typedtruths's Reviews (1.8k)

3.5 stars

Geekerella was a sweet, geeky contemporary romance with a twist. The emphasis on fandom life tore at my heartstrings. I literally teared up reading this book multiple times. While Starfield is not a real-life fandom, the importance of the source material and the actual fandom to Elle made me emotional. It was just so relatable. I have a fandom (actually, two fandoms) in my life that are part of who I am, that mean everything to me. I know it seems lame and cheesy and all those things to admit that but it doesn't change the fact that I would not be the person I am today without those movies/books in my life and the online community which lets me love and celebrate them every day. Geekerella was a love letter to fandom life and it will always hold a special place in my heart for that reason.

On a broader scale, I found that while this story made me incredibly nostalgic for one of my favourite childhood films, A Cinderella Story, it was also a little too tropey at times. It relied a lot on similar scenes to that movie (and other books like this) and because of that, I felt that I had already experienced the story. I was also just not a fan of Elle at times, particularly when she yelled at Darien about Miss May. He genuinely believed he was in danger and she just lashed out at him. She did not need to be so rude. The fact that she was completely unaffected by all of the celebrity presences felt very unrealistic. Even if she disliked Darien at first, he was the freaking actor in her favourite show! You would freak out a little meeting him… surely. I guess that was why I found the ending unsatisfying? The unrealistic nature of a celebrity/'ordinary’ person romance was too much for me.

I did really like Sage and Darien as characters though. Sage was an awesome friend and Darien’s POVs were definitely what kept me reading.

Caraval did not live up to the expectations set by the hype. While the story was mostly entertaining as a whole. there were too many things done wrong for me to enjoy it.

I honestly had problems with all of the characters. Scarlet was so bloody naive! She was reckless and impulsive, and it was just so infuriating, especially because she had not learnt her lesson by the end of the book.. For someone who was supposedly the more reserved, rule-following sibling, she did not act like it. She made so many stupid decisions, like:

refusing to stay in Julian’s room. Sharing a bed with someone is not an inherently sexual act and implying so just shows her true maturity levels. I also am confused how the heck sharing a bed with Julian could possibly be worse than sleeping in a strange man’s room?

. Scarlet’s choices were enough to make growl with frustration and in all honesty, I just did not like her. Julian also had no personality. His characterisation relied too heavily on predictable and overused character archetypes to be worthwhile and I did not understand what he saw in Scarlet. Tella was just… a mess. She was also completely unlikeable and so bloody selfish. I never, not even for a second, cared about her fate and that annoyed me so much. Her and Scarlet’s relationship was meant to be central to the book but their entire relationship was so underdeveloped it made me want to cry.

Scarlet and Julian’s relationship was another case of instalove. There is no other way of putting it. Despite the fact that Julian helped abduct Scarlet, their romantic tension is obvious from the get-go and that put me in a sour mood. We know how central Scarlet and Tella’s relationship is meant to be to the story - the whole book is pitched around sisterly bonds - so to have this over-the-top and unnecessary romance replace it irked me. This was especially irritating because Scarlett mocked Tella for being immature about her relationships and scoffed at the idea of Tella falling in love with men so quickly… yet she claims to have fallen in love with someone she just met a couple of days ago? I call bullshit. Absolute bullshit. If that really was the case, I am pretty sure that makes Scarlet one hell of an awful sister! Who puts their affections for a man they have only known for four or so days before their sister who they have loved and protected their whole life? No one. No one does that.

I do think that the premise was fantastic. I loved the idea of a circus performance where you are not sure what is real and what is an illusion but I was disappointed with the setting. This book did almost capture the magical atmosphere of Caraval but this book was pitched as a magical circus, not a magical town, and the only remotely circus-like aspect of Caraval was Nigel’s fortune-telling tent. The marketing team did an abysmal job of pitching this book. The plotline also did not make sense to me. It took too many shortcuts and focused on the romance when it should have toned that subplot done. I also hated that aspects of the game were glossed over. We saw so little of the other competitors and bystanders and I don’t get why. It made the book seem even less like the circus performance promised. How are we meant to believe that this is a high-stakes game when we only see other competitors in one scene? It took the urgency away from Scarlet’s mission to find her sister. The whole plotline was poorly constructed and underwhelming.

Also, the ending:

I hate books that have fake deaths. I understand that we get attached to the characters and it can be painful when something happens to them (especially if that thing is them dying), but making it so that everyone is immune to death takes away all the suspense, all the desperation, from the story. I cannot get invested in the action anymore because I know no one would get seriously hurt… and where’s the fun in that? At least have Dante remain dead. We didn’t have personal attachments to him.

. I also just have too many unanswered questions.

I was also annoyed that:

We had no idea what was happening outside of Caraval. The general world-building was so lacking.
The writing tried so hard to be pretty and flowery and my God, did it fail. Scarlet had a weird habit of describing the taste of intangible phenomena. At one point, she woke to the taste of lies on her lips, another the taste of death was clogging up her throat or something. Julian tasted like midnight at another point. What the frick does midnight taste like? If you’d described his hair like that, I would know you were trying to say he had black hair in a fancy way, but I have no idea what midnight is meant to taste like!
Scarlet’s father was a flat, one-dimensional villain that was laughably underdeveloped.
Dante and the other secondary characters were also unmemorable. I really hope they don’t play a huge role in the second book because I cannot remember anything about them.

Overall?

Caraval was an overhyped release that could have been enjoyable if it didn’t try so hard to be something it wasn’t. The characters drove me insane and the romance had me sighing with frustration. The world-building and plotline were lacking, and the writing made me roll my eyes more times then I could count. Unfortunately, I just was not a fan.

My curse has struck again. Another hyped series, another unpopular opinion.

What let this story down was the hyperfocus of the romantic drama. If I had cared more about Britta and her love life, maybe this would not have been so disappointing. But I didn’t care. At all. I wanted more about the politics of the world; seeing these two kingdoms trying to combat systemic discrimination. I was definitely not here for yet another unnecessary love triangle. I was not here for the angst or the repetitive cliches. I still cannot believe that there was an honest to god ‘cuddling naked for warmth when the other LI walks in’ scene. I have read that scenario so many times before and I’m completely over it. It was the fact that those sort of scenes took preference over the scenes detailing the actual rebellion and kidnapping mystery - the supposed focal point of the plot - which made it so difficult to push through to the end. The fact that the entire last quarter of the book rushed through all of the important scenes and, instead, focused on concluding the love triangle was the final straw.

I did like that the story was told in multiple perspectives. I wish that I had been more invested in the characters themselves though. Britta and Cohen irritated the heck out of me in particular. They were jealous and petty, constantly riling each other with the same dumb jumping to conclusion nonsense they did in the first book. I was excited to see more of Aodren but again, we focused more on his growing relationship with Britta than his duties as the king which was not what I hoped for.

Overall? This series had potential. If more of a focus had been placed on the politics of the brewing war or the rebellion against Chaneller discrimination, I would have been onboard. The romantic drama, particularly the love triangle angst, was not my cup of tea and truly soured my experience. I struggled to get invested in this story or the characters and I am just glad that the series is finished. I am not sure what made this series so hyped but I’d much rather recommend The Wish Granter or Frostblood if you want romance-heavy YA fantasy with some politics that is well-written and engaging.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.

I have no words for this book. Okay, I have some, but barely anything I can say will convey how incredible the story of Bruiser was. I mean… it was just… it was… amazing. Yeah, that’s not very convincing. But I don’t know what else to say. I had no idea what to expect going into this story, and the poignant story of family and love and pain that I got was just… not what I was expecting, at all. Okay, now I’m just repeating myself. Maybe by now you understand that this book made me pretty speechless? Well, I hope so ’cause that’s what I’m trying to say. This book was incredibly written, hauntingly beautiful, poignant, important and a must read for anyone that believes books should mean something and make them feel things that they wouldn’t have otherwise. I don’t think this is a story I’ll forget anytime soon. It was beautiful.

Too many tropes. Poor character development. Nonsensical situation. Great ending, though. RTC.

fantastic premise but instalove + iffy world-building

3.5 stars

so many fantastic elements but a tad too focused on the romance imo

rtc

Mysteries where you already know the identity of the killer for the majority of the plot can be a hit or a miss. It worked for me in [b:There's Someone Inside Your House|15797848|There's Someone Inside Your House|Stephanie Perkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493650191s/15797848.jpg|21520760] as I felt it added a layer of suspense to the story. It became more about the cat-and-mouse thrills than the clue-hunting. Follow Me also managed to blend those two elements together quite well and I think that is why I enjoyed this a smidge more than The Amateurs.

The characters did still tick me off, don’t get me wrong. Seneca and Aerin have so much potential that I desperately want Shepard to tap into. Aerin’s grief and feelings about the events of the past books needed more fleshing out. They were brushed over, and the same with Seneca. It was hinted that she was suffering from mild PTSD - the panic attacks confirmed it - but it is never addressed. Maddison was barely in the plot again and felt disposable. Maddy did not improve either. While we did not have to suffer through Catherine situation in this book, his petty jealousy of Jeff was definitely still irritating. The chemistry between him and Seneca and him is non-existent. I could not have cared less whether they got together or not. In fact, I could not have cared less about any of the romantic subplots if I tried.

Like I said though, there was something about the cat and mouse storyline that kept me engaged. I still found the coincidences and dumb luck of the characters overwhelmingly frustrating but I was interested to see how everything would unfold. The ending was exactly what I expected but I liked it. I’m a little uncertain whether it was meant to be a shock or not. We knew it was building up to that moment since a certain scene in The Amateurs so I hope not. It certainly paved the way for a promising sequel.

Overall? It still suffered a lot of the downfalls of the previous book. The characters were underwhelming and shallow, and too much emphasis was placed on the romantic subplots. However, I have to admit that there was something captivating about the cat-and-mouse game plotline. I really hope that will be continued in the sequel.

The very first audiobook I ever ‘read’ was The Dark Unwinding and it was the perfect introduction to the format. Since then, I’ve listened to a couple of others audiobooks but no one has been able to narrate to the same standard as Fiona Hardington. She has this incredible way with her voice! She nails every accent - mainly British and French, in this story - and even speaks in French perfectly. Well, it sounds perfect to me. I’m not exactly an expert. But what is the most beautiful thing about her voice is how she a) captures all of the character’s voice perfectly and makes them so distinct and recognisable, and b) how she differentiates the protagonist's dialogue and monologue flawlessly. I would honestly pick up any book she ever narrated and would 100% recommend her.

But the actual book is pretty darn good too. I adore the characters and plotline of the first book, and the finale didn't disappoint. I adore Katharine. She has such a gentle but rigid determination - it is such a realistic and admirable quality. I was always rooting for her, and I loved that she never sits still in the face of adversity. She powers on. She does what she thinks is right, damn the consequences. She is just such a fantastic female role model and I just… I totally admire and adore her. I did miss Lane and the Stranwyne crew but the new cast is interesting - to say the least - and brings a new dynamic to the story that’s interesting and fresh. Uncle Tully still makes my little heart ache and I’ll always admire Cameron for his characterisation. It’s pretty flawless, IMO.

I think what makes this book not quite up to the standard of the first book is the plotline. It is certainly imaginative and ties everything up in a satisfying manner, but there is something missing from it? Maybe it is my fault since it took me forever to finish it. It is 12+ hours long in my defence…. But I don’t know, there is just something missing that lets me give this a five shining stars.

Overall? The gorgeous writing style in combination with Hardington's narration made this such an enjoyable read. Or well, listen, I guess. Katharine is one of my favourite protagonist of all time. Her determination is such an admirable quality. I did miss Lane, understandably, but the new cast of characters was still interesting to learn about. The plot was tied up well and I don’t think anyone will be dissatisfied.

This was such an entertaining read! It took me awhile to get into it but once I did, I was hooked.