DNF @ 75%

haha i tried, but i dont know yall, ,, every time i pick this book down, i want to do anything BUT read it and that's pretty telling. it was interesting at first, but i feel as though the pacing was odd at times. i didnt even try to update here bc i had nothing to say

i might come back to this at some point, but i dunno.

damn, this series is a blast and a half!

how does one review comics? it was fun? the illustrations were fantastic? the humour was top notch? all of the above and more.

loving fitz is probably the hardest, most turmoil-filled competition ever, but i'm still winning at it.
(triggers at the end)

when i tell you i read those 100 last pages with either: tears in my eyes, tears streaming down my face, or full out bawling, i would not be lying. the way i was hooked from the first page, and usually sequels take quite a bit to stir me so dramatically, but this one offered intrigue, stakes being heightened, shocks and twists i hadn't expected, and just that gut-wrenching feeling of caring too much for these characters like in the first one.

the strong suit in these books are characters, and how much you're skilled (haha,,, hah) to love and care for them, but that's shown deepest with the main character. stop, i love fitz so much, there is no reason for him to go through the shit he's put through, but he somehow gets past it. either with his sheer will or with the people he cares about, it's always a close call.

his relationships and interactions spur this book onward; him and burrich and him and the fool are most likely my favourites, for very different reasons. and jesus fucking christ, the one scene near the end with burrich, it broke my heart- idc what anyone says, burrich is his father, through and through, and it broke me into small bits.

i'm incoherent, and i really wish i had my loan for the last book right this second, because it's CHUNKY and i'll need the audiobook for that, but wow... imma need this trilogy to end happily after the shit i was put through.

trigger warnings for
torture, violence, gore, descriptions of dead bodies, starvation, death of a loved one, grief, body gore, extreme bodily injury (on-page), speak of a miscarriage

chain of iron should come out tomorrow because wow i sure do need more of these characters.
REREAD 03/02/2021 lol chain of iron actually came out so i shall be reading that next

*4.25 stars
(triggers at the end)

this was a real fun time and i'm actually interested in reading the next book

this was a really solid read, and had me hooked from page 1 oof
(triggers at the end)

i really enjoyed the general theme of this story, and the way january was going on about the story. i don't have the most sophisticated responses around how much i enjoyed the characters, their growth, and the progression of the story, for i was kinda sucked way into the story and just flipping pages.

that's what this book does, i guess; it sucked me in with promises of interesting, unsatisfying storylines, and frustrating characters who work through their trauma oddly, but in their own ways. it was just,,, a lot, and not enough at the same time, and i think i really fucking liked it.

trigger warnings for
assault, abuse (emotional, psychological), body horror, self-harm, grief

*3.5 stars
(triggers at the end)

as these books go along and i read into this world more and more, i continue to realize what parts of this series i enjoy and which ones i do not.

characters, plotpoints, intrigue, i enjoy different parts of these- some of the characters that we follow i could care less for, and others are hardly present sometimes. i can't even explain what it was that i didn't enjoy about the plot. was it meandering at times? yes. was it well-paced? sometimes.

am i bad to be salty that there wasn't enough geralt, but also thankful that we got quite a bit of ciri? all at the same time.

anyways, onto the next one lmao

trigger warnings for
grief, body gore, rape (on-page, off-page, mentioned), sexual harassment, death

*3.5 stars

that ending Hurt and for no reason whatsoever, i was crying

*3.5 stars, but an extra .5 for kitay, venka, and rin trio
(triggers at the end)

for a lot of this installment, i was wondering what was happening. i was trying to deconstruct what they were speaking on, what battles we were heading into, what they were prepping and planning for- sometimes i got it, sometimes i didn't, but i don't think that was the point.

a lot of this book was rin and her pain, her trauma from the previous story, and really, many characters coming to terms with what happened in the poppy war.

i laughed, i cried, i seethed! the holy trinity, just like rin, kitay, and venka. those are my holy trinity, no one else in this book deserves happiness as much as these three do and if the last book doesn't give it to me, there will be rioting in the street. these three were put through the absolute ringer and then some, but came out strong and with each other in the end and i :(( cried a lot because of these three, fuck.

also, i was real ready to sing high praises for a CERTAIN character, but i have since redacted them from my memory and am thus pretending they do not exist :)

trigger warnings for
torture (graphic), drug addiction, substance abuse, death of a loved one, extreme bodily harm, detailed descriptions of dead bodies, sexual harassment, rape (on-page, recollected), war themes, body gore, forced consumption of substances, grief, self harm, racism, imperialism, colonization, genocide

*Thanks Orbit Books and Netgalley for this ARC!*
(triggers at the end)

this book really had me in the first half huh. i will never sympathize with a colonizer tho, you almost got me at the end