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gossamer_lens's Reviews (1.48k)
If I were to rate this book based on how it's written this book would be a 2.5 for me. However, I rate based on the pleasure I received from reading. I liked reading this book for two main reasons. Firstly, I found the plot and world to be enticing. Secondly, through watching my fiance play the whole of the Witcher 3 and watching the Netflix season one... I have gained a strong affinity for the characters. Where the author lacked in flushing out his characters, my pre-gained love for them saved things. It was like reading a book with an Instagram filter on (aka rose-colored glasses). Where the author gave every women's description over to how bangable he thinks they were, I felt as if I already knew the characters and could roll my eyes at whether or not the author's choice of important details.
This book makes me interested in reading the next. Which may be better written and less focused on sexualizing every woman character... who knows. But it mostly made me excited for The Witcher season 2!
This book makes me interested in reading the next. Which may be better written and less focused on sexualizing every woman character... who knows. But it mostly made me excited for The Witcher season 2!
I can only think of one other book that I liked the film adaptation of better. Like most people I know, I watched the Netflix adaptation of this book. I didn't realize it was an adaptation when I watched it and I'm truly glad I didn't. I fear that if I had known I would have read this book and then been disinterested. The show simply handles certain things much better than this book does and the overall feeling and impact of the show hit harder than this did at any point.
*Spoilers*the whole way Tevis writes feels like more of a brief description of events than an actual story. While we often get insight into characters' thoughts and feelings, the way Tevis writes makes it all feel like he is just telling us and that it doesn't really matter. Additionally, while this book centers on a girl/woman, there is nothing feminine feeling about her. This isn't a problem for me, except for that Tevis almost forcefully inserts these moments of trying to tell us that she is in fact feminine. These moments always feel contrived and like an alien is trying to tell us what feminity is and not like our main character has feminine traits. It just reads very awkwardly and has little to no self-awareness of this.
Considering these were my issues with the novel, I think it is rather apparent how a dedicated mini-series could have addressed these issues. The changes made to the story help flush out everyone so they feel like real people and the show holds a self-awareness for the main character's awkwardness. Not to mention the show actually gives side characters more than 2 seconds of thought to feel fleshed out and like they matter to the overall story and/or the main character.
*Spoilers*
Considering these were my issues with the novel, I think it is rather apparent how a dedicated mini-series could have addressed these issues. The changes made to the story help flush out everyone so they feel like real people and the show holds a self-awareness for the main character's awkwardness. Not to mention the show actually gives side characters more than 2 seconds of thought to feel fleshed out and like they matter to the overall story and/or the main character.
I really tried my best with this one.
I'm not really into romance, but the last time I tried to read a book centered primarily on a romance plot was... at least 5 years ago. The cover just really caught my eye and so I went for it while it was on sale. I did enjoy the read well enough but it just fell flat for me. I'm not sure if this is because I still am not really into romance... or if it is more on the book itself. It is an overall solid debut novel that I enjoyed but certainly didn't grip me in any particular way.
*spoilers*This book had some solid components to it. However there just were too many small things that added up to make the read more awkward/stilted than I hoped it would be. I like the main character, but her struggles and characteristics just seem to have the exact same few phrases paraphrased over and over several times per chapter. I like each of the characters she meets/has in her life. But with every single one having to be very pointedly quirky... they all start to fade into feeling the same and feeling disingenuous and un-interesting. I get her hardship, but with how flowery the language is and how much things are brushed over it felt difficult to ever really connect with the basic plot that was given. As I said, these could be things that just rub me wrong as I have a hard time connecting with romance-centered plots. But I feel it is a strong possibility that the author was just doing a little to much with too little.
I'm not really into romance, but the last time I tried to read a book centered primarily on a romance plot was... at least 5 years ago. The cover just really caught my eye and so I went for it while it was on sale. I did enjoy the read well enough but it just fell flat for me. I'm not sure if this is because I still am not really into romance... or if it is more on the book itself. It is an overall solid debut novel that I enjoyed but certainly didn't grip me in any particular way.
*spoilers*
I thought the story was interesting enough but nothing about the characters grabbed me and I found the audiobook narration overly dramatic. It just felt like too much. I'm sure it is someone's cup of tea. But for me, it was just okay. A solid 3. I won't be reading the rest of the series of short stories.
I'm not really into mysteries. I enjoyed the characters and their connections. I also was enjoying the mystery and the choices made were impactful. However, somewhere at the beginning of Chapter 2, I think things just fell apart a little for me when it came to the mystery. I would have preferred if the origins of the curse had been explored more and maybe a little more branching had occurred based on one's choices. But overall it was good and fun story.
I love Norse mythology... And I was excited for a new setting for one of the TP books... But it just all fell flat. The side characters weren't interesting to me, the world building was clunky, and the story was barely there and had no real point. Probably my least favorite TP book so far.
A very solid story with both love interests feeling developed and interesting in their own ways. I enjoyed many of the side characters and while things were often predictable there were some twists that took me by surprise. I enjoyed all the clothing/animation and am looking forward to diving into the additional side stories.
I really enjoyed the first half of this book and then somewhere in the second half it just lost me. I felt like it was trying too hard to surprise you... but it all just felt sort of jumbled and confusing. I really enjoyed the two main side characters a lot so overall it was okay with a decent amount of liking things... so a solid 3.5 star for me. I wish that things had felt a little more developed, cohesive, and focused on the interpersonal connections then on the mystery.