Every time I reread a classic from my youth I have to curse whatever monster was retroactively rating books back when I first set up this account and then adjust that rating back up to 5 stars where it rightfully belongs.

I...don't really know why I'm not giving this 5 stars but I think it's just because it didn't make my heart quite as happy as some of the others. It's getting darker, and while I appreciate that the series does get dark without becoming too annoying, it frustrates me that Rowling didn't really adjust her writing style to match it. These books feel like kids books -- the writing is simplistic even if the world-building and plot aren't. So I guess I just wanted more sophistication from it since the kids are growing up and the themes are getting more mature.

This book is...just...so...long.

Is it brilliant and nostalgic and wonderful and magical? Yes, obviously. But also, oh my god, it's so unnecessarily long.

Note from the zillionth reread: Sorcerer's Stone was the first book I read after moving across the country to start my freshman year of college last fall. It was just what I needed: a story about a boy who finds his place in the world after relocating to a school. It cheered me up when I was feeling homesick. It also coincidentally kicked off what I'm calling Isabel's Very Slow Harry Potter Reread, where I pick up the next book in the series whenever I'm in a particularly magical mood. It feels fitting that this book is then likely going to be the last book I finish before I head back home for the summer in a few days.

What is there even left to say except that I've been crying for the past hour and everything is fine it's totally fine I'm fine you guys.

I actually have one slightly major gripe that I thought around a third of the way through might lower my rating to 4 stars (gasp) but, of course, once I really got into the meat of it, of course, of course this was my favorite book of the year. A million stars. This slightly major gripe pales in comparison to all of the emotions I'm feeling. Just for completeness' sake, though, I will say it.

Spoiler

Darkdawn featured a FUCKING STUPID plot point in which Mercurio and Aelius find Nevernight and Godsgrave in the library and use them to help themselves and Mia. Yes, you read that right, earlier books IN THIS SERIES themselves make an appearance in Darkdawn. Kristoff doesn't miss an opportunity to make fun of himself, having characters rag on the books at every turn. I hated it. It felt like meta bullshit when it was first introduced and while I didn't mind some of the fun twists that were allowed to happen because of it, that doesn't justify it.

But I mean, really, who gives a shit about one slightly major gripe when one of my favorite series gets such an epic conclusion.

Now, gentlefriends, I will tell the story of a girl devastated.

She read the final pages of the book in her hands, a shocked expression on her face.

“Fuuuuuuuuckkkkk yoooouuuuu,” she said.
“Oooooo gooooooddd,” she said. Aloud.

There was nobody else in the room.

Then she set the book down and sat for a moment, head propped in her hands, staring at the white of her bedspread and contemplating the agony of a month, o yes, a month, without the next volume in the series. And she was devastated.

I feel entirely justified in giving Illuminae five stars, but it's left me with a bit of a conundrum because I actually loved this book...significantly more.

The only problem I had with Illuminae was that the first half of it was a little slow. Gemina did not have that problem. These books are some of the only that get my adrenaline pumping the same way an action movie can, and I love it. My boy, AIDAN, was back, and we stan. I was a little apprehensive about switching characters but I loved Nik and Hanna (maybe more than Kady and Ezra oops) and overall I just really feel like Kaufman and Kristoff were trying something with Illuminae, and now with Gemina have really figured it out and done it better.

And yeah, I know I'm technically a day late with this since I'm reading it for Kristoff-a-thon and it was the May book but... it is what it is y'all.

Oh boy, y'all.

I'll admit that I spent about the first half of this book thinking it was nothing more than a pretty unremarkable story told in an interesting enough manner to keep me reading (I'm kind of a sucker for epistolary storytelling). But then.

The second half of this book rolled around, punched me right in the feels, and left me wanting more. Telling parts of the story from AIDAN's POV was a gimmick that I didn't love at first but became absolutely engrossing. Kady and Ezra? I love them. So much. Reading about them being in danger Stressed. Me. Out.

Round of applause from me. I'll definitely be picking up Gemina when I get home from college in a few days.