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ethias's review against another edition
2.0
I love the world of The Goblin Emperor, and I liked Thara as a side character in that book, but man this just did not work for me at all :(
It always hurts when you don’t like a follow up to an all time favorite, I’m honestly quite sad that I didn’t like this, leaving a bad review for this book is breaking my heart a bit
It felt very disjointed and slow, I had a hard time caring about anything that happened honestly. Even the resolutions to the various mysteries didn’t really do anything for me. The writing itself did nothing for me either, it lacked the flavor and richness of The Goblin Emperor.
I don’t know…. I’m just sad :(
It always hurts when you don’t like a follow up to an all time favorite, I’m honestly quite sad that I didn’t like this, leaving a bad review for this book is breaking my heart a bit
It felt very disjointed and slow, I had a hard time caring about anything that happened honestly. Even the resolutions to the various mysteries didn’t really do anything for me. The writing itself did nothing for me either, it lacked the flavor and richness of The Goblin Emperor.
I don’t know…. I’m just sad :(
mamoru's review against another edition
3.0
Edit: I hate this series and so this book is going down to a very generous 3 stars.
A good little book to pick up in Autumn. We're following Thara Celehar, The Witness for the Dead, as he solves a few murder mysteries while being sort of an asshole. I have exactly one annotation in this whole book and it says: "why must he be such an asshole?"
I was so relieved he is not yet another Maia, that I am happily rounding up this book to a 4!
This book is fully contained, you don't need to read The Goblin Emperor (prequel) or The Grief of Stones (sequel). Sure, you'll get more from it if you read the prequel and continue with the sequel, but it works fine on its own. It's also fast-paced, entertaining and slightly scary (very scary for me!). We have a serial killer, ghouls, ghosts, the OPERAH!, slightly annoying will they-won't they, beautiful descriptions and more of the annoyingly convoluted fantasy names. But not as bad as in TGE. At some point, I stopped even keeping track of made-up names and words, which is why I read this book in a few hours.
Make sure you read the trigger warnings before picking up this book. I read it very quickly so I wouldn't have time to process all the horrible things that happen. I will mention suicide, murder, violence, gore, body horror and homophobia. In fact, I suggest you don't go near this series if you have suicidal ideation.
A good little book to pick up in Autumn. We're following Thara Celehar, The Witness for the Dead, as he solves a few murder mysteries while being sort of an asshole. I have exactly one annotation in this whole book and it says: "why must he be such an asshole?"
I was so relieved he is not yet another Maia, that I am happily rounding up this book to a 4!
This book is fully contained, you don't need to read The Goblin Emperor (prequel) or The Grief of Stones (sequel). Sure, you'll get more from it if you read the prequel and continue with the sequel, but it works fine on its own. It's also fast-paced, entertaining and slightly scary (very scary for me!). We have a serial killer, ghouls, ghosts, the OPERAH!, slightly annoying will they-won't they, beautiful descriptions and more of the annoyingly convoluted fantasy names. But not as bad as in TGE. At some point, I stopped even keeping track of made-up names and words, which is why I read this book in a few hours.
Make sure you read the trigger warnings before picking up this book. I read it very quickly so I wouldn't have time to process all the horrible things that happen. I will mention suicide, murder, violence, gore, body horror and homophobia. In fact, I suggest you don't go near this series if you have suicidal ideation.
rena219's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this one way better than The Goblin Emperor. Both books can be described as very meandering, but following a depressed priest/detective in his mid-30's was more interesting than the scared 18 year old. I hope in the following books we can see Celehar heal and let more people into his circle. There were small glimpses of it as the book progressed and it was quite enjoyable.
metafish42's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
jokopoko's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
celinbean's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
i would do literally anything for celehar this kind hearted compassionate gay introverted detective and he’d be so overwhelmed with this statement ♡
in all seriousness this was a low stakes cozy detective story about celehar’s job there was a main-ish plot line we followed but there were also several side quests he went on to solve other murders and mysteries. So if you want a meandering story that’s not heavy on a plot structure but feels like friend is telling you about their life this is for you. Its kind of similar to the goblin emperor in this aspect. I genuinely had so much fun reading it
in all seriousness this was a low stakes cozy detective story about celehar’s job there was a main-ish plot line we followed but there were also several side quests he went on to solve other murders and mysteries. So if you want a meandering story that’s not heavy on a plot structure but feels like friend is telling you about their life this is for you. Its kind of similar to the goblin emperor in this aspect. I genuinely had so much fun reading it
flyingryndeer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jonahbf's review against another edition
4.0
Not nearly as ambitious as its predecessor, but Addison once again does a stellar job of presenting a warm and compelling character persevering through a complex web of obstacles
rebeccazh's review against another edition
Too long has passed since I last read the first novel. The plethora of names, titles, and conventions confused me so much. This is a detective narrative and Addison's trademark understated but warm tone is here.