Just not for me. I think I can see why it works for people, and I did find it funny/charming. I just didn't feel anything about the main love interest or think there was much in the way of chemistry, and the plot never captivated me. 

Disclaimer: the demon's name is the same as a friend's D&D character, and that definitely didn't help. I don't think it would have changed much, but it did produce the occasional cringe.

I think there was some unique worldbuilding happening here, and that the text had interesting things to say about the nature of anger, power-imbalances, and trauma. However, 30% into the book the over-arching plot established at the beginning has sort of been abandoned. It's become episodic, which I find less engaging, and the reasons given for why Gall needs the kids to do these tangential quests is never clearly established or believable. I'm finding that I don't particularly care at this point, and have read a few reviews that validate my concerns about the plot. 

A relevant note is that I was reading this digitally because my library doesn't have a physical copy, and I find it so much more difficult to push through e-books. I'm definitely interested in reading more by Hardinge though, because I have faith that in more focused texts I could love her storytelling. 

There were some great lines, some hilarious moments. And yet every time I went to pick it up I felt dread. That's the surest sign that I need to set a book aside. I'm struggling to piece together why I feel so strongly about it, because objectively I would say it isn't terrible. I think it boils down to this: I'm a third of the way through the book, and I have no idea who Bob is. The character is truly bland, and I think it's probably intentional, given the point of Bob is that he's lived his life through books rather than experience. But then we also don't get any real discussions of the books Bob has read and loved. It would be a great way to get to know the character, but other than a failed attempt to read some Russian literature to a group of elderly people, I don't know much about what he reads. He is truly a neutral character, and it gave me so little to connect to. 

Setting aside for now. I think my current state of mind is hindering any potential enjoyment. Not in the right headspace for humour so even when I think something is funny/clever, it isn't making me feel anything. Will return to it in the future, I think it has a lot of potential for fun. 

The vibes were decent, but I didn't go into this book with the correct expectations. I thought it would be more literary than pulpy (not a value judgement, but the mood I'm in currently). The historical setting was fantastic, but otherwise I struggled to get invested. Might return to it one day, but at the very least it's sparked an interest in reading books set during the Mexican War of Independence. 

Genuinely thought I would enjoy this, but noooooooo. The writing style/characters/dialogue were basic, the tone far more twee than I expected, and the crux of the story rested on a baffling plot hole (and yes, I read spoilers - I know what the conclusion of that is, but it doesn't excuse the ridiculousness of the request at the beginning, and doesn't sound like a good ending imo). 

I can see why this would work for people; it's not one of those books whose success is completely baffling to me. I'm just disappointed because I wanted to be one of those people. 

Experienced the same problems I had with Babel (although I do think characterization was better here - the characters felt more believable). I don't think Kuang has learned how to let her text breathe. It was bizarre to watch her confront critiques of her books by essentially just proceeding to do the same things? I will say, this was propulsive, so I get why it's been able to draw people in so completely. I think if you don't mind/are into Kuang's heavy-handedness (which, no shade, we're all different), then I think this will work for you. 

I was so excited for this - fantasy + smutty BDSM? Yes, please. But omg I could not get past the prose, or the heavy-handed and persistent foreshadowing, or the dry info-dumping. Some of the worldbuilding was cool (I appreciated the story of Elua and the angels), but the political intrigue fell flat almost immediately (somehow both entirely unoriginal and needlessly confusing? I dunno). I only spent two/three days with this book, but each time I went to pick it up my heart sank. Seriously bummed. 

Mostly just not meeting my expectations. Might return to it one day. This is the second time I've started a GGK book, only to learn it might not be reflective of his best work (the first was Ysabel). Going to do my research and try something else by him next. 

I've been trying so hard to convince myself to return to this after not picking it up for about two weeks, but I can't. My mom got my sister and I copies for Christmas, so we'd agreed to do a buddy read, but I'm a weakling and a quitter (sorry Mic!)

I know I didn't get very far, but I also know my reading tastes extremely well at this point, and there is no way this book could have justified being 800 pages long. The lack of depth in the characters was a massive problem for me - I couldn't give you a character summary beyond their name/station, basically. The pacing was off, and not remotely helped by the way Shannon consistently switched perspectives as soon as the one you were reading finally began to take off. And then the East vs. West dynamic felt super shallow. The West was such a basic reflection of knights of the round table/Lady of Shalott/English-style medieval culture (the names of places, titles of people, etc. were SO painfully on-the-nose. Virtues of Knighthood? Knights of the Body? Sanctuary of Virtues? Feast of Fellowship? Mother of Maids? 😑 Would have been okay if it felt at all tongue-in-cheek, but there wasn't anything in the text that made me think that was the intent). The East seemed like it could be more interesting, but we weren't getting enough exploration yet. And the conflict between the Kingdoms seemed to boil down to "dragons are bad" vs. "dragons are good", with no real exploration of the other differences between the two? 

The dragons were fucking cool, and I do want to know what is going on with them. But that alone wasn't enough to get me through the next 700-ish pages. What finally solidified the decision for me was watching Marines' review on YouTube (@mynameismarines). She listed all of the same problems that I was having, and didn't see any real resolution of those issues by the end of the book. She specifically said the book did not earn its pages in her opinion, so...  

It's a shame because this cover is gorgeous, and now the prequel has a gorgeous cover too, and I wanted to love this one so I could justify buying the prequel. 😅