Wish they stated the yarn that was used in the kit so that all the characters can match. 

I liked that some characters you don't commonly see in other patterns were included, but especially for Anna and Elsa, you can find prettier patterns for free online. 

At first, reading this made me question myself for liking the original series. The whole thing felt off. 

Then I read the excerpt from the first book. It's better written than this. Much better. I'm not sure what happened here, but I don't reccomend it. 

I always say that Cashore's works feel more like art than books. 

Again, another book that had me glued to my spot unable to move until I had finished reading it. I have so much to say and all of it is good. Loved this much more than Winterkeep, however, I am not quite sure I was in the right headspace to truly enjoy it so I must revisit it one day. 

I have always loved the Graceling Realm. The books feel so different from anything that is out there, from how every book is unique as a standalone yet they work together as a series to build up this new world. I love how we get introduced to new places with new magic and it raises new questions and themes that get explored. Most series have an overarching goal and plot, with each installment further servicing that overarching goal. But not these books and that's what stand out so much for me. It's a long way away from Graceling and the 'story' has gone in a wild direction that was 'unpredictable' but it feels more like life and art that way. They are constantly evolving with the characters, audience, and author and I adore all of it. 

Hava is a strong lead and her characterization was phenomenal. I was a bit worried after Winterkeep, but this book addressed all of the concerns I had reading the previous book. Hava's voice was so strong from page one and it sucked me right into this book. 

This gave me more of the politics I was craving from the first book even if it is at heart a disaster and survival story. All the elements were very well balanced and nothing overstayed their welcome. 

I'm so sick of books that try to trick the reader by having no foreshadowing or anything of that sort, and while this book keeps you guessing, you've been provided with a real target to aim for.

I don't know if there will be another installment in this series, but the unique nature of this series lends itself very well to new sequels years later. I may not be holding my breath, but I will certainly be first in line for anything else to come out of this interesting world.  

There hasn't been a true revenge novel since <i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i>, but this came close, then went off a cliff. I'm having trouble putting all my thoughts into a good order, so I will go as they appear in the book.

I've been waiting for this book since Stealing Snow. I loved Paige's other works and adored how they put a fresh spin on old tales with enough originality to feel new and exciting.  I have not completely changed my schedule and done nothing but read for an entire day for the pure reason that I was excited to finish a book in a long time, but I sat myself down for seven hours today to finish this before the semester fully kicks into full gear because I had to know what happens. For the first 3/4ths of this book, I was in love. This was going to be my read of the YEAR. Watering the first part of this book down to a "Cinderella Retelling" is doing the amount of worldbuilding Paige did a disservice. This was a fantasy novel in its own right, completely original with some interesting ideas that were at times underexplored, but serviced their parts in the story. Many interesting story elements here have nothing to do with Cinderella, and knowing it's a retelling removes some of the suspension because you know at some point, all of the MC's plans are going to fail and she's going to send Cinderella to the ball. 

I have a thing for a lot of the names in this book... Farrow and Mather are the worst offenders, but some of the Entente had some bad ones too, but they did not show up that often. I liked South, but I was expecting it to have more meaning, especially when we figure out who his family is and how North, West, East, and South play roles in some classics and fairytales (though avoiding it services to keep this book from feeling too much like [book:Dorothy Must Die|18053060], which is mute by the end). Since this is set up for the series, maybe it will have some payoff. This really bugs me with all the Entente. The Fates felt like they had meaningful names, being from legend, but the rest of the sisterhood had weird and inconsistent names. The magic system isn't the most developed, and linking what the sisters do to their names would have been something to make it a bit more interesting as it is definitely the weak link. 

In the end, I think this book fails to go all the way. This never should have been a series. We have a girl, who watched her entire family die, a group known as the Entente who are something more than human, the only people who would truly understand him. She finds out that not only has she lost them, but she lost her powers as well, the thing that connects her to her past. Gone. All of it, in one day, and she had been powerless to stop it as their love for her kept her safe. She spends the rest of her time becoming a Shadow, hoping that this would let her into the palace so that she can FINALLY get revenge on the Queen, which goes against everything she has ever been taught about being Entente. This book explores themes of witch-hunting, revenge, class, and more. The change from the Entente being helpful to the Queendoms (this whole world is matriarchal, a breath of fresh air) to becoming a new thing, a watch, a bad thing. That part of the book was chilling. Farrow was severed from everything she had ever been and wanted revenge. She was a compelling character. Everything was set up for this to be the best book I read this year and maybe become one of my favourites. A revenge story. 

Instead, it's the start of the series. The ending is not satisfying, and it will never be. I am worried that the series now will feel too much like <i>Dorothy Must Die</i> and there were many elements like the Rooks that were not needed for the story but will make good fodder for the next books in the series. I was craving a revenge story and did not get that. 

I will give credit that this book continued to have good themes into the last 4th of the book, dealing with changed moralities, growing distant from your family, and not seeing everyone in the "other" group as the same. It could have delved into these more, but unfortunately, there were a lot of things going on that served no purpose except to set up concepts for the rest of the series to explore :(.

I don't think I've ever wished for a series to be one book before, but I feel that here. I will be reading the next book, of course. But I still feel cheated from a 5-star read. 

My oppinions haven't changed much from  when I read the novella. I do prefer the version with extra chapters, though I was not a huge fan of the art style. The illustrations on the sides of the page were ok, but the art style was not it for full page illustrations, especially with people and animals. 

It was a bit underwhelming but I still wouldn't call this series bad.

It's a book. I don't have strong feeling either way, read it between lessons at work and I didn't actively hate it. I think this book had enough going on to fight off middle book syndrome but that didn't stop it from being boring and slow in some areas. Didn't really pick it up much until I had no other option because I was at work and I made myself bring it to read. Also, the author made skiing boring. I don't know how you do that, but I'm not sure if it was bad scene writing or if she's never skiied before. 

I love the patterns in here! they are so functional and subtle in their inspiration design and cover a wide range of crafts for all genders and age ranges. I'm not a fan that this book was published openly stating that some of their recommended yarns are retired since that can make doing the patterns more complicated. I think there's some wonderful gift potential here and I'm very excited to do a project for a special someone one day. 

Adding this to my Christmas list; the patterns are gorgeous and I cannot wait to use up some stash yarns making them.