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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I unfortunately just didn't like the writing style. It was quite simplistic, with many short sentences that felt more like telling rather than showing. This made it "easy" to read, but not smooth or vividly descriptive. The adults in the room felt dumbed-down (and therefore like fake people) to make the main characters look cooler, but I was still interested in learning more about the MCs, particularly Evander's "silver". I just wasn't liking enough to push past and find those things out.
adventurous
medium-paced
I’m just giving up on this. I have zero desire to pick this back up. I started it since I needed a book for a long road trip and it worked while I was driving but I wasn’t invested in the story enough to keep going after I got home.
TWs:
The best way I can descibe Beneath the Citadel is as a book combines quite a few tropes that have the potential to create an interesting and fun story, but doesn't give them the space to develop. I think I would have loved the characters, world and ideas that were presented if they were given a bit more breeding room.
Spoiler
child abuse, addiction, suicide, deathThe best way I can descibe Beneath the Citadel is as a book combines quite a few tropes that have the potential to create an interesting and fun story, but doesn't give them the space to develop. I think I would have loved the characters, world and ideas that were presented if they were given a bit more breeding room.
3/5 stars, full review to come! Do u think this book was sponsored by the word maelstrom?
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Pacing: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Enjoyment: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Pacing: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Enjoyment: 3/5
A bi boy, a chubby ace girl with anxiety, a soft, yearning gay boy, and stubborn latina lead and throw them into a high steaks heist? Absolutely.
I hate to admit how long it took me to read this book. It took me a good few months to and it wasn't because I wasn't into the story. I absolutely adored the book and the end even brought me to tears. I adored every character and found myself extremely attached to Alys. I'm definitely not as logical as her, but as someone with a panic disorder, I really understand her. I think that's why it took me so long to get through the story.
But even anxiety couldn't completely keep me away from this story.
I know a few people said they jumping POVs made it annoying for them, but since it had been established since the beginning, I actually didn't mind. I loved having the chance to see each characters thoughts and process their emotions.
I hate to admit how long it took me to read this book. It took me a good few months to and it wasn't because I wasn't into the story. I absolutely adored the book and the end even brought me to tears. I adored every character and found myself extremely attached to Alys. I'm definitely not as logical as her, but as someone with a panic disorder, I really understand her. I think that's why it took me so long to get through the story.
But even anxiety couldn't completely keep me away from this story.
I know a few people said they jumping POVs made it annoying for them, but since it had been established since the beginning, I actually didn't mind. I loved having the chance to see each characters thoughts and process their emotions.
*4.75
I'm usually not a fan of ya due to not being able to connect with writing that's stilted to a younger audience or not being able relate to characters that think and make decisions that I wouldn't.
This though?
I connected with the characters, what drove their arcs, and was engaged with the plot. I had* to know how this story progressed!!
I rooted for them and empathized with them, I understood the pain and grief that they felt, and I wrestled with the what I would have done in their position. I just really connected to the book and I'm so happy I picked up and gave it a chance.
Life isn't black and white, but like some of my favorites quotes say:
"What's the point of a benediction if the divinity you're invoking is dead?"
"What we do is what will be remembered for."
"The rest would be forgotten in time. People died, and their secrets died with them. God's parish. Memories faded. The world moved on. Maybe it wasn't fair, but Vesper didn't think it mattered much in the end. Even when their futures were foretold, people's lives still meant something. Casa might not live forever, even in memory, but she had left, and she had mattered. Vesper couldn't help but think that was legacy enough, even for Casa Valera."
I'm usually not a fan of ya due to not being able to connect with writing that's stilted to a younger audience or not being able relate to characters that think and make decisions that I wouldn't.
This though?
I connected with the characters, what drove their arcs, and was engaged with the plot. I had* to know how this story progressed!!
I rooted for them and empathized with them, I understood the pain and grief that they felt, and I wrestled with the what I would have done in their position. I just really connected to the book and I'm so happy I picked up and gave it a chance.
Life isn't black and white, but like some of my favorites quotes say:
"What's the point of a benediction if the divinity you're invoking is dead?"
"What we do is what will be remembered for."
"The rest would be forgotten in time. People died, and their secrets died with them. God's parish. Memories faded. The world moved on. Maybe it wasn't fair, but Vesper didn't think it mattered much in the end. Even when their futures were foretold, people's lives still meant something. Casa might not live forever, even in memory, but she had left, and she had mattered. Vesper couldn't help but think that was legacy enough, even for Casa Valera."
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Boring.
I don't know whether it was the oddly wan-feeling worldbuilding, the concept itself, or the prose that made me not care about anything that was happening, but this book was a slog to get through.
I think my biggest issue was the prose, and everything else was down hill from there. Many sentences are the same length in this novel, forcing a simplicity into the writing that was difficult to avoid. Even when some descriptions were good, they fell under the weight of the plainness of the rest of the prose, the sheer length of introspection between dialogue, and the boring dialogue. The characters were distinct from one another, but that was it. Somehow even scenes with high adrenaline and violence lacked energy.
I couldn't get into the plot partly because every time the characters came up with a plan, they'd be foiled because someone somewhere predicted the future and thwarted them -- and they'd be shocked every time. It got old. Everything worked out in the end, but then we were forced to read another four or so chapters of "Where are they now?"-style closures that I just realized felt really isolated. I just finished the book and in all these chapters, I don't think the characters really thought about anyone else on the team if they weren't directly in front of them.
I found it difficult to care about anyone, frankly. I've never cared less about a gay romance.Cassa, the protagonist, straight up dies and I felt nothing.
I at least appreciated Cassa's flaws. But that was it, really. The worldbuilding felt generic if only because the author followed the typical boring Fantasy Nomenclature: the rebellion, the council, etc. The magic system was okay, but confusing at first. I think more could have been done to flesh out the world, the religion, and the mechanics. Then this book wouldn't feel like it was missing something.
(A pet peeve of mine: I don't like when Fantsay stories in settings that aren't our world use modern words to describe a character's sexuality, like bisexual or asexual. They take me out. It jumps immediately into showing rather than telling, and gives the author freedom to reveal this info to us without grace. There was even the added sine of giving us a definition of those very words, too.)
I don't know whether it was the oddly wan-feeling worldbuilding, the concept itself, or the prose that made me not care about anything that was happening, but this book was a slog to get through.
I think my biggest issue was the prose, and everything else was down hill from there. Many sentences are the same length in this novel, forcing a simplicity into the writing that was difficult to avoid. Even when some descriptions were good, they fell under the weight of the plainness of the rest of the prose, the sheer length of introspection between dialogue, and the boring dialogue. The characters were distinct from one another, but that was it. Somehow even scenes with high adrenaline and violence lacked energy.
I couldn't get into the plot partly because every time the characters came up with a plan, they'd be foiled because someone somewhere predicted the future and thwarted them -- and they'd be shocked every time. It got old. Everything worked out in the end, but then we were forced to read another four or so chapters of "Where are they now?"-style closures that I just realized felt really isolated. I just finished the book and in all these chapters, I don't think the characters really thought about anyone else on the team if they weren't directly in front of them.
I found it difficult to care about anyone, frankly. I've never cared less about a gay romance.
I at least appreciated Cassa's flaws. But that was it, really. The worldbuilding felt generic if only because the author followed the typical boring Fantasy Nomenclature: the rebellion, the council, etc. The magic system was okay, but confusing at first. I think more could have been done to flesh out the world, the religion, and the mechanics. Then this book wouldn't feel like it was missing something.
(A pet peeve of mine: I don't like when Fantsay stories in settings that aren't our world use modern words to describe a character's sexuality, like bisexual or asexual. They take me out. It jumps immediately into showing rather than telling, and gives the author freedom to reveal this info to us without grace. There was even the added sine of giving us a definition of those very words, too.)