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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
I think this is my second favourite of the trilogy but god that's so hard for me to figure out because these three wonderful books hold such similar places in my heart. Thank god Talia Hibbert's next trilogy is also going to be set in Skybriar because I'm absolutely not ready to say goodbye to this world yet. I don't intend on this being my last book of the year but if it is I will have ended the year perfectly.
That ending oh my goddddd. I loved every second of this. Between this and Court of Lions I think my love of YA fantasy is returning and I couldn’t be happier. I truly don’t understand a single criticism of this.
A beautiful love letter to the queer community. Sarah Gailey is the only person I will read westerns from. I want fifty more.
“Time: the word tolled like the bells of a church. Fonny was doing: time. In six months’ time, our baby would be here. Somewhere, in time, Fonny and I had met; somewhere, in time, we had loved; somewhere, no longer in time, but, now, totally, at time’s mercy, we loved.”
This might be the most beautiful book ever written. James Baldwin’s writing is so wonderful. There were a few passages in this that genuinely took my breath away. Baldwin is a writer I’ve been meaning to read from for a while and I just want to devour everything he’s ever written now, but I also worry that none of his other work will hit me quite as hard as this did.
Kanae Minato is so fucked up lmao. I love the way that she structures her books, full of long chapters each with a different narrator that changes your perspective on events and characters while also revealing new information. Every reveal in this shocked me and made me cackle in delight. God, I hope more Kanae Minato books are translated because I love the two I've read so much.
I happened to read this on the day I first wore a crop top in my adult life! It's been a big insecurity of mine but today I was going to the movies and decided it was the perfect time to wear my new crop top out. This nearly made me cry. Sometimes I forget just how truly horrific people can be. I'm so glad that kids get to read this and hopefully feel seen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Fatphobia
Moderate: Self harm
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content warnings: violence, abandonment, bullying, general creepiness (all fairly tame)
I saw that my library had all the audiobooks for the Goosebumps Horrorland series so, like any sensible almost-adult, I made the decision to re-read them all and relive the nostalgia of being nine.
This first book is split into two halves. The first is about Brittany whose younger, bratty cousin is coming to live with her family for a while. When he arrives, he has a ventriloquist dummy with him that he's named Mr. Bad Boy (who we all know as Slappy the Dummy). As can be expected from R.L. Stine, the dummy is not as he seems and Brittany, as well as her best friend Molly, start to fear for their lives. The second half is set after the events that conspired with Slappy. Brittany and Molly have both been invited to the legendary horror theme park, Horrorland, as VIP guests. But when they arrive, they realise that the scares seem a bit too real.
I was genuinely surprised at how well this held up in terms of spookiness. I'm not going to get nightmares from this or anything, but I can definitely see how this would be scary to kids. Part of the great atmosphere was from the audiobook, which was surprisingly fantastic. The narrator, Alissa Hunnictt, does an incredible job with the voices of all the characters, Slappy in particular, and she's great at creating tension with her delivery. The production itself was also great, with creepy music and special effects like lightning.
If you're like me and are re-reading this when you're older, I would definitely go with the audiobook. I remember this as one of my favourites of the entire series and it didn't disappoint.
I saw that my library had all the audiobooks for the Goosebumps Horrorland series so, like any sensible almost-adult, I made the decision to re-read them all and relive the nostalgia of being nine.
This first book is split into two halves. The first is about Brittany whose younger, bratty cousin is coming to live with her family for a while. When he arrives, he has a ventriloquist dummy with him that he's named Mr. Bad Boy (who we all know as Slappy the Dummy). As can be expected from R.L. Stine, the dummy is not as he seems and Brittany, as well as her best friend Molly, start to fear for their lives. The second half is set after the events that conspired with Slappy. Brittany and Molly have both been invited to the legendary horror theme park, Horrorland, as VIP guests. But when they arrive, they realise that the scares seem a bit too real.
I was genuinely surprised at how well this held up in terms of spookiness. I'm not going to get nightmares from this or anything, but I can definitely see how this would be scary to kids. Part of the great atmosphere was from the audiobook, which was surprisingly fantastic. The narrator, Alissa Hunnictt, does an incredible job with the voices of all the characters, Slappy in particular, and she's great at creating tension with her delivery. The production itself was also great, with creepy music and special effects like lightning.
If you're like me and are re-reading this when you're older, I would definitely go with the audiobook. I remember this as one of my favourites of the entire series and it didn't disappoint.
1) Son of the Dawn ★★★
2) Cast Long Shadows ★★
3) Every Exquisite Thing ★★★★★
4) Learn About Loss ★★
5) A Deeper Love ★★★★
6) The Wicked Ones ★★★★
7) The Land I Lost ★★★★★
8) Through Blood, Through Fire ★★★★
9) The Lost World ★★★★
10) Forever Fallen ★★★★½
content warnings: violence
representation: genderqueer lesbian main character, indian lesbian side character, main f/f romance, chinese-british side character
“Someday, the lady would not be imaginary. The clothes would not be borrowed and ill-fitting. Someday she would stride down the street and women would fall at her feet (not failing to notice the perfectly polished brogues) and men would tip their hats to a lady-killer more accomplished than they.”
Someone told Cassandra Clare that having LGBTQ+ characters in her Victorian-era stories was unrealistic, so she just fucking doubled down. This was incredible. I decided I wasn't going to read any of Ghosts of the Shadow Market until the full bind-up was released, but I had to make an exception for this when I saw the front cover and saw everyone freaking out.
This is about Anna Lightwood, the daughter of Cecily and Gabriel, as she falls in love for the first time and explores her gender identity. And I absolutely loved this. The romance, Anna's exploration of her gender, her friends and family being the best people alive, Jem's existence, it was all fantastic. A novella that's just over 50 pages shouldn't be able to make me cry, but by the end of this I was tearing up.
In conclusion, I love Anna Lightwood and I would lay down my life for her.
2) Cast Long Shadows ★★
3) Every Exquisite Thing ★★★★★
4) Learn About Loss ★★
5) A Deeper Love ★★★★
6) The Wicked Ones ★★★★
7) The Land I Lost ★★★★★
8) Through Blood, Through Fire ★★★★
9) The Lost World ★★★★
10) Forever Fallen ★★★★½
content warnings: violence
representation: genderqueer lesbian main character, indian lesbian side character, main f/f romance, chinese-british side character
“Someday, the lady would not be imaginary. The clothes would not be borrowed and ill-fitting. Someday she would stride down the street and women would fall at her feet (not failing to notice the perfectly polished brogues) and men would tip their hats to a lady-killer more accomplished than they.”
Someone told Cassandra Clare that having LGBTQ+ characters in her Victorian-era stories was unrealistic, so she just fucking doubled down. This was incredible. I decided I wasn't going to read any of Ghosts of the Shadow Market until the full bind-up was released, but I had to make an exception for this when I saw the front cover and saw everyone freaking out.
This is about Anna Lightwood, the daughter of Cecily and Gabriel, as she falls in love for the first time and explores her gender identity. And I absolutely loved this. The romance, Anna's exploration of her gender, her friends and family being the best people alive, Jem's existence, it was all fantastic. A novella that's just over 50 pages shouldn't be able to make me cry, but by the end of this I was tearing up.
In conclusion, I love Anna Lightwood and I would lay down my life for her.
1) Son of the Dawn ★★★
2) Cast Long Shadows ★★
3) Every Exquisite Thing ★★★★★
4) Learn About Loss ★★
5) A Deeper Love ★★★★
6) The Wicked Ones ★★★★
7) The Land I Lost ★★★★★
8) Through Blood, Through Fire ★★★★
9) The Lost World ★★★★
10) Forever Fallen ★★★★½
content warnings: violence, gore, love potion, gaslighting, child abuse
representation: british-chinese side character
“Feeling is what makes us human. Even the most difficult feelings. Perhaps especially those. Love, loss, longing—this is what it means to be truly alive.”
As you can probably tell, I'm halfheartedly reading the e-books of Ghosts of the Shadow Market. I honestly was only planning to read Every Exquisite Thing but then I heard someone say that this should be read before Queen of Air and Darkness, and holy crap they were right.
This story is about Céline, Jace's mum, as a new member of the Circle who is infiltrating the Shadow Market with Stephen Herondale and Robert Lightwood. She also discovers some secrets along the way while pining for Stephen. Concurrent to this main storyline is Brother Zachariah trying to find the lost Herondale and keep them safe.
I ended up enjoying this so much more than I thought I would. Céline was such an interesting and conflicted character who does some horrible, stupid things but is ultimately still a good person, and I loved reading from her perspective. I also love how Cassandra Clare shows the ways that Valentine was so good at manipulating people that, even when they know on some level that they're being manipulated, it doesn't matter because he's that good.
Seeing Jem always makes my heart sing and I loved his short scene with Tessa. Nothing more effectively breaks my heart than seeing these two together while Jem is still a Silent Brother. I also loved the twists and turns that the lost Herondale storyline took and I'm now extremely excited to read the eighth in this series, Through Blood, Through Fire, and see how that ties in.
Even after only reading two of the stories, I can already say with a fair amount of certainty that this collection is easily Cassandra Clare's best.
2) Cast Long Shadows ★★
3) Every Exquisite Thing ★★★★★
4) Learn About Loss ★★
5) A Deeper Love ★★★★
6) The Wicked Ones ★★★★
7) The Land I Lost ★★★★★
8) Through Blood, Through Fire ★★★★
9) The Lost World ★★★★
10) Forever Fallen ★★★★½
content warnings: violence, gore, love potion, gaslighting, child abuse
representation: british-chinese side character
“Feeling is what makes us human. Even the most difficult feelings. Perhaps especially those. Love, loss, longing—this is what it means to be truly alive.”
As you can probably tell, I'm halfheartedly reading the e-books of Ghosts of the Shadow Market. I honestly was only planning to read Every Exquisite Thing but then I heard someone say that this should be read before Queen of Air and Darkness, and holy crap they were right.
This story is about Céline, Jace's mum, as a new member of the Circle who is infiltrating the Shadow Market with Stephen Herondale and Robert Lightwood. She also discovers some secrets along the way while pining for Stephen. Concurrent to this main storyline is Brother Zachariah trying to find the lost Herondale and keep them safe.
I ended up enjoying this so much more than I thought I would. Céline was such an interesting and conflicted character who does some horrible, stupid things but is ultimately still a good person, and I loved reading from her perspective. I also love how Cassandra Clare shows the ways that Valentine was so good at manipulating people that, even when they know on some level that they're being manipulated, it doesn't matter because he's that good.
Seeing Jem always makes my heart sing and I loved his short scene with Tessa. Nothing more effectively breaks my heart than seeing these two together while Jem is still a Silent Brother. I also loved the twists and turns that the lost Herondale storyline took and I'm now extremely excited to read the eighth in this series, Through Blood, Through Fire, and see how that ties in.
Even after only reading two of the stories, I can already say with a fair amount of certainty that this collection is easily Cassandra Clare's best.