heartbrekker's Reviews (797)

One of the toughest things about writing a novella is that the author has to get readers hooked in a short amount of time while simultaneously concluding it a hundred or so pages later. While I wish Tread of Angels was longer to grow relationship dynamics, I’d still say this was a solid read.

Tread of Angels is an angels and demons fantasy that leans heavily into Christian influences. Celeste is considered a half-breed, having been born both an Elect and Fallen, and she’s dedicated a lot of her life to protecting her Fallen younger sister Mariel. One morning her sister is dragged out by soldiers after being accused of murdering a Virtue, and Celeste will stop at nothing to clear Mariel’s name, including becoming her voice in court aka advocatus diaboli. Readers follow Celeste as she tries to piece together the mystery of what really happened to the dead Virtue, and the truth will ultimately rock her world.

What I loved most about this book is its themes on biased perceptions. Our emotions are so strong when tied to our beliefs that we will rather look at the sun than directly at the mirror, which is the truth/ reality of the situation. Tread of Angels is also a book about relationships from siblings to lovers to government officials. Celeste destroys herself a bit more with every interaction because she refuses to take herself into account and rather jumps straight into the deep end. It’s a reminder that everyone is their own individual, and we gotta allow them to make their own decisions and deal with those consequences. Readers may have mixed feelings on Celeste because she’s an unreliable narrator, and I found myself interested in side characters more than her—Abraxas and Ibrahim specifically—which isn't a particularly good sign. I feel like Celeste's character arc was only just beginning in this book, so it fell a bit flat for me because we don't get to see the ramifications of the ending and its effect on her.

Again, I wish Tread of Angels were longer. It reminded me of those early 2010 years with angels and demons but in an adult and murder mystery lens. I really wish this could’ve been a great standalone that lasted way longer than 200ish pages. The history and world building of this world were just so fascinating that I didn’t want it to end.

Anyway, thank you to Saga Press for sending me a finished copy to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

10/31: Apparently, the ARC has a slightly different ending, so if any of you know of it, please tell me. I’m going to do a deep dive on here to try to figure out what it is.

I went into The Heart of the Sun Warrior guarded. I had high hopes for Daughter of the Moon Goddess, and I was gravely disappointed in December of 2021. It was still a three star ranking, which isn't bad by any means, but I thought DOTMG was going to be one of my top reads of the year. My biggest issue within the first book was the chaotic pacing, especially because of the shift between Xingyin's youth and adulthood. I still believe this duology could've been a trilogy and that probably would've fixed my pacing issues. We did not get that much time with Wenzhi when both he and Xingyin were working for the army, especially in comparison to Liwei and Xingyin's youth, so again, I think a meaty part of the first book was lost in not exploring that period of Xingyin's life. Anyway, I went into The Heart of the Sun Warrior hoping that pacing was a bit more natural since the time frame is smoother than the time jumps in the book before. And I am incredibly excited to say that it was!

To elaborate more on the pacing—I loved that this whole book revolved around Xingyin's loved ones, specifically the villain's vengeance being tied to Chang'e. The plot wove together seamlessly and drove the story the entire time. One of my critiques of the first book was the lack of scenes between Chang'e and Xingyin, and in this sequel, I didn't have that problem one bit. We actually get to see both of them in an individualized lens because Xingyin has been on her own for so long in contrast to Chang'e's emotional pain from losing both her husband and daughter. Xingyin actually babies her mom in a couple scenes, which was an interesting and realistic take due to her trauma in having to become an adult at a young age to protect her mom, but Chang'e actually rejects Xingyin multiple times in response to Xingyin's babying actions. Chang'e asserts herself as her own individual, and I really liked that because we've only really talked about Chang'e as this mythical figure and never once as a person herself. There's a part of me that wishes we could've had even more time with Chang'e because she's just an interesting character. You'd assume she'd feel vengeance for being trapped on the moon for so long, but she's actually the most empathetic character, which is a great contrast to Xingyin.

Now if you're curious about the romance, you're either going to groan or be super excited. Me personally? Love triangles are not a trope that I typically like, but in this instance, I was a ride or die for it because Wenzhi; need I say more? Ever since Xingyin left Liwei to pursue the Celestial Army, I've never wanted them to be together. Xingyin deserves to be with someone who will choose her above all else, and sadly, Liwei cannot do that due to his responsibilities as the heir to the emperor. I've known that since the first book, and I still readily agree that Xingyin needs someone that will pick her first because nobody ever has besides her own mother. Therefore, to see the tension between Liwei and Xingyin in this book only solidified my previous book opinion. It wasn't fun to see them argue because both deserve to be happy, but it's interesting that Xingyin continues to deny Liwei via marriage proposals. The even more interesting aspect of that is Xingyin cannot ever voice what feels wrong (besides the fact that she'll be abused by the Celestial court lol) about her relationship to Liwei. *cue Wenzhi strutting in because she can't get over him even after his betrayal BAHAHA* If you aren't a fan of love triangles, you'll probably get annoyed by this since Xingyin is very indecisive and confused about both men throughout the entirety of this finale. But I'm ultimately very happy with the end results because it felt realistic and genuine.

The best part to this finale is the final 50-ish pages. Basically, once the climax scene begins, I could not put this book down. Xingyin is forced to make an extremely hard decision, and the ramifications change the outcome of her life forevermore. It was also poetic to return to the moon for the climax because it's a reminder that this book began on the moon and will end there too. A full circle moment if I ever saw one. Everything has culminated to this moment, and it was fantastic. Moreover, the fallout events of the climax were also my favorite scenes. Sue Lynn Tan is a master at the personable moments between characters during this period, and I was near tears reading those final few pages. I don't think this book could have ended in any other manner, and I'm so happy to find this as the ending for Xingyin. It's open ended but beautifully hopeful.

My main critique for this finale does fall back in line with one of my critiques of DOTMG—a lot of unnecessary scenes and disruptments take place. While I can see the reasoning behind the Elixir of Immortality scene, I still don't get why that couldn't have been in the previous book as the final scene or the VERY first scene of this book. I was certain that Xingyin's father wasn't actually him because I was convinced someone was pretending to be him to steal the elixir. Then, when that wasn't the case, I had to quickly switch gears to figure out "okay, why is this included" and disrupting the tension with Wugang. It felt random to have it thrown in the midst of the book's tension with the actual villain, and it disrupted the flow of the villain arc. I had to reposition myself as these new plot points revealed themselves, and I would've liked for the scenes to flow together better.

Overall, I am very happy with this finale. HOTSW definitely redeemed the Celestial Kingdom duology in my eyes, and I'm honestly going to consider bingeing the duology sometime next year to really experience this world. Maybe I'll enjoy DOTMG
Thank you to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

10/27: Maybe I’ll change it to a full four stars. I have to sit on this rating a bit. But if there’s one thing I know for certain—it’s that this sequel was superior to the first book.

A part of me was upset to learn originally of this book's release because I'm dying to get the Witchlands finale, but after the initial shock wore off, I became very intrigued by this book. For starters, while I did not follow/ actively participate a lot in the Luminerds Twitter polls during the pandemic, I knew they existed and checked on them every once in a while. When I realized this book was partly based off of those Twitter polls, that's where my excitement truly mounted. And I read Susan's acknowledgments at the end and know she took liberties with this story ultimately with a few easter eggs, but it's so incredible to think about where this story began. Someday, I'll have to really dig deep into the Luminerds Twitter posts.

Anyway, let's get this review rolling for The Luminaries!

I loved the concept for this book. I've always loved cryptids, which this story is not about but reminds me of my nostalgia, and monster hunting stories—cue the Supernatural Carry on My Wayward Son—so it comes as no surprise that this book was meant for me. I've actually just finished reading a lot of dark adult fantasies, so I went into this book wanting something light but mysterious and was rewarded with exactly that.

The Luminaries is a contemporary fantasy about the town of Hemlock Falls where monsters run rampant through the forest and hunters known as Luminaries seek them out. The Luminaries are actually a global organization. A new sect springs up whenever a specific spirit forms and starts to create/ nurture monsters within its borders. My favorite part of this world building is that from every Luminaries sect around the world, clan families go by last names in accordance with the days of the week. There's a detail about about a transfer family with the last name Lunes, which is Monday in Spanish, and then another transfer family with Vtornik as their last name, which is Tuesday in Russian. It was these little details that made the world feel more real, and I liked it a lot.

In terms of the plot, Winnie Wednesday is our protagonist, and for the last four years, her family ( along with her mom and bro) have been outcasts from the Luminaries because Winnie's father betrayed the clan to the Dianas, which is another group of people within this monster hunting world that take advantage of the magic within these special forests. The Wednesday family is known for their loyalty above all else, so their fall is especially harsh in that they are disgraced for 10 years. And dear old dad ran away in the process. With Winnie's 16th birthday coming up, she's determined to exploit a loophole which allows her to compete in the dangerous hunter trials. But monsters even worse than those within the Compendium (Luminaries monster hunting guidebook) are lurking within Hemlock Falls, and Winnie may have much more to lose than she ever thought before starting the trials.

Winnie is by far one of the shining lights of this book. She's intelligent and blunt, realistic and compassionate, and most importantly a freaking badass. She has not officially trained with other hunters since she was around eleven years old, but for the last four years, she's created her own version of training because she wants to be a hunter that badly. She's basically willing to die to end this disgrace on her family, and while many of us would agree that's a bit extreme, the toxicity of the hunters and their culty, bureaucratic indoctrination make this reality understandable. If you aren't a hunter, then you're nothing, and Winnie refuses to let this be the case any longer. Moreover, I relate to her wholeheartedly with her experiences in losing friends. Erika, Jay, and Winnie grew up as a trio before her father's actions, but suddenly, Winnie lost them both along with her aunt and whole community. When the tide starts to change in the midst of the book due to Winnie's first trial, Winnie doesn't embrace these people's change of heart. It actually makes her bitter, more enraged, because it took her putting herself in danger for anything to become better. That part felt very realistic to my own experiences in my life with friendships. You're allowed to be angry and unforgiving because your feelings and pain are valid. Jay and Winnie's relationship really exemplifies this point because they start to grow close in the book, and Winnie cannot forgive him immediately, which causes strain in their rekindled friendship and her tumultuous feelings for Jay. And while I don't think this fully applies to Jay cause he has a lot going on, the change in people's hearts prove that this society is fake. They don't actually care about the hunters individually, and they're a hive mind more than anything else. This makes me excited for the sequel because I think toxic bureaucracy is going to play a huge role.

Now a giant surprise, in my opinion, about this book is the number of theories coursing through my brain. I was expecting this big reveal on a particular element throughout the course of the book, and to not have it happen at all blew me away. Susan is building some tension and angst with not revealing the truth, and my theories are spinning wilder and wilder. I'll be returning to this review to word vomit all about them once The Luminaries releases—notably my ones that involve Jay because he's the mysterious rocker, ex-bestie, bad boy that everyone fawns over in town. But the new, haunting creature is another big theory of mine.

Lastly, going back to my old nostalgia for monster hunters, I loved every minute Winnie was in the forest. From the terrifying chase scenes in the mist to fresh scents of trees and plants, it was a wondrous atmosphere and setting. The details in the monsters was another phenomenal element to the book's atmosphere. I'll never get over the vampira horde at around the mid-way point in the book, and I really enjoyed Susan putting her own spin on these creatures, like vampira, that have been written about for centuries. The monsters gave me goosebumps at times, and I can't wait to see Winnie trudge into there even more in the sequel, particularly with Jay as her hunting buddy—please and thanks Susan!

Now The Luminaries is not a ~drop everything this is my new favorite book~ kinda read, but it was a fun, exciting new world to dive into. I'm really interested in the sequel, but I do hope it comes after Witchlands #5 haha.

Thank you to Tor Teen for gifting me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.