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This was like Desperate Housewives but without one single character I liked (except Graham, justice for Graham), a story line I found increasingly hard to believe, and a climax that just made me roll my eyes.
One redeeming quality about this book was the writing; Cobb has a way with words that I think is simple, but works so well to tell the story she wants told. Whether that story was good...eh.
[I got this early release thanks to Book of the Month - if you'd like to try it out, my referral link is here!]
One redeeming quality about this book was the writing; Cobb has a way with words that I think is simple, but works so well to tell the story she wants told. Whether that story was good...eh.
[I got this early release thanks to Book of the Month - if you'd like to try it out, my referral link is here!]
Kind of a disappointment...I have no idea what the heck to feel about what I just read. The writing is fantastic, but the plot felt nonsensical and meandering.
Still an amazing cover, though.
Still an amazing cover, though.
First off, I really love that cover. It speaks to my simplistic, splash of color, negative space loving heart. I'm a little concerned that the shoe's a little too big for her, but that's the price you pay for a heel that gorgeous.
The twist on the Cinderella fairytale as a futuristic sort of dystopian cyborg fantasy adventure is brilliant, but for all the awesome things Cinder has going for it, not all of them quite live up to their potential. I mean, I enjoyed it. I really, really did. But my bread and butter when it comes to fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian stories is the world building, and Cinder falls short.
There's so much going on, so many threads begun and barely worked through or tied off, and I blame that mostly on this the first novel in a series, and the world building took back seat to all the storylines and awesome ideas Marissa Meyer had to include:
- Cinder is a cyborg, obviously.
- There's a plague ravaging the Earth.
- There are people living on the moon who like, have magic powers and stuff. (This is explained scientifically, but MOON PEOPLE WITH POWERS!)
- The romance. Which I didn't hate! Yay Cinder!
- A plot twist/cliffhanger that I (and probably you) called early on.
- And of course, the awful step-mother and step-siblings
- Oh, and Cinder's BFF, an android that gets a shout out because I loved her.
There's enough of a base in Cinder to definitely make it an enjoyable read. I had tons of fun. But there's too much going on all at once, and the plot barrels on so fast -- like that train that took both Denzel Washington and Chris Pine's combined powers of awesome to stop in that one movie -- that there's no room for much of anything else.
Bottom line: fun, could use some work, still totally picking up the next book.
The twist on the Cinderella fairytale as a futuristic sort of dystopian cyborg fantasy adventure is brilliant, but for all the awesome things Cinder has going for it, not all of them quite live up to their potential. I mean, I enjoyed it. I really, really did. But my bread and butter when it comes to fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian stories is the world building, and Cinder falls short.
There's so much going on, so many threads begun and barely worked through or tied off, and I blame that mostly on this the first novel in a series, and the world building took back seat to all the storylines and awesome ideas Marissa Meyer had to include:
- Cinder is a cyborg, obviously.
- There's a plague ravaging the Earth.
- There are people living on the moon who like, have magic powers and stuff. (This is explained scientifically, but MOON PEOPLE WITH POWERS!)
- The romance. Which I didn't hate! Yay Cinder!
- A plot twist/cliffhanger that I (and probably you) called early on.
- And of course, the awful step-mother and step-siblings
- Oh, and Cinder's BFF, an android that gets a shout out because I loved her.
There's enough of a base in Cinder to definitely make it an enjoyable read. I had tons of fun. But there's too much going on all at once, and the plot barrels on so fast -- like that train that took both Denzel Washington and Chris Pine's combined powers of awesome to stop in that one movie -- that there's no room for much of anything else.
Bottom line: fun, could use some work, still totally picking up the next book.
Content warnings:
5/25/21 Review: I've been feeling like garbage today, spending most of it in and out of sleep, and I think that helped contribute to feeling a strange haze of surrealism while reading the last third of this novel. It totally worked for me, especially when I remember that this novel is being compared very heavily to the movie Get Out.
Ace of Spades follows Devon and Chiamaka, the only black students at a very prestigious private school. In the last months of their senior year, they're suddenly targeted by an anonymous person named Aces who begins to leak private messages, photos, and videos of the two students.
Dealing with the harassment provides a pretty interesting way for us to learn about Devon and Chiamaka as characters. We get to see them as they go through the upheaval in their current lives, and it provides us a way to get some backstory on both as they try to figure out if anything in their pasts will be revealed.
Àbíké-Íyímídé writes with breakneck pacing, fleshing out her main characters as the plot steadily moves forward. She creates antagonists that range from the threat of a single person, to Devon and Chiamaka facing the monster that is systemic racism. It very much earns the comparisons to Get Out in that regard.
One of the few things that I didn't vibe with as much were the side characters. There were good attempts at fleshing out a couple of characters that were important in Devon and Chiamaka's lives, but I didn't feel like they were real - simply cardboard cut outs with a bit more meat to them. Another issue I outright disliked, and I dislike in much YA, was that neither of them talked to their parents about a single thing. NEITHER OF THEM. Devon does at some point talk to his mom, but he doesn't actually tell her what is going on. Their parents felt like background props that the main actors sometimes interacted with.
Ultimately, this did end up being a thrilling read, and one that feels more unique in YA to me. I enjoyed my time flipping through it, wanting to know what was going on and eventually how the mystery would be resolved. I think it did nearly go off the rails in the last act, but as a cohesive novel with a specific theme and story to tell, it was great.
5/20/21: SHE'S HERE AND SHE'S GORGEOUS https://twitter.com/strongpieces/status/1395577664551804933
5/12/21: I WON A COPY OF THIS FROM BOOKISHFIRST, LET'S GOOOOOOO
Spoiler
Bullying, racial slurs (N-word), racism, non-consensual sharing of sexual images/videos.5/25/21 Review: I've been feeling like garbage today, spending most of it in and out of sleep, and I think that helped contribute to feeling a strange haze of surrealism while reading the last third of this novel. It totally worked for me, especially when I remember that this novel is being compared very heavily to the movie Get Out.
Ace of Spades follows Devon and Chiamaka, the only black students at a very prestigious private school. In the last months of their senior year, they're suddenly targeted by an anonymous person named Aces who begins to leak private messages, photos, and videos of the two students.
Dealing with the harassment provides a pretty interesting way for us to learn about Devon and Chiamaka as characters. We get to see them as they go through the upheaval in their current lives, and it provides us a way to get some backstory on both as they try to figure out if anything in their pasts will be revealed.
Àbíké-Íyímídé writes with breakneck pacing, fleshing out her main characters as the plot steadily moves forward. She creates antagonists that range from the threat of a single person, to Devon and Chiamaka facing the monster that is systemic racism. It very much earns the comparisons to Get Out in that regard.
One of the few things that I didn't vibe with as much were the side characters. There were good attempts at fleshing out a couple of characters that were important in Devon and Chiamaka's lives, but I didn't feel like they were real - simply cardboard cut outs with a bit more meat to them. Another issue I outright disliked, and I dislike in much YA, was that neither of them talked to their parents about a single thing. NEITHER OF THEM. Devon does at some point talk to his mom, but he doesn't actually tell her what is going on. Their parents felt like background props that the main actors sometimes interacted with.
Ultimately, this did end up being a thrilling read, and one that feels more unique in YA to me. I enjoyed my time flipping through it, wanting to know what was going on and eventually how the mystery would be resolved. I think it did nearly go off the rails in the last act, but as a cohesive novel with a specific theme and story to tell, it was great.
5/20/21: SHE'S HERE AND SHE'S GORGEOUS https://twitter.com/strongpieces/status/1395577664551804933
5/12/21: I WON A COPY OF THIS FROM BOOKISHFIRST, LET'S GOOOOOOO
Well, that was a thing that happened.
Someone really should have sat Jim Butcher down and forced him to pare down both Peace Talks and Battle Ground, because they're obviously two halves of one novel that got way too bloated. All splitting them in two did was do each separate novel a disservice.
Spoiler for character deaths & end of the book reveals:
Don't even get me started on the Justine reveal.
Wait wait, LOL, let's not forget HARRY AND LARA HAVE TO GET MARRIED?!? And now that Murphy is gone, I'm sure we'll get tons of Harry/Winter Mantle being horny followed by Harry being angsty and guilty about it, rinse and repeat.
I feel like the end of Battle Ground has provided the groundwork for a shift in the Dresden Files much like Changes did, but it's nowhere near as satisfying.
Someone really should have sat Jim Butcher down and forced him to pare down both Peace Talks and Battle Ground, because they're obviously two halves of one novel that got way too bloated. All splitting them in two did was do each separate novel a disservice.
Spoiler for character deaths & end of the book reveals:
Spoiler
All of that fighting, all of that chaos, and all we truly got out of it was Murphy being fridged? I don't care that she was taken to Valhalla because IT'S WHAT SHE DESERVES, but really??? Literally all she died for was to upset Harry. Yeah she took out a Jotun with a bazooka because SHE'S AWESOME, but overall...why? Why, if the only outcome was for Harry to go all Winter Mantle rage and then feel sad? Why.Don't even get me started on the Justine reveal.
Wait wait, LOL, let's not forget HARRY AND LARA HAVE TO GET MARRIED?!? And now that Murphy is gone, I'm sure we'll get tons of Harry/Winter Mantle being horny followed by Harry being angsty and guilty about it, rinse and repeat.
I feel like the end of Battle Ground has provided the groundwork for a shift in the Dresden Files much like Changes did, but it's nowhere near as satisfying.
My initial reaction when I finished this book last night was to give it five stars, and I'm going to stick with that. What a lovely, languid, blood-soaked story of love, obsession, and eventual freedom.
Fuck Dracula, long live Dracula's queer harem!!
Fuck Dracula, long live Dracula's queer harem!!
