4.5 stars. Literally could not put it down at times, especially the last 10-15%. I'm dying for the next book now.4.5 stars. Literally could not put it down at times, especially the last 10-15%. I'm dying for the next book now....more
Have you ever wondered what Sherlock & Watson would do in a fantasy world? If so, look no further than The Tainted Cup! This was such a unique mix of Have you ever wondered what Sherlock & Watson would do in a fantasy world? If so, look no further than The Tainted Cup! This was such a unique mix of mystery and fantasy, and I had a fun time with it. This book is very different from Foundryside, but just as unique and enjoyable, with interesting worldbuilding and a lush and vibrant setting.
Our main characters are Din, an apprentice investigator with the ability to engrave every memory into his brain and forget nothing, and Ana, an eccentric senior investigator with an insatiable curiosity and a whip-smart mind. Together, they are sent to investigate a gruesome murder involving an extremely dangerous plant contagion. From there, a plot unfolds that keeps you guessing until the end.
Both Din and Ana are with likable and endearing, and I really enjoyed the mentor/mentee relationship they had.
In a nutshell, this book is what you get if you mix a whodunnit mystery of Sherlock Holmes with the terrifying bioweapon of The Expanse protomolecule. Sprinkle in the constant threat of the Kaiju of Pacific Rimand the creepiness of Attack on Titan, and you get The Tainted Cup. It’s several familiar concepts mixed in a fresh new way. I’ll definitely be reading the next book! ...more
I might have given this 4 stars if Kiva wasn't the dumbest, most naive fool I've ever seen. Made it really hard to root for her, honestly. Compared toI might have given this 4 stars if Kiva wasn't the dumbest, most naive fool I've ever seen. Made it really hard to root for her, honestly. Compared to other YA protagonists, she is just laughably stupid. But will I read the next book? Absolutely....more
There was a lot I loved about this book. First and foremost, the writing is impeccable and deliberate, and you can tell that R.R. Virdi has put his enThere was a lot I loved about this book. First and foremost, the writing is impeccable and deliberate, and you can tell that R.R. Virdi has put his entire soul into this story. At its core, it's a story about stories, and the way it is written makes you feel like you're listening to one. It's lyrical and beautifully crafted, and there were times when I would suddenly realize that what I was reading had turned to verse at some point. It's all done in a very clever and subtle way, and the talent it takes to create something like that is impressive.
Much like 'The Name of the Wind', this book is about the main character telling a story about his life, and you are taken on Ari's journey from orphaned child to current storyteller. We don't hear his entire story, though, and I very much look forward to hearing the rest. There are so many unanswered questions about how Ari ended up where he is now, and I'm excited to see what the rest of the series has in store for us.
As a character, I absolutely loved Ari. He has had to learn to survive on his own in a world that wasn't kind to him, but he still ends up as a kind, charismatic person with a generous spirit. Though he has no memory of his birth parents, he fiercely loves and protects those he considers his family at different points throughout his life. He yearns for love and safety, and his core motivations always go back to that.
Now, was this book an easy read? No. This is a behemoth of a book, and it was not one that I could binge read. The most I could read at a time was probably 50-60 pages, and then I felt done for the day. The pacing is very slow, so I never felt the pull to drop everything and read. I knew the story would be there for me when I picked it back up, so I felt no sense or urgency. That's not a bad thing, but it made for a very long read. I still enjoyed it greatly, but I had to work for it.
Overall, I'd give it 3.75 stars. The writing itself is brilliant, but based on my pure entertainment level while reading, a 3.75 seems right. I might go up to 4 after I sit on it a while.
Do I recommend this book? Yes! Is it a fun, quick read? No! But still, it's a promising start to a new series that has a lot of potential....more
This book just did everything right. It's a story of friendship, family, acceptance, and healing. I enjoyed it from the very beginning to the very endThis book just did everything right. It's a story of friendship, family, acceptance, and healing. I enjoyed it from the very beginning to the very end. A queer fantasy romance with plenty of action, a bit of mystery, and a really sweet romance.
The characters in this book are really what stand out here. We have Velarin, the third son of a noble house who was contracted to marry a princess of the neighboring kingdom. Once his preference for men is outed, the terms change so that he marries the brother of the princess instead, Caethari. It would have been easy to make this your typical enemies-to-lover sort of story, but I'm very pleased that Meadows chose not to go that route. Instead, we get two mature, reasonable adult men who understand their roles and responsibilities and accept their marriage with little fuss. As a result, we get to see a solid friendship built first, which makes it very satisfying when the romance finally does happen. Another strong friendship found in this book is between Velarin and his friend/servant Markel. They are fiercely loyal to each other, and their friendship was very heartwarming. Plus, Markel was a mute and he and Vel communicated via sign language, which was a really cool thing to see in a fantasy setting!
The worldbuilding is done well, and proves that you don't need a series of books in order to tell a good story set in a fantasy world. The way Meadows interweaves tiny details about the cultures and the lands is done in a subtle, sophisticated way that never feels like info-dumping. There was never any point where I felt like I had to wade though pages of clumsy exposition. It was all very neat and tidy, and really added good bones to the story. There was a magic system, but it was pretty simple and straightforward. It wasn't made to be unnecessarily complicated like a lot of books might try to do. Another thing that was effortlessly woven into the worldbuilding was the inclusion of characters and people who fall into the nonbinary gender category. It didn't feel heavy-handed or preachy at all. It was just presented as another aspect of that world, which made it come across as a natural, normal part of that society. It was refreshing to see that.
The pacing of the book was very well done, and I really enjoyed the way it was split up. It was told in dual POV, but not in the typical way that might switch every other chapter. Instead, the book is split into 6 or 8 bigger chunks, which the sections alternating between Cae and Vel. This gave me plenty of time with each character and allowed me to read multiple chapters from one POV before it switched to the other POV. It felt like it kept the momentum going and made the book flow more easily. This book is chonky to be sure, but I never felt like it was dragging at any time. I was consistently engaged and reading never once felt like a chore.
The most impressive thing about the book, however, is how it handles sexual assault and the mental trauma that results from such an act. Vel often finds himself going about his day normally, and suddenly being triggered by something that throws him right back to his assault. It doesn't render him useless or incapable of living his daily life. He just has to learn to adapt to his triggers and work through his trauma. We get to see his struggle and his eventual healing. The book does a great job at showing that sexual assault survivors are more than the trauma they've endured. It also sets a great example for how you should act when your partner has been triggered. Cae's response to Vel and his willingness to do anything to make him more comfortable was really nice to see.
Overall, I loved this book. I did have to get used to the writing style at the beginning of the book, as the language was more flowery and formal than what I was expecting. But once I got used to that, I found it to be charming and clever, and very pleasing to read. I will say that it is important to note that this is a fantasy foremost, and a romance second. If you go into this expecting a fun little MM romantasy, you will not find it. It's a fantasy that deals with some heavy issues, with some romance as a secondary story. But still, I highly recommend this one!...more
This was not what I thought it was going to be, and it wasn't what I was looking for in the end. I thought it was going to be a story about a mother'sThis was not what I thought it was going to be, and it wasn't what I was looking for in the end. I thought it was going to be a story about a mother's revenge and her return to a life of fighting after spending 15 years raising a family. But that's not what this book is about. At its core, it's a story about a woman finding peace with the way her life turned out. That's not a bad thing, but it's just not what I wanted.
The writing is good and the fight sequences were incredible, but the pacing of the whole book was off. It felt like the climax of the book happened right in the middle, and we spent the next 50% in resolution and recovery. I would give the first half of this book 5 stars, but the second half was slightly boring and I did not feel as invested in the book.
Overall, it's a good book, but I think it was overhyped and I wish I had tempered my expectations....more
First of all, thank you to Del Rey for sending me an ARC!
Sword Catcher was by far one of my most anticipated reads of 2023, so it is much to my disappFirst of all, thank you to Del Rey for sending me an ARC!
Sword Catcher was by far one of my most anticipated reads of 2023, so it is much to my disappointment that I did not love this. It was hard to rate, too, but I ended up giving it a 2.5 stars.
First, the most important thing. Did this actually feel like an adult fantasy, or was it more like a slightly elevated YA? Honestly to me, this did in fact feel adult in tone, and not in the “technically this is adult fantasy because of all the sex” type of way. Some successful YA authors tend to struggle with transitioning to adult, but I think Clare did a great job with it. If I had to pick books to compare to Sword Catcher, I would say A Strange and Stubborn Endurance and A Taste of Gold and Iron . It’s on that level of worldbuilding, technical writing, and overall vibe, but I liked those better than Sword Catcher.
The story itself started out strong, and I found myself wanting to continue reading for the first half of it. It felt like things were always just about to really take off, but then…it never did. Something would happen and I would say “Ok, here we go” and then, well, it didn’t go, so I just kept waiting and waiting. I felt like I waited the entire book for the story to really take off, and then the book was over and I was still waiting.
Character wise, I really liked Lin. I wanted to like Kel more, but he ended up being a bit bland. And maybe that’s due to the nature of his position at court where he’s meant to mirror Conor, but I was expecting an overly charming, charismatic person. He was capable and smart, but not particularly special. I look forward to seeing how he grows in the next book and if he will start to become more of his own person. Conor was fine. He was there to do just enough stupid things to cause some problems. But overall, the characters were fine, but they weren’t particularly compelling. There is a tiny bit of romance in this book, and I do mean tiny. Even with that, I didn’t really feel the connection between the characters, so if you’re reading this book for romance, you need to look elsewhere. The book even states “Forbidden Romance” as something you’ll find in this book, and I think that’s a stretch.
I found the general plot to be vague and tenuous for such a long book. The story is slow to unravel, and when it does it feels like loose threads only tangentially connected. I kept waiting for them all to weave together in a satisfying way, but again, it never really did. A few plot points were so disconnected that I kept forgetting about them until they were brought up later, and I would wonder how it all fit together. I think part of the reason for that is that Clare was so intent on making sure this book felt adult that she sometimes went too far and added too many elements that didn’t quite work together. For example, I think including both the Ragpicker King and Prosper Beck made things unnecessarily convoluted. I was mainly left questioning why we needed two criminal masterminds in the city, and why even with two of them it felt like the stakes weren’t actually that high. There was no thrill, and no sense of danger or urgency.
The worldbuilding was fine, but I really could have used a world map. It’s hard for me to really get a sense of the world an author is trying to build if I can’t physically see the places being talked about. That’s not really the ARC’s fault, though. If there is a map, I’m sure it’ll be included in the finished copy. If there are no plans for a world map (not a city map, I know for sure Clare posted a photo of that), then that’s a real shame.
I can’t say the pacing of this book was off because there wasn’t much to pace. There wasn’t much going on to really move the plot forward. Halfway through the book, I started feeling like I wanted things to wrap up so I could finish reading, which isn’t a fun way to feel while reading a book, especially one I was so excited about!
Reading back this review it looks like I didn’t like the book at all. That’s not true. I liked it OK in parts, and the writing itself was fine. There was nothing offensively bad. There was just a lot that could have been improved. And in its defense, I did jump directly from Dark Age to Sword Catcher, so that was incredibly jarring in terms of action and plot progression. It would be hard for anything to follow Dark Age, so perhaps I should have waited a while before reading this. My overall feelings toward it might have been different.
To sum up, Clare successfully transitions to adult fantasy, but her need to separate herself from YA caused her to overdo some things and as a result, the story suffered. I’m sure I will continue the series, but this first installment isn’t as strong as I had hoped it would be.
Oh, and I’m not sure when the accusations of plagiarism to A Darker Shade of Magic started, but it was nothing at all like that series. I haven’t read ADSOM in years, so it wasn’t fresh on my mind, but nothing about Sword Catcher made me think of that series. If you’re here to rate this book a 1 star because of rumors, just move on. I think people just wanted this to be a rip off so they could criticize Cassandra Clare again, but I truly didn't think they were similar, aside from the name "Kel."...more
Shanna (shannasaurus_rex_reads)
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