i don't think this was as good as the first but it was still pretty good. ok another factor to consider is that i read this as an ebook, and usually, i don't think this was as good as the first but it was still pretty good. ok another factor to consider is that i read this as an ebook, and usually, i enjoy ebooks less than physical books and audiobooks so that may also play a factor.
the first half was not as good as the second half, which is where all the action happened. but i'm kinda a strange person who doesn't particularly enjoy action-scenes of fighting. i find it repetitive and just not that vivid for me. but anyways the first half seemed to stretch on forever because there was barely any forwarding plot.
the relationship between xaden and violet was kinda annoying because they kept having the SAME argument over and over again... (view spoiler)[it makes no sense how you have to "ask" in order for the other person to tell you something, like just be open with each other and talk and have normal conversations. and it just seemed like they were constantly going back and forth, like "i love you now" but "i hate you now." not only did it change between these two SUPER fast, but sometimes it was both at once and it was just EXHAUSTING. (hide spoiler)] it was superrr annoying and i just wanted them to figure it out already.
another thing that bugged me, similar to the first book, was how there were too many mentions of like "i'm glad i didn't eat that much lunch/dinner or else it'd be coming out just about now" or "at least my lunch/dinner didn't come hurling out when i saw ___" it just felt repetitive and unnecessary tbh.
overall though it was really good, albeit the pacing was a bit messed up and slow. i like how we got to explore more side characters and got to know them better. the ending was pretty good and i didn't expect it at all, so now i really wanna read the third book but unfortunately it doesn't even have a release date yet :(
not as good as the first, but still a solid book that i enjoyed. i loved andarna and her attitude, the mind-conversations with tairn, dain's huge character development.
this was honestly pretty good. i wouldn't say that the mystery aspect was fully-developed and extremely captivating / puzzling, but the storytelling mthis was honestly pretty good. i wouldn't say that the mystery aspect was fully-developed and extremely captivating / puzzling, but the storytelling made up for it. the mystery doesn't really have the same sort of pull that other mysteries have because there's not as much suspense and clues and twists. it's more of just like a story where you're just along for the ride, not necessarily super invested in the "who dunnit" type scenario.
i really did like the format of the book, where you got some of the *future interrogation* snippets because it had a lot of banter, and that was probably one of the most interesting parts of the book. the banter between the "mums" was very eye-opening and it really helped bring the story to life because it gave true personality and character to the moms. they really seemed like real people with real jealousies and grudges, and this is kinda like what i would expect from this suburban community. it really made it pretty stereotypical but i think that's what it was aiming for. it let us get a glimpse into what their lives look like.
the writing style is pretty simple and easy to follow, and i did enjoy that. the storytelling is probably one of the best parts because it's just interesting to read about the moms and what happen to them and their kids. there's not a singular thing i could say that made me enjoy it, but overall this book was just interesting and i just liked it, so i kept reading.
(view spoiler)[i did guess that saxon banks was actually perry so yeah the mystery was guessable. i didn't guess the killer though because it was an "accident" so there's almost no way you could guess that. i also didn't guess that max was the real bully, though there were signs of that. (hide spoiler)]...more
this was jaw dropping. this was amazing. this was everything i wanted it to be.
where do i even start?
this book pretty much consumed me- even moment ththis was jaw dropping. this was amazing. this was everything i wanted it to be.
where do i even start?
this book pretty much consumed me- even moment that i've been awake, i've been just thinking of this. i was genuinely addicted, and i couldn't stop. i had to read it, i had to get lost in the plot, i had to get lost in violet/xaden.
this was just such a fun book, and one of the best parts is that the world building/fantasy world is not that hard to get into. a lot of the times i put off reading fantasy books because it takes a lot of effort/memory/dedication to really learn the world and all its complex names, but i had read somewhere that this fantasy book was different. and based on all the hype for this book, i decided to pick it up, and i'm so glad i did. it was so easy to get into- and i'm not saying that the world is simplistic, no it's definitely not. it's just easy to get into, and it's interesting, and we're learning like violet is.
by no means is this book extremely original, in fact, it's quite cliche sometimes and semi predictable. BUT IT IS STILL SO GOOD because it's FUN and sometimes you just need a book to escape reality, and this book will definitely give you that. i constantly smiled at the budding romance between violet and xaden- my heart soared and shattered and everything in between. it's definitely not original, and i wouldn't say the characters are particularly complex (view spoiler)[(i mean there could've been exploration to how xaden turned from wanting to kill violet to him loving her) (hide spoiler)] but i think my enjoyment overshadowed all the minor issues.
the book is written in a way that constantly keeps you on edge, keeps you wondering what's gonna happen next, almost in a thriller-kinda way even if it's a romantasy. i constantly put off doing other things just to keep reading. i'd tell myself, "i'll just finish this chapter," but after i finished, i couldn't stop. it was truly addicting.
this was such an immersive, exciting read, and i absolutely NEED the next book.
i really liked The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (audiobook), so i was pretty excited to read this because the premise in the synopsis intrigued me. hi really liked The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (audiobook), so i was pretty excited to read this because the premise in the synopsis intrigued me. however, the book just felt super slow and detached.
my main gripe is that the main character was unlikable. and because it was 1st person pov, it made it even harder to get through. i mean, i get it, living like he was living must not be that enjoyable, but it was just that he complained and was pessimistic all the time, it just became annoying.
plus, it was pretty obvious to me who the "enemy" was supposed to be, even though the main character couldn't tell. so i wasn't surprised by the ending and i was just trudging through the book just to get there. but i can say that the last few chapters were pretty interesting and probably had more substance than the rest of the book combined.
it's all about little stories of meeting famous people (name dropping!) and they don't really move the actual plot along. so it felt useless.
this book is super hyped up, and i was sooo excited to read it... but it just didn't live up to my expectations unfortunately.
there were things that ithis book is super hyped up, and i was sooo excited to read it... but it just didn't live up to my expectations unfortunately.
there were things that i really did enjoy- the character building and development and was super deep. characters were analyzing other characters, characters were developing within themselves, realizing their full potential... the book is largely based upon character development i would say. and it did reveal a lot about how humans work / how we develop and i thought that was interesting. especially callum's part! although i despised him, it was super interesting to read about him analyzing the other characters, and so accurately too! and i think a super interesting quote that really describes what we're all trying to do is “A flaw of humanity. The compulsion to be unique, which is at war with the desire to belong to a single identifiable sameness.”
the characters were definitely complex, with multiple layers to them but definitely all unique in their own ways. the characters might have been one of my favorite parts of the book-- even from the very first page, the characters were truly brought to life. they felt real.
another thing i really liked about the magic was how it had sort of a scientific element to it, which i will admit that i sometimes didn't understand. i liked how a lot / most of the magic was based in scientific theory, like the stuff about time/quanta (yeah except i don't know anything about that lol!). but i really wished the magic was explored more... sometimes it felt like out of the blue, a character could just do this and i didn't even know that was possible. yes, the book is set in the real world but "medeians" have magic, and i just wish the magic was explained further and the "world building" was more in depth. it seemed like magic could basically do anything, but i kinda wanted to know more of the limitations and how it worked.
the beginning and ending of the book were definitely the best parts. the beginning just gripped me in, introducing the characters in the most delightful and exciting way. but then as i read more, the book kinda just... fell flat. there was barely any plot, and it felt like it was going superrrr slow, so i definitely would have liked a more plot-driven in addition to character-driven plot with more magic things happening. then the ending happened, and wow so many things happened!! it really brought everything back together and kept me hooked throughout the entire ending. it did feel a tiny bit rushed, but it was definitely action-packed so i won't complain! if only the rest of the book was just as action-packed. now that i've finished, i am very curious to how it plays out in the next book so that will be on my tbr :) (view spoiler)[i really liked how the ending wrapped everything together- with gideon and ezra playing some big roles in the end (hide spoiler)]
overall, my enjoyment didn't quite reach how hyped up it is but it still is a decent novel that i enjoyed!!
this was just too slow-paced for me and it was nothing like what i expected from the synopsis. and i didn't particularly like the magical realism aspethis was just too slow-paced for me and it was nothing like what i expected from the synopsis. and i didn't particularly like the magical realism aspect of it either. i've had some recent bad experiences with The Alchemist in this genre, and i thought this was more of a "fantasy" in a different world, but i didn't realize that it wasn't exactly a fantasy until i started reading it. needless to say, i'm not a big fan of magical realism. i prefer fantasy/sci-fi more. i've tried reading The Starless Sea by the same author, but i couldn't get into it so i guess this author's works aren't my cup of tea.
i also just felt like there wasn't any sort of chemistry between the characters at all, it was more of an obsessive, love-at-first-sight type of thing. there wasn't any action, it wasn't like a "duel" or a very fierce competition at all. it was very passive and a slow-burn.
So I read It Ends with Us about two years ago, and I enjoyed it so much. I even read it again because I loved it tWell, that was pretty disappointing.
So I read It Ends with Us about two years ago, and I enjoyed it so much. I even read it again because I loved it that much. And so when I heard about this book coming out, I was absolutely stoked and so eager to read it.
This book was basically filler all the way through, it really wasn't necessary. I would have preferred if the entire story ended after It Ends with Us and didn't have a sequel because it left the ending open to interpretation and imagination. This book was too immature and honestly much to "Happily Ever After!" The entire book was the same thing over and over again, and it felt so repetitive. Yes, I liked Atlas in the first book, but man, he did not grow at all since his teenage years. He had no character development and was just the "nice" person who did all the right things, so kind and careful and thoughtful and "Considerate Atlas", as Lily liked to call him. There was zero growth. And Lily barely went through any development either. Also, Ryle was just far too exaggerated, like his temper went through the roof, it felt very unrealistic. I also would have liked more of Alyssa, Lucy, and Marshall because they were kinda shunned aside as side characters.
One major problem I had with the book was reusing old writing from It Ends with Us. Like in the beginning of the book there were so many passages that were just reused from the first book (the letters from Lily to Ellen). I would've been fine with little snippets, but it was full on passages.
The entire plot had no real climax, it was pretty flat and super redundant all the way through. It somehow felt very childish, with Atlas (yes, you can tell I don't like him) repeatedly saying "I love you" in ten thousand ways through letters, so cheesy.
The writing style also lacked, I feel like Hoover just ran out of new insights so she kept reiterating the same message. I've definitely liked her other books better in terms of writing style and quotes.
Overall, if you've read It Ends with Us, don't read this because it'll only ruin your image of it. If you haven't read It Ends with Us, do read it! Just don't read this one afterwards :) Those are my suggestions anyway, feel free to think differently.
I'm not saying I disliked this book because I enjoyed it to a certain extent, it was more of a "oh I don't have anything to do, might as well fill my time with this" rather than a "I HAVE TO READ IT RIGHT NOW AND I CAN'T STOP" sort of feeling.
i expected an immensely gripping psychological "romance" thriller that kept the reader on edge, fearing but also ai expected sooo much more from this.
i expected an immensely gripping psychological "romance" thriller that kept the reader on edge, fearing but also anticipating joe's next move. i wanted there to be unexpected moments and "plot twists" that would make me question everything that i had read. in a way, you could say that i expected this to be sort of like Verity by Colleen Hoover.
(view spoiler)[i was really hoping there'd be some major twist at the end about beck or something. i thought the book was gonna reveal that beck was also just as psychotic as joe and that she knew that joe was stalking her but she was stalking joe even more. welp. that didn't happen. that would've been super cool and super interesting to read. (hide spoiler)]
what i did get was a meh, mediocre read with slightly interesting events. overall it was just a slew of events strung together and one of the only redeeming qualities was the psychotic nature of joe's narration. as i read more and more, i kinda got used to joe's thinking and it didn't even strike me as odd, and i think that is probably one of the beauties/horrors of this book-- you get so used to reading from joe's perspective that it almost becomes natural and not jarring- just goes to show how you can get used to a perspective and that we should zoom out once in a while to make sure that we're not looking at a situation from one side only, ignoring all the red flags and flashing warning signs.
i really wished this was more powerful. i had been wanting to read this for so long because of the unique/interesting premise, but unfortunately i don't think the execution met my expectations. the pacing was also a little off since some places just seemed to drag ooonnnn and ooonnn and some places went by fast.
oh, also something that i can appreciate is the extensive book knowledge kepnes has. because joe works at a bookstore, a lot of book facts are inserted in, and there really is a diverse range!
well i had been hoping for more, but it's alright. i still kinda enjoyed it. (it took me almost a month to read this whoops)
This book is beautiful. It is so immersive and thorough, engrossing you, capturing your attention, glueing your eyes to ~ 4.0 stars~
A refreshing read.
This book is beautiful. It is so immersive and thorough, engrossing you, capturing your attention, glueing your eyes to the pages. This is what happened to me. It becomes addicting. At first, I took the book slowly, I probably read about one-fifth of the book in a shocking five days, partly because I was busy, but then, the storytelling, backstoreis, and plot started becoming broader and that just encapsulated my attention, and I finished the book two days after that.
All the characters seamlessly work together, and each of their backstories is unique. This novel is very character-driven. Despite some reviews that I read saying that the plot moves slowly, personally, I actually think the plot moves at a moderate pace, so it absolutely did not drag the book on. Each chapter was refreshing to read.
Ng is so creative. Honestly, I was inspired by this book. The photos she detailed so well almost brought them to life in my head, but of course, I'm not that imaginative, so the photo I imagined is way worse that the actual thing Ng was visualizing. But they were just so creative. If someone who knows photography really captured some of those photos, I'm sure I would want to go see them. For real.
Regarding the ending, I do wished it could have ended on a different note of a different "pov." (Basically, the story is told in third person, but jumps around between the thoughts/stories of the characters.) Also, maybe it's just me, but I wasn't too emotional about the story, so I do wish I was more emotionally attached, but I was still bittersweet about the situation in the book. I just wished I could have been more emotional.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, as it is truly an amazing novel....more
I love Colleen Hoover's novels. I've rated almost every one of them a smacking five stars or 4.5 stars. They're all so impactful and sometimes even moI love Colleen Hoover's novels. I've rated almost every one of them a smacking five stars or 4.5 stars. They're all so impactful and sometimes even move me to tears. This one was a bit different for me, though.
I'm not sure if it's because I'm "not in the mood for romance" type of mood that hindered my enjoyment, but there seemed to be a damper on how much I was hooked into this and felt the need to keep reading.
It was good, I know that. But it just didn't hit the bar that her other books set. It really pains me to rate this novel this low. If another author wrote this book, I maybe would have rated it higher just because I have no pre-set expectations about the author's writing style and storytelling abilities, but for Colleen Hoover, I already know she's amazing, so my expectations were really high.
Just because I had high expectations, doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book. I did. It was good, I promise you. I liked it. Just not that much.
Don't get me wrong, I still love Colleen Hoover. I will still be reading her books. This book just didn't quite hit me in the right spot.
I know this review has been all over the place, so let me just quickly express some quick feelings. The characters were great. I would have liked a little more personality and depth of Ledger because I think we didn't get enough of him. Kenna was great though. I also would have liked more of Patrick and Grace. Regarding the plotline, everything was pristine and perfect. No complaints there.
This book is great, and I strongly suggest you read it.
hassan is literally the most wholesome person ever, i love hassan :')))))))))) on the other hand, i didn't like the main character, amir, too much, buhassan is literally the most wholesome person ever, i love hassan :')))))))))) on the other hand, i didn't like the main character, amir, too much, but this was definitely done on purpose. and it worked really well for the story. this book made me so emotional, and although i didn't really cry or tear up, it definitely touched me in the tenderest parts of my heart. it was a constant emotional rollercoaster, something was always happening and grabbing my attention. my heart was broken and stitched back together a thousand times.
“For you, a thousand times over.”
i definitely think the beginning 1/4 or 1/3 was the best, and then the ending 1/4 or 1/5 was the second-best part. the beginning esp, really captured my interest and had me keep reading, and it was just sooo soooo sadddd.
a main theme throughout the book was standing up for yourself and for other people. when you stand up for something, you firmly demonstrate your stance and reinforce your identity. we can just stand to the side and watch, pretend like we never saw anything, keep it a secret that we saw and hold onto that guilt forever; or, we can decide we're gonna do something about it, and make our voices heard. not only can we stand up for ourselves and what we believe in, but we can support our loved ones and those that truly matter. it doesn't have to be something big, it can just be reinforcing something that you and your friend believe is right. mainly, going further than just making your voice heard by truly executing an action that shows your stance and your support for a cause goes a long way. be the person you wanna be and showcase that outwardly.
“A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything.”
at the same time, this novel showcased the idea of not beating yourself up for making a mistake. accept the mistake, learn from it, and move on. don't let the guilt hold yourself down from doing future things. and don't pity yourself because that pity will act as a weight dragging you back. instead of self-pity, think about what you can do to correct and improve in the future.
and try to mean your promises. (view spoiler)[it broke my heart at the end when amir broke the promise he made to sohrab. (hide spoiler)] it's really hard in this world to commit because we have the tendency to commit to everything, to say "yes" to everything, but when you do commit, mean it. you lose people's trust when you go back on your commitments. don't let people doubt your trustworthiness.
“And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.”
overall, this novel was soo sooo good :')))) glad i picked it up...more
This was so cute. It was so good to see the Hopeless characters merge with All Your Perfec~ 3.0 stars ~
A cute, heartwarming novella by Colleen Hoover!
This was so cute. It was so good to see the Hopeless characters merge with All Your Perfects characters! It was such a good combination, and I admire Hoover for thinking of it!
There's not much to review, as this is a short novella. Novellas are hard to be five stars, as it's really short and doesn't have that much words to develop. 3 stars is honestly a great rating for a novella, so don't be discouraged from my star rating.
I loved this novella, and I read it within a day, in one sitting.
Note: It is recommended to read this after finishing Hopeless, Finding Cinderella, and All Your Perfects. You can read Losing Hope, but that is just Hopeless from Dean Holder's POV. It just has some extra information and insight, but is not absolutely necessary to read before reading this book.
Struggles. Everyone has them. But what matters is that we persist through them.
All Your Perfects was a heavy book. It shed light on the i~ 3.5 stars ~
Struggles. Everyone has them. But what matters is that we persist through them.
All Your Perfects was a heavy book. It shed light on the issue of infertility, and made me realize how hard it is for people wanting to be a parent, but not being able to have kids. This was an excruciating read, and I teared up once.
“And I promise . . . I swear . . . that if you choose to end things between us, I will love you more as you’re walking out the door than on the day you walked down the aisle. I hope you choose the road that will make you the happiest. Even if it’s not a choice I’ll love, I will still always love you. Whether I’m a part of your life or not. You deserve happiness more than anyone I know. I love you.”
This book was filled with so much pain, so much hope, and so much devastation. It hurt. I felt like I was being stabbed right in the heart with a sharp knife. But there was so much hope and good feelings that came along when I read the past chapters. All Your Perfects is split between the present and the past, every other chapter. In the past chapters, we learn about how Graham and Quinn meet and fell in love. In the present chapters, we go through their struggles of infertility, trying to have a baby but failing.
The past chapters kept a smile on your face, falling in love with the characters and the romance. as they fell in love with each other. The present chapters kept your heart aching for Graham and Quinn and their problems. It was a good balance, but I do slightly wish (is that a thing?) that the past chapters were a tad more gripping. They were really good in the first half of the book, but my interested waned during the past chapters in the second half of the book.
One other critique I have is how the ending was rushed. (view spoiler)[It felt like immediately after Quinn read Graham's letters, all their problems were solved. I know, Quinn explains in the Epilogue that this wasn't the case, rather, it started out wobbly, but they continued to build from the bottom up. But, it still felt like *poof* everything's good now. A couple more chapters before the epilogue would be nice for me, to see how they rebuilt their relationship. Also, I really want to know what Quinn's love letter said. Haha. (hide spoiler)]
This book's message and lesson is just beautiful. How bad events don't dictate you. Emotions can drive you, but you need to learn to keep them together even when you're going to break. This book is unlike most of Colleen Hoover's other books. Hopeless and Ugly Love both focus more on the positive side of love, how you can fall in love, and how to deal with that love. All Your Perfects, however, focuses more on the heavy and depressing side of love, and how to get through these situations. Both the positive and negative sides of love are conveyed (through the past and present chapters, respectively), but I think the present chapters held more importance.
Once again, Hoover absolutely grips me with her writing style. Truly, Hoover's writing style is one of the best out there. Not even joking at all. She's just amazing. I think one of the reasons I love her style so much is because she doesn't have the useless descriptions. Colleen Hoover explained this in her answer to this question. Basically, Hoover says that she doesn't enjoy boring description, so she barely describes anything in her books. Hoover uses dialogue and other techniques (that don't involve description) to keep the plot moving forward, and thus, I enjoy her writing so much.
Sarah J. Maas is a good storyteller. (Sorry, I know I'm talking about other authors even though this book is by Colleen Hoover. Sorry. Just bear with me.) She has gripping plots, surprising plot twists, and a sense of sarcastic humor. However, I think I still enjoy Hoover's style more because Maas mainly uses description to move events forward. Sometimes, this will bore me, resulting in me skipping paragraphs. I don't do this even half as much with Hoover's books. Her writing style is just one of the best I've ever encountered.
If you've read my review for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, you know that I loved Schwab's writing style in that book. Her writing style there is very poetic, melodic, harmonic, suiting the story of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, where Addie is trying to find out what it means to live. A search for who she is. For "regular," storytelling books, Hoover's writing style fits best, which is why I'm always so attracted to her books.
Okay, enough with Hoover's writing style. I've probably mentioned it in almost every one of my reviews for her books.
The family aspect of this book was well executed. The relationship between Ava and Quinn (sisters) is beautiful. They're supportive of each other, even when they have their own spouses to go to. They talk to each other often, and they're such a good example.
There wasn't much friendship in this book, but I think the sister-love part made up more than enough for this.
Regarding romance, we saw Graham's and Quinn's journey through it, how it was good, but gradually became worse. We saw how they encountered their struggles, whether they embraced their problems or whether they shied away from their problems. I do wish we saw more of Ava and Reid's relationship, how that started and how it escalated.
There was a surprise in this book that I wasn't expecting. I was expecting something totally different, but the surprise was unexpected and hit me square in the chest, knocking the wind from me, breaking my heart.
The characters in All Your Perfects felt genuine, as they made mistakes, but also were full of love. Human beings have a remarkable ability to be cruel and kind at the same time (this was a theme in The Book Thief, and even though I hated that book, hence my review, I'm going to use the message here because it's necessary and applicable), and this message was conveyed through this book. We will all make mistakes, but it's up to us to embrace them. We shouldn't try to make excuses for these horrible mistakes that we make, instead, we should accept them, but understand that we were in the fault. If someone close to us (or even not close to us) makes a mistake, we need to try to find it in ourselves to forgive them, if and only if they thoroughly understand what they did and that it was horrible. Of course, this doesn't apply to everything. If someone makes a huge mistake, it might be time to end the relationship.
“No matter how much you love someone—the capacity of that love is meaningless if it outweighs your capacity to forgive.”
I would totally recommend this if you're looking for a heavy, sad (but filled with hope) contemporary romance.
the first half went by soooooooooo slow. i was so bored and it felt like the investigation/mystery wasn't going ANYWHERE. but wow. this was a shocker.
the first half went by soooooooooo slow. i was so bored and it felt like the investigation/mystery wasn't going ANYWHERE. but i've read that in other reviews before, so i just decided to stick with it until past the halfway point and reassess if i wanted to DNF it there. and i'm so glad i did.
once i reached the ~halfway point, the mystery quickly picked up and there were so many mini plot twists that made the story sooo much more interesting. i was constantly wondering what would happen next and what the next hints would be. it really was gripping and it made me think. this story is screwed up, the characters are totally messed up, but they all believe that they are right. it is a twisty, psychological thriller (once you get past the halfway point).
wow, the story definitely took a turn that i didn't expect at all. and that totally made up for (most) of the boring first half! glad i pushed through with this one, and man the second half i read in like two days whereas the first half took me two weeks hahaha!
this book was so slow and pretty boring. i felt distanced from the plot. there wasn't much action, unlike the original Hunger Games book. the actual hthis book was so slow and pretty boring. i felt distanced from the plot. there wasn't much action, unlike the original Hunger Games book. the actual hunger games in this book kinda takes a backseat and is barely described.
some of it was confusing and some description was so unnecessary, so that led to me kinda skimming a little bit of it. however, the plot did start to pick up near the end, and i read the last 100 pages in one day, but the previous parts of the book took me weeks.
this is definitely worse than the original trilogy, but it was still an interesting backstory to snow. (lol i had already forgotten the role that snow has in the trilogy)
was it worth it? maybe. would i read it again? definitely not. did i enjoy it? kinda.
I basically just skimmed through A Court of Frost and Starlight. It wasn't that interesting. I really have ~ 2.5 stars ~
Well, that was a useless book.
I basically just skimmed through A Court of Frost and Starlight. It wasn't that interesting. I really have nothing else to say. It held no plot or anything. It was just a novella without any real meat inside it. Only bones.
The first two books disappointed me. They were certainly not up to Maas's usual standard, and ~ 4.0 stars ~
This is the best book in the series so far.
The first two books disappointed me. They were certainly not up to Maas's usual standard, and I was honestly a little bored (especially for A Court of Thorns and Roses). This novel was much better, and I actually really liked it.
“Only you can decide what breaks you, Cursebreaker. Only you.”
This review will be on the shorter side because I don't have much to say, but here we go anyways.
The beginning of the novel already had me ensnared and interested. I think this is because I really enjoyed the "being a spy" premise. It was kind of like a spy novel in the beginning, which was interesting and intrigued me.
The whole plot is pretty good. It's not idle certainly. It's full of action, like a good high fantasy novel. We read about battles, backstories, wars, spies, backstabbing, and so much more. It's filled to the brim with action and fantasy qualities.
Two things did drastically improve from A Court of Mist and Fury (I described these problems in my review of that book here). There is so much less description. Some still remains, but it is on a leash, and it makes the story so much better. I no longer waste my time on useless descriptions on every article of clothing Feyre or others wear. There is also less of the "question and answer" thing where Feyre asks a question about the world, and someone else answers. I guess this is mainly because we already know all we need to know about the world.
However, I would still like more world-building. We have some, but we didn't get all of it. Magical powers are not explained enough.
The friendship within the Court of Dreams is showed off amazingly, once again. We can see it developing, and it really is just heart warming to see this bond that has been created over many, many years.
Now, we're moving onto the not-so-good part. I would like to learn more about Azriel's spying. We learn that he is the spymaster, but we never learn how exactly he does his spying. He just miraculously appears and then comes back with information. What does he do to acquire this information? How does he spy? I would like to know more.
Also, just a little thing that bugged me: Rhysand often calls Feyre "Feyre darling." I'm not really sure why, but this just sounds weird to me. Maybe it's only for me though.
If you have an aversion for ellipses, don't read this book. There are so many ellipses (1,296 ellipses, to be exact).
All right, as I said before, this review will be pretty short, so yeah, I'm pretty much done here.
This installment was great, despite everyone saying it's worse than the second book, I think it was actually better. I guess I would recommend this series after this because it redeemed the first and second book, but I'm not sure. As I said in my review of A Court of Mist and Fury, this series just doesn't hit as hard for me, but I can't quite pinpoint why.
This was so much better than A Court of Thorns and Roses.
After finishing A Court of Thorns and Roses, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. A Court of Mist and Fury basically redeemed the first book, making me feel much better and quite surprised. However, I do still feel a little disappointed.
“To the people who look at the stars and wish, Rhys." Rhys clinked his glass against mine. “To the stars who listen— and the dreams that are answered.”
↳ ⋆☽ The Beginning ☾⋆
First off, this novel starts off very well. A Court of Thorns and Roses started fairly quickly, but it didn't grab me and wasn't the best start. (more details in my review here). A Court of Mist and Fury began in a way that already had me gripping onto the pages of the book. I invested myself in wholly.
↳ ⋆☽ Writing Style ☾⋆
I'm kind of disappointed with Maas's writing style in this series. I know she's perfectly capable of writing amazingly, but unfortunately, she's just not showing off that writing style in this book.
This novel is again written in first person POV, which is interesting, considering the fact that there is so much description. We still dive into Feyre's thoughts and emotions, but honestly, I think the descriptions were completely unnecessary. They could be cut like 80%, and I would be fine with them. The descriptions largely center around the "wealth/riches." There's about the same amount of description in this than in The Selection, maybe even more, but I'd wager about the same. It's like: "time to describe how big the bath is, oh wait we can also describe the shampoos and lotions sitting next to the bath, now we can paint a boring picture in the reader's mind of the wedding dress, now we describe how beautiful the scenery is, oh now it's time to tell the reader how pretty Feyre's dress is, now we can describe Feyre's dress, now this, now that." It goes on and on. We pretty much receive a description for each of Feyre's articles of clothing. I'm sorry (wait no I'm not), but I just don't really want to read or know about that stuff. Yes, so cool, Feyre's dress if periwinkle blue and feels like silk.... blah blah blah. I'm disinterested.
Basically, while I'm reading the descriptions (I usually just skip over them, but let's say this is the rare occasion that I actually put in the effort to read one), in my head I'm shouting through a megaphone, "I DON'T CARE!" Oh, and two paragraphs later, another one of Feyre's dresses is described in intricate detail. Me again through a megaphone: "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR CLOTHES LOOK LIKE!"
The repetition is my other concern regarding the writing style in this book. It's mostly of something similar to this: "[insert emotion] flickered across his face, but it was gone in a second." Or, "[insert emotion] glinted in his eyes." Or, "There was a flash of [insert emotion] in his eyes." Or, "I thought I could detect [insert emotion] in his eyes." I'll spare you now and stop. To feel the pain of the repetition that I had to go through while reading this book, multiply what I just did by like one hundred. Now you can understand my pain. Bear the burden with me.
My question for you, Sarah J. Maas, can you really detect all these emotions just through somebody's eyes?I think not.
↳ ⋆☽ The Long Monologues ☾⋆
We learn about the world from long monologues again, just like that one long-winded explanation from one character in A Court of Thorns and Roses. In this novel, Feyre asks questions and others respond. An easy, effective way to get readers to understand the world, but it's horribly cheap. It's effective because if Feyre asks the question, that means we don't know what the answer is either (because the novel is written from Feyre's POV), so when somebody responds, Feyre either understands or doesn't understand. And because she has about the same knowledge of the world as we do, if she understands, chances are, we will. But... it's cheap because it's a direct response, and it's not the reader gradually piecing together clues or gradually understanding over a period of time. I'm actually not sure which one I prefer because there's definitely less confusion with this method, but a tiny part of my mind keeps on whisper-chanting "it's cheap, it's cheap, it's cheap..." This "question and answer" thing does peter off after about the forty or fifty percent mark. Even though some of it still lingers, there's not as much.
“I was not a pet, not a doll, not an animal. I was a survivor, and I was strong. I would not be weak, or helpless again I would not, could not be broken. Tamed.”
↳ ⋆☽ World Building ☾⋆
We still need more world building. This was an issue for me in A Court of Thorns and Roses as well (view my review here), and I was a little crestfallen to see that it was not fixed in this installment. Some questions I have: How does the magic work? What are the limits? To what extent? I wanted to know everything, and I barely got anything.
↳ ⋆☽ Characters ☾⋆
✮ Feyre: She improves a lot in this novel. In the first book, I didn't really care much for her. I still don't like her too much, but she has grown on me with her immense character development. She grows a sturdier backbone (actually, I'm not sure if she even had one in the first book, so it's more like she grows a backbone). I still don't like her as much as Celaena from the Throne of Glass series or Bryce from House of Earth and Blood, but maybe she can improve more in future books. Hoping for that. ...more
Everyone loved this so much. Almost all my friends on Goodreads and everyone I followed rated this a smacking 5 stars, but I feel terribly conflicted.
Everyone loved this so much. Almost all my friends on Goodreads and everyone I followed rated this a smacking 5 stars, but I just didn't get the hype. Yeah, it was pretty interesting and I liked it, but I didn't get what all the hype was for this particular book.
The characters were good, and I really enjoyed the different time periods, so I understood everything. The story started off running right from the start, and it was very compelling. I was engrossed in the book, but it wasn't like my eyes were glued to the book from start to finish. The story did progressively build up and get better, however.
I'm slightly disappointed, but it's okay. I might read the sequel, but I'm not sure yet. I'll ponder it a little more.
I honestly can't tell you what prevented me from enjoying this book so much. The writing was pretty good, though I loved the writing style in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue much more. I guess that writing style might not suit this novel as well though. There were some pretty nice quotes that I really loved. (I especially loved the self-help quotes that Victor crossed out, I wish there was more of those because they were beautiful.)
“Be lost. Give up. Give In. in the end It would be better to surrender before you begin. be lost. Be lost And then you will not care if you are ever found.”
The plot was pretty layered, but I wouldn't say complicated. I wish there were more factors and more unpredictability. Even though it wasn't like I was expecting certain events to happen, it didn't feel out-of-the-blue and surprising, which I wish there was more of. I wanted to be awed, I wanted to gasp, I wanted to scream at top of my lungs, I wanted my expectations to be fulfilled. So maybe it's my expectations that ruined it because it really wasn't a bad book at all.
(view spoiler)[Even though it was supposed to be like a guess-who's-side-to-be-on type of book, it felt pretty obvious to be on Victor's side because it mainly focused on his POV, especially in the first half. This caused it to be inauthentic. I wished the POVs were more evenly distributed, which would actually allow me to guess who's side was the "right" side. (hide spoiler)]
I would say the exploration of what it means to be a hero and what it means to be a villain was good. It could have gone deeper I think, but overall it was nice. I'll probably think about it more in the next couple of days.
Overall, not a bad book, but I feel like I could have enjoyed it more without the high expectations to begin with.
This was a pleasant read and was a cute sequel to Maybe Someday.
Maybe Now by Colleen Hoover is definitely an unneeded book, but I actually enjoyed it more than Maybe Someday. I really liked this and think this is a fabulous ending to this story.
“It’s the small things people do for others that define the largest parts of them.”
The plot was slow and steady, but I do wish there was a tiny bit more conflict because it felt like the major conflict occurred and then everything was just smooth sailing and happily ever after. Although there were a few bumps, it was mostly level and just a little uneventful.
I loved the additional POVs of Maggie and Jake. I'm not sure if the Jake POV was completely necessary, but I truly appreciated the Maggie POV because the readers got to have a deeper insight on how she felt about her life. I do, however, feel like Maggie is portrayed as an immature adult at some points.
For Jake, I feel like he was... too perfect. I wish we got to see more flaws, so he wasn't just this "wow, a perfect character!". Sydney, as well. I think she developed so much from book one, and in fact, I think she developed a little too much. I would have preferred a couple more flaws, so it wasn't just this overall amazing out-of-this world character.
But... this book is insanely cheesy. There are so many "I love you"s, 117 of them to be exact. There are so many cheesy lines. It's not heart melting, so much as cringe-worthy. The other Hoover novels that I have read have not been this cheesy in the slightest. I have no idea why this one was so corny.
Overall, considering all the books in the series, I am not sure if I would recommend this series. The first book was not good, the companion novella was cute, and this novel was a little better. There are many good aspects, but also many aspects that I was frustrated with (especially in the first book). You can read my reviews for the other books in the series to determine if this is a suitable series for you (all reviews for books in this series are linked below).
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