Reviews

In the Vanishers' Palace by Aliette de Bodard

esai's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

We all stumble. We all fail. You always do the same thing: you apologize and change, again and again and again. There’ll never be a place where everything is right, but we can try our best to strive towards it. It’s the striving that defines us.

gaymie90's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

thenowofmylife's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-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

2.5

jade4913's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

johnnytomatoseed's review

medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Huge plus for really interesting world-building and subtle horror elements
The romance (main part of the book) did not interest me

shomarq's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.25

eviegomez's review

3.0

3.5 stars just because I felt it was a little too fast paced

bookworm_in_fabula's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

aardwyrm's review

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The world is so interesting, but the story focuses entirely on everyone learning very straightforward communication skills to the point where it feels like an episode of a kid's show with a slightly muddled but very didactic moral. Also, the romance is very central, but the beauty and beast analogues are immediately horny for each other before they know anything about each other, so there's no tension in that throughline. I'd much rather know more about how the invasion of magical alien monsters twisted the world and the fabric of society.

napkins's review

3.0

I feel like I would have really loved this had it been a full novel - as it is, it sets up its mythology and characters beautifully, but it left me wanting so much more from it. There's a lot going on and a lot to set up and while almost every sentence has some sort of worldbuilding or reveal within it, it still feels like not quite enough. I adore the world its set in though; it straddles the lines between speculative and magical realism and fantasy so well, while still having that fairy-tale edge to it, with its magic system of bending reality with words and the lingering specter of the Vanishers, who went too far with it and finding one's place in the ruins left behind.