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buffyreads's Reviews (575)
The Good
To get it out of the way: No, this book does NOT have the reverse racism trope I think some white reviews think "If black, powerful, and evil then reverse racism trope." When that's not what that means. I don't think people who commented that finished the book. I'm glad I read this book despite these warnings. Sapphire is lovely, smart, and patient. I love that she knew how to play people and did it in subtle ways. I read this book specifically for a black wlw main character and got a great one. I really felt she was good balance between the usual too sweet protagonists or the super badass protagonist. I was more invested in the plot than I thought was going to be. There was some dragging in the middle but it was worth it.
The Bad
I feel as though that Sapphire's blackness wasn't felt in this book. Which, this being written by a white author is to be expected. Sapphire could've been white and her characterization would have been exactly the same. I think when writing characters of color, especially main characters, there is a way to insert blackness into them without also writing stereotypes. I do appreciate this author's respectful approach to writing characters of color but it's missing an essential ingredient.
The romance aspect was lackluster. I think for a book with the couple on the cover and heavily used as the lead promotional factor of this story, you would think it would be a large part of the book. At 50% of the book they have only briefly interacted with each other and while it did aid the plot, no relationship has built. Their interactions then were full of banter that felt hallow. Ashes has valid reasons to dislike Sapphire because of her position but Sapphire is only negative back because of Ashes hatred for her. Their interactions weren't full of tension, it felt flat and repetitive.
The ending was really unsatisfactory. I felt lost as confused as the main character. I can't make heads or tails of what's true or not and it's not confusing in a "I want answers way" it's exhausting in a "I'm glad that's over way.
Format:
Ebook
The Rating
I give this book a 3/5
To get it out of the way: No, this book does NOT have the reverse racism trope I think some white reviews think "If black, powerful, and evil then reverse racism trope." When that's not what that means. I don't think people who commented that finished the book. I'm glad I read this book despite these warnings. Sapphire is lovely, smart, and patient. I love that she knew how to play people and did it in subtle ways. I read this book specifically for a black wlw main character and got a great one. I really felt she was good balance between the usual too sweet protagonists or the super badass protagonist. I was more invested in the plot than I thought was going to be. There was some dragging in the middle but it was worth it.
The Bad
I feel as though that Sapphire's blackness wasn't felt in this book. Which, this being written by a white author is to be expected. Sapphire could've been white and her characterization would have been exactly the same. I think when writing characters of color, especially main characters, there is a way to insert blackness into them without also writing stereotypes. I do appreciate this author's respectful approach to writing characters of color but it's missing an essential ingredient.
The romance aspect was lackluster. I think for a book with the couple on the cover and heavily used as the lead promotional factor of this story, you would think it would be a large part of the book. At 50% of the book they have only briefly interacted with each other and while it did aid the plot, no relationship has built. Their interactions then were full of banter that felt hallow. Ashes has valid reasons to dislike Sapphire because of her position but Sapphire is only negative back because of Ashes hatred for her. Their interactions weren't full of tension, it felt flat and repetitive.
The ending was really unsatisfactory. I felt lost as confused as the main character. I can't make heads or tails of what's true or not and it's not confusing in a "I want answers way" it's exhausting in a "I'm glad that's over way.
Format:
Ebook
The Rating
I give this book a 3/5
I LOVED THIS!!
The art style is so beautiful. There's something special about the warmth and saturation of the illustrations. I love a princess and her knight storylines so much and from the first pages I loved Cyrenic and Lady Poppy. I really liked the idea of sleepless warriors and the tolls it takes on them. Usually I don't like stories that focus on palace politics but this was really interesting. I was invested into the plot and wanted to know who was trying to kill Poppy.
Format:
Ebook — Libby
The Rating
I give this book a 4/5
The art style is so beautiful. There's something special about the warmth and saturation of the illustrations. I love a princess and her knight storylines so much and from the first pages I loved Cyrenic and Lady Poppy. I really liked the idea of sleepless warriors and the tolls it takes on them. Usually I don't like stories that focus on palace politics but this was really interesting. I was invested into the plot and wanted to know who was trying to kill Poppy.
Format:
Ebook — Libby
The Rating
I give this book a 4/5
Highlights:
I think I'm obsessed with Risdaverse novellas! Thought the setting is the same, each story is so different and fun. I love this concept and how this planet has grown. I could read a dozen more of these and not get tired. I loved how bold and (tehee) fearless Chelsea is. She is effected by her abduction and slavery in a very different way than anyone else in the series has. Hrrrusek is kind and sweet and I'm excited for his brother Jrrru's story!
Horn Level: 3/5
I think I'm obsessed with Risdaverse novellas! Thought the setting is the same, each story is so different and fun. I love this concept and how this planet has grown. I could read a dozen more of these and not get tired. I loved how bold and (tehee) fearless Chelsea is. She is effected by her abduction and slavery in a very different way than anyone else in the series has. Hrrrusek is kind and sweet and I'm excited for his brother Jrrru's story!
Horn Level: 3/5
Highlights:
I love Farli but her and Mardok weren't my favorite pairing. I liked how this boom finally ties into the rest of the universe. It was interesting to find out where these people came from.
Lowlights:
Farli's way of thinking is very immature which makes since because of her age but made it hard for me to get into the story.
Horn Level: 2/5
I love Farli but her and Mardok weren't my favorite pairing. I liked how this boom finally ties into the rest of the universe. It was interesting to find out where these people came from.
Lowlights:
Farli's way of thinking is very immature which makes since because of her age but made it hard for me to get into the story.
Horn Level: 2/5
“But I am a monster, Elvie. You don’t belong here, but I am too selfish to let you go. I’ll kill anyone who tries to take you from me.”
The Good
Elvie is the daughter of the king of the light elves and is eager and curious. I liked that she was into the fun and wild. Arkain is a dark king fueled by a desperate desire to stop history repeating and save his people. To do this he must marry Elvie by whatever means necessary to guarantee her people fight against the elves with his. I liked that they had disagreements but ultimately were able to find common ground with each other. Even with the short length their relationship was built well and I felt their love for each other.
I immediately liked the writing style/voice. It really went well with the elven fantasy setting and I liked the way the author quickly incorporated world-building information but it didn't feel heavy handed. The plot itself wasn't at all convoluted and though predictable at times it was still enjoyable.
The Bad
There was nothing explicitly wrong with this book it was just missing a specific 'umph' factor for me to give it a five. It's predictability and short length prevented it from being so. Both villains were very obvious in their antagonistic roles and the orc war plot felt brushed over at the end.
The Rating
I give this book a4/5
Characters:
Gwen is the princess of Camelot. She is introverted and wants nothing more than to be left alone and dream about female knight Bridget Leclair. She's very stubborn, cowardly, and anxious. I really liked her character. Art is the son of the lord Maidvale and Gwen's fiancé since birth. He's a prat and quite unlikable. Even for a teenage boy character I found him to be very immature and mean. Even when we as the audience are supposed to feel for him I failed to connect. He's very judgmental, projects a lot onto others, and can do so because he doesn't have the same responsibilities as the other two. Gabriel is Gwen's brother and heir to the throne. I loved how earnest he is about being a good king for all of his people as he believes King Arthur was even though the way he goes about it is not good.
Plot:
Since her birth, Gwen has been betrothed to Art and since her birth they held a childish dislike of each other. As their marriage looms Arthur is forced is spend the summer at court, Gwen sees him kiss a man. This leads to them brokering a deal of peace because Art figures out her crush on Bridget. I didn't like the blackmailing aspect. It's a personal pet peeve of mine. I also feel like the reason Arthur hated Gwen as much as it did needed to be bigger. She did nothing to him, it was all his own personal issues. The crux of my issue with this book is the setting. Since it was an infusion of being modern but also medieval it was hard to tell what the stakes were. The last 25% was a real shift that would have been more interesting if I had liked the characters more and cared about the world more.
Rating: I give this book a 2/5
Gwen is the princess of Camelot. She is introverted and wants nothing more than to be left alone and dream about female knight Bridget Leclair. She's very stubborn, cowardly, and anxious. I really liked her character. Art is the son of the lord Maidvale and Gwen's fiancé since birth. He's a prat and quite unlikable. Even for a teenage boy character I found him to be very immature and mean. Even when we as the audience are supposed to feel for him I failed to connect. He's very judgmental, projects a lot onto others, and can do so because he doesn't have the same responsibilities as the other two. Gabriel is Gwen's brother and heir to the throne. I loved how earnest he is about being a good king for all of his people as he believes King Arthur was even though the way he goes about it is not good.
Plot:
Since her birth, Gwen has been betrothed to Art and since her birth they held a childish dislike of each other. As their marriage looms Arthur is forced is spend the summer at court, Gwen sees him kiss a man. This leads to them brokering a deal of peace because Art figures out her crush on Bridget. I didn't like the blackmailing aspect. It's a personal pet peeve of mine. I also feel like the reason Arthur hated Gwen as much as it did needed to be bigger. She did nothing to him, it was all his own personal issues. The crux of my issue with this book is the setting. Since it was an infusion of being modern but also medieval it was hard to tell what the stakes were. The last 25% was a real shift that would have been more interesting if I had liked the characters more and cared about the world more.
Rating: I give this book a 2/5
Highlights:
The final book in the series! It's so bittersweet. Nora and Dagesh were so cute together. I loved the inclusion of the jewish wedding. I cannot imagine being dumped on an alien planet and no longer being able to do some of the religious practices from before and losing that connection. It was cute to see how they tried to make a good wedding for Nora. I also loved the conversations about consent, safe words, and discovering what each person is comfortable with in sex.
Horn Level: 5/5
The final book in the series! It's so bittersweet. Nora and Dagesh were so cute together. I loved the inclusion of the jewish wedding. I cannot imagine being dumped on an alien planet and no longer being able to do some of the religious practices from before and losing that connection. It was cute to see how they tried to make a good wedding for Nora. I also loved the conversations about consent, safe words, and discovering what each person is comfortable with in sex.
Horn Level: 5/5
Highlights:
This is a throwback story of two from the original crew who's stories hasn't been told yet. Ariana is so relatable. She is super anxious from literally being abducted ny aliens and I rolled my eyes at home judgemental the other girls were. People forget that anxiety is a serious illness and is like your mind is being held hostage by irrational thoughts. Zolaya IS THE BEST! He is kind, funny, and understanding. He is perfect for Ariana! Their relationship was really sweet
Lowlights:
This books felt long. I think this would have been better as a novella story. Also Ariana was giving me 'boy mom' vibes with her weird thoughts about her son in future relationships.
Horn Level: 3/5
This is a throwback story of two from the original crew who's stories hasn't been told yet. Ariana is so relatable. She is super anxious from literally being abducted ny aliens and I rolled my eyes at home judgemental the other girls were. People forget that anxiety is a serious illness and is like your mind is being held hostage by irrational thoughts. Zolaya IS THE BEST! He is kind, funny, and understanding. He is perfect for Ariana! Their relationship was really sweet
Lowlights:
This books felt long. I think this would have been better as a novella story. Also Ariana was giving me 'boy mom' vibes with her weird thoughts about her son in future relationships.
Horn Level: 3/5