bennysbooks's Reviews (668)

Everything I expected from Morgenstern. I think I will enjoy it better on a re-read, when I can watch the story unfold, armed with knowledge, and just appreciate the atmosphere. Ultimately I didn't connect with it quite as much as the Night Circus, but I wasn't disappointed.


Warning: You definitely have to trust the process with this one, which I know can be a challenge. 

Read-aloud with my 5 year old. We enjoyed the beginning a lot, and he wanted to read it multiple times a day, but lost steam when things slowed down in the middle. The change of tone and heightening stakes of the ending was a lot for him so we ended up skimming through it.

I really enjoyed this. I've been in the mood for gothic lit lately, and this was a fun re-entry into the genre. The pacing was decidedly slow - the plot didn't really start building toward the climax until 2/3 of the way through - but I flew through it nonetheless. 

This was my second book by Moreno-Garcia (in a row) and I think my takeaway is that her prose and dialogue feel awkward or flat to me most of the time, but she is an engaging and clever storyteller. Based on my preferences I'm not sure her works will break into my favourites, but I'll definitely give anything she writes a try. 

It's going to take me a while to forget about that ending. It was riveting and nauseating. Check the content warnings for sure.

This grew on me slowly. It's an emotionally mature, slow-burn romance with

a well-crafted love triangle (or two) and a downright Shakespearean villain who orchestrates a dizzyingly dramatic climax.

Think less romance, more romantic drama (although the HEA is still so satisfying). I thought it dragged slightly in the middle, but by the end I'd completely forgotten about that. My biggest critique is that I wish the magic was more central to the plot - I wanted a scene of Hector putting on a show, or possibly more instruction between Hector and Nina.

I cannot stop thinking about Valérie. She was so loathsome and yet still somewhat sympathetic? Or is that just me? 

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. 

🍿 messy messy messy

I loved the story within the story - it was sensual, violent, mythical. But the frame narrative didn't captivate me as much as that of the first book. I enjoyed the exploration of the way tales shift (slightly or entirely) based on who is telling them, but the stakes never quite felt real. 

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.