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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
Diamond City is a fast paced, genre-bending dystopian world with witty banter character diversity, and excellent LGBTQ+ rep.
Diamond City follows Sage, a pizza loving centurian warrior, who goes total fangirl for a prince (roughly same age as her so no worries π). The book starts with Sage living a peaceful life, running her pizza shop and loving not being at war or dealing with politics. Things happen and she's thrust right back into the frey, meeting the MMC along the way.
Astrid's writing is beautiful and wonderfully descriptive. You'll see the neon lights, hear the rain tapping on the glass. Cole sets a wonderfully beautiful scene that delights all of your senses.
The plot is good, with lots of twists and turns, plus shocking reveals. There were times I had no clue what was going on, but a lot of the time it was in a great way.
The characters are great, well developed, and fully fleshed out. The morally grey MMC is a hoot at times. With his penchant for fashion and hair care routine he's a bit vain, but in a funny way. Sage is a great character, strong and independently, she takes no crap from anyone. Plenty of character development.
The world building is really great, thorough and descriptive. Being that it's the 1st book in an epic fantasy-romance-scifi series, there's a lot of it in this book. Which is great, but it is a lot initially. If you aren't a fan of sci-fi, it isn't heavy on it. Mainly just futuristic tech (think flying cars).
I love that there's great LGBTQ+ rep and a diverse cast. I also love that this books delves into bigger issues like racism, xenophobia, consent, etc.
With all the praise I'm giving it, why isn't it 5βοΈ? Well, it gets a bit too chaotic for me around 60%. I found it hard to follow and keep up during that part. I also felt like the romance was a bit more insta-lust to insta-love than I prefer. There were also some instances where the FMCs words and actions didn't align, and left me wondering if it was subterfuge, or not. I'll definitely continue the series.
Some books just work better for me in physical format, and I think this one would've worked better for me in a physical book. I think I could've followed and kept up with the plot better when things got really wild.
Cole's website has some absolutely gorgeous SE copies available - stenciled edges that would look phenomenal on your shelf. π You doughnot want to miss out on this gem. π
I read this updated version via PDF sent to me by @astridcolebooks (thank you!). This is my unbiased review.
Diamond City follows Sage, a pizza loving centurian warrior, who goes total fangirl for a prince (roughly same age as her so no worries π). The book starts with Sage living a peaceful life, running her pizza shop and loving not being at war or dealing with politics. Things happen and she's thrust right back into the frey, meeting the MMC along the way.
Astrid's writing is beautiful and wonderfully descriptive. You'll see the neon lights, hear the rain tapping on the glass. Cole sets a wonderfully beautiful scene that delights all of your senses.
The plot is good, with lots of twists and turns, plus shocking reveals. There were times I had no clue what was going on, but a lot of the time it was in a great way.
The characters are great, well developed, and fully fleshed out. The morally grey MMC is a hoot at times. With his penchant for fashion and hair care routine he's a bit vain, but in a funny way. Sage is a great character, strong and independently, she takes no crap from anyone. Plenty of character development.
The world building is really great, thorough and descriptive. Being that it's the 1st book in an epic fantasy-romance-scifi series, there's a lot of it in this book. Which is great, but it is a lot initially. If you aren't a fan of sci-fi, it isn't heavy on it. Mainly just futuristic tech (think flying cars).
I love that there's great LGBTQ+ rep and a diverse cast. I also love that this books delves into bigger issues like racism, xenophobia, consent, etc.
With all the praise I'm giving it, why isn't it 5βοΈ? Well, it gets a bit too chaotic for me around 60%. I found it hard to follow and keep up during that part. I also felt like the romance was a bit more insta-lust to insta-love than I prefer. There were also some instances where the FMCs words and actions didn't align, and left me wondering if it was subterfuge, or not. I'll definitely continue the series.
Some books just work better for me in physical format, and I think this one would've worked better for me in a physical book. I think I could've followed and kept up with the plot better when things got really wild.
Cole's website has some absolutely gorgeous SE copies available - stenciled edges that would look phenomenal on your shelf. π You doughnot want to miss out on this gem. π
I read this updated version via PDF sent to me by @astridcolebooks (thank you!). This is my unbiased review.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is not my normal go to reading niche, but I thought what the heck, lets see what this is about. I enjoyed this read a lot. It was almost like a palette cleanser for me breaking up amongst a lot of the similarities readers find in high fantasy and romantasy. This book still has a lot of great fiction/fantasy aspects but more among the dystopian and sci-fi niche. This book takes place in the future in a society that is broken and trying to remain as best as it can after a unification war. We follow FMC Sage, who played a huge part in winning the unification war, but now wishes to hide amongst the humans and blend into society.
Having this book have a different feel than my normal reads did not deter me from continuing this journey. If anything, this made the story less predictable as the directions the story could go in have so many different directions they could go. Once you think you have an idea on the mannerisms and being of Sage, she changes or shows another layer she has continued to keep hidden.
The side characters are also fun, Samson, Sage's best friend who has helped her to become the strong character she is. The rebels, who all show different personalities and attitudes.
Diamond City was a strong start to opening this series. There is the start of the world being built, and we know there is way more than meets the eye.
Having this book have a different feel than my normal reads did not deter me from continuing this journey. If anything, this made the story less predictable as the directions the story could go in have so many different directions they could go. Once you think you have an idea on the mannerisms and being of Sage, she changes or shows another layer she has continued to keep hidden.
The side characters are also fun, Samson, Sage's best friend who has helped her to become the strong character she is. The rebels, who all show different personalities and attitudes.
Diamond City was a strong start to opening this series. There is the start of the world being built, and we know there is way more than meets the eye.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
First, I would like to say that I am SO GRATEFUL that Astrid's author account blessed my IG feed.
I'm not one to normally dive into dystopian/fantasy/sci-fi-ish reads, but the blurb for the beginning of this trilogy truly piqued my interest. Also, 2024 is the year I dive into other genres and I'm glad I jumped at the chance to read Diamond City on KU.
Starting off, Astrid's writing style and world-building was by far one of my FAVORITES by any author I've read yet. She mesmerized me and had me feel like I was transported into another world, living through the storyline as if I was one of the characters myself. I feel like Astrid really set the tone for the whole trilogy with the amount of thought she put into building the worlds with so many fantasy related characters: merging Sage as a centenarian and immortals, hybrids and so much more perfectly together. It didn't get lost in the typical "Fantasy" themed reads where it's all fantasy elements without much plot or storyline. I loved that she kept me guessing with the plot twists throughout the storyline and made me fall in love with Sage and everything she was: an amazing female lead that just wanted to live a low-maintenance life in her pizza shop, but stepped in to save the city when things get chaotic!
I will say, this book was better than I could ever have imagined it to be. Astrid can truly tell a chaotically amazing story that will have you immersed with true *Magic*. I can not wait to see how she dives into Emerald City next!
I'm not one to normally dive into dystopian/fantasy/sci-fi-ish reads, but the blurb for the beginning of this trilogy truly piqued my interest. Also, 2024 is the year I dive into other genres and I'm glad I jumped at the chance to read Diamond City on KU.
Starting off, Astrid's writing style and world-building was by far one of my FAVORITES by any author I've read yet. She mesmerized me and had me feel like I was transported into another world, living through the storyline as if I was one of the characters myself. I feel like Astrid really set the tone for the whole trilogy with the amount of thought she put into building the worlds with so many fantasy related characters: merging Sage as a centenarian and immortals, hybrids and so much more perfectly together. It didn't get lost in the typical "Fantasy" themed reads where it's all fantasy elements without much plot or storyline. I loved that she kept me guessing with the plot twists throughout the storyline and made me fall in love with Sage and everything she was: an amazing female lead that just wanted to live a low-maintenance life in her pizza shop, but stepped in to save the city when things get chaotic!
I will say, this book was better than I could ever have imagined it to be. Astrid can truly tell a chaotically amazing story that will have you immersed with true *Magic*. I can not wait to see how she dives into Emerald City next!
Okay!! WOW, Well WHAT A RIDE THIS WAS!!
I certainly wasn't ready for this. Even though I read the blurb I didn't know what to expect of this book, and I have to say it was a GREAT surprise.
SAMSON I LOVE YOU.
So we follow Sage, our pizza lover girly (relatable), who will do anything to go to Prince Louis' birthday party, and we really do mean anything. But when someone sells her to the royal family for the wrong things and an ugly truth is revealed, she'll have to choose sides. Which one will she choose, the one that involves a ruthless warlord or the one that involves the royal family and their soldiers.
I want to try Sage's pizzas, I'm VERY curious. I really liked the whole concept of the world that is somewhat futuristic and has a lot of lore and new beings that had me wanting to know mor eof this world. Samson is so so cute and funny and relatable. Sage has a strong and complex personality that makes her a very interesting FMC and the same can be said of our warlord. I have to say that I'm still not 100% sure about him, but let's see where this takes us.
Love you all and happy reading ππ
I certainly wasn't ready for this. Even though I read the blurb I didn't know what to expect of this book, and I have to say it was a GREAT surprise.
SAMSON I LOVE YOU.
So we follow Sage, our pizza lover girly (relatable), who will do anything to go to Prince Louis' birthday party, and we really do mean anything. But when someone sells her to the royal family for the wrong things and an ugly truth is revealed, she'll have to choose sides. Which one will she choose, the one that involves a ruthless warlord or the one that involves the royal family and their soldiers.
I want to try Sage's pizzas, I'm VERY curious. I really liked the whole concept of the world that is somewhat futuristic and has a lot of lore and new beings that had me wanting to know mor eof this world. Samson is so so cute and funny and relatable. Sage has a strong and complex personality that makes her a very interesting FMC and the same can be said of our warlord. I have to say that I'm still not 100% sure about him, but let's see where this takes us.
Love you all and happy reading ππ
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Going into this book, I definitely expected blood and gore due to the title of the book, however there were somethings that definitely shocked me. The book was definitely more graphic and darker then I expected. Regardless, I actually really enjoyed this book and definitely canβt wait to read book two.
While I did really enjoy this book, I did find myself confused in the beginning. Each chapter was about a new set of characters, with no connection to the previous ones. After a few chapters however, the old characters made appearances and the story made a lot more sense.
While I did really enjoy this book, I did find myself confused in the beginning. Each chapter was about a new set of characters, with no connection to the previous ones. After a few chapters however, the old characters made appearances and the story made a lot more sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, War
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated