(Since this is a collection of six books, I've also rated them each individually since I liked some more than others.)

Overall: I really liked Dresden and most of the other characters, and I always enjoy the mix of contemporary and supernatural elements. Fairly formulaic stories, but the engaging narrator and vivid characters made it an enjoyable read. Probably won't be searching out the rest of the series, but if I ever run out of other books to read (doubtful, but anything's possible I guess?) I imagine I would like them just as well.

Despite having such a dark premise, this book was nauseatingly sappy. Don’t get me wrong, Team Not Evil had plenty of despairing moments, but as the reader I never really felt it. I also didn’t really feel the romances — partly because the couples are mostly in HEA mode (or as close to it as possible with the impending apocalypse), which demonstrated most of the things that disappoint me in YA romance subplots.

I remember really liking this series when I started it, so it could just be the Boss Battle Effect that almost inevitably diminishes my enjoyment of the series finale. Or it could be the way this book constantly swings between extremes, with all-or-nothing plot twists that don’t always pan out. It was a decent read, but hardly spectacular.

Though I had some doubts as to the premise, I seriously loved the worldbuilding, and the main characters turned out to be extremely likable. Any tropes are presented in interesting if not wholly imaginative ways, and I'm definitely interested to see where this one goes.

EDIT: The plot and worldbuilding still delight me (minus the infodump annotations — they’re just so long and not all of them are necessary or relevant), but the characters seem flat and the writing itself isn’t great. The heteronormative YA romance is also very strong with this one, unsatisfyingly so. Still, it’s a decent time overall, and I reread it so I can appreciate the trilogy in its entirety; unless the second book is totally underwhelming I intend to follow through.

Maybe I shouldn't have read this series back-to-back-to-back; by the time I got to this one I was a bit burned out on the premise. Which sucks, since it seems like the kind of promising premise you should be able to get more solid books out of.

RTC.

content warnings:

Spoiler

rep:

Spoiler

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CONVERSION: 7.1 / 15 = 2.5 stars

Prose: 5 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 7 / 10
Emotional Impact: 4 / 10
Development / Flow: 6 / 10
Setting: 5 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 2 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 2 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 1 / 5

I had a lot of trouble deciding on a rating — originally it was going to be 4 stars, downgraded from the 5 stars I could easily envision, but I most likely just want so badly to like this book more than I actually did. It had so much potential, and yet fell so short.

This book feels really short, possibly in part because it divides neatly into just three distinct sections: exposition/Ceony’s early apprenticeship,

Spoiler

Lira & Thane’s heart (which was ... an Experience for sure)

, and falling action; it’s more straightforward than almost anything I’ve read in recent memory. Not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it feels too simplistic, especially considering the narrator (whose age I tend to use as an indicator for target audience) is nineteen.

I’m particularly disappointed in the kind-of romance.

Spoiler

In my mind, the student/teacher relationship is platonic, almost sacred — I know it’s a romance trope, but it’s one that makes me uncomfortable — and in this case there’s nothing to suggest Thane feels that way about Ceony, and even less logical buildup for her own romantic attraction to him; it’s like it just suddenly happened when she found herself literally standing in his heart, without even a believable epiphany moment, almost more like a reaction to Lira than Thane himself. I also found the idea of Lira as her “rival” laughable in so many ways. Lira’s jealousy is believable if only because it’s cliched in its extremity (possessive ex-wife; “if I can’t have him no one can”), though it certainly doesn’t mean Ceony has to “stare at her breasts and note that they’re larger than her own” (paraphrased of course, but this happens multiple times). Further heteronormative moments ensue, including the “just ‘having fun,’ as adolescent boys are bound to do” memory (that’s quoted verbatim).

The worldbuilding, though, is exquisite — 5-star quality, as in I would love to inhabit this literary ‘verse. However, the writing quality doesn’t quite live up to this promise: long admiring-the-roses descriptive tangents of the kind I’ve only ever appreciated in the service of a superficial book report, awkwardly flowery word choices (though I’m willing to attribute some of this to a difference in local language, since it’s set in London), underdeveloped secondary characters, and the issues I’ve detailed previously.

★ 2.5 stars ★

Audiobooks tend to be hit or miss for me, but I'm pretty sure in this case it's the reason I didn't DNF: while the story is decently entertaining, the prose isn't really to my taste and I found the characters kind of bland. Within the (sub)genre of modern retellings, Vassa in the Night has some interesting concepts but just didn't strike me as especially memorable or unique.

DNF @ 27%

Tried to reread this one, but I'm just really not feeling the prose or the characters rn. Which is a shame since it's spooky season [Oct 2020] and I was in the mood for a QPoC (specifically in this case, bi & Latina) protagonist.

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[2017 review]
The magical system is really interesting, a unique blend of existing traditions/myths and original ideas, and of course I love the Latinx focus. Bonus points for having a casually bisexual lead whose romantic plots (they're a little too central for me to consider them subplots) with both a boy and a girl are simply taken as a matter of fact! But the prose is slightly awkward in some places, and the plot is rife with predictable cliches, including the ending.

I'm gonna have to agree with those who refuse to accept this as part of the HP canon, but it's not a bad story overall.

While 19 years could and should certainly have made a difference in the Lightning era characters, sometimes it was hard to find even traces of the friends I grew up with; probably a good call making the next generation the focus, since in relation to existing canon they're basically OCs. I liked the flashbacks to iconic scenes, and the plot was — let's call it interesting, though I felt like the

Spoiler

redemption of Severus Snape and the lowkey Dramione

felt more like fanservice than a believably natural development.

I appreciate the representation, though I don't totally agree with the way it's presented: sexuality isn't defined by your current partner, so it's not accurate to say a character is "sometimes bisexual but mostly lesbian"; it's also mentioned that there's some tension because the bisexual lead is also a switch (including one instance, although challenged in-text, where the other alludes to her finally "admitting her true identity" or something like that), which is never really resolved. The plot also wraps up too quickly and neatly, which makes it difficult to invest in the characters or their story.

content warnings:

Spoiler

explicit sexual content, graphic BDSM, precanon loss of loved ones

rep:

Spoiler

homoromantic demisexual MC, bisexual switch MC, F/F main romance, minor M/M relationships, past polyam relationship

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CONVERSION: 8.4 / 15 = 3 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 6 / 10
Emotional Impact: 4 / 10
Development / Flow: 4 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10

content warnings:

Spoiler

mention of hunting & butchering, systemic & familial homophobia & misogyny, genocide, domestic violence, abusive brother, animal abuse, infidelity, precanon parent death, mind/memory manipulation

rep:

Spoiler

POC-coded setting & cast, biracial queer MC [Aqib], MLM LI [Lucrio], M/M main relationship, F/(queer) M major relationship

★ 2.5 stars ★

The writing style and nonlinear timeline left me feeling disconnected, which is a shame because I really liked the worldbuilding and the plot was, on a theoretical level, really interesting. In other words, this is a well-crafted novella, just not my cup of tea.

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CONVERSION: 6.9 / 15 = 2.5 stars

Prose: 5 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 3 / 10
Emotional Impact: 3 / 10
Development / Flow: 4 / 10
Setting: 6 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 3 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 2 / 5