I really wish this didn't exist. It feels so separate from the first book and I just didn't like any of it. I was bored, uninterested in the plot, the inclusion of new aliens wasn't even interesting to me. I should have stuck with only reading the first book at this rate. 

 I really wanted to like this book. The world is interesting, though you are kind of thrown in at a weird place where there's nothing going on but a lot of sitting around and whining.

The main character is, quite frankly, annoying. If we weren't given the POV of the main villain, then it might have actually worked, but we are and the guy is so "Capital E" Evil, that watching the main character pine over him feels outrageous.

Having this guy be a Tzar who supposedly cared a ton about his people, all he's doing is lounging around and complaining about losing his villain husband while his subordinates are ready to do something about it. It's hard to understand why they love this guy and wanna support him when that's all he does.

There was also a significant amount of sex scenes in just the first 40% that I read. I don't take issue with sex scenes, but one chapter ended with one and then the next started with another two characters going at it and I'm not entirely sure what it was adding to the plot (especially at a juncture where we barely know any of these characters and are meant to be getting invested in them). It just felt like it was thrown in there to be salacious and while it might work for some, it didn't work for me. 

 I really liked this! For one thing, I'm glad it wasn't a bunch of amateurs coming together and somehow perfectly pulling this shit off, which is what I was expecting as it started out. All of the characters were flawed in their own ways and it was nice to see them grow as things progressed. All of the Chinese art history was interesting and I liked immersing myself in these characters' lives that I would otherwise not experience. The author does have experience with a lot of the settings that were used in the book as well as the fields and it all felt very authentic to me even though these guys were also getting together to perform heists at the same time! Both outlandish but realistic at the same time. 

 I really liked how this focused a lot on identities and mental health in all forms. And while there was this whole narrative of the show things were revolving around, there wasn't too much of that detailed in it which made it more palatable for me because I like baking reality shows and not these types lol. Great characters and dynamics and some awesome steamy scenes and the tension was great and yes. It was built quite well. 

 I really enjoyed this one. I wasn't quite sure what it was going to be when I started it and it was very strange in the beginning, took a bit for all the characters to align, but eventually I really started to get into it. It might have served better to be a bit shorter and I was a little weirded out by how forgiving they were toward the dude who was basically a huge idiot and tried to blow things up and shoot people for reasons that still make very little sense overall. Aside from his character arc, everyone else was a cool character. 

 I really enjoyed this and I think the only reason I can't give this 5 stars is because the main character is almost insufferable in the beginning to where it's uncomfortable to be inside her head. I don't mind assholes finding their way, but it's pretty hard to get through the first act when you want to take Kyr by the shoulders and rattle her brains.

I really enjoyed the characters that were morally gray because even though they sort of-kind of redeem themselves, they also don't and it's nice to see that line walked. Even if the evil ones stay evil, being able to see those characters at their full potential is nice. You hate them and yet still kind of like them, too. 

 I read Beautyland not long before I read this book and they reminded me of one another a bit. This has the same ethereal sort of feel to it, but this one captivated me more than Beautyland did in the end. Even though I can't say if the science was realistic or not, it was still a great character study and scifi story. 

 I loved this! I have never read the original story, but it sounds cruel and I'm glad that this is the first introduction I have to the lore. I enjoyed all the characters and the tension was perfect. I am not usually big on creature stories like fae and the like, but this one was so well told and felt believable--as much as a seal-person can be, anyway.

Even though I had googled Selkies before reading this and knew the general sense of the story, I still enjoyed how it played out. 

 I loved this almost all the way through. The ending left quite a bit to be desired and because of all the bad reviews I've seen for the sequel, I don't know if I will bother trying to read it.

This is what I had been hoping that Evocation (which I read before this) would be. The allure between all the characters was top notch and made me love them all in different ways, unlike in Evocation where they felt flat and forced. It was all believable and wonderful and a dark, twisted gloom that I enjoyed the whole way through. 

 I loved the world this was set in. The magic was really interesting and I wouldn't mind just reading a bunch about that, truthfully. The art was really great, enjoyed it immensely. Love seeing awesome sea creatures and the dragons were *chef's kiss* beautiful.

It was middle grade, so the main character was pretty petulant and rash, though I feel like a lot of middle grade tends to be better characterized than this lately? It felt very old-school obnoxious, use this as a way to get the character into a wacky situation and move the plot forward. Seems like it could've been handled some other way and still gotten there in the end.