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theravenkingx's Reviews (336)
Queen of Nothing - the final installment in the series - started with Jude in exile in the mortal world after being betrayed by her husband Cardan - The High King.
Things changed when her twin sister - Taryn appeared and begged Jude for her assistance. When Jude returns to Elfhame, she finds herself entangled in a web of love, betrayal, and politics once again.
My thoughts
The book had many strengths, such as the fast-paced plot, the witty and engaging dialogue, ample amount of twists, the vivid and immersive world-building, and the complex and dynamic characters.
However, the book also had some shortcomings, such as the short length, the rushed resolution, the lack of development for some characters, and the inconsistency of some actions and motivations. The book was a quick read at only 300 pages, but I felt like the second half dragged on too long.
Jude kept saying that oak is the rightful heir and one day he will rule the kingdom, but how ? Now that the crown no longer exist and Jude and Cardan are likely to have a heir of their own ?.
The book felt like it skipped over some important scenes and details, and wrapped up some conflicts and subplots too quickly and conveniently. The story about Lady Asha and jude's mother didn't go anywhere and why mardoc had to kill Jude's parents stayed unresolved.
The book also did not give enough attention to some characters, such as Taryn, Locke, Nicasia, and Oak, who had significant roles in the previous books, but were reduced to minor or absent characters in this one.
The book had a promising start, but it soon became disappointing and frustrating. The book was full of convenience and coincidence. The stakes weren't high and the challenges that Jude faced cumulated to nothing.
Everything seemed to work out for her too easily. For example: A certain character's death conveniently paved the way for Jude to return to Elfhame and when the land healed her and made her the Queen.
The book also had a forced and cringeworthy feminist message. When Jude said that Elfhame deserved to be ruled by a queen, I lost interest immediately. And when she told the kid that she bleeds every month, I cringed so hard. The book tried to make Jude a strong and independent female character, but it failed to do so convincingly.
Cardan giving up his crown and confessing his love seemed out of character cos the author didn't give enough time for his character to develop.
Jude was utterly annoying at times. Especially when the army was outside the castle ready to attack and her first thought was to wear something good. She asked her sister to design her new clothes
Things changed when her twin sister - Taryn appeared and begged Jude for her assistance. When Jude returns to Elfhame, she finds herself entangled in a web of love, betrayal, and politics once again.
My thoughts
The book had many strengths, such as the fast-paced plot, the witty and engaging dialogue, ample amount of twists, the vivid and immersive world-building, and the complex and dynamic characters.
However, the book also had some shortcomings, such as the short length, the rushed resolution, the lack of development for some characters, and the inconsistency of some actions and motivations. The book was a quick read at only 300 pages, but I felt like the second half dragged on too long.
Jude kept saying that oak is the rightful heir and one day he will rule the kingdom, but how ? Now that the crown no longer exist and Jude and Cardan are likely to have a heir of their own ?.
The book felt like it skipped over some important scenes and details, and wrapped up some conflicts and subplots too quickly and conveniently. The story about Lady Asha and jude's mother didn't go anywhere and why mardoc had to kill Jude's parents stayed unresolved.
The book also did not give enough attention to some characters, such as Taryn, Locke, Nicasia, and Oak, who had significant roles in the previous books, but were reduced to minor or absent characters in this one.
The book had a promising start, but it soon became disappointing and frustrating. The book was full of convenience and coincidence. The stakes weren't high and the challenges that Jude faced cumulated to nothing.
Everything seemed to work out for her too easily. For example: A certain character's death conveniently paved the way for Jude to return to Elfhame and when the land healed her and made her the Queen.
The book also had a forced and cringeworthy feminist message. When Jude said that Elfhame deserved to be ruled by a queen, I lost interest immediately. And when she told the kid that she bleeds every month, I cringed so hard. The book tried to make Jude a strong and independent female character, but it failed to do so convincingly.
Cardan giving up his crown and confessing his love seemed out of character cos the author didn't give enough time for his character to develop.
Jude was utterly annoying at times. Especially when the army was outside the castle ready to attack and her first thought was to wear something good. She asked her sister to design her new clothes
3.6 stars
The plot
The Confrence of the Birds is the fifth installment in the series. In this book we follow Jacob Portman and his friends as they embark on a new mission to save the world of Peculiars from a looming threat. Jacob, in this book, is tasked to deliver a new Peculiar - Noor, to a mysterious operative that goes by the name V. It is soon revealed that this person may hold the key to an ancient prophecy that revolves around Noor.
Along the way, Jacob tries to mend his friendship with his friends and help miss P as she struggles to make peace among different Peculiar factions in America. She and other ymbrynes are invited to a meeting called the Confrence of the birds to discuss the fate of Peculiardom.
Jacob and his allies face many dangers, betrayals, and surprises, as they discover that the enemy they thought they had defeated may not be gone after all.
My thoughts
I have mixed feelings about The Conference of the Birds. While I loved revisiting the world of Peculiars and the characters that I care about, I also feel that this new trilogy was unnecessary, as It undid most of the events and outcomes of the first trilogy, which annoyed me a lot. I think a spin-off would have been a better choice or a completely different story than what we got with the same characters.
the plot felt somewhat rushed and disjointed, as the author tried to cram too many events and locations into a relatively short book. Some of the scenes and transitions were not very clear or logical, and some of the subplots and characters were not given enough attention or development.
With that being said, the book took a dark and gory turn towards the end, which I found thrilling and enjoyable. I am eager to see what happens next.
Writing
There was nothing special about the writing. I did not notice any improvement in the author’s style or skill. Ransom Riggs is a great writer, but I expected him to deliver something more impressive after four books.
Spoilery thoughts
I think the book could have focused on finding Fiona and uncovering more secrets about Abe and fighting new enemies, instead of altering everything that happened in the first trilogy. It seemed strange that none of the children and miss P bothered to look for Fiona until it was convenient for the story.
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The plot
The Confrence of the Birds is the fifth installment in the series. In this book we follow Jacob Portman and his friends as they embark on a new mission to save the world of Peculiars from a looming threat. Jacob, in this book, is tasked to deliver a new Peculiar - Noor, to a mysterious operative that goes by the name V. It is soon revealed that this person may hold the key to an ancient prophecy that revolves around Noor.
Along the way, Jacob tries to mend his friendship with his friends and help miss P as she struggles to make peace among different Peculiar factions in America. She and other ymbrynes are invited to a meeting called the Confrence of the birds to discuss the fate of Peculiardom.
Jacob and his allies face many dangers, betrayals, and surprises, as they discover that the enemy they thought they had defeated may not be gone after all.
My thoughts
I have mixed feelings about The Conference of the Birds. While I loved revisiting the world of Peculiars and the characters that I care about, I also feel that this new trilogy was unnecessary, as It undid most of the events and outcomes of the first trilogy, which annoyed me a lot. I think a spin-off would have been a better choice or a completely different story than what we got with the same characters.
the plot felt somewhat rushed and disjointed, as the author tried to cram too many events and locations into a relatively short book. Some of the scenes and transitions were not very clear or logical, and some of the subplots and characters were not given enough attention or development.
With that being said, the book took a dark and gory turn towards the end, which I found thrilling and enjoyable. I am eager to see what happens next.
Writing
There was nothing special about the writing. I did not notice any improvement in the author’s style or skill. Ransom Riggs is a great writer, but I expected him to deliver something more impressive after four books.
Spoilery thoughts
I think the book could have focused on finding Fiona and uncovering more secrets about Abe and fighting new enemies, instead of altering everything that happened in the first trilogy. It seemed strange that none of the children and miss P bothered to look for Fiona until it was convenient for the story.
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Angry Rant
I don't know how to rate this book. I am 50/50 on this one. There were some great parts and then there were parts that were absolutely boring. This book needed a serious trim of at least 150-200 pages. It felt like the author had no clue how to end a scene or move the plot forward. I felt like this book dragged on forever. There were some good moments, sure, but they were buried under a pile of dull pages.
Also, I found how the book was structured problematic. It alternated between playing some kind of competitive game at the academy and attending some sort of event/festival. It got boring and repetitive quite quickly. The story only progressed when our main characters, Vis, was outside the academy attending some random event or festival.
The book had some redeeming qualities. The plot was intriguing and the idea was original. The book draws inspiration from real life, where the rich and powerful manipulate the system to their advantage, often at the expense of working class and poor people. The Leeching is a metaphor for the unfair and oppressive distribution of wealth and power in the world, where the elite benefit from the labor and suffering of the masses. The book raises questions about the ethics and consequences of such a system, and the possibility and cost of changing it.
The ending was seriously mind-blowing. I had to Google it and read some reddit posts to confirm my theories about the ending, and oh boy, was I wrong . I am excited for the next book, suffice to say.
Despite the great conclusion, I could not ignore the numerous shortcomings of this book.
characters
The only character who mattered was Vis, and everyone else was just a prop to make him look good. He climbed the pyramid with no challenge or conflict and whatever conflict did come his way the author kicked them out of his way quite conveniently. In this book, everyone strangely wanted to help Vis climb the pyramid, even though it was a highly competitive environment where people should be looking out for themselves. Vis was the only one who made progress in the academy, everyone else was stuck in their classes and didn't climb up.
The characters and their story arcs were poorly developed and lacked personality. The author described one of the characters named Eidhin as “the guy with red hair” or “the muscular guy” every time he appeared. It was so absurd, but he was still better off than the rest of the characters who got no distinctive features or descriptions at all.
Callidus was our main character's encyclopedia running on bad connection. He only shared his wisdom when Vis needed to know that information, not a moment before. I often found myself scratching my head thinking why he didn't share this information sooner ?
Magic System & World Building
I tried really hard to understand the magic system based on will power but the author did his absolute worse to explain it. He used one vague word to explain another vague word. Then he kept throwing words like "conditional imbuing of will", "reactional imbuing of will" without any explanation as to what these things actually are. I eventually gave up on understanding the magic system and kept reading. Some of it got explained but most of it remained vague. I had to fill in the gaps with my own knowledge of fantasy books cos the author wasn't doing a good job of explaining things.
Vis had some crucial training before he entered the academy, which gave him an unrealistic and poorly written advantage. It would have been more believable if he had advanced only one or two steps, but his two months of training took him to the third level. This made me wonder about the difficulty of the academy and the intelligence of the other students; was the academy really challenging or was everyone in it just dumb ?
Vis was a flawless genius who never lost anything. He always won, even when he was utterly reckless. He was proficient in every language, game, and strategy. There was nothing he could not do, and he was only 17 years old.
Final thoughts
This book was good! I enjoyed it, even though the magic system and the world were not very clear. It had quite a few weak points, but it was still entertaining. I'm looking forward to the next book, whenever it comes out.
3 stars
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐
World building ⭐⭐
I don't know how to rate this book. I am 50/50 on this one. There were some great parts and then there were parts that were absolutely boring. This book needed a serious trim of at least 150-200 pages. It felt like the author had no clue how to end a scene or move the plot forward. I felt like this book dragged on forever. There were some good moments, sure, but they were buried under a pile of dull pages.
Also, I found how the book was structured problematic. It alternated between playing some kind of competitive game at the academy and attending some sort of event/festival. It got boring and repetitive quite quickly. The story only progressed when our main characters, Vis, was outside the academy attending some random event or festival.
The book had some redeeming qualities. The plot was intriguing and the idea was original. The book draws inspiration from real life, where the rich and powerful manipulate the system to their advantage, often at the expense of working class and poor people. The Leeching is a metaphor for the unfair and oppressive distribution of wealth and power in the world, where the elite benefit from the labor and suffering of the masses. The book raises questions about the ethics and consequences of such a system, and the possibility and cost of changing it.
The ending was seriously mind-blowing. I had to Google it and read some reddit posts to confirm my theories about the ending, and oh boy, was I wrong . I am excited for the next book, suffice to say.
Despite the great conclusion, I could not ignore the numerous shortcomings of this book.
characters
The only character who mattered was Vis, and everyone else was just a prop to make him look good. He climbed the pyramid with no challenge or conflict and whatever conflict did come his way the author kicked them out of his way quite conveniently. In this book, everyone strangely wanted to help Vis climb the pyramid, even though it was a highly competitive environment where people should be looking out for themselves. Vis was the only one who made progress in the academy, everyone else was stuck in their classes and didn't climb up.
The characters and their story arcs were poorly developed and lacked personality. The author described one of the characters named Eidhin as “the guy with red hair” or “the muscular guy” every time he appeared. It was so absurd, but he was still better off than the rest of the characters who got no distinctive features or descriptions at all.
Callidus was our main character's encyclopedia running on bad connection. He only shared his wisdom when Vis needed to know that information, not a moment before. I often found myself scratching my head thinking why he didn't share this information sooner ?
Magic System & World Building
I tried really hard to understand the magic system based on will power but the author did his absolute worse to explain it. He used one vague word to explain another vague word. Then he kept throwing words like "conditional imbuing of will", "reactional imbuing of will" without any explanation as to what these things actually are. I eventually gave up on understanding the magic system and kept reading. Some of it got explained but most of it remained vague. I had to fill in the gaps with my own knowledge of fantasy books cos the author wasn't doing a good job of explaining things.
Vis had some crucial training before he entered the academy, which gave him an unrealistic and poorly written advantage. It would have been more believable if he had advanced only one or two steps, but his two months of training took him to the third level. This made me wonder about the difficulty of the academy and the intelligence of the other students; was the academy really challenging or was everyone in it just dumb ?
Vis was a flawless genius who never lost anything. He always won, even when he was utterly reckless. He was proficient in every language, game, and strategy. There was nothing he could not do, and he was only 17 years old.
Final thoughts
This book was good! I enjoyed it, even though the magic system and the world were not very clear. It had quite a few weak points, but it was still entertaining. I'm looking forward to the next book, whenever it comes out.
3 stars
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐
World building ⭐⭐
I will highly recommend this book to everyone who wants peace to prevail in the world. This book will definitely change your perspective about everything that's been going on in the world.
The history didn't start with 9/11 but has a very long prelude. Fuller, has examined the history of religions, wars and conflicts that took place after the crucifixion of Jesus a.k.a Prophet Isa (A.S) to determine that religion has always been an excuse of people to attain their ulterior motives. It has always been about power and control.
First there were Jews who denied to accept the new religion - Christianity -because they felt the new religion was threatening their status in the world and did everything they could to destroy this new religion. Later the conflict was between different sects of Christianity who fought for power and control that led to the division of Rome. When Islam came the west was already perceived as the enemy in east and Islam just inherited that hatred for the west from the east.
Fuller, also discussed about how people think that Islam was spread with use of sword when in reality it was Christianity that declared capital punishment for non believers. Also, the idea of suicide bombings were unheard among Muslims few decades ago, and the first suicide attacks were carried out not by Muslims but hindu tamil tigers in Srilanka in 1980s.
Overall, it was great and very informative book. Fuller, has also discussed what policies of the west can reduce terrorism and how separating religion from the equation can help bring peace in the world.
I love the writting style of Fuller and the way he explained the views of both sides withouth any being biased.
The history didn't start with 9/11 but has a very long prelude. Fuller, has examined the history of religions, wars and conflicts that took place after the crucifixion of Jesus a.k.a Prophet Isa (A.S) to determine that religion has always been an excuse of people to attain their ulterior motives. It has always been about power and control.
First there were Jews who denied to accept the new religion - Christianity -because they felt the new religion was threatening their status in the world and did everything they could to destroy this new religion. Later the conflict was between different sects of Christianity who fought for power and control that led to the division of Rome. When Islam came the west was already perceived as the enemy in east and Islam just inherited that hatred for the west from the east.
Fuller, also discussed about how people think that Islam was spread with use of sword when in reality it was Christianity that declared capital punishment for non believers. Also, the idea of suicide bombings were unheard among Muslims few decades ago, and the first suicide attacks were carried out not by Muslims but hindu tamil tigers in Srilanka in 1980s.
Overall, it was great and very informative book. Fuller, has also discussed what policies of the west can reduce terrorism and how separating religion from the equation can help bring peace in the world.
I love the writting style of Fuller and the way he explained the views of both sides withouth any being biased.
This seemed like a poorly written script for movie with tremendous amount of loop holes.
I really thought it was going to be interesting but it was boring and didn't have any substance. The book wasn't structured properly. They tried to cram too much information without giving in story and research a chance to shine.