heartbrekker's Reviews (797)

“For here was the thing that no fairy tale would ever admit, but that she understood in that moment: love was not inherently good. Certainly, it could inspire goodness. She didn’t argue that. Poets would tell you that love was electricity in your veins that could light a room. That it was a river in your soul to lift you up and carry you away, or a fire inside the heart to keep you warm. Yet electricity could also fry, rivers could drown, and fires could burn; love could be destructive. Punishingly, fatally destructive. And the other thing, the real bloody clincher of it all, was that the good and the bad didn’t get served up equally. If love were a balance of electric lights and electric jolts, two sides of an equally weighted coin, then fair enough. She could deal. That wasn’t how it worked, though. Some love was just the bad, all the time: an endless parade of electrified bones and drowned lungs and hearts that burned to a cinder inside the cage of your chest."

You certainly will not forget The Book Eaters. It is a contemporary, gothic-horror novel that follows single mother Devon who is trying to satiate her son Cai's hunger while on the run. Satiate Cai's hunger, you ask? Yes, Devon is a book eater, which are human-like beings that consume books as food, yet Cai was born a mind reader, one who feeds off of minds and leaves the victims mere shells of their former self. His voracious hunger is only growing by the second, and she needs to find the solution ASAP— a drug that allows mind eaters to eat books. But with the book eater authorities closing in fast, Devon's attempts to grab the drug and run seem slimmer and slimmer.

“We can only live by the light we're given, and some of us are given no light at all. What else can we do except learn to see in the dark?”

Horror has always been my one true love, specifically gothic. It's the historical genre of my heart, which isn't a surprise to anyone since Frankenstein is my favorite classic. Anyway, 2022 has become a year dedicated to modern, gothic books, and I'm living for every minute of it. The grotesque explanation for how mind eaters eat sent thousands of shivers down my spine, and the few scenes we see it in action? WOW. I'd been intrigued by The Book Eaters since I first heard about it, but I didn't know until I started reading that it would enrapture me so much that I'd finish it in under twenty four hours.

“Hope was a thing you lost when simply trying to imagine better days became so exhausting, overwhelming, and depressing a task, that one opted for despair out of sheer weariness. Giving up brought a kind of peace.”

I think the strongest element to this book—besides the idea itself— is Devon's exploration of motherhood and what that means for her. Devon and all of the other book eater women are rare. It's very unlikely to have a book eater daughter, so they are protected at all costs whenever one is born. But soon enough we realize that this "revered" idea of book eater women is actually the men's way of restricting them into forced impregnation. When I first read Devon's revelation that she'd be sold to the highest bidding man, and after birthing and feeding the child, she'd be sent off to the next highest bidder; I was aghast. My mouth was on the floor, and I was making a noise somewhere between a gasp and a squawk. Not to mention, the moment when Devon is forcibly drugged and taken away from her first child/ daughter Salem... I cried for a long time. This whole book just obliterated my feelings into a chaotic swirl.

“Love doesn’t have a cost. It’s just a choice you make.”

The sweet surprise of this novel involved the sapphic and asexual representation. Devon ends up revealing to her friend Jarrow that she's never been interested in men throughout the course of her marriages and impregnation, and instead, she prefers women. This entire scene is in contrast to Jarrow explaining that he is asexual. I loved this scene because it was an intimate, raw moment between the two, and even in their horrific positions within the clan, they found reprieve in their friendship and this conversation about their identities. It was casual yet powerful—a gem in an otherwise cavernous pit of despair.

“The lesson is in the story, my dear.”

Overall, the book is pretty short in comparison to most fantasies. The end scene is a bit rushed, which is the only reason 0.25 was taken from the full star rating. If anyone is looking to jump into modern, gothic horror, then The Book Eaters is the perfect start.

“There’s a point, you know, where treachery is so complete and unashamed that it becomes statesmanship.”

Thank you to Tor Books for gifting me a finished copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Before The Drowned Woods I had never read something by Emily Llyod-Jones before. I knew of The Bone Houses, but nothing yet had led me to actually read her prose. Until now.

Who was gonna tell me that Emily just likes to stab readers' hearts out?! Honestly, I was expecting a fun heist story with some darker elements but not this!

Inspired by Welsh folklore, The Drowned Woods follows a water diviner, iron fetch, thief, spymaster, and entourage as they journey to takedown the tyrannical prince. Mer, the water diviner, has been hiding from the prince for years after he tricked her into finding a well, which led to the poisoning of villages' water supplies. She was branded a traitor for fighting back against the king once news of the poisoned villages got out, so now she jumps between towns, working odd jobs but currently as a waitress. That is... until Renfrew, her father-figure and spymaster to the king, shows up asking for Mer's help in stopping the prince in his plans to invade the lands of the Otherfolk, leading to all out war. All they have to do is find the magical well that helps the prince keep power, poison it, and then get the heck out of dodge. But with obstacles baring their path and betrayal mounting, will the plan work?

I adored this book. I loved the cool confidence of Mer, and her relationships with Renfrew, Ifanna, and Fane only added to her strength because of her unique connection to each of them. A great cast of characters can really build a wonderful story, and that's exactly what happened here. The flashbacks for all of the characters made me care about them more. Fane's work with the Otherfolk makes him extremely interesting because he's been around magical beings more than humans these last few years. What toll does that take on someone? Ifanna is the daughter of renowned leaders of the guild of Caer Wyddno, but she specializes in thievery. She alone could have a story dedicated to her antics with the nobility. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that Emily gives phenomenal growth and characterization to each of the characters, whether the protagonist—Mer— or not. Plus, all of them are extremely shady, so it was fun to have distrust underline nearly every interaction because as a reader, you don't fully understand the characters' desires... at least until they want you to see them.

Moreover, romance is a VERY subtle sideline to the story. Mer falls somewhere between bisexual and pansexual with her sexuality in particular. She and Ifanna were in a romantic relationship before the events of the book, but they ended on extremely bad terms. Betrayal just isn't good for a healthy relationship— LOL. One of my only critiques of this book is that I didn’t believe the romance at the end. It felt very rushed and sudden, and I’d already sold my heart to Ifanna, but I do understand why Ifanna and Mer weren’t endgame… It just wasn’t what I wanted.

As I was reading the book, I was enjoying it, but I didn't think anything particularly stood out to make this book a five star read. I was content with a rating somewhere around four stars, leaning towards three and three quarters, but once the final act began with the crew going underground and journeying to the well... Chaos ensued, and my rating started to creep upwards.

The ending is truly where this book shines, in my opinion. I did not think I was that emotionally connected to Mer until I was sobbing like a baby. I'm serious. I was a blubberly what-the-frickedy-frack is going on throughout the last 50 pages. Again, I thought this book would be a fun heist with some darker elements but never this! Chapter 29 is going down as one of the best chapters that I have ever read too. It's short, emotional, and packs a punch straight to your heart. Post-chapter 29 left me with complicated feelings, but I’m not going into too much detail because spoilers.

8/15: UMMM. I DID NOT EXPECT TO BAWL MY EYES OUT.

"Maybe that's all love was. Handing someone a knife and trusting that they wouldn't cut your throat."

Katy Rose Pool's books never let me down. I'll admit—I've been putting off reading Into the Dying Light for a variety of reasons, but Garden of the Cursed reminded me of why I loved Katy's books so much. Her writing is addictive, and it brings me back to the early to mid 2010's when I was devouring dystopian YA books left and right. Obviously, GOTC is not dystopian, but the fact that it tugs on my nostalgia strings is a definite win.

"Everyone wants to feel in control. But that feeling isn't real. None of us are in control, not really. So I say, stop pretending and embrace it. If I can't control my life, then at least I'm going to have a damn good time living it."

GOTC is a blend of fantasy and mystery, but it also leans into a slight detective vibe too. Marlow is a cursebreaker in Caraza, an extremely successful one at that, until her ex-best friend Adrius comes to her cursed asking for help. He is a member of the elite in Caraza, specifically the Five Families, who are the most powerful people in this world because they horde the secrets via creating spellscards and curses. Now being cursed wouldn't be so bad for Adrius if not for: 1. him being a Falcrest aka the most powerful of the Five Families, 2. his curse being a Compulsion curse which aren't supposed to exist anymore, 3. curses become permanent after two moon cycles. Yeah, I'd say pretty dire circumstances. Anyway, GOTC follows Marlow as she digs deeper into who cursed Adrius, but she's also forced to confront the reasons why their friendship ended nearly a year ago... and maybe that her feelings are a bit stronger than merely friendship.

"When lightning crackles across the sky and the air gets thick enough to chew, it means trouble isn't far behind."

While Adrius and Marlow aren't besties anymore at the start of this book, Katy certainly gives us other friendships to indulge over. Honestly, Katy always does friendships right—true friendship at that. Swift and Marlow were two peas in a pod, and their banter was one of the shining lights of this book. But Swift also calls Marlow out on her mistakes and bad decisions. Multiple times Marlow puts Swift in a life threatening and triggering position. He's essentially forced to help her because of his love for her, but once it's done, he confronts her and lets her have it. Friends don't get a free pass when they overstep. Marlow literally says "she knows what she's asking of him," but she still asks him anyway. I find a lot of friendships in books shy away from this very real reality that oftentimes friendships strain people more than any other relationship. Friendships are just as flawed as any other relationship; romantic relationships and parent-kid relationships aren't the only ones that exist and cause drama. It was refreshing to see this dynamic between friends in a YA book. You can tell Swift was given tons of thought. I'm hoping Adrius's best friend can get a bit more screen time in the sequel because he's essentially Adrius's version of Swift.

"Caraza was a city built on a swamp, and swamps bred mosquitos. And mosquitos fed on blood."

In terms of the world building, I was fascinated by this modern fantasy setting that siphons magic into spellcards for good or bad purposes. We only get crumbs when it comes to this magic system, which I assume is because the second book will lean more into it, but the Falcrest library scene, in particular, was my favorite. The multiple illusions engulfing the exterior of the library was fascinating, and I loved the details that it made Marlow a bit sick to her stomach due to all the distortion and movement. It felt overwhelming, and I couldn't even see it. Then, the fact that the library is spelled to be larger inside to accommodate for all the space... Genius! I wish we could've had more than two chapters in that location, so here's to hoping for more in the sequel. Pretty much every setting was great though. From the Evergarden parties to the swampy Marshes back at Marlow's apartment, the city felt like a real major city. I've been really into fantasy books that lean into modernity, specifically big cities, so it was a treat to find such a stunning world. If you're a fan of this type of fantasy world, then I'd highly recommend Amanda Foody's Shadow Game trilogy, which starts with Ace of Shades, or even the YA fantasy classic Six of Crows.

"The trick to pulling off a con... is that some part of you has to believe it, too. Just enough to make it real—but not so much that you forget yourself."

My main critique of this book was the rushed ending, akin to whiplash at times. The pacing was perfect until those final 50ish pages when chaos was unfurling left and right. It leaned into plot info-dump territory, which isn't my favorite way to end a book, especially one I was enjoying so much. Also, in those final 50ish pages I was pretty much fed up with the miscommunication between Adrius and Marlow. It didn't actually bug me until the end, but it went on waaay to long in my opinion. Overall, these aren't big critiques; they just disrupted the flow and pulled me out of the story.

"...as long as there were curses, she would go on breaking them."

Thank you to Katy Rose Pool for DM-ing me  with an offering of this NetGalley eARC. I think I'm going to have to pick up Into the Dying Light ASAP to continue on with Katy's wonderful writing.

DNF @ 60%

“Suffering was its own form of absolution.”

Not gonna lie—switching from an 880 page sci-fi epic to a 300ish grief journey, while traveling to a mysterious beacon hole on a new planet, was not the turn I expected for Paolini within the Fractalverse. Yet Fractal Noise is not about this weird hole; it's the journey to get to it, similar to Frodo's to Mount Doom. The journey wreaks havoc on the protagonist and his peers, but they were already broken before the trip began. Overall, FN is a relatively basic grief story, but once you throw in this planetary hole and possible aliens, the chaos starts to set in.

“What possible evidence do you have that this universe is anything but cruel and heartless?”

Alex Crichton is an interesting choice as a lead. His internal monologue is incredibly negative, and he’s constantly berating himself for his life changing mistakes. Plenty of readers will find him off-putting for those reasons. You would think a xenobiologist would be the strictest scientist on an expedition to find alien evidence, but we see pretty early on that his grief has made his work subpar. It’s hard to root for him, and if this book had been any longer, I probably would have begun disliking him. Alex doesn’t realize it at the time, but this trip will bring some version of healing—for better or for worse, you’ll have to read to find out. When leads are stripped to their very bones, physically and emotionally, I think their reactions and decisions are the most fascinating and that’s what we have here.

“It was unfair… that you no longer got to name your own discoveries. Not if you were working for a company or government, that was.”

Lastly, I want to touch on the physical formatting of this book. Paolini disrupts the flow of the book to not only physically jar our senses like the characters but also write a better story. You will notice very quickly the relevance of the “thud.” As you delve deeper, the thud's frequency increases, mocking not only the characters sanity but the readers too. You’ll be annoyed: why is this thud taking page space when I could be learning other things about the characters, the environment? The thud even cuts off characters/their thoughts mid-sentence to physically represent the disruption. In college, I lived near a military base that would do drills where we could feel the ground shake once every month or so, and that slight vibration of the ground immediately became my point of connection to the thud in Fractal Noise. It made me think of a metronome on steroids because it is not only affecting your ears but also the physicality of your body. When I mentioned the psychological changes to the characters earlier—the thud is the worst and biggest problem for the physical terrain because the repetition and intensity affect the characters.

“Alex thought he was beginning to understand why so many religions started in the desert. The emptiness of the land did something to a person’s brain, focused it on the strangeness of one’s inner life.”

I’m hoping someone can give a good breakdown between Fractal Noise and To Sleep in a Sea of Stars because I do not remember how these books connect. It’s been too long since I read the latter, so I essentially treated these books as separate entities. For time purposes, Alex’s experience takes place in 2234 whereas Kira’s is twenty-three years in the future in 2257. I assume the alien relic in TSIASOS is from the same civilization that brought us this giant hole that is sending a message out into space, but again, my memory is not the best for this series. That’s the closest I can come up with in terms of how they connect. Also, I want to know if Alex or any of his experiences/crew members are ever mentioned in TSIASOS. I’ll probably have to comb through my copy for their possible names, but I’d LOVE for someone to find the answer for me haha.

“Everyone’s life is on the line… Do you know what will happen if they attack us? We’ll lose. Humanity will lose. All gone. Dead. Planets blasted bare. Men, women, children, and the screaming, the screaming.”

Now I have plenty of spoilery thoughts to include in this review, so I’ll be posting those here after its release date.

“It’s all so beautiful.”

Thank you to Tor Books for sending me a review copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.