3.5

This had to potential to be a very good political fantasy. However, the entire plot is the romance. The world-building, magic systems, and political landscapes that were well-crafted and fleshed out were all done in service of the romance.

I just wanted a fantasy, you know? Not a romance playing dress-up. Maybe some other time I would have enjoyed this more. I just want a good fantasy novel with a fantasy plot. There are so many amazing elements to this book and using the tropes without making them cliches makes me sad because this could have been so much more instead of some soul twin forbidden lovers thing going on.

Romance is a crutch. There I said it. Bertin clearly has the skill but she defaulted to a standard romance.

I don't recommend flipping between two different translations when doing audio/physical split haha, especially if one is Greek and one is Roman. Made it harder to follow than it already is. A great story though!

While Kristin has an amazingly strong voice throughout, I felt like it's not the most well-written. There was a lot of summarizing, jumping around from event to event and back and forward a bit. It was a quick read for me, which I enjoyed. It's middle of the road, but on the enjoyable side.

I can't believe Disney released this online for free! It's so pretty and interesting. I've never bought one of these before, or taken the time to read them more than a few glances at pictures in the store. It was so interesting to see all the concept art. Not only that, but it was gorgeous. I have no clue what goes on in making animated movies and this was an eye-opener.

There wasn't much to read in this, it's just a picture book and I don't really know how to rate those. The small story about how it came to fruition was nice and well written. I enjoyed a lot of the ideas behind the pictures, I never would have seen that opportunity.

I was feeling down and saw this on a table in a rented cottage so figured I'd pick it up. Made me feel a bit better.

This book is gorgeous!!!!

I absolutely loved this. There was a lot of insight into all the effort that went into making this play. It is beautifully designed and gorgeous to look at. The colour scheme was great and I found myself forgetting time just staring at the large pictures and maps and reading every little detail. So much effort when into making this amazing and it shows.

There were so many people interviewed on different topics and they all flowed so well into each other that it wasn't jarring. I really appreciated that they'd interviewed the author of [b:Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West|37442|Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, #1)|Gregory Maguire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437733293l/37442._SY75_.jpg|1479280] as it was nice to see what he liked/didn't like and how he dealt with it and also to hear that he gave them his blessing to mess around with the original story a bit. My favourite part was the interviews with the different actors who have brought the characters to life. Even though they were short, it was neat to see what they took/didn't take from those who came before them and how they tried to develop the characters they were playing while still staying true to the original. It was so cool.

I should also mention that there is a lot of text. I was happily surprised to find that I spent a lot more time reading this than I had first anticipated. I also liked the little interactive sections like learning to do Elphaba's dance or taking a character personality quiz. I was not expecting that and it was a good surprise.

I do wish that when they showed copies of notes they had not clustered them on top of each other as I did try to read them and it was quite annoying that the bottom corners were cut off. Also, I would have liked it if instead of just saying that the script changed in a certain way, they provided examples. While it still gave a great insight into how they developed the play from the book and the author of the original book even gave his two cents, I would have liked to have had a better idea of what the original drafts might have looked like or the lyrics to songs that later got replaced.

Other than that, I don't have any complaints about this. I love it. It is certainly something that I will treasure for a very long time.

I highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the musical.

It's been a very long time since I've listened ro the podcast. I got this book a while ago becuase it was on sale and I recognized the names. I am not convinced that writing for a podcast, especially one scripted the way Night Vale is, translates well into a novel.

There was lots of telling. It was all narration, like the podcast, only slightly more structured and much much longer. While I was initially intrigued, I eventually grew bored, as I did with the podcast. I did not feel connected to the characters, and this book dragged on and on. The ending was interesting, especially tying it together with the present day. I enjoyed the present day part much more than the history of the Old Woman, partly becuase it was short partly becuase it did a good job at subverting my expectations. It also felt a lot like the podcast, while most of the story did not.

I don't know how this holds up to the other Night Vale novels, but I am not interested in reading them after this.

Just rereading my favorite comic from childhood. I have no idea where this came from, only that I had it on every camping trip and loved it more than the movies.