Is it okay to shelve this as dystopian when the fucked-up world doesn't have any humans in it?

That's not a spoiler, by the way. The book opens and all the humans are dead.

You should know that my five star rating is a pretty big deal considering I FUCKING HATE ROBOTS. They are pretty much my biggest fear, because they are terrifying and not that unrealistic. (Looking at you, Elon Musk.)

But this book was funny and honest and raw and terrifically exciting. This book truly, deeply questions what it means to be human in every way that it can be questioned. To do that, while also carrying you on an adventure, is pretty damn impressive.

Some girls get kidnapped because they're too stupid not to talk to strangers. Then there's a bunch of short stories that are tangentially related only because Kamchatka is small enough that everyone heard of the missing girls, so each following story references them. At the end,

Spoiler

the girls are still alive, but there's no emotional resonance for the reader because the story isn't about them, and to be honest you assume they've been dead the whole time, so it's more like Huh, Okay, and then the book ends before you even see them being reunited with their mother, who I honestly thought was going to kill herself so I guess it's good she didn't.

Nothing happens. Nothing gets resolved. No one is interesting or compelling and honestly they're all unlikable which would be fine if they weren't so boring. I only kept reading because I've never read a book about the indigenous people of eastern Russia so it was somewhat worth reading to learn about that, but there isn't much detail.

I know it's been done to death, but I always love when vampires know famous historical figures, and I love it even more when the story goes back in time, and I love it even more when they meet Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth. Harkness livens up this version of the past with trips to Prague and France, and both Matthew's and Diana's fathers make an appearance which is both sad and heart-warming. You finally learn some hard truths about Diana's magic and Ashmole 782. This book, though a little too long for me, is full of wit and heart and love and sadness, and felt like a solid book and not just a bridge between the introduction and the ending.

Okay, you win, Bardugo.

I'm in love with the tracker, the pirate, and the villain.

An amazing conclusion to an amazing trilogy. I laughed and I wept. I can't ask for more than that.

THE S T O R I E S

THE A R T

I LOVE IT SO M U C H

I loved that she took various approaches from history to numerology to Kabbalah to study the cards. It was very cool to see the historical meanings of the cards and new ways to interpret them.

I liked her idea of reading Marseilles-style pip cards as their numerological value instead of the more common RWS meanings.

Would definitely recommend for someone looking to dig deeper into tarot who already has a solid foundation.

My first book in French. I still had to look up a lot of things (Duolingo really does not teach you animal noises, haha) but I am proud of myself.

The story was very cute; I love Kate DiCamillo.