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reaja's Reviews (400)
These violent delights have mindnumbingly dull and poorly crafted ends and, really, there are no triumphs here of any kind.
Not only is this book horrifically dull, but it also managed to somehow make Romeo and Juliet even more vapid. Oh yeah there's a monster but for the life of me I could not tell you why since it was not thematically relevant, it didn't serve a narrative purpose, and it wasn't even interesting.
The sole redeeming factor was the mildly interesting side characters. However, they got none of the development they deserved. It's very clear that this author frequently hit up against problems they didn't know how to resolve in the narrative and instead just ignored them entirely.
Even for a debut novel this was shockingly poorly crafted.
Not only is this book horrifically dull, but it also managed to somehow make Romeo and Juliet even more vapid. Oh yeah there's a monster but for the life of me I could not tell you why since it was not thematically relevant, it didn't serve a narrative purpose, and it wasn't even interesting.
The sole redeeming factor was the mildly interesting side characters. However, they got none of the development they deserved. It's very clear that this author frequently hit up against problems they didn't know how to resolve in the narrative and instead just ignored them entirely.
Even for a debut novel this was shockingly poorly crafted.
Such a treat. The story structure and pace is delightfully unique and flows beautifully. This book managed to be fierce and dark and cover some atrocious stuff while also being soft and cozy and joyful. This is a cozy fantasy romance wrapped in a dark fantasy shell.
Perfection, honestly. Every character is charming and unique. I've never taken to a character as fast as I did to Bitterblue. Katsa is everything I love in a protagonist. She's unbelievably hardcore and spiky and smart. I love how the author didn't focus on describing every thing about her that was unusual for a heroine. So many YAs fall in the trap of "not like other girls", but Katsa is just Katsa and her character speaks for herself. Po is possibly the most perfect example of the female gaze I've ever read to be honest.
This is definitely going on my favorites and I wasn't expecting it when I picked this up at all. A beautiful surprise.
Perfection, honestly. Every character is charming and unique. I've never taken to a character as fast as I did to Bitterblue. Katsa is everything I love in a protagonist. She's unbelievably hardcore and spiky and smart. I love how the author didn't focus on describing every thing about her that was unusual for a heroine. So many YAs fall in the trap of "not like other girls", but Katsa is just Katsa and her character speaks for herself. Po is possibly the most perfect example of the female gaze I've ever read to be honest.
This is definitely going on my favorites and I wasn't expecting it when I picked this up at all. A beautiful surprise.
lighthearted
fast-paced
The characters are all very charming, but the plot is thin and the pacing pretty atrocious. The final third of this was much better than the first two and that's mainly because I noticed how much this is a Sterek AU with a reflavored Stiles self insert protag. Which, honestly, I'm nothing if not weak for some super edgy magical teen wolf fic. But honestly the inspiration aside, the MCs grew on me pretty quick.
Wyatt is a shitty little edgelord who reads very believably 17 (like, painfully so) and Emyr is pure of heart and dumb of ass. The Tumblr dialect is a bit much at times, but overall it was a fun quick read.
I think as a debut it's pretty okay, I look forward to the author's future work. I'll probably pick up the sequel just because I'm curious to see how he grows as a writer, but I'm not expecting it to be a five star or anything. I am however expecting good stuff out of his work a few years down the line.
Wyatt is a shitty little edgelord who reads very believably 17 (like, painfully so) and Emyr is pure of heart and dumb of ass. The Tumblr dialect is a bit much at times, but overall it was a fun quick read.
I think as a debut it's pretty okay, I look forward to the author's future work. I'll probably pick up the sequel just because I'm curious to see how he grows as a writer, but I'm not expecting it to be a five star or anything. I am however expecting good stuff out of his work a few years down the line.