puddlejumper's reviews
771 reviews

I don't think I've read a sapphic romance quite so centered around men before. It was odd, though that was the least of the issues. 

It was very repetitive and neither character is likeable. There's some verbal abuse, biphobia (or what I'm interpreting as biphobia because lesbian with a preference for women … is a lesbian), physical assault, and some humiliation. 

They should be running away from each other, not getting together. 

The first ¾ of this book are very slow and then it speeds up at the end. 

It's the recollections of a royal bastard starting from when he was very young. His memories become clearer as he becomes older, though not always. 

Fitz is not a reliable narrator. Whether that is deliberate or because memories are fallible. It's interesting to grow alongside him and learn what he finds value in and the people and events that shaped him. 

It can be confusing at times because you're being introduced to this fantasy world and its fantasy politics through a man remembering his childhood. 

Author Fitz does not include much context for the reader. I liked this. It felt authentic to the narrative and I can respect a character that is more interested in their dog's wellbeing than the favour currying at court especially when said character is a child. 

That said, I do understand why some people find this book boring. Having re-read it for the first time in years, I think I would recommend people to start with the Liveship Traders trilogy which is much easier to get into even though they are chonky books!

I've just fished this and I had fun. It isn't without faults but I thought the fun I had overcame that 

Some of the pages were really low res resulting in pixelated text. Usually in word searches if you have multiple words e.g John Winchester then they are written without spaces. This one would include an extra letter between the words which was annoying. 

It's not perfect but if you're a fan then it's a bit of fun. 

There was something very meditative about this book. I found a lot of joy in reading it and letting everything slow down.

The food descriptions were absolutely amazing. The ethos of minimising waste by using leftovers to create new dishes was really inspiring and there was a lot of love put into this aspect of the book. 

I had not read earlier books in the series so I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of plot. There wasn't much of one. What there was, was not resolved at the end. It felt a little awkward. I would have liked a bit more to keep me engaged. 

I really enjoyed it. It was a cosy, fantasy, slice of life that made me hungry and warm all at once. 

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

This started off really well. I liked the setting, though it took me a while to remember who everyone was and their relationship to everyone else. 

It started to drag about half way through. Plots were dropped (maybe to be explored in future books), the main couple got a bit repetitive, and the pace slowed down which was really felt. 

I don't think I will continue with this series. I was bored with the second half of this book and I'm not interested enough in the other characters to carry on.

Ancient slices of life found in cuneiform clay tablets. Each story is a stepping off point to delve into topics such as medicine, literature, and witchcraft.

This book does an amazing job of being accessible academia. What I mean by that is that it is academic level research and writing, written in a way that is engaging and accessible to people who aren’t academics.

The writing style suited the format; it was engaging and relevant without being dry or difficult to read. The chapters had a flow to them that kept me reading. 

It neatly bridges modern to ancient, showing the similarities and differences with respect and understanding.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

 This was beyond cute! The characters themselves were adorable and there were a lot of different ones. 

The instructions were clear, detailed, and easy to follow. This made it accessible to someone like me who doesn’t draw. 

The characters each had a unique description which would appeal to fantasy or D&D fans. I shared this with my D&D group who immediately wanted to draw their characters as cute creatures. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

I was underwhelmed by this book, however, the ending I found very distasteful. It turned the book from a meh to a solid no. 

The book suffers from tonal whiplash and not knowing who its audience is. Some chapters are teenage cutesy romance and others are ghost haunting mystery. 

The characters are 16 though read a lot younger which is why it was super jarring when they had sex and it didn't even fade to black. 

I would have assumed this was aimed at the younger end of YA because the characters read more like 13/14 and the writing was quite simplistic. 
 
Everything was wrapped up too quickly at the end and it felt cheap. 

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

I haven't read the first volume so I wasn't familiar with the layout or content of this series. I was interested in the theme ideas and how a yoga class could be structured. 

I found this very alien and inauthentic. Several of the things suggested I felt were outside a yoga teacher's remit. 

This may be cultural because I've not come across any yoga classes where the things suggested would be appropriate. If a teacher started reading poetry or song lyrics in a class or gave me wool at the beginning of the class, I would walk out.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC

This was very slow, it got better at the end but I found it a slog to get through