amrabad's Reviews (433)

 Typically, my biggest complaint with romantasy is that the fantasy elements suffer for the sake of the romance (which is often also not good, but we’ll get to that later), but I was pleasantly surprised with Shield of Sparrows. For this author’s first foray into fantasy, I don’t think she did a bad job. There are some unique magical elements that I haven’t seen in other books. The monsters were interesting and the conflict connected with those monsters kept the momentum going. 

The romance, however, was lackluster. Well, it didn’t lack any lust. That’s about all it had though.

It was a typical “I hate you” to “you’re mine” romantasy romance. Had this been a standalone, that would be fine, but this is a series that I think is being marketed as slow-burn. And maybe it’s just me, but I need the couple to yearn and pine and need each other for the first 75% of the series, not just the first book, for it to be considered a slow-burn.

In general, the book was just ok. It was predictable and too long for how little actually happened. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really good either. I am interested to see where the fantasy elements go so I will likely read the next book when my library gets a copy.

I have never had such ambivalent feelings upon finishing a book. Days later I still wasn’t sure how I felt about the book so I read it again. Upon re-read I have a slightly better idea of how I feel about it and ultimately I’m somewhere in the middle. I understand why people really love this book and I understand why people really might not like it. Conceptually, it’s a very neat story, but I don’t think it was long enough to really explain some of the sci-fi aspects of the story, especially the time paradox component. Ultimately, I found it confusing, which is why I found myself reading it a second time, and even after that second read I still found it confusing.

I also struggled with the romance itself. I love the idea of love that transcends time itself. And I’m a sucker for epistolary stories, but this one missed the mark for me. I think this is an aspect that would have also benefited from a slightly longer book.

Overall, not a bad story, but also not a great story. It had a unique concept that could have used more pages to help reduce some of the sense of irresolution this book left me feeling.

The Willful Inheritor was a great wrap up to the Vacancy series. All of the plot lines are wrapped up in a very satisfying way, character arcs are completed in a way that makes me feel warm and fuzzy, and this final third of the series is told in a laugh out loud funny way I have come to love AK Caggiano for. I love the magical universe she has created with this series and i’m excited to see what she has to offer with her future works.

The characters were so unlikable that it genuinely wasn’t worth finishing. And the letter writing aspect was so unrealistic. Sometimes I’d forget about it, but when I did my eyes would about roll out of my skull. 

Next up in the Vacancy series is The Wayward Deed. Middle book syndrome was nowhere in sight with this book. Our main plot has a lot of development and there are a lot of fun side quests along the way. AK Caggiano’s writing continues to be an absolute delight and has not failed to make me actually laugh out loud. This is a re-readable series. I love finding little easter eggs and the narrator’s meta commentary about its own magic system.

I started the last book, The Willful Inheritor, the very next day.

 Assassin’s Apprentice is where I’ve decided to start on my adventure through Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings. We start out meeting Fitz when he’s around 5 years old and follow the next decade or so of his life. This is a slow paced, character driven story that is beautifully written and clearly well thought out. The world that we’re in is expansive and the magic system is only somewhat understood at this point, but we are also in the mind of a child, so it makes sense that we only know so much. The court politics is intriguing, all characters are multi dimensional, and I have no idea where Fitz’s story will take me, but I’m excited for the adventure. 

I’m very excited to read the rest of the series and have a feeling Robin Hobb is about to occupy a large space in my brain for a long time and that I will thank her for the emotional damage that will likely be inflicted.

 

A Week to Be Wicked is about Minerva, who desperately wants to be a geologist and her adventures with Colin, the rakish Viscount that has been staying in her town. This story follows their week of trying to get to Scotland and all of the tomfoolery they get into along the way. I laughed a lot along the way. Was I completely sold on there being a deep romantic connection? No, but that’s not what I was there for anyway.

This book is part of an interconnected series, but I haven’t read any of the other books in and did not feel like I was missing anything.

 I’ve been having a hard time figuring out how to verbalize how much I enjoyed this book. The story is unique, the fighting sequences are similar to anime, and the magic system has both its rewards and risks. I think what I’m most impressed with is the character work. In one 500 page book I felt like I knew our main characters. Like I could find a tangible thing in real life and have an idea whether or not the characters would like it. 

The writing was descriptive without being overly wordy. It did a great job illustrating the world, the magic, and the characters. At times the pacing felt both fast and slow, but in a very satisfying way. Right from the start I was interested and left wanting to know what was next. 

I am very excited to continue this series. 

If I could create a time machine, it would be to go back to convince Tolkien to write about Legolas and Gimli's visits to the caves at Helm's Deep and Fangorn Forest. I need that story more than I need anything in my life.

 An anxiety-inducing minute by minute explanation of what could happen in the US and some other countries around the world should WW3 be a nuclear war. Told by using a hypothetical story line, but using information she gathered from interviewing a large number of people that are well informed on the subject. It reads like a docudrama, which I was not expecting, but it kept my attention.