"That was what magic did. It revealed the heart of who you’d been before life took away your belief in the possible. It gave back the world all lon"That was what magic did. It revealed the heart of who you’d been before life took away your belief in the possible. It gave back the world all lonely children longed for. "
-dnf @30%- I don't think I have ever been more disappointed in myself for not being able to love this book. Leigh Bardugo continues to be my queen of fantasy, this one was just a complete and utter miss for me. _______________
*all the sighs* I'm still not certain that this review will get all my thoughts across. I'm also very blatantly stating this now... because I DNFed this book, this review isn't going to be able to provide any summaries, commentaries etc etc. It's partially why I didn't give it a rating; firstly because I couldn't even get halfway and secondly, because I think I might return to Ninth House at a future date. I want to give this book more of a chance but as it stands now, this was not for me.
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I've read a lot of people opinions on how it gets better and I'm holding on to that for the next time I try. A caveat though; this book and everything about it (aside from it being Fantasy) really shouldn't be compared to the Grishaverse or Leigh's previous books. They are intended for two different types of demographics and Ninth House deals with some very heavy "adult" themes.
To start things off (very bluntly), I got bored. There was nothing that kept me turning the pages other than self-determination and it came to a point where even that wasn't enough. I was doing that thing where you read a paragraph and then read it again (3 times) because you realize you weren't paying any attention at all...I found the pacing in this book to be excruciatingly slow. Nothing significant enough was happening that had me at the edge and the "mysterious" elements didn't hold enough suspense or warrant excitement from me. Again, this opinion is simply my own and it might have been a fact of picking this book at the wrong time.
Another key thing I noticed that caused -several- naps whilst reading was the writing style. The writing in this book is very narrative, and while it's not without merit, it simply didn't captivate me. I felt like it was telling me, rather than showing me and I craved for emotional description from the characters. Which leads me to another note...I got really weary of Darlington. This is going to be very problematic because A LOT of people place him as the winning character of this book. Still, I found myself leaning towards wanting Alex's chapters more than his. Nothing about Darlington made me anticipate meeting him...
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There were way too many infor-dumps and if I had to sum up my reading experience, it would be a quote directly from this book: "You start out excited, and by page two you realize it’s all a lot of words and not much drama." When I saw that, I felt like I was being called out to be honest (drama in this case meaning something actually, yknow... HaPpEnIng). I needed to stop reading before it put me in a slump, so I did. On another note though, Amazon Studios is going to develop this into a series and THAT, I'm looking forward to. It might just push me to read it before I watch it!
Buddy Read with this cutie although, I don't really know if it counts because she's being a trooper and still reading and I'm now just waving the moral support flag.
pre-review do i have a considerable amount of books that i already need to read? would i drop (quote me on this) everything for this? if leigh bardugo wrote a 100,000 word essay on the growing strategies of cacti, would i also do the same? yes, yes and also yes.
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"By the time Alex managed to get the blood out of her good wool coat, it was too warm to wear it. Spring had come on grudgingly; pale-blue mornings failed to deepen, turning instead to moist, sullen afternoons, and stubborn frost lined the road in high, dirty meringues.... ....That was in the spring. But the trouble had begun on a night in the full dark of winter, when Tara Hutchins died and Alex still thought she might get away with everything."...more
“You go after one, you go after all. You know the rules.”
[image] [image] [image] [image] This review took a while because of the following; - personal“You go after one, you go after all. You know the rules.”
[image] [image] [image] [image] This review took a while because of the following; - personally, this book dragged too much and it took self motivation to finish - I really wanted to like this and I kept forcing myself because I really want to experience the hype behind TIJAN.
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Meet The Crew i. Jordan Pitts ii. Zellman Greenly iii. Cross Shaw iv. Bren Monroe
I nearly had a problem with all fucking four;
i. Jordan was probably the only one I didn't really mind, and that was purely because his dialogue and scene presence was minimal.
ii. “She gives good head.” Zellman shook his head. “You know how rare that is? Not a lot of girls give good head. They’re not properly taught.” - Enough said.
iii. Cross felt too one dimensional. He is our love interest, and let me just say - I did not even get a hint of chemistry. I actually was confused in the start and spent time trying to decipher who the love interest was because it felt like there was no spark. Then there's Bren...
iv. Bren Monroe pissed the living hell out of me. I understood why she was the way she was, but I just couldn't get on board with how childish she acted. Mind you, she is a child and I often looked past different situations because of this. There was occasional moments where I sympathized with her, but those moments were short and far spread.
"That was my crew. Along with Jordan, there were two others besides myself—Cross Shaw and Zellman Greenly. My name is Bren Monroe, and even though I’m in the middle of this whole dark diatribe, and even though we look like the bad guys right now, things aren’t always as they seem."
The Plot I feel like this was the biggest issue I had with this book. Nothing hooked me enough that I didn't forget about the page count. I love that feeling when you're so into a book that you suddenly realize you only have three chapters left because HOLY SHIT! you've been glued to the page.
no. this did not occur in this one, folks.
Half the time, I had no idea what the hell was going on - nearly every second chapter there was a brawl or a fight and it had nearly no advancement in the plot or character development. This is definitely a slow burn in the romance department as well. Yet, I didn't feel a spark in the start to even start the burn; so when the h and H actually ended up getting together it felt like a straight forest burner. The plot moved way too slow for me and it dragged.
I know a lot of people who really enjoyed this, and I've been recommended the Fallen Crest series various times. So in my plight of trying to salvage love for both TIJAN's characters and writing, I might venture into that series later this year.
However, this one contained slut shaming, unrealistic teacher-student relationships and personal space violations galore. Not for me.
The "Normals"
"Sunday night. People had been to church this morning, and we’d beaten someone bloody this evening."
I felt like the concept of "crews" vs. "normals" and that segregation was too pushed. The concept was something really simple, yet the world building was inorganic because every possible time Crew was mentioned and the 'rules' that surrounded being in one, I felt like it was a research chapter. The idea is so unique and the blurb really had a lot of potential in my eyes but unfortunately, I felt like the execution could have been done better.
This review is really straight to the point and I feel like it might come out harsh in that way. I really do hope people don't experience what I did while reading this. You could completely tell the author spent a lot of time building both her world and her characters. You can also tell that there are subjects that could be so relevant to today's youth. Overall, I just couldn't get behind it (doesn't mean you cant ;)...more
“I felt like someone was dragging razors over my insides. But I’d had years of practice saying the right things in the right voices.”
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[image“I felt like someone was dragging razors over my insides. But I’d had years of practice saying the right things in the right voices.”
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It's weird to think that books are so filled with words and messages and stories that have the potential to snatch the air right from your lungs. But then there comes along one that is something else entirely, because words and messages and stories aren't enough to even begin to describe what's in that book. It's so much more.
The Quote About Something Having The Ability To Wreck You Is Appropriate Here
“I pictured Heaven as a field where I would wake one day, warm in the tall grass, and see a man seated at a distance. He would have his back to me and he would be looking out at the landscape. I would come awake slowly, into perfect happiness, and, when I was ready, I would stand up and go to him. I would spend the rest of forever in that summer country.”
I usually go about my reviews with explaining what I loved about the book and what I didn't seem to like as much. I also explain a little bit about what the book entails and how it affected me. I really can't and neither do I wan't to explain what this book is about, because if ever you were to listen to what my reviews advised:
Go into this blind, and it will open your eyes out to all the colors you never knew existed. Some will be ugly colors, some will be sad. All will be beautiful.
“Love is a cage two people build around themselves. ”
This book deals with some heavy topics. It will tear you apart in more ways than one because of how real it is, it will touch base in some way or another because all of us are living in a world where the social norms are determined by society. When Lola reached out to me for a buddy read, the first thing I got told by my friend was that this book would ruin her and me. It really and irrevocably did.
“I’m all twisted around inside.”
I finished this book in less than a day, and I still feel the emotional whiplash from it. The Silver Cage has a very timid way that it approaches and comes to kill you. Wherein, you don't actually know that you're dead until you hit that last page and all you want to do is learn how to breathe again because the journey was the definition of breath-taking.
Partially from the realism and mostly from the emotion that is felt throughout the entire 60 heart-breakingly stunning chapters. I will go my whole life never forgetting these two and their story and I really hope that more people will get to love the love they have.
“He was their family. They were his. They were worth every cut and bruise and scream.”
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This review has been a long time coming, it feels li“He was their family. They were his. They were worth every cut and bruise and scream.”
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This review has been a long time coming, it feels like I've been trying to reading this book for the longest time, and then I fell sick for a while so I couldn't actually function properly. The Raven King was by far better than it's predecessor. I loved so many elements of it and although the overall components helped boost my love for the characters - I still felt like it ran short in some facets.
I buddy read this with my heart and my damn soul. Clara, you're the best kind of person and thanks for putting up with my shit. Pretty sure everyone needs one of you in their life <3
Note: All rights belong to the different artists that have created the (fucking amazing) fanart attached to this review. __________
Bleeding Orange [image]
"We're your teammates. We're here to help you with whatever you need, whether it's this or games or general stress. We've all got different experiences, but we're used to needing help. We're just not used to getting it. But you've got us now."
History has shown that putting a group of misfits together and seeing them evolve into a family always works out. All the 80's movies that I grew up with like Stand By Me, The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, and even Ferris Bueller's Day Off... they all have that mischief and uncanny representation of 'not fitting in' that makes my heart soar.
The Foxes have that.
That's why this is probably my favourite element of this series, the fact that Neil Josten acts as the catalyst to bring together this hell-bent on winning team. Although it was very unrealistic at many parts, the book deals with heavy and sensitive themes and I want to raise all the glasses to that.
One problem that I really had was the deal with Andrew and the drugs, as I can't really talk about this without spilling spoilers - I just thought not only was it unrealistic, but there are much better ways to handle that topic and I feel like the author could have done that better. I also think the way that they treated his health as something secondary to playing a match etc. was unacceptable. It almost felt like a hurdle and an issue rather than a part of him that he is dealing with.
"Wymack didn't care if he had nine Foxes or twenty-five. He'd stand behind them until the bitter, bloody end."
The Writing So, one of the points that both Clara and I noticed was the comparative improvement of writing between book 1 and this one. The writing didn't seem as amateur, and I loved how every chapter left me with some sort of tingly feeling. The sport itself is getting a bit more clear in my head, I need to detach Exy from Lacrosse but that's just a personal problem. It was great seeing the writing style and prose of Sakavic shine through her third person narration.
The development between Neil and Andrew made this all endurable. I could see the little things and although the 'monsters' still have a lot of tension with Neil especially, I loved that group dynamic. If ever there was a time where slow burn frustrated the shit out of me - this would be it.
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Andrew is a bit of a conundrum for me. I loved that we got a little bit more about his past in this addition, simply because it allowed me to empathize with him a bit more. I have to admit, in book 1 - I had mixed feelings about both Andrew and Kevin - but in TRK I found myself liking Kevin more and having the same confusion about what I think of Andrew.
But here's what I think - I think that was the point. I think the reader is supposed to feel a mixture of feelings with Andrew because that's just the type of character he is. He's the kind of guy you love to hate and hate to love. Especially with everything he went through, you're left with the question of how every action he does has a hidden meaning underneath.
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“Thanks, but I can handle him," Neil said. "We noticed," Dan said dryly.”
Thematic Paint So I feel like there are enough reviews out there clearly stating that there are major trigger warnings when you read this series in general - it's not something that gets skirted around with. During the end, the plot picked up into some really dark themes.
“Neil's grief was a knife spinning circles in his stomach, tearing him to shreds from the inside out until he could barely breathe.”
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I just want to say that during the first 50% of this book, I was bored. Unpopular opinion (as usual) time but I really felt like DNFing - and maybe that was because I was really ill and just had no motivation to read. However, I also think that as soon as I passed a key plot marker, I got interested. It felt like relief because I really did not want to rate this book anything less than 3 stars. That felt like being too harsh and too cruel.
It went a lot like the last book, and although I don't know if I am picking up the third book right away - I am sure going to read it some time or the other!
"Some of the strongest people I've known are women."
“They told me to take a streetcar named Desire and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at - Elysian Fields”
The“They told me to take a streetcar named Desire and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at - Elysian Fields”
There is a certain high you feel when you read a classic. It's not one that can be repeatable or interchangeable. It attaches on to you and if it's good enough. It might never leave your system.
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Enter, our setting: New Orleans in the late 1940s, post second world war and the American Dream is thick in the atmosphere. Jazz and sex and booze and gambling run wild on the streets.
Enter, our characters: Stanley Kowalski, Stella and Blanche DuBois. All three damaged and broken. All three deliciously raptured in our plot.
Enter, our Story: Their worlds are about to take a 360 degree turn when emotion, the summer heat, lust, manipulation, cleverness but mostly desire come alive and off the pages written by Tennessee Williams.
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Touch Anyone who picks up A Streetcar Named Desire knows they are going to be in for a story beyond the story. The writing screams hidden metaphors, and imagery that makes you want to dance with Blanche, play poker with Stanley, cry with Stella and be apart of the gang under New Orleans moon.
The story was palpable. It felt like I could touch the characters hearts and minds and it would be okay because they would let me, because Tennessee crafted the story in a way that those who are patient and would allow the characters to touch your hearts... It could work the other way around too.
Smell There's a certain warmth you have when you come down to your moms cooking or it's Saturday morning and you can smell breakfast downstairs. The atmosphere that surrounded me throughout reading this script was electric, it smelt like warm bread and then changed to whiskey-filled game nights. There was never a still moment in the world we step foot in.
Taste There are so many different types of desire and lust. I could taste all of them in this play. It was as if each had a distinct flavour and every-time a conflict occurred in the plotline, I felt it.
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I think the manner that Williams approached many different aspects and issues in this book was so strong and relative to the time that this play was published in. This was a time when being in the LGBT community was considered a crime that could be punished and a psychological disease that could be treated. This was a time when being a 'southern belle' was the only way to be accepted as a woman. This was a time when domestic abuse was considered normal and just part of the marriage.
I could go on and on and list the different themes that this story approached, but I'm just going say that there was not a single tasteless moment in this play. It may have been bitter, or sweet or even sour. But never tasteless.
Hear New Orleans in the 1940's and this novel both have the same tune that plays back. The Blue Piano, the jazz, the love, the instability, the desire. It was a melody that played back and played loud through and through.
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Their was a powerful voltage that rang through the soundtrack, and it was like every-time you get close you get an electric shock that makes you alive inside and even though you know it's bad to like it. You want more.
Sound like a high yet?
See
When you think of desire, what comes inside your head? ...more
"Boys who did not have the chance to live before the world armed them, and who don't know how to live now that the fighting is over."
Boyd oh Boyd..
I h"Boys who did not have the chance to live before the world armed them, and who don't know how to live now that the fighting is over."
Boyd oh Boyd..
I had to put this down once I hit chapter 12. I couldn't get behind it as much as I did Vol I, and I fucking loved Volume I.
Don't get me wrong - the first half of what I read, was all the damn stars in the sky. Boyd and Sin have the sexual tension that I lust for in all romance books and Evenfall will always be one of my all time favorite novels. Maybe not this volume in particular, but it's the story that will stay with me, it's the story that counts. [image]
I am not going to rate this, however - sometime soon, I will be picking up the Original version because I want to make my way through the series the way the original people who read this did. I want to get all the way to the end with no Directors Cut pitstops.
Evenfall hits all the right spots, punches you in the stomach, leaves you on the ground sobbing and then summons Hsin Vega"Just let me fix you" [image]
Evenfall hits all the right spots, punches you in the stomach, leaves you on the ground sobbing and then summons Hsin Vega to come shoot you through your heart.
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The Characters "Now shut the hell up, drink your chocolate milk, and stop being a pain in my ass." I think you know when a book is going to be great when you find yourself loving the minor, evil, amazing, and main characters equally. (view spoiler)[ Except Harry, god knows how happy I was when he died. (hide spoiler)] "Nice of you to finally join us." "No problem," Sin drawled. "Nice group of misfits you have here."
The Plot The premise of World War III definitely captivated me through and through, I loved the little action and villainous side we got to see. This was a story driven by the bad guys. By far The post-apocalyptic future could have been explained a tad more, as I found the world building lacked.
I immediately loved how we saw Sin mature from being a captive human weapon to a person slowly allowing himself to feel. I also loved how we saw Boyd going from emotion-less to emotion-driven. The pace was slow but it had to be. These are flawed and broken characters, and what I adored was we saw them fixing each other through the little things in a torturous world.
The Romance Boyd and Sin... oh my [image]
Those two made me gasp, breathe a little faster and feel a little happier more and more as the story unfolded. I couldn't get enough.
“You and I loved riding the L train together, always wondering if whatever car we were in was the exact car where our own history began, the prolo “You and I loved riding the L train together, always wondering if whatever car we were in was the exact car where our own history began, the prologue to what should’ve been an epic love story.”
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Very rarely do you come across a book that has the ability to snatch the air from your lungs, pull your heart straight out your ribs, plant a twinkle in your eye through the tears, and root itself so deep in your nervous system, that every-time you move - you move with the story.
Please, please - if you haven't already read this... Please do.
Given the chance - this novel will do so many amazing and breathtakingly beautiful things to you. Please let it.
Every page was a physical pain to turn. It sunk it's way into your bones and manifested into something ugly and beautiful and raw. This book will haunt you for a long time. Please let it.
In a way, not only do both Theo and Griff die in their respective manner. This book will kill you too. Please let it. _______________
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“We were something, but history isn’t enough to keep something alive forever.”
This was the most I have ever cried with a book. I was a sobbing mess by the halfway mark, and I had to put the book down and buy some fucking ice cream to get me through it. You know, it's going to be a great book when the first line captivates you. You know it's going to be unforgettable when every line after doesn't lose that effect.
“ I know you’re not around to live, and I know you’re always going to live through me.”
I found it hard to breathe at one point. It's safe to say this is never ever leaving my favorites shelf and same goes for my heart. I listened to Tougher than the Rest by Bootstraps while reading this and the on-repeat soundtrack was the perfect melancholic tune that encompassed everything about this story.
“ I think I need to go back to the start, where we were two boys bonding over jigsaw puzzles and falling in love”
The one thing that killed me was the what-if's. Fuck, man. All the little things throughout the story added up and I felt so heartbroken that after everything, Griff lost his endgame. In an alternative universe, Griff and Theo are sitting with their kids and making the largest fucking puzzle there is, all wearing pirate hats.
“I would sometimes find my lovesick self standing in front of the intercom, wishing I could press 2B and summon you down here into my arms.”
The mental-health aspect that was touched all through the story really connected. I understood and felt the things that Griffin was going through, and his OCD was really captured through the writing. Also, the fact that in the real-world, mental illnesses aren't just something you can escape from was so heavily embedded in the text. I liked that the realism was not ever questioned.
“I don’t know what will be left of me if love and grief can’t bring you back to life. Maybe I need to be brought back to life, too.”
The writing. Adam Silvera, if I had a dollar for everytime your writing made my heart squeeze and my eyes water, I would be buying all 7.4 billion people in this world a copy of this book so that they too can experience this type of magic. The writing was beautiful, it had an abundance of literary devices and hidden metaphors that those who want a light read would possibly miss and it wouldn't take away from the story, but those that catch it would be getting a little something more emotionally.
“Love. I love you; this isn’t a past-tense love.”
My love for this story will never be lost. Just like Griff's love for Theo. I buddy read this book with this beautiful puff, and after she finished - she told me that she was scared to pick up an Adam Silvera book after this. I could not agree more. I want more of his writing and his heartache so bad, because it's stunning - but I am scared shitless of it. How can one entity make someone feel so much??!!
“People are complicated puzzles, always trying to piece together a complete picture, but sometimes we get it wrong and sometimes we’re left unfinished. Sometimes that’s for the best. Some pieces can’t be forced into a puzzle, or at least they shouldn’t be, because they won’t make sense.”
I am going to end this review on an even character count. I close with a heavy heart and a unique spark in my eye. This has undoubtedly become one of my all time favourite books and without a doubt one of my favorites of 2017. ...more
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