galacticvampire's Reviews (366)

Romance sequels are a dicey road. Most of them have at least a marriage novella. Most of them are terrible. 

That's why Us was such a surprise. I gained a new appreciation for the characters, who struggled with real problems that made me all the more endeared with their relationship.

I needed a cute romance for palate cleansing and this was exactly what I wanted.
This book is funny, the main couple is engaging without falling into boring stereotypes, and the plot is pretty much just about them, which you can see as a pro or a con depending on how you like your romances. The biggest challenge of the genre is not making the last-act conflict extremely stupid and it is well-done and realistic here. 

It gave me quite a few butterflies and I devoured the whole thing in one day !

Idk what to say here other than that I really don't care about any character other than Ronan. Declan is fun too. Matthew is cute. Adam is interesting in what regards Ronan. The new ones I had to keep myself from skiming through their chapters. (ESPECIALLY THE ASSASSIN AND TEEN DUO OH GOD WHY DID WE SPEND SO LONG WITH THEM) 

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong about the story being told, I'm just not interested at all and have a really hard time sticking to it just because I like the characters. 

Ronan was great though. One of the most characters.

Maggie Stiefvater has a gift with words. Regardless of my hesitations regarding plot, I can't say anything but praises about how she built this world, the uncanny sense of magic and absurd that seeps through every line, the talent in every paragraph that makes The Raven Cycle so unique.

It is why the experience needs to be taken as a whole, why it feels like a fever dream. And why, once you wake up and take a step back, it's really hard to make sense of what really happened.

If I had to pick a single word to describe the conclusion to this series it would be underwhelming. Which is funny because the main problem is that there is way too much happening. 

The scope of the problem just kept getting bigger, it became about stopping demons and being the Only Ones Who Could Do It and saving the world and... it should have been about the characters. It still was, but if you shaved down all that dramatics there would be so much more page time for them. It would make their sacrifices heavier and their internal development more throughout. 

I enjoy how subtle the author is, how she doesn't make a big deal about everything and leaves you to pick up the hints yourself, but it would've worked better for me if if the big moments outside were matched more with big moments inside.

I like a lot of what Blue Lily, Lily Blue brings to the Raven Cycle story, I really do. But a lot of the other stuff is just preparing for the last book and I can't decide if I should really say this was better off as a trilogy.

On one hand, the slower pace and the messiness it's what contributes to the dream-like atmosphere that it so unique. On the other one, it's quite unecessary and I saw myself skimming scenes because I already knew that wasn't going to play a major role on the actual plot.

If I praised the introduction to the world for holding up on rereads, I really can't say the same for the conclusion.
That being said, I really like the characters, and how they interact and develop and change is mesmerizing and captivating and what builds all of the three stars given.

Usually, a first book in a series would set the scene, stabilsh the parameters, and then middle books mostly build up on that for the big conclusion. It's also why we hear so much of the second book curse.

Maggie looked at all that and kicked my door down. What? Did you think she was done? Here is ALL THIS PLOT you didn't even know was happening behind the scenes through the whole first book!

The world gets so much richer (and weirder!) and the characters are all terrible like 17 year-olds ought to be. I cannot not mention Ronan because, honestly, he's the star of this show. He's the most terrible of all and I adored his pov.

This is a series that works incredibly in a reread, all the foreshadowing and hints that fall perfectly into place in retrospect, without losing the dreamy aspect of the blind first read (I don't think I'm fully processing the weirdness of some scenes regardless of how many times I experience them)

PS.: everyone here deserves therapy. half of the cast is filthy rich, what's their excuse?

Is kinda awkward to write a review for individual books in a series I'm *rereading*, because I know how things will be solved, what details things are hinting at, and while a lot of the surprise is gone, I'm also blind to shortcomings this might have without the foresight.

Regardless of that, if I have to point out anything is that I love the pure weirdness of The Raven Cycle. The most insane things happen and the characters just roll with it, and is an insane completely out of the usual parameters for supernatural/fantasy. 

Writing and plot progression rules are skillfully broken, which contributed to the uneasiness and dream-like feel of the story. Even on a reread, it doesn't feel like you know where it is going because is not following the same paths you're familiar with!

But the highlight here is definitely the characters. Maggie Stiefvater captures something very few authors can: teen dialogue. The tone is genius, managing incredible lines while sounding realistic to 17 year-olds, and being hilarious while acknowledging that their situation makes them Odd sometimes.

Even if this doesn't have the kick in the gut of a full 5★ read, it carries the distinct feeling of a fairytale introduction: magic enough to satisfy you, and introductory enough to keep you turning pages.

Rewinding 150 years from where we left of Phase I, there weren't many expectations or predictions on my part regarding what we were getting with these new books; but Path of Deceit held nothing back and is easily my favorite book so far!

The story is incredibly well paced and constructed, managing a solid plot progression while fleshing out all the three (!) individual storylines and their respective main characters. I have to also take note on the huge diversity in gender and sexuality, all very seamless part the story, as it should be. (And also 90% of the cast is made of aliens. Finally! It doesn't cost extra to *write* them so why are most the books about humans?)

Path of Deceit has a very careful take on religion and faith, exploring how different relationships with the Force could coexist, as well as the consequences of alienation and religious manipulation.
At the same time, it doesn't deal with these topics in a dark or dense way, allowing the complex message to sink in without weighting the read. That is, until a 180° tonal-shift about 80% into the book that is phenomenally executed: I was blind sighted, but never thrown out of the story.

There is a clear intention to set the scene to what we see in Phase I: Two of the main characters are grey-skinned aliens with the surname Ro, who paint blue streaks on their faces in honor of being part of The Path — we know what this points to, but there's no apparent answer to how it gets there. It's very easy to make a clear-cut obvious origin story, but that isn't what we get here.

Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland manage to bring a perfectly balanced prequel story, hooking the reader with some hints and familiarity without losing the sense of mistery or anticipation that is the soul of Path of Deceit.

"The closest we ever come to being truly one with the Force is when we're working to help make the galaxy a better place for everyone."

Mission to Disaster is definitely my favorite junior novel from Phase I: the plot is dynamic, the setting is amazing, and even the new characters feel alive.

I think the choice to focus more on Avon here worked extremely well! She's witty and resourceful, but with her share of miscalculations to round up the character. Not showing up on other works like Vernestra and Imri, we had much more space to explore and see her development.

Other detail I loved was how this book clearly lays ground to expanding the era. We hear about a mysterious past, a conflit not talked about, motivations we don't understand, all of it possibilities to be explored on future works (hi, Phase II).

I'm much more comfortable with Vernestra's portrayal here. I think her character works best in the junior format as opposed to YA (or maybe Justina Ireland does, hard to tell), and the same can be said to Imri. The return of other characters as well as the new ones also felt very natural and I want to know more about them!

My only nitpick with Mission to Disaster is the climax. I think the way it was paced didn't manage to hit the high as well as it could've, especially considering we know exactly how things will end on the adult side of things.
But this is simply me looking for more drama.

"Words have power, but they have weight as well, and some of them are so terribly, terribly heavy."

At eleven years old, Snow had to run away. Her entire murdered family and a scar to hide her identity haunt her for the next seven years. Now, the Selection has come to her village, and she has the chance to face the one responsible for all her pain under the pretense of being trained to marry a royal. Between deals, magic lessons and chess games, Snow tries to figure it out how to bring justice to her loved ones and her kingdom without revealing her true identity.

Thrilling, right? I love fairytale retellings, it's always interesting to see what each author decides to twist from the original stories and how they do that, and in White as Witching things definitely took to a grimer (sorry) tone.

The first half of this book is impeccable. I was ready to give it 4.5/5 stars. I'm all in for a more mature approach and pacing, and the evil aunt/stepmother has a nuance I love to see in villains. She's doing bad stuff but she has a reason! She thinks she's in the right and is genuinely baffled when people disagree. She isn't evil for the sake of it, just like our heroine isn't just a goody two shoes fighting for honor or whatever. There are also quite a few nods to other fairytales that are really well interwoved to the world and are really fun to spot! I'd say this book is worth a read from that first half alone, specially if you're interested in those elements mentioned.

But what about the other half? Unfortunately, that's where the book lost me. Katherine Buel is a really good writer, and none of the issues I had were about the story itself, but with the way it was presented.

Here's the thing: if you want to write a standalone, you can't have the plot of a trilogy. From the point the stage is set and things pickup there's not a single moment to breathe, and it all feels really rushed because there're too many things happening. I had a hard time caring about most events because we don't really see the story unfolding, but instead a couple paragraphs summing up what they did and what was decided, sometimes covering the span of weeks. Show me the scenes! They look cool!

And that's the thing. I like the sum of the story, the direction it took and how it got there. But I feel more like the author got halfway to the page count and oops, realized they wouldn't have enough space so they just outlined for me how it ended and gave me a bit detail on the important parts. This book doesn't reach 300 pages. Spread out to an extra 100! Make it a duology! Give this story enough room to exhist! I genuinely thinks it deserved it.

**Spoilery PS**
PS: I have to take note on the decision to magically get rid of the face scar. I understand the attemp to make it less "problematic" by giving a speech about Snow hiding behind it but this is a character problem that could've been solved without making her conveniently pretty again. I'd rather she had learned that being the fairest of them all is not defined by a facial scar or whatever. It's a much better message as well.

I was provided and advanced copy by NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for reviewing purposes. This book will be available on October 4th.