zoeelizabethk's Reviews (642)

I enjoyed The Gathering Storm, and I loved certain elements (Egwene's arc for example) but the pacing felt uneven, even for WoT. I'm probably wrong, honestly, but I felt like I could tell occasionally when Sanderson was picking up the story, but I might be totally wrong. I think whenever another author continues a series I think there's always going to be some transitions. I thought it was well done, but definitely not a favorite. I think given the pacing of the past few books I expected more time to elapse before we got to THE END, but we're already gearing up. This is not a very helpful review I'm sure but this one's just kind of "eh" for me. I'm here for arcs being tied up but it just felt long and it took me a long time to read. I think 3.5 stars.

When you've read a book more than 5 times and the ending still makes you bury your head in your pillow in an effusion of emotion, you really have a good book. Megan Whalen Turner's characters are so relatable and so believable. And while I love the intrigue and political machinations of the story, ultimately it's her characters that make me reread these books over and over again. The Queen of Attolia is my favorite of the series, though it was my least favorite when I first read it. I won't say too much about the story because I don't want to reveal too much, but this really is a beautiful book with an extremely satisfying ending, and I cannot recommend Megan Whalen Turner's books enough!

Among the Beasts and Briars is a combination fairy tale retelling (I think), but I felt like Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast were the predominant tales. Cerys is a gardener's daughter who has been friends with the prince and princess forever. The royal family is the keeper of the crown that keeps the creepy and dangerous forest, along with its monsters, at bay and protects the kingdom. Cerys was touched by the wood when her mother died, but for some reason the woodcurse did not kill her, but instead gave her magical powers to grow plants. But when the king dies and Anwen is crowned, the forest and its monsters breaks free, and Cerys has to go on a quest to save herself, her friends, and her kingdom by traveling through the forest with her fox companion to try to break the curse. This book was honestly much darker and creepier than I expected from a YA fairy tale retelling. The monsters are pretty unsettling and the forest is intruguing but also harboring all of these dangers. I'm definitely a horror wimp but I really enjoyed this book, and if you want a creepy fall, fairy tale, with a spooky forest, this would be great. I would recommend you allow yourself to suspend your disbelief just a little bit, but if you like animal companions, a pretty cute romance, and an compelling, easy read, you'll probably love Among the Beasts and Briars.

There were definitely things that kinda bugged me. I don't like the unworthiness angst (I'm just a gardener's daughter and so I'm not made for great things) or the fact that both characters would often blame themselves for things that weren't their fault. I get guilt, and dealing with that is absolutely a journey, but this felt like obstinacy and unhealthy, misguided guilt. Cerys was a little annoying because she's a little too polite. I actually can find (too) fiery females annoying, but Cerys felt a little bland, but she did have a LOT of growth. I found the flashbacks a little clunky, but that got better throughout the story. I found a couple things rather implausible for the sake of increasing drama. Also when we're in the kingdom, there's the fairy tale environment vibe, but then the characters drink coffee and grab keys and have trains. I just found it a little jarring, and I wish that it felt it had a little bit more of a purpose in the worldbuilding, but it mostly felt convenient. I felt like the ending left a couple questions hanging, but perhaps I just missed them.

That said, I LOVED Fox. I can't say much without spoilers, so I'm going to put some spoiler tags here. It won't spoil anything very major, but I just have to talk about it.

Spoiler

I LOVED how when Fox became more human, Poston really emphasized his foxiness. I feel like when we have transformations often they go from being an animal to being 100% a person. I love how Fox still tries to stick his tongue out to pant but it doesn't cool him off, etc. Just very good detail

I liked the romance, even if it was a little angsty at times. I found the world pretty intriguing. I wish we'd gotten more about the magic, but the story did good.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed Among the Beasts and Briars. It's a good fun read but with plenty of depth to keep you interested and invested. I've been reading so many heavy books lately, that it was so enjoyable to just speed through this lighter book. 3.5 stars, but I'll round up for Goodreads.

Thanks to Balzer + Bray and Netgalley for the eARC

I don't think it's entirely the book's fault, but I didn't really enjoy Throne of Jade as much as I wanted to. It took me all month to get through on audio because I've been in a little bit of a reading slump, so I got to that point where I was just ready to be done with it. The language and Temeraire's and Lawrence's relationship is just as lovely as in the first book, but there was a lot of travelling, a lot of plotting and politicking, and in general it just felt like it didn't need to take as long as it did. Will definitely be picking up #3 sometime in the future.

So I think that the first part or two reminds me of nothing so much as an opera. Or even parts of War and Peace. I think the Idiot was not quite what I expected, but I'm also super spoiled because Brothers is one of my absolute favorite books ever. I think it's super interesting to see how Dostoevsky's ideas and preoccupations start out in the Idiot at the beginning of his career. I think there are a lot of the same ideas, but he doesn't know how to deal with the ideas yet, but by the time he gets to Brothers he's really fleshed out his theory and clearly sees the solution.

This is right up there with the Queen of Attolia as my favorite book in this series. There are just so many beautiful personal moments that just make my heart so happy. I also feel like Gen really pulls the wool over *our* eyes but then this other reality breaks through. I will say that this book is SUPER political, but the characters are just so real and have so much personality that it never feels boring.

I enjoyed Duel of Fire, but it also just wasn't super exciting to me either. The fencing was interesting, but I felt like the pacing / storyline was a little confusing. I think we had the dueling championship arc and the firewarden arc and they weren't always executed well together for me I guess. It was a fun, easy read though.

The ideas are great, the story is important, but I just didn't really care. I think fables are not an easy genre for me. I kept going because it was for book club, and I thought the ending would be epic enough to make up for my lackluster response, but it really didn't, and I did not really enjoy the book. Definitely worth a read for the ideas, but I just didn't enjoy it.

This is going to be unpopular, but I DNF’d this one. I scanned through a bit of it. It’s cute, I liked it, but I didn’t feel that interested in reading it, and I’ve got other reading I’d rather be doing rather than compelling myself to finish.