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wordsofclover's Reviews (2.16k)
The Girl in 6E is about a woman called Deanna, who is also known as Jessica by a plethora of online friends - mostly men. Deanna has locked herself into her apartment for three years...because she has an uncontrollable urge to kill people. She makes her money as a sex cam girl but when a little girl goes missing, Deanna believes one of her clients may be behind it and she goes out to save the day, and possibly kill while doing so.
This ended up being a pretty enjoyable book though I would say for anyone looking for really gory, disturbing scenes of murder or crime, there's not much in this one. Surprisingly for me, Deanna ended up being an extremely likable character. Despite her urges to kill people, she's actually a pretty decent human being. She goes out of her way to avoid being in situations where she could end up hurting others, she deals with disturbed individuals like 'Ralph' to make sure he doesn't transfer his fantasies to another living person who could get hurt and she strikes up genuine friendships with people like Mike and Paul. She also warns clients on different occasions about being taken advantage of by other sex cam girls. So yeah, I actually ended up warming a lot to her.
There's a lot of graphic sexual content in this book because of Deanna's job and her interaction with clients so if anyone doesn't like reading that kind of stuff, maybe stay clear of this one. I'm normally fine with reading such content but even I was blushing a bit at the start and attempting to hide my pages from other people on the train in case they saw what I was reading. I do think there may have been a few times where there was explicit content just to have it for shock value, rather than it benefiting the plot of the story.
In a way, Deanna really takes control of her situation and confronts her mental illness. She accepts that it's there and that she needs to take control of it, or at least make sure it doesn't control her. While locking herself up the way she does may not be the healthiest option in terms of mental health, the fact that she acknowledged the problem, rather than ignoring it was refreshing.
I do think there were some unrealistic bits when it came to Deanna's eventual showdown with you know who but overall, I was enjoying the book too much to care. This was a fast and thrilling read and I can't wait to pick up more.
This ended up being a pretty enjoyable book though I would say for anyone looking for really gory, disturbing scenes of murder or crime, there's not much in this one. Surprisingly for me, Deanna ended up being an extremely likable character. Despite her urges to kill people, she's actually a pretty decent human being. She goes out of her way to avoid being in situations where she could end up hurting others, she deals with disturbed individuals like 'Ralph' to make sure he doesn't transfer his fantasies to another living person who could get hurt and she strikes up genuine friendships with people like Mike and Paul. She also warns clients on different occasions about being taken advantage of by other sex cam girls. So yeah, I actually ended up warming a lot to her.
There's a lot of graphic sexual content in this book because of Deanna's job and her interaction with clients so if anyone doesn't like reading that kind of stuff, maybe stay clear of this one. I'm normally fine with reading such content but even I was blushing a bit at the start and attempting to hide my pages from other people on the train in case they saw what I was reading. I do think there may have been a few times where there was explicit content just to have it for shock value, rather than it benefiting the plot of the story.
In a way, Deanna really takes control of her situation and confronts her mental illness. She accepts that it's there and that she needs to take control of it, or at least make sure it doesn't control her. While locking herself up the way she does may not be the healthiest option in terms of mental health, the fact that she acknowledged the problem, rather than ignoring it was refreshing.
I do think there were some unrealistic bits when it came to Deanna's eventual showdown with you know who but overall, I was enjoying the book too much to care. This was a fast and thrilling read and I can't wait to pick up more.
Kyndra finds herself running away from home with two strangers on the day of her Initiation Ceremony -a day when she was suppose to find out what was in store for the rest of her life. Kyndra's new friends are beings of power -Solar and Lunar and they think she has power too. But Kyndra's experiencing weird visions that may be a sign of something even more dangerous and ancient.
This was a real let down for me and I'm so sad I had to give it two stars. I was expecting a really exciting fantasy journey which saw a young girl come into herself and tap into a power she never knew existed. Instead I got 400+ pages of a lot of boring, confusing nonsense and a rush at the end where everything ended up being explained in a rush. I just felt like there was very little character development, most of the character's seemed disjointed and all over the place (Bregenne and Nediah - I just couldn't figure them out and the romance was played up too much between them considering hey weren't main character) and the story just didn't come together for me like I expected it too. Also Reena and Kierik, where did that happen? How did they meet? Did Reena go to Naris? Did Medavle somehow sneak Kierik out to the Vales? That was so confusing
I kept waiting for that moment where everything clicked and it just didn't. I'm not sure if I'll continue on with the next book, though I do have hopes it will be a bit more exciting and action-packed than this one. This ultimately left me really bored and unsatisfied.
This was a real let down for me and I'm so sad I had to give it two stars. I was expecting a really exciting fantasy journey which saw a young girl come into herself and tap into a power she never knew existed. Instead I got 400+ pages of a lot of boring, confusing nonsense and a rush at the end where everything ended up being explained in a rush. I just felt like there was very little character development, most of the character's seemed disjointed and all over the place (Bregenne and Nediah - I just couldn't figure them out and the romance was played up too much between them considering hey weren't main character) and the story just didn't come together for me like I expected it too.
I kept waiting for that moment where everything clicked and it just didn't. I'm not sure if I'll continue on with the next book, though I do have hopes it will be a bit more exciting and action-packed than this one. This ultimately left me really bored and unsatisfied.
3.75 Stars
Poison is the retold story of the fairytale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. At first, this didn't seem too different from the original story we know as Snow White. There was a King and Queen, a step-mother who despised her step-daughter, Snow White with pale skin and dark hair and dwarves who were her friends. Most of this story was told through Snow's stepmother Lilith's point of view (whose granny is the witch in the gingerbread house fyi) and that was pretty interesting. She seemed to struggle a lot between good and evil with evil normally winning but there were glimpses of her when the reader could see her regret at her own actions. Things took a complete turnaround once I thought happily ever after was after coming to Snow and I was a bit speechless at the dark twist. I guess these are fairytales when there isn't a happily every after...
Poison is the retold story of the fairytale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. At first, this didn't seem too different from the original story we know as Snow White. There was a King and Queen, a step-mother who despised her step-daughter, Snow White with pale skin and dark hair and dwarves who were her friends. Most of this story was told through Snow's stepmother Lilith's point of view (whose granny is the witch in the gingerbread house fyi) and that was pretty interesting. She seemed to struggle a lot between good and evil with evil normally winning but there were glimpses of her when the reader could see her regret at her own actions. Things took a complete turnaround once I thought happily ever after was after coming to Snow and I was a bit speechless at the dark twist. I guess these are fairytales when there isn't a happily every after...
Tales From the Kingdom is a set of three 200-300 page retellings of Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Let’s just call it the overall idea of Disney, with a terrifying touch of Grimms Fairy Tales and the drama and spice of Once Upon a Time. i felt like all the stories had a really great mix of the idea of ‘happily ever after’ with the stark realities of real life and the idea of monsters hiding in the closet. There was some romance, lust, sex as well as friendship, danger and lunacy.
I think my overall favourite of the three was Charm which was Cinderella’s retelling. Cinderella was a complex character with ideas above her station and she wasn’t a simpering, charming girl the way I always thought to be. She had unkind thoughts as well as kind and was a bit selfish in ways her step-sisters were not. That brings me to Cinderella’s family and the backstory of her family which was great. There was a real history there that I loved and I really liked that the step-mother and step-sister weren’t these ugly and wicked people like they’re always portrayed. Cinderella’s character development was the best out of all the characters in the tales (frankly I feel like the Prince learnt absolutely nothing but thank goodness he married someone who could give him the kick up the bum he would need now and again) and I really saw her grow from a selfish girl with selfish ideals into a young woman with a better idea of the world and that sometimes dreams should stay as dreams.
I really loved the inclusion of other fairytales within the three tales such as the mention of the gingerbread house, Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Robin Hood and even Rapunzel. They were all wrapped up as part of the story really well and I enjoyed the subtle way they were connected.
I would definitely recommend reading the three tales one after another as they read as one big book with three different parts and they are all connected to each other in a way that may be confusing if you read them out of order.
I think my overall favourite of the three was Charm which was Cinderella’s retelling. Cinderella was a complex character with ideas above her station and she wasn’t a simpering, charming girl the way I always thought to be. She had unkind thoughts as well as kind and was a bit selfish in ways her step-sisters were not. That brings me to Cinderella’s family and the backstory of her family which was great. There was a real history there that I loved and I really liked that the step-mother and step-sister weren’t these ugly and wicked people like they’re always portrayed. Cinderella’s character development was the best out of all the characters in the tales (frankly I feel like the Prince learnt absolutely nothing but thank goodness he married someone who could give him the kick up the bum he would need now and again) and I really saw her grow from a selfish girl with selfish ideals into a young woman with a better idea of the world and that sometimes dreams should stay as dreams.
I really loved the inclusion of other fairytales within the three tales such as the mention of the gingerbread house, Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Robin Hood and even Rapunzel. They were all wrapped up as part of the story really well and I enjoyed the subtle way they were connected.
I would definitely recommend reading the three tales one after another as they read as one big book with three different parts and they are all connected to each other in a way that may be confusing if you read them out of order.
Wolf by Wolf is a reimagined history of what the world would look like in 1956 if Germany had won World War Two. Now a majority of the world is part of the Germania Empire and Yael, a girl who was experiment on in a concentration camp but managed to escape is a key part of the resistance. Yael now has to disguise herself as perfect Aryan girl Adele Wolf and take part in a motorcycle race across Germania. If she wins, she gets an audience with Hitler and she can assassinate him.
The concept of this is fascinating and I was all for it. Straightaway I was really intrigued with how Graudin was able to explain how all the allies fell one by one to Germany's control and how Germany is now ruler of all and how it affected the rest of the world. I liked that the race took the reader to so many different countries and we could see how each country was individually affected by Germania's rule - such as some Asian countries which were still allowed to keep their traditional festivals and weren't quite as rigid as Europe. Yael herself is a complex character, she appears quite cold and almost sexless most of the time, at least to me, but I didn't find her altogether convincing as a proud Resistance member. She was barely trained and untested and I know for obvious reasons she was the only person who could do a task but she had never even killed anyone before and they were making her first kill Hitler. Really? I also felt like there were so many holes in Yael and the Resistance's plan, it just didn't seem to come together well enough for me and I felt for a large portion of the time Yael was barely skimming by on just a lot of luck rather than actual skill. I did enjoy the surprise twist at the end and I will definitely read the sequel to see what happens.
The concept of this is fascinating and I was all for it. Straightaway I was really intrigued with how Graudin was able to explain how all the allies fell one by one to Germany's control and how Germany is now ruler of all and how it affected the rest of the world. I liked that the race took the reader to so many different countries and we could see how each country was individually affected by Germania's rule - such as some Asian countries which were still allowed to keep their traditional festivals and weren't quite as rigid as Europe. Yael herself is a complex character, she appears quite cold and almost sexless most of the time, at least to me, but I didn't find her altogether convincing as a proud Resistance member. She was barely trained and untested and I know for obvious reasons she was the only person who could do a task but she had never even killed anyone before and they were making her first kill Hitler. Really? I also felt like there were so many holes in Yael and the Resistance's plan, it just didn't seem to come together well enough for me and I felt for a large portion of the time Yael was barely skimming by on just a lot of luck rather than actual skill. I did enjoy the surprise twist at the end and I will definitely read the sequel to see what happens.
Breq is an AI in the body of a human but 19 years ago she was also known as the ship Justice of Toren and at the same time occupy dozens of other bodies while serving the Imperial Radch. Now, Breq is on a mission of revenge with takes her across space and and may set off a war.
How to even begin reviewing this book. I should start off by saying that while I'm giving this a three star, that's a strong three star. While I enjoyed the book and felt it was extemely (almost insanely) well written my levels of enjoyment were just not quite high enough for it to be a 4 star YET I think if I reread the book, being familiar with the story already and going in not so blind, I would give it a 4 star. There is just so many things going on and the idea and plot are so complex, it definitely took me a while for my brain to get what was going on and for me to really get into the story. This probably had something to do with me reading only a handful of hardcore sci-fi, and no other space operas but like I said, I did enjoy my reading experience with this book.
Breq herself was pretty interesting. She was human at times, cold and passive at others She often did things I felt out of character, such as repeatedly saving Seivarden for seemingly no reason. I never really did get why Breq kept Seivarden around. I do feel at times there was very little connection between me, as a reader, and Breq as the whole story was being told very matter of fact and with very little emotion.
The setting and the detailed history of the Imperial Radch, the Gadraii and all the other planets, races and religions was amazing and so well thought out. Leckie obviously put so much work into creating this world and I definitely think there's so much potential with it and I can't wait to see where she goes in Ancillary Sword.
Breq's use of gender and misgendering was very interesting, though at times confusing. The Radchaii don't seem to be a people who display their gender obviously and they don't care about gender pronouns so everyone is a she so Breq calls everyone 'she'. However, someone else will then say 'him' over a character is referring to and while I love the fact that gender fluidity is apparent in this book, it did make for some confusing moments for me when trying to picture the character Breq was referring to as I never knew if they were masculine or feminine.
This is the kind of book that you definitely have to read several reviews of right after finishing, just to make sure you were on the same level of understanding as others (at least I did) and I think it's a trilogy, for me, that will have to read quite close together due to the complex nature of the plot and world. I am looking forward to reading Ancillary Sword though!
How to even begin reviewing this book. I should start off by saying that while I'm giving this a three star, that's a strong three star. While I enjoyed the book and felt it was extemely (almost insanely) well written my levels of enjoyment were just not quite high enough for it to be a 4 star YET I think if I reread the book, being familiar with the story already and going in not so blind, I would give it a 4 star. There is just so many things going on and the idea and plot are so complex, it definitely took me a while for my brain to get what was going on and for me to really get into the story. This probably had something to do with me reading only a handful of hardcore sci-fi, and no other space operas but like I said, I did enjoy my reading experience with this book.
Breq herself was pretty interesting. She was human at times, cold and passive at others She often did things I felt out of character, such as repeatedly saving Seivarden for seemingly no reason. I never really did get why Breq kept Seivarden around. I do feel at times there was very little connection between me, as a reader, and Breq as the whole story was being told very matter of fact and with very little emotion.
The setting and the detailed history of the Imperial Radch, the Gadraii and all the other planets, races and religions was amazing and so well thought out. Leckie obviously put so much work into creating this world and I definitely think there's so much potential with it and I can't wait to see where she goes in Ancillary Sword.
Breq's use of gender and misgendering was very interesting, though at times confusing. The Radchaii don't seem to be a people who display their gender obviously and they don't care about gender pronouns so everyone is a she so Breq calls everyone 'she'. However, someone else will then say 'him' over a character is referring to and while I love the fact that gender fluidity is apparent in this book, it did make for some confusing moments for me when trying to picture the character Breq was referring to as I never knew if they were masculine or feminine.
This is the kind of book that you definitely have to read several reviews of right after finishing, just to make sure you were on the same level of understanding as others (at least I did) and I think it's a trilogy, for me, that will have to read quite close together due to the complex nature of the plot and world. I am looking forward to reading Ancillary Sword though!
HOW CAN ONE CHARACTER BE SO STUPID?
That's literally the thought that was screaming through my head the whole time I was listening/reading this book. The Lie focuses around Emma and is split into the present where she is working in Wales and known by the name Jane Hughes and four years earlier when Emma went on a holiday to Nepal with three of her best friends and only two of them returned alive. Emma has built a new life for herself as Jane but she sudden;y starts receiving ominous messages and must figure out who is threatening her.
So the first thing you need to know about this book is that Emma's friends - Al, Daisy and Leanna - are literally THE WORST people in the world. They're all selfish and just idiotic. When the girls go to the camp in Nepal, it's immediately obvious something weird is going on and Emma knows it yet she just goes with it? I mean..WHY would you give your passports to someone you don't know? Why not just pay the money you would be paying anyway at the end and keep the passport. They are he most precious thing you have when abroad and I know I wouldn't be giving mine up to anyway when halfway up a fecking mountain away from normal civilisation.
There were a lot of times listening to this that I wanted to scream out loud in frustration at both Emma's actions and her friends and how they treated her. Daisy was suppose to be best friend and was literally the worst. I found it really odd how she could turn on Emma so suddenly and be sucked in by Isaac. Having recently read The Girls by Emma Cline which focuses on a cult in California in 1969, I can see how a cult leader can be written to be so charismatic and drawing that you get why people would worship and listen to him. Isaac wasn't like that - apart from being good-looking, he did just come across as being controlling and weird all the time. Not only did Emma stay after being sexually assaulted NOT ONCE BUT TWICE, she also stayed when she knew Isaac had literally locked away a girl and beaten her??? I would be down that mountain in a flash. The part after Emma was almost raped (which was really hard to listen to btw) and Daisy spread around the rumor that Emma had asked for it and was lying made me so mad - especially with what's going on right now with the Stanton rape case. UGH.
Emma's stupidity contInued even when she was Jane. She knew something was off aBout the new girl in the shelter yet she just continued on. WHY WHY WHY!Haven't you learned anything?
The ending was definitely weak and just seemed like such a let down.
To add on: The audiobook for this wasn't great for me either. The narrator put on a lot of strong accents which were not only annoying and distracting sometimes but slowed down her reading. She also made the one gay character, Al, sound really mannish which was unnecessary.
That's literally the thought that was screaming through my head the whole time I was listening/reading this book. The Lie focuses around Emma and is split into the present where she is working in Wales and known by the name Jane Hughes and four years earlier when Emma went on a holiday to Nepal with three of her best friends and only two of them returned alive. Emma has built a new life for herself as Jane but she sudden;y starts receiving ominous messages and must figure out who is threatening her.
So the first thing you need to know about this book is that Emma's friends - Al, Daisy and Leanna - are literally THE WORST people in the world. They're all selfish and just idiotic. When the girls go to the camp in Nepal, it's immediately obvious something weird is going on and Emma knows it yet she just goes with it? I mean..WHY would you give your passports to someone you don't know? Why not just pay the money you would be paying anyway at the end and keep the passport. They are he most precious thing you have when abroad and I know I wouldn't be giving mine up to anyway when halfway up a fecking mountain away from normal civilisation.
There were a lot of times listening to this that I wanted to scream out loud in frustration at both Emma's actions and her friends and how they treated her. Daisy was suppose to be best friend and was literally the worst. I found it really odd how she could turn on Emma so suddenly and be sucked in by Isaac. Having recently read The Girls by Emma Cline which focuses on a cult in California in 1969, I can see how a cult leader can be written to be so charismatic and drawing that you get why people would worship and listen to him. Isaac wasn't like that - apart from being good-looking, he did just come across as being controlling and weird all the time. Not only did Emma stay after being sexually assaulted NOT ONCE BUT TWICE, she also stayed when she knew Isaac had literally locked away a girl and beaten her??? I would be down that mountain in a flash. The part after Emma was almost raped (which was really hard to listen to btw) and Daisy spread around the rumor that Emma had asked for it and was lying made me so mad - especially with what's going on right now with the Stanton rape case. UGH.
Emma's stupidity contInued even when she was Jane. She knew something was off aBout the new girl in the shelter yet she just continued on. WHY WHY WHY!Haven't you learned anything?
The ending was definitely weak and just seemed like such a let down.
To add on: The audiobook for this wasn't great for me either. The narrator put on a lot of strong accents which were not only annoying and distracting sometimes but slowed down her reading. She also made the one gay character, Al, sound really mannish which was unnecessary.