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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Absolutely a page turner, but very confusing and I didn't care about any of the characters too much. But very creepy and unknown.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
really good poetic verse framed by an existential sci-fi fantasy narrative. 4.5 stars
I cannot decide how I feel about this book. It started slow and I really didn't enjoy the first 100 pages, but eventually I was a little interested. Then I was increasingly confused but was still eager to read more. But in the end, I truly have no idea what happened.
This was a curiously interesting concept for a book, but I got tired of reading a lot of words that didn't mean anything all strung together, trying to sound profound and on a level my mere human mind couldn't understand, but were ultimately gibberish. They were Words? What does that mean? We never learn their ultimate purpose.
The overly strict "study, study, study for this exam or DIE" got so repetitive it lost all meaning. At one point I was sure Sasha was going to murder her family to be free of the constant threat. I was disappointed we didn't learn why Farit offered Sasha a chance to erase her time at the Institute in the final pages. I hope in book two they brought down the Institute together, but I don't think I'll attend to find out unless Farit forces me to.
This was a curiously interesting concept for a book, but I got tired of reading a lot of words that didn't mean anything all strung together, trying to sound profound and on a level my mere human mind couldn't understand, but were ultimately gibberish. They were Words? What does that mean? We never learn their ultimate purpose.
The overly strict "study, study, study for this exam or DIE" got so repetitive it lost all meaning. At one point I was sure Sasha was going to murder her family to be free of the constant threat. I was disappointed we didn't learn why Farit offered Sasha a chance to erase her time at the Institute in the final pages. I hope in book two they brought down the Institute together, but I don't think I'll attend to find out unless Farit forces me to.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really wanted to like this more than I did. I actually think on the surface this is a great book for me, but the actual plot and characters...idk they just all fell flat for me. For what Dyachenko seemed to be trying to do, I think she did it well? It's hard for me to judge since it just didn't really work for me. I really liked the beginning of this book and had high hopes, but as the plot continued, it started feeling really tedious and repetitive. I think this book could've been 100 pages shorter and still achieved the same goals.
I had no connection to Sasha -- didn't relate to her really at all. Her relationships with people and how she interacted with them baffled me. I wonder if it's a cultural mismatch here? I think the way she treats Kostia and Yegor (I don't know how to spell these names, I listened to the whole thing) was kind of cold, especially when Kostia tells her he loves her and she is just like "Well I don't love you"...OUCH.
I did actually like her tutors/mentors. They were harsh, and I would not have wanted them to be MY tutors, but I found them to be really interesting characters. While I like the dark school trope, this representation of it didn't really work for me. Harry Potter is canon, but since then, I've read a couple other books that had really fascinating magic school worlds/systems, like A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik and Babel by R. F. Kuang. To be honest, Vita Nostra really reminded me a lot of Babel at first, and continued to, which made immersing myself in VN's world harder, especially when I like how Kuang wrote her school/vibe more.
In general, I think the themes/topics of this book just didn't interest me that much, which is a bummer. As of right now, I don't think I'll continue this series.
I had no connection to Sasha -- didn't relate to her really at all. Her relationships with people and how she interacted with them baffled me. I wonder if it's a cultural mismatch here? I think the way she treats Kostia and Yegor (I don't know how to spell these names, I listened to the whole thing) was kind of cold, especially when Kostia tells her he loves her and she is just like "Well I don't love you"...OUCH.
I did actually like her tutors/mentors. They were harsh, and I would not have wanted them to be MY tutors, but I found them to be really interesting characters. While I like the dark school trope, this representation of it didn't really work for me. Harry Potter is canon, but since then, I've read a couple other books that had really fascinating magic school worlds/systems, like A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik and Babel by R. F. Kuang. To be honest, Vita Nostra really reminded me a lot of Babel at first, and continued to, which made immersing myself in VN's world harder, especially when I like how Kuang wrote her school/vibe more.
In general, I think the themes/topics of this book just didn't interest me that much, which is a bummer. As of right now, I don't think I'll continue this series.
This was... an experience. It was exactly like I expected it to be atmospherically--strange and eerie and at times horrific--it just wasn't for me. I guess I came into this book expecting more magic, more worldbuilding, which is kind of on me because the synopsis never misled me in that regard. Anyway, the book was fine: long, interesting at times, but mostly unmemorable. I love the cover though.
--
Ok I just came back from reading some reviews and now I remember why I was feeling misled. Why are people comparing this to The Magicians and Harry Potter???
--
Ok I just came back from reading some reviews and now I remember why I was feeling misled. Why are people comparing this to The Magicians and Harry Potter???
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
4.75/5. So, I read this entire book in one day. I'm not certain how I managed that between my daily duties, but I couldn't put it down. At first, the lack of consent bothered me (and still bothers me a bit), but by the end, the "why" *mostly* makes sense - though I do think explaining things to the students regardless of their understanding from the get go would be a better way to go, only resorting to other methods if that information didn't take. This was a terse read until some things were revealed, but the reveal was adequately weird (I'm used to reading much stranger) and well thought out - reminded me of some aspects of esoteric Judaism mixed with a Jasper Fforde novel - and the conclusion was satisfying. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
Great choice for "V" if you're doing the A-Z challenge!
Great choice for "V" if you're doing the A-Z challenge!