theravenkingx's Reviews (336)

He has become too human. There is nothing more monstrous.

Perturbing, harrowing and extremely thought provoking.

I am having one of those staring-blankly-at-the-wall moment, and I am completely at a loss for words. It's a powerful book that will subjugate your thoughts completely, and will torture you with those very same lingering, hard to ignore, disturbing thoughts.

The blurb on the back of this book could not be more accurate. This story is about what happens when a victim becomes a monster and a monster becomes a victim. It's an enthralling, thought provoking book about morality and human psyche and can be used as a case study for a psychology class to highlight how different people can have different definition for morality, and how I vs them approach can make us do inexplicable things. It literally made me question my own morality and I hated myself for feeling sympathetic for the sick pedophile.

I have heard so many people say that they would do anything for their kids. But how far are they actually willing to go when they say that? How far is too far?

It's a very well researched and thought out book. I didn't feel anything was over the top; whatever was happening in the book felt real and believable. It portrayed a close to life picture of how society would react, if this were to happen in real life.

But that’s just it, it’s not happening to somebody else, it’s happening to me!” Hamel replied with surprising anger. “That makes all the difference! I’m the victim of the dog! Me!”

Synopsis

Dr. Bruno Hamel, a surgeon, a loving father and a devoted husband turns to violence when his 7 year old daughter becomes the victim of a heinous crime. Consumed with grief and vengeance he devises a clever plan to kidnap the monster who raped and killed his daughter from the courthouse. And In the course of seven days he perform extremely despicable and disgusting form physical torture on the rapist.

But there’s no bottom to hatred, you keep sinking deeper, and I realized that as long as that man existed in my mind, I couldn’t exist.

The author sagaciously and realistically wrote the police investigation. It was extremely refreshing to see a capable and adept police department and an investigator making rational and clever decisions in a book. The author also showed us a very fascinating and very lifelike picture of society's divided reaction on the kidnapping and torture of the rapist.

My favorite scene was when the lead investigator - Herve Mercure, visited the prison to meet the murderer of his wife as two important things happened in this scene: we got to see the distinction between Mercure, who chose the right way to balance the scale of justice and Dr. Hamel, who chose violence. And the second thing, that also left a great impact on me, was Mercure realizing that his visits to the murderer of his wife were a form of torture, that by visiting he was, unintentionally, making him relive his sin again and again, and that he wasn't very different from Dr. Hamel in this regard. It took me a while to fully grasp and process this scene. For this scene only this book deserve 5 stars and all the praise in this world.

There are all sorts of monsters. Some are monsters their whole lives, some are monsters just for a brief moment, and some are monsters without even knowing it.

I think is is the most underrated book I have ever read. I urge everyone to read it.

PS: as you must have already guessed this book comes with a trigger warning for rape and violence.

4.5
Mind : blown
Breathing : stopped
Life : ruined

I have a special compartment for anti-heros in my heart and this book had quite a few of them so it should come as no surprise that I relished this book more than life, and I am eagerly waiting for the next one. I have no words to confess my love for this series and all characters in it. Every character in this book was so well developed, or should I say well corrupted? Rotten? I loved how they swung, back and forth, on the continnum of black and white. Their questionable morality and bad decisions, when faced with a impossible situation, made them realistic and utterly human. Victor's was a badass but his bravado didn't render him invincible; it made him reckless and more prone to failure, which I think is a cost associated with badassery. It was very realistic and believable. The scenes that Victor, Sydney and Mitch shared together were my absolute favourites.

Synopsis

The book take place 5 years after the event of the first book. We find Victor, Sydney and Mitch on the run from the EONs all the while trying to figure out the weird mutation taking place inside Victor. When Sydney revived him in the last book, he came back broken, and now he keeps dying and coming back more broken every time. His condition is escalating quickly. Victor and the team figures out that only an EO with the healing power can help his extraordinary condition, but that would mean exposing that Victor is alive, which is something that they can't afford.

Eli is still in the prison but he is not the same guy he was before. When he was captured by the EON, he was sent to the lab where a scientist experimented on him and broke him. He is now working with the EON in suicide squad fashion.

We meet two new characters: Marcella, a woman who can turn things to ashes with her touch, and June, a shape shifting voodoo doll.

These two set things in motion that bring Victor and Eli in the same spot once again.

ONCE upon a time, when the marks on his back were still fresh, Eli told himself that he was growing wings. After all, his mother thought Eli was an angel, even if his father said he had the devil in him.

A peak into Eli's troubled childhood helped me in understanding his motives and hatred towards the EOs and made me a little more sympathetic towards him. It was really heartbreaking, and I hope I am not the only one who wanted Victor and Eli to patch up and go back to being bros?

Perhaps she was glass. But glass is only brittle until it breaks. Then it’s sharp.

I always love reading about strong female characters and this one had at least two of them. MARCELLA was a force to be reckoned with, even if she got a little stupid and annoying by the end of the book. JUNE was an enigma and the only character with no proper backstory. She was unassailable with her powers that were far more superior than that of Marcella's so it made no sense when she genuflected before Marcella instead of taking her down and replacing her. I want to know more about her and her intentions. I hope there's another book in the works 'cos I have so many questions not only about June but about Victor as well. I still don't know what to make of the cryptic message Victor left for us in end.

V.E. SCHWAB is definitely an ExtraOrdinary and her superpower is to torture us with her writing and cliffhangers.

One thing that failed this book to land on my All-time favourite list was the lack of Victor and Eliot. If I could change one thing, I would add more of Victor and Eliot and shorten the side plots. I am pretty sure I am not the only one who feel this way.

Anyway, it was still a pretty solid read, and I had several NDE experiences throughout the book. Ms. Schwab, you have ruined my life. I blame you completely.

PS: There is secret message in my review. 😏

My thoughts on Vicious

I am sure it's a great, well-researched, and well-structured book, but it didn't pique my interest. My major problem was with the writing; It was very academic and dry. Almost every sentence had a munificent amount commas, and every paragraph had a dozen of quotations, which made this book extremely annoying and impossible to read at times. My second issue was with the content itself. I didnt like how Mr. Pinker downplayed environmental issues, racism and police brutality toward non-white people. Yes, maybe reported hate crime has gone down but what about the day to day bullying people face? What about the general biasness and covert racism? What about let's build a wall ideology supported by hundreds of Americans?

Another absurd and hard to belief point that Mr. Pinker made is related to police brutality. According to him police is as likely to shoot white people as they are to shoot non-whites, but what we witness in real life is completely different. I think It is preposterous to consider less non-white poeple dying a progress.


Since 1910 poor half of the population only possess 5% of the total wealth. And although that 5% is greater in number today, but it make no difference when you take into account the growing amount of good and services in the market. The poor population may have more money, but they still feel as poor as they used to in 1910 and can't afford some of the most basic things from today's standards. It is quite silly to think people are better off cos they have more money. One chart Mr. Pinker referred to in the chapter about inequality doesn't hold true anymore. What was once an elphant is now a dinosaur. Inequality has increased since 2008 instead of declining like some had predicted. I don't think everything is getting better, or what has worked in the past will be able to yield rewards in the future, or that our peregrination will only head upwards.

It's impossible to predict the future with 100% accuracy, all we can do is study the past and learn from it. Mr. Pinker thinks that by bringing back the ideals of enlightenment we can ensure a steady progress for humanity. I somewhat agree with him on this point, but the problem is science is without morality and tolerance and the concept of freedom is alien to science. The morality he talked about wasn't scientific, he was echoing his own subjective morality shaped by religion and society. It is quite not right to undermine the role religion has played and is capable of playing in the future.

I would like to quote John Gray here.

In a society based on science there will be no need for liberal values, since moral and political questions will be answered by experts.

The more hostile the Enlightenment has been to monotheism, the more illiberal it has been.

If you are interested you can check out his great review of this book here as well.

Refreshingly uncontained!!

All things have a value. Sometimes the value is paid in coin. Other times, it is paid in time and sweat. And finally, sometimes it is paid in blood. Humanity seems most eager to use this latter currency. And we never note how much of it we’re spending, unless it happens to be our own.

I am sure Mr. Robert has either scrived his mind to make his brain cells hopscotch uncontrollably and release abnormal amount of creativity and imagination, or has twinned his brain with Einstein or some other smart ass. No normal person can be so imaginative and creative. I mean, wow! I am in awe of his brilliancy in contriving such a vivid and complex narrative.

It's an high-fantasy book with a world-building that radiate brilliance and a writing style so succinct that it will leave you feeling spellbound. While other author describe their world like Dora the Explorer (This is an apple, can you see it way), Mr. Robert used a much more sophisticated and engrossing way to describe the rules and politics of his world without breaking the flow of the story. He even managed to incorporate the pronounciation of protagonist's name within the narrative, I mean how cool is that? It is suffice to say that there wasn't a single moment in the book that didn't move the story forward. Did i mention that he built the world without making it obvious and without bogging it down with excessive explanation?

World-building started with the most basic and fundamental rule and then, progressively, kept getting more complex and intricate almost to the point where i was like duh-bul-yoo tee af! There were rules of existing magic system and then there were speculations on how a newly discovered tool can alter the existing rules. It was honestly a lot to take in but I really, really enjoyed the complexity of the system and the political intrigue between different merchant houses.

Carelessness begets many graves.

Synopsis

Sancia Grado - a masterful theif, is sent on a impossible heist to steal an item for an anonymous employer. But unbeknownst to her the object she was sent to steal contains the power that can revolutionize the magic technology knows as scriving - the art of altering reality of an object using the language of Occidental beings that once walked this world. The item that Sancia discovers is a key that can talk to her via the metal plate in her head. The four merchant houses who control the scriving technology will do anything to get this artificate and unlock its secrets.

Someone from one of these houses want Sancia and anyone who knows about this key dead. In the city of Tevanne there is no one who can stop them except for maybe Gregor Dandolo - a son of wealthy merchant and an ex-soldier who aspire to bring law and order back to Tavanne. His investigation of the heist Sancia pulled leads him directly to her and to the uncontainable mess involving people who can change laws of physics like their clothes.

Characters

Grudges,” said Sancia, “are a privilege I can’t afford.”

Sancia is a badass, black main character who, unlike other main characters, won't put herself in unnecessary danger; she knows when to say no and when to back out. She isn't some unrealistically fearless and brave hero. She is just a normal person with baggage stuck in extraordinary circumstances. I really liked her as a main character and hoping to know a bit more about her past in the coming books. 

He’s just trying to fix the world because it’s the only way he knows to fix himself.

Gregor aka the Revenant of Dantua is the guy you wouldn't want to mess with. He is smart, strong and the only guy who cares about justice. He works for a failing police department with an aspiration to protect everyone from the atrocities of the four houses all the while dealing with his own trauma and a past that doesn't make any sense. I really liked his story arc, and I am excited to see how it will develop in the next book.

I wish you could see them as I do, Sancia, he whispered. To me, they’re like stars in my mind

Clef aka the Key is funny, witty, mysterious and a pretty awesome side kick. I loved and adored him. There is nothing much I can say about him without giving spoilers. Just trust me he is the best.

Bernice and Orso and all other side characters were great too. Overall, this book has a great, diversified and well developed characters.

Romance
There was a hint of girl on girl romance, but thank goodness romance wasn't a big part of this book. It's beyond me how one can fall in love in the midst of all chaos, murders and escape plans. I mean seriously! I appreciate Mr. Robert for keeping this a bit more realistic and for excluding cringy romance from the plot.

Final thoughts

It's great a fantasy book and a fairly short one compared to other adult high-fantasy books. So If you are new to this genre or in mood for a short high-fantasy book then this the one you should pick. I am giving it four stars 'cos even though the writing and world-building was unlike anything I have read, it fell short on execution. It was great, but could have been better.

Truly devastating!!

This is definitely going in my worst read of the year category. I don't understand the hype around this book. I mean It's poorly written, had no plot and the mystery part was hardly convincing. Characters were flat, two dimensional and had no personality at all. And for this very reason it was very hard to distinguish between them because they all sounded the same. Author tried really hard to give them some character, like forcing one to be gay another to be vegan or something, but it didn't work out. They all read like the same person. I personally think that it didn't work because there was no character development, there was only info dumping. We were being told that this character is gay and this character is famous bla bla but we didn't get the chance to truly know these characters.

Mystery part that our protagonist came to solve was weak, and she ended up barely solving a totally different and irrelevant issue.

Ending was bad. It ended on a cheap cliffhanger that made absolutely no sense and didn't fit with the story and overall theme of the book.

It was very disappointing. Sorry!

RTC

DnF
Can't believe I am saying this but this book was a mess. I am a big fan of Jay Kristoff's writing but this book didn't work out for me. It was very confusing. New characters and terms were popping up like pimples on my face but the worst part was the lack of proper explanation of these terms and character development. Having multiple Povs didn't help either, It only made the book even more confusing than it already was. Characters were bland, plot was boring and moving at a pace slower than that of a slug.

I could have forced myself to read this book, if I wasn't already on a reading slump. I wanted to read a book that could break me out of my reading slump but this book was only intensifying it so I decided to quit and find something else on my shelf to read.

Just what I needed to elevate my mood and get out of my sever anxiety.

After rewatching glee on Netflix I got this undeniable urge to read this book mostly for behind the scenes TEA and to know the woman behind my favourite character from the show - Santana Lopez, the mean Biatch. And the Queen didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed the book.

This book was a quick and fun read. Naya was as funny as her character was in glee but not as mean (Thank God) Her writing style was good, it kept me engaged.

This book is something that i think only glee fans would appreciate. Her story wasn't very moving or motivational, but it was inspiring nonetheless.