It wasn't absolutely terrible, but definitely not my favourite crime novel. I am very surprised to see it being rated so highly because I thought the writing was extemely amateurish. The entire thing read like it was written by a man pretending to be a woman and the characters read like confused children pretending to be adults. None of the characters were likable or even believable and seemed like hollow versions of the same person. It truly felt like the author didn't know how people think and act. The dialogues were okay-ish, but internal monologues and observations were unnatural and weird. Everyone in this book is obsessed with other people's looks, so when they meet or think about someone, they rate their attractiveness, which feels like they're rating their worth as people. Everyone is either pretty or not. All these comments about looks are unnecessary and feel like petty gossip rather than relevant character description. The overall vibe was very sexist and I'm not a fan of that. The whodunit wasn't convincing and seemed silly.

I finally found something that gives me the same feeling as Sager's Home Before Dark (which I know was actually published after Lock Every Door, but I read HBD first), which is one of my favourite mysteries ever.

I really loved this story. The vibes are just immaculate. Amazing creepy building, weird residents, suspicious rules and an even more suspicious history. I love that I had no idea whether it was paranormal or human activity. I loved all the hints and being able to piece the story together. I think I've started to prefer stories that read like puzzles, not ones that give you a ton of red herrings just to surprise you at the end. And it was great to see characters who weren't just complete idiots making decisions that just aren't believable.

It was okay, but I expected more. If I had known that it was a fairy tale, I probably wouldn't have read it. I was much more interested in the blistered lands and what had happened there, but there's barely anything about it. It felt superficial to me, like fairy tales tend to be. It's not a bad story by any means - I just don't vibe with fairy tales.

I cannot help but feel disappointed. I loved the first one so much, I've gushed to friends about it a lot in hopes of getting them to read the series, but this was a let down. There is so much miscommunication (or rather non-communication) in this book and it's irritating. This entire thing was just a stupid pissing match between two men with inflated egos and if people knew how to talk to each other, none of it would have happened. 

I disliked Tessa's character so much I started doubting why I even liked the first book of the series. She was dumbed down, naive and I absolutely despised how virginal she was made to seem. I mean, just take a shot every time she blushes at a dude and you'll be in a coma by the end of this. The characters just lived in their heads all the time and there were too many trips down memory lane. I just wanted the story to move forward, but we were forced to go to the past instead.

I assumed that the the disease was not natural, but I don't understand how neither Corrick nor Harristan know that moonflower is a poison, especially when Harristan was poisoned with it as a child. Nobody felt the need to share that knowledge over the years? Nobody knew that the stems are poisonous? I'm sorry, I just don't buy it.

This book is like a rollercoaster: starts at the bottom, reaches it peak and then comes crashing down.

I absolutely hated the first two chapters. Compared to the rest, it feels like they're written by another author, and if these chapters didn't exist, I would have rated this book higher. Kuang's disdain and anger in these chapters is palpable. There is no subtlety, no gently guiding the reader to what she wants to convey. She just hits you straight in the face with her personal opinions and views and hate. I felt like she was hovering over me, breathing down my neck and yelling into my ear what she wanted me to think, as if I'm such an idiot that I otherwise wouldn't see the exploitation and racism and know that colonisation is an atrocity. And, listen, if I was just chatting with her and she expressed all this, I would go like "fuck yes, preach!", but unfortunately I was just reading a book, and in a book, I expect to be led, not violently yanked, to where the author wants me to go, and get all of what she wants me to know through character experience, not her personally. There was a lot of telling by her and no showing through Robin. I also didn't appreciate the inclusion of cheap, viral Twitter 'burns' (yeah, I see what you did). That just sounds petty and cheapens what she's trying to accomplish.

Then, from chapter three onwards - like a different book. I was finally getting what I wanted: sublety, gentle coaxing, letting me make my own connections and form my views based on the information she was giving me. The magic system in this book is so unique and fascinating. As a translator, I just loved all of the translation and etymology and language discussions. The latter half of the book is unputdownable. So much is happening, and fast. I loved it. Side note,

in the third chapter, I think, Ramy makes a comment about a translator who breathes down the reader's neck and tells them what to think and I found that hilarious, because.. miss Kuang, that's what you've been doing.

But then, the ending... everything just came down, crashing and burning.

And I'm not just talking about the Babel tower.

The ending was a major disappointment. It made me feel like I read this book for nothing because

there was no resolution. It ends like there should be a sequel. Like it's unfinished. She pretty much kills all of the characters the reader cares about at that point. And that's it. What's that supposed to leave us feeling? That fighting against it is pointless? If she wanted to leave her readers feeling absolutely hopeless then she certainly succeeded.*

As for character development, I felt like Robin's was really rushed and didn't make sense. Everything about the first two chapters is superficial, but two things that stood out to me the most were

1. him learning to appreciate Latin and languages in THREE HOURS. Uh, yeah, not happening. His head should have been spinning and it's literally impossible to go through all that they went through in THREE HOURS and then have any love left for the language. He should have been a legitimate genius for this to be even a little bit realistic; and 2. him being able to forget his native language and heritage in mere three weeks and start thinking like an Englishman. And then in a later chapter, Kuang writes that Robin was so excited to get to England. Uh, no.. he was terrified and confused.

There were several little details that seemed like Kuang herself had forgotten in a later part of the book, sometimes contradicting herself as soon as after a few paragraphs. Other characters were very black and white in terms of their goodness vs badness.

I know what Kuang tried to do here is combine fiction and academic text, but... I'm not into it. The use of footnotes, for example, is unnecessary in most cases. I find it an extremely lazy way of adding context without actually having to work to weave the background into the story. I don't doubt for a second that she did extensive research and that it's an important commentary on colonialism, but for me, she didn't quite accomplish what I think she set out to do.

*

Another reason for the ending that I can think of is that she's trying to say that colonialism isn't over. It's still going on. That the story didn't end satisfactorily because it hasn't in real life either. But it's fiction! It's fantasy! And I wanted a satisfying ending, so I'm grumbling. Do not at me.

I really enjoyed this mystery! It's very simple, but not boring and it's not difficult to figure out what's going to happen, but that didn't at all dampen the experience. 

There are two reasons it's not getting a higher rating. First is that I feel like Molly's character is very inconsistent. Although it's not outright said, it's clear that she's neurodivergent. In the beginning when we get to know the character, the author paints a very Stepford wives like picture. Molly is very set in her ways and beliefs. Quite rigid, even. One of her beliefs is that honesty is the best policy. And yet, in a certain scene, she lies with ease. She also has difficulties reading facial expressions, social cues, hidden meanings, recognising idioms, etc., so much so that, although being a fan of Columbo (a crime drama series), she fails to understand what the Detective means by 'dirt'. And yet at other times, she does almost all these things without effort. One could argue that, for a person on the spectrum, these things are learned, but it seems like her ability is only there when convenient for the story. Towards the end, her inner monologue and thoughts don't seem like her own either.

The second issue I had was that nobody in the book seemed to know about the autism spectrum or ND people. I'd have understood them not realising it if all the characters' communication was written or if the story wasn't set in current times. All of the characters had also known Molly for a while too, so I genuinely cannot fathom how there were so many clueless people among them who didn't realise she wasn't an imbecile or a freak, that they just needed to adjust how they communicate with her. But it's like ASD or ND people don't exist in this universe because nobody gets it. Acting like these things don't exist may have been a deliberate decision by the author, just like not outright saying that she's ND, perhaps because by not saying it, she thought she could afford the inconsistencies in Molly's character because "hey, I never said she was ND!". Because if the author had outright labelled her and kept the character consistent with her ND, the story wouldn't have worked the same way. I don't know. All I know is that it severely bothered me.

A bonus peeve: nothing being done about Wilbur.

This one's a real page turner. It's my third (or fourth, if I count Survive the Night, which I DNFd) novel from the author and currently my second favourite. 

Although my overall experience was great and I did enjoy the thrill of it, I found all the characters REALLY unlikable. I couldn't fathom what made Quincy act like a high schooler desperate to be one of the cool kids in Sam's presence. Sam's influence over her was just super odd and didn't convince me.

I also felt like the ending was a bit too perfect.

Her quitting the pills (take a shot every time she mentions Xanax and you'd be hospitalised or dead after this book) and getting her life in order immediately after an extremely traumatic experience just doesn't seem plausible to me. I'm a bit angry at myself for not knowing earlier that it was Coop, especially with him being so creepy about Quincy, proclaiming his love all of a sudden. I should have known he was a freak. There were just a lot of red herrings bigger than his creepiness and I almost wish that one of my theories had been correct instead of Coop being the bad guy. It would be nice to be able to piece the mystery together myself, instead of the reveal being dropped in my lap.

I was also expecting Quincy to have a bigger secret, especially with how much it was talked about in the book. It felt a bit too "gotcha!" that she had absolutely no hand in her friends dying when the story leads the reader to believe that she had done something awful. A bit of a disappointment to find out that her awful deed was having sex with a potential killer.

A friend recommended me this one, as it was supposed to avoid all the things that are abundant in romance that we usually make fun of. She was right! There was no height or size obsession, but I also wouldn't list this book under romance. I think it falls more into the chick lit/women's lit category and I don't think it's my thing. I've tried a few and none of them have hooked me into the genre.

I loved the idea of this book. I thought it was really original and it was executed well. I think my disappointment stems from expecting romance, but we don't get any until the 50% mark of the book. It's just good old regular life until then. And I don't want to read about good old regular life when I'm reading something that's supposed to be romance. I want to be transported out of the everyday, not read about it. I know the author touches on how marketing some books as women's/chick lit is sexism and marketing, but I honestly don't get it because if this is romance, what are books where romance is in the centre of the book? I feel like the balance of romance vs life is off for this to be romance.

Nevertheless, the story is good, the romance we get is good (although NOT loving MMC's casual cruelty in the name of honesty), the execution is good. I just don't vibe with the genre.

I thought it would just be a sweet, wholesome romance, but it was sweet and spicy. I also didn't expect this to be an emotional read, but this book got me sobbing! Some parts of the story just felt like I was reading about myself. I've not been diagnosed with anything, but I related to her a lot, both in terms of her symptoms and how she feels navigating social situations, always feeling alone because she says The Wrong Thing and drives people away, locking up in physical situations, being sensitive to sensory stimuli, hating it when others have to make adjustments because of her, being perceived as high maintenance or a diva. I mean this could have just as well been about me. Seeing Michael accept and love her as she is was a refreshing change to reality that I didn't know I needed.