charliauthor's reviews
524 reviews

This started out well but by the 40% mark I grew quite bored and struggled to get through the rest of it without any real interest.

Our FMC Rin, has grown up as an orphan raised by mean people and she has no idea where she came from or who she is but is very smart. To avoid being married off and abused, she decides to take some super hard test to get into a super hard school that will give her the opportunity to live a life not on her back. She gets into the school - obviously - and when shes there, is treated shit by the other, richer students who don't like her because she's poor and apparently dark skinned. Though in an East Asian setting, it was a bit unclear how dark this would actual mean. Not that it really matters, its just one of many things I found a bit unclear.

Anyway, Rin learns how to fight and endless lore about The Poppy Wars that her country has been a part of, although I couldnt tell you why they were called this or why everyone was and is seemingly on cocaine or heroine and teachers are getting high and being weird all in the name of calling higher powers and finding some super power that is locked inside Rin.
All that to say, it started out very interesting and I was intrigued to learn what that power was and why but for me, the excitement of that story was lost with endless lore and discussion and moaning from Rin.

I usually hate the term show and dont tell because as i writer, sometimes you need to be told and as a reader, i want to be told lol but with this, there was too much telling me how dangerous the war was without actually showing me any of its devastation. When she did finally get to it, while i was shocked at the brutality of the people they were fighting, it honestly came to late in the book for me to actually care. She'd spent so long talking about different language dialects and provinces we'd never visit, that the real meat of the story, the cruelty and sinister tones of the war and the person who betrays them was just lost. There is some truly horrific content in one passage of the book that I wont bother repeating her but it was terribly sad and if what ive heard about the rest of the series but much of the same, then i'd rather not go on with it.

I love building worlds. i love all the information, the bloodlines, the prequel texts, give me it all but in a way that feels exciting and not like a history lesson which is ultimately all this was. On top of that, Rin isnt even that likeable. She's rash and toxic and power hungry and its just not particular redeeming for her throughout the book.

I won't be continuing with the series unfortunately. While the writing style/technique etc. is great, Kuang is a wonderful writer, its just not a style that prompts much excitement for me or will to turn the page.

Sadie is back to what she does best with the contemporary romance and i enjoyed this a whole lot more than her previous fantasy attempt.
We have gone back to the James brothers, this time with big and bearded Drake who has commitment issues and Amelia who can only do committment.
The spice was decent and the plot sweet enough to allow me to get through this in a day, it did however feel a little rushed in that they were dropping L bombs really early without any real reason.
There were some time jumps that i didnt love where we could have actually built the relationship with the two of them instead of spending for example so much time on the somewhat forced third act breakup.
i did however like meeting more of the brothers and the family dynamic of the books so that was fun as well.

This is my fourth read of this book and the graphic audio version just made the experience all that better! i loved the full cast and effects that just added another layer to the story that was beautifully done.

I didnt realise this was a novella going in but really enjoyed the fast pace and intriguing plot. Novellas really let you know how much more succinct books could be if they just cut out all the crap lol this was just as well rounded and juicy in just over 200 pages. 

It had a decent murder mystery plot that had cute twists, humour and significant enough world building to not have me asking too many questions. 

What really set this off for me however was the inclusion of Jamaican Patois near the end of the book. It was so expertly written/executed I was cackling the whole way through cause it was sooo good! It felt great to see my heritage on page authentically as there are some books that failed spectacularly at it *cough* Witches Steeped in Gold *cough*

Defo recommend checking this out for a cheeky fun read and i’ll be trying out the authors full works to see how they fare.  

One of the best gifts about reading is when you enjoy a book that you knew nothing about going in and therefore have no preconceived notions about what to expect.

There is something so exciting about discovering something fairly original that makes you invested in reading again. This is how I felt with Ink Blood Sister Scribe, as I was engaged and intrigued from the very first page. 

This book is about two sisters who have grown up in and around the world of magic books. One sister, Joanna can hear magic books as their father can, while Esther, the older sister cannot. This separates them later in life as their father forces Esther into exile in order to protect her family from evils at first unknown. While Joanna is the quiet of the two and has grown up in isolation since her sister’s departure Esther was an enjoyable character to read as she is very capable complex and more diverse. Alongside the POV of the two sisters is Nicola who has also grown up in isolation as the last living scribe a person who can write magic books but cannot perform them himself. When the worlds of these three people collide it gets really exciting and had me turning the page eagerly from start to finish.

There were good explanations throughout, the magic system was clear and the characters interesting enough for me not to be upset when there was a change of point of view. Nicholas was by far my favourite tho as the unexpected humour included in his chapters was so welcome from other chapters that tow the line of being quite dark and helped move the story forward in a relatable as well as humorous way.

The ending was a little rushed for my taste and wrapped up the story in a textual way that I didn’t necessarily agree with which brought it down but other than that I had a very good time which is what I want the most from a story. I love that this is a standalone as so many books feel they need to be trilogies at this point however I was a little sad that it ends like this. I would love to see more scribe adventures with Nicholas, his bodyguard, Collins, his dog Sir Kiwi and the two sisters learning what they can from him.

'They would be exiled and killed if discovered. But they did it anyway. Because humans should help humans. Regardless of what side of a wall they were born on.'

Well that was a chore!

It took me a while to read this book simply because I wasn't really invested in the mystery or the main character and everything other than a new death, felt like filler or some poorly landed jokes and other forms of sarcasm.
While by the end there was some social/political commentary that I enjoyed, it wasn't enough to make this book truly stand out to me. True, the magic system was original but other than a snarky male MC, there wasn't much else going for it in my opinion. Its a murder mystery and the eventually reveal of who and why felt disappointing as I felt I had to suffer through so much to get to...that.

I did however like a lot of the humour and the diverse cast who didn't all necessarily feel forced. The main character himself is gay and there was a non binary character along with characters representing various races and nations which I loved.

Wtf was that!?
I honestly have no idea what i was reading. Was that supposed to be funny? Cute? What!? Very very odd writing and world building was all over the place. 

This is probably the most subjectively polarising (is that a thing!?) review I’ve ever written for myself. 

For the simple fact that it prompted an emotional response, even if that emotion wasn’t particularly positive, Sword of Kaigen is a good book. However, despite the positives that it does have: the thought out world-building and the layered characters, I just don’t think I liked it. I say think because I’m still not entirely sure.

My initial issue with Sword was the pacing. I found the first half very tedious and difficult to get through which almost tainted my feelings towards the rest of the book. Before getting to that though once I finished, I learned that this was previously a serial posted online which explains the long winded, over explanatory narrative style, much like Manacled. Knowing this explains the pacing but doesn’t take away from my dislike of this style and how it takes away from what could have been immense tension and excitement at the very start.

I enjoyed learning about the juxtaposition of worlds which I also learned is part of a wider inter planetary world that the author no longer writes in. I can see now that she was writing in a way for people who already understood her world but for someone new going in it felt like being thrown into a story halfway and being expected to know what certain words meant. Saying that, I loved the Japanese coded world building, the martial arts, the honourifics used to speak to characters, the understanding of their power/jiya, how they use it, I did enjoy. It was just delivered in a way that I didn’t mesh with, that wouldnt allow me to comfortably read this again.

Now, speaking of being comfortable, what I meant by a not necessarily positive emotional response was that this book made me angry. From certain deaths to certain acts of war, to certain consequences of those acts of war, to the traditional yet archaic role that women had to play in Japan, the whole book just left me with a sense of rage that left me wondering what I had achieved from reading this other than crippling frustration. 

While the end of the book definitely ends on a more positive note it felt underwhelming and unfulfilling simply because of how much they lost because of the ruling government, that as far as I know or understand, will never pay for those crimes against them. It felt unfair and I was simply annoyed that i’d gone through all of that for a fairly weak reason and very little satisfaction. This is a standalone but it needs more which the author said she isnt going to write so like…what now!?

Sword of Kaigen is a good book, but after suck harrowing emotional highs and lows, I just didnt leave it feeling positive and that kinda sucks.  

Another amazing outing into the land of Westeros.
The show was still pretty much faithful to the books at this point so i have no issues there.
I loved the redemption arc of Jaime, Arya's life lessons among the Brotherhood, Tyrion being Tyrion except when he was really willing to get into bed with Sansa - such a perv!
Cersei doesnt play as big a role in the books as she did on the show even with plotlines that do concern her so love that dynamic.
Daenerys was also minimal in this one but absolutely love her growing into herself and being a powerful woman. Absolutely loved when she told Jorah to fuck off lmao! She's a child you dirty old man, leave her be!

Im listening to the audio of this which is basically both parts of this in one so while this part is finished, on i go!