**spoiler alert** I'm actually still reading this book but want to write down some thoughts > It's interesting to have a cursed main character who is r**spoiler alert** I'm actually still reading this book but want to write down some thoughts > It's interesting to have a cursed main character who is reluctant to let go of their curse > tbh if i could wield elements and turn into a winged wolf cat beast monster, I don't think i'd want to be a human girl either > Jamie is the Worst but not in a bad way? He's a good foil to Rozlyn - He's such an ass but somehow it's not frustrating. I guess because he's played off as ridiculous/suave? idk but I like him - Rozlyn is also a good character but I have to say, her pov gets really repetitive (I'm sad, I'm alone, I'm angry, I'm vengeful, I love Jamie, I hate Jamie, I love being a monster, I hate being a monster, I will not let go of this power, people think I'm weak but they don't know how strong I am, rinse and repeat) - The first half of the book was interesting but the second half is also getting repetitive. I think it could have been cut short by several chapters... like we already know the story of Etain and Midir, so I don't know why we have to hear their folk tale and then relive it in part 2. - the Jamie/Rozlyn storyline in part 2 is also really repetitive. Literally Jamie leaves her alone for a minute to hunt/pee/whatever and Rozlyn encounters some whacky fantasy creature that insults and/or harasses her, and she goes beast mode and makes them regret it - The further along I get in this book, the less I'm enjoying it :\ - The dialogue is also very corny at times (e.g. Jamie asking if she's on her period when she gets mad and Rozlyn being like "uh EXCUSE YOU just because i'm MAD etc. etc."/Rozlyn being pissy w Jamie who is like "ahh women are so weak and tender" to a bunch of villagers to cover for her awkwardness) I have this Chip on my Shoulder w/ this sort of dialogue. It feels very Internet Feminism and takes away from the severity of the issue. Especially in a book like this, which at its core is about a young, oppressed woman developing a monstrous power that grants her some modicum of agency. It's also exasperating to see frequently used social media talking points from the 21st century being used to flavor the story. It feels odd and anachronistic, like there are so many specific situations such as the ones referenced above which, independently, would not raise my eyebrows. But when they happen in succession like they do in the story... it's just so evident that the author is pulling points from 2010s feminism discourse and adding them to her novel for whatever reason. It's not very compelling? It's like lazy lite, since the situations are so contrived? And it reeks of Corporate Girl Boss "Eyeliner So Sharp it Could Cut a Man" behavior - was interested in the Etain/witch dynamic since Midir is engaged to Ms. Witch Lady and Etain rightfully is like wtf?? also he's been sleeping with the witch. Their dynamic is very different from etain/king, which is pointedly abusive, while both midir and the witch seem to be equals even if they don't seem to like each other much. Anyways, Etain pulls this whole "you were engaged to someone else but you're romancing me!! that's morally bankrupt!!" stuff and then just immediately drops it and marries midir? - Rozlyn also does not face much conflict in the second half of this story. Every monster she goes up against topples immediately. - I cannot figure out the size of this dragon that was summoned. It rose out of the pits of hell and dragged witch down, but also it seems to have only destroyed the kitchen floor of Jamie's ancestral home? I'm imagining a dragon the size of a horse?
Overall... it had such a strong start. I'm pretty disappointed by where the story ended up going. The ending was fair, and it felt like it was earned, but the biggest problem I have with this story is how repetitive it is. It should have been shaved down a lot....more
**spoiler alert** Man... I wanted to like this book. It has the elements of everything I would probably enjoy: fantasy Turkey, comprehensive magic sys**spoiler alert** Man... I wanted to like this book. It has the elements of everything I would probably enjoy: fantasy Turkey, comprehensive magic systems, political intrigue, "multidimensional" characters... but it was so boring. The plot moves at a snail's pace. This is one of the very few stories I've read that has a plot that goes from A -> B -> C -> D. Everything just sort of goes according to plan, or slightly diverts course and can be reoriented to the main plotline. Nothing kept me on my toes or made me want to keep reading. Naime and Makram are both very dignified and thoughtful people. This is great for the two of them but it is kind of dull for me as a reader. Neither of them have any moderate or significant character flaws. Naime starts out the book as a very strong and quiet leader. And that's how she ends the book. Her only conflict is that she likes Makram. And Makram is "impulsive" but he can back up all his impulses (e.g. he can take on a whole palace of Tamaran soldiers with just his contingency of like 8 men after challenging the Viziers) and he is "reckless" but he doesn't actually seem to commit any reckless behaviors, other than relentlessly flirting with Naime. He's very conscientious about his powers. He's able to command a scuffle efficiently because he's a soldier. He defers to Naime whenever the situation calls for it. He's kinda perfect. So is she. It is so droll. They don't really go through any significant character growth because they start as great characters and they end as great characters. If anything, their personal confidence is boosted. I guess Naime is a little impulsive in falling for Makram and committing to that romance but also like... they don't really face any backlash for it? At least not significant backlash that would make it unreasonable for them to be together. Makram's king brother and his relationship with him is interesting but not very present for most of the book. There's also not really a sense of urgency. Naime and Makram are both panicking because of some baddy foreigners called the Republic coming after their magical cities but also the Republic doesn't really show up in any meaningful way. They have enough time to go through this whole "capture the castle" game to convince Naime's high council to negotiate with Makram's crew. Naime and Makram have enough time to longingly stare at each other over several chapters. I was just bored, and then Naime and Makram got together, and I didn't care because they didn't really have any reason not to be together. So then I was more bored. I don't know. I guess I was expecting more from this story....more
> Oak's primary protagonist POV is less compelling than Wren's
> Too many "this all could have been solved with a 2 minute conversati**spoiler alert**
> Oak's primary protagonist POV is less compelling than Wren's
> Too many "this all could have been solved with a 2 minute conversation -- whoops! Something interrupted the conversation" plot threads
> Story was ok until we got to Elfhame. I'm kinda sick of Elfhame. Show me more of the Undersea > Speaking of which, the cryptic-merrow-warning-Undersea-war plot just kinda disappeared after (1) incident? What was going on down there? That was more interesting
> Bogdana being an antagonist was uninspired
> Taryn is still very hard to sympathize with. She's the worst
> The tension amidst the Greenbriar/Duarte family felt soooo contrived because we have like 4 books establishing and re-establishing their relationships with each other. And Oak is like the center of their universe so it's really weird to me that 1) he'd do all these conspiracy-annihilation stuff behind their backs. he says he doesn't want them to be protective and he has to pay his sisters back but like??? his sisters are both murderers, his dad is a murderer, his brother in law was a snake that I think ate people, his sister's boyfriend is an assassin. the whole family is filled with bloodthirsty conqueror types. Why wouldn't he just give them a heads up when all of this stuff is going on? IDK I really had to suspend my disbelief (while reading a story about fairies) when he kept reiterating that he's doing this to protect his family. - Also you expect me to believe that NONE of the "court of shadows" or the Duarte line or MADOC had an inkling that Randalin was trying to wipe em all out??? Ghost figured it out at the end but like what, the minister of keys made absolutely no mistakes up till that point? Isn't this something that he must have had cooking for like, at least a few years?? huh
> A common complaint is that there wasn't enough jude/cardan in stolen heir, but personally I do not care much about them anymore. They had their story and it was nice that they had cameos in prisoner's throne, but I feel like everything that had to do with Wren was pushed off to include more "special appearances". So that sucked. I would have liked to see more of her and her situation and less of jude/cardan in wren's own storyline.
Overall, I think this book is... middling. It's not a great wrap-up to everything that happens in the stolen heir. I think there were just too many plots going on and none of them had significant enough twining threads or depth. Maybe I should stop giving sequels to great stories a try. First throne of wolves and that whole fiasco, now this :-(...more
I liked this one more than Dead Silence! But I think I had more questions at the end than answers. I just don't remember them bc I read this like a weI liked this one more than Dead Silence! But I think I had more questions at the end than answers. I just don't remember them bc I read this like a week ago....more
> interesting concept!! reminds me of scp 3008 lol > a tad too long imo. and grant + trinity were not given enough characterization for me to care much> interesting concept!! reminds me of scp 3008 lol > a tad too long imo. and grant + trinity were not given enough characterization for me to care much about them > I did really like amy. basil was fine but corporate bootlickers that really buy into the cause are freakier than ghosts > I think this could have been more atmospherically haunting than gory gross, but it really relied on the latter > I like the blueprints and ads littered through the book > fun read overall...more
**spoiler alert** This was a fun scary fairies book! Interesting setting with some fun, multifaceted characters. I liked how the village was character**spoiler alert** This was a fun scary fairies book! Interesting setting with some fun, multifaceted characters. I liked how the village was characterized and how magical realism presented itself within the story. I did have some nitpicks.
- while wendell is fun and great, he also seems like an amalgamation of Howl and Cardan -- there's not much variety in his character
- interestingly, I did not like Emily as a person, but she was a good MC to focus on. She has such a grating personality and while it put me off from sympathizing with her, it didn't keep me from wanting to know what happened to her. i'm also aware that she is almost certainly neurodivergent, and I think that the way she was characterized did a good job of showing her difficulty with normalcy and socialization rather than just telling us that she feels awkward around people.
- that being said, dang, she is really dumb and dives headfirst into danger
- I liked the romance between wendell and emily. I did not like that their relationship escalated so dramatically with no real precursor. Emily hasn't even come to the realization that she's in love with him until he proposes marriage - until that point, she seems to desperately consider him in a platonic light. I'd totally get it if she got over that bump and had an epiphany about being in love with him, but Wendell proposes marriage and she takes this extremely seriously. idk it felt a bit weird.
- also wendell proposing marriage?? I guess I can chalk that up to fairies being oddballs and his infatuation with her from the beginning of the book, but he also seems to handle their relationship and his proposal in such a blase manner
- honestly I just hope book 2 delves into their relationship more because ???
- I liked the winter king. He was crazy and scary and it was interesting to see a villain whose whole thing is being a nice, kind, empathic person but turning that on its head. Very fun.
- did not like how suddenly and easily this book concluded. I also didn't understand the whole logic behind them escaping unscathed because emily didn't poison the king because "that's not how the story's supposed to end" -- idk the whole final sequence of this book felt way too convenient.
overally, a cool world with some fun characters and I want to read book 2, but I hope it's more cohesive than this one was....more
Thanks to NetGalley and Ms. Arden's publishers for granting my wish :>
I really liked the setting of TWHG; I've read plenty of WW2 based fiction, but WThanks to NetGalley and Ms. Arden's publishers for granting my wish :>
I really liked the setting of TWHG; I've read plenty of WW2 based fiction, but WW1 seems to be a less popular time period. I never really considered the ramifications of it being the first large-scale war involving superpower nations, or the social shift people must have experienced during that time. That was a fascinating aspect of this story. Unfortunately, for me, it moved a bit slowly and I felt that the way that the characters were written made me less compelled by them (not to say that they are not compelling characters, especially Faland), but I think I had this issue with Ms. Arden's previously-written series, the Winternight Trilogy. I think that if you're a fan, you'll love this story as well....more
This book was good! Somehow the magic, which you would expect to be the most interesting part, was sidelined and the relationship between the characteThis book was good! Somehow the magic, which you would expect to be the most interesting part, was sidelined and the relationship between the characters was the heart of the story - this might be a con for me in most cases but I actually really liked it in this situation. Also I adore grouchy characters like Meche. My unhinged women list grows longer....more
**spoiler alert** I know this is horror-romance but this felt more like romance than horror. Still
> A very good and multifaceted romance story at its **spoiler alert** I know this is horror-romance but this felt more like romance than horror. Still
> A very good and multifaceted romance story at its core because it - addresses a class divide - has one character who places the other on a pedestal and comes to understand why that's unfair - addresses the complexities of managing familial expectations and your own desires - fully realizes long term consequences
OMG long term consequences is something that I rarely see. But VEN does such a good job -- Nestor and Nena's words and actions continuously haunt each other through the novel.
Minus points because - I'm sorry, Nestor going full off-the-grid-tragic-mystery-man because of (1) horrible misconception is so funny to me because the whole thing could have been resolved in literally one letter. Like one off-handed remark even. If Felix had just MENTIONED nena in a letter, the entire course of nestor's life would have changed - there were not enough vampires in the vampire book - the end sequence w the aforementioned vampires was kinda meh. If they're characterized as sentient then why didn't that come into play earlier? because CONVENIENCE. I didn't like that.
Overall this was a really good book, though I think it ended up sacrificing some of the grittiness/intensity of the whole "we are being colonized" plot for the romance. IMO From Sand and Ash did a phenomenal job of balancing the horrors of humanity with a love story; unfortunately VEN didn't quite achieve that....more
This was actually v good rivals to lovers! I've been burned by books that fall under that trope so many times that I was reluctant to start this but tThis was actually v good rivals to lovers! I've been burned by books that fall under that trope so many times that I was reluctant to start this but there was no insta-love. And the enmity did not stem from like, abuse or war crimes. So thumbs up. Likeable characters, interesting plot, but the worldbuilding still gets me a little. This book was written in a much more engaging way than A River Enchanted, which I struggled to finish -- the worldbuilding in DR is far better, but there were some moments with anachronistic language and/or sequences that broke immersion. Also, I almost felt like we needed to see more from the gods. The whole war is between two of them, but they're not superrr relevant or present in the story. For the most part, this was a fun read with lovely prose. Also I really like books that examine the everyday horror of war....more
I wanted to enjoy this but it was a little *too* technical for me. The story gets into the gritty details of movie making and I was hoping for a novelI wanted to enjoy this but it was a little *too* technical for me. The story gets into the gritty details of movie making and I was hoping for a novel that relied more on the characters, a la Signal to Noise. I did like Tristan and Momo, but to a lesser extent than I've liked some of SMG's other characters. If you like the Rabbits podcast or the game Immortality, I think you'd really enjoy this story too....more
this book is basically a novelization of every predictable creature feature ft. a team of researchers stuck in a claustrophobic space with some unknowthis book is basically a novelization of every predictable creature feature ft. a team of researchers stuck in a claustrophobic space with some unknown horror hunting them down. Includes unfathomably stupid and unlikable characters + "the real danger is other people" + grinning unbeatable demon who has no real backstory or goals. Kurdish/Turkish characters whose land the demon is found in are sidelined for European and American characters who have no local knowledge. Besides that it's just so tropey. You've got the: > catholic priest who is the only one who acknowledges that something bad and evil is afoot > sarcastic but capable DOD guy whose only history is "ex-wife and elementary-aged son" > smart asian lady that the sarcastic DOD guy hooks up with (she's got some role in the UN but she does literally nothing, she's there to "observe" -- but she loses her marbles at the very beginning and then contributes nothing of importance + spends her time feeling "unnerved" and "anxious" so of course, DOD man can step in to help her feel better) > high-strung biblical research man > the engaged couple with secrets + a cheating subplot > the Other Woman who is only present to cause marital tension. She films, but?? so does Adam, so why did she even need to be there. Also she's supposed to be part of a "film crew" but she's the only one we ever witness??
I'm really disappointed that we never find out how exactly the ark got to the top of Mount Ararat. That's the only reason I kept reading this book. They never explain why it's up there. The story of a great flood is present in several religions: "The flood-myth motif occurs in many cultures, including the Mesopotamian flood stories, Native American in North America, the Genesis flood narrative, manvantara-sandhya in Hinduism, and Deucalion and Pyrrha in Greek mythology." The specific story of Noah's ark is present in Islam and Judaism as well as in Christianity. I wanted to bring this up because we ONLY get the Christian perspective on the flood and the ark, despite the fact that the ark is found in Turkey - a country with a Muslim majority - and despite the fact that we have several characters who worship/worshipped the Islamic faith. And we have a character who was raised in the Jewish faith, continues to "believe" and even has history with a dybbuk. None of them have anything significant to say about the presence of the ark, but of course we get the whole lay-down from the Catholic priest and the bible studies guy. And again, the flood myth is present in several religions. Why not bring in insight from somewhere new? Very tired of only ever getting Christian perspectives in supernatural stories, especially when 1) the supernatural entities they're facing are present in lore from several existing religions and 2) characters are supposedly "exploring all avenues" to get rid of the demon/spirit/poltergeist/etc.
Anyways this book was formulaic and boring and filled with extremely dumb characters (I almost sympathized with Meryem until the plot twist at the end smh)....more
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