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madsisbookedup's Reviews (257)
I love fantasy but this is not the kind of fantasy I usually read. I like to make informed decisions about books and apparently every bookstagram account has read this, so I bought it. Side note I hate the cover art - why isn’t the title font just white? Why use this ugly lime green on top of red!?
Anyway, at first I didn’t realise the Beauty and the Beast allusions were intentional. Once I realised that, I enjoyed it a lot more. The narrative feels a bit slow in the middle but it certainly does pick up.
I can see why people stan this series. It’s compelling and addictive. The prose is easy, though the use of “loosed” irked me but that’s a very minute detail. The characters are well-developed and I never felt like there was too much going on, as I often find with large scale fantasy epics.
As someone who doesn’t normally read books like this, I enjoyed it and will definitely read the rest of the series. I need closure you know?
7/10 - I found this hard to rate! I don’t know if my book snobbery (I’m working on it I promise) is what’s holding me back.
Anyway, at first I didn’t realise the Beauty and the Beast allusions were intentional. Once I realised that, I enjoyed it a lot more. The narrative feels a bit slow in the middle but it certainly does pick up.
I can see why people stan this series. It’s compelling and addictive. The prose is easy, though the use of “loosed” irked me but that’s a very minute detail. The characters are well-developed and I never felt like there was too much going on, as I often find with large scale fantasy epics.
As someone who doesn’t normally read books like this, I enjoyed it and will definitely read the rest of the series. I need closure you know?
7/10 - I found this hard to rate! I don’t know if my book snobbery (I’m working on it I promise) is what’s holding me back.
I’ve wanted to read this for a long time. Everything about it spoke to me.
Evaristo’s prose is fragmented and verse like in style. It took a little while to get used to it but as a poetry lover, I really enjoyed it. It felt free and unrestrained.
Each woman’s story is complex and layered. As the novel unfolds you appreciate the little and significant ways their lives intersect.
Evaristo examination of what it means to be a girl, woman or other is thoughtful and confronting. She is able to highlight all of the richness and vitality of women but also their shortcomings. She raises poignant questions around privilege and asks why we feel the need to compete about who is the most woke. So much of this resonated with me both in who I am and people I’ve met.
As a mixed race woman it felt empowering to read the thoughts of characters who thought or felt similarly to me. Being ‘ambiguously ethnic looking’ can be difficult and the lack of belonging this can create for a young person is hard for many people to understand. Evaristo captures the intricacies of this beautifully.
The last lines of the novel truly reflect what this narrative highlights at its core -
“this is about being
together”
I whole heartedly recommend this to everyone.
Evaristo’s prose is fragmented and verse like in style. It took a little while to get used to it but as a poetry lover, I really enjoyed it. It felt free and unrestrained.
Each woman’s story is complex and layered. As the novel unfolds you appreciate the little and significant ways their lives intersect.
Evaristo examination of what it means to be a girl, woman or other is thoughtful and confronting. She is able to highlight all of the richness and vitality of women but also their shortcomings. She raises poignant questions around privilege and asks why we feel the need to compete about who is the most woke. So much of this resonated with me both in who I am and people I’ve met.
As a mixed race woman it felt empowering to read the thoughts of characters who thought or felt similarly to me. Being ‘ambiguously ethnic looking’ can be difficult and the lack of belonging this can create for a young person is hard for many people to understand. Evaristo captures the intricacies of this beautifully.
The last lines of the novel truly reflect what this narrative highlights at its core -
“this is about being
together”
I whole heartedly recommend this to everyone.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
