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ellaellaellaetc's Reviews (494)
am not well... I am not joking this book ruined meðŸ˜ðŸ˜ I got this as a very belated birthday gift for the lovely danielle (pictured posing with this book in the photobooth, hot girl shit) and annotated it for her! this was genuinely such a fun experience!! annotating specifically for someone is always such a joy and because this was quite a thriller I wrote in lots of predictions and stuff so I'm excited to hear from danielle once she reads it!
I would describe this book as "the secret history if it was better" this is about theatre students at a fake private university in illinois. there are only 6 students in their final year of uni (people get kicked out every year, it's very selective!) and they only study shakespeare.
guys I cannot fully explain to you in words how much I loved this. it was thrilling. it was heartfelt. it was intelligent. it was my everything. every problem I had with the secret history was solved by this book, I just I can't breathe it was so amazingðŸ˜ðŸ˜ please please read this bookðŸ˜ðŸ˜ 5 stars
I would describe this book as "the secret history if it was better" this is about theatre students at a fake private university in illinois. there are only 6 students in their final year of uni (people get kicked out every year, it's very selective!) and they only study shakespeare.
guys I cannot fully explain to you in words how much I loved this. it was thrilling. it was heartfelt. it was intelligent. it was my everything. every problem I had with the secret history was solved by this book, I just I can't breathe it was so amazingðŸ˜ðŸ˜ please please read this bookðŸ˜ðŸ˜ 5 stars
this is the second book in the hitchhikers guide series and sorry but I will not be continuing with this series. I think I like the idea of this story is great and I love the concepts and themes of this series but I just do not care for the execution of them nor do I care for the characters. I found it really hard to follow along because I simply did not care but at the same time I really applaud douglas adams for all of the astute observations and witty commentary! I really understand why the first book in this series is a classic and I respect it, but I will not be reading the subsequent books. on another note, fun story, when I borrowed this from the library, the first few pages started falling out (not my fault!!!) so I returned it and let them know. however, because they can't loan the book out anymore as it is damaged, they let me keep it! yay! would have been a better story if I actually liked the book but alas .... 3 stars
oh!!! yeah this was good!! still with the avatar comics, in this one we find out what happened to zuko's mum! tbh I don't really have a lot to say about this one specifically. if you like the show and the other comics, definitely give this a read! this definitely had The Gaangâ„¢ vibes and I love the ideas they play with in this novel. plus I love having azula back!! 4.5 stars
this was really strange because it felt like a bunch of tiny tiny little stories each self-contained and then forced together. it was more like the very beginning or the idea of a story that just didn't go anywhere. I don't know if this is actually what happened, but it very much seems like the author created all these little graphics/cartoons to post on instagram or something and then put it all them all together into the book. I think that would have been fine except most of them are just the idea of a character doing a specific thing and not them actually doing it.
example:
character a: is it a bad idea if I go on a date with this toxic guy
character b: yes
character a: okay I'm gonna go on a date with him
*time skip*
*character a walks back in looking disheveled*: wow, that was a bad idea!
the end
and then it was just that for literally 200 pages?? like a bunch of really tiny 6 or 12 frame stories that never went anywhere. what is the point of this. i would rather see the character doing said thing. it kind of felt like when people make edits of specific characters from TV shows or whatever and they'll use an audio or quote from another show and be like "this is such a thing for this character to do" or when people on tumblr used to make the "incorrect quotes' for a specific fandom; except, this was in her original characters so I didn't really know these people, why should I care about them.
also it very much seemed like bunny was the main character; however, she very much gave beloved side character energy. she was giving minion. like, cute on the side of the plot but why are we giving them a movie. I didn't really care for what bunny was doing for the most part. I think if she actually went on these side quests that she would bring up it would be more interesting, but she would always bring up the idea of "oh what if I did this" and then you would just have to imagine her doing that as she did it off the page and then we would jump to something else and it just felt a bit like a waste of time. once again I ask, why am I here?
also, in terms of this being a bunch of tiny short stories (and when I say short stories, I mean so short!!! like one page!!! six frames!!! so so short!!!) that completely changes around in the last third of the book. the book changes to story with actual supernatural elements, like the first two thirds is these girlies having silly one page adventures and the last third (spoilers) there is a demon that is possessing their house??? why??? it just felt so out of place and so confusing; this really didn't feel like actual book. it just felt like a bunch of random ideas that got muddled together. 1.5 stars
example:
character a: is it a bad idea if I go on a date with this toxic guy
character b: yes
character a: okay I'm gonna go on a date with him
*time skip*
*character a walks back in looking disheveled*: wow, that was a bad idea!
the end
and then it was just that for literally 200 pages?? like a bunch of really tiny 6 or 12 frame stories that never went anywhere. what is the point of this. i would rather see the character doing said thing. it kind of felt like when people make edits of specific characters from TV shows or whatever and they'll use an audio or quote from another show and be like "this is such a thing for this character to do" or when people on tumblr used to make the "incorrect quotes' for a specific fandom; except, this was in her original characters so I didn't really know these people, why should I care about them.
also it very much seemed like bunny was the main character; however, she very much gave beloved side character energy. she was giving minion. like, cute on the side of the plot but why are we giving them a movie. I didn't really care for what bunny was doing for the most part. I think if she actually went on these side quests that she would bring up it would be more interesting, but she would always bring up the idea of "oh what if I did this" and then you would just have to imagine her doing that as she did it off the page and then we would jump to something else and it just felt a bit like a waste of time. once again I ask, why am I here?
also, in terms of this being a bunch of tiny short stories (and when I say short stories, I mean so short!!! like one page!!! six frames!!! so so short!!!) that completely changes around in the last third of the book. the book changes to story with actual supernatural elements, like the first two thirds is these girlies having silly one page adventures and the last third (spoilers) there is a demon that is possessing their house??? why??? it just felt so out of place and so confusing; this really didn't feel like actual book. it just felt like a bunch of random ideas that got muddled together. 1.5 stars
the first book I read for class!! exciting!! i liked this! this is about cadavers and all the different ways we use dead human bodies - more ways than you would think. i was a fan of the tone of the book, it really felt like you were learning alongside the author and I was quite endeared to her. the perfect amount of information and personal stories! highly recommend! minus points for feet on the cover. 4 stars
wow. what a fever dream of a book read this like a month ago and tbh I have lowkey forgotten most of the plot. this is about a struggling crime writer, finlay, who is discussing her latest book with her agent. the woman sitting next to them overhears their conversation and mistakes finlay for an assassin and offers her $50k to kill her husband. shenanigans ensue. i think the premise was a bit more exciting than the book itself but it still wasn't bad, I would recommend to people who like thrillers! 3.25 stars
okay this is the last book in the grishaverse (for a while, at least!) and not going to lie, when I finished this I genuinely got very depressedðŸ˜ðŸ˜ like I was very very upset for days I'm not even jokingðŸ˜ðŸ˜ it was embarrassing. I think because the show was cancelled as well, it just made me even more upset, there's no more content for.me to consumeðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
I didn't hate this book, I didn't think it was the most spectacular ending, especially because it's like the final book of this world. listen. I love Leigh Bardugo. I would die for her. I would give anything for her. however, I don't think she can write war scenes all that well. I think she's way better at doing the more intricate character work and world building; the relationships between countries was so well thought out! I was at the edge of my seat! but the actual scenes of the battle and everything, I didn't think were all that great.
Also, to be honest, I didn't really need to see David create missiles. I didn't need to see everyone having to grapple with what they were creating. I think it's something that a lot of fantasy media does; they'll start the book in a historical setting so that the fantastical elements really shine through. then, they'll have one character that really likes to invent things! but when you have a series that goes on for a while, they have to start inventing more and more things to the point where it gets closer to the real world and then you have david, local genya simp and autistic durast just create missilesðŸ˜ðŸ˜ and now all the characters have to question if they want to use it in the war because while it will help them win, it will also change the scale of all future wars. like yes this is important but that's not really what I want to read about in my historical fantasy books! I want to see magic!! idk maybe that's just me though ://
On another note, while I liked that we dived deeper into the whole religious aspect of the story and we got to see more of the apparat, it ending up flopping at the end (a theme you'll notice for this book....) the build up was great in the first book and it really felt like it was going somewhere until it just didn't. SPOILERS!!! I think that the darkling coming back really didn't add that much to the story. I did like how, because of that, it brought back other characters, though. I liked seeing Alina and Mal again but they came and went so quick! And the darkling plotline ending up leading practically nowhere to the point where I felt like if he wasn't there think it would have really changed the story that much.
I did like nina's story more this time, though!! however, I didn't really buy the relationship between her and hana. I thought that hana's story was really interesting but I didn't really see them together as romantically I think especially because nina was still grieving that whole time. in my head, I also saw hana as being a lot lot younger than Nina even though there wasn't really an age difference there was one in my head (lol) so I didn't know exactly how to feel.
something else I didn't know how to feel about was the idea of a (probably) trans boy who was the kid of an actual genocidal maniac stealing the identity of a prince and then ruling a country that like kills this other people like themðŸ˜ðŸ˜ still deciding how I feel about that. nina really did slay and stuff this time though. also nice to see the crows again:)
so yes, definitely not the best but if you've read the other six books don't skip this one lol. i really hope leigh bardugo revisits this world sometime in the future because I love it so much and has become such a comfort for me! but until this happens, I'm excited to read her new stuff!! 3.25 stars
I didn't hate this book, I didn't think it was the most spectacular ending, especially because it's like the final book of this world. listen. I love Leigh Bardugo. I would die for her. I would give anything for her. however, I don't think she can write war scenes all that well. I think she's way better at doing the more intricate character work and world building; the relationships between countries was so well thought out! I was at the edge of my seat! but the actual scenes of the battle and everything, I didn't think were all that great.
Also, to be honest, I didn't really need to see David create missiles. I didn't need to see everyone having to grapple with what they were creating. I think it's something that a lot of fantasy media does; they'll start the book in a historical setting so that the fantastical elements really shine through. then, they'll have one character that really likes to invent things! but when you have a series that goes on for a while, they have to start inventing more and more things to the point where it gets closer to the real world and then you have david, local genya simp and autistic durast just create missilesðŸ˜ðŸ˜ and now all the characters have to question if they want to use it in the war because while it will help them win, it will also change the scale of all future wars. like yes this is important but that's not really what I want to read about in my historical fantasy books! I want to see magic!! idk maybe that's just me though ://
On another note, while I liked that we dived deeper into the whole religious aspect of the story and we got to see more of the apparat, it ending up flopping at the end (a theme you'll notice for this book....) the build up was great in the first book and it really felt like it was going somewhere until it just didn't. SPOILERS!!! I think that the darkling coming back really didn't add that much to the story. I did like how, because of that, it brought back other characters, though. I liked seeing Alina and Mal again but they came and went so quick! And the darkling plotline ending up leading practically nowhere to the point where I felt like if he wasn't there think it would have really changed the story that much.
I did like nina's story more this time, though!! however, I didn't really buy the relationship between her and hana. I thought that hana's story was really interesting but I didn't really see them together as romantically I think especially because nina was still grieving that whole time. in my head, I also saw hana as being a lot lot younger than Nina even though there wasn't really an age difference there was one in my head (lol) so I didn't know exactly how to feel.
something else I didn't know how to feel about was the idea of a (probably) trans boy who was the kid of an actual genocidal maniac stealing the identity of a prince and then ruling a country that like kills this other people like themðŸ˜ðŸ˜ still deciding how I feel about that. nina really did slay and stuff this time though. also nice to see the crows again:)
so yes, definitely not the best but if you've read the other six books don't skip this one lol. i really hope leigh bardugo revisits this world sometime in the future because I love it so much and has become such a comfort for me! but until this happens, I'm excited to read her new stuff!! 3.25 stars
okay, I was expecting big things from this and it was really really interesting. this is an avatar comic and it said immediately off to the end of the series and basically the earth King, aang and Zuko start this thing called the harmony restoration movement. this is where they're basically removing all the fire nation colonies from the earth kingdom and giving the land back to the earth nation people. it's going really well until they get to the first colony that was created 100 years ago, yu dao. zuko tries to get all the fire nation people to leave yu dao but the people don't want to leave! their families that be living there for generations and the mayor of the town is a fire nation man that married an earth bender woman (with an earth bending fire nation daughter!).
this is such an amazing book! it really tackles difficult themes of colonisation and shows how not everything is a right vs wrong battle. i was still able to take a lot from it but children could definitely still read this and have it be their first exposure to these sorts of themes.
All the stuff I expected would be really hard to do well, was executed flawlessly! however... in comparison, all the stuff that seems easy to do was really poorly writtenðŸ˜ðŸ˜ The aang and katara relationship felt extremely forced (not just because I'm a zutara girlie... i swear). they just acted like normal friends but then every now and again they would call each other honey and it flopped majorly.
also, the whole reason why the comic is called 'the promise' is because during one of the first scenes of the comic, zuko tells aang 'if you ever see me start to act like my dad, you need to kill me' and aang agrees (even though he just spent the entire finale trying to not kill ozai????). anyway, when zuko refuses to force the fire nation to leave, before he understands the situation, aang actually considers killing zuko????? huh??? i thought that whole thing was a bit contrived because that layer of the stroy wasn't really necessary. the whole story was about colonisation and I get that zuko is conflicted about leading and being like his father, but I still think it wasn't necessary (maybe if it was well done I would have been fine with it...).
but all of that day, this story was really well done. I was actually like very shocked by how well it was done! i highly encourage people to read if you like atla!! ps the toph and sokka side quests was a lot of fun😊 4.75 stars
this is such an amazing book! it really tackles difficult themes of colonisation and shows how not everything is a right vs wrong battle. i was still able to take a lot from it but children could definitely still read this and have it be their first exposure to these sorts of themes.
All the stuff I expected would be really hard to do well, was executed flawlessly! however... in comparison, all the stuff that seems easy to do was really poorly writtenðŸ˜ðŸ˜ The aang and katara relationship felt extremely forced (not just because I'm a zutara girlie... i swear). they just acted like normal friends but then every now and again they would call each other honey and it flopped majorly.
also, the whole reason why the comic is called 'the promise' is because during one of the first scenes of the comic, zuko tells aang 'if you ever see me start to act like my dad, you need to kill me' and aang agrees (even though he just spent the entire finale trying to not kill ozai????). anyway, when zuko refuses to force the fire nation to leave, before he understands the situation, aang actually considers killing zuko????? huh??? i thought that whole thing was a bit contrived because that layer of the stroy wasn't really necessary. the whole story was about colonisation and I get that zuko is conflicted about leading and being like his father, but I still think it wasn't necessary (maybe if it was well done I would have been fine with it...).
but all of that day, this story was really well done. I was actually like very shocked by how well it was done! i highly encourage people to read if you like atla!! ps the toph and sokka side quests was a lot of fun😊 4.75 stars
e briefly interrupt your grishaverse content to discuss dear dumb diary!! grishaverse finale coming soon.
okay, we all know I love this series. this is so funny. I don't understand how this random middle-aged man is able to get into the head of a tween girlI but it's so believable!!!! and it's so funny!!!! I think the art is amazing as well, it's not groundbreaking stuff but a the visual humour is adds so much to the reading experience and the art is really lends itself to the story and the narrator. and like I said, it's so funny!!the relationship between Jamie and Angeline is also so interesting. I think it's such a great dynamic that they have and I love it! also I was side-eyeing this book for a while cause jaime thought that the substitute teacher was in love with her and I was like, seriously, do we need this plotline? which I don't think we did but I do like that it was emphasised that if the teacher actually did like her (he didn't, it was a misunderstanding) it wouldn't be okay and the teacher would go to jail!! and only terrible scumbags do that sort of thing!! 4 stars
okay, we all know I love this series. this is so funny. I don't understand how this random middle-aged man is able to get into the head of a tween girlI but it's so believable!!!! and it's so funny!!!! I think the art is amazing as well, it's not groundbreaking stuff but a the visual humour is adds so much to the reading experience and the art is really lends itself to the story and the narrator. and like I said, it's so funny!!the relationship between Jamie and Angeline is also so interesting. I think it's such a great dynamic that they have and I love it! also I was side-eyeing this book for a while cause jaime thought that the substitute teacher was in love with her and I was like, seriously, do we need this plotline? which I don't think we did but I do like that it was emphasised that if the teacher actually did like her (he didn't, it was a misunderstanding) it wouldn't be okay and the teacher would go to jail!! and only terrible scumbags do that sort of thing!! 4 stars
okay, I really really liked the Nikolai plotline of this story!! now, I'm biased because, obviously, we're married but ahhh I loved this!! nikolai is such a funny character in the s&b series and finally reading from his perspective was such a delight! he's hilarious dudeðŸ˜ðŸ˜ and getting to hear his backstory and motivations... ahhhhhh love! I'm starting to realise that I love love love political fantasy!! I'm really glad that leigh bardugo went down this path, she knows this world like the back of her hand and it's so fun to watch her play!!!!
I thought that the zoya plotline was also interesting and I liked seeing her backstory a bit more. it was also nice to see how the second army was going in a post-alina/post-war world. zoya, genya and David are such a great trio! I just got lost in the sauce a little bit towards the end. I really really liked the first half of this book. I was captivated by how Nikolai was navigating everything and it really had that rooting for the underdog feel! isaac was also slay and fun to follow for a short time (...). the dynamics between all the characters are so natural and it was fun to see how they all fit in together, a lot of them don't interact a lot in the main series and despite the three year time skip, I didn't feel like I'd missed anything!
however. (spoilers) when he goes into the fold, that was when I got lost. I didn't really understand the dragon thing or Zoya's special ability and I just didn't really know what was going on or why I should care💔💔. I kind of just wanted them to get back to os alta and go back to trying to prevent a war.
Also, Nina. I love you girl. I understand that you're going through things. You're in a lot of pain, that's really hard, but I'm so sorry all of Nina's parts were so so boring. I'm sorry but they were! I didn't care at all. every single time we got to a nina chapter I would literally roll my eyes, I wanted to get back to the action. I knew that they would tie together with the next book, but I just couldn't be bothered. I thought adrik was fine. I didn't really care that much for leonie and you know their story was like kind of interesting I guess. but it just didn't hold a candle to what the other people were doing so I was just so bored.
also that ending gagged me omgggggg!!! i am writing this review having already finished reading the rest of the series but girl that had me!! i was excited!!
so yes this was a bit of a rollercoaster of a read, therefore I give this 3.75 stars
I thought that the zoya plotline was also interesting and I liked seeing her backstory a bit more. it was also nice to see how the second army was going in a post-alina/post-war world. zoya, genya and David are such a great trio! I just got lost in the sauce a little bit towards the end. I really really liked the first half of this book. I was captivated by how Nikolai was navigating everything and it really had that rooting for the underdog feel! isaac was also slay and fun to follow for a short time (...). the dynamics between all the characters are so natural and it was fun to see how they all fit in together, a lot of them don't interact a lot in the main series and despite the three year time skip, I didn't feel like I'd missed anything!
however. (spoilers) when he goes into the fold, that was when I got lost. I didn't really understand the dragon thing or Zoya's special ability and I just didn't really know what was going on or why I should care💔💔. I kind of just wanted them to get back to os alta and go back to trying to prevent a war.
Also, Nina. I love you girl. I understand that you're going through things. You're in a lot of pain, that's really hard, but I'm so sorry all of Nina's parts were so so boring. I'm sorry but they were! I didn't care at all. every single time we got to a nina chapter I would literally roll my eyes, I wanted to get back to the action. I knew that they would tie together with the next book, but I just couldn't be bothered. I thought adrik was fine. I didn't really care that much for leonie and you know their story was like kind of interesting I guess. but it just didn't hold a candle to what the other people were doing so I was just so bored.
also that ending gagged me omgggggg!!! i am writing this review having already finished reading the rest of the series but girl that had me!! i was excited!!
so yes this was a bit of a rollercoaster of a read, therefore I give this 3.75 stars