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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
fast-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:
Yes
When I first heard about this book the very first thing to catch my eye was the gorgeous turquoise against the greyscale background. After reading the summary I was elated to find that it was an historical fiction book. Later, while in the middle of reading it I went to the back of the book to see about the author, at random, only to find out I have really enjoyed other series that she has written. The story itself I felt was very well done. I had enjoyed the fast paced plot and when I found that a lot of events that happened in the book were real, I was even more excited having read the book. There are many small things that people don't usually know about when it comes to WWII and I'm happy to have found these little details incorporated into the plot. My only complaint with the book is that to me, the characters felt flat and I wasn't totally invested in their individual journey. Though, intriguing, it wasn't engaging with the reader.
i love maggie 4eva but something about this just didn’t click for me. on paper i should have loved it (love anything that takes place in a hotel) but alas something was missing and that makes me sad. still worth the read i think? probably idk
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My GOAT does it again. This book has everything Stiefvater does best: an intense, atmospheric setting, gorgeously realized characters, and lovely, voicey prose. Stiefvater’s step from YA to adult fiction was seamless, and I adored almost everything about this novel, starting with its shockingly unique premise. The only things that kept this from a 5-star read was the way some changes in point of view felt slightly unnecessary and distracting, and that the “twist” that made the final sequence happen felt predictable from its first introduction. But really, I loved, loved, LOVED this book. 4.75/5 stars
mysterious
reflective
- Not a book problem; soft dnf
- Would like to come back but I struggle getting into historical fiction.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read this for a book club, otherwise I probably would not have finished this book. I’m glad I did because things picked up toward the end, around page 250.
For the first 250 pages, the characters seemed pretty generic and not very well developed. However, there was more character development during the last third. Still, I never will bought the main romantic relationship in this book.
It is evident that the author did a lot of research for this book. Sadly, the first two-thirds focused on this background and was at the expense of character development. Throughout the book, I did feel like there were certain character development points that were missing or left out.
For the first 250 pages, the characters seemed pretty generic and not very well developed. However, there was more character development during the last third. Still, I never will bought the main romantic relationship in this book.
It is evident that the author did a lot of research for this book. Sadly, the first two-thirds focused on this background and was at the expense of character development. Throughout the book, I did feel like there were certain character development points that were missing or left out.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don’t really know how I feel about this book yet. I had a strange experience reading it where I really enjoyed myself whenever I actually sat down to read it but I rarely felt myself longing to read it, so it took me forever to finish.
First and foremost, Maggie Stiefvater has a way with words that I will always always always enjoy and this book really made me want to read all of her books now. There is just something about her writing style that’s just so for me. I cannot even really put my finger on exactly what it is, I just I love it. The same thing goes for her settings and the atmosphere she builds through them. The Avalon felt like a real place to me and I could just feel the luxurious vibe as if I were there while reading this book. I also enjoyed June as a character (and lowkey wish she had been the only POV character) and loved following her around. I think this is also because I enjoy reading about people who are very dedicated to their craft/job and this is exactly what June is like. This book was also clearly very well-researched. All of this combined made this reading experience a pleasant one but I cannot ignore that there were also very noticeable issues.
Character motivation, a goal, what were they? It appeared that for both of the major POV characters, both just sort of wanted to get through this mess so that they could return to their lives before. “Enduring” is not nessecarily a very active goal and I think this was the reason I didn’t feel like picking the book up as much. In the author’s note, Maggie Stiefvater said she had so many things she wanted to include from her research that she had to be picky and frankly, that made sense to me bc this book genuinely just feels like a bunch of little events strung together. When there is no big “x wants to reach y before z or else a happens,” stories tend to feel a bit lacklustre to me and this book was not character-driven enough for the mcs to carry it (I really didn’t care for Tucker). In the final 100 pages, it finally felt like the characters had a grand mission to complete which was my favourite part of the book… until it kind of fell apart?? Maybe I missed some big subtext or zoned out during crucial paragraphs but June’s decision towards the end came out of nowhere for me.I’m talking particularly about giving up the Avalon. I get that she had a codependent relationship with the place and it wasn’t the healthiest but I never expected her to destroy it at any point in the book, especially since her main motivation was basically “just get through this rough time so everything could go back to normal”. Again, maybe it was a me-issue and I wasn’t reading attentively enough but that caught me off-guard. It just seemed like the typical “woman gives up career for a man”-plot that i was nooot expecting and annoyed me a lot.
So yea, on one hand this is the book that made me want to pick up the entire rest of Stiefvater’s books, on the other hand I was a little lost and took forever to read the book because I never had the motivation to read it. But did I enjoy reading it? Yes.
First and foremost, Maggie Stiefvater has a way with words that I will always always always enjoy and this book really made me want to read all of her books now. There is just something about her writing style that’s just so for me. I cannot even really put my finger on exactly what it is, I just I love it. The same thing goes for her settings and the atmosphere she builds through them. The Avalon felt like a real place to me and I could just feel the luxurious vibe as if I were there while reading this book. I also enjoyed June as a character (and lowkey wish she had been the only POV character) and loved following her around. I think this is also because I enjoy reading about people who are very dedicated to their craft/job and this is exactly what June is like. This book was also clearly very well-researched. All of this combined made this reading experience a pleasant one but I cannot ignore that there were also very noticeable issues.
Character motivation, a goal, what were they? It appeared that for both of the major POV characters, both just sort of wanted to get through this mess so that they could return to their lives before. “Enduring” is not nessecarily a very active goal and I think this was the reason I didn’t feel like picking the book up as much. In the author’s note, Maggie Stiefvater said she had so many things she wanted to include from her research that she had to be picky and frankly, that made sense to me bc this book genuinely just feels like a bunch of little events strung together. When there is no big “x wants to reach y before z or else a happens,” stories tend to feel a bit lacklustre to me and this book was not character-driven enough for the mcs to carry it (I really didn’t care for Tucker). In the final 100 pages, it finally felt like the characters had a grand mission to complete which was my favourite part of the book… until it kind of fell apart?? Maybe I missed some big subtext or zoned out during crucial paragraphs but June’s decision towards the end came out of nowhere for me.
So yea, on one hand this is the book that made me want to pick up the entire rest of Stiefvater’s books, on the other hand I was a little lost and took forever to read the book because I never had the motivation to read it. But did I enjoy reading it? Yes.
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Yes