This book is like a poetic but angsty teenager. I love it.

My favorite scene was definitely the fight between Jesper and Kaz, because it was so encompassing of every character. Every ship had their moments though, and those were great scenes. And Pekka, now you know what it’s like. But of course he still took credit for “creating” them. Ugh.

 
Also I noticed that Inej’s scenes are always the most beautifully written, fiitting for her character. She's definitely the most consistent throughout the story and changes the least, which is a bit boring but I still love her. 
I’m firm in my belief that Kaz is the main character and this confirmed it more. Nina’s still my favorite, although Jesper is close. My only grievance with this book is that they never actually go to the best waffle place >:( cmon Leigh. Also why did it take till chapter 12 to get to Kaz? Best morally grey protagonist ever. 

I really appreciate how Neal Shusterman injects some genuine reflection and life lessons into children’s books. It’s enjoyable even though it’s meant for a younger audience. 

Too heavy for me right now, I'm very busy. I'll definitely pick it up again in the future. 

“I have no idea whether it’s on purpose or not. Sometimes I’m certain it is. Other times I’m sure it’s just one big fucking train wreck.” (Page 149)

I could tell this book would be a trip just from the introduction (little did I know to what extent). It unnerved me to my core, was strange and exhilarating but also at times hilariously absurd. I liked the random tangents of linguistics, physics, chemistry and psychology that it went on (although the one about echoes was just boring almost-nonsense, even though I understood the purpose it was still my least favorite) but other people might find that annoying so depends on your taste. I’ll be honest, I didn’t read entirety of the insanely long lists of names or random other things like architectural features, just enough to get the gist of what it was.

Some parts of this were borderline erotica (blame Truant trying to bury his fear using sex, drugs and alcohol), so definitely not appropriate for younger readers.

It did get a bit slower about halfway through when the actual plot was mostly over with and we just got some final reveals, more background on the characters, the aftermath of the events and reactions to the film, but I still appreciated and enjoyed it. I really like how the relationships between all the characters, especially Karen and Navy, are examined and how there’s different theories and views on them. It also leaves some stuff up for interpretation by us. Oh, and there's three appendices so that was interesting. My favorite part of those were the letters.

One of my many favorite aspects of the book was how trauma was examined. At first I was like “aren’t they overreacting a little to this whole house thing?” But when I thought about it, I would probably react the same way. I’m just so used to characters in Young Adult books being seemingly immune to trauma, seeing people die and killing people without any huge impacts on their mental health (with the exception of Six of Crows, which did it pretty well, my compliments to Leigh Bardugo). Pretty much every character got at least a bit of an explanation of the impacts the house had on them and why it was different for different people. I really appreciate that.

I tabbed the hell out of this book, probably like more than thirty tabs. I enjoyed it to the very last page (excluding the index, obviously). Despite many things not being explained the way they normally are in books, I didn't feel annoyed or like it was unfinished. This is definitely a book I’ll be rereading soon. Definitely isn’t a book that's easy to read and relaxing, it takes real effort to focus and understand.  I feel like the resilience I’ve gained from reading this in only a little under three weeks makes me capable of reading anything, lol. Although it did hook me so that definitely made it easier. Also it’s crazy to think how my perception has changed since reading the first page, even since being halfway through.

             -1st reread/2nd read-

I don’t reread books very often, but this was one where the second I finished it I was like I want to forget it all and do it over again, and while I will say that I forgot a lot more than I thought I did and I definitely gained some new observations and things that stood out to me on this reread, I did remember a fair bit. It took me a lot longer this time around, I think partly because of life circumstances and partly because there wasn’t that much suspense since, even if I didn’t remember the details, I still kinda knew what to expect. Overall, I did enjoy rereading it and will probably do it again at some point in the future. 

I see why Kaz is a fan favorite, he’s a complex and more fleshed out version of a common stereotype.  I’m a simp for Nina, Matthias is interesting and intricate, I ship Jesper and Wylan, and Inej, well, Inej is her awesome self, what else is there for me to say? They all meld together so well too. I thought I’d have trouble keeping track of who’s perspective I was reading, especially since it’s in third person, but once I got into it the characters were all unique and different.

I also appreciate how the morality aspect of it all was done. It didn’t seem like Leigh was trying to explain away evil, more like the characters could’ve turned out as decent people but their environment forced them to turn to violence, lying and theft to survive.  

Other than the characters, I really liked the pacing of this book. It was so easy to read. Not too much action or suspense but also not slow. I liked how most of the book was middle ground in terms of action with some high-stress scenes (the flashbacks with Kaz, Inej going through the cells, etc.) that were also very well written. The book overall was very well balanced, which i always appreciate. I didn’t feel like there was too much or too little of anything. I liked how each of the characters made their own revelations and faced their fears during the heist, which cause then to have at least some character development (I’d say out of all of them the least was Jesper, and the most probably Matthias). I also liked how this book just was getting better and better the more I read it. Each scrap of information about Kaz’s past made his character 10% better. 

I love how the funniest moments are when the tension is the highest, I love how they all hate how much they care for Kaz, I love how impulsive Jesper is, I love Wylan’s humor and shy courage, I love how Nina likes to mess with everyone, I love how Kaz can’t help himself, I love how Matthias finally changes and last but not least I love how Inej knows herself and what’s best for her. I love everything about these characters, and I’m definitely a character driven reader so that’s a big one. 

I’ve gotta say, this is one of my new favorites. Part six was such an emotional roller coaster, I can’t think of anything that compares. I was celebrating, sad, glad, disappointed, depressed… That last page was absolute perfection. I lowkey don’t want to read anything until I get the next book because nothing will be able to compare. I need book two aaaaa. At the same time I’ve heard that it’s sad so I’m scared to read it.

I can’t wait to read everything else Leigh Bardugo has written, because if it’s even half as good as this I’ll be happy. This is the ultimate heist novel, nothing can compare.

This book is like a more scifi version of Crier's War, so of course I loved it. Sona and Eris both own my heart. I don't know who I want to be with more and who I want to be more. That cliffhanger was intense, unfortunately I'll have to wait for the next book. The premise also reminds me a bit of Iron Widow, so maybe if you enjoyed this you would enjoy that and vice versa. 
You can tell that this is a debut novel, but it's still pretty good. Can't wait to see what else Mikuta writes! She's definitely got potential.

It’s not by any means perfect, but as a debut novel and a retelling, it is pretty darn good. Not my favorite book, but I see how it is other people’s favorite. Can’t wait to read Circe and see how Miller’s writing has improved, because she definitely has potential. Other than the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles, the prose was my favorite part. 

I did practically guess what was going to happen, because

I realized that Patroclus was a pretty great guy and maybe one of the best of the Greeks for his medicinal abilities, but it still hurt.

I really liked Thetis’ backstory and character arc, too. Unfortunately I read this book in a public place because I just couldn’t wait to finish till I got home. I definitely would’ve cried had I been reading this at 12 AM in my bed, less has made me do that lol. A melancholy sort of sadness though, not really a depressing one. 


read #2

tell me, how was it worse than the first?

The setting of Prague was very atmospheric and I enjoyed the descriptions. The world was interesting and unique with the information was spread out nicely, so it didn't feel like there was a huge info dump at the start like some fantasy books do. At first it actually felt a bit like a contemporary or mystery book, but then as you went on there were more and more mentions of magic. The explanations actually felt a bit sparse for me, but it made sense as Karou didn't know much either and it added to the mysterious atmosphere. It did get a bit more dense by the end, but the stakes were raised and I was invested already so it didn’t matter. The magic system is really interesting, despite being pretty morbid. There isn’t a lot of action but you're constantly trying to put the pieces together and figure out what on earth is going on, so it kept me engaged. 
I love the writing style and I can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy as well as Strange the Dreamer, and any other Laini Taylor books I can get my hands on. Overall, highly recommend. 

I really enjoyed this book, I’m just trying to be a bit more accurate with my ratings. A year ago this would’ve been five stars. 

It took a bit to get into, especially since you don’t see how the prologue connects to the rest of the story for a while and kind of forget what happened in it. Maybe this was just me because I read that part two months ago though. It’s pretty fast paced once you get 70-100 pages in. The writing style is easy to read but not overly simplistic, which I appreciate. I especially liked the outfit descriptions. 

I much preferred Eliana’s POV over Rielle’s, I just liked the traveling/mystery story better than the trial and royal court story. Rielle’s story was more for world building/background in Eliana’s story, not the main plot line for me. I also feel like I enjoyed Eliana as a character more (women with swords!!) and her backstory. 

I’m excited to read the next book, and I’m grateful that this one didn’t end on a cliffhanger because I would have trouble remembering all the details. 

The prophecy is done well in my opinion, since you don’t know for sure how it ends up coming true. I’m curious to see exactly how Rielle ends up

killing Audric, considering how much she loves him now.

Also,

I absolutely adore Simon and Eliana’s relationship aaaah. The first scene with both of them I was like “I think we know how this is going to go” the tension was 100% there. Props to LeGrand for that. It’s also more of a slow burn, which I enjoy. Sure, Audric and Rielle’s relationship is more spicy (so far) but it seemed a bit fast to me.

Overall, solid. I recommend to fans of high fantasy with elements of mystery.