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632 reviews by:
takarakeireads
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ok here's the thing... I was under the impression that this book would be more of a closing chapter on the first arc of Stormlight Archive and when that's NOT what this book was I was left feeling a bit... underwhelmed? or I supposed unmoored in the right word.
Obviously this series is insanely good, and Brandon's a genius for being able to write it. But WAT was the slowest pacing of the 5 books so far imo. Especially since it's slightly longer than the others, I felt a lot of the time that we were just treading water? Like, do I appreciate the depth of detail and history for this world? yes! But do I also feel like it slowed down the book? yes.
SPOILERS FR:I love Szeth as a character so I was very happy to get his backstory and more in general from his character. I was also happy Adolin got a bigger role in this book cause I've felt in past books he wasn't as big of a character so it was nice to spend time with him. Rlain and Renarin *heart eye emoji* 4 eva! (though I hope we continue to see more queer relationships as the series continues!). I was delulu about Dalinar making it out alive, but this whole Blackthorn thing is interesting.
Idk maybe if I had gone into the book knowing it was just the 5th book in a 10 book series I'd have approached it differently, but to me it definitely has middle-series-book-syndrome. I do feel that inevitably when I reread books 1-5 in preparation for the next books, I might enjoy this better on a re-read.
Obviously this series is insanely good, and Brandon's a genius for being able to write it. But WAT was the slowest pacing of the 5 books so far imo. Especially since it's slightly longer than the others, I felt a lot of the time that we were just treading water? Like, do I appreciate the depth of detail and history for this world? yes! But do I also feel like it slowed down the book? yes.
SPOILERS FR:
Idk maybe if I had gone into the book knowing it was just the 5th book in a 10 book series I'd have approached it differently, but to me it definitely has middle-series-book-syndrome. I do feel that inevitably when I reread books 1-5 in preparation for the next books, I might enjoy this better on a re-read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, War
Moderate: Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual content
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
YA KNOW WHAT? I had a good time and I also was intrigued with some plot/world building!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've not read the other books in this series, but this is apparently just set in the same town but not as much overlap character wise? So you get the background of all the characters in this book explained. I found the romance in this pretty refreshing in terms of conversations around vulnerability. It's a fairly slow-burn which I love. I would've loved one more spice scene at the end tho *hehe*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child death, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Terminal illness
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such a fun (funny!) and surprising read! The MC starts out very unlikeable, but she grows throughout the story and I think her journey is well done. It's almost like a fantasy/paranormal-adjacent romance with Hol being a spirit? But I found it to be a very refreshing holiday romance!
Spice: (Closed-door)
Spice: (Closed-door)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Classism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was such a cute holiday short story collection! Was nice to get a taste of some of these author's writing. Def rec for an easy holiday historical romance read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity
Minor: Child abuse, Sexism, Death of parent
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
OBSESSED!!!!!!! I was kicking my feeeeeet! THE perfect holiday romance for the fantasy romance folks! Cause we have political intrigue + queer romance *star eyes*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Grief
Minor: Vomit, Car accident
soft dnf might come back, but also I feel like I don't know enough astrology to get this?
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Oh gee, well I forgot to write a review of this when I finished, so here we are at month's end...
I remember not loving this, but liking it pretty well enough? and feeling like maybe I wanted it to be a tad longer? I think if the book was longer we could've gotten a bit more in depth with the themes. I did learn a bit about Jewish history which was cool. And there's a classic Leigh Bardugo sad boy™ character so there's that!
I remember not loving this, but liking it pretty well enough? and feeling like maybe I wanted it to be a tad longer? I think if the book was longer we could've gotten a bit more in depth with the themes. I did learn a bit about Jewish history which was cool. And there's a classic Leigh Bardugo sad boy™ character so there's that!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent
Minor: Infertility, Sexual assault, War
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I enjoyed this short story collection. I've mainly read Naomi's Scholomance series, which is why I picked this up because I will take every crumb of that world I can get (only one of these is connected, and I don't think it would make any sense really if you haven't read the series first). A few other stories seem to have been the seeds of her other books, or related to them - but I don't think any would really be spoilers or not make sense if you haven't read her other books. I did feel the stories in the first half were stronger. I do think also you can tell Naomi got her start in fanfiction because there's a few retellings (but I think they're generally done well): Ariadne, Sherlock, Pride & Prejudice. The story set in the Temeraire world, but during the Roman empire was really funny.
If you're familiar with Naomi's work you'll probably get even more out of this!
If you're familiar with Naomi's work you'll probably get even more out of this!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation
Minor: War, Classism
idk man maybe I'm just slumping but I wasn't interested enough, and I thought it would be more holiday-y than it was