isn't too much dialogue overcrowding the pictures. The only characteristics Wendell had were his innocence, age and active imagination, but that changed when he assumed his ghost form as he has a more subdued personality.
Lights handles grief and paranormal aspects better than other novels I've read, which is a positive. There was a character in the flashback scenes that looked familiar, since she also appears in the present day scenes, but I couldn't guess what her name was (Jolene) until the end. She looked related to Wendell, too. If I read Delicates before I read Lights some plot points would make more sense as Lights isn't a standalone. The conclusion is satisfying, as all questions were answered but bittersweet as there was a death on page....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black, Asian and Latino characters Trigger warnings: N/A Score: Five out of ten.
I'm glad it's over. A few days ago, My**spoiler alert** Representation: Black, Asian and Latino characters Trigger warnings: N/A Score: Five out of ten.
I'm glad it's over. A few days ago, My library purchased Together Forever, the final instalment in the Making Friends series by Kristen Gudsnuk. I wanted to read it but should've stopped continuing the series as it was disappointing. The ratings were high, but Gudsnuk underwhelmed me again when I closed the final page.
It starts with a character that needs no introduction, Dany, living a surprisingly lonely life since her friend, Madison, disappeared in the opening pages. I only discovered Madison's whereabouts when she was on a TV show, My Magical Best Friend, with a Dany doppelganger, Daphne. Dany wants Madison back, which sets up the premise, which seems intriguing, until I read how Gudsnuk executed it, and I thought it needed improvement. There are so many flaws I'm unsure where to start.
The characters are okay but don't have any depth or development. Adding more of that could help. The plot is disjointed. Together Forever is an illustrated novel, so it relies on pictures for its pacing, but sometimes I felt like I skipped a few pages until I realised I didn't. That's how frustrating it was to read that, even without any sort of writing style. Making transitions smoother can help. Prose creations, and even some other illustrated ones, handle transitions better. Mostly.
There are no chapters either, only one central storyline. I struggled to tell Dany and Daphne apart, and wondered why there were two Dany's at times. I would've appreciated it if Gudsnuk distinguished between them more. There's too much dialogue, but reducing that would rectify the issue.
Not even the art itself could save Together Forever. The cover images look pleasing, making me hope the rest is as enjoyable to look at, but it felt rushed, as if Gudsnuk had a time limit to write and draw the narrative. The colours were acceptable, but the lines felt like Gudsnuk drew them in 10 minutes. Working on the art could improve the reading experience. Some parts of the worldbuilding was confusing, like how did Daphne steal Madison? What about the magical notebook? Daphne could've done whatever she wanted but she didn't.
The story confused itself so much reality started falling apart (due to Daphne's actions) in the concluding pages, almost leading to the universe's destruction. Literally. The conclusion was bittersweet as Dany drew a new dimension for Madison to live in. Madison can still visit Dany though in the epilogue, but I'm unsure how she would do that....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Asian characters Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, physical assault and injury, xenophobia, animal **spoiler alert** Representation: Asian characters Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, physical assault and injury, xenophobia, animal abuse Score: Seven out of ten.
This one was intriguing. I only saw The Monster and the Maze, the first instalment in an illustrated novel series, a few days ago on a library shelf and wanted to read it after picking it up. The ratings were high but it was so obscure no one I knew read it yet. However, when I closed the final page, it was enjoyable.
Maple Lam's creation starts with Sun Wukong arriving in a place with other monkeys in the opening pages. He is the Monkey King as seen in the prophecies in the narrative, and fortunately the central storyline doesn't lose steam from there. Lam executed the worldbuilding well with a scene detailing how deities, humans and beasts were at peace until a war ruined everything, which explains why they are so distant now. Wukong wants and tries to become a deity but he fails. I like the message where it says people can change, and the tone is surprisingly hilarious. Mostly. The mood can get more sombre when it talks about topics like exclusion, though.
The humour sometimes involves subversion of expectations and dialogue, which I enjoyed as much as reading most of the characters. I liked Wukong the most since he experienced character development, but I hope Lam doesn't erase that and force him to start again in the following instalment, unlike some authors. The art is okay, with a full colour palette and the eyes being simplistic, with them either being lines or dots. I didn't think the combination of Chinese and Greek mythology would work, but it did. The time Wukong escaped death seems believable when I think about it.
It's an intriguing take to turn the Minotaur into a false antagonist. Lam uses this opportunity to have a conversation between him and Wukong about how he was only a neglected child and not a monster as people say. Not even the supposed Greek villain was the antagonist, no, an evil spirit controlled him. Everything is unexpected here. Did I mention that spirit started the war? The concluding pages were fast-paced with action scenes, the protagonist's victory and a heartstopping finish....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: N/A Score: Five out of ten.
What in the world was this? I only got the illustrated adaptation of **spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: N/A Score: Five out of ten.
What in the world was this? I only got the illustrated adaptation of Alice in Wonderland a few days ago and picked it up, hoping it would be enjoyable. The blurb looked intriguing and I headed in with high expectations until I checked the low ratings. When I closed the final page, I found it only okay and not like the original version.
Russell Punter's adaptation, illustrated by Simona Bursi, starts with Alice (whose last name remains undisclosed) sitting in a park reading a book in the opening pages, when she sees a rabbit wearing a watch and chases it. She soon falls down a rabbit hole and ends up in a room she wants to escape from, but first she has to deal with enlarging and shrinking foods. Let's dissect each aspect of the illustrated adaptation. First, the art. The illustrations are okay, with a pastel full colour palette, but it doesn't push the envelope. There's already a lot of illustrated novels with the same design language. I want something different for once. Perhaps more striking colour choices would do.
The characters aren't that easy to connect or relate to, but adding more depth could make me empathise with them more. Some of the pages are full of words. You heard that right. Words. I remember reading one page that has a poem only using words. That defeats the entire purpose of an illustrated novel, since 90% of it is illustrations, but there are some pages where there is only prose. What's the point of that? Using more pictures than words could resolve that problem. The pacing is enough to keep the central storyline going, as it barely lasts over 100 pages. The plot itself is absurd and barely believable, but I can understand why it is that way, as I saw characters from the original like the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter. Perhaps Punter wanted to stay close and not change anything too much, which explains that. The concluding pages are only okay, but at least they are faithful as Alice realises it was all a dream and I leave Wonderland....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: It's complicated. Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, pandemic, implied physical illness, sword viole**spoiler alert** Representation: It's complicated. Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, pandemic, implied physical illness, sword violence Score: Seven out of ten.
Wow, this one was a step up. I wanted to read Wildbound by Elayne Audrey Becker for months and I almost did until I realised it wasn't the first part of the instalment. I took it off my TBR and then picked it up after reading Forestborn but not enjoying it as well as I had hoped. When I closed the final page, I found Wildbound more enjoyable.
It starts (more like continues) with a character that needs no introduction, Rora, but this time there's a new protagonist, Helos. They don't interact in the opening pages as each person has their role to play in the central storyline. Rora goes to the Forestborn part of the land after the king's assassination while Helos is in another location to work as a healer and try to stop the magical pandemic from affecting the people, magic and non-magic, in his area. The pacing is slow as it lasts more than 400 pages, but it's enough to keep the narrative going, but removing filler pages where nothing happens would improve the reading experience. I didn't get to see side characters like Prince Finley. Dedicating more page time would help.
The characters, initially difficult to relate to, eventually grew on me, which I liked. However, some underlying worldbuilding questions remain unanswered from Forestborn, like the magic system, where some people can shift into up to three animals, but others can't. That makes a clear divide between those two groups. Why is this? I'm unsure. I'll never get these answers since Wildbound is the second half of the series. The writing style is what some would call serviceable as there isn't too much purple prose here. Those looking for a more elevated kind of prose should look elsewhere. I didn't realise there was a message about climate change until the acknowledgements said there was one. I thought it was too unnoticeable, though. Why did the royals imprison the animals in the first place? The pacing picks up, as with other compositions, as the action increases and culminates in a heartwarming finish. The magical pandemic is gone, the animals are free and Rora gets to rule over the land....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Death of a person, fire, murder, blood, grief and loss depiction, physical assault and injury Sc**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Death of a person, fire, murder, blood, grief and loss depiction, physical assault and injury Score: Five out of ten.
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo disappointed me. My library had this one but I waited for a while to get it. It was even on some booklists, so I had high expectations until I checked the ratings. I enjoyed Shadow and Bone, but worried The Familiar would be underwhelming. I was right when I closed the final page.
It starts with Luzia Cotado, whose surname sometimes changes, but I'll stick with Cotado. She lives in the then new capital of Madrid in what is now Spain, formerly the Spanish Empire sometime during Spain's Golden Age. She sometimes uses magic to live, making The Familiar a historical urban fantasy, which isn't something I see every day. The pacing is slow, since it's 380 pages, and I find it hard to read stories this tedious. The only aspect that would redeem this is a finish where the pace speeds up. Unfortunately, that does not happen here. The writing style is enough to keep the composition going, and the setting is intriguing. The central storyline happens during the Spanish Inquisition. That faded into the background when I wanted to learn more about that. Instead, The Familiar turned into a historical fantasy romance. Fantasy romances are not my cup of tea, as I prefer clear and well thought out worldbuilding, which The Familiar lacks.
The characters lack depth and have superficial development, making me disconnect from them. There are so many characters it's hard to keep track, and it feels like character soup. Bardugo, ever heard of removing filler? That can help. Adding more depth and development could improve the reading experience. Other than a scene of someone being magically ripped apart, there isn't much magic in The Familiar, a supposed fantasy creation. Where did another character, Santangel, come from? He is a familiar, but what is that? These questions remain unanswered. Adding a glossary and explaining terms would make The Familiar better. The conclusion is abrupt as people try to burn Luzia and Santangel to death on a pyre.
If Bardugo's other works are as dissatisfying as The Familiar, I might give up on her. I don't feel like reading from her now, anyway....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Near-death experience in a body of water, racism, internalised racism, b**spoiler alert** Representation: Black and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Near-death experience in a body of water, racism, internalised racism, bullying, physical injury Score: Six out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
Mabuhay by Zachary Sterling is like what happens when a novel combines two entirely different concepts barely linked and fails. I only saw it a few days ago on a library display shelf and I wanted to read it since I remember the algorithm recommending it. However, when I closed the final page, it could've been better.
It starts with JJ and Althea Bulan who have to work for their family's food truck, The Beautiful Pig, while also dealing with school, which is harder for them given they are both Filipino American in the opening pages. The institution is privileged, even though it's majority POC, since it has a gym and a pool (a rare sight.) Why did a literal pool monster try to kill Althea though? If it weren't for JJ, she would've been done for.
Other than that, not much happens in the first half except for nightmares about mythical creatures, which soon play a critical role later. JJ and Althea have a lot to deal with, like racist bullying, family expectations and, most prominently, victim blaming from the school. I felt sympathetic for them as they had to take it all in, but it gets worse when I saw a scene where the characters want to assimilate into American culture and forget Filipino culture, a sign of internalised racism.
Instead of getting help, they resolved their issues themselves and a minor antagonist, a white girl, redeemed herself, which I found unrealistic as she didn't receive any consequences. Sterling could've made Mabuhay either a realistic narrative about Filipinos or an epic based on Filipino mythology. What I got was elements of both, putting Mabuhay in the magical realism category, but I would've preferred if it stuck to one genre. The characters are likable and I know some people can relate to them and they developed when they appreciated their heritage and got magical abilities. I would've liked them more if Sterling focused less on fantasy and more on their roots, as I only got a brief glimpse.
The second half picks up the pace as the tension builds, with JJ and Althea's parents turn out to be magical beings who can summon figures from mythology, but how do the non-magic humans not notice this, I have no idea. Sterling based this world on mythology, and answers why some people have magic, since the world was full of magic people but eventually society moved on and forgot about them. That is until a serpent arrives and only the magic people can stop it, which they do, creating a heartwarming conclusion.
Addendum: What does it mean by first generation? Does it mean JJ and Althea were born in the Philippines and not America? The font is hard to read....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, physical assault and injury, fire, dea**spoiler alert** Representation: Black and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, physical assault and injury, fire, death of people in an explosion, refugee experiences, displacement, drug use, racism, white supremacy, xenophobia, blood, grief and loss depiction Score: Five out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid is a disappointing piece of contemporary literary fiction mixed with magical realism.
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid is like a novel wrapped in incoherent and incorrect English where the first half is incredible but the second is a letdown. I remember reading a blurb saying Exit West meets An American Marriage, so after an entire year and a few months, I read Exit West, ignoring the low ratings, but it was underwhelming.
It starts with Saeed and Nadia living in an unnamed city in an unnamed country in a civil war that grows closer the more pages I read. Saeed and Nadia (who are already in a romantic relationship) have to flee, beginning the second half of the narrative, but Exit West is no ordinary refugee story. Do they cross countries or get on a boat? No, rather they discover a magical black door that can take them to any country in the world, so they enter it and land in Greece.
However, they discover another door so they can travel to America, London in the UK, and finally, Marrakech in Morocco. Sounds tedious? It is. If the only problem in Exit West are those doors, then I would be done with this review, but I'm not done. These doors represent an effortless way out, which misrepresents refugee experiences. In reality, some survive but have to face challenges. Some die, and no refugee has the privilege of teleporting out of their country. The characters are difficult to relate with, but adding depth could improve the reading experience.
The most frustrating aspect are the run-on sentences. Hamid, have you heard of splitting sentences? That could help. One sentence lasted for one page and a few lines, so imagine reading that. This creation attempts a heartwarming conclusion with Saeed and Nadia in Marrakech together, but I didn't think they had chemistry. Exit West is another disappointing piece of literary fiction, so my search for an enjoyable one continues....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes Score: Six out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
Well t**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes Score: Six out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
Well that was absurd. I didn't have much choice except to read Your Pal Fred by Michael Rex, an illustrated novel no one I knew has read yet. The premise based on the blurb information seemed intriguing, but the ratings were low, so I lowered my expectations. When I closed the final page, it could've been improved.
It starts with a prologue where I see the world far in the future, and what happened to it? It looks like a post-apocalyptic dystopia where the surviving people still fight in the opening pages. Two minor characters accidentally turn on a robot called Fred, and his sole attribute is his unrelenting kindness. Other than that though, there's not much to him. It's difficult to tell who is a human and who is a robot at times, since they look so similar. Is Fred a powerful AI? Perhaps that's the reason he can act like a human (and he can already pass as one.) It also appears robots and people can coexist. Well that's a relief.
The worldbuilding leaves some questions, like where am I? Am I in America, and is the rest of the world this messed up or is it only that country? There could be other remnants of humanity or robot communities that survived since they didn't battle each other at every opportunity. How was Fred made and why? Fred was off for a while, so how could he store power for so long someone could turn him on? How long can he live? Unfortunately, aspects like those remain unexplored. Fred can take a lot of punishment, like when lightning struck him and then a giant mechanical boot kicked him, and he survived.
The focus here is not on the world, but on Fred, meaning it's character driven. All I got to see was Fred creating character dynamics, most prominently, an unnamed worker robot (whom he names Yummy) and even the two antagonists, Papa Mayhem and Lord Bonkers, but I disconnected from that. Adding depth and expanding the world could improve the reading experience, though. At least the art was pleasing to look at. The conclusion feels more sappy than heartwarming as after Fred's speech, the war is over and the two faction leaders (who are brothers) reunite, but it's too sweet for my liking....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Biracial (half Black and half Asian,) Black and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Fire Score: Five out of ten. Find th**spoiler alert** Representation: Biracial (half Black and half Asian,) Black and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Fire Score: Five out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
I didn't have much choice except to read Lost Time by Tas Mukanik. This novel was so obscure I didn't hear of it, but the fact it was an illustrated novel was all I knew about it. The ratings were low so I lowered my expectations, and even though it still looked promising, it was rife with issues when I closed the final page.
It starts with Evie (whose last name remains undisclosed) somehow arriving on a version of Earth set 65 million years ago. How does this happen, I have no idea. The world may seem all natural in the opening pages, with some dinosaurs interspersed here and there, except for a few human-made buildings scattered across the planet which didn't add to the immersion. The only enjoyable aspect is the art, which seems to have come from the author and illustrator herself.
There aren't many human characters as I only saw four, and the most frustrating aspect is the worldbuilding, as I got no answers. Zero. From what I've learned, Evie got into a time machine that sent her 65 million years into the past, but the time machine has so much potential Mukanik missed. What is its limits? If it can send someone 65 million years in the past, can they get sent to the formation of the Earth, or even the Big Bang? What about the future? If a meteor were to strike Earth, would it kill everything and everyone, including the human characters like Evie? What time did they come from? The early 2020s or sometime in the near or far future where time travelling is possible?
Those questions remain unanswered. The characters are likable but difficult to relate with, but expanding on them and the narrative itself would improve the reading experience. The only dynamic I got is with Evie and her parents and Evie and her companion, Ada (not a human, a pterosaur.) If Lost Time is a standalone, it would be disheartening to leave the storyline like this, but if this turns into a series, then I would raise my hopes. I hope the latter happens. At least the conclusion is heartwarming with Evie finding other humans, but I lost time reading Lost Time....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: N/A Score: Five out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
I didn't have much ch**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: N/A Score: Five out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
I didn't have much choice other than to read J.R. Silver Writes Her World by Melissa Dassori. I only heard about this book a few days ago when I picked it up when the novels I wanted were all gone. I glanced at the intriguing blurb, and I headed in with high expectations considering the ratings, but it was only okay.
It starts with Josephine Rose 'J.R.' Silver recounting her life as a 6th grader, presumably somewhere in America, and nothing is going well according to her, as her friend, Violet, and parents distanced themselves. That is until her teacher, Ms Kline, assigns her some tasks, prompting her to write short stories based on magazine covers from a series called Gothamite (that looks familiar.) Sounds intriguing? It seems so, until I see how Dassori executes the premise. Let's start with the positives, the pacing is enough to keep the plot going, with the length being around 250 pages, and the writing style is mostly accessible except for a few more unfamiliar words that might put off the target audience, like wanderlust. Adding a glossary would help.
Unfortunately, I can only compliment the creation in so many ways, so now it's time to turn to the areas needing improvement, like the characters. The characters are hard to connect or relate with, lacking depth and development, but expanding on them would improve the reading experience. I only saw a glimpse of the character dynamics involving J.R. and her English teacher, J.R. and her parents and J.R. and her friends. I got to observe the first one the most, but I only wanted a deeper exploration. Dassori fumbled the climax as the payoff wasn't it. J.R. discovers the stories she writes come true like when she could score soccer goals, make her parents allow her to use her phone and even go on school trips, but her actions must have consequences, but they weren't there. Where were they? This is not it. The concluding pages weren't that engaging because of that. Also, why does the cover look like it wants to have a staring contest with me?...more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Death in the past Score: Five out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGra**spoiler alert** Representation: Black and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Death in the past Score: Five out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
What a massive disappointment.
I hoped I would enjoy Coming Back by Jessi Zabarsky and find it an improvement over Witchlight, but she underwhelmed me again. I haven't read from Zabarsky in almost three years, but so far her books don't deliver. I shouldn't have even picked this one up, since the low ratings warned me to avoid it.
It starts with Preet and Valissa living typical lives in a magical all woman society (what happened to the other genders, though?) The only catch is Preet has magical abilities and Valissa doesn't, rendering her as a human, but I'm tired of books that have two types of people like this. Soon enough, their lives separate, with Preet going off exploring a new realm outside the human one, while Valissa is left behind to continue her life without her. Let's start with the positive aspects, I mostly liked the art, even with a limited colour palette of white, black, brown, coral, and sometimes blue and orange, except the faces put me off, as the eyes are only dots. Why is the font rounded? I'm unsure. Unfortunately, that is where the likable aspects conclude.
The characters don't have any depth or development, making me disengage from the creation, but writing the characters better would help. There are some intriguing worldbuilding aspects of the setting, but some aspects are vaguer, much to my confusion, as it leaves behind unanswered questions, like where did the Shifter and Shaper come from? Were they always there? Are they the creators of everyone and everything here? These two all powerful beings birthed humans, both magical and non-magical, into existence, but what about the other magical beings Preet meets, like the race of cloud people? How did she meet these deities? Preet literally grew a child, Lue, who grew quickly in a few pages, and then she turns from a human to a humanoid hedgehog, making me wonder what happened to her (so that's why other genders are unnecessary.) In the concluding pages, Valissa had had enough, so she searches and finds Preet, bringing her back into the village. That finish is heartwarming, but not enough to redeem the rest of the novel....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: It's complicated. Trigger warnings: Death and murder of people, blood depiction, physical assault and injury, near-de**spoiler alert** Representation: It's complicated. Trigger warnings: Death and murder of people, blood depiction, physical assault and injury, near-death experience, pandemic Score: Six out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
This one was alright. I had the sequel to Forestborn, Elayne Audrey Becker's debut, Wildbound, on my TBR, until I took it off after realising I would read out of order. I put this one off for months until I had to transfer it to my library, but after I got it from my library and when I closed the final page, it was okay.
It starts with Rora living her life in a magical land entirely different from ours, as she can shift from a human to up to three animals, and impersonate faces. How powerful is that? Unfortunately, the pacing is slow for a book lasting 350 pages, and it continues to be this way until the second half, where it picks up steam. I wouldn't say Forestborn is disappointing, though. Rora meets another character, Wesley, and starts to develop a relationship, but not before going to another part of the world. Let me explain. There are two parts to the realm seen in Forestborn: The Forestborn part, where people with magic live, and the human part, where the humans live. The only problem is this leaves behind some unanswered questions, like where did the magic people come from? Did they come first and humans evolved from them or the other way around, where humans came first and magic people came afterward? How can they shift?
Anyway. There is a magical pandemic all over the land, and the only cure is stardust, which one can find in the Forestborn part, the last place Rora wants to be, but she has to go there to save her best friend and prince, Finley. I appreciated the writing style, which allowed me to immerse myself in the settings, both natural and human-made. I also like the concluding pages with some battle scenes resulting in a heartstopping finish and the murder of the king, but I only knew him for a few pages, so I didn't care much about that. I wonder what Wildbound is like, though, but I hope it's better than Forestborn....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Animal death, murder, blood, grief and loss depiction, physical assault and injury, sword viole**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: Animal death, murder, blood, grief and loss depiction, physical assault and injury, sword violence Score: Four out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
What a disappointing reading experience.
Yvain, an illustrated retelling of an Arthurian myth by M.T. Anderson, with by Andrea Offermann, could've been much better. I wanted to read it after seeing another person I knew read it, so I picked it up from a library shelf. I glanced at the intriguing blurb, but the low ratings warned me to avoid it, and when I closed the final page, I was underwhelmed.
It starts with Yvain, a knight, wanting glory for himself, so he sets out to fight and eventually defeat a lord, leaving behind his partner, Laudine, and her servant, Lunette. Gawain, however, wants Yvain to go on an adventure across the land, and so he goes off to fight dragons, mythical beasts and who knows what else. Other than that though, there isn't any other plot to Yvain, but there are a lot of problems I want to discuss about Yvain, I'm unsure where to start, but I'll try.
First, the characters. Yvain the knight and other side characters like Laudine and Lunette lack depth or character development, making it difficult to connect or relate with them, but adding more depth and expanding the arcs would've been an improvement. The pacing is enough to keep Yvain going, with a length of slightly over 100 pages, but I would've liked to see more of the worldbuilding, which felt underexplored, but adding more pages dedicated to answering questions I had would make Yvain better. Now that I think of it, I don't think there were enough pages to tell the story. At least the art is engaging, especially during the few battle scenes I got to see, with Yvain easily slaying any beast in his path, and the pictures can sometimes speak for themselves, except for some parts with fog covering the pictures. How am I supposed to read the text through that? The conclusion is heartwarming as Yvain returns to his land after so long, but M.T. Anderson's debut in the illustrated novel genre (as he wrote prose until this came out) didn't resonate, so perhaps his traditional creations could be more enjoyable....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Asian characters Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, near-death experience, physical assault and inju**spoiler alert** Representation: Asian characters Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, near-death experience, physical assault and injury Score: Six and a half out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
Is it me or am I enjoying the This Woven Kingdom series less and less? I waited for months to get All This Twisted Glory by Tahereh Mafi after enjoying This Woven Kingdom and These Infinite Threads, and I picked it up at a library when they got it. I glanced at the intriguing blurb, but when I closed the final page, it was okay.
It starts (more like continues) with Cyrus and Alizeh living separate lives, as the former is in a torture chamber for most of the narrative and Alizeh in another location, presumably a kingdom full of jinn. Like the previous two instalments, All This Twisted Glory has a slow burn style of pacing, but it is barely below 400 pages, compared to the 500 and above 400 page lengths of the works that came before it. The slow burn only works to advance the existing relationship between Alizeh and Cyrus, but when Mafi only focuses on that, she misses the opportunity to put in more subplots to take a break from the central storyline. I started to disconnect from them because of the minimal character development since they were in the same state as the last part.
Mafi established the worldbuilding already in This Woven Kingdom, so I can't say anything about that, but the world remains the same, with no further expansion. Why is this? I'm not sure. The antagonist, Iblees, is mostly in the background, and I don't see much of the side characters like Prince Kamran until the concluding pages. The pacing only picks up from there as there is a battle scene, resulting in a heartstopping conclusion. That begs the question: when will this series end? Initially, I thought the series was a trilogy, but now the front cover says it's the third book. Now, there's a possibility of a fourth and even a fifth part, which makes me feel it might get boring to read over time if the quality doesn't improve. When does the next one come out?...more
**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: War themes, physical assault and injury, blood, grief and loss depiction, death of people Score:**spoiler alert** Representation: N/A Trigger warnings: War themes, physical assault and injury, blood, grief and loss depiction, death of people Score: Five out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
What an underwhelming reading experience. Again.
Let me get this straight: Ali Hazelwood is not the author for me. Bride is the third book I've read from her, but she always disappoints and never seems to improve. I gave her three chances when I read The Love Hypothesis and then Check & Mate, but Bride was at the same level, not above it. Perhaps I should stop reading from her.
It starts with a prologue that lasts for a few pages, then it cuts to the central storyline with Misery Lark, a vampire, sorry, Vampyre (I'm cringing at this) living in the Human (uppercase) world. The pacing is slow at first and continues to be so, as Bride is around 400 pages. Bride only appeals to three types of people, those who like paranormal romances, those who enjoy fantasy romances (romantasies for short) and Hazelwood enthusiasts. I am not any of them. Hazelwood's latest creation stumbles in every possible aspect, so I'm unsure where to start, but I'll try.
First, the plot. As implied by the term romantasy, the narrative revolves around the relationship between Misery and Lowe Moreland, a Were (uppercase, and presumably short for werewolf.) Is it me, or romantasies don't work for me? I like fantasies with strong worldbuilding, not novels about romances in a fantastical setting with no worldbuilding (contemporary and urban too.) It leaves behind so many unanswered questions. Expanding upon the world would improve the romantasy genre. Where do the Weres and Vampyres come from? Why are they at war with each other and the Humans? Bride doesn't explain that. The characters lack depth, so saying they had chemistry would be a stretch. Increasing depth and character development would've made me enjoy Bride more, but I can't recommend this one in its present state. Those also looking for compositions with literary value should look elsewhere. At least the conclusion is heartwarming, as the couple is together in the end....more
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