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paragraphsandpages
First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.
Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: When I picked up this book at ALA, it was definitely one of the few I was most excited about. A YA murder mystery, sign me up! Nonetheless, I knew that my entire opinion of the plot and the story would hinge on one main thing: the ending, specifically how twisty/cool it was + evidence throughout the entire story backing up that ending (as the book fairly advertised.) As you saw by my high rating, this book had an absolute perfect ending to the plot, with evidence actually backing it up from chapter 1.
The Good: Great plot, almost every character was likable in some way (which also made every piece of evidence pointing out one of the characters as the murderer harder to take, and made it less biased in our thinking of who did it as we didn’t really want any of them to be convicted rather than just one that we then ignored evidence for.) Outside of the actual parts of a novel, the book also had a really refreshing and nice take on LGBT and mental illness issues, which will be gone over in the spoiler sections below.
The Bad: Would’ve been 5 stars had the epilogue in the ARC version not existed. Will explain further under spoilers, but it added unnecessary romantic issues at the end that made the epilogue be mainly about a relationship/single character rather than overall aftermath/moving on.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE (If you do not want the entire book spoiled, AKA who did it and how and why, DO NOT READ THIS. You have been warned!)
The Characters: I really really liked the characters in this novel, especially the growth we saw. In the beginning, everyone is practically a walking stereotype, and later it shows how they became this way, from the parents and home life, to their friends and relationships. Additionally, everyone had realistic flaws that made them feel more real and more human, especially shown by the “secrets” they all held. Lastly, we saw LGBT issues (Cooper being gay, and how his father and the baseball community was because of it), as well as mental illnesses (Simon being depressed + killing himself) being dealt with. However, the best thing about this was that the entirety of Cooper did not become being the token gay, and he was a developed character outside of his sexuality, and how Simon was not seen as a good person just because he killed himself, and there was no glorification of his suicide. People were saddened by the death and remorseful of the actions they may have made to push Simon to suicide, but they also didn’t forget the horrible manipulation he did to everyone, and the fear he purposely bred in everyone’s hearts.
The Plot: This was fantastic! Not only was the ending so twisty (yes I suspected it was Simon’s doing, just not necessarily Jake’s sadistic part in all of it. But the greatness was not in the ending itself, but how it was actually built up, and a reread (and just thinking back) showed just how well planned this all was. Additionally, I was both able to get connected to the main characters (a necessary thing to feel truly invested in a novel), but the information/evidence against characters was also introduced well enough that I suspected everyone at one point or another.
The Favorite Character: Honestly, I love everyone in the murder club (only Nate a little less so, because of the ending.)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: When I picked up this book at ALA, it was definitely one of the few I was most excited about. A YA murder mystery, sign me up! Nonetheless, I knew that my entire opinion of the plot and the story would hinge on one main thing: the ending, specifically how twisty/cool it was + evidence throughout the entire story backing up that ending (as the book fairly advertised.) As you saw by my high rating, this book had an absolute perfect ending to the plot, with evidence actually backing it up from chapter 1.
The Good: Great plot, almost every character was likable in some way (which also made every piece of evidence pointing out one of the characters as the murderer harder to take, and made it less biased in our thinking of who did it as we didn’t really want any of them to be convicted rather than just one that we then ignored evidence for.) Outside of the actual parts of a novel, the book also had a really refreshing and nice take on LGBT and mental illness issues, which will be gone over in the spoiler sections below.
The Bad: Would’ve been 5 stars had the epilogue in the ARC version not existed. Will explain further under spoilers, but it added unnecessary romantic issues at the end that made the epilogue be mainly about a relationship/single character rather than overall aftermath/moving on.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE (If you do not want the entire book spoiled, AKA who did it and how and why, DO NOT READ THIS. You have been warned!)
The Characters: I really really liked the characters in this novel, especially the growth we saw. In the beginning, everyone is practically a walking stereotype, and later it shows how they became this way, from the parents and home life, to their friends and relationships. Additionally, everyone had realistic flaws that made them feel more real and more human, especially shown by the “secrets” they all held. Lastly, we saw LGBT issues (Cooper being gay, and how his father and the baseball community was because of it), as well as mental illnesses (Simon being depressed + killing himself) being dealt with. However, the best thing about this was that the entirety of Cooper did not become being the token gay, and he was a developed character outside of his sexuality, and how Simon was not seen as a good person just because he killed himself, and there was no glorification of his suicide. People were saddened by the death and remorseful of the actions they may have made to push Simon to suicide, but they also didn’t forget the horrible manipulation he did to everyone, and the fear he purposely bred in everyone’s hearts.
The Plot: This was fantastic! Not only was the ending so twisty (yes I suspected it was Simon’s doing, just not necessarily Jake’s sadistic part in all of it. But the greatness was not in the ending itself, but how it was actually built up, and a reread (and just thinking back) showed just how well planned this all was. Additionally, I was both able to get connected to the main characters (a necessary thing to feel truly invested in a novel), but the information/evidence against characters was also introduced well enough that I suspected everyone at one point or another.
The Favorite Character: Honestly, I love everyone in the murder club (only Nate a little less so, because of the ending.)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
“Hate like that can tear down the world.”
Stars (Out of 10): 9/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: I’m gonna be honest, after the end of Lady Midnight, I wasn’t completely looking forward to this book. I would read it, yes, but knew I would be so frustrated by the romantic tension and lack of transparency between Emma and Julian that it would just be more annoying than enjoyable to read. However, I was so wrong. I loved this installment, more so than Lady Midnight, I have to say, and my love for the characters grew. I’m still not the biggest fan of Julian, but most of the others are closer to my heart now. (Also, my dear Magnus made a ton of appearances and he has always been a favorite.)
The Good: Great development in most areas (from character relationships to world development to plot creation!) Also, the way it was written kept us jumping from POV to POV in the best way, and no part felt like filler. The further I got into the book, the more I couldn’t put it down!
The Bad: While a cliffhanger ending is great, this one felt a bit abrupt, and so I still feel like there’s more I need to read. It basically ended right in the middle of the climax of the novel. Additionally, it felt semi slow at the start, and sometimes I got a bit annoyed with Julian or one of the others. Also, am highly annoyed Clare is starting her new series next year instead of just finishing this one first, and making us wait 2 years for the finale of this story.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I was so much more connected to the cast in this book than in Lady Midnight. Last book, while I felt Emma and Julian were cool, I saw them torn apart and then shown as semi manipulative in their actions to protect each other/the family. But this book saw the rise of the other characters, and Mark has now grown to be my favorite. I also love the dynamic between Kieran, Mark, and Cristina, and am super curious to see where that goes. I also loved our little detective group, and the way the three worked together (emphasis on “workED”) was so cool to see!
The Plot: I really liked all the new facts we learned about the plot of this series, and how much more it involved the fae. There was a lot of build up, however, and I felt like the climax that resulted from all that build up was cut a bit too short. And while I do like the great cliffhanger we were left with, and how I honestly can’t guess where the book will go now, I’m mad that by the time I’ll get the ending, I’ll have forgotten a lot of the details and my specific theories from this book.
The Favorite Character: Mark Blackthorn
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Stars (Out of 10): 9/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: I’m gonna be honest, after the end of Lady Midnight, I wasn’t completely looking forward to this book. I would read it, yes, but knew I would be so frustrated by the romantic tension and lack of transparency between Emma and Julian that it would just be more annoying than enjoyable to read. However, I was so wrong. I loved this installment, more so than Lady Midnight, I have to say, and my love for the characters grew. I’m still not the biggest fan of Julian, but most of the others are closer to my heart now. (Also, my dear Magnus made a ton of appearances and he has always been a favorite.)
The Good: Great development in most areas (from character relationships to world development to plot creation!) Also, the way it was written kept us jumping from POV to POV in the best way, and no part felt like filler. The further I got into the book, the more I couldn’t put it down!
The Bad: While a cliffhanger ending is great, this one felt a bit abrupt, and so I still feel like there’s more I need to read. It basically ended right in the middle of the climax of the novel. Additionally, it felt semi slow at the start, and sometimes I got a bit annoyed with Julian or one of the others. Also, am highly annoyed Clare is starting her new series next year instead of just finishing this one first, and making us wait 2 years for the finale of this story.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I was so much more connected to the cast in this book than in Lady Midnight. Last book, while I felt Emma and Julian were cool, I saw them torn apart and then shown as semi manipulative in their actions to protect each other/the family. But this book saw the rise of the other characters, and Mark has now grown to be my favorite. I also love the dynamic between Kieran, Mark, and Cristina, and am super curious to see where that goes. I also loved our little detective group, and the way the three worked together (emphasis on “workED”) was so cool to see!
The Plot: I really liked all the new facts we learned about the plot of this series, and how much more it involved the fae. There was a lot of build up, however, and I felt like the climax that resulted from all that build up was cut a bit too short. And while I do like the great cliffhanger we were left with, and how I honestly can’t guess where the book will go now, I’m mad that by the time I’ll get the ending, I’ll have forgotten a lot of the details and my specific theories from this book.
The Favorite Character: Mark Blackthorn
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
“Confidence is ignorance. If you're feeling cocky, it's because there's something you don't know.”
Stars (Out of 10): 6/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: While I’m not the biggest fan of this book, it was still pretty good. I enjoyed reading it, but it by far was not one of my favorite books/children books. I have the next few books in the series though, so I might end up continuing it just because the books are easily accessible. But overall, I just was kinda bored by it.
The Good: Decent plot, and I liked how there wasn’t really a good or bad side, and you could’ve honestly supported either side and been happy with the outcome. I also liked the humor in this novel, and overall it wasn’t as “childish” as I thought it would be!
The Bad: Didn’t actually connect with any of the characters, and while yes I could support either side, I ended up not liking either. Also, nothing of the plot was really “surprising,” and I’m not usually the biggest fan of the main character being overly powerful/smart in a way that almost doesn’t make sense.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I didn’t end up caring for any of the characters, honestly. Artemis, while kinda cool, just felt kinda shallow and inhuman, but I do see the author trying to create a path of development (showing Artemis joke more), so I’m curious to see where that goes. The fae, on the other hand, weren’t focused on in a way that would make me like separate characters, but I did end up liking Holly, even if some decisions or facts weren’t fully explained, like why she never bothered to refill her magic if she was so ambitious to grow in her career.
The Plot: This part was fairly interesting, and was mainly the reason I kept reading, I wanted to know how it all ended! I actually was quite happy how it ended in a way to keep both sides happy (but still wanting to take more from the other), and I love how Artemis was made a bit more human by using his wish to save his mother, which will definitely be an interesting dynamic (her influence) to see played out in the rest of the series!
The World Building: The fae were depicted in a curious way, as an underground race of people with magic. It was definitely different, and made the story very unique in it’s own right, but I do feel it could’ve been developed a bit better. But I can hope for that for the rest of the series!
The Favorite Character: Holly Short
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Stars (Out of 10): 6/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: While I’m not the biggest fan of this book, it was still pretty good. I enjoyed reading it, but it by far was not one of my favorite books/children books. I have the next few books in the series though, so I might end up continuing it just because the books are easily accessible. But overall, I just was kinda bored by it.
The Good: Decent plot, and I liked how there wasn’t really a good or bad side, and you could’ve honestly supported either side and been happy with the outcome. I also liked the humor in this novel, and overall it wasn’t as “childish” as I thought it would be!
The Bad: Didn’t actually connect with any of the characters, and while yes I could support either side, I ended up not liking either. Also, nothing of the plot was really “surprising,” and I’m not usually the biggest fan of the main character being overly powerful/smart in a way that almost doesn’t make sense.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I didn’t end up caring for any of the characters, honestly. Artemis, while kinda cool, just felt kinda shallow and inhuman, but I do see the author trying to create a path of development (showing Artemis joke more), so I’m curious to see where that goes. The fae, on the other hand, weren’t focused on in a way that would make me like separate characters, but I did end up liking Holly, even if some decisions or facts weren’t fully explained, like why she never bothered to refill her magic if she was so ambitious to grow in her career.
The Plot: This part was fairly interesting, and was mainly the reason I kept reading, I wanted to know how it all ended! I actually was quite happy how it ended in a way to keep both sides happy (but still wanting to take more from the other), and I love how Artemis was made a bit more human by using his wish to save his mother, which will definitely be an interesting dynamic (her influence) to see played out in the rest of the series!
The World Building: The fae were depicted in a curious way, as an underground race of people with magic. It was definitely different, and made the story very unique in it’s own right, but I do feel it could’ve been developed a bit better. But I can hope for that for the rest of the series!
The Favorite Character: Holly Short
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.
Stars (Out of 10): 4/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: I had high hopes for this book, really high hopes. A book about resurrection and a difficult choice? There are tons of way to draw excellent meaning and philosophical ponderings from that. I hoped for a book that would make me think, make me feel, but it almost felt like this book took the easy way out for the plot. (I’ll explain why down in spoilers.)
The Good: Ohhhh boy what a twist guys. What a twist! Also, Lake stood up for herself. I loved that. But alas, a gasp-inducing twist and a usually great main character cannot raise this book past two stars when it is riddled with annoying cliches and stinging disappointment.
The Bad: Cliches and disappointments^. Additionally, every adult was bad, and Lake had no one to turn to but new guy Ringo (shocking!) I’m sorry, but the romance was just unnecessary. I loved Ringo as a character, he was great, but the timing of it all was off. Also, while I liked the ending, the beginning and middle were eh, and I found myself reaching for Schwab’s “A Gathering of Shadows” often, kinda wishing I had devoted myself first to that book, rather than this one.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Plot/The Characters (My ranting got a bit mixed so I’m just combining the categories this time): Why, for a character to move on from a relationship, death, etc., do the people that the main character is leaving behind need to be revealed as being worse than the character thought? Why did Will and Penny need to be secretly the exact opposite of what Lake thought they were? The whole secretly loving/texting each other behind Lake’s back ruined the given perception of them. Will didn’t want to be like his cheating and leaving father… but he chose to continue the relationship with Lake knowing he loved Penny more? (Or, since he doesn’t want to leave, why would he go through with the hidden relationship with Penny? Knowing that’s how his father got in the whole mess.) And Penny the entire time was painted as the perfect saint, a sweet angel, the nicest girl in the world, but then suddenly the truth comes out and she was going around behind Lake’s back the whole time? Yes, Lake wasn’t the best person for necessarily “taking” Will, but wasn’t Will super receptive of it anyways? It just made me feel that there was a shadow over the entire best friendship between the three, and this legendary trio we’re supposed to mourn and feel for was never actually positive and healthy in the first place. This is where I felt the author took the easy path. Rather than making Lake come to a decision that making the best of the hand dealt her on her own accords, and with her still being able to love her friends, it turned the friendship into something darker. I feel too much of Lake’s decision instead stemmed from the fact that even if she brought back one of them, the relationship wouldn’t be the same because she knew the truth now of the true relationship between Penny and Will, and just her probably wouldn’t be enough to make only one of that pair happy when their heart was truly with the one still dead. However, I loved the twist, and did not see it coming at all, although the only thing that really was affected by it was Lake’s perception of her brother, who did a total 180.
Honestly, had the story just been about the ethics of resurrection and in finding peace and happiness in the shitty hand that life had dealt you, I probably would’ve loved it. I would’ve loved the meaning drawn from the story, rather than focusing on a random relationship and the destruction of something that was not golden, but gilded.
The Favorite Character: Ringo, even if I felt his role in the entire novel was irrelevant.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Stars (Out of 10): 4/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: I had high hopes for this book, really high hopes. A book about resurrection and a difficult choice? There are tons of way to draw excellent meaning and philosophical ponderings from that. I hoped for a book that would make me think, make me feel, but it almost felt like this book took the easy way out for the plot. (I’ll explain why down in spoilers.)
The Good: Ohhhh boy what a twist guys. What a twist! Also, Lake stood up for herself. I loved that. But alas, a gasp-inducing twist and a usually great main character cannot raise this book past two stars when it is riddled with annoying cliches and stinging disappointment.
The Bad: Cliches and disappointments^. Additionally, every adult was bad, and Lake had no one to turn to but new guy Ringo (shocking!) I’m sorry, but the romance was just unnecessary. I loved Ringo as a character, he was great, but the timing of it all was off. Also, while I liked the ending, the beginning and middle were eh, and I found myself reaching for Schwab’s “A Gathering of Shadows” often, kinda wishing I had devoted myself first to that book, rather than this one.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Plot/The Characters (My ranting got a bit mixed so I’m just combining the categories this time): Why, for a character to move on from a relationship, death, etc., do the people that the main character is leaving behind need to be revealed as being worse than the character thought? Why did Will and Penny need to be secretly the exact opposite of what Lake thought they were? The whole secretly loving/texting each other behind Lake’s back ruined the given perception of them. Will didn’t want to be like his cheating and leaving father… but he chose to continue the relationship with Lake knowing he loved Penny more? (Or, since he doesn’t want to leave, why would he go through with the hidden relationship with Penny? Knowing that’s how his father got in the whole mess.) And Penny the entire time was painted as the perfect saint, a sweet angel, the nicest girl in the world, but then suddenly the truth comes out and she was going around behind Lake’s back the whole time? Yes, Lake wasn’t the best person for necessarily “taking” Will, but wasn’t Will super receptive of it anyways? It just made me feel that there was a shadow over the entire best friendship between the three, and this legendary trio we’re supposed to mourn and feel for was never actually positive and healthy in the first place. This is where I felt the author took the easy path. Rather than making Lake come to a decision that making the best of the hand dealt her on her own accords, and with her still being able to love her friends, it turned the friendship into something darker. I feel too much of Lake’s decision instead stemmed from the fact that even if she brought back one of them, the relationship wouldn’t be the same because she knew the truth now of the true relationship between Penny and Will, and just her probably wouldn’t be enough to make only one of that pair happy when their heart was truly with the one still dead. However, I loved the twist, and did not see it coming at all, although the only thing that really was affected by it was Lake’s perception of her brother, who did a total 180.
Honestly, had the story just been about the ethics of resurrection and in finding peace and happiness in the shitty hand that life had dealt you, I probably would’ve loved it. I would’ve loved the meaning drawn from the story, rather than focusing on a random relationship and the destruction of something that was not golden, but gilded.
The Favorite Character: Ringo, even if I felt his role in the entire novel was irrelevant.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
DNF at 31%
I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I'm gonna be honest, from the first few chapters I knew this book wasn't for me. I wanted to see it through, I really did, but I just found myself reading less, and skimming more. I've read books in prose before, and often love the format, but felt it just didn't fit this book. Additionally, we never get a proper introduction to the characters, names just start being thrown. And at 5%, an important event happened that I felt lost all weight on me because I didn't feel attached to any characters yet. The way things were described and the flow of the entire book just wasn't for me at all either. It also didn't help that the way Rae was shown and written made her feel unlikable, and we only got to see her pushing herself away from everyone, and then getting mad when they were worried/hanging out with other people instead. In the beginning of the novel, it should've been super important to build up a bond between reader and narrator, but instead we got thrown into the chaos with no way of knowing how things used to be.
I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I'm gonna be honest, from the first few chapters I knew this book wasn't for me. I wanted to see it through, I really did, but I just found myself reading less, and skimming more. I've read books in prose before, and often love the format, but felt it just didn't fit this book. Additionally, we never get a proper introduction to the characters, names just start being thrown. And at 5%, an important event happened that I felt lost all weight on me because I didn't feel attached to any characters yet. The way things were described and the flow of the entire book just wasn't for me at all either. It also didn't help that the way Rae was shown and written made her feel unlikable, and we only got to see her pushing herself away from everyone, and then getting mad when they were worried/hanging out with other people instead. In the beginning of the novel, it should've been super important to build up a bond between reader and narrator, but instead we got thrown into the chaos with no way of knowing how things used to be.