DNF

It's just... really... uneventful?
Idk, maybe I've outgrown my ya phase now that I'm *cough cough* 20 (ik soooo old), but I didn't quite connect with the characters, and everything felt so linear. I found myself reluctantly picking the book up to keep on reading it, and knew I had to put it down once and for all.

A round of applause for my first DNF of 2024, everyone.

Morphine could never. But this book... this book had me physically shouting and laughing and punching the air all while trying to go about my day.

I loved the quirks Bailey and Charlie both had and BOIIII i wish I could catch myself a Charlie.

wlw done right although with a mid storyline.

Crier has my whole heart. She's the epitome of innocence, but it doesn't come across as annoying. Being innocent doesn't exempt her from having agency.
Ayla on the other hand was such a pain. I didn't like her pov at all. I mean, how insufferable can she be? Is it just me? Maybe I'm being dramatic, but I felt her thoughts were illogical.

The story is entertaining, though not as compelling as I thought it would be. Given the promise of automated beings and civil war due to injustice, I'd thought there would be more... sci-fi?? Idk
The politics were well-developed but didn't hold the depths needed for me to be invested and the main "villain" (if you can even call them that). They never truly showed their true colours. It was always telling and not showing. The characters hypothesised on whatever he had done, and there was nothing to prove his villanry.

*sigh* I should just stop reading YA. I've unfortunately outgrown it.

First off; the lyricism??? It was beautiful.
The history was well-researched and weaved into the story i didn't bore of anything.
However i couldn't get past the instalove and the weirdness of it all. The more I read the weirder it got and i just wasn't on the same page...

It's a good book but not for me.

NO WORDS.

DNF
I'm not going to rate it either

This both infuriated and enthralled me. I can't decide between it being pointless or a highly realistic cautionary tale on toxic relationships. I mean.... food for thought I guess?

update: the more I think about this book the angrier I get. Might as well give it 2 stars ⭐⭐
the first ⭐ for the entertainment value.
and the second ⭐ for the emotional roller-coaster these senseless, tact-less, immature characters made me go through for absolutely no apparent reason. The achievement is commendable.

a couple of thoughts when reading:
Ghibli vibes, i can picture Shiori in a ghibli movie for sureee
I'm not feeling Seryu that much
Takkan and Shiori>>>>>
ngl I shed a tear or two reading this book
where's the next book? I need it at once

Premise

Girl disguised as a man goes through a cursed forest to hunt. Only problem: she’s the only one able to come back alive.

Boy assassin goes around killing for his father the sultan in order to feel loved. His kill count and reputation precedes him. He instils fear in others and is isolated because of it.
Both journey to a cursed island to find a magical book and find unlikely friends along the way; Oh and the assassin is sent to kill the girl.

thoughts
- Took some time to get used to the writing style but after reaching the 50 page mark, I started to see the lyricism in Faizal’s writing.
- I don't feel connected to the story at ALL
- I don't even know how to process the ending... It was just so confusing, from middle to end

this was good i want the next tome