shane_the_reading_rat's Reviews (1.21k)

genuinely what on earth did i just read
i picked this up at my library recently cause it seemed intriguing and i’d never heard of it. one of the most surreal pieces of art ive ever seen. my god kinda a masterpiece but really depressing at the same time

life is too short to push myself through books im not liking, and i think that me and cozy fantasy just do not mix. we’re like water and oil.
ive realized while attempting to read some cozy fantasy this year, that cozy fantasy is exactly what i dislike when i watch a tv series: filler that takes up time until the main plot (not to say filler is bad! audiences need time to vibe with characters! im just much more a main-plot, get-on-with-the-adventure kind of guy).
this is to say, me and cozy fantasy: a bit of a failed venture.

i think this book does have important things to say, but its tbh quite overwritten and im really not in the headspace for that currently. + too much millenial cringe and out of the three or so chapters i have read, only one has been about a book. for a book called “how to read now”, that’s not a great ratio.

im just not girl or boss enough for this girlboss-personified protagonist. might try this again later, probably won’t.

there is really only so much time im willing to spend listening to one very boring man yap about his family’s wool business.
this just all-around was not for me (i hate to dnf at 72%, but life is short and this has been a slog to read). to me, luca and matti had no chemistry whatsoever, and their only thoughts about each other were just about how hot the other is. which was annoying. i loved matti’s fiance and his sister, i wish they were the main focus of this book and also a lesbian couple :)))
i usually think religion in fantasy books is fascinating, but here it was incredibly boring. in this, there are several different gods/goddesses of various things (and that helps dictate what the guilds and houses are). this worldbuilding could have been so so so cool, but it was super hard to keep track of and really needs some sort of glossary. and this is minor, but: the cursing in this book feels odd? it just doesn’t fit. many of the curses are in the format of “[insert god/godesses name] [insert adjective] [insert body part]” which,, like okay. sure whatever. but one of them is Maya (Matti’s sister) saying “Huna’s dripping slit”, which 1: i feel gross just typing that out. 2: THATS A REALLY FUCKING INTENSE CURSE ABOUT THE GODDESS YOU WORSHIP/WHO IS ALIGNED WITH YOUR HOUSE. like man you say shit like that about Huna and i really see why your wool business is failing. there ive solved the Jay’s business problem.

i think that this and The Henna Wars are tied for my favorite Adiba Jaigirdar book (super excited to read her newest one).
i adored both Hani and Ishu (which is rare for me, in dual-pov books!! i usually greatly prefer one character over the other). i thought the writing flowed really well, and Jaigirdar did an amazing job at making me despise Aisling and Dee (though i really need to look up the correct pronunciation of the former, as i am stupid and american™️ and kept mentally pronouncing Aisling as “I-ling”, and i am 100 percent sure that is not correct or accurate at all)

this review might not be that good, for i am but a mortal man cursed with the worst head cold known to humankind (my throat is so sore and im bad at coping)

but i thought this was really cute :D loved the setting (never read anything set in South Africa before!!!), and just in general this was really good. im so happy that middle grade books like this exist

objectively this was fine, just very very confusing. you might like it, but im just not really a “vibes with no plot” kind of guy. the art is gorgeous though, and i love the body language of the characters

i really loved this!! as someone who plans to major in zoology, this book gave me a lot to think about surrounding humans and nature. particularly the idea that the answer to helping nature is not always to just leave it alone, that nature and humans can coexist and ultimately have a sort of symbiosis (which makes sense, since indigenous people have been existing alongside the rest of nature for an incredibly long time!! it’s just something that never occurred to me until reading this).
this also puts into a lot more context for me what happened in Polynesia earlier this year, when whales were officially recognized as legal persons. back when i found out about that i was confused but supportive, and now i think i understand it much better than i did then.

reading this felt a lot like when i read chelsea manning’s memoir last year. god some people are just incredibly brave.
this is a pretty sad book to read, knowing how alexei navalny’s life ended. especially with how optimistic he was throughout the majority of it.
this book is very very good