shane_the_reading_rat's Reviews (1.21k)

DNFing this because it’s not quite what i was looking for and i have a ton of ebook holds that have come in

i really really didn’t like this.
couldn’t see chemistry between any of the love interests (poor bridget her character arc wasnt even an arc it was a straight line), comedy just didn’t click with me, and all of the character except gabriel annoyed me.
would’ve been 1 star except for

the fact that i found gabriel’s ending where he finally finds the courage to be with arthur and also be king really sweet. that was nice i like gabriel

i’d really hoped to love this :/ could make a long rant on it but essentially: confusing, messy world building, boring mystery, and zero chemistry between Mossa and Pleiti. a novella is too short for a second chance romance, at least this one.

fine graphic novel, but i doubt i’ll continue the series as to me this felt very complete as just one book. the art was beautiful and the story was cute (i loved the ghost world so much). i do think it’s unrealistic that no one who came to this laundromat was questioning why a 13 year old girl seemed to be running the place when they used to see a family running it?? there also seemed to be too little development between marjorie and wendell before they became friends, it’s like she went straight from hating him to being his friend.

also marjorie was just taking constant Ls throughout the story and it just felt disappointing that she never got a win until the end. also that one frame where Mr. Stereotypical Evil Businessman busts open the door and says “DIMINUTIVE FEMALE GLATT” was incredible i genuinely laughed at that

cute middle grade :) liked the art style and the characters, but i think the dialogue felt unrealistic at spots for what kids would say. otherwise definitely good!!

this was one of the weirdest books ive ever read but ngl it was kinda cool
pregnancy horror really freaks me out though

this is a book i have a lot of thoughts on and massively respect, but ultimately one i had an incredibly hard time getting through and eventually had to skim the final 30%. didn’t want to dnf it, as:
•i adored the worldbuilding. this fantasy world Chandrasekera made fascinated me so much, and felt incredibly unique. i really wish that in the book, there had been a map of the supercontinent Jambu or even just Luriat itself so i could’ve gotten a sense of where places were (i also just love maps).
•on paper the plot is something i would massively enjoy. an urban fantasy about the son of a prophet figure, trained by his mother to kill him? i’d be down for that plot anytime.
i think what caused me to have such a hard time with this is the writing style (which is a problem i have with a lot of magical realism), where the writing is very vague and dreamlike. sadly thats just a style that almost never works for me.
i might pick this up again someday just because of the worldbuilding and to read that final 30% properly, but i could tell that finishing this was going to send me into a horrific reading slump.

what this book does best is pure vibes. it’s a historical fantasy, set near the ocean in a cold winter. it’s wonderful. although, i dont think that the reveal of Mourin (hopefully im spelling her name correctly, listened to the audiobook) being a selkie needed to be so drawn out, as it just made a massive lore dump at the end even though readers already know. but otherwise this was incredible, i’d very much recommend the audiobook as the narrator did wonderful voices for every character

I’ll try and find a physical copy of this at somepoint, but trying to read this on my phone is absolute hell due to the tiny print and highly detailed art

i have complicated feelings about this book. on the one hand, i believe Lawson told their story well and there were many passages i (digitally, read this as an ebook) highlighted. but on the other hand, other passages felt very vague and i genuinely could not tell if the timeline of this book was linear or jumped around in time.