Het begin was een beetje saai, pas na 50% van het boek begon het interessant te worden. Eerst dacht ik dat dit helemaal geen leuk boek zou zijn, maar ik moest doorlezen vanwege de leeslijst van school, maar uiteindelijk vond ik dit toch best wel leuk.

Ik had niet veel met de personages, al vond ik Ciska af en toe wel irritant, en de jongens die ontmoetten ook, maar verder voelde ik me vooral neutraal.

Sommige delen waren echt heel erg voorspelbaar, op een manier dat je denkt 'hoe heeft het hoofdpersonage dit niet zelf kunnen bedenken', maar toch was er één deel van het einde dat ik niet helemaal zag aankomen.

Opzich zou ik dit boek wel aanraden, als je even doorzet door het eerste deel is het wel te doen. Ik heb dit ook in 1 dag uitgelezen, want ja uiteindelijk werd het best wel spannend.

Ik zit te twijfelen tussen 3.5 of 4 sterren, maar denk dat ik maar voor 4 ga.

This book series is definitely surprising. When I started the first book, I expected to dislike it, but I absolutely loved it. So I had high expectations going into the second book, but that one had been disappointing. The only reason I started reading this third book was because I want to read all of the books before the show is released. So I once again did not expect to like it, and though I didn't love it, I definitely enjoyed it!

There were many twists I did not see coming, none of my theories were correct. And I couldn't put this book away, I read 70% or so of it in one day, because I had to continue.

One of the things I noticed, was the beginning of this book, and the second book. I didn't like that the situation introduced in the previous book was already solved or changes in only a few pages. In Seige and Storm, Mal and Alina were found so fast by the Darkling, and in this book it's so fast that they have a plan to escape.

I feel neutral about the ending. I'm not Mal's biggest fan, though I actually didn't dislike him in this book (I couldn't stand him in the other 2). Maybe it was because I accidentally spoiled myself and saw they got married and took over the orphanage. I don't hate the ending, and I don't love it, but I'm definitely okay with it because I prefer good endings.

Now I'm going to read Six of Crows soon, and hopefully I'll like it as much or even more.

4.75 ☆ but I'm just going to say 5

Wow. Wow. Wow.

There were so many things I did not expect. (Also we FINALLY had a scene in the Spiral Labyrinth in the bonus story, I've been wanting that for so long)

I'm not sure which character is my favorite, I simply cannot choose. Whenever I think 'oh, this one is' another character appears and I'm like, 'no this one' and so on.

I absolutely LOVED the references to The Dark Artifices, I definitely didn't see it coming and it made me so happy because it's my favorite book series.

So much happened, yet I have no idea what to say, I guess I'm a little speechless. I thought this was going to take me forever to read, especially with my busy schedule, but I just couldn't put it down and before I knew it, it was over. I'm so excited to read book 3 when it will be released!

This was definitely a fun read!

While I didn't enjoy it as much as Tweet Cute (which was my favorite book of 2020, and maybe my favorite book if all time) it still had similar vibes, moments that you just can't help but smile.

The plot is definitely interesting and original (at least, I have never seen a similar plot before) and the characters are likeable. Even when they made decisions I didn't agree with, I still liked them. I also loved the friendships in this book, and that the main focus was on the relationship between the two sisters.

This book made me want two things. 1. Get back into photography, it has been a hobby since I was young, but I stopped.

And 2. I definitely want to take a DNA test. Not that I'm expecting to have a secret sibling in the world, but I've always been curious about where my family is from, and reading about the experiences of the characters was really interesting.

I think that Emma Lord definitely has a chance to become my favorite author. It's maybe a little too soon to say with only two books released so far, but I'm very positive about this. Her two books just give me this magical happy feeling. And I can't wait to read more books from her!

3.5

It took me until somewhere between page 200 and 250 to get interested. Before that it was slow, and I found myself putting away the book after every chapter to do something else. The only reason I kept reading, is because I want to have read the books before watching the Shadow and Bone show, since some of the Six of Crows characters will appear.

A lot of people told me this would be way better than Shadow and Bone, but to be honest, I don't agree. I also don't really get the hype about Kaz. I don't dislike him, but I don't love him either.

However, I really liked (and could possibly love after reading the second book) Jesper, Wylan, Inez and Nina. After those first 200/250 pages, I really enjoyed reading about them.

A thing I find unrealistic (yeah, yeah, it's fantasy, it's not supposed to be realistic, but you get what I mean) is the age of the characters. I've seen 2 other people also point this out. The characters read as if they are in their twenties or thirties, they don't read like 16, 17 and 18 years olds. But that happens a lot in YA books. It didn't bother me or anything, because I just imagined them as older anyways.

What I really enjoyed was the world building. The author was able to create multiple countries, all with different cultures, languages, history. Different kind of people from those countries. Not a lot of fantasy books have that, so it was amazing to read.

Sometimes the switch between present time and past time gets confusing. From one sentence to another, it's suddenly a scene of a year back, and it's not in a seperate paragraph, but in the same, so if you're not 100% paying attention (which I found myself not always able to do with this books) then you'd have to reread the whole page for it to make sense.

These flashback scenes also started happening in the middle of the book, as if the author suddenly decided that they wanted to include it. It's not there in the first part of the book.

Overall I did end up enjoying the book. And as soon as I'm able to, I'll definitely pick up the sequel. I'm even more excited for the show!

2.5☆

I really wanted to like this. It sounded like such an amazing story, the type of story I'd love. But only the first part of the book was interesting, pretty soon it became boring and flat, with plotholes and scenes that were too fast paced.

I liked the main character, Sophia. I've seen a lot of reviews where people don't, but I did. She's not the best character ever, and there were moments where I was like "please don't do this", but overall I enjoyed her.

But the other characters... no. I thought Constance was annoying. Except for the fact that she's the new queen in the last chapter, she had no purpose except for eye rolling, annoyed comments to Amina, and being the love interest.

I didn't see or feel a connection between her and Sophia, and I really didn't care whether they would be together or not. It felt really instalovey.

I mostly did like Amina, though her constant bantering with Constance got annoying really quickly, and here betrayal was predictable.

I thought the villain was boring, and I also didn't really get at first why he was so focused on Sophia, when he could've just assumed that she died somewhere in the woods. But that question was later answered by Amina's betrayal, but it still felt worth mentioning.

The last thing that I disliked that I'll mention is something that's just a personal thing I dislike: violence to animals. Even if there are no details, it makes me nauseous. There were two animals harmed, one very detailed and one barely mention, but both still made me sick. This is just a me thing, it happens no matter how much I love a show, movie or book. But still, it felt unnecessary.

What I did like (yes, finally some positive stuff) was how the author did a twist on Cinderella. I've not read any other Cinderella stories yet, so no idea if it's original or not, but it was definitely interesting (and the reason this is rounded up as 3 stars instead of 2) and one of the reasons I kept reading.

I totally get that someone would like this. But for me, sadly, it was a disappointment.

However, I definitely do NOT regret buying it, because it has such a beautiful cover! (one of the reason I bought it in the first place)

I have watched the show twice, and I absolutely loved it. It's one of my favorite shows, maybe even a 'comfort show'. So I was really excited to finally read the book. Normally I'd read the book before watching the adaptation, but at the time I first watched the show, I wasn't aware it was based on a book.

The first part I was very positive. I loved seeing these characters again and recognizing so many things from the show. The show adaptation is maybe the only adaptation I've seen that 98% follows the book. Almost no changes. I liked this.

But then... I don't know, I lost interest? While I loved the chaotic story in the show, the fact that it's all over the place, in the book it got kinda boring? I wasn't really enjoying it anymore, and had to force myself to continue reading. (I refused to DNF it because my love for the show and how much I have wanted to read this book)

It was a little bit disappointing. But in the end I don't regret reading it. It actually made me want to watch the show a third time...

Oh I loved this so much!! I'm in love with this series, I listened to the audiobook and it gives me such a magical feeling! I loved the characters, and Marie and Rafe together! The plot was really interesting, and I hated it every time I had to stop listening. This series is really one of the best series I've read, and I'm excited to continue!

It was great to be back in this world again. The art is amazing, the stories are interesting. I didn't really have a "omg I love this so much" feeling, which is why I'm giving it 4 and not 5 stars, but I did really enjoy this.

Once again it took me until the last part of the book to fully enjoy it, but then the ending was so interesting that, even though I wasn't very convinced in the beginning, I definitely had to give this 4 stars. But the beginning just felt really show, even with the amount of action.

I'm going to start with an unpopular opinion: I don't like Kaz. I know I'm probably the only one, everyone seems to love him. I hoped that this second book would convince me, but it didn't.

The other characters I did like. I also no longer hated Matthias. Jesper and Wylan are definitely my favorite characters, and also Inej. These three I enjoyed reading about the most.

The timeline is a little confusing. A scene stars, suddenly a long scene that taked place earlier is mentioned, and then you go back to the current time. If you don't pay 100% attention, it can get really confusing. I had to reread some things multiple times to figure out when it took place.

Jesper and Wylan... I haven't felt about a ship in books this way in a long time. I don't easily like a ship in books. No idea why. In a show, two characters only have to look at each other, and I'd ship them. With books, I usually either dislike a ship or feel neutral. But these two... I wanted them to be together since book 1.

The other ships I didn't mind but didn't love, but that's how I usually feel, like I said.

I'm excited for the show and glad I was able to finish reading this before the show is released. I also can't wait to read more grishaverse books, because I really like the world and worldbuilding!