wordsofclover's Reviews (2.16k)

In the city of Castellane, Kel Saren was only 10 years old when he was plucked from an orphanage and brought to the Marivent to transform into a Swordcatcher - a special role in which Kel takes the place of Prince Conor at events that could pose a danger, and potentially die to protect his Prince and best friend if it comes to it. On the other side of the city, we follow Lin who is a physician and a member of a race of people called the Ashkar that tend to be treated badly by others. As political tensions rise within Castellane, Lin's world combines with that of Kel and Conor on several occasions and eventually they all end up in schemes that could change everything.

I really did not know what to expect going into a Cassandra Clare book that had absolutely nothing to do with Shadowhunters, and I'm so glad to report that I truly loved this and I am so impressed with the writing, the character building and the worlds building that has gone into this novel. For someone who has been reading CC books for years, I love being able to see the improvement and the strength in the writing in this book - CC still loves a multifaceted, torn orphan boy and a red-haired heroine but I'm also okay with that!

The pacing of this book is quite slow and this is also something I liked as this world is very vast and how the city is run by its royal family but also the charter houses aka noble families takes time to understand and we see how trade agreements between the charter houses and other kingdoms is a very important one for the running of well, everything. We also really get to know Lin and Kel as our main characters and through them both, we see different sides of Conor as well. They are both characters stuck in between things, people and places and hiding parts of themselves from others at almost every moment in their lives. I actually liked that the 'romance' in this book, if we can call it that as there's very little if it, was not between Kel and Lin which is what I would have guessed but moreso between Lin and Conor, and then Kel and Antonetta. I would also like to mention that I love that this is a fantasy world where being queer is not a big deal - Kel and Conor both seem to be bisexual and its mentioned that having two Kings, or two Queens instead of a hetero relationship is also a normal thing to do. So love that inclusion, and how easy it is to do!

I would have loved more storyline to do with the Ragpicker King and Prosper Beck, and the shadier sides of Castellane but I have a feeling that will all come in book 2, and I'm ready for schemes within schemes and heists. The criminal side of this book definitely gives a mature 'Six of Crows' feel which I think a lot of people will like but we really only get a teaser of it in this book.

I really enjoyed reading this, and really look forward to the next book though the only hard part now is waiting for it! 

I listened to this on audiobook narrated by Michelle Williams and highly recommend. I was so connected with listening to this story, and even though I wouldn't say Michelle Williams sounds like Britney, I genuinely did forget it wasn't Britney narrating her own story.

For anyone who ever has had a connection with Britney Spears whether it's listening to her music as a child, coveting the Britney Barbie, experiencing your first concert as a Britney one (The Onyx Hotel which truly mortified my mother thanks to how sexualised it was, which Britney agreed with, haha) and then watching from afar as Britney fell into a very dark place, didn't seem well and eventually the world learned how she had been controlled. I'll be the first to admit as well that I took a step back from following Britney on social media in the last couple of years as I felt she was still someone who needed mental health help, and some of her erratic behaviour on Instagram made me feel uncomfortable. But this book, hearing Britney's story from Britney herself for the first time as really made me look at her differently and I truly admire her for even being able to get up and do another day after everything she has been through, and how she was exploited by pretty much everyone in her life.

While the book does feel a bit short, and there were certain times I would have loved to have spent more time in areas of her life, I also understand Britney maybe not having the right memories or the emotional to spend any longer than she needed to. I think she is someone who was always prone to feeling a lot, possibly an empath, and should have been someone who was always supported professionally with a good therapist who could have helped her more with the hard parts of her career, and her heartbreak over JT which seemed to take a massive toll on her in a way that if anyone suffered like that after a heartbreak, is not a healthy way to deal.

I think what Britney suffered in the conservatorship and how her mother, father and siblings plus her management exploited her was truly disgusting and I never understood the level of this until reading it in this book. I'm so glad that Britney was finally able to speak her truth and lay out how much she was hurting for so long. Her father in particular deserves to rot for what he did, and it was alarming to learn at the very start that locking vulnerable women up was a family tradition.

I was bet into this book, loved it as much as you can 'love' learning about someone's trauma and release from a terrible situation and only wish Britney the best of things from now on and I truly hope she finds the peace and happiness she deserves. And I would also love some new music, won't lie. 

Valerie Darkmoor is back with her vampire partner Reid, and her friends as she attempts to control her blood magic which is more powerful than ever, and everyone's lives are now on the line as villain anarchist Westcott gets closer to the estate they have fled to. But as Valerie discovers a new, darker part of her magic that could have the answers to what she needs, she ends up treading the line between light and dark in a dangerous way.

I really loved the first two books in this series as an introduction to the world, and the magic plus vampires as well as the delicious progression of Valerie and Reid's relationship. Things fell apart for me a little bit in book 3 as I felt it really suffered from pacing issues and I genuinely didn't know if the author knew what she wanted to do with the story and the characters. Things improved a little bit with this final book but not enough for it to be more than a 3-stars. I think there was so much potential here but there's a lot of question marks that still remain for me about a lot in the world - I think the politics in the world, and the worldbuilding in general is pretty poor in this series and I would have loved to have explained more.

I struggled a little bit in this book remembering everything that had happened in the previous books, and all the characters. It's been a year since I read the other books so I would have appreciate d if not a recap, but an addition to the writing to help the reader remember who different characters were and their relationship and past experiences with Valerie instead of this assumption that the reader remembers everything that happened, and will feel connected to all these side characters.

There was a lot thrown into this story that really didn't need to be in the book either - Connor is literally a non-character. There is no point to him and I feel like other than book one and a bit of two, he didn't need to be in anything else. The relationship and connection Valerie has with Cam is there to simply try and make readers feel like there is a love triangle when there's not and while yes, the three-way dream was hot, what was the literal point of it? In saying all of this, I will be reading Cam and Anya's spin-off as I love an arranged married to love story.

I also refuse to believe that Valerie - whose family is so closely connected to the Carrington Royal Family - had no idea that Reid was engaged to a Russian vampire princess. Like surely, this is something you would know about your royal family?

I also thought the introduction of the shadow magic/self/realm really interesting but a very strange thing to throw into the very last book rather than explore it for the entire series. I also find it weird seeing as it is a very powerful and dangerous magic that no-one would know anything about it - it was very weird to think of this whole shadow world with schools and children and food. How does it all work?? Again I think this type of magic is so big it would have benefitted from being explored in several books rather than squashed into the last one.

I love the sexy glamour and danger in this world of The Marionettes and it's a shame that the story fell a little for me with each book instead of getting better but I'm still happy to have read it and still a series I would recommend to people who like shows like True Blood or The Vampire Diaries. 

Nina is 32 years old and after focusing on her career as a food writer/author for the last couple of years, she's finally ready to get back out there and meet someone. With encouragement of her friends, she downloads dating app Linx and meets Max who appears to be the person she is looking for. As they fall into a whirlwind romance, Nina is also struggling with keeping up with her friends who are all getting married or starting families, as well as dealing with the declining health of her dad. And then Max disappears, ghosting Nina and leaving her heartbroken.

I listened to this on audiobook narrated by Holiday Grainger and I absolutely loved it - I was totally hooked on this story and I think part of it is being the exact age of the character and experiencing so many of the same things from friends getting married, starting families and this changing friendships in so many different ways as well as memories of dealing with the torture that is online dating. Dolly Alderton was able to expertly write what it feels like to be a woman in your thirties, someone who is so successful in so many ways yet somehow inexplicably 'failing' in society's eyes because of her relationship status.

I also really appreciated the storyline about Nina's father and his progression into the horrible disease that is Alzheimer's and we see both Nina's heartbreak over slowly losing her father bit by bit with every visit. There were definitely times I felt very frustrated with Nina and her mother over what felt like their impatience with her father when he was clearly confused and not doing so well but it was also a good example of how people experience and deal with a loved one's illness in many different ways.

One of my only gripes in this book is I do find it very weird still being so close to your ex-boyfriend (and introducing your new boyfriend to him first before other friends??), and being his usher/groomslady AND going to your ex's future wife's hen do. Weird weird weird.

I just really enjoyed this and I had a lot of fun listening to it, and really rooted for Nina to find everything she wanted. 

Marion is tired. Tired of her industrial city of Prane, pumping out smog into the dirty streets, and especially tired of working as a maid for hardly any money and returning to the slums every night. So when Marion spots a notice looking for Bloodmaid, despite the views of friends and families that she is selling herself, she takes the opportunity to escape the drudgery of her life. When Marion arrives in the House of Hunger, she is immediately initiated into the political hierarchy of Bloodmaids and finds herself vying for the top spot, and the love of her mistress Lisavet.

I really love Alexis Henderson's writing and this book definitely sealed it for me. This is vampy and horrifying in all the right ways, with a perfect level of blood, violence combined with just the right amounts of sexiness.

The world Marion lives in what very much feels like a post Civil-War era US, separated into North and South with both areas divided on behaviour and views. There's not a lot of world building but just enough that we learn about the bigger differences between North and South, and how much it takes for someone to be able to travel between them.

I went into this blood initially believing that it was about some kind of vampiric creature using bloodmaids - but the truth that it (appears) to be normal people is almost even more horrifying. As is the reality that this world Marion lives in is run by blood in almost every matter - including the train which is run on 'blood fuel'. A lot of Marion's experience in the House of Hunger has a hazy, almost dream like quality as she is taken in with the wealth, the food and the comfort while almost daily being bled in payment.

I don't think there was a huge amount in this book that really shocked me - you can kind of figure out what must be happening and what kind of dark secrets the house is holding. I did like the showdown and it all the right amount of tension to keep me gripped.