howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

Aug 07, 2017 Update
Lowering this one to 3 stars because SO MANY REASONS. Might come back and edit this whole review later.

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Original Review (March 2017)

Scarlett has spent seven years writing to Legend, the mastermind behind the fantastical, magical traveling game that is Caraval. In her letters, she has begged him to visit her tiny island, to bring her some form of escape from the horrors that she and her sister live in. Just as she gives up hope, a mysterious trio of tickets show up, with an invitation - and a young sailor who is willing to risk his own safety by taking Scarlett and her sister to Caraval. This year's reward is one wish for the lucky soul who can claim it. Everything goes awry when the sisters are separated, and Scarlett begins to doubt what she's been told.

It's all just a game... isn't it?

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After some deliberation, I decided on 4.25/5 stars for this one!

I found that I struggled slightly with a few of the characters; namely, Scarlett herself frustrated me to no end in the first half of the book, simply due to her cautious mannerisms, that while not altogether unrealistic, felt like a constant hindrance for the reader's progression through the world of Caraval. I also found myself bothered more than once by her willingness to overlook major flaws in her sister and in Julian. For someone who has taught herself to be so cautious and untrustworthy, I found that she was far too willing to turn a blind eye to a few issues that I personally would not have been able to ignore or to forgive so effortlessly.

That said, Scarlett did become moderately more enjoyable as I got into the second half of the book, as did Julian, and there were a few side characters who I liked and really wanted more development from (like Aiko and Dante). I've heard that there is a sequel in the works, and I am desperately hoping we get to spend more time with some of these intriguing side characters in the future!

On a positive note, I adored the world of Caraval. I found myself wanting to visit it, regardless of danger, just because of how mystical and fantastic Stephanie Garber made it seem! Nothing ever felt as though it was what it seemed on the surface, which kept me turning page after page and racing to the end. The plot twists weren't mind-blowing, but they weren't predictable, either, and kept me guessing. The biggest question that I found myself dying to know the answer to was, "Who is Legend?!" and while I didn't foresee the answer to the question, I definitely enjoyed the turn that Garber took with it.

As far as the writing itself went, there was a trope or two that I could have done without; it held some serious insta-romance, which I am not overly fond of, and didn't expect at all from the synopsis or from the first few chapters. Beyond that, I didn't find much humor to be had, which obviously isn't a necessity, but I think a lot of my recent reads have found ways to mix it in, so I found myself missing it in Caraval. The book mostly made up for these flaws, though, with its beautiful descriptions and its ever-changing settings.

All in all, this was a really enjoyable read that I am so pleased to have picked up, and I will definitely be pre-ordering the sequel when it becomes available. I would recommend Caraval to anyone who is looking for a book with a little action, a little sisterly bonding, light and cute romance, and most of all, a lot of magic.

#0.1 The Demon in the Wood ★★★★★
#1 Shadow and Bone ★★★☆☆
#1.5 The Tailor ★★★★★
#2 Siege and Storm ★★★☆☆
#3 Ruin and Rising ★★★★☆

First we had to find the firebird. Until then, all our hopes rested on the shoulders of one untrustworthy prince.

If you’ve read my review for Shadow and Bone (especially if you read my reread update that was recently added), you already know that I have some very ambivalent feelings towards this series. When I first started it, I loved it, but by the time I reread it, I had read so many incredible YA fantasy novels that I lowered my rating on it. I was told the series improved drastically as it continued, so I had high hopes for Siege, but I found that many of the same old problems persisted (or worsened) in this installment.

I couldn’t deny what I’d felt in Novyi Zem or the truth of what the Darkling had shown me: my own sadness, my own longing, reflected back to me in his bleak gray eyes.

→ Alina Starkov ←
I thought, for a long time, that my single biggest problem with the Grisha series was Mal, or the romance, but it’s not. Honestly, my biggest problem is Alina. She’s not tremendously flawed or obnoxious or cruel, she’s just boring, uneventful, angsty, and feels far less capable than she’s intended to be. While we’re constantly told that she’s this incredible Sun Summoner who can all but level entire cities with her powers, and everyone fawns over her as though she’s the most majestic being to ever walk the earth, she feels like an anxious, insecure, unremarkable teen girl—not that there’s anything wrong with those characters at all! It’s just hard to appreciate when the character is being lauded as incredible, but we’re being told instead of being shown her prowess.

“Mal’s always been like that. You could drop him in a camp full of Fjerdan assassins, and he’d come out carried on their shoulders. He just blooms wherever he’s planted.”
“And you?”
“I’m more of a weed,” I said drily.

→ Malyen Oretsev ←
Mal is… frustrating. That’s the best word I can think of for him. (The second best would be “exhausting”.) One minute, I’m feeling a little bit sorry for him—the next, I’m dying for someone to whisk him away to literally anywhere that doesn’t involve Alina interacting with him, talking about him, or thinking of him. Every step forward is chased by four steps back.

“You know, for two people with a love eternal, you’re awfully insecure.”

In theory, he doesn’t sound like he should be so awful—he’s her best friend, he loves her, he says kind things to her, he’s lonesome and sad and feeling altogether unwanted and pitiful—but he manages to execute these behaviors in such an unlikeable way, whether it’s second-guessing all of Alina’s decisions, acting so possessive over her I could gag, or turning himself into the object of every pity party, with no apparent regard for how the current situation is affecting anyone else. And don’t even get me started on his little fiasco with Zoya and kvas.

This was what they would be talking about: the prince who remembered an ordinary soldier’s name, the prince who had fought side by side with them without concern for wealth or pedigree.

→ Nikolai Lantsov ←
Ah, the infamous Nikolai. Literally the only genuine motivation that kept telling me I had to finish this series was the impending promise of Nikolai’s introduction in the second book, and honestly, it did not disappoint for a moment. If I rated this book solely based upon the scenes involving the Prince, it would have gotten 4-5 stars, easily. His banter is absolutely delightful, his facades are a whirlwind, and at his core, he is probably the single most interesting and good-hearted primary character this series has introduced thus far. I am beyond words over how excited I am now for his spinoff series.

“Oh, and the easiest way to make someone furious is to tell her to calm down.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or throw my shoe at him.

I wouldn’t call what I’m about to say a spoiler, per se, but if you’re worried, you could skip this paragraph. I thought Shadow had a love triangle with Alina, Mal, and the Darkling, but quickly realized that, in this installment, the Darkling has no real weight on anything: Nikolai is the third side, and I spent every page begging for Alina to realize how fantastic he was. I’m certain that on at least four different occasions, though, I ranted to my friends, “Nikolai deserves better than her, anyways!”

The crisp edge of a winter wind. Bare branches. The smell of absence, the smell of night.

→ The Darkling ←
If there are antiheroes, are there such things as antivillains? If there are, I feel comfortably secure in the notion of putting dear Darkles on that list. I have seldom seen a villain that had such reasonable intentions, and honestly, maybe part of this is just my fangirling over how much I enjoy his character, but I can’t help but root for him a little bit. I know he does some really terrible things (like, really terrible), but I love every single scene involving him and genuinely wish we’d been able to spend a bit more time with him in Siege.

“Then I’d be alone, too,” he said, and he stayed the whole night through, till the lamps burned down to nothing.

→ final thoughts ←
I feel like I complained about more things than I complimented in this review, but at the end of the day, despite it being a fairly boring read, I did enjoy Siege and Storm enough to warrant finishing the series with Ruin and Rising. My distaste for Alina and Mal wasn’t quite strong enough to ruin my love of Nikolai or the Darkling, as well as how much I enjoyed some of the supporting cast, like the twins, Tamar and Tolya. There are enough redeeming qualities to make this series worth reading, but it’s not one that I strongly encourage others to pick up if they’re uncertain about it.

You can find this review and more on my blog, or you can follow me on twitter, bookstagram, or facebook!

#0.1 The Demon in the Wood ★★★★★
#1 Shadow and Bone ★★★☆☆
#1.5 The Tailor ★★★★★
#2 Siege and Storm ★★★☆☆
#3 Ruin and Rising ★★★★☆

reread update: December 2017
This book was so much better the first time I read it. No, scratch that - I think my standards were so much lower the first time. It's not a bad book, but you can definitely tell it's from before Leigh found her groove, and the characters are mostly not enjoyable at all (aside from the Darkling, Genya, and Botkin). The "twist" still feels bad, and it's mostly incredibly boring.

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Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed this book and am really excited to start the next title, especially because many people have told me that Bardugo's books get even better as you get further in. That said, here's why I didn't give it a 5 stars like I initially thought I would: I wasn't crazy about the big "twist" regarding a few characters towards the end of the book, and I will admit that it took a couple of chapters for me to get attached to it, just because there are so many non-English terms that felt a little similar to one another and I had a hard time keeping them straightened out at first. I also struggled to connect emotionally with any of the characters aside from Genya, so I couldn't bring myself to feel much emotion while reading this one.

That said, I did like the idea of the story and had a hard time putting it down. I felt like it was a really fast read, so I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's hesitant to commit to a fantasy YA series. Truthfully, I think I would've given this 5 stars if I hadn't read so many books that I was absolutely euphoric over lately (book hangover, anyone?). If the series gets better like I'm told, I've no doubt that Book #2 in the Grisha trilogy will get a 5-star review from me.

#0.1 The Demon in the Wood ★★★★★
#1 Shadow and Bone ★★★☆☆
#1.5 The Tailor ★★★★★
#2 Siege and Storm ★★★☆☆
#3 Ruin and Rising ★★★★☆

“Na razrusha'ya. I am not ruined. E'ya razrushost. I am ruination.”

It’s been over a year since I first started this trilogy, and there were many times along the way where I thought I would never actually finish it, because—as you can see from my 3-star, less-than-stellar reviews of the first two installments—I wasn’t nearly as impressed by this series as I could’ve been. Leigh is a wonderful writer, but these books felt incredibly “debut” to me, and there were a lot of aspects I disliked, which is why it surprised me that I so thoroughly enjoyed the finale, but I can now safely say that I am very happy I saw things through to the end.

“I'm the Sun Summoner. It gets dark when I say it does.”

→ Alina Starkov ←
While I was pleasantly surprised by many things in the finale, Alina’s character development was sadly not one of them. She was my second least favorite character in the first book, tied with Mal for my least favorite in the second book, and was hands-down, absolutely the least exciting and/or likeable thing about Ruin. I struggled so much with relating to her character because she self-contradicts so often. She is incessantly torn between the men in her life, and the one thing she desperately wants—power—is important enough that she is willing to risk the world for it, until suddenly, overnight, it no longer interests her. It didn’t feel believable or authentic in the slightest, and I found myself dying for the scene to end every time she was alone with her own thoughts.

“It’s a vow that if I can’t be anything else to you, at least I can be a weapon in your hand.”

→ Malyen Oretsev ←
Mal, on the other hand, had quite the surprise in store for me. If, when I first began the series, anyone had told me I could actually grow to enjoy this character, I would’ve laughed, but here we are—finally, finally, there were moments with Mal that made me enjoy him as a character and believe in his intentions and desires. I can’t help but think that the change was triggered by the fact that he finally accepted who he was and what his hand in life was, and stopped trying to fit Alina into the box he’d created for her. By the end of the book, I was shocked to find that I was actually rooting for him a little bit, which I think is the biggest part of why this was my favorite book; the second half or so of Ruin showed me a clear line in which Leigh’s writing had progressed from “debut author” to the incredible woman and artist I view her as today.

“Thanks for the rescue.”
“Everyone needs a hobby.”
“I thought yours was preening.”
“Two hobbies.”

→ Nikolai Lantsov ←
Sweet Nikolai—where would we be without our golden prince of Ravka? I adored him just as much in this installment as I did in Siege. Having come into this series a little bit late, and knowing his nickname as the King of Scars without knowing where the title came from, made it especially fascinating to watch the events that unfolded for Nikolai in the finale, and how they changed him as a person. I only thought I was excited for his book before, but now, I can’t stand my own anticipation! ❤ He was just as snarky, clever, brave, kind, and hilarious as always, and I would read his banter forever, truly.

“I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but mine.”

→ The Darkling ←
I have a lot of feelings about dear old Darkles, and I am honestly surprised at how many of them have shifted from my initial thoughts on him. I adored him in Shadow. While I couldn’t get behind his motives as much in Siege, I still loved him there, too. In this book, however—and this is going to be an unpopular opinion, I feel like, so please don’t hate me!—he did a lot of fairly irredeemable things, and worse than that, I couldn’t buy into him as a villain any longer. I felt like, rather than actually feeling emotions for him, I was being spoon-fed Alina’s ambivalent desires and pity for him. On top of that, it was impossible to reconcile her neverending chemistry with him, with the fact that he brutalized her home and the people she loved, witnessed her to absolute travesties, and used and manipulated her time and time again. I still want to dwell on the character that I loved and was so drawn to, but unfortunately, his characterization in the finale ruined a lot of his persona for me.

“He watches her the way Harshaw watches fire. Like he’ll never have enough of her. Like he’s trying to capture what he can before she’s gone.”

→ romance ←
Of course, this trilogy is notorious for its love triangle—er, sorry, love square?—and I was oddly somewhat impressed by how long it managed to keep the guessing game going, as Alina’s wishy-washy nature doesn’t lend well to, you know, making decisions and such. That said, I didn’t find myself rooting for any particular pairing until the very end of the book; I had issues with each ship, whether it was my disliking for Mal during the first two books, my insistence that Nikolai deserved way better than anything Alina could give him, or my growing disbelief in the chemistry between her and the Darkling. That said, the ending of this book pulls out the stops on the romance and finally made me root for one specific pairing, but honestly, at that point, it was a bit of “too little, too late”. While I love Leigh’s writing immensely, I’ve yet to be convinced that she’s able to write enjoyable romances, but I’m told by many, many people that I will change my tune on this pretty substantially once I pick up the Six of Crows duology!

“Yuyeh sesh. Despise your heart. Ni weh sesh. I have no heart.”

→ side characters ←
As always, the real stars of the show, for me, were the side characters—not just the “important” ones like Nikolai, but the minor roles that flitted in and out of the storyline, like Genya, Zoya, Baghra, and my personal favorites, Tolya and Tamar.

“I already unleashed Baghra on Nikolai. He’s going to think I stockpile vicious old women.”

There are just so many lovable people in this storyline, and honestly, at least six or seven of them could have novellas written about just their specific lives and I would pre-order the hell out of them and eat them right up. I can’t even tell you guys what I would give for a novella about Baghra, or an entire spin-off novel of Tolya and Tamar!

“Know that I loved you. Know that it was not enough.”

Of course, the best/worst thing about how amazing Leigh is at scripting a supporting cast? The devastation that comes with any single one of them dying or being harmed in any way. I won’t spoil anything, but I felt more heartache over some of the minor characters in this finale than I had felt for Alina and Mal in the entire trilogy combined.

This was what Ravka did. It made orphans. It made misery.

→ final thoughts—full series ←
My average rating for the trilogy as a whole is 3.33/5 stars. That’s not a stellar rating, and I won’t lie: this isn’t the sort of series that I would rush to recommend to other readers, especially if they are seasoned fantasy or YA fantasy fans. There are a lot of tropes, the plot leans strongly towards predictability, and the world-building is not as elaborate as I would have liked for it to have been. This is a series that I feel had incredible amounts of potential, but did not meet its fullest capabilities. That said, if you don’t mind a story that doesn’t have much new to offer, and you’re just looking for a fun, quick read? Pick this series up. (Especially if you want to check out her Six of Crows duology, which, I’m told, is where all of the real fun begins.)

You can find this review and more on my blog, or you can follow me on twitter, bookstagram, or facebook!

Holly Black’s writing was my first introduction to fae fiction; as a kid, I was obsessed with all sorts of fae mythology, but typically was limited to nonfiction until the first time I saw Tithe on the “new” shelf at my library. I must have checked this book out and reread it four or five times within the first couple of years, but this was my first reread since I was a preteen, and I had no idea what to expect!

If curiosity killed the cat, it was satisfaction that brought it back.

I had forgotten so much of the plot in this book, and the first thing that surprised me upon rereading it was actually how problematic some of the writing is! If you’re a newer fan of Holly’s and haven’t read her old work, here’s your warning: this book involves racist remarks, homophobic slurs, attempted sexual assault, and some potentially sleazy romance dynamics, most of this going entirely unchallenged as the story unfolds. After one character tries to assault the protagonist, there are even one or two instances in which she talks about feeling flattered by his refusal to take “no” for an answer.

“And if I said nothing at all?”
“Then I would point out that sometimes, if you look at something out of the corner of your eye, you can see right through glamour.”

On a more positive note, I had also forgotten how totally addicting the storyline is, how fun and gothic the aesthetic feels, and how lovable Roiben is. While I stand by the fact that the blossoming romance has potential to be problematic, it genuinely doesn’t feel as though Kaye is taking advantage of him with her power over his name. Everything comes across as fully consensual, albeit quite a bit rushed and insta-lovey.

“I am your servant,” the King of the Unseelie Court said, his lips a moment from her own. “Consider it done.”

More than anything, though, I just love the way Holly crafts her fae worlds. Unlike most of today’s popular fae writers, she stays true to the old folklore in many prominent fashions, and my favorite aspect of that is the way she weaves in different types of feyfolk (like sprites, pixies, kelpies, etc.). I have always said that I think Holly is almost singlehandedly responsible for the world of fae YA fiction that so many of us now know and love, and after reading Tithe, despite its imperfections, I adamantly stand by that belief.

“We can’t help the way we’re born. We can’t help what we are, only what life we choose to make for ourselves.”

I’ve never been a Wonder Woman fan in my past (I was always more of a Batman type), so I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book, or whether or not I would enjoy it very much, but it came highly recommended by one of my best friends, and it’s Leigh Bardugo, which meant, if nothing else, I knew I’d like the writing in it. The beginning started off rather slow for me and I felt like I was trudging through the first 80-100 pages, which is why this was a 4-star read instead of 5. That said, the entire second half or so of this book was so much fun, and the ending won me over to Diana so much that now I feel like I urgently need a sequel to her story.

Amazon. Born of war, destined to be ruled by no one but herself.

→ Diana ←
Diana and I got off to a rocky start, honestly. In the first few chapters, she was such an inherently good person that she fell victim to the “so good they’re boring” trope, and I was starting to wonder what her appeal was. Thankfully, once they left Themyscira, Diana really came into her own as this unbelievably fiery, passionate, badass warrior, and I adored her from that moment on.

Their lives were violent, precarious, fragile, but they fought for them anyway, and held to the hope that their brief stay on this earth might count for something.

Despite being an immortal, Diana cares so strongly for the humans that she makes incredible sacrifices to help them along the way. I loved her protective nature and the ends she was willing to go to. Not only that, but her entire thought process and narrative throughout the story is just so enjoyable to read; you get such an inside view of her motivations, how pure her intentions are, and how much she wants to make the world a better place.

“I’m a daughter of Nemesis,” she said, “the goddess of divine retribution. You may want to think about how well I can hold a grudge.”

→ Alia ←
Alia, on the other hand, I loved from the beginning. She is sassy and incredibly bright, and the humor in her narrative is fantastic and genuine. She feels like a real person I could (and would) be friends with, despite being a Warbringer, and Leigh portrays her emotions beautifully: when Alia was proud, I was proud with her. When her heart ached, mine did, too. Through it all, I adored the fact that, despite being the mortal of the pair, she manages to somehow hold her own just as well as Diana does, in her own ways, and it never felt like she was being put in Diana’s shadow.

“Sister in battle, I am shield and blade to you. As I breathe, your enemies will know no sanctuary. While I live, your cause is mine.”

My favorite thing about both of these young women, though, is how much they grow to love one another. I adored their friendship so much, whether it was in their banter, or their promises to one another, or how passionately they both wanted to help the other succeed in their common goal. I know this book is about Wonder Woman, but really, it’s about Alia, just as much.

She’d chosen her soldiers. It was time to go to war.

→ war ←
Much like I would expect from a book about a superhero, this is, more than anything, an action book. While books with a lot of action aren’t always my cup of tea (as we all know, I’m a bigger fan of world- and character-building), WW:W reminded me that Leigh writes battle scenes beautifully. Many authors say that writing a fight scene is one of the toughest things to do well, and I would believe it, because I rarely see them executed as flawlessly as Leigh’s. These scenes are fluid, easy to follow, and descriptive enough that I found myself feeling like I was watching them all play out right before my eyes.

A different kind of knight, one who’d chosen to protect the girl the world wanted to destroy; one born to slay dragons, but maybe to befriend them, too.

→ mythology ←
Of course, this story isn’t all action – there’s a tremendous amount of lore and mythology woven into the story and the characters, especially when nearing the end of the book. I don’t remember all the details, but as a child, I used to love staying up long past my bedtime, poring through my aunt’s illustrated mythology books, reading the stories over and over again. Seeing the cameos of so many of those classic beings, and being reminded of their origin stories, was such a wonderful experience that I didn’t expect to be granted so much of in this book, and it made me love Leigh even more for taking the time to be so inclusive.

When had she stopped being a child? The first time a guy had whistled at her out of a car window when she was walking to school?

→ representation & feminism ←
Finally, more than anything else in this story, I loved how feminist its values were, and how inclusive the cast was. We had Diana’s stories of how the Amazon women ranged from heterosexual, to bisexual, to lesbian, to asexual, and anything in between. We had Alia’s best friend, Nim, who was the perfect little Indian, plus-size bi girl (and who I loved to bits). There’s Alia and her brother, these beautiful biracial black/Greek siblings, and their friend Theo, a Brazilian teen who’s downright hysterical (if not slightly obnoxious at times). It felt like this book was positively teeming with normalized diversity and feminism, and I loved that so, so much.

“If you cannot bear our pain, you are not fit to carry our strength.”

→ final thoughts ←
All in all, this book wasn’t perfect for me – it had some pacing issues and a slow start, which is why I dropped it down to 4 stars. That said, it was still vastly enjoyable and I would recommend it if you like fantasy novels with a lot of action elements, or if you’re a mythology geek, or if you just like superheroes and/or Leigh Bardugo’s impeccable writing style.

Assigned reading for MLIS 7421: Multicultural Youth Literature.

Wow, I hated this so much. Jennalee's narrative voice made me want to scream. The writing relies so heavily on this over-the-top "country bumpkin" way of speaking, and Jennalee is downright cruel to everyone she meets, whether it's her siblings, Uncle Beau, or Rupert. Sure, she finally comes around in the end, but it's the biggest chore to trudge through her thought processes.

Assigned reading for MLIS 7421: Multicultural Youth Literature.

I had high hopes for this one, but it was so boring I couldn't wait to get it over with. 3 stars because I feel like a young reader could find a little more enjoyment out of it — no more than that, because as someone who still loves MG fiction, this was not an enjoyable story for me.

Assigned reading for MLIS 7421: Multicultural Youth Literature.