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I literally just picked this up as a random audio but I loved this so much, my heart feels all full
This book was exactly what I needed right now. It's kind of been a series I've been saying since I pretty much knew I'd love it, and it's honestly perfect timing to read it right now.
There is this one very specific style of writing that gets me every time, and this series has it. It's the same styles that made me love The Starless Sea, Spinning Silver, and Strange the Dreamer . It's the perfect type of lyrical writing that often accompanies fairy tales and myths, or the retelling of them, and it's lyrical while still presenting a story filled with magic. Arden's writing is definitely up there for me now, and I honestly can't wait to continue the series.
Not only did this book have the writing style I loved, it also had the magic. This story is rife with legends and myths and magic, all tying together create an extremely fascinating world. I loved how many spirits lived in this book, from everyday spirits to larger, more god-like figures, and especially the way the story took them into its plot. The story itself is about the old being pushed aside for the new, especially in terms of religion, so this story follows the struggle of Vasya to stick to the old ways and keep the spirits alive (as they protect her family and village). I just loved diving into this world.
Vasya is also actually the best. She's somehow strong and brave without coming off as arrogant or as a "chosen one", in the negative sense of the trope. She's still weak and vulnerable for certain people, she still desires and is headstrong, but she doesn't let herself get pushed around. She's honestly just awe-inspiring, and I'd read thousands of books about her.
The way the story is constructed is also one of my favorite things (though, almost everything about this book is a favorite thing...). You don't get dropped in right when the interesting stuff is about to happen, you get to see the build up to it. You get to see the threads before they're woven into the cloth of the story, and that makes the end product, the final tapestry of the story, that much more satisfying to see. You really get to see what made things happen the way they did, and it also built a much stronger attachment to all the characters. Even the characters you come to despise, you feel for on some level, because you understand how they got to be in the position they are, and to make the choices they did. It made this book all the more memorable.
I know I'm probably one of the last people to get to this series, but if you haven't picked this up yet, definitely do!
There is this one very specific style of writing that gets me every time, and this series has it. It's the same styles that made me love The Starless Sea, Spinning Silver, and Strange the Dreamer . It's the perfect type of lyrical writing that often accompanies fairy tales and myths, or the retelling of them, and it's lyrical while still presenting a story filled with magic. Arden's writing is definitely up there for me now, and I honestly can't wait to continue the series.
Not only did this book have the writing style I loved, it also had the magic. This story is rife with legends and myths and magic, all tying together create an extremely fascinating world. I loved how many spirits lived in this book, from everyday spirits to larger, more god-like figures, and especially the way the story took them into its plot. The story itself is about the old being pushed aside for the new, especially in terms of religion, so this story follows the struggle of Vasya to stick to the old ways and keep the spirits alive (as they protect her family and village). I just loved diving into this world.
Vasya is also actually the best. She's somehow strong and brave without coming off as arrogant or as a "chosen one", in the negative sense of the trope. She's still weak and vulnerable for certain people, she still desires and is headstrong, but she doesn't let herself get pushed around. She's honestly just awe-inspiring, and I'd read thousands of books about her.
The way the story is constructed is also one of my favorite things (though, almost everything about this book is a favorite thing...). You don't get dropped in right when the interesting stuff is about to happen, you get to see the build up to it. You get to see the threads before they're woven into the cloth of the story, and that makes the end product, the final tapestry of the story, that much more satisfying to see. You really get to see what made things happen the way they did, and it also built a much stronger attachment to all the characters. Even the characters you come to despise, you feel for on some level, because you understand how they got to be in the position they are, and to make the choices they did. It made this book all the more memorable.
I know I'm probably one of the last people to get to this series, but if you haven't picked this up yet, definitely do!
+ Rich dystopian world
+ Intriguing plot full of twists
+ Compelling characters and relationships
+ Addictive writing
- Rushed ending
This is a tough book to review because it was a tough book to read. It deals with a ton of tough subjects which makes the content hard to read at points (I believe the author has a full list of TWs on their blog, and I definitely recommend looking into them before starting the book). However, Lee still wrote an extremely compelling novel nonetheless that seemed to handle these topics with grace and care.
The first 80% of this book was so insanely addictive. I couldn't put it down! I was reading this book with a friend, and it was difficult to stick to the schedule we had set to ourselves. The way Lee built up the intrigue and mystery in the story had me hooked for any scrap of information. My friend and I spent hours theorizing on who was behind everything, who we could trust, and the truth behind magic and Lehrer. I seriously had not been so roped into a dystopian story in a while. There was just something so well written about the characters, the plot, and the setting, and each new kernel of information was both so horrifying and intriguing that I couldn't look away. (My friend compared it to wanting to look away from a car crash but being unable to). I also really enjoyed Lee's writing style. It was not overly convoluted yet perfectly conveyed the story, and added to my enjoyment of the book. It was a large reason of why I couldn't stop reading, as the way the sentences bled into each other made it easier to keep on reading rather than stop and take a break.
Dara and Noah were also fantastic characters, especially in contrast to each other. I loved their relationship, but I also love how they countered each other in the setting. Dara and Noah were opposites in many ways, and it worked to build a fuller image of the world the two inhabited. We don't just see Noah's naive view of his new government position and his magic, but Dara's hatred of it, and it causes the reader to think more on scenes and moments that may not give Noah himself reason to worry. It led to increased engagement overall because of this. Additionally, I also just really liked the pair of them, and their banter was fantastic.
While this is a strong debut, I feel there are still aspects where Lee can grow. I felt this especially in the ending, as it felt like there was a ton of build-up decently spaced out, only for the ending to be a string of revelations that all of a sudden had to be revealed in the last 10%. It made the ending feel rushed, and while it also forced me into the second book, it did so a bit roughly. (And honestly, having finished book 2, it had the same issue except there was no sequel to fall into). I feel like the ending needed a bit more time and space to breathe, and it would've been perfect.
+ Intriguing plot full of twists
+ Compelling characters and relationships
+ Addictive writing
- Rushed ending
This is a tough book to review because it was a tough book to read. It deals with a ton of tough subjects which makes the content hard to read at points (I believe the author has a full list of TWs on their blog, and I definitely recommend looking into them before starting the book). However, Lee still wrote an extremely compelling novel nonetheless that seemed to handle these topics with grace and care.
The first 80% of this book was so insanely addictive. I couldn't put it down! I was reading this book with a friend, and it was difficult to stick to the schedule we had set to ourselves. The way Lee built up the intrigue and mystery in the story had me hooked for any scrap of information. My friend and I spent hours theorizing on who was behind everything, who we could trust, and the truth behind magic and Lehrer. I seriously had not been so roped into a dystopian story in a while. There was just something so well written about the characters, the plot, and the setting, and each new kernel of information was both so horrifying and intriguing that I couldn't look away. (My friend compared it to wanting to look away from a car crash but being unable to). I also really enjoyed Lee's writing style. It was not overly convoluted yet perfectly conveyed the story, and added to my enjoyment of the book. It was a large reason of why I couldn't stop reading, as the way the sentences bled into each other made it easier to keep on reading rather than stop and take a break.
Dara and Noah were also fantastic characters, especially in contrast to each other. I loved their relationship, but I also love how they countered each other in the setting. Dara and Noah were opposites in many ways, and it worked to build a fuller image of the world the two inhabited. We don't just see Noah's naive view of his new government position and his magic, but Dara's hatred of it, and it causes the reader to think more on scenes and moments that may not give Noah himself reason to worry. It led to increased engagement overall because of this. Additionally, I also just really liked the pair of them, and their banter was fantastic.
While this is a strong debut, I feel there are still aspects where Lee can grow. I felt this especially in the ending, as it felt like there was a ton of build-up decently spaced out, only for the ending to be a string of revelations that all of a sudden had to be revealed in the last 10%. It made the ending feel rushed, and while it also forced me into the second book, it did so a bit roughly. (And honestly, having finished book 2, it had the same issue except there was no sequel to fall into). I feel like the ending needed a bit more time and space to breathe, and it would've been perfect.
Ah this was exactly what I needed right now! This is seriously such a cute romance, and a perfect summer read. It also made me really miss going to renaissance fairs!
I've been recommended this book so many times by so many different friends that it's actually ridiculous it took me this long to read it. I ended up waiting for the audiobook from the library, and I'm really glad I did though! The audiobook is really well done and I loved the narrator and the life she brought to the story, and I loved how she portrayed Emily. It just added another layer to the story and I was totally swept up in it.
Most of the story kinda hinges on miscommunication/misunderstandings stemming from the anxieties and fears of Emily and Simon, but it's done in such a way that it's not frustrating like usual. Instead it served to make both of them feel a lot more real, more three-dimensional. Emily's been used before and is coming out of a pretty bad breakup, and the fears she has going into new relationships (romantic or otherwise) line up with those experiences. The same goes for Simon, he never truly left his home town and therefore was unable to leave his brother's shadow and who he was in high school. These two were just so soft and broken and I loved seeing them heal and find love in each other, and learn to accept themselves and that they deserve love. It was just so wholesome and it made me so happy.
I'm super excited to see what happens in the next book, because I really enjoyed this!
I've been recommended this book so many times by so many different friends that it's actually ridiculous it took me this long to read it. I ended up waiting for the audiobook from the library, and I'm really glad I did though! The audiobook is really well done and I loved the narrator and the life she brought to the story, and I loved how she portrayed Emily. It just added another layer to the story and I was totally swept up in it.
Most of the story kinda hinges on miscommunication/misunderstandings stemming from the anxieties and fears of Emily and Simon, but it's done in such a way that it's not frustrating like usual. Instead it served to make both of them feel a lot more real, more three-dimensional. Emily's been used before and is coming out of a pretty bad breakup, and the fears she has going into new relationships (romantic or otherwise) line up with those experiences. The same goes for Simon, he never truly left his home town and therefore was unable to leave his brother's shadow and who he was in high school. These two were just so soft and broken and I loved seeing them heal and find love in each other, and learn to accept themselves and that they deserve love. It was just so wholesome and it made me so happy.
I'm super excited to see what happens in the next book, because I really enjoyed this!
I may end up upping this to three stars but I honestly don't know yet, the ending felt super unsatisfying and I don't really want to continue the series.
Overall, this book was kinda a meh-fest. Nothing really special stuck out to me, from the plot to the characters to the world. It's honestly probably going to be one of those books I'll have forgotten I read in a few months.
In terms of plot, it was entirely predictable in my opinion. Nothing, from was a surprise, and it made the book extremely boring and disappointing. I need twists to sustain my interest in a book if the characters and world don't really do that.
In terms of the world building, this type of fae was nothing new, and if anything way too human like. It just wasn't all that interesting, it might as well have been set in a fantasy world with humans who had magic. There was no true interplay of the races like the other fae books I read, and the personalities and qualities of the fae were far too human-like, removing any "otherness" the supernatural quality of their race generally brings.
In terms of the characters, I just... I don't know. They tired me. Cade felt extremely inconsistent, the way we read his POV felt like an entirely different character than who the others experienced, and while that kinda makes sense, it also felt wrong, in a way. Maybe it was his shallowness, his two-dimensionality, that ruined it. Or the fact that his only character trait was that he listened to everything his mother said... Scarlett was alright, but once again, nothing really new or exciting. Raith as well, the normal misunderstood bad guy who isn't actually bad. Even the family dynamic, of multiple mothers and a distant father and everything wasn't that interesting, because I've read it all before (in Red Queen). Not sure how the release dates play off on that though, so no judgement, but it did mean I wasn't interested, as it was just a rehashing of a dynamic I've already seen played out before.
The writing itself wasn't great. While a lot of others commented on how horrible it was, I don't necessarily agree. It wasn't that bad, but it just wasn't that good either. It had no personality or passion really, and read so matter of factly, with lots of short sentences that made it read even choppier than it already did.
Overall, I wasn't into it and I don't think I'll continue the series, as I'm pretty sure of the twists that will be big reveals later on. The covers are gorgeous though, and it wasn't a horrible read, just a bit too boring for me.
Overall, this book was kinda a meh-fest. Nothing really special stuck out to me, from the plot to the characters to the world. It's honestly probably going to be one of those books I'll have forgotten I read in a few months.
In terms of plot, it was entirely predictable in my opinion. Nothing, from
Spoiler
Scarlett being fae to Kassandra being the one to bring the king to his maddened death (tho idk if thats confirmed yet?)In terms of the world building, this type of fae was nothing new, and if anything way too human like. It just wasn't all that interesting, it might as well have been set in a fantasy world with humans who had magic. There was no true interplay of the races like the other fae books I read, and the personalities and qualities of the fae were far too human-like, removing any "otherness" the supernatural quality of their race generally brings.
In terms of the characters, I just... I don't know. They tired me. Cade felt extremely inconsistent, the way we read his POV felt like an entirely different character than who the others experienced, and while that kinda makes sense, it also felt wrong, in a way. Maybe it was his shallowness, his two-dimensionality, that ruined it. Or the fact that his only character trait was that he listened to everything his mother said... Scarlett was alright, but once again, nothing really new or exciting. Raith as well, the normal misunderstood bad guy who isn't actually bad. Even the family dynamic, of multiple mothers and a distant father and everything wasn't that interesting, because I've read it all before (in Red Queen). Not sure how the release dates play off on that though, so no judgement, but it did mean I wasn't interested, as it was just a rehashing of a dynamic I've already seen played out before.
The writing itself wasn't great. While a lot of others commented on how horrible it was, I don't necessarily agree. It wasn't that bad, but it just wasn't that good either. It had no personality or passion really, and read so matter of factly, with lots of short sentences that made it read even choppier than it already did.
Overall, I wasn't into it and I don't think I'll continue the series, as I'm pretty sure of the twists that will be big reveals later on. The covers are gorgeous though, and it wasn't a horrible read, just a bit too boring for me.
Definitely intrigued by this world and where the series will go, but some things definitely bugged me