this is a difficult book to get my thoughts on, because i did genuinely enjoy a lot of it but i can see the criticism and agree with a lot of them. 

first of all, the toxic lesbian stuff is shockingly not that present despite being a major part of the marketing. and... to be honest some of it didn't have the sauce. the prose is amazing, and i loved charlotte and liked sabine for a lot of it, but alice was a niothingburger protagonist for me. her flashbacks just cut into a lot of the narrative flow and pulled me out of the story more than once. and her story was so cliche i could have seen the end coming from miles away. 

i wish this was more of a historical novel instead of being focused on the present. the latter half of the book was much better than the first because of charlotte's story taking over after alice, i love a character with a bleeding heart who can't stop hurting people because of her inability to stay unloved. yay representation, i guess.

i loved the themes of history mirroring and the need to break away from your creator's past to make your own, the parallels were great all around. the interview with the vampire part was so forced though, like lottie. girl. couldn't you just summarise it with

'my crazy ex vampire girlfriend is hunting me across the globe and killing everyone i love just to prove a point'?

i guess she told the entire story to try to make alice understand but. alice did not need that right now. 

sabine's about-turn was also kinda sudden. someone on the buddy read compared it to

shauna shipman s3 villain arc

and... well they're not wrong. i wish we could have seen more of that from her point of view. honestly more i think about it, the more i'm conflicted about this book. i might change my rating with time.

I read all of 40 pages and the vibe was so off im sorry it's not you it's me i swear

this was really cute! we love a sapphic indian protagonist so yay for that, and the conflict was gentle yet engaging nd the art style was really cool. kinda went through the same tropes a lot of romances do but this did it in a very unique way and with a sci-fi twist i didn't think could work like that. overall a very sweet little story

this one was fun! i didn't get particularly attached to two of the three protagonists on my initial reads, but the horrors were horroring real good. it felt like i was really distanced from their point of views at times, but that just might be a writing choice that didn't work for me.

it felt like the pace staggered a lot in the middle, but the atmosphere and the locations themselves felt really well-realized, which is essential for a book that takes place largely in one location. i loved the creepy hole in the wall especially. yesss get in that hole with your faustian bargains slay.

the villains were fun, though only two of them were developed beyond their counterparts but i loved the idea of them being the saints themselves. i didn't particularly care for the magic system but it did its job.

it was just a fun time. i do wish there was a bit more in regards to all three protagonists' relationships to each other (personally i found ser voyne's relationship to both a bit lacking, and i can't pinpoint why). but yeah, good book.

I loved the writing style but the pacing felt so off and slow, it started irking me by the time I got almost halfway. I wanted to like it so much, and there were so many elements of it I am in awe of. The pacing though, I couldn’t get behind 😭

That was exactly as good as I thought it would be, and yet I'm surprised at how much I liked it.

This book isn't the sort of fantasy to get your blood pumping. Nor is it extravagant in its worldbuilding, but the plot and characters are so masterfully written it feels like they more than make up for the softer magic system seemingly more distant conflict. 

This is primarily a story about the interpersonal and political relations between people, and you feel the weight of every word, said and unsaid.

Robin Hobb loves her description and setting the stage for a scene, and much of her writing is dedicated to showcasing this world through Fitz's eyes. I have been frustrated with this technique in other fantasy books, where it slow down the plot far too much for me to enjoy the story, but here it seemed more than fitting. There were only few times where I wished we could go faster, but Hobb is not that kind of writer. Everything is slow, until you feel the impact of it on you without even realising it.

It's a slow unraveling, but the use of Fitz's perspective and his limited understanding of the games others play with and without him always kept me on my toes. Poor lad, I wish he got a break somewhere but noooo. I do like that Robin Hobb, while constantly torturing the poor guy, seems to know enough not to elongate it. It's the perfect balance between too less to have an impact and too long to just turn into misery. For now.

The other characters are as fascinating as him, proving once again that just because you are in the mind of one character the entire book doesn't mean the other characters need to be flat. I seemed to have forgotten that since it's been so long that I've read from a single, first person perspective in fantasy. Patience, Verity, Burrich, all are flawed adults who are as multifaceted as Fitz is growing up to be. 

In conclusion, I get the hype. And also mom pick me up I'm scared.

Every time I read a Terry Pratchett I am in awe of the man and his ability to write and write so well. His punes or play on words are terribly hilarious and his themes are as hopeful and relevant as ever. 

He wrote trans and non binary people into fantasy in 1996, and he wrote them in a way that was so empathetic it made me tear up more than once.

The plot is fun no surprise though you can figure out the Who of it really fast, but the How and the way the Watch comes around to it is great as usual. His plotting is so fun.

Sam Vimes is such an absolute bastard I can't help but like him man. Did not expect Nobby to get a spotlight but can't complain about it can I? Carrot? My precious lad. Angua is honestly top 3 characters after this book even if she is frustrating at times I love her dynamic with Cher  and Carrot. And Dorfl? My boy Dorfl...

Someone said on tumblr that book is explicitly about bodily autonomy and implicitly about queerness and I can't help but agree. It's brilliant in that quintessential terry pratchett way. I love these people and this world.