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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was not at all what I expected
it has all the fantastical natural magic elements ... but so much more too
the story is set in the romanticism in some sort of magical Germany/Netherlands inspired country, which was a bit off putting to me as a German since German just doesn't lend itself well to be the language of whimsy especially when it's riddled with grammatical errors
much more off putting however was the constant antisemitism directed at Lorelei by just about every character underpinning this book, which was especially bad considering the obvious german-ness of every character lol
how did this whimsy magic book turn into a (bad) third Reich allegory?
other than that it was a fun enough read, I really did like the writing style obviously taking inspiration from British romanticism and the travel style of the story. it was well paced with appropriate twists and turns, though the murder mystery takes a backseat pretty quickly. the romance was well done too, maybe there could've been a bit more buildup but the yearning really was peak. over all enjoyable even it if it wasn't what I expected from the blurb
it has all the fantastical natural magic elements ... but so much more too
the story is set in the romanticism in some sort of magical Germany/Netherlands inspired country, which was a bit off putting to me as a German since German just doesn't lend itself well to be the language of whimsy especially when it's riddled with grammatical errors
much more off putting however was the constant antisemitism directed at Lorelei by just about every character underpinning this book, which was especially bad considering the obvious german-ness of every character lol
how did this whimsy magic book turn into a (bad) third Reich allegory?
other than that it was a fun enough read, I really did like the writing style obviously taking inspiration from British romanticism and the travel style of the story. it was well paced with appropriate twists and turns, though the murder mystery takes a backseat pretty quickly. the romance was well done too, maybe there could've been a bit more buildup but the yearning really was peak. over all enjoyable even it if it wasn't what I expected from the blurb
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
I wanted to love this and I recognize there is a lot to love and it is a well written book - clear themes and motives, clear character motivations - yet I never cared enough about any of the characters to really click with this. Don't let that deter you from picking up the book because that is very subjective. Sadly though, that is what I experienced. I would absolutely try other books by Allison Saft.
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-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
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
this book started off so strong and then kinda plummeted at the end.
The vibes are so good when we're doing a murder mystery on a boat with faeries. Like, I was having so much fun. Even when there was no more boat and we were just wandering, it was still a good time. I thought Lorelei was a likeably frustrating main character, and the rest of the cast was distinct and compelling.
As a Jew, I was a bit skeptical of the fantasy Judaism (mostly in that it is literally just Judaism, unchanged outside of the name), but I was willing to let that go once we talked about rabbis debating whether or not faerie cows would be kosher. Peak Judaism, truly.
Everything shifted for me at about the 75% mark, though. Lorelei goes from understandably flawed to frustratingly dumb and inconsistent. The rest of the cast devolves into caricatures that move the plot along, and don't even get me started on Sylvia at the end. I feel like every trait we ascribed to her got thrown out for either the sake of the plot or the sake of the relationship and it was super dumb.
The climax of this book also revolves around a blatant plot hole.We are told that the Vanishing Isle appears at night on the new moon, and then disappears come morning. Every new moon, it appears somewhere else in the world, and exists nowhere for the rest of the month. And yet! When the crew arrives on the Isle they are there for multiple days, spending at least two nights there before finally leaving. This might have worked if the island, perhaps, dropped them somewhere in the middle of nowhere when they finally leave, but we don't see this! We just skip from Lorelei killing Adelheid to everyone back on the boat arriving home. So who knows what was even going on with the island that is supposed to vanish after, like, twelve hours. Things like this just made the ending feel sloppy and rushed.
This book had so much potential, but it unfortunately decided to squander all of it in the last 100 pages.
The vibes are so good when we're doing a murder mystery on a boat with faeries. Like, I was having so much fun. Even when there was no more boat and we were just wandering, it was still a good time. I thought Lorelei was a likeably frustrating main character, and the rest of the cast was distinct and compelling.
As a Jew, I was a bit skeptical of the fantasy Judaism (mostly in that it is literally just Judaism, unchanged outside of the name), but I was willing to let that go once we talked about rabbis debating whether or not faerie cows would be kosher. Peak Judaism, truly.
Everything shifted for me at about the 75% mark, though. Lorelei goes from understandably flawed to frustratingly dumb and inconsistent. The rest of the cast devolves into caricatures that move the plot along, and don't even get me started on Sylvia at the end. I feel like every trait we ascribed to her got thrown out for either the sake of the plot or the sake of the relationship and it was super dumb.
The climax of this book also revolves around a blatant plot hole.
This book had so much potential, but it unfortunately decided to squander all of it in the last 100 pages.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a complete letdown. You can tell that the author came up with the premise of "dark academia gothic sapphic rivals to lovers" first and added the other very extraneous-feeling elements later to add to the vibes. The vibes were certainly there, but everything else fell so flat that I was just left disappointed in the end.
The extraneous stuff added for the vibes:
The extraneous stuff added for the vibes:
- First of all, this book shouldn't be classified as dark academia because the university is irrelevant as a setting and none of the characters actually use their specialties for anything. No studying, no research, nothing. Any mentions of collecting data and research feel like set dressing.
- The folklore aspects. The mc Lorelei is a folklorist (except she actually wanted to be a naturalist, but that was never shown in her interactions with the natural world) and will recount the obligatory folk tale every once in a while, but it all felt very shoehorned in. We only meet a few creatures who tend to blend together and don't learn much about Lorelei's work, nor see her use her academic skills very much. This ain't no Emily Wilde that's for sure
- The murder mystery. I'm honestly not sure why this plot was even included in the first place considering Lorelei, a supposedly sharp and analytical person, is so terrible at investigating (she found a clue in her room and completely forgot about it) that the killer (who she never suspected bc she never bothered investigating) had to reveal themselves to get that plot wrapped up
- The side characters' relationships. Idk why but the author made the other members of the expedition group childhood friends with the emperor and each other and also war veterans and also former nobility of their colonized nations. They also had some sort of polycule thing going on idk. You'd think this would be delved into deeper but it isn't and most of these characters disappear for large parts of the book anyways. We're also seeing them from Lorelei's pov, and she hates them all, so you're not exactly endeared to them
- The politics. Why would you put in anticolonial messages throughout your entire book and have the mcs discuss how bad it would be if the emperor got more power...only to have them serve him in the end for the sake of "stability" and make the character who rebels against colonialism the bad guy? And have the mcs get married and go "ooh maybe our love will solve prejudice". It honestly feels like the author just wanted to finish the book and ended things quickly
It's a shame bc the romance is sweet, the writing is beautiful, and Lorelei's character was well explored. Unfortunately this book was just a mess