DNF
I just could not get into this book, I tried. While the premise was interesting, I found the world underdeveloped and the characters a bit flat. To Best The Boys features a magical contest, questioning misogynistic traditions, and a mysterious disease- sounds great right? The protagonist felt like every other YA tomboy I have ever read that doesn't like wearing dresses. The society created in TBTB is vague and lacking in detail.

I might give this book another try, but not for a while.



I received an ARC courtesy of Thomas Nelson Fiction, all opinions are my own.

Maybe I just don't know enough about Russian folklore to enjoy this book, but I found it dragging, rather than sweeping or interesting. The characters were dull and unemotional.

This novel beautifully bridges the gap between YA and Adult, the supernatural and the daily life, while transporting readers to British colonial Malaysia.


I would love to see a movie adaptation of this.

I've loved many of Lisa See's previous books, but The Island of Sea Women felt different to me. While I enjoyed reading about a different culture- the haenyeo women of Jeju- I felt that there was no emotional connection between the characters. It was like I was supposed to care about the protagonist and her family, but I didn't.

I loved the careful attention to detail, especially about the matrilineal society. As a western reader, I don't often come across accounts of matrilineal societies. The haenyeo culture in The Island of Sea Women presents men as the sentimental, dreamy ones, with women as the loud, hard workers.

While not See's most emotive or character driven work, I still enjoyed reading this book for the careful research.

A good basic introduction to the subject of period poverty and pink tax, but if you have previous knowledge, this is very simplistic.

Although I enjoyed the premise of this book, I found that it lacking and quite dull. Romanov centers around Anastasia Romanov just before the Russian revolution. This book features an underdeveloped magic element. Spells are used in the form of magic ink to heal and protect, but there isn't much in the way of a thought out magic system. Romanov is dialogue heavy, which I find difficult. to follow. The plot mostly follows the historical account of what is known of the last days of The Romanovs, but in a dry, stripped-down manner. The characters are indistinguishable from one another. Overall, I was so disappointed in this book and would not recommend.

3.5 Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Did I find portions of this book tedious? Yes. Does Claire speak like an American woman from the early 1990s and not an English woman from 1947? Yes. If you don't mind tedious description, plot jumps, and pointless chapters, and anachronisms, you'll probably love this. The anachronisms kept pulling me out of the book, though.

Beautiful writing, but I wish it was more detailed and had more plot.