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ephermeyal's review against another edition
4.75
beautiful writing and interesting multi-faceted characters. Asmodeus is someone I like to hate and Thuan is my baby
vae's review against another edition
4.0
Loved it just as much as, if not more than the first. Wonderful worldbuilding and mix of narrative characters to give different perspectives.
anywiebs's review against another edition
5.0
Oh this was just so captivating and hard to put down. More of the characters I enjoy.
blacksentai's review
So. I a just not into books where bad things keep happening. It stops being interesting at all to me. I know what's going to come next, the worst option. This book does a lot of that and sapped all the enjoyment I was getting right out of it.
And the book relies heavily on the one plot point from the first book that felt the most forced. I still never feel like I've gotten enough from that relationship to make all of one character's decisions make sense to me.
And the book relies heavily on the one plot point from the first book that felt the most forced. I still never feel like I've gotten enough from that relationship to make all of one character's decisions make sense to me.
sparklefarm's review against another edition
4.0
Are you interested in lesbian trans fallen angels? Dragon kingdoms? Colonial conquest translated into fantasy wars? Then this book is for you.
I'm just really enjoying this world and will probably read everything de Bodard writes about it, just to live there as long as I can. (Not that I'd actually want to live there. It's cutthroat and ruthless.) But this book, just like Shattered Wings, is immediately immersive, without lengthy worldbuilding. It's even readable as a standalone. The cast of characters did feel unwieldy at times, but the main characters are vivid and well-crafted. What I think I loved most (and was most frustrating for me, a happy-ending-wanter) was how incredibly imperfect our characters were, with questionable intentions, but depicted in such a way that I felt incredibly drawn to them still.
Reading more immediately.
I'm just really enjoying this world and will probably read everything de Bodard writes about it, just to live there as long as I can. (Not that I'd actually want to live there. It's cutthroat and ruthless.) But this book, just like Shattered Wings, is immediately immersive, without lengthy worldbuilding. It's even readable as a standalone. The cast of characters did feel unwieldy at times, but the main characters are vivid and well-crafted. What I think I loved most (and was most frustrating for me, a happy-ending-wanter) was how incredibly imperfect our characters were, with questionable intentions, but depicted in such a way that I felt incredibly drawn to them still.
Reading more immediately.
kelic's review against another edition
3.0
I spent about the first hundred or so pages trying to remember what happened in the first book. It came back, slowly but I don't know if it would've made much difference.
I love the grittiness of a world run by fallen angels. I also love how most of the characters are POC or gay, which means minorities are the majority, not the token characters.
Not sure if I will carry on. There are two more and with my local library still not doing book reservations,I would have to buy and, quite frankly angels aren't my thing, even wingless ones.
I love the grittiness of a world run by fallen angels. I also love how most of the characters are POC or gay, which means minorities are the majority, not the token characters.
Not sure if I will carry on. There are two more and with my local library still not doing book reservations,I would have to buy and, quite frankly angels aren't my thing, even wingless ones.
kaa's review
5.0
Reread: Completely worth a second read. Gripping, intense, and beautiful.
Original review: I loved this book so much! The House of Binding Thorns takes all of the things I really enjoyed in The House of Shattered Wings and intensifies them. I like Aliette de Bodard's writing style a lot, and I adore how queer her books are - this one even more than the previous. I think the biggest difference between the two (and probably the thing that raised this above the first for me) was that the plot shifted from murder mystery to really truly focus on politics. I loved all the plotting and double-crossing and general twisty-ness going on.
I continue to be a big fan of the characters. Madeline grew on me a lot in this book - she was probably my least favorite of the narrators in the first book, but I really appreciated her role in this one. Although the plot isn't directly related to the first book, I do think this book is likely to be far better when read after at least that novel, and ideally the short stories set in this world as well.
Original review: I loved this book so much! The House of Binding Thorns takes all of the things I really enjoyed in The House of Shattered Wings and intensifies them. I like Aliette de Bodard's writing style a lot, and I adore how queer her books are - this one even more than the previous. I think the biggest difference between the two (and probably the thing that raised this above the first for me) was that the plot shifted from murder mystery to really truly focus on politics. I loved all the plotting and double-crossing and general twisty-ness going on.
I continue to be a big fan of the characters. Madeline grew on me a lot in this book - she was probably my least favorite of the narrators in the first book, but I really appreciated her role in this one. Although the plot isn't directly related to the first book, I do think this book is likely to be far better when read after at least that novel, and ideally the short stories set in this world as well.
invisibleninjacat's review
4.0
A very good follow-on to the first in the series and the short story that followed. I really liked the ending, and exploring more of the dragon kingdom and what made it tick.
Update: I had to reread to remember how Thuan and Asmodeus ended up in this one. I still really like reading about the dragon kingdom - the Vietnamese mythology is new to me. I really like Thuan too, and I've got some mixed feelings about Asmodeus. Madeline's POV kind of annoys me, though, and I don't super understand Philippe.
Update: I had to reread to remember how Thuan and Asmodeus ended up in this one. I still really like reading about the dragon kingdom - the Vietnamese mythology is new to me. I really like Thuan too, and I've got some mixed feelings about Asmodeus. Madeline's POV kind of annoys me, though, and I don't super understand Philippe.
fairiesnest's review against another edition
5.0
I'm loving this series! The characters are complex and diverse; the plot elements are incredibly original, and the settings...oh my god the settings! A magical war has left Paris a city of crumbling ruins and polluted the river Seine which houses a decaying kingdom of dragons. Both are so well imagined that you can practically smell the mildew, and yet both are also full of beauty. There's intrigue, class and cultural tensions, love in many different forms, and did I mention dragons!? This was a wonderful read. Highly recommended.
sagelund's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25