reubenalbatross's Reviews (521)

These books are just so magical and nostalgic for me. If it weren't for the nostalgia, I'm not sure this one would get a 5-star, but it has. 
This is going to be a series that I re-read so many times throughout my life. 

I don’t usually reach for or enjoy WW1/2 fiction, I find they often romanticise war and are almost identical in themes. However, this one was pleasantly refreshing as it’s set in Ireland instead of London and more about the Influenza pandemic (which I didn’t know much about) rather than the war. It also doesn't glamourise the war in any way, which is my main problem with most WW1/2 books.
 
The characterisation in this book was really strong, Julia in particular was such a believable character right from the first page, and felt like a fully realised person.

I was annoyed with the lack of quotation marks at the beginning of the book (truly, why do authors do this??), but because the book was so readable, I found myself getting lost in it and got used to this confusing affectation after a while. 

Unfortunately, the romantic relationship between Julia and Bridie soured this book for me. Until the relationship turned this book was going to be a solid 4 star read if not higher, but the relationship just made it uncomfortable. It was weird and kind of creepy – we spent the book being told Bridie is a naive, vulnerable, under-schooled, kind of clueless (yet bright) figure, almost childlike in her naiveite – and now she’s snogging a 30-year-old?? It felt very weird, even if she is 22. There was a clear power imbalance, both in class and status, as well as strong student/teacher vibes. 

The gay stuff also felt a little disingenuous, even though the author is gay herself. It was obviously just used as misery porn/shock factor in the brother's case, and honestly I thought it was just unnecessary between Julia and Bridie. 

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. 

It's tender, it's sexy, it's comforting, and it feels like home in so many ways. It also had some great, well rounded 'villains'. 

I was on the verge of tears so many times, and the magic system is really interesting. 

Not an all time favourite, but a very enjoyable read. 

In general, this book was really well written and wonderfully evocative. I was invested in Lily’s story, and I thought Tremain wrote really powerfully about some serious topics. 

HOWEVER, what really threw the spanner in the works was Lily’s ‘love life’. Why oh why can’t a young woman just have a nice father figure without all this ridiculous scandal?? So often women are written as if they fall in love with every single man that talks to them, and unfortunately Lily did not escape this. There was absolutely NO reason for her turgid ‘love affair’ with Sam. The plot could have gone in EXACTLY the same direction and ended as it did if he were just a loving father figure rather than a CREEP. He’s at LEAST 20 years older than her, and she’s what, barely 18 at the oldest? Gross. If Tremain had commented on this and highlighted that it was creepy behaviour from Sam – essentially taking advantage of a down on her luck GIRL – then that would have been ok, but the reader is obviously meant to view it as a romantic tragedy, rather than predator behaviour. 

AND THEN, it’s hinted at the end that Lily is going to fall in love with the only other man she has spent a sustained period of time with?? And he’s essentially her brother?! I truly got incest vibes – father and brother figures? Weird. 

All in all, if it weren’t for the gross relationship and incest vibes, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. They really soured my experience of an otherwise skilfully crafted and evocative book. 

First of all, it was really annoying that this book doesn't have a map. I felt so lost when they were talking about locations and travel - which they do a lot! 
 
The Kindle version of it I was reading also had really weird formatting, there were weird paragraph breaks (sometimes in the middle of a character's speech) and loads of typos. 
 
Aside from these points, this was a solid, standard fantasy story. And herein lies my issue with it, it was just bog standard. If I were asked to describe the typical fantasy book, this would be it. And as a person who reads a lot of fantasy, there just wasn't enough interest for me to want to continue this series. 
 
Something was lacking throughout, which I think was potentially due to the character work. I felt like I didn’t really care what happened to the characters, and I wasn't that invested in where things were going. 
 
I've also seen so many reviews calling this a 'dark' book, but it isn't at all? Yeah, Glokta occasionally tortures people (like twice in the entire book), but apart from that? When I think dark fantasy, I think of true emotional turmoil, blackmail, forced hands, true and believable life and death situations, dark and complex themes that are reflected in real life. This had none of that, or if it did it was very lukewarm. 
 
The ending solidified my belief that this isn't the series for me, it was just meh. The long fight scene didn't do much for me, and made me realise the stakes never felt that high throughout the book.

At the beginning with the gang's 'death' I was excited for a book where characters stayed dead. As soon as they were 'back to life' the stakes were immediately lowered for me, and it seems like it's a series where you know the main characters will always live, which just doesn't do anything for me! I can only get interested and emotional about fights/wars etc. when there's actually a chance of the characters dying, without that chance it's all just words. I also thought that it took the impact out of what was a truly great book opener.

 
A couple of years ago I probably would have continued this series without thinking about it, but I'm trying to read more consciously now, and I feel there are other books out there that I'd enjoy a lot more than I would continuing this series.  

I started this book not sure how I felt about a fictionalised version of very real events. Especially as the stories are told in first person, which felt like the author putting words into people’s mouths. 

Upon finishing the book, I came to the conclusion that it should not have been written. The idea of the author to put more emphasis on the victims and to dispel the positive media spin around Bundy is not inherently a bad one. However, despite its aims, this book has made Bundy the topic of so much conversation again, without giving anything to the real victims and victims loved ones. If Bundy had stayed a silent character viewed from afar as he was for the bulk of the book, I think the author could have achieved a lot more without bringing more attention to him as a person. 

Unfortunately, Knoll made decisions which did sensationalise Bundy’s actions. The most egregious of these was to include Ruth’s abduction/murder. The rest of the book was either taken from documented events or were projections of the documented events onto ‘fake’ (more on this later) characters. However, the abduction being included felt very wrong. It put words into Bundy’s mouth, and in my opinion, it was distasteful to make up a victim’s final thoughts as they ‘went through’ what Bundy did to real people. The book would have been just as effective in getting its intended message across if that section had been completely left out, but it felt Knoll included it just for the shock factor and sensationalism. It put Bundy back at the centre of the narrative, rather than the victims. It was also a strange choice to include real words from Bundy at the end of the book, made all the weirder in the audiobook with a voice actor trying his god damn best to sound like Bundy. 

After reading reviews about this book, I made the discovery that Knoll did not completely make up her characters. The ‘fictionalised’ characters are in fact real victims. She used their ‘Bundy stories’ and just changed their names and backstories so she could write the book. That makes the book feel even worse to me, and amps up my distress at her putting words into real victim’s mouths. 

Aside from the Bundy stuff, there were other issues with this book. Even with different audiobook narrators for the two women, I still sometimes found myself getting confused by the two narratives and who was speaking, especially when they were talking about family topics (which I enjoyed far more than the Bundy stuff) rather than the case. I also got lost with the various time skips in Pamela’s sections. 

It really emphasises how women are often taken advantage of because they are worried about appearing kind/approachable so don’t say no, especially when they feel uncomfortable or vulnerable. I think that is a really important message, but a lot of the time it was put across in a very heavy-handed way that didn’t feel natural. 

The pacing was also a little off – it started off well, but then my interest/’enjoyment’ really ebbed and flowed throughout. 

At the end of the day, this wasn’t a terribly written book, but the author is making money off Bundy and his victims, which in my opinion is wrong and not any different from true crime (which I also have many problems with). I’m glad I didn’t spend my own money on it. 

Alan Rickman was one of the few celebrities I actually respected. I was hoping to learn more about him reading this, but after reading a few pages, unfortunately I can't see myself enjoying it. 

I was hoping for some more introspection, but it's just descriptions of his day with a load of celebs being name dropped. Completely fine as a personal diary, not so great to read. Also, the entries are so short that it's a pretty jarring read.

I also find it a bit weird that he never actually consented to having his diary shared... I assume it was his wife who decided to share them, and she would know his general feelings on things, but it does still feel weird that he never agreed to his most private thoughts being aired.

Like the others in this series, this book was SUCH a slow read.

However, I truly couldn't care less that it took me almost 6 months to read it because I enjoyed every single word on every single page. This man knows how to write! His prose is so enticing and evocative; and with each book he somehow manages to get better and better! This one especially had some true moments of horror that I thought were really impressive. 

I think this has got to be my favourite epic fantasy series of all time. Nothing can compare. 

What in the entire Universe of fucks is this book??? 

I got red flags for toxicity just from the dedication, and it all went downhill from there. Oh, and it is NOT a romance book, that’s blatantly harmful and wilfully ignorant marketing. 

Its one positive is that it is very readable, I will give Hoover that, but with the messaging this book has, I’m not sure it’s much of a positive. 

 

I started listing the problems as I read, so here we go (warning - major sweary rants and spoilers incoming): 

 1. Ellen DeGeneres 

 2. The way Nora talks about Atlas as 'the homeless person'. Hoover obviously tries to make this come from the point of a teenager who has been fed misinformation about unhoused people, and I will admit it does get better as the book goes on, but it was still horrible to read and never fully addressed. She talks as if being homeless is Atlas’ defining feature, and it’s said in a way that definitely degrades unhoused people. 

'How does a guy who is obviously humble, well-mannered, and uses words like disparaging end up homeless?' - acts as if only thick people with no hope become homeless, like it’s a choice. 

'Before you start judging me for allowing him inside my house again' - HE'S A LITERAL CHILD WHO YOU GO TO SCHOOL WITH, he isn't some kind of freak/monster. 

About Atlas - 'I can tell he's a hard worker.' SO FUCKING CONDESCENDING, you are a LITERAL child, get a GRIP.
 3. A random rich girl comes to work for Nora for free, who's an amazing decorator, and just happens to be best friend material? AND WHO JUST HAPPENS TO BE MR LOVER BOY'S SISTER? Fuck off.
 4. 'There is no such thing as bad people. We're all just people who sometimes do bad things.' 1. Essentially makes her an apologist for any shitty person ever 2. OF COURSE THERE ARE BAD PEOPLE. WHAT FUCKING ROCK ARE YOU LIVING UNDER. Shamefully harmful ideas to perpetuate. 
 5. Flowers wrapped in leather and chains?? So goddamn tacky.
 6. How can she not know how long ago she met Ryle? She met him the day of her father’s funeral, which she had JUST SAID was 6 months ago???
 7. 'She takes my phone out and begins programming her number into it.' The fuck, no-one under the age of at least 50 talks like that.
 8. She really just gave the keys to a whole new property to someone she'd known for less than 12 hours?
 9. Laughing at Ellen DeGeneres jokes = red flag.
 10. It’s like she only saw Atlas as a real person once she'd formed an emotional attachment to him - like she's incapable of empathy for a stranger, especially an unhoused one. So self-centred. 
 11. 'approximately 54 days' THAT'S A VERY FUCKING EXACT NUMBER, NOTHING APPROXIMATE ABOUT IT.
 12. How the fuck is a grown man begging for sex on his hands and knees in this way meant to be in ANY way hot or desirable?
 13. Hoover is apparently incapable of keeping the book’s formatting consistent – there’s a header telling us when a six-month time skip has happened, but not when it’s been two months?
 14. Such fucking clunky dialogue.
 15. The diary entries are written as you'd normally write a book - exact wording, all events etc. – like an exact play-by-play of real time events. No diary is actually written like that. Pretty lazy way to get the Atlas story across. 
 16. 'Most plants do need a lot of care to survive.' No they don't? Mankind didn’t plant and look after all of fucking nature did they?
 17. 'I'm so excited to be your husband, I could piss my damn pants.' - gross, ew, nasty, not endearing in any way whatsoever. Even before the abuse what the fuck did she see in this guy??
 18. This book is domestic abuse apologist propaganda. I understand that it’s told from the viewpoint of the person being abused, but there’s a line, and this book definitely crosses it. It does nothing to show that Lily's viewpoint is wrong, and a less discerning reader (especially a young one) could very easily read this and think what Lily's doing/thinking is perfectly ok and not the result of being a domestic abuse victim. It’s so irresponsible. 
 19. 'Work on his anger issues together' - there's anger issues, then there's violence and abuse. You can be as angry as you like, but getting violent is a whole other matter.
 20. The 'just keep swimming' ruins the weight of every. single. situation it’s used in. 
 21. She says she feels like her father because she stood up to her abuser? Not sure that’s the same as BEING an abuser, but pop off I guess.
 22. Too much 'children are the best thing you’ll ever do' propaganda for me.
 23. It’s so fucked that Alyssa and Marshall are still friendly with Ryle after knowing what he's done, where’s your moral compass??? Hold your family/friend accountable please! Especially when the person he abused is apparently your best friend??? Horrible, horrible people. 
 24. The book perpetuates the idea that fathers deserve to be a part of their unborn child's life as if it’s a guaranteed right - no they don’t and no it isn’t!!! I would never let a child near someone I knew was so abusive, but the book makes it seem hunky dory and normal.
 25. Once again, I know it’s meant to be told from the victim’s perspective - but it still shows Ryle in an uncomfortably positive light. I could see how less discerning readers or people in abusive relationships themselves could read this and diminish their problems/make excuses for other’s behaviour. It’s way too romanticised, and it’s not ok. This book wasn’t written as a think piece, societal criticism, or an informative or activist work, it was just written for the sensationalist story and shock factor, which is gross.
 26. SHE LETS HIM BE ALONE WITH HER DAUGHTER????????? FUCKING INSANE. 
 27. Not Dory as the middle name - the final scene that could have been semi-good, of course was ruined by fucking Ellen DeGeneres. 
 28. I don’t think I’ve ever read a worse final line of a book. Kill. Me. Now.
 29. Even right at the end it doesn’t do enough to tell the reader that Lily's thoughts aren't good. This is a HUGELY irresponsibly written book, and I can see it being very damaging to so many people. 
 30. JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT MARRIED TO A MAN DOESN’T MEAN HE WON’T BE VIOLENT. AND JUST BECAUSE YOUR DAD WASN’T VIOLENT WITH YOU DOESN’T MEAN RYLE WON’T BE WITH YOUR DAUGHTER. 

 

So yeah, that’s my rant review of this book. I read it because I felt like I was missing out on all the drama, and now I understand the widespread hatred for this book. What’s even worse is that everything that isn't problematic in the book is just a massive cliché and been done a thousand times, and I barely read romance! I imagine it must have been a torturous read for those who read a lot of romance. 
 

The .5 star I’ve given this is purely for the Atlas side plot/romance. That was the best thing about this book, but probably because the only other things I had to compare it to internally were absolutely appalling. 

Yet another great Discworld instalment. 

The flat Earth stuff is SO GOOD.

Om’s deadpan delivery is so funny, and I love his rage.

❤️ 'the potatoes of defiance' ❤️

This is definitely the funniest instalment I've read recently.