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Intriguing world building and interesting main character, but ultimately very, very weird. Which I kind of enjoyed.
More of a 2.5, rounded up.
What a strange read this was.
Quetzalpetlatl is an exiled princess tasked with not only helping raise her younger brother, Topiltzin (who happens to also be the son of a god), but also with working with her brother to end human sacrifice in their kingdom. That's about as straightforward a summary as I can write for the plot of this book, because it read like a bit of an ancient soap opera. So many twists and turns, betrayal, double crossing, over the top evil dudes, death - and, to top it all off, incest.
Yep, Quetzalpetlatl and Topiltzin fall in love. Topiltzin, being all special, ages very quickly. That still doesn't change my initial reaction to it, which was mostly...ick. Like yeah, I get that their closeness and their shared destinies would bring them together, but still.
Where the book really thrives is in the world building. I don't know much (or anything) about tenth century Mexico, other than the stereotypical Aztec/Maya/Incan things we all learn as kids. Reading about it felt like stepping into a completely alien landscape, one that was populated with what felt like authentic* people and events. Even certain things that I scoffed at turned out to be true to the time once I did some cursory research myself.
Did you know rubber actually existed in tenth century Mexico? And natural rubber comes from trees? I sure didn't. The more you learn.
The Bone Flower Throne isn't exactly the sort of book I'd recommend to everyone, but it is an interesting read if you're up for something different.
*Authentic as far as fitting in with the world the author has created. I don't know much (or anything, really) about historical Mexico to say otherwise.
What a strange read this was.
Quetzalpetlatl is an exiled princess tasked with not only helping raise her younger brother, Topiltzin (who happens to also be the son of a god), but also with working with her brother to end human sacrifice in their kingdom. That's about as straightforward a summary as I can write for the plot of this book, because it read like a bit of an ancient soap opera. So many twists and turns, betrayal, double crossing, over the top evil dudes, death - and, to top it all off, incest.
Yep, Quetzalpetlatl and Topiltzin fall in love. Topiltzin, being all special, ages very quickly. That still doesn't change my initial reaction to it, which was mostly...ick. Like yeah, I get that their closeness and their shared destinies would bring them together, but still.
Where the book really thrives is in the world building. I don't know much (or anything) about tenth century Mexico, other than the stereotypical Aztec/Maya/Incan things we all learn as kids. Reading about it felt like stepping into a completely alien landscape, one that was populated with what felt like authentic* people and events. Even certain things that I scoffed at turned out to be true to the time once I did some cursory research myself.
Did you know rubber actually existed in tenth century Mexico? And natural rubber comes from trees? I sure didn't. The more you learn.
The Bone Flower Throne isn't exactly the sort of book I'd recommend to everyone, but it is an interesting read if you're up for something different.
*Authentic as far as fitting in with the world the author has created. I don't know much (or anything, really) about historical Mexico to say otherwise.
Petra K and the Blackhearts tries a little too hard.
There are the hallmarks for a very interesting world here, but it isn't fleshed out so well. Petra K (and we never learn what the K stands for or if it's part of her last name; even her mother and father are Name K) lives in the ghetto of a town ruled by a child tyrant, in a world where automatons exist, tiny dragons called dragonka are pets/show animals, and ghosts and magic and different races of people are the norm.
That's about where anything interesting ends, unfortunately.
Petra K is ten years old, poor, and she stumbles upon a dragonka of her very own. That's sort of how she goes about her life in this entire novel, as well; Petra K kind of stumbles from scene to scene because the plot dictates it. As a result, the whole novel feels disjointed, as though each section could have been short stories, vignettes in the life of Petra K.
It also reads way above Petra K's age level. Somehow, the kids in this novel (are they also ten years old? Early teens?) are gang members, start a revolution, and even the bad kids, the eeeevil school girls who tease Petra (and MUST be ten years old as well, if they're in the same school year) act like they're adults. Or play at being adults.
It's all so weird. There are underground dragonka races/fighting, allusions to communism, kids starting a revolution, brainwashing, ghosts haunting the tyrant prince, mechanical hearts, horrible scientific experiments -- and Petra happens to not only stumble on to each of these things, but eventually plays a significant role in each part. I'm not buying it. There was only so much belief I could suspend after the first 50 pages, and it didn't get much better from there.
I think with some good editing (I kept catching grammatical mistakes) the story could be tightened and flow much better, but unfortunately this didn't do much for me.
(A copy was provided for review from Edelweiss; this had no outcome on the review.)
There are the hallmarks for a very interesting world here, but it isn't fleshed out so well. Petra K (and we never learn what the K stands for or if it's part of her last name; even her mother and father are Name K) lives in the ghetto of a town ruled by a child tyrant, in a world where automatons exist, tiny dragons called dragonka are pets/show animals, and ghosts and magic and different races of people are the norm.
That's about where anything interesting ends, unfortunately.
Petra K is ten years old, poor, and she stumbles upon a dragonka of her very own. That's sort of how she goes about her life in this entire novel, as well; Petra K kind of stumbles from scene to scene because the plot dictates it. As a result, the whole novel feels disjointed, as though each section could have been short stories, vignettes in the life of Petra K.
It also reads way above Petra K's age level. Somehow, the kids in this novel (are they also ten years old? Early teens?) are gang members, start a revolution, and even the bad kids, the eeeevil school girls who tease Petra (and MUST be ten years old as well, if they're in the same school year) act like they're adults. Or play at being adults.
It's all so weird. There are underground dragonka races/fighting, allusions to communism, kids starting a revolution, brainwashing, ghosts haunting the tyrant prince, mechanical hearts, horrible scientific experiments -- and Petra happens to not only stumble on to each of these things, but eventually plays a significant role in each part. I'm not buying it. There was only so much belief I could suspend after the first 50 pages, and it didn't get much better from there.
I think with some good editing (I kept catching grammatical mistakes) the story could be tightened and flow much better, but unfortunately this didn't do much for me.
(A copy was provided for review from Edelweiss; this had no outcome on the review.)
I'm enjoying this world as a whole, but the actual plot in this one (and the past two) was so damn predictable - from who the bad guy was to the path the romance took. The only thing I didn't predict was
I have the fourth one in paperback so I'll be reading it soon. This series is kind of perfect for mindless popcorn reading when I need it, but I wish there was a little more meat to it.
Spoiler
that Merit got away from the Red Guard with a simple no. (I'm sure they come into play later in the series.) I so thought Ethan was going to find out she was approached and take it as a huge betrayal and THAT would have broken them up. Not Ethan being a dumb urban fantasy alpha vampire male.I have the fourth one in paperback so I'll be reading it soon. This series is kind of perfect for mindless popcorn reading when I need it, but I wish there was a little more meat to it.
A bit of a disappointment. What promised to be a creepy look at potentially dangerous and definitely peculiar children turned out to be a paint by the numbers YA novel. A boring one, at that.
As for the pictures, it felt like the entire novel was written just as an excuse to use them in some way. They rarely had anything to do with the plot, and I didn't need the extra not-so-creepy picture as a visual aid for something that was literally just described in the narrative.
Jacob was boring, the romance was boring, the mystery wasn't so much of a mystery, and none of the kids were creepy. Most of the twists and revelations were delivered in exposition dumps, and even the big action sequences didn't read as exciting as they could have been.
My 2014 reading is not getting off to a great start.
As for the pictures, it felt like the entire novel was written just as an excuse to use them in some way. They rarely had anything to do with the plot, and I didn't need the extra not-so-creepy picture as a visual aid for something that was literally just described in the narrative.
Jacob was boring, the romance was boring, the mystery wasn't so much of a mystery, and none of the kids were creepy. Most of the twists and revelations were delivered in exposition dumps, and even the big action sequences didn't read as exciting as they could have been.
My 2014 reading is not getting off to a great start.
For a summary that promises lots of awesome action and a cover that gorgeous, Night Witches was a let down.
It has all the tired cliches of a dystopian romance, and none of the interesting aspects were strong enough to overcome that. There was a lot of time spent on the more awesome parts - the night bombing badassery - but that was overshadowed by Rain's naivety and confusion about how she was changing. If I had to see "witches don't exist!" one more time, I was going to punch someone. (And seeing as how the only person close enough was my sleeping boyfriend, that would have been bad.)
The dystopia is boring. It's that same old "don't be unique, everyone fall in line" with science being king and any Old World superstitions are what get you taken away and killed by the government.
The romance here is lukewarm at best. I'm still not sure just how the pair fell in love, and they rarely do anything besides look at each other with fuzzy feelings. Also, I got the impression that Rain was maybe twelve-ish, and if Reek is a teen old enough to lose his night vision (that's a thing), then he's probably what, fifteen? Sixteen? Yeah, not an age gap that is appealing. At all.
Then there's climax. Like the author remembered there should be some action and some kind of resolution, but didn't know what to do, so a deus ex machina was thrown in to wrap things up and tada!
No, thank you.
The more I write of this review, the more I realized this book is more of a two star book, not a 2.5 rounded up. What a waste of a fantastic cover.
It has all the tired cliches of a dystopian romance, and none of the interesting aspects were strong enough to overcome that. There was a lot of time spent on the more awesome parts - the night bombing badassery - but that was overshadowed by Rain's naivety and confusion about how she was changing. If I had to see "witches don't exist!" one more time, I was going to punch someone. (And seeing as how the only person close enough was my sleeping boyfriend, that would have been bad.)
The dystopia is boring. It's that same old "don't be unique, everyone fall in line" with science being king and any Old World superstitions are what get you taken away and killed by the government.
The romance here is lukewarm at best. I'm still not sure just how the pair fell in love, and they rarely do anything besides look at each other with fuzzy feelings. Also, I got the impression that Rain was maybe twelve-ish, and if Reek is a teen old enough to lose his night vision (that's a thing), then he's probably what, fifteen? Sixteen? Yeah, not an age gap that is appealing. At all.
Then there's climax. Like the author remembered there should be some action and some kind of resolution, but didn't know what to do, so a deus ex machina was thrown in to wrap things up and tada!
No, thank you.
The more I write of this review, the more I realized this book is more of a two star book, not a 2.5 rounded up. What a waste of a fantastic cover.
"A twist that defies the imagination."
Are you fucking kidding me?
3 stars only because it was a 4 star book until the end.
Are you fucking kidding me?
3 stars only because it was a 4 star book until the end.
