on the positive side...I finished a book on my TBR and don't have another series to get through.

this book should've been called "how to make Samm eye roll so many times that she goes blind."

it seemed like the author changed her mind several times as to what the plot was. the characters were all so similar that they just blended together.

Loved the idea. Not crazy about the actual execution. The writing was particularly hard for me as I'm used to Kova's style but this book had another author...and honestly it came off clunky with some odd sentence structures (and some misspellings in my copy). Too bad but I'll watch for Kova's next solo work.

my biggest issue is the "explanation" that is given (or honestly, not given) for basically every aspect, rule and logic of the world and "magic." it didn't come off as teasing me to learn more but rather like the authors themselves didn't know.

PS the use of "doll face" made me cringe so hard EVERY TIME IT WAS USED.

3.5/5 stars

pretty much what I expected from a YA Macbeth retelling but the author didn't do a great job of making it her own (which...is kind of the point of retellings)

This play is ridiculous and I have no idea why I love it and it's my favourite Shakespeare play

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It was quite sweet and even as someone in their mid 20s, I remember feeling (and still do really) like the odd ball out or having trouble finding people that understand me or don't judge me.

Gwendolyn is an incredibly likable, enjoyable and intelligent character that I couldn't help but root for and want to protect. Her curiosity and strength were so admirable and definitely my favourite part of this book as a whole. She's a really great character to root for and watch develop. I also really loved her brother-sister duo helpers...and Gwendolyn's love and passion for that one book (we all have one book we would take with us on an adventure).

I loved all the portals and the chase happening from Mister Five and Six. I also enjoyed the concept of the segregation within Gwendolyn's home world and then you zoom out and see other worlds. Loved getting to travel all over the place and the creativity that went into the transportation and "magic"/inventions.

My only two complaints were that I don't think the villain dystopian guys were quite as fleshed out as I would have liked and the pacing. The pacing wasn't bad, I just found that parts where there were supposed to be climaxes, I found myself inhaling and waiting...and waiting and then realized they had returned to the traveling aspect of the adventure journey.

The cover is STUNNING and a fantastic representation of the book. I will definitely keep an eye out for a finished copy for myself and will certainly be picking up a digital copy for my libraries.

2.5/5

I dunno exactly what it is but I was pretty underwhelmed by the execution of this book. Maybe because it's kind of got an Illuminae plot and it's nowhere as good as Illuminae but...meh

I think...I think I liked this book. It's just written very oddly. There's a lot of physical abuse too which made it difficult to read sometimes. I am curious about the politics and structure of this world with it's prejudism against half people.

Such a cute book!

now that's a bloody ending! there were some luls in the pacing but the last 1/3 was insane!

Hmmmm...I don't know. I felt like this book fell flat for me. The writing and plot weren't bad but they didn't really...work? The content itself was interesting and I'll always advocate for victim stories to be shared and read.