elzbethmrgn's Reviews (667)

This was my first GGK, and it won't be my last. I did the audio version, impeccably read by Kate Reading, and my only gripe was not having enough time to listen as quickly as I wanted to.

Yes? I think so, yes. The writing was beautiful, as always - this is a lovely series, but most of it comes from the delicious writing, rather than the story or characters themselves. This book is full of squishy feelings and YA-romance moments and I'm totally ok with that, but I'm also totally ok with leaving Karou, Akiva, Zuzana and Mik and not coming back. This isn't a series that will be on my re-read list anytime soon.

It was nice to not get a traditional happily ever after. But as the universe(s) expanded I really wanted to learn more about what happens after the End.

Not to Karou, but maybe Scarab and Eliza and the nihilim. I really wanted to see Brimstone and his reaction to Karou post-wishbone, and see the 'family' reunited.

But as it stands I am mostly satisfied.

A little bit scary for the targeted age range, but not too much, and a girl who kicks ass because she has to even though she's scared. And a black cat familiar.

I read this because I bought it for my kid to listen to/read on a long journey. She liked it, which was the point.

I didn't read the blurb before diving in, and for that I am most grateful; it is a gross misrepresentation of what is an enjoyable Eastern European fairytale stretched out and given life. This novel is what Naomi Novik's Uprooted should have been, what I wanted it to be: a fairy tale made real, one that feels real and nuanced and adult and has layers.

And a good dose of religion, because you all know I love a religion-based fantasy. Highly recommend.

Well. I was yawningly bored until the very last chapter which made me stay up past my bedtime and reminded me this is a fairytale. Without the hype, I think it is an ok book, not fantastic. But, without the hype I wouldn't have picked it up in the first place, having not particularly enjoyed [b:Uprooted|22544764|Uprooted|Naomi Novik|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1550135418s/22544764.jpg|41876730] either.

OTOH, having studied medieval fairy lore and trope, medieval Judaism, and medieval history, this book ticks all the right boxes.

This is deliciously what I want Naomi Novik's folklore tales to be, and I suspect the superiority of this one is the novella length. Not trying to stretch it out into a novel-length work made it a folklore-y (with the old-school, mean, fae, not the Disney kind) and romance-y and teasingly just-right-but-almost-not-enough story. Not without flaws

: Mum was extremely deus ex machina

, but satisfying all the same.

This is an absolute delight.

Written in the style of a serialised, winding and could-have-used-an-edit Victorian novel, it is a delicious dig at academics (and academic historians in particular) that I chuckled at, while at the same time being extremely "it me". This is historical fiction with magic chucked in, a lot of (historical) fairy lore, some Lord Byron being extremely Lord Byron, and plenty of discursive footnotes.

The footnotes sold me on this thing, lets be real.

I loved it.