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rosieclaverton's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely gripping novel in the Split Worlds series. I hated everyone at some point in the book, but up is down and down is up - I am surprised by who I ended up rooting for!
Also, Princess Rani’s speech? BEST SPEECH.
I rarely jump straight into the next book of a series but I am going to do that right now. I need to know how it ends!
Also, Princess Rani’s speech? BEST SPEECH.
I rarely jump straight into the next book of a series but I am going to do that right now. I need to know how it ends!
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
4.0
A key premise of the later books is the oppression of women in the Nether and Cathy's fight to bring them feminism. There’s loads of fantastic threads but Cathy’s unending desire to fix society is forefront in A Little Knowledge.
I am getting into Sam's story a lot more. He is now Lord Iron and in charge of a massive, unethical, corporation which he very much wants to change. He’s getting as much resistance as Cathy in his desire for change. The Elemental Court is full of people who care more about money than caring for the environment, but maybe there’s more to it than meets the eye.
I wish more time was given to Max and the Gargoyle. It’s starting to come across that maybe what was done to Max wasn’t right and there’s something intrinsically wrong with removing a soul to make an arbiter. The Gargoyle’s been starting to act a bit oddly, with a lot of interest in Max’s past.
One thing I've found with this series is that each instalment takes a long time to get going. I get to a point where it suddenly becomes amazing but then it's over all too soon. It has been a while since the last book was published but if you were reading the series back to back there would be a lot of re-treading of old ground.
Cathy's plans for social change are not moving quickly, in fact at times they seem to be going backwards. She doesn't want to do things by halves but often she's in a situation where a compromise would be the best option. Compromise doesn't seem to be in her vocabulary though. Previously Will had come across as supportive of Cathy but he's starting to see how Cathy's beliefs are making things awkward for him. I think he genuinely cares for Cathy but their wellbeing is more important to him than the rest of the female fae.
I love this series but I am getting to the point where I crave some sort of conclusions. Some of the threads appear to have gone full circle and sometimes I feel as frustrated as Cathy. I’m looking forward to some closure in the next book.
Review copy provided by publisher.
I am getting into Sam's story a lot more. He is now Lord Iron and in charge of a massive, unethical, corporation which he very much wants to change. He’s getting as much resistance as Cathy in his desire for change. The Elemental Court is full of people who care more about money than caring for the environment, but maybe there’s more to it than meets the eye.
I wish more time was given to Max and the Gargoyle. It’s starting to come across that maybe what was done to Max wasn’t right and there’s something intrinsically wrong with removing a soul to make an arbiter. The Gargoyle’s been starting to act a bit oddly, with a lot of interest in Max’s past.
One thing I've found with this series is that each instalment takes a long time to get going. I get to a point where it suddenly becomes amazing but then it's over all too soon. It has been a while since the last book was published but if you were reading the series back to back there would be a lot of re-treading of old ground.
Cathy's plans for social change are not moving quickly, in fact at times they seem to be going backwards. She doesn't want to do things by halves but often she's in a situation where a compromise would be the best option. Compromise doesn't seem to be in her vocabulary though. Previously Will had come across as supportive of Cathy but he's starting to see how Cathy's beliefs are making things awkward for him. I think he genuinely cares for Cathy but their wellbeing is more important to him than the rest of the female fae.
I love this series but I am getting to the point where I crave some sort of conclusions. Some of the threads appear to have gone full circle and sometimes I feel as frustrated as Cathy. I’m looking forward to some closure in the next book.
Review copy provided by publisher.
ebokhyllami's review against another edition
4.0
Fjerdeboka i Split Worlds-serien. Newman kan virkelig det å skape karakterer! Parallelle verdener, feer, puppets og mennesker i skjønn forening. Fantasy-serie lagt til Bath/London/Manchester England. Absolutt leseverdig! Har nå ei bok igjen i serien. Here I come :-)
spriggana's review
4.0
The series had been unusal reading experience for me. The first volume had been interesting but for some unexplicable reason I could not really get into it. So I tried reading few last chapters – that went OK. I came back to continue from beginning and stalled again after several pages. So I went and read a few previous-to-last chapters – no stalling. In the end I finished whole book in that manner reading in chunks from end to beginning. And the „it’s interesting, but cannot get into it” feeling had been there for the other 3 volumes, so I read all 4 in this somewhat unusual manner, and now I'm waiting for the final one wondering if I should try to read it in the conventional way or give up and start at the ending. ;-)
waclements7's review against another edition
5.0
So much happens here! The Irises really tick me off. Yay for Gujerat and Lucy for telling Tom the truth about how backwards they are. Yay for Sam for telling the truth. Boy, people really don’t like the truth. They can’t _handle_ the truth. I so feel for Cathy. Boo to Will. Yay to Oliver. ???? Beatrice. Boo to Eleanor, too. Cathy saved her. I am so, so glad I am reading these when they are all out. I would be going bonkers otherwise. It’s a great gift to find an awesome series that’s already completed.
cozy_books_reviews's review against another edition
4.0
I can't believe how much I didn't like the first half of this book and how much I loved the second half.
Cathy is a great main character. I love her passion and everything she's fighting for. I want her to succeed. Sometimes she can be a little reckless (she threatens people without thinking of what the repercussions might be. Not just for her but for others too), but it's understandable.
Will... I like his character, but only because he makes me so angry. He has good intentions, but every single thing he does is wrong. I just want him to do the right thing once.
Max is a good character, with so much potential, but I feel like it's wasted most of the time. He's just there to fix things in the end.
Sam. I don't like Sam. I just don't. He's boring and his pov is boring. He trusts random people and he's just as reckless as Cathy. It really bothers me how much I'm supposed to believe he's changed in this book; in book 1 I imagined him as a plain man, maybe with e beer belly, who doesn't take care of himself. Now I'm supposed to believe he's super handsome with muscles and power. I just can't see it.
One issue: I hate love triangles. I hope this is not where the series will go.
Cathy is a great main character. I love her passion and everything she's fighting for. I want her to succeed. Sometimes she can be a little reckless (she threatens people without thinking of what the repercussions might be. Not just for her but for others too), but it's understandable.
Will... I like his character, but only because he makes me so angry. He has good intentions, but every single thing he does is wrong. I just want him to do the right thing once.
Max is a good character, with so much potential, but I feel like it's wasted most of the time. He's just there to fix things in the end.
Sam. I don't like Sam. I just don't. He's boring and his pov is boring. He trusts random people and he's just as reckless as Cathy. It really bothers me how much I'm supposed to believe he's changed in this book; in book 1 I imagined him as a plain man, maybe with e beer belly, who doesn't take care of himself. Now I'm supposed to believe he's super handsome with muscles and power. I just can't see it.
One issue: I hate love triangles. I hope this is not where the series will go.
amandacole's review against another edition
3.0
Originally posted on Desert Island Book Reviews
This is book four in The Split Worlds series. If you haven't read the first three, don't read this review!
I've been anxiously waiting to read this book since I read the first one last month. I'm so glad I didn't have to wait very long between books because of my good timing, but I have to say that I was a little disappointed. This series has been pulling me along with good momentum and with interesting characters and plot, but for me, this installment didn't measure up.
For starters, not much happened to advance the story. Yes, there's Cathy's ongoing battle for women's rights in the Nether, but not much came of it, aside from angry men. This book had quite a lot of angry men in it, as well as women who were victimized in one way or another. The gender dynamics in the Nether have been this way since the first book, but they've never been as obviously displayed as they were here. Even characters that had seemed like they might be decent are misogynistic, and women who had seemed to be very meek are suddenly all about standing up for themselves. It was frustrating to read.
And Will — ugh! He really has turned into the villain for me. Most of the things that he'd done weren't great before, but there were glimmers of hope for him. I'd thought that maybe he was redeemable, but nope. This book really showed Will for who he really is, and that's not someone I can support in any way. I'm sad that he didn't turn out to be a revolutionary, and I hope Cathy manages to change things in spite of his dedication to the status quo.
The Elemental Court is weird and I'm not sure I can see how it plays into the larger story anymore. I can definitely see how Sam is relevant, and there were a few inklings of how he's going to continue to play a big role in the evolution of the Nether, but the rest of them just seem like corporate bullies. I'm not sure they're necessary at all. I still like Sam, and aside from Max, I think he's the only male character that doesn't drive me totally crazy.
This book was still enjoyable, but I wish a lot more had happened, or at least that something big with a real impact had happened. I think that the end of this book foreshadows something very interesting, but the earlier bits were uncharacteristically dull. It was a lot of men doing something stupid, or Cathy doing something reckless, and that just isn't interesting enough for a full book. I'm excited to read the next book (whenever it comes out), but for me, this one just wasn't up to scratch. I gave it three stars.
*ARC from NetGalley
This is book four in The Split Worlds series. If you haven't read the first three, don't read this review!
I've been anxiously waiting to read this book since I read the first one last month. I'm so glad I didn't have to wait very long between books because of my good timing, but I have to say that I was a little disappointed. This series has been pulling me along with good momentum and with interesting characters and plot, but for me, this installment didn't measure up.
For starters, not much happened to advance the story. Yes, there's Cathy's ongoing battle for women's rights in the Nether, but not much came of it, aside from angry men. This book had quite a lot of angry men in it, as well as women who were victimized in one way or another. The gender dynamics in the Nether have been this way since the first book, but they've never been as obviously displayed as they were here. Even characters that had seemed like they might be decent are misogynistic, and women who had seemed to be very meek are suddenly all about standing up for themselves. It was frustrating to read.
And Will — ugh! He really has turned into the villain for me. Most of the things that he'd done weren't great before, but there were glimmers of hope for him. I'd thought that maybe he was redeemable, but nope. This book really showed Will for who he really is, and that's not someone I can support in any way. I'm sad that he didn't turn out to be a revolutionary, and I hope Cathy manages to change things in spite of his dedication to the status quo.
The Elemental Court is weird and I'm not sure I can see how it plays into the larger story anymore. I can definitely see how Sam is relevant, and there were a few inklings of how he's going to continue to play a big role in the evolution of the Nether, but the rest of them just seem like corporate bullies. I'm not sure they're necessary at all. I still like Sam, and aside from Max, I think he's the only male character that doesn't drive me totally crazy.
This book was still enjoyable, but I wish a lot more had happened, or at least that something big with a real impact had happened. I think that the end of this book foreshadows something very interesting, but the earlier bits were uncharacteristically dull. It was a lot of men doing something stupid, or Cathy doing something reckless, and that just isn't interesting enough for a full book. I'm excited to read the next book (whenever it comes out), but for me, this one just wasn't up to scratch. I gave it three stars.
*ARC from NetGalley
leticiatoraci's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best book series I've read in a very long time.
Emma Newman is an awesome writer and her audiobook narration of this series is perfect too!
Emma Newman is an awesome writer and her audiobook narration of this series is perfect too!
kate_in_a_book's review against another edition
5.0
The story still centres on Cathy – one of the “fae-touched” humans, whose life is controlled by the Fae – and Max, whose job is to protect innocent humans from magical misdeeds, such as being disappeared. Cathy must now live in the Nether, a magical reflection of the human world, known as Mundanus. Though she theoretically inhabits a powerful position in fae-touched society, she is frustrated by the confines of an extremely patriarchal system. Her experience in Mundanus exposed her to feminism and women’s rights – thoroughly foreign concepts in the Nether. But the resistance to her proposed changes is so extreme that she wonders if something else is going on.
Cathy’s trust in her husband is tested over and over again. He pays lip service to supporting her, but he is under pressure from Lord Iris to have a child and that is where his efforts really lie. Meanwhile, Sam is learning what his new job entails, and – like Cathy – that having money and power does not necessarily make it easier to make the world a better place. At least not while there are other people with money and power who think things are fine as they are. Max and the Gargoyle continue to provide light relief, but they too have depth and history woven into their story.
Read my full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2017/06/08/the-delicacy-and-insight-of-a-cat-with-its-head-stuck-in-a-box/
Cathy’s trust in her husband is tested over and over again. He pays lip service to supporting her, but he is under pressure from Lord Iris to have a child and that is where his efforts really lie. Meanwhile, Sam is learning what his new job entails, and – like Cathy – that having money and power does not necessarily make it easier to make the world a better place. At least not while there are other people with money and power who think things are fine as they are. Max and the Gargoyle continue to provide light relief, but they too have depth and history woven into their story.
Read my full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2017/06/08/the-delicacy-and-insight-of-a-cat-with-its-head-stuck-in-a-box/