Le Guin's ability to get you so wrapped up in a story so quickly has to be admired. This was definitely best read after the main 6 of the series. It's themes of a man thinking he knows better than the woman who actually witnessed the event and who had been actually in the village for years made me think of themes of men coming into a space, swooping in and saving the people, and then leaving. I appreciate that she stayed too, and took control almost of her own place while also leaving her brother to rule. I just enjoyed the way Le Guin plays with gendered expectations now that she's not in the era of the original trilogy.

Dude I just can't get myself to read 500 pages of poetry from a man

I always end up loving Sanderson/Hoid's voice, not to mention how beautiful and breathtaking the art in this book was. I truly enjoyed the story between the two MCs, and loved seeing them come together. I'm writing this review a bit delayed from when I finished it, but this book did feel like one of Sanderson's most beautifully written so far.

I really enjoyed this book at the beginning - reminiscent of Kafka's The Trial and Orange is the New Black. I especially appreciate it's ties to immigrants/immigration, and this book felt very fitting for our time of increased surveillance, AI, and prison systems. The ending felt a bit rushed, and though I liked the dip into Julie's perspective, us never going back to it/really revisiting it after it was a relevant plot point felt a bit odd. The ending was also a little unsatisfying/short, but I understand why because Sara's part in the story was over.

A very cute kids book!

Such a beautiful ending to the series! This book and the past two were such good additions - spending the first half of the series setting up a magical world that feels so wonderful, and then using the second half to delve into complexities and showing finally how sometimes systems that have existed longer than you've been alive may have deeper meanings and need to be torn down, both by those it's always helped and those it's always hurt. Just fantastic, and amazing work by Le Guin. 

I know this is a bit of a low rating for me, but I did still enjoy this! It was just a bit hard to get through for me, some of the stories really dragged on. I liked the world expansion, especially the last section, because I've been struggling to keep my head above water with some of the terminology, names, or references to places. I also loved the last story, because I've really been enjoying this second half of the series that analyzes it's own patriarchy - I'd always heard of this book series being toted as feminist, but the first three didn't read that way to me at all. I'm really enjoying the turn these second books are taking, and I'm also enjoying the message that sometimes systems don't work if they're patriarchal, and you may need to make a new one completely.

What a nice ending to this 5 set! The whole book was a battle basically, which made this feel like a much faster pace. I don't know if I agree with all the wrap up/endings for characters, but I do appreciate Riordan's ability to let go of/kill characters when it makes sense for the plot, so there aren't just senseless deaths in the final battle. I do wish Ethan had a bit more of a satisfying ending though, and same with Kronos. I liked the dropping of Rachel as a love interest - it wasn't really something I even remembered from my first read through, and now it kind of reads as an attempt to hop onto the love triangle trend without much actual thought into what that means for the characters.

I almost perfectly loved this book. It reminds me a lot of Erin Morgenstern, whose work I love, but more prose-y and a bit more confusing. The beginning was slow, but by the middle and end I was hooked in this love story. It was such a beautiful read, I just wish it had hit some points. I almost really really loved it, it felt so profound and like one of those books that leaves you sitting there in a different headspace. I wish I hadn't spent so much of it confused - though we don't need the complete lore, which seemed to be the point, some plot points were too difficult to follow in the beginning.

Though I think I liked the other short story more, this one had a lot of intrigue to it, and I liked the surprise ending. It also kept expanding on the lore of Earthsea, which I enjoyed.