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heartbrekker's Reviews (797)
3.5
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"Right, because I want to be the scene in the horror movie where you run back to the car, flooded with relief that I'm at the wheel, until you put your hand on my shoulder and I fall over, and you scream, but I can't hear because I'm dead, and the monster is already behind you and I can't warn you because, again, I'm already dead."
.
Let me start off this review with the plain and simple facts of:
#1. I have never read or watched anything in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe
#2. This novel is actually SO funny- like WOW Cillian can you be my best friend?
#3. Nina is legit me trying to get my life together and failing miserably
I didn't know what to expect walking into this novel. I originally planned on staying clear from it because I had never seen anything in the Buffy-verse (is that name a thing?) before, but when I was asked to review an early copy, I couldn't say no. It just suddenly called to me.
I feel my review is for all the people who have not seen anything in this world.
Kiersten does a great job, in my opinion, of laying out the groundwork for the world while also not allowing it to feel too info-dumpy. I gained the knowledge without being bored out of my mind, and I soon came to understand the world almost immediately, which I appreciated. I was worried about getting confused in this world before reading, but that fear was dissolved pretty quick.
My favorite character was hands down Cillian. Boy, this son was FUNNY. He's the human comedic relief in an otherwise intense supernatural world, and I LIVED for it. A decent number of my tabs are specifically for him, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
The first third of the novel moved a little slow for me, but the rest of the novel had great pacing and suspense. There were a lot questions getting answering and being asked, and they came organically.
I found the emotions Nina had towards Buffy to be a little clumsy and childish too, and I sadly can't say more than that because spoilers.
Besides Cillian another favorite part of the novel was the relationship between Nina and Artemis. Their role as twins and the reputations thrown on them really added some deep thought to the book. It was a realistic interpretation of how siblings act around each other, and it just reminded me of my own bond with my brother throughout the good and bad moments. I will always adore reading siblings relationships.
ANDDDD the romantic relationship Nina had didn't take over the novel at all. Wow. Focusing on the sibling relationship rather than Nina's denial in crushing was extremely refreshing.
I never thought I'd read another vampire novel, and I pushed that stigma on this world. Now I've definitely rethought that, and I may be bingeing a certain TV show over the next few weeks. The BTVS universe is much more than vampires.
P.S. This book has MAJOR spoilers for the BTVS universe because it takes place after!!!
P.P.S There is some GREAT LQBTQ+ representation in this novel, and I'm only realizing now that I didn't pay much attention to the looks of the character.. so.. my mind is blanking in terms of racial rep.
Thank you Simon Pulse for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
.
"Right, because I want to be the scene in the horror movie where you run back to the car, flooded with relief that I'm at the wheel, until you put your hand on my shoulder and I fall over, and you scream, but I can't hear because I'm dead, and the monster is already behind you and I can't warn you because, again, I'm already dead."
.
Let me start off this review with the plain and simple facts of:
#1. I have never read or watched anything in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe
#2. This novel is actually SO funny- like WOW Cillian can you be my best friend?
#3. Nina is legit me trying to get my life together and failing miserably
I didn't know what to expect walking into this novel. I originally planned on staying clear from it because I had never seen anything in the Buffy-verse (is that name a thing?) before, but when I was asked to review an early copy, I couldn't say no. It just suddenly called to me.
I feel my review is for all the people who have not seen anything in this world.
Kiersten does a great job, in my opinion, of laying out the groundwork for the world while also not allowing it to feel too info-dumpy. I gained the knowledge without being bored out of my mind, and I soon came to understand the world almost immediately, which I appreciated. I was worried about getting confused in this world before reading, but that fear was dissolved pretty quick.
My favorite character was hands down Cillian. Boy, this son was FUNNY. He's the human comedic relief in an otherwise intense supernatural world, and I LIVED for it. A decent number of my tabs are specifically for him, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
The first third of the novel moved a little slow for me, but the rest of the novel had great pacing and suspense. There were a lot questions getting answering and being asked, and they came organically.
I found the emotions Nina had towards Buffy to be a little clumsy and childish too, and I sadly can't say more than that because spoilers.
Besides Cillian another favorite part of the novel was the relationship between Nina and Artemis. Their role as twins and the reputations thrown on them really added some deep thought to the book. It was a realistic interpretation of how siblings act around each other, and it just reminded me of my own bond with my brother throughout the good and bad moments. I will always adore reading siblings relationships.
ANDDDD the romantic relationship Nina had didn't take over the novel at all. Wow. Focusing on the sibling relationship rather than Nina's denial in crushing was extremely refreshing.
I never thought I'd read another vampire novel, and I pushed that stigma on this world. Now I've definitely rethought that, and I may be bingeing a certain TV show over the next few weeks. The BTVS universe is much more than vampires.
P.S. This book has MAJOR spoilers for the BTVS universe because it takes place after!!!
P.P.S There is some GREAT LQBTQ+ representation in this novel, and I'm only realizing now that I didn't pay much attention to the looks of the character.. so.. my mind is blanking in terms of racial rep.
Thank you Simon Pulse for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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I never rated this book beforehand- took me nearly a year to come back to it. This is a very short review, but I had many issues with this story. I loved Manorian (together and separate even though I know a bunch despised them together), Elide, Lorcan, and even Lysandra. They were my highs for this story. Though with Aelin, Rowan, and Aedion I had some heavy issues with their actions/ treatment of certain characters. It's downright derating sometimes what they say to characters in the process of healing, and it was disgusting to see so many still cheer for these characters.
The reason it gets 3 is because I enjoyed the writing, and I loved the characters I mentioned. I'm hoping Tower of Dawn lives up to my expectations because CHAOL AND NESRYN AND IYRENE *happy dance*! I am ready for more diversity in the Southern Continent! I am ready for this book to redeem EOS.
Edit: I decided this over a year and a half to two years ago, but I am not continuing on with this series due to my issues within books QOS and EOS. I heard from Tumblr loads of dissent in regards to KOA, so my decision was solidified in that moment.
The reason it gets 3 is because I enjoyed the writing, and I loved the characters I mentioned. I'm hoping Tower of Dawn lives up to my expectations because CHAOL AND NESRYN AND IYRENE *happy dance*! I am ready for more diversity in the Southern Continent! I am ready for this book to redeem EOS.
Edit: I decided this over a year and a half to two years ago, but I am not continuing on with this series due to my issues within books QOS and EOS. I heard from Tumblr loads of dissent in regards to KOA, so my decision was solidified in that moment.
3.25
Westside is a very unique story. I have an array of emotions across the scale towards this book, but overall, I liked it.
Gilda Carr is a detective who specializes in "tiny mysteries." She has been tasked by her newest client to find her lost match to a pair of white gloves, and to Gilda it just seems like any other case. Though Gilda doesn't know that this tiny mystery will lead her into a giant conspiracy filled with violence and death, and the worst part is that this all connects to her father's mysterious death.
Westside is truly one of the best world building novels in my opinion. I felt as if I was an inhabitant in this dystopian version of New York, half overrun wasteland and half thriving city. The cultures between the two distinct sects of the Eastside and Westside were an interesting dynamic I enjoyed constantly. I, weirdly enough, liked to focus on the guards manning the wall between the two sects. It's a small detail you'd think, but it held some intense weight for specific scenes where Gilda was trying to survive.
My favorite part of Westside was the atmosphere and storytelling revolving around the city's bootlegging and booze wars. It's inspired partly, I'd say, by New York's own prohibition era in the early 1900's, and it filled all my desires between the gangs and conflict amongst competitors.
The initial half of the story completely overtook me, and I was turning the pages so fast I could hardly believe it. The dialogue was crisp and blunt, which is a style I don't read often but was refreshing nonetheless, but somewhere after the halfway mark the story slowed down. I started to feel bored for a decent portion for the story, and that is sadly never a good thing for me. It slowed my reading process and led my interest to drop. Also I got confused quite a bit in the second half because the characters can sometimes blend together, and the story just kept adding more and more incidents. Again, I was getting quite confused, so it became a bit overwhelming for me. I couldn't follow the plot well, so I felt disconnected. I think if I read the story a second time those confusing bits would make more sense to me, but on the first time through I was left scratching my head a lot.
Anyway, I'd definitely say the bootlegging atmosphere and world building are where Westside shines the brightest.
Thank you Harper Voyager for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Westside is a very unique story. I have an array of emotions across the scale towards this book, but overall, I liked it.
Gilda Carr is a detective who specializes in "tiny mysteries." She has been tasked by her newest client to find her lost match to a pair of white gloves, and to Gilda it just seems like any other case. Though Gilda doesn't know that this tiny mystery will lead her into a giant conspiracy filled with violence and death, and the worst part is that this all connects to her father's mysterious death.
Westside is truly one of the best world building novels in my opinion. I felt as if I was an inhabitant in this dystopian version of New York, half overrun wasteland and half thriving city. The cultures between the two distinct sects of the Eastside and Westside were an interesting dynamic I enjoyed constantly. I, weirdly enough, liked to focus on the guards manning the wall between the two sects. It's a small detail you'd think, but it held some intense weight for specific scenes where Gilda was trying to survive.
My favorite part of Westside was the atmosphere and storytelling revolving around the city's bootlegging and booze wars. It's inspired partly, I'd say, by New York's own prohibition era in the early 1900's, and it filled all my desires between the gangs and conflict amongst competitors.
The initial half of the story completely overtook me, and I was turning the pages so fast I could hardly believe it. The dialogue was crisp and blunt, which is a style I don't read often but was refreshing nonetheless, but somewhere after the halfway mark the story slowed down. I started to feel bored for a decent portion for the story, and that is sadly never a good thing for me. It slowed my reading process and led my interest to drop. Also I got confused quite a bit in the second half because the characters can sometimes blend together, and the story just kept adding more and more incidents. Again, I was getting quite confused, so it became a bit overwhelming for me. I couldn't follow the plot well, so I felt disconnected. I think if I read the story a second time those confusing bits would make more sense to me, but on the first time through I was left scratching my head a lot.
Anyway, I'd definitely say the bootlegging atmosphere and world building are where Westside shines the brightest.
Thank you Harper Voyager for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
4.25
WOW.
I do not think I have ever read a book this deeply thought provoking and philosophical for quite some time. Guy Gavriel Kay really brings his all in contemplating humanity, humanity's motives, and how the smallest decisions can make the greatest of impacts.
ABLA takes place in the fantastical world of Batiara, which is described as similar to Europe, specifically Italy during the Renaissance. Guy Gavriel actually cites his inspirations in the acknowledgements, and I'm very excited to read them when I obtain a finished copy.
My favorite part BY FAR was Guy's ability to emphasize the importance of memory and also the power within our choices. There are many characters who usually would be considered minor, but in the grand scheme of things, their decisions and attitudes lead to a new future they never intended to have.
Now the story begins with the main character Danio Cerra looking back on his youth, and all the events that led him to this moment of remembrance. Tones of melancholy and nostalgia are the primary emotional standpoints for Danio, and this only served to make me more intrigued about what actually happened in his youth.
Then the actual plot of his past and many others begin.
I won't say much because part of the magic is reading this initial set of scenes yourself, but Danio starts on the night the Beast, the count in the city of Mylasia, is murdered. On that fretful night Danio encounters Adria Ripoli, and the rest of his life is history. His future will never be the same because of her decisions that night as well as his.
They're an array of complex POVs throughout ABLA, and they all bring their own meaning and intensity to the story. It's one of those plots where all the characters are connected, and the reader just pieces them together bit by bit until everything makes sense by the end. It was SO WELL DONE too.
One of my favorite POVs was definitely Jelena the healer. She adds a unique viewpoint in a world that is run by money and pain. She also is the introduction into the LGBTQ+ rep within this world. Oh you heard me right! ABLA has some wonderful bisexual or pansexual representation (I don't like to label these characters, but they were attracted to both sexes), and I LIVED for it. Jelena is a complex character in general and brings up a lot of thought provoking ideas and just realities to the story. You'll never guess how her story ends.
The POVs range quite a bit from marginal groups to those in power. This creates such a mesmerizing and enthralling cast of characters. Some are so charismatic that you cannot help but root for them even if they aren't the most moral. The mercenaries are the prime example of this, and their plot is something I cannot begin to describe. Folco and Monticola are just fascinating individuals.
Lastly, I could gush about this story for hours on end, but I need to discuss Guy's fantastic writing and philosophical thought. It doesn't even feel philosophical because of how lyrical and smooth his prose is. He is realistic and compassionate in his writing, but also somehow meshes a historical fantasy world with our own contemporary one. I found so many instances where I could apply his insights to our world and our history. It's an engrossing story about love, power, and memory, and their effects on people's lives across the spectrum. I cannot wait to read ABLA again. It's so remarkable. The character's have such growth!
I'd definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy historical fiction and books with significant depth, especially when it comes to those deeper themes.
Thank you Berkley for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
WOW.
I do not think I have ever read a book this deeply thought provoking and philosophical for quite some time. Guy Gavriel Kay really brings his all in contemplating humanity, humanity's motives, and how the smallest decisions can make the greatest of impacts.
ABLA takes place in the fantastical world of Batiara, which is described as similar to Europe, specifically Italy during the Renaissance. Guy Gavriel actually cites his inspirations in the acknowledgements, and I'm very excited to read them when I obtain a finished copy.
My favorite part BY FAR was Guy's ability to emphasize the importance of memory and also the power within our choices. There are many characters who usually would be considered minor, but in the grand scheme of things, their decisions and attitudes lead to a new future they never intended to have.
Now the story begins with the main character Danio Cerra looking back on his youth, and all the events that led him to this moment of remembrance. Tones of melancholy and nostalgia are the primary emotional standpoints for Danio, and this only served to make me more intrigued about what actually happened in his youth.
Then the actual plot of his past and many others begin.
I won't say much because part of the magic is reading this initial set of scenes yourself, but Danio starts on the night the Beast, the count in the city of Mylasia, is murdered. On that fretful night Danio encounters Adria Ripoli, and the rest of his life is history. His future will never be the same because of her decisions that night as well as his.
They're an array of complex POVs throughout ABLA, and they all bring their own meaning and intensity to the story. It's one of those plots where all the characters are connected, and the reader just pieces them together bit by bit until everything makes sense by the end. It was SO WELL DONE too.
One of my favorite POVs was definitely Jelena the healer. She adds a unique viewpoint in a world that is run by money and pain. She also is the introduction into the LGBTQ+ rep within this world. Oh you heard me right! ABLA has some wonderful bisexual or pansexual representation (I don't like to label these characters, but they were attracted to both sexes), and I LIVED for it. Jelena is a complex character in general and brings up a lot of thought provoking ideas and just realities to the story. You'll never guess how her story ends.
The POVs range quite a bit from marginal groups to those in power. This creates such a mesmerizing and enthralling cast of characters. Some are so charismatic that you cannot help but root for them even if they aren't the most moral. The mercenaries are the prime example of this, and their plot is something I cannot begin to describe. Folco and Monticola are just fascinating individuals.
Lastly, I could gush about this story for hours on end, but I need to discuss Guy's fantastic writing and philosophical thought. It doesn't even feel philosophical because of how lyrical and smooth his prose is. He is realistic and compassionate in his writing, but also somehow meshes a historical fantasy world with our own contemporary one. I found so many instances where I could apply his insights to our world and our history. It's an engrossing story about love, power, and memory, and their effects on people's lives across the spectrum. I cannot wait to read ABLA again. It's so remarkable. The character's have such growth!
I'd definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy historical fiction and books with significant depth, especially when it comes to those deeper themes.
Thank you Berkley for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
2.5
I started skimming this book after the first 100 pages. Like a lot of people I know we adored TBATS, I was disappointed in this sequel. Maybe it’s because Kjell was never a favorite character, but a lot of times Sasha just wasn’t a character who called out to me. The best part of this story was by far the cameos of my babes Lark and Tiras. Oh how I miss them so very much.
I started skimming this book after the first 100 pages. Like a lot of people I know we adored TBATS, I was disappointed in this sequel. Maybe it’s because Kjell was never a favorite character, but a lot of times Sasha just wasn’t a character who called out to me. The best part of this story was by far the cameos of my babes Lark and Tiras. Oh how I miss them so very much.