howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

"I can think of a few things you do exceptionally well," he teased, but then the glint in his eyes became a steadier light. "But I think the base and bedrock of your genius is this, Miss Jones - you have a great talent for remaking the world around you."

This was a really sweet intro to Olivia Waite's writing. While it was all a little instantaneous for my usual tastes, it made sense in the context of the story, I think, since these two are both so different from the "norms" expected of them in the setting.

I really enjoyed Hecuba as a heroine; she's so feisty and strong-willed, but never in an over the top way at all. She's simply a tough, inspired young woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. My only complaint is that I never felt like we saw any grief from her over the recent passing of her parents, which I expected we would have seen play a more prominent role, but then again, it was overall a pretty light story so maybe it's for the best.

John Rushmore is a perfectly fine hero, and while I can't say anything stuck out about him as unusually special to me, I enjoyed him plenty. I'm especially fond of his comparisons of Hecuba to Greek characters like Circe, and the way he's so enraptured by her refusal to stick to societal norms. I never get tired of a genuinely feminist hero, especially in historical settings!

Mostly, I loved the descriptions of the paintings, pigments, and techniques. I'm no art expert by any means, but it felt very well-developed and like the author knows precisely what she's talking about. Oh, and we stan ladies supporting ladies like Hecuba and her awesome cousin Anne, who I can't wait to read about in the next book!

I was going to save this for Smutathon next weekend, and then I realized there was no way in hell I could wait that long. It was absolutely precious and I loved it. <3 RTC

This was pretty cute! It's been a really long time since I've watched the webseries, but this definitely made me remember it fondly and kind of want to rewatch it. Felicia Day is so cute and even her graphic novel counterpart feels so perfectly authentic and lovable. More than anything, it was just neat to read a prequel and see how she came to meet all of these other gamers.

I think my only real complaint was how inconsistent the artwork was. Some panels were beautiful, while a lot of others were really... meh.

I'm glad I finally read this after having it on my TBR for years and years, and I enjoyed it overall, but probably not enough to continue the series. The premise is super interesting but also really gross on a level I don't reach for often (I can handle blood and gore all day long, but eating rancid meat squicks me out on a wholly different level), and the art isn't very appealing — too much detail in too many small spaces with tiny text printing. On top of that, the world-building left something to be desired, and there's a weird under current of insta-love... Yeah, it was good, but not for me.

#1: The Princess Saves Herself in this One ★★★★☆
#2: The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One ★★★☆☆
#3: The Mermaid's Voice Returns in this One ★★★★☆

you
don't
get to say
it's
my fault
for
staying.
it's
his fault
for
making me
afraid to
stay
or go.

After how much I struggled with the middle book in this 'trilogy', I wasn't sure I wanted to read this newest and final installment, but friends' reviews were so positive that I finally decided I had to give it a try, and I'm glad that I did. I still feel like Lovelace's poetry lost its luster for me after the first collection and none of the rest have quite lived up to it, but I do appreciate that this one isn't as repetitive as Witch was (and doesn't feel as heavily borrowed from mid- to late-2000s emo band lyrics as that one did, either).

Mostly, this collection is about surviving sexual assault, and it's got a lot of good stuff going on in that regard; it wasn't the most powerful or empowering thing I've read as a survivor, but it was comforting and nice regardless, and had a few poems I really appreciated. Otherwise, there are some happy pages to give you that soft, soothing hug after the painful bits, and overall, it feels like a very natural and well-done ending to the series.

he exists.
therefore,
i know
for a fact
that
humanity
is not
dissolving
before
my
eyes.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

#1: The Princess Saves Herself in this One ★★★★☆
#2: The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One ★★★☆☆
#3: The Mermaid's Voice Returns in this One ★★★★☆

once upon
a time,
the princess
rose from the ashes
her dragon lovers
made of her
&
crowned
herself
the
motherfucking
queen of
herself.

Amanda Lovelace is another poet whose work I've admired from afar for a while thanks to the internet, but I've never actually read her work in collected form until now. Though this collection wasn't published until 2016, I felt like it was an incredible throwback to the mid- and late 2000s, for what it's worth. Does anyone else read Amanda's writing and hear MCR in the background? Just me? Anyways.

if he was
my cup of tea,
then you are
my cup of
coffee.
tea simply
isn't
enough
for me
sometimes,
but
coffee
can get me
through
anything.

I expected the side of Princess that covered grief, heartbreak, abuse, and healing, but I didn't expect the incredibly sweet love poetry that filled a substantial section of the book. I took it as a surprisingly profound view into the fact that, in her lows, Amanda's writing is absolutely heartbreaking, but in her highs, her love soars. I related to this thought much more strongly than I'd like to discuss here today, but let me just say that I saw a lot of myself in many of the words in these poems, and I will certainly be looking forward to her next collection.

Content warnings: all of them. Seriously, this book comes with a page-long trigger warning sheet in the front, that ends with the same advice I would give you, too: "practice self-care before, during, & after reading".

I was really looking forward to this, but it wasn't what I expected at all. Yes, it is a book about a girl regretting her own suicide, but I feel like the vast majority of it is actually about domestic abuse and about Ellie's mom more or less keeping them in a situation where their lives are being threatened constantly and they face almost daily violence from Ellie's dad. As a domestic abuse survivor myself, I usually find stories like this cathartic and releasing, if that makes sense, but... *sigh* I wish I could come up with the right words to explain why this entire abuse depiction felt so exploitative and uncomfortable to me.

Beyond that, what I can put into words is how much this author's writing style doesn't agree with me. There are almost no contractions in the narrative or dialogue and the characters constantly phrase things in clunky, stilted ways that makes the entire reading experience flow poorly. There's a lot of potential in Callen's writing, but I do believe this book needed more editing and polishing.

I feel somewhat guilty for giving this book 2 stars, because the author's heart was clearly in a good place and I appreciate the attempt that was made here. That said, between the unenjoyable narrative voice and the unnecessarily constant barrage of violence and abuse... I can't recommend this book. I'm also going to be painfully honest here and say that, as another individual who has dealt with depression and suicidal ideation since I was a preteen, nothing about Ellie's story would have deterred me or given me hope to keep fighting. If anything, I think it would have made me feel even more bleak and miserable, and I'm honestly struggling a bit as I type this with the terrible mood A Breath Too Late put me in. And with that, I'm going to finish this review and go find something to focus on that's not quite so devastating.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As someone who has been watching horror films religiously since I was... 5 years old, probably? I felt like I had to read this. I adore horror films of every subgenre and style, mainstream or indie, comedic or extreme — they're one of my singular favorite things in life and one of my greatest comforts, so to say I should be the prime audience for this book is saying the least.

I've enjoyed this author's sense of humor when I was much younger, so I hoped I still would, but honestly... it's just reached the point of being annoying. The book made the same reference 6+ times in the first 10% of the book (yes, we get it, you hated Jason X! Almost everyone else did, too!), most of the jokes felt stale and tired, and many of the "objective" remarks were just patently false (maybe that was intentional, but it didn't feel like it — do you really mean to tell me you think the only historical horror films are vampire and mummy flicks? I have at least 15 other comments I want to gripe about similarly, but we'd be here all day)...

And then, it felt like a big section of the book just degenerated into "jokes" about other cultures/countries being the source of "evil" objects, curses, etc., which felt so over-played and boring and unoriginal. Like this gem:

It’s widely accepted that all African villages have demons that spend their time possessing young local girls. Therefore, any hand-crafted souvenirs (especially tribal masks) from that continent are likely carrying some residual evil.

"But it's satire, Destiny! You're missing the point!" some of you are saying, I know, and to that I reply, it still wasn't funny. It was cheap.

I haven't written a rant review in a long time and part of me doesn't even want to post this, but I was just so let down by this book that everyone swore would be perfect for me that I can't help but fuss a little. I'm sure plenty of people will love this, and that's fine, but it wasn't for me. It wasn't all bad, and I appreciated a lot of the more subtle references, and I have no doubt that the author is a huge horror film fan, too... I'm just really disappointed in my experience reading this.

I love horror that centers heavily on technology or the internet, so this should've been right up my alley, but unfortunately, I wasn't a big fan. The writing showcases definite talent, but I couldn't seem to connect to what was happening well enough to care much about the outcome. The main character was tremendously unlikable for me, and the decision he made at the end was nothing short of irritating, leaving me feeling like I'd wasted the time I spent on the novella as a whole. I would definitely try other work from this author in the future, but sadly, this story was a pretty big letdown!

reread update — May 2020:
I loved this even more the second time, and I can't wait to finally continue the series! ♥

“This was what my spirit longed to do, to wander in strange lands. It couldn't stand being trapped in one body all the time. It had wanderlust.”

original review — July 2017:
This was the Life & Lit book of the month for July, and while I honestly didn't know what to expect and wasn't feeling particularly enthusiastic about starting this series, I was shocked by how much I loved this book! This was more of a 4.5 star read for me, but I didn't feel good about rounding down for this one.

✘ PLOT
In the future, the government has decided to seek out clairvoyant people and hunt them down, using media propaganda to turn the masses against these people. As a result, clairvoyants who haven't sold their souls to the government must live in hiding, committing crimes to make it by. Paige is one such clairvoyant - a particularly rare one called a dreamwalker - and life is hard enough before she is abducted and taken far away, to live as a slave for a race of immortals called the Rephaim, who have orchestrated the entire war on voyants. Can Paige escape in time to save herself?

✘ CHARACTERS
Despite Paige sort of falling into the classic YA "chosen one" trope, she's a really enjoyable narrator. She develops a lot during the book, and by the end, she has come to this realization that a lot of her pre-Rephaim life was not what she thought it to be (no spoilers, don't worry). She did bug me a couple of times with her relentless sarcasm and cynicism, but it was nothing worth writing home about.

Arcturus... what can I say? I joked with some friends that I was worried I was temporarily trading in my feminist card for how much I loved his character, despite his being portrayed as her "captor". I won't spoil the ending, but there's a lot more than meets the eye with this big teddy bear.

There are also a handful of really delightful side characters, like Julian, Liss, and Michael, all of which I just wanted to squeeze and hug and keep safe forever.

✘ WRITING/WORLD BUILDING
This was my first book by Samantha Shannon, of course, and I was really pleased by the writing in it. It wasn't anything extraordinary, but it definitely did the job for me. She uses a lot of words that are not ones you would find in everyday speech, but the physical book has a glossary in the back with definitions. I didn't find that I needed it more than three or four times, honestly.

The world itself is built pretty efficiently, and since it's a magical realism book, there isn't much to tell that isn't already the reader's basic knowledge (like locations, etc). I enjoyed how in-depth the world of voyants went, with references to a multitude of different varieties (dreamwalkers, soothsayers, oracles, etc). (Fun fact on the topic: the hadal zone, as referenced in this book, is also a term for the deepest parts of the ocean. I enjoyed that comparison!)

✘ FINAL VERDICT
If you're familiar with the YA/NA dystopian genre, I really don't think this will be an earth-shattering read for you, but it is a fun story with a lot of enjoyable characters and action. If you absolutely hate the "master-turned-lover" trope, you may not be able to delve into this one much, but then again, this is a slightly atypical variation on that theme. There are definitely some cliche moments throughout it, but altogether, I found this a delightful read that kept me up late and craving more, and I will definitely be continuing the series!

You can find this review and more at my blog!