blewballoon's Reviews (763)

Gonna get a bit more "political" than I typically do, since this is a quite "political" book. If you are the type of person who asks yourself "I don't know, I feel like the stuff JK Rowling says in her tweets isn't that big a deal?" and you are genuinely curious to know why it is a big deal, then this might be a good book to help explain it to you. If you are a TERF, you will hate this book. I didn't like this book either, but not for that reason. I didn't like this book in the same ways I didn't like The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin: dwelling on the power that racists/sexists/homophobes/transphobes/etc have just bums me out. I know things suck. I read to remind myself that sometimes people don't suck. I read to keep myself from falling into a pit of despair about the state of the world. Apart from Niamh, Theo, and Holly, I didn't really like any of the characters. I absolutely hated the ending. I felt like I knew what was coming the whole time and just wanted it to be over. I gave it 3 stars because of the intention, the world-building, the setting, and there were some funny lines. I don't think this is a bad book, it just didn't suit me even though I agree with its message. The narrator for the audiobook was really fantastic, I'll be looking for more books narrated by them. 

This was my first time reading Robert Jackson Bennett, but I've heard lots of good things about their writing. This didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed the "biopunk" universe where technology was based on plants and biology. I liked Dinios Kol and Ana Dolabra very much, which I had been a little worried about before reading. They charmed me quickly and I enjoyed their conversations. I wasn't really trying to solve the mystery, but I did manage to put together some pieces for myself before the reveals. When I talked about it with my friend, they said that sometimes fantasy mysteries are a bit easier to solve because the author has to explain how the world works, and what they are required to point out and explain for things to make sense tends to be relevant to solving the mystery. I listened to this on audiobook and thought the narrator did a great job, but I do think it made it a little harder for me to follow all the unusual names and keep things straight. With regards to content warnings, there is a fair amount of body horror and gore, but (extremely mild spoiler)

there was one weird gross sexual scene that I'm not sure how to accurately content warn about. I'll file it under Sexual Harassment I suppose? I found that scene unsettling.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. It's a fun blend of fantasy and historical fiction. It's got elements of a gothic romance and a heist adventure. I figured out a few pieces of the mystery pretty early on, but that didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I was worried I'd be frustrated by the main characters making bad choices based on their (obviously wrong) assumptions, but that was kept to a minimum.

I lost a bit of interest in the later sections when I started to feel like maybe I didn't actually like any of the main characters anymore and wasn't rooting for anyone, but I did get back into it before the ending. This book is the intro to a series, but can be read as a standalone. I will probably read more because the series seems to be free on Kobo Plus. For a cheap/free series, I thought the writing and editing was solid. My only critique is that I wanted to feel consistently invested in the main characters, but sometimes they felt a little flat.

This was exactly what I hoped it would be based on the premise. I love the original Emma, and this queer retelling was a lovely way to capture that story in a modern setting. It sort of reminded me of Heartstopper. So, if you like Jane Austen and you like Alice Oseman, you'll probably like this as well. 

This was my second time attempting to read this book, and I'm glad I made it to the end. I tried it both on audiobook and as a standard book, and ended up going with the audiobook. I feel like the voice of the narrator doesn't really fit the story, but their reading is fine. (Although, I listened on 1.5 speed.) This book didn't work for me as well as I wanted, and I'm not sure why. I feel like things picked up a bit when we got more of the supporting cast. I like the spooky misty setting and the Nightmare. I thought the world building was pretty good. Overall I had a good time, just not a great time. I never got quite as invested as I wanted to be. I might read the sequel, and I would recommend this lightly. I would also recommend For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten as a book with a sort of similar vibe.

I am so fond of T Kingfisher's writing that you should probably take my bias into consideration. Kingfisher could present me with a word salad and I'm sure I'd eat it up. I loved this, of course. I found the climax to be quite spooky in its imagery. I loved the characters. I loved the old quiet lodge near a tiny rural town setting. For such a short book, the start does feel a little slow before the supporting cast shows up. 

I wasn't even in the mood for a book like this. I had read so many similar books recently that I started this one somewhat begrudgingly when I was in a rush to choose an audiobook. Why did I love it so much? Why was I crying over the circumstances of a side character? The characters were too charming to resist, I suppose. In addition to the romance and friendships, I really loved the interactions between Charlie and Alma. Add Jess Everlee to the list of authors who write wonderful queer historical romance. The audiobook narrator was excellent as well.

If you are in the mood for a sexy historical romance, this is a nice quick fix. The writing is straightforward and at times very cliche, but the characters are charming and the good communication between the leads was lovely. Fairly low stakes and drama, but sometimes that's preferable so that the story can just focus on the two people falling in love with (and being very attracted to) each other. I will probably continue the series, the epilogue made for a nice setup that got me interested, but this definitely reads as a standalone.

If I had read this book when I was younger, it would have become a core part of my personality. I was taken from the first page of the book, and I felt the same level of investment and excitement to read it the entire time. I put the book on my phone (normally I read on my kobo) so I could read it wherever I was even if I just had a couple minutes. 

This is a beauty and the beast retelling set in the 1800s where our main protagonist just wants to study wildlife and the society she lives in makes that really hard. If you have religiously watched the animated Disney movie like I did as a child, you will recognize some clever nods in the dialogue, but the form the story takes is quite different. This is not necessarily a gritty retelling, but it's not a whimsical fairy tale either. 

I loved all of the characters. I think that's my favorite aspect of the book, if I have to pick just one. Everyone's motivations and actions make sense, and even the worst characters were written in such a way that I sympathized with them. This is not a book where characters are operating like props to move the story where it needs to go or milk a situation for drama, the characters made decisions like rational beings dealing with complex emotions. The love story is sweet and slow and beautiful.

Literally the only criticism I have is that I noticed some typos, but that may just have been the edition I grabbed. I am definitely going to try to find a nice physical copy of this. I would highly recommend this book to fans of T. Kingfisher and Naomi Novik's fairy tale retellings.

I'm giving this a 3 because I can see how it could work for the right reader, but unfortunately it didn't work for me. The fairy narrator's commentary is mostly what ruined my reading experience. I didn't find it funny or enhancing to the story, and it broke my immersion constantly. I feel like I can understand what it was going for, but it missed the mark in my opinion and as I was reading I wished it had been cut entirely. Due to the narration, I felt very removed from the human characters in the story and it was harder to get invested in them or their plot, which is paced erratically. In addition to the pacing feeling off, I thought the romance did as well. I did not feel the chemistry, and I didn't want these women to be together. It's lamp-shaded in the text that the Duke is a Byronic broody character, but she came off as dry and cold to me rather than mysterious and deep. I don't know if maybe this just needed some more time and editing, or I wasn't in the mood, but I didn't have the good time reading this that I had wanted to. I listened to the audiobook at 1.6 speed, if I had been reading it myself I probably would have taken weeks to finish because I wasn't into it. Still a big fan of Alexis Hall and I'll definitely be reading more of their books, just not more of this series probably.