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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
this was a 4.5
This took me longer to read than any book ive read in the last few years but I am not mad about it. I listened to the audiobook a bit slower to start with and it worked so well with the pace of the story.
I think it is worth nothing going in that this is very much a slow , character driven read . There is plot but it builds in pace as the story progresses. R.R Virdi has a way of weaving this epic tale that keeps you guessing. I was never bored. I think the slower pace of the start of the book really builds the foundation for what comes in the latter part of the book. The first binding is an amazing story teller, writing a story about a mysterious story teller who is telling his story! The way this book is crafted truly is a piece of ART and i am in awe of how on earth someone can write like this!!
This took me longer to read than any book ive read in the last few years but I am not mad about it. I listened to the audiobook a bit slower to start with and it worked so well with the pace of the story.
I think it is worth nothing going in that this is very much a slow , character driven read . There is plot but it builds in pace as the story progresses. R.R Virdi has a way of weaving this epic tale that keeps you guessing. I was never bored. I think the slower pace of the start of the book really builds the foundation for what comes in the latter part of the book. The first binding is an amazing story teller, writing a story about a mysterious story teller who is telling his story! The way this book is crafted truly is a piece of ART and i am in awe of how on earth someone can write like this!!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF at page 79
I usually wait until at least 100 pages in to decide to put a book down but I just can't with this one. I didn't know until a week ago that this was a controversial book due to the similarities it has with [b:The Name of the Wind|186074|The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)|Patrick Rothfuss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1704917687l/186074._SY75_.jpg|2502879] and most reviews mention this and break it down. And, to be honest, while I think nothing is original anymore and multiple people can have a go at the same tropes, it does look pretty damning.
But what I haven't seen many people point out is the casual misogyny sprinkled through this book. If it's this bad this early in, when he's present day and we only go back into his past, I can only guess it will continue. Every couple of pages he'll make a comment about silly, little women. She has a point, but telling her that would be dangerous. There's always a woman involved when a man is sad. There's nothing in the world more stubborn than a woman who knows she's right. Bro. This book was released in 2022 but the way he talks about women and how he uses them in the narrative is straight out of the 90s. It's starting to rile me up.
Also the writing is so ridiculous. It's so flowery that it takes a full paragraph to describe one movement. It's making me bored because it takes so long for the story to move forward. While I enjoyed the imagery of the storytelling scene, it just took ages to get through every interaction he was having with people.
This book has the tiniest writing and thin pages and it's so big that I'm just not wasting anymore time on it. Sorry to everyone who loved this book but I hated what I read.
I usually wait until at least 100 pages in to decide to put a book down but I just can't with this one. I didn't know until a week ago that this was a controversial book due to the similarities it has with [b:The Name of the Wind|186074|The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)|Patrick Rothfuss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1704917687l/186074._SY75_.jpg|2502879] and most reviews mention this and break it down. And, to be honest, while I think nothing is original anymore and multiple people can have a go at the same tropes, it does look pretty damning.
But what I haven't seen many people point out is the casual misogyny sprinkled through this book. If it's this bad this early in, when he's present day and we only go back into his past, I can only guess it will continue. Every couple of pages he'll make a comment about silly, little women. She has a point, but telling her that would be dangerous. There's always a woman involved when a man is sad. There's nothing in the world more stubborn than a woman who knows she's right. Bro. This book was released in 2022 but the way he talks about women and how he uses them in the narrative is straight out of the 90s. It's starting to rile me up.
Also the writing is so ridiculous. It's so flowery that it takes a full paragraph to describe one movement. It's making me bored because it takes so long for the story to move forward. While I enjoyed the imagery of the storytelling scene, it just took ages to get through every interaction he was having with people.
This book has the tiniest writing and thin pages and it's so big that I'm just not wasting anymore time on it. Sorry to everyone who loved this book but I hated what I read.
This story is one which I bought ages ago as I had heard good things about it, and I meant to get to it much sooner! I am glad I finally did get to it, but man, it's a bit of a long one, and it did take me a fair while trying to get through it.
This book has a lot of comparisons to Name of the Wind, and I can definitely see the comparison, as the writing is very lyrical and descriptive at times, and this is one person telling their story. The similarities kind of ended there for me as most of the other crossover is very stereotypical fantasy tropes retold, and the magic of this world revolves around different bindings, being able to use the bindings in different ways to create different effects.
Our main character is Ari, he's kind of a legend now because of all the things he's done over his life. However, at this stage in time he's a travelling storyteller and he may have inflated his tales just a bit along the way....
Ari's story starts as a young orphan from the lowest caste of society who is working the understage in a theatre. His tale comes from very humble beginnings, but we know straight away that he's come a hell of a long way and his story really is quite winding and full of surprises.
I will say the relationship between Ari and the lady who he's telling his story to felt a little bit odd at times. It just didn't feel super authentic to me, and I don't know if that's intentional or not.
The end of this book was very climactic, and the beginning was truly atmospheric. I really liked both of those sections and found myself super engaged. I do think the middle section was a little bit static at times and I didn't really feel as connected to the character and the plot, but I do think the characterisation was good here and the character of Ari felt pretty real and raw at times.
Would I continue this series, absolutely. Do I think it could have been a bit shorter, yes, probably. I really enjoyed some sections and there were a few points I really thought this would be a new absolute fave, it was only the slower sections which meant I didn't ultimately land on that 5 star rating. In the end I'm going for 4*s and I really look forward to seeing more of the story and see where it goes next :)
This book has a lot of comparisons to Name of the Wind, and I can definitely see the comparison, as the writing is very lyrical and descriptive at times, and this is one person telling their story. The similarities kind of ended there for me as most of the other crossover is very stereotypical fantasy tropes retold, and the magic of this world revolves around different bindings, being able to use the bindings in different ways to create different effects.
Our main character is Ari, he's kind of a legend now because of all the things he's done over his life. However, at this stage in time he's a travelling storyteller and he may have inflated his tales just a bit along the way....
Ari's story starts as a young orphan from the lowest caste of society who is working the understage in a theatre. His tale comes from very humble beginnings, but we know straight away that he's come a hell of a long way and his story really is quite winding and full of surprises.
I will say the relationship between Ari and the lady who he's telling his story to felt a little bit odd at times. It just didn't feel super authentic to me, and I don't know if that's intentional or not.
The end of this book was very climactic, and the beginning was truly atmospheric. I really liked both of those sections and found myself super engaged. I do think the middle section was a little bit static at times and I didn't really feel as connected to the character and the plot, but I do think the characterisation was good here and the character of Ari felt pretty real and raw at times.
Would I continue this series, absolutely. Do I think it could have been a bit shorter, yes, probably. I really enjoyed some sections and there were a few points I really thought this would be a new absolute fave, it was only the slower sections which meant I didn't ultimately land on that 5 star rating. In the end I'm going for 4*s and I really look forward to seeing more of the story and see where it goes next :)
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
It's reminiscent of the King Killer Chronicles in a number of ways, but with a world I find more interesting and enticing.
4-4.5 Stars?
Jesus Christ I feel like I've been reading this book for five years, and I don't even really know how to rate it/review it. Did I enjoy it? For the most part, yes. Did I want to pick it up when I wasn't at work without anything else to read? Not really.
There were so many fun things happening in this book, but also I reckon a hundred pages worth of writing could have been shaved off and the story would have been much more elegant for it. I specify "writing" rather than leaving it at "pages" because, while I think nearly every page in this book deserved to be there (certainly from the sparrow arc onwards), I also think the majority of said pages could have been edited down by a third.
While some of the writing was very beautiful, and I found the rhyming fun, other times it ventured too much into purple prose. The character descriptions were particularly tiresome, especially when it came to eye colour - even minor characters got super detailed descriptions when one or two stand-out details would have sufficed. Also, sometimes Ari as the narrator would make a statement which I felt would have been better left unsaid, shown in the text rather than shown and told, though I do understand the reasoning for that at least - it works with the folksy, storytelling style even if it's not something I particularly like.
The pacing was a bit off too. If any part of the book needed to be edited down in a more drastic way, it was the beginning - perhaps it would be more compelling as a re-read, with more context for what is happening, but also it was just quite slow and the writing is at its most purple at this point. The theatre arc was where things started to improve for me, but my interest only really piqued when the sparrow arc began - I really enjoyed that! And then all the individual arcs after that were really good too, though as fun as I found them, I struggled to love them. Maybe I just expected too much after seeing so many rave reviews for this book?
This is probably coming across as a really negative review, but it's honestly just me trying to come to terms with this absolute unit of a tome and the conflicting feelings I have about it. Like, I really liked the writing style, but I also really didn't like it. I really liked most of the characters, but also wanted way more out of them. I enjoyed the various story arcs, but also feel like they didn't meet their full potential.
I found the book too long, but also wanted more.
Will I be picking up the second book when it comes out? Yes. I'm intrigued enough. But I'm hoping it doesn't take me quite so long to read, and that whatever didn't quite click with me here, does in the sequel. I really do want to love this series rather than just like it!
While I am mad at myself for not settling down and finishing this sooner, I’m very glad I don’t have to wait too long for the sequel to appear.
I loved everything about this. I love the story within a story (and stories within that story) and I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Plus, it has a cat. I adore Shola and honestly, the only thing I need from the next book is for Shola to not die (other than from old age)
I loved everything about this. I love the story within a story (and stories within that story) and I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Plus, it has a cat. I adore Shola and honestly, the only thing I need from the next book is for Shola to not die (other than from old age)
