nila's Reviews (526)

This is perfectly. Not amazing, not bad, just perfectly average. I think this is the read that confirms, once and for all, that Gaiman is not for me. Honestly, I'm really disappointed. I've looked forward to finally getting into his bibliography and I haven't LOVED any of it, except The Graveyard Book... perhaps I would have liked it better when I was younger, because magical realism has that childlike wonder-vibe to me.

 I'm so happy I liked this! Exactly my kind of fantasy, exciting plot, LOVEABLE CHARACTERS, fascinating world-building and considering it's the first in the series, there's probably more to learn.

My only problem was the writing, especially for the first half of the book, then it got so much better. I don't know how to pinpoint what was bothering me, but the language just seemed so repetitive:

"Its was x, but not that kind of x or another kind of x. No, this x was *insert world in italics*" 

I was also disappointed the last "battle" of this book was won so quickly, but I'm excited for what comes next. I have my theories and I hope I'm wrong, cause that'd be really predictable 

 Confirmed for the 13579264th time: Zeus is garbage 

 I have not kept up with the Harry Potter-world beyond this book series, but there are no words to explain how much I love this series.

I decided to re-read the series (while annotating) as it is my go-to whenever I feel like I'm in a reading slump. It has also been ages since I've read books 3-7 (I read this one latest last year). I keep coming back to the strong friendship of the golden trio, but this time around I found myself more aware and fascinated by side-characters. The Easter eggs and many many cases of foreshadowing throughout the text made me just as excited as back when I didn't know what they were refering too. All-in-all, the beginning of this amazing tale holds up, even if the author's view and understanding of intersectional feminism don't. 

 This is an exploration of different aspects of a person's life from love, sex, identity, age and so on. It is highly character-driven, and everyone's connected. Some of the characters I really enjoyed reading about (Dominique/Morgan/Shirley), while others not so much (Winmore/Penelope). 

I didn't find the writing style difficult (limited use of punctuation). Basically every new sentence starts on a new line, like poetry. It is beautifully written, but with no "actual" Plot, I found it difficult to feel motivated to keep reading 

I mean, that letter! Caught me completely off guard

 Buddy-read this with Aleks, and that experience was worth 5 stars

I'd rate this 4 stars based on the plot/character development/content in general, but there are things with Schwab's writing that doesn't do it for me, and so the actual rating is 3,5. She has a particular way of writing that I did find unique and consistent (as in, I understand it's deliberate, see my review of the 1st book in the series), and I ended up finding it a bit tedious after 3 books.

I definitely enjoyed the character arcs in this book a lot more than previously, though I am tired of reading about people CONSTANTLY bickering. Rhy, in particular, was well fleshed out in this one.
As for the plot, though there were a few plot excellent developments I didn't see coming, there were also many I managed to predict. 

I don't think this is the strongest book in the series, but it was a nice and, as always, a wholesome read from Chambers. I think my expectations were really high considering how much I adored the last book, but this was still a nice read. I really liked so many of the characters, though I was hoping they would interact more with each other. Inclusive and sex-positive as always, and honestly just a good comfort read 

the best series yet!!!