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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
I loved this at the beginning, when we were introduced to Shesheshen and learning about her life as a monster. I started getting bored about 2/3 through as the book began to get predictable. The end, where we see a little of life past the main conflict, I enjoyed again.
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(3.5 Stars)
This book was weird but not in a bad way. The story was interesting but it was a little slow for me. The audiobook narration was just ok for me. I didn't dislike the book, I just had a hard time getting into it and I couldn't "picture" some of the things being described.
This book was weird but not in a bad way. The story was interesting but it was a little slow for me. The audiobook narration was just ok for me. I didn't dislike the book, I just had a hard time getting into it and I couldn't "picture" some of the things being described.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this book, but I really wanted to love it.
Shesheshen's creaturey anatomy and twisted views on humanity and love were fascinating to read about and I loved watching her grow and change her mind once she was more enmeshed into the society of Underlook. Shesheshen's internal monologue was a riot—I am actually obsessed with her. I was consistently rooting for her to learn and grow.
I'm not sure if my hangup with this one is the conceit of the story being better than its execution or simply a marketing issue. Based on the book's description, I was expecting heavy romance. I was surprised that the romance largely took a backseat to the intricate plot. And the plot was great! But I found myself wanting more scenes where Shesheshen and Homily were interacting and falling for each other. Because to be clear, this is NOT a slow burn by any stretch of the imagination. And it didn't need to be, but I still wish there was more of a build up.
All in all, I loved the themes and vibes and aesthetics of the read. I really liked Shesheshen as a protagonist. On paper, this one ought to be right up my alley. I just found myself wanting one more push to take this from good to great.
Shesheshen's creaturey anatomy and twisted views on humanity and love were fascinating to read about and I loved watching her grow and change her mind once she was more enmeshed into the society of Underlook. Shesheshen's internal monologue was a riot—I am actually obsessed with her. I was consistently rooting for her to learn and grow.
I'm not sure if my hangup with this one is the conceit of the story being better than its execution or simply a marketing issue. Based on the book's description, I was expecting heavy romance. I was surprised that the romance largely took a backseat to the intricate plot. And the plot was great! But I found myself wanting more scenes where Shesheshen and Homily were interacting and falling for each other. Because to be clear, this is NOT a slow burn by any stretch of the imagination. And it didn't need to be, but I still wish there was more of a build up.
All in all, I loved the themes and vibes and aesthetics of the read. I really liked Shesheshen as a protagonist. On paper, this one ought to be right up my alley. I just found myself wanting one more push to take this from good to great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation
Minor: Excrement, Vomit
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Well, generally I liked it. Really, there's not a whole lot fundamentally wrong with the story or the storytelling. There are some real moments of heart, we are specific and straightforward with our themes without being overbearing about them, there's effective use of foreshadowing, dramatic irony, morbid humor, and a whole host of other literary devices, and most importantly in a love story, our romantic leads have real chemistry with each other.
Which leads me to think that this book just was not written for me - which it wasn't.
But that's not why I'm giving it three stars instead of four or five. It's major failing I think is it's structure and length. The book is about 100 pages too long in order to accommodate a few plot points that sorta felt unnecessary. I grew weary of the central pages around the 150-180 page mark, and with so many things looking like "ah this is the final conflict" happening and then not being the final conflict, I just kinda kept trudging through the prose wondering when I'd be out of this story tunnel.
That might sound harsh, but once again, there wasn't really a whole lot of "bad stuff" about this story besides the length. Sure, I could nitpick at some of the characters being a bit too cartoonishly evil or some weird sex stuff that don't feel out of place so much as they feel... okay they feel kinda out of place. Still, as I pushed through the final 100 and especially final 15 pages, there were a few lines and paragraphs that were genuinely affecting if the teensiest bit preachy - a quirk that is easily forgiven given the overall vibe of the work.
Ultimately, this it is just hard to give more than three stars to a book I had to force myself to finish. Still, if this book's synopsis made you excited, you'll probably like it more than I did. If, like me, you simply thought it sounded interesting and you are merely curious to see how it is, I'd say prepare to be thoroughly whelmed.
Which leads me to think that this book just was not written for me - which it wasn't.
But that's not why I'm giving it three stars instead of four or five. It's major failing I think is it's structure and length. The book is about 100 pages too long in order to accommodate a few plot points that sorta felt unnecessary. I grew weary of the central pages around the 150-180 page mark, and with so many things looking like "ah this is the final conflict" happening and then not being the final conflict, I just kinda kept trudging through the prose wondering when I'd be out of this story tunnel.
That might sound harsh, but once again, there wasn't really a whole lot of "bad stuff" about this story besides the length. Sure, I could nitpick at some of the characters being a bit too cartoonishly evil or some weird sex stuff that don't feel out of place so much as they feel... okay they feel kinda out of place. Still, as I pushed through the final 100 and especially final 15 pages, there were a few lines and paragraphs that were genuinely affecting if the teensiest bit preachy - a quirk that is easily forgiven given the overall vibe of the work.
Ultimately, this it is just hard to give more than three stars to a book I had to force myself to finish. Still, if this book's synopsis made you excited, you'll probably like it more than I did. If, like me, you simply thought it sounded interesting and you are merely curious to see how it is, I'd say prepare to be thoroughly whelmed.
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes