Feeling conflicted. Part 1 was awful. I wanted to DNF but I wanted to at least get to that part that touches upon Jane Eyre. And though I feel like parts of this book mirror/foreshadow Jane Eyre so intensely that it cheapens the contents of this work, Part 2 was a huge improvmenet and Part 3 was an improvement on that. Part 1 is also written in a very meandering style where the point of it all is not clear until further on. Moreover, the excessive racial slurs really made it tough to read as well.
That being said, the back half of the book was good and even SLAPPED in some places. Wasn't a fan of the "it was all a dream" (kind of) moment. But oh well. I'm glad I read it, but it isn't one I think is mandatory after Jane Eyre. Thus the 5/10 rating....more
Umm. This is one of the most unhinged books I have ever read... So much happened, and it felt like the aut1.5 stars **This is a spoiler-filled review**
Umm. This is one of the most unhinged books I have ever read... So much happened, and it felt like the author kind of stopped caring for cohesion as well? I stopped taking it seriously pretty early on. The moment I did, I actually got some enjoyment out of it— in a sense, it was "so bad that it was good".
First off, I want to highlight Jude again. Was her character weakened after in this finale? Definitely. But again, I kind of stopped caring, and she was still the best part of the entire book. Especially after The Wicked King I do care about her. Here, for example when she started giving out ruthless punishments like Madoc would, I found it great that despite her being the protagonist and trying to do things "right", she still grew up the way she did. Also, Madoc murdering her parents being brought up during his final sentencing was also a nice touch, especially since it has been rarely mentioned hitherto. Her and Cardan's yearning was worse than in this book's predecessor, but the "I-love-you" speech that Cardan gives her was adorable and I do actually like their romance now (wow character growth).
All this being said, this book is almost non-sensical and better viewed as a parody/comedy. Here is my run down of why I think so.
(1) Jude's exile was a weird way for Cardan to flirt with her? Oh a *riddle* made *just* for *her*?? Come on. That's lazy. Firstly, if that was the case, why did he laugh in her face when she claimed to be the Queen at the end of The Wicked King and exile her nonetheless? If she solved his "riddle" the second he did it and didn't acknowledge it, clearly that wasn't the riddle to solve. Honestly, I don't think the author planned this well because this is a pretty big loop hole. More than that, it just sucks. I marathoned this series, so I don't really care too much, but imagine waiting the near-full-year for this and getting that as a resolution? Oh, Cardan was just feeling quirky and thought it would be a funny way to flirt with Jude.... by exiling her. So quirky...
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(2) Jude has much less agency in the plot. Things just kind of happen to her now. Why is that? Because the plot is non-sensical. We start off thinking that she'll have to somehow sneak into Faerie. Nope, Taryn shows up and tells her that she has to stand in for her at the inquest. Sure. Thus, I thought, ok cool, so that's gonna be how this goes: Jude has to cosplay as Taryn and get back at Cardan. Nope, Madoc attacks and steals her away. I'm thinking ok so Jude will now plan an escape to get back to the palace of Elfhame? She actually starts planning things just as she's about to be found out that she isn't Taryn... but just as stakes rise, Cardan (of all people) and the Roach come to save her. Seriously? Also, Cardan is the King, what is he doing infiltrating a separate Court? Nonetheless, do you see what I'm getting at? This is somewhat rectified towards the end buuuuut.....
(3) The fact that Jude contemplated using the collar on Cardan is disgusting... but also out of character. Then again, this is one of the only times that something that she does in this book matters, so I'll let it pass.
(4) Cardan TURNS INTO A SNAKE???? I burst out laughing when this happened because wow. That was really something. It's like the author is outsmarting you, but not in an absurdist manner. I don't think that was intended.
(5) They literally end the book with a kumbaya-style dinner with all the main characters; even Heather, who apparently was just supposed to lose her memory, is present. I have no words. Consequences who? Satisfactory ending where?
All in all, this is not a "good" book. But! If you're in need of some quick read that can is very comedic, sure this was fine. If I would've waiting the few months for this, I'd be really pissed off... but I didn't so I was able to not take it too seriously. I am kind of glad I read this series, though, because I got to laugh about it with my friend :)
2.5 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden), there may be spoilers for previous books in series (scroll down)**
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The Wicked Ki2.5 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden), there may be spoilers for previous books in series (scroll down)**
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The Wicked King is better than its predecessor in many ways. There were a lot of the issues that I had with the previous book were improved, this sequel ended up having just as many problems in areas that The Cruel Prince succeeded in. Now that Jude is the seneschal of the Faerie Court, she has many new problems to deal with. Primarily, a conflict with the Undersea is brewing. Despite having power over Cardan, Jude struggles to make Cardan a worthy king until Oak is ready to take over. Cardan constantly humiliates and demeans Jude in front of the court. Despite this, she perseveres... but as a betrayal is waiting to occur and old promises are being called in, Jude finds herself perhaps dealing with more than she asked for.
There are a few distinct things that I'd like to talk about when discussing this book. First I want to talk about Jude as a character. Next I want to talk about the undersea and the plot as a whole. And lastly I'll talk about the romance, which was kind of weird in book one.
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As a whole, I think Jude is the best thing about this book. She is the only character that feels fleshed out and real at any level of depth. Especially in this book we start to see a more cunning side to her, as was hinted towards the end of book one with her scheme for crowning Cardan in the first place. Even if the plot wasn't always there, the events of the book shape Jude; she is a character that truly takes agency in what happens and is affected by her choices. Emotionally, her conflicts with Madoc and Taryn (and familial relationships in general) grows, perhaps not exponentially, but we see more of it in the doses that we need to see it. Especially going forward, I think her and Taryn's relationship will be important and this was established well. When it comes to her planning skills and role as the seneschal we are not just told her that she is brilliant but we are shown. There is a sequence that needs to be prepared for at the wedding of Locke and Taryn and the way she execute this is very well done which makes it more believable to the reader that she truly is as clever as she claims. She endures many hardships later on in the book, that help grow her character, but I'll discuss this in a spoiler tag later on. All in all, Jude's characterization is the strongest part of the novel.
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A lot of the plot centres around the conflict with the Queen of the Undersea. In book one it was established that the relation between the Faerie courts and the Undersea court is turbulent. This dynamic is somewhat more explored in this book. When we finally go to the Undersea halfway through the book I think this is where the best segment of the novel actually begins. Without going into spoilers yet, this segment focuses more on Jude as a solitary figure as well as the applied cruelty of Fae. Bind with the theme of the difficulty of holding onto power after it has been acquired, this entire sequence showcases Jude's perseverance and brings forth an aspect that the first book lacked: stakes. Firstly, the Queen can sink the kingdom. Secondly, Jude has tangible consequences that can occur if things go awry. I'll talk about this in the spoiler tag. (view spoiler)[ firstly because she is able to resist glamour, she is forced to be a puppet for the Queen and Balekin. We know that if she slips up she might die and the kingdom will be in much more danger. Because of her established attachment to Cardan now we start to care about this as well. Those pages of Jude demeaning herself to hold on to power, her power being this ability to lie about being glamoured and at the same time getting information about the underseas plans, ties in with the themes of the book and the underlying motifs of the established world (cruelty, underestimation, prejudice). When things with Balekin continue in the above world plot line, those were some of the best moments in the book (the duel, despite being short; the poison scheme). Jude's character work here is exemplary in comparison with the rest as well. (hide spoiler)]. In the underseas subplot is where I could start to see what the hype about this series is about.
“I have said that he has the power to deliver a compliment and make it hurt. So, too, he can say something that ought to be insulting and deliver it in such a way that it feels like being truly seen.”
In book one I thought the romance was weird; in book 2 I think it is honestly a strength. We finally see the yearning!!! Is it's at the level of for example an Emily Henry book? No. But this is not a romance book either. Instead, the sprinkle of romance adds *stakes*. Is Cardan redeemed at all? Nope, but he is humanised a little bit in a way that readers can start to care for him, especially in relation to Jude. Some one-liners from this sub-plot are truly memorable and I'm sure have been quoted a million times (ex. the sickness/cure line especially). The on-set is also quite slow and it works. It really works. I'm excited to see how this wraps up in the end.
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Unfortunately, the plot unravels in the end. The first hundred pages are plot-less. The middle hundred are good. The last hundred had me rolling my eyes again. I am an avid fan of Brandon Sanderson, so I do have to compare what happened in this ending to how he likes to conclude his books because there are many similarities except he does it much better. We Sanderson fans like to call what he pulls at the end of novels the epic "Sander-lanche". It's like an avalanche of plot/character points which blow your mind and you can't stop reading because of all the twists. The thing is, when he does them, they're all deserved and exciting because he is a master at subtle foreshadowing. Holly Black clearly was attempting something similar, but boy it just wasn't it. I felt near nothing for most twists and almost none of them were foreshadowed well. So I read it, and was like "welp, guess that happened". Let me explain more in the spoiler tag. (view spoiler)[The Ghost's betrayal? Yes I know it happened earlier, but still. Where was the foreshadowing for that? It was minimal and meh. And tell me who was actually emotionally affected by it? It is barely mentioned after the fact and out of character for the Ghost who, if I'm not wrong, was just a hired mercenary before Dain. Now, though, it's all "oh I served Dain, not you, Jude!!". Come on. All the Cardan stuff? I guess you could assume that him being more assertive in his actions earlier on could indicate he was going to kick her out of Elfhame? But that's grasping at straws. Him making her Queen of Elfhame was an interesting twist if somewhat abrupt and predictable. But the emotional punch could've been stronger. I'm also unclear on how him exiling her and her murdering Balekin are tied together. Did one lead to the other? Or was Cardan aware of it all previously? (hide spoiler)] Anyways. This finale didn't pan out. I hope the ending of the actual series is better.
Overall, The Wicked King is a slight improvement with it's more fleshed out romance, Jude's character work, and some real stakes. That being said, the plot continues to be lackluster for the most part and the emotional consequences don't hit at all. Thus, the sequel to The Cruel Prince also left me feeling "meh".
Another enjoyable book by Sanderson. I preferred Tress of the Emerald Sea slightly more but I enjoyed this one too. I found the characters t3.75 stars
Another enjoyable book by Sanderson. I preferred Tress of the Emerald Sea slightly more but I enjoyed this one too. I found the characters to be less interesting than most of Sanderson's other ones (also I preferred Painter to Yumi) and the plot when it centered around the romance and characters was the most drawn out in my opinion. That being said, this is still a Sanderson story with a intrigue and a Sanderlanche that was so addicting that I couldn't stop reading.
Without spoiling anything, I'd raise it to a 4 star if not for the first epilogue which I see as a cop out for a more impactful ending (it cheapened the story for me). ...more
“In the middle of the ocean, there was a girl who lived upon a rock. This was not an ocean like the one you have imagined. Nor was the rock li
4 stars
“In the middle of the ocean, there was a girl who lived upon a rock. This was not an ocean like the one you have imagined. Nor was the rock like the one you have imagined. The girl, however, might be as you imagined—assuming you imagined her as thoughtful, soft-spoken, and overly fond of collecting cups.”
Tress of the Emerald Sea is the first secret project released as part of the record-breaking Sanderson kickstarter. This novel, in my opinion, reaffirms that Sanderson is one of the best current working authors because the quantity of books he releases doesn't affect their quality. This is a story told by Hoid, a recurring character in the Cosmere. We follow a girl who ventures off her island in the spore seas to rescue her love from an evil Sorceress. If you enjoy nautical fantasy and fairytales, this is the book for you.
The thing that stood out to me the most when reading this book was definitely Hoid's narration. I love the way he made the story engaging, funny, and whimsical all at once. He doesn't simply tell the actual narrative, he makes jokes and small references to perhaps other Cosmere events (one's we have seen and ones we haven't). He also bring in retrospection into the story with the way he has had time to reflect on everything that occurred during its actual events. This all results in a quite different tone to his other novels, but it really really works.
The other thing I loved about this book was the setting. We are on a planet Lumar, which has 12 moons orbiting it. Under each moon there is a spore sea based on the idea of air being bubbled up through solids causing them to behave like liquids (Sanderson has a video on it on his channel with Mark Rober). However , if these spores encounter water, they produce a magical effect (a burst of air, growth of a vine, red spikes, etc). Our heroine finds herself having to sail these seas and learning about the different types of spores, how they work, and spending time in the seas was amazing.
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Lastly, I'd like to touch up on the story. Although I enjoy nautical adventure fantasy it isn't always my favorite. In this case, I thought it was very well done since it was portrayed using the fairytale lens. Hoid plays into these stereotypes of a girl with her talking animal companion, the evil witch, the pirate battles, etc. cliches but it never feels like these choices were made because Sanderson was lazy; rather, there choices are there to fit the genre. That being said, I do think I prefer the more complex stories so I wasn't as shocked and invested by the end of the book as I usually am with Sanderson novels.
All in all, I think Tress of the Emerald Sea is a great entry point for the Cosmere for people who enjoy nautical fantasy or fairytales. You get to experience a fairly unrelated story to the wider Cosmere but see some reocurring faces and get acquainted with Sanderson's magic systems. I truly enjoyed this....more
An exciting conclusion, I even cried a few times. I didn't love it as much as I did the other books in the series, but the ending is definitely worth it. I really recommend this series overall.
4 stars **Although this is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden), there may be spoilers for previous books in series (scroll down)**
Evershore is the final novella published in the interim between Starsight and Defiant. This time the narration is from Jorgen's point of view. After his parents died and after Cobb disappeared Jorgen finds him self in a position where he is unsure of what comes next. However, he knows that he must reinstate Cobb as the head of the DDF before all hell breaks loose. When he and Alanik discover that their leader may be on the kitsen planet, they travel there immediately. Unfortunately, getting the Admiral back is not as easy as it first appeared; and as always the Superiority is on their heels.
Surprisingly this novella was even more action packed than the previous one. In fact it is very similar to ReDawn except it is better in almost every way. First off, again we have a lot of battles except the battles in this novella are more exciting and impactful because there is a lot more at stake that emotionally matters to the reader. Jorgen is very clearly undergoing a mental breakdown through the entirety of this novella, so when the final battle comes around you really want him to succeed. The authors also make sure that we care about the kitsen planet through giving Jorgen a kitsen helper called Juno and through him we are able to get closer to the tragedy that is going on for the inhabitants of the planet. I must say, surprisingly, there may have been a tiny bit too much action for me to the extent that it distracted from the other plot points.
Another thing that I want to mention is the return of a technique that I really enjoy being utilised in this series. Obviously there are characters travelling to different planets with very unique cultural backgrounds. It makes sense that these characters don't see or describe the things they are experiencing in the same way that another character would. I expected more of this to happen in ReDawn but I was glad some of it happened at all just because Alanik has such a different background. In this novella the flight crew is exposed to an ocean and birds and sand: all things that they are really used to. For example, this is how Jorgen first described seeing birds flying:
“Stars. I’d seen pictures of birds, but watching them glide over the water like so many starfighters…”
Moreover in this final novella the fact that we have so many alien species interacting is finally used to its full extent. Specifically I'm talking about the way language barriers are explored. Some of it is simply for comedic relief. But it works. It works because this is a very real thing that also occurs on Earth between different languages. For example look at this joke that is made:
“'We believe you,' Nedd said. 'We’re just incredulous.' 'That word literally means ‘unable to believe,’ ' Alanik said. 'Is there a translation error, or are you making fun of me?' 'Neither,' FM said. 'They’re just idiots.'”
What's more this actually comes up in a vital part in one of the final battles. And the fact that a communication error between because of a language barrier helped solve the conflict in this book felt to me like a commentary on how language shapes perception. Specifically, how thinking about things in different languages in someway affects how you perceive the things that are happening. Didn't really expect this but I'm really glad it was put in here.
The character work was also exceptional, at least compared to the other novellas. FM was finally given that political spotlight that I really missed in her novella. In fact, going forward, I'll be excited to see how this affects her communication and characterisation in the final book. And then I had to talk about Jorgen himself. The way he deals with the loss of his parents with the help of FM and how he deals with this extra responsibility that is placed on him and he never asked for was beautiful to watch. I think this novella may have elevated him to be a favourite character of mine in the series. Also I just have to remark on what happens at the end without spoiling it of course. The ending did a fantastic job of explaining the WTF moment that I had at the end of book 3. Moreover, it made me smile so much; it was the most adorable, wholesome thing I have ever read and I loved it.
All in all, this novella hope to clear up some questions I had at the end of Cytonic. I liked how it tackled both character elements but also managed to sneak in a very interesting plot. The balancing was definitely an issue for me especially with the more out there elements of the action, however, all in all, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the novella. I can't wait for book 4. -------------------------- Books in Series: #1 Skyward: ★★★★★ #2 Starsight: ★★★★.5 #2.1 Sunreach: ★★★.5 #2.2 ReDawn: ★★★★ #3 Cytonic: ★★★★.5 #3.1 Evershore: ★★★★ #4 Defiant: ★★★.25...more
4 stars **Although this is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden), there may be spoilers for previous books in series (scroll down)**
What an amazing novella! Pacing? Exquisite (for the most part). World-expansion? YES! Totally new civilisation explored. Intrigue? Yes! Read in basically one sitting. Huge, huge fan. ReDawn follows Alanik as she attempts to forge an alliance between her people, the UrDail, and the humans. Of course, not everything goes to plan as the Superiority is constantly pursuing their own agenda, and rival factions on both Detritus and ReDawn are in disagreement about the best courses of action. At what cost will this alliance be established?
First off, the pacing was so so good. The first half of the novella is an absolute banger. First we get introduced to ReDawn and the basic politics of the UrDail, which sheds a light on how planets that aren't strictly part of the Superiority but aren't fully isolated either function during this conflict. Furthermore, the setting is so atmospheric! The UrDail live in huge floating trees in the atmosphere of a gas giant whose noxious gases contribute to a reddish-purplish miasma that make the planet appear to be in a constant state of dawn. !!! Epic. Quickly, however the stakes are raised due to Superiority pressure and attacks causing Alanik to be forced back to Skyward Flight and attempt negotiations. Because the main characters' actions aren't strictly legal, the entire 90-ish pages that follow turn out to be a massive action sequence (or something near to it). Things slow down extremely at that point. However, this doesn't last long as soon new threads are revealed and I was hooked again.
Next, I was shocked at how much happened plot wise that will have a strong significance on the main plot. One qualm that I had about Sunreach was that it didn't feel like all that much happened in its 200 pages that would have a significant effect on the main storyline. This novella is different. As a person who doesn't yet know what occurs in Cytonic, I can't comment on if the things that occurred here come into play, but they're so integral to the state of the human society that surely they must. I appreciate that a lot because with novellas sometimes they're quite useless. This one isn't.
This didn't quite achieve 5 stars because my enjoyment level just wasn't there yet and I thought that the narration should have been a tad more demonstrative of the difference in UrDail vs human cultures. ... oh and Cuna felt irrelevant, which kind of felt like an oversight or an inconvenience to write about.
To sum up, this was great. We get more of the cool Skyward Flight banter. We get a new world. Constant excitement. I loved seeing human traditions through the eyes of an UrDail. We get more Arturo (probably my favorite Skyward Flight member other than Spensa herself). And it was a lot of fun. Now less than two weeks remain till Cytonic releases and I am so so hyped.
3.5 stars **Although this is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden), there may be spoilers for previous books in series (scroll down)**
“I smothered a snicker. 'So Spensa talks to the stars, and you talk to…slugs.'"
You guys have no idea how much fun I had reading this. Did we delve as deeply as we could have with the characterisation of FM and Rig? No. Did the plot advance as much as I would have hoped it would in 200 pages? Also no. But that is ok, because this made me smile so much. More than I have in a while because of a book.
There really is something about this series that makes my heart light up. Fun part of it all is, now we get to experience it through FM. In Skyward, she is a much more political figure, and while this is touched up on briefly, I was left a bit disappointed because I thought this had the potential to really bring out that side of her so we could learn her backstory. Other than that, though, she did deliver some unique perspectives about the attitudes of the DDF that I thought brought another layer to the theme of idolisation of the military that is prevalent in the series. Here is a quote that I think really showcases this:
“What did it change when any of us were gone? The DDF still churned out more cadets. If they ran out, they’d lower the age to take the pilot’s test and bring them in younger and younger. We’d keep sending groups on missions like this, never knowing if they’d come back, because our survival as a group mattered more than the individuals. I didn’t disagree with that; I saw the logic to it. But I still wondered: if we didn’t matter as individuals, then what were we saving the group for?”
Plot-wise, I do acknowledge that this was a novella and the focus was moreso on the expansion of the taynix lore and use. Goals in this regard is achieved, but I do not think that this was done as well as it could have been, especially since I know that this duo can do a bit better.
All in all, reading a book in this series felt fantastic again. I can't wait for Cytonic.
2.75 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden); it may contain spoilers for previous instalments in series (scroll down)**
After last 2.75 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden); it may contain spoilers for previous instalments in series (scroll down)**
After last volume, which I believed to be the best one so far, this one is a bit of a let down, with me rating it just below "good". That being said, I think that the pace will increase very soon as the scheming with the Yotsuba Corporation develops.
The first segment of the volume I found to be significantly better than the second half. After the shocking ending of Light relinquishing the Death Note I was anticipating the confinement story line and it did not disappoint. However, this lasted much shorter than I anticipated and when the plot moved on, even though I think the wrapping up of it was done well, I wasn't quite ready for the next segment to take such a turn.
Honestly, I do not really care about the corporation. The one part of the story line that I find to be interesting is the fact that now the readers are with L and we too can try to figure out which one of the board members is the third Kira.
But overall, I am missing Ryuk. He was not at all in this volume and he is my favorite Shinigami. Although I prefer Rem's design, Ryuk has so much more character and is the heart of this series, I think. I really hope he returns. I also wonder if Light will regain the Death Note because I loved the back and forth between him and L, whereas now he is just a bit boring...
All this being said, I did this this volume was fine. Not as great as the previous ones, but not everything can be 100% enjoyable all the time right?
4 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden); it may contain spoilers for previous instalments in series (scroll down)**
Again the pace4 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden); it may contain spoilers for previous instalments in series (scroll down)**
Again the pace picks up. This review will be a super short one because I do not have a lot to add.
It was a lot of fun. I could not put it down. Of course, it wasn't perfect. Intrigue could have been a bit higher, the twist at the end lost me a bit (so I guess I'll have to read vol. 5 to understand it), but overall, it was a bunch of fun.
I love the dynamic that Misa introduces to the story. I love the way Light tries to out-maneuver L in the end. I love the will they/won't they situation with L's name. I also really liked how the Shinigami mythos is once again expanded.
I have honestly no clue in what direction the next volume will go in... (view spoiler)[ I miss Ryuk already (hide spoiler)].
3 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden); it may contain spoilers for previous instalments in series (scroll down)**
The past two r3 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden); it may contain spoilers for previous instalments in series (scroll down)**
The past two reviews of this series have been using my usual graphic novel/comic book/manga review format, but now that the writing style is pretty much constant, I won't remark on is as much and so I am going back to a more traditional form of review. That being said, maybe I'll notice a shift later on and go back to focusing on the previous review format if need be.
That being out of the way, Hard Run was not on quite the level of the previous two instalments, but that being said, it was still good. I found it a bit more boring (just the lack of engagement until the very end made it more of a slog). This brought my enjoyment of it down. I also felt like this one was more "padded" if you will when compared to, for example, the first volume where each chapter had a specific thing it was going for.
The one area that was fascinating to read about was the confrontation between L and Light. In fact, their manoeuvring right now, though maybe not 100% realistic, keeps me on the tip of my toes.
A significant plot twist occurs, but I will address it in my spoiler section: (view spoiler)[ Although many people have been saying in their reviews that they were shocked that there is another Kira, personally I thought it was quite obvious, and the reveal just didn't have as much tension build up as I thought it would, which made this volume fall a bit flat for me. I knew it wasn't Light because, a) we never saw him mention this plan or hint that he has something planned, b) the murders that they were performing had to utilise the Shinigami eyes, c) they were killing innocents. Not that I do not like the idea of having another Kira. I am truly anticipating to see where this plot line goes. (hide spoiler)]
All in all, weakest volume so far, but still a good read.
3.75 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden); it may contain spoilers for previous instalments in series (scroll down)**
The second 3.75 stars **This is a spoiler free review (spoilers are hidden); it may contain spoilers for previous instalments in series (scroll down)**
The second instalment in the Death Note manga was fantastic! I am in love with the conflict, specifically how the author shows us both L and Light's perspectives and forces us to consider both viewpoints (makes me super engaged). I am enjoying this much more than I thought I would, and that is a very good thing! I have had a reading slump for around 2 months, but this just might pull me out of it because thanks to this series, I actually want to read again!!
Story: ★★★.75 As already mentioned, I love the dual perspective. I am not quite sure if I am Team-L or Team-Light, quite yet. Morally, I side with L, but can you imagine how interesting it would be if Light started going more and more chaotic? Plot-wise, that would be fascinating in terms of possibilities, and character-wise it would be super engaging. I can't quite give this the full 4 star rating for story, though because I find it odd how fast things are moving for the police force: the fact that they are so intense about some aspects and how they come to some conclusions really fast. I just sense a bit of convenience that I can't shake away. The best part by far, however, was the little segment with Raye's (the FBI agent) fiancee Naomi. She was so smart and then the fact that she was manipulated by Light, built up his character, meanwhile making me attached to Naomi!
Writing: ★★★.75 The writing also improved a lot, yet I am not quite sure if to the extent that I would like (but again time and translation is a factor). No longer are the conversations as awkward (and one of the jokes was fantastic: essentially after seeing that Light can sew, Ryuk remarks that he must be popular with the ladies. To this, Light says that he is, but not because of sewing and that it is his looks that count. Then he asks if Ryuk is not popular with the ladies and Ryuk's face is priceless!!). A lot of room for improvement, but I am not complaining at all. This time I got the jokes!
Sidenote - when starting this out, I thought Ryuk would be a totally different character, right now he is one probably my favorite! <3
Honestly, I just wanna get this over with. It is rare that I am so disappointed by a series, but here we a1.5 stars **This is a spoiler-filled review**
Honestly, I just wanna get this over with. It is rare that I am so disappointed by a series, but here we are. I tried thinking of this book separately from its predecessor, however I don't know how this worked out. Book 2 in the series is one of the most horrendous things I have ever read. Coming into this one I tried to accept everything that I hated and say "okay let's see how this can be wrapped up well". It wasn't. There were elements that were better than book 2, let me remind you the bar was very low, and that is why I did give it a boost of a .5 star. Fair warning, if you keep reading, this will be very unhinged.
First off, what the hell was up with Rhen? In book 2, his character is totally ret-conned and honestly not recognisable by the end. He became a villain of the highest degree of nowhere. Since we get more of his POV in this book, I expected those things to be addressed in a manner that took them as seriously as they ought to have been. That's not what you're gonna get here. Everything he did is glossed over. Magically, you're supposed to like him again. Even Tyco when he first sees him after being literally tortured previously he's like super sweet to him and announce his torture as "a bad choice amongst 1 million good ones". Yeah what the frick?? It's the lack of consequences for me.
Next, mostly this book is just really boring. It's a bunch of scenes of the characters talking with each other but not about anything that matters. They're literally about to go to war. You'd expect there to be scenes of strategising or something like that, right? Nope! The most we get is the Syhl Shallow stuff with the Pass and troops being sent there but that's a minor plot thing and we don't see Grey's side of discussing this; it just kind of happens. The only conversations that we do see are related to character stuff but they're so shallow I just didn't care. It also made it apparent again for me why teenagers shouldn't be running kingdoms.
Also I'm fully aware that this is YA, but the black outs before the sex scenes were super cringy. Run literally says "ha ha let's see if I remember anything" and it cuts to the next chapter. ... why would you write that? Or the Grey/Lia Mara one? Is it supposed to act as a "practice safe sex" ad? Because they really had sex once and the book ends with a teenage pregnancy. It is irrelevant, unnecessary and really weird. I couldn't find Lia Mara's age, but she's definitely younger than Grey and he's 20. AND THEY'RE HAVING A BABY. Grey is all fatherly and whatever and we don't really see Lia Mara's reaction. But come on!? Ew. When she first puked, I made a mental note "this better not end in teen pregnancy". And yet.
The ending itself also sucks. No real consequences. Iisak dies, sure, but that wraps up a small subplot that is mostly irrelevant in this book and recapped in one paragraph already after his death. I had zero emotional attachment. Other than that, Grey becomes King, which is really stupid because he has no clue how to do that. Thus, they appoint Rhen as an advisor. Rhen will basically rule things from the shadows because Grey is useless in this regard, so what was the point of having this war anyway? Moreover, Rhen faces no consequences for what he did in book 2 either so that's cool. It's almost as if the author didn't want to offend either Grey or Rhen fans. This is not a satisfying conclusion.
Lia Mara's lack of agency bored me a lot as well. There's a lot of talk of people walking over her (for example, how her sister makes orders in her stead a few times). Then Lia Mara gives a little pep-talk to the troops and that's it. Really?
On the plus side, get our beloved Harper from book 1 back. In book 2 she was totally different, but here her chapters are the superior ones by far. She has agency again and what she does actually affects the outcome of the story. Her conviction and wit is back, which I loved.
There was a weird part when Harper's injuries are getting healed by Grey and there's this weird exchange I'd like to point out. I can't really speak too much about it, but here's the general gist. Grey can continue healing Harper and maybe "fix" her leg that's affected by here cerebral palsy. And just the way it is written it's almost as if Harper's cerebral palsy is painted as this terrible thing that ruins her life and Grey can finally lift her out of her misery... it's just a stark difference to earlier Harper who said that her disability was a part of her, and she doesn't view it as a terrible, life-destroying affliction... I'm not affected by CP, so I don't feel like I can really comment on this, but I was uncomfortable reading it...
Then there's the entire Lilith thing. Turns out she's the mastermind behind everything and is trying to ruin Rhen's life through all means possible, even essentially starting the war. It was a bit much. A bit melodramatic. And ultimately annoying. Not a compelling villain at all.
All in all, I am flabbergasted. Wish I could pretend book 1 was a stand-alone.
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman has been described by Kat from YouTube channel 'paperbackdreams' as an "objectively good book". All in all, I 3.25 stars
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman has been described by Kat from YouTube channel 'paperbackdreams' as an "objectively good book". All in all, I agree. Unfortunately, I didn't sustain an emotional connection to the characters, which I think is crucial when it comes to enjoying this novel. We follow Frances Janvier, a straight As student, whose dream it was to go to Cambridge for university. Despite not appearing to have much more personality than that, she secretly is the artist Toulouser online making fan art of the web series Universe City. When she befriends Aled Last, the brother of her crush who disappeared a year ago and mysterious creator of Universe City, she experiences a shift in perspective that uproots her sense of purpose and self.
I'll start off by saying that Oseman did a fantastic job of creating a realistic contemporary novel. What I mean by this is that often times realistic fiction authors try to be overly cool with their dialogue or internal monologue or in their incorporation of the digital world into the story (an example of this is Yes, No, Maybe So). Fortunately, Oseman made the dialogue feel real at least most of the time. That made all the characters believable for me, which was crucial for such a character-centric story as this one. Moreover, I am usually very annoyed with the Internet playing a large role in stories because most of the time its presence isn't captured very well, in my opinion (a qualm that I had in Take a Hint, Dani Brown). Once again, though, Oseman knocked it out of the park by demonstrating the invasiveness of fandoms, but also their great sides. The comments that Frances and Aled were absolutely plausible.
Another thing that I liked where the characters themselves. My favorite character was Daniel. There is an emotional scene where he spills his emotions out to Frances about half way through the novel and I thought it was the best scene in there. Not only was the dialogue fantastic because of its realism and simplicity, it for some reason also felt very authentic and though I do not have the same dilemmas in my life as Daniel has, I really empathized with him. Out of the main cast, I think that Aled kind of annoyed me the most especially towards the end. He has the tendency to run away from his issues and I didn't always understand that or find it a realistic reaction, though that's probably just me because I've heard others relating this aspect of his character.
Thirdly, I'd like to comment on the effortless representation here. A lot of times I feel like representation is really pushed down your throat and it feels like a check box to have that one non-heterosexual or non-white character (ex. anything written by Sarah J. Maas). Here, even though we have a diverse cast of characters, their sexuality or ethnicity is never their defining personality trait. Yes, Frances is biracial and bisexual and both play a part in the narrative but you never get the feeling that there is something "out of the ordinary" about this. These aspects of her life are just ingrained into her identity they're who she is so its normal for her, so it reads seamlessly and realistically. I also think that this type of representation is much more meaningful than a random character coming out in the last chapter of a novel because why not... or having the characters' race described vaguely enough that you can avoid any commitment or criticism.
The part that really bugged me was the theme presentation in the novel. It was very in your face. Essentially, at its core, this is almost a critique of the education system and how it trains us to assign value to ourselves based on numbers/letters we achieve in school and later on how we all go on to do things we believe we should be doing over the things we want to do. Are these ideas that I should be relating to? Well yes, I am in my senior year of HS right now and I am applying to universities. My issue was that there was almost no nuance to the way these issues were presented: the climax of the novel (spoiler-free still, don't worry) involves a character having to choose between two paths in life. One option is the more traditional one in which they feel trapped, and an alternative pathway. The dialogue here, unfortunately, is so cheesy. The other characters just yell at them their opinions like that all are some variation of "the education system is flawed and you don't have to follow your life based on it!!". Something about that just turned my investment off and downplayed my enjoyment overall.
The ending itself I had a few issues with, but I'll discuss that in the spoiler tag: (view spoiler)[First off, there was so much potential with Carys. She was this mystery hanging over the novel and in the end she has almost no interaction with Aled, which I do not think is realistic and do believe that it was a huge missed opportunity. It honestly just felt like a lot of build up and not a lot of pay off. Moreover, the reemergence of Universe City felt off to me. I'm glad Aled and Frances started it up again, but didn't Aled say that him being anonymous made it special? I think that him deciding to reveal himself fully on a live show without any discussion about that made me feel like the novel was being wrapped up in a nice bow and ignoring the dangling plot threads. (hide spoiler)]
To conclude, I think I was just bothered by a few things in the latter half of the novel that really decreased how much I enjoyed the novel. Of course, I still liked it and agree that it is "objectively good". I'll definitely check out Oseman's other novels. ...more
2 stars **This is a spoiler-free review (spoilers are hidden), but it may include spoilers for previous books in series**
A weight has been lifted off 2 stars **This is a spoiler-free review (spoilers are hidden), but it may include spoilers for previous books in series**
A weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I have finished the Truly Devious trilogy, a sort of guilty pleasure for me. This entire trilogy hasn't really been the best, but moments were so ridiculous that I needed to keep reading. The trend where nothing really happens up until the very end continues with this book, but we didn't get any shocking reveal at the end like we did in The Vanishing Stair. This final novel focuses on solving the murders of Hayes, Ellie, and Dr. Fenton and locating Alice.
First off, can I just talk about David? He is the most ridiculous character to ever exist. But he's also the only character to have charm. He definitely grew on me. Stevie was still really annoying. Nate got better again though! But yeah, David is my favorite (though the bar is low). There's one scene towards the end especially ((view spoiler)[the one when they fall into the crypt that Francis labelled OUR TREASURE (hide spoiler)]) that made me like him a lot. There's something about the irrational and disheveled men that speaks to me, what can I say.
Secondly, on a less nice note, the entire plot of this book revolves around a nice little detail that was never brought up in the other books. It is revealed to us in the first few pages, but I'll put it in a spoiler tag anyway: (view spoiler)[the fact that Alice is actually Flora's kid (hide spoiler)]. First off, that takes away the mystery for us readers. Second, this wasn't brought up in the previous books at all so how tf are we supposed to be also able to put the clues together? It felt lazy to throw this curveball at us just for the last book. I stand by saying this should've been one book.
My issue when I read these is that I'm bored for like 90% and then kind of invested for 10% of it that is actually addicting so. At least now I'm done. And no, I won't be reading The Box in the Woods.
