unlikelyplaces's Reviews (273)

What a great middle book for this series! 

This series holds an amazing balance of darkness but the sarcastic, almost lighthearted tone means that it never feels like a slog to get through. The first book was a lot of set up which meant that this one really had the momentum to be able to take off. The way the characters are developing is subtle but so well done. 

I also think that Abercrombie's descriptions are so immersive, I can so clearly see the atmospheres that he's describing throughout the series, his prose is straightforward but well thought out, and he uses repetition in a really clever way (although I could see how it would get on some people's nerves).

I'm so enjoying this series and can't wait to get to the next book.

This was one of the most heart-warming books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I knew the story of Little Women, I'd seen various film adaptations and thought I knew what to expect. But this really hit me in a different way than any adaptation of it has. The themes of appreciating what you have and the people around you and of growing up and learning what it means to be a woman (though, admittedly, a very 1860s version of what it means to be a woman but I'll forgive it for that) just really resonated with me. Apart from some elements that obviously haven't aged well (which is kind of a given in classics) I enjoyed every bit of this. From the films I thought this might be a generous 4/5 for me but it was just so charming I had to give it a 5. I can totally see why this has stood the test of time so well.

This was such a fun book. It wasn't super deep, Sanderson's prose are a little awkward, as I tend to find them to be, but I enjoyed the characters and the story a lot. The way Sanderson has developed the magic to fit this version of the world was so clever and seeing how the world has progressed in general was fascinating. It worked perfectly as a "pallet-cleanser" (not in a bad way) between big chunky fantasy books and classics. I really enjoyed it.

This book was disappointing for me. It had all the ingredients of something I should love: con artists, noble drama, magic and mystery.

However, I found I was confused about what was happening and who everyone was for most of the time (I’m not great at remembering names and there were a lot of complicated names), I didn’t really connect to any of the characters or care about what was happening and I didn’t think the writing was great.

I kept going because of the mystery element but I just found the story didn’t really focus on the elements that I wanted. The heist was more of a backdrop for a whole bunch of other stuff which I won’t go into because spoilers.

So overall I didn’t think it was bad, just didn’t deliver what I was wanting.