ridleyreadsthings's Reviews (789)

I thought I knew what I was getting into with this, but I was so wrong. I was completely blown away. From the start, I was hooked. The back and forth between timelines was so chaotic, but it was done so beautifully, that it made sense the whole way through and it was easy to keep up. 

Every character felt important to the story, and each one had their own part to play and they each got the attention they deserved. It wasn't flashy as with most superheros are; I appreciated the grungy, dark atmosphere and I enjoyed watching Victor and Eli's stories play out in such an interesting way. 

No one was good. No one was evil. Each character straddled both sides, with their own goals, and that made this such a unique story. It almost creeped up on you, filling each action and chapter with a tension that just burst from the page. 

I also loved that throughout, I was never sure who's side I was on. I loved Eli and Victor equally, even though they are both Sociopaths, and you shouldn't, but I just couldn't help it.

It gave me this weird feeling of nostalgia that reminded me of when I first started watching Heroes, many moons ago, and that just drew me in further. I couldn't put it down. 

This book is my 13th reason

Beautifully written and I could not put it down. The action slowed down a little in comparison to the dream theives but that didn't make it any less good, or stop me from devouring it. I love the mythology and the academia vibe that is woven so effortlessy into the story. The plot is a little bland, but this isn't really about the plot or the journey from A to B - but more about the characters and the unshakable bonds they form on said journey which gives it this unique, wholesome feel that just tugs on my heartstrings. 

It was alright. Nothing fantastic honestly. It felt very bland. Nesta has become my new favourite, which just shows you how good her development was because i hated her before and saw no redemption. It was great returning to Prythian because its such a beautiful world , but the story fell into such a repetitive rhythm it became stale and predictable, with no real high stakes because you just know its all going to work out. The new characters were amazing (but im not suprised at the lack of diversity once again) and i feel like half of the smut could have been cut out because it literally added nothing to the story and half the adjectives should be banned from novels. (Seriously, seed? 🤮) 

This is set in such an incredibly harsh and brutal world. It was intense and I wasn't expecting it to be so..dark. but I feel like I can't fully make a judgement on this until I've read the other two. I get the feeling it's one of those slow burn in every aspect, and you have to read all of it to appreciate it. 

I really enjoyed the characters though. They were complex and had so many layers and I can tell the surface of those personalities has barely been scratched. The court politics, the power dynamics - if I read this 10 years ago I would have thrown it in the bin, but I'm actually dying for more. 

Please check trigger warnings, this book has alot of content that is unpleasant. 

I did enjoy this overall - the world, the culture, the setting - but I just didn't mesh as fully with it as I thought I would. I loved that it was inspired by East Asia mythology and set in a post apocalyptic sci fi world, the disability/chronic pain and polyamory representation, but I wish that more aspects were explained more. Alot of times it felt like "this happened then BAM we were here BAM and then I did this," without any reasoning as to the why. Or how. 

The Chrysallises and Qi was such a cool concept but I wish it had been elaborated more, and i wish the politics had been explained more as they played such a huge part of the story. At times I felt like I was struggling to connect the dots. And the "aliens," they were fighting. I felt like they weren't really described. I wish we had some more flashbacks or backstory on Big Sister, as I really didn't feel a sisterly connection between them. 

I loved how ruthless Zetain was and she truly had some "good for her moments," but she did feel a little one note, and I felt there wasn't much character development aside from "revenge revenge murder." And what started out as a strong feminist theme, ended out more of a power grab for the "good of Zetain." 

I also really loved Yizhi and Shimin. They were so different but also had such complex personalities and the polyamory 

It was a fast paced book, which I love, but it was a little too fast, and felt like it was speeding along without enough time to digest what was happening. 

This had alot of great themes, characters and has a hell of a lot potential, I just didn't really click with the delivery. The concept is great, and i enjoyed the characters, and the beauty in the culture. I will be sticking around for book 2 though because I'm interested to see how things move on from that twist at the end and the fallout of the main characters choices. 

TW'S - murder, gore, torture, r*pe, threats, suicide and suicidal thoughts, abuse, addiction, misogyny, chronic pain/feet binding.