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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
thought I was going to read about an intriguing concept about a guy who discovers the truth about a sent postcard...why do I feel like I read some sort of gay time warp romance(nothing wrong with that) and a story about people on a boat?! geez, the time warps and adventures are so tedious that I found myself skimming through this book, without connecting with the characters, when I was a little over half in. yep, the premise did not deliver.
1.5 stars
1.5 stars
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
☀️☀️☀️🌤️
🌈 Happy Pride Month 🌈 all of the books I'm reading in June are proudly Pride-centric in celebration 🎉
▪️An intricate, layered and thoughtful time travel narrative that weaves through a mystery, romance and war.
It was a totally wild ride that I'm not sure I've fully processed yet. I can't think of a coherent way to review this yet so I'm just going to list the positives and negatives below for future examination
▪️ There are loads of positives here: the quality of writing really helped to unfold the mystery organically as it needed to, and Joe as an unreliable narrator is interesting to follow. The characterisation of the main players was handled well, but sometimes the heaviness of the plot interfered with the romantic arc too much for my liking. The amount of powerful female characters was wonderful but they did take a sideline to the men too often, when I can think of instances where they could have been better utilised. The multiverse of historical differences were fascinating to explore and Pulley felt in her element writing these sorts of scenes
▪️There are also some negatives I need to mull over: there are elements of the plot that feel unresolved for me, considering how much this style of book relies on unveiling and linking up ideas. The biggest question mark for me lies in why so many people were willing to lie to Joe about who he is, and what that gain actually was (the given answer from Kite felt too irrelevant to me in the grand scheme of this story). The ending felt more rushed than the rest of the book, and the choice to speed up historical changes and erase part of Joe's family felt too coordinated and artificial to really hold me emotionally, which is unfortunate because the scale of the story needed to be anchored in the connection between Joe and Kite
▪️I'm not sure if I can separate my thoughts adequately but I would still encourage others to read this, if only for the rollercoaster of a narrative that Pulley takes you on, which may not be totally successful for me, but is a ride I'm glad I took.
"He wasn't used to hearing authority in an English voice and it was so strange he wanted to tell the man to knock it off, except it clearly wasn't a joke. When the man sat down, he did it like a gentleman, his ankles crossed, posture neat. He looked like the kind of person who would sit like that even if someone set him on fire."
☀️☀️☀️🌤️
🌈 Happy Pride Month 🌈 all of the books I'm reading in June are proudly Pride-centric in celebration 🎉
▪️An intricate, layered and thoughtful time travel narrative that weaves through a mystery, romance and war.
It was a totally wild ride that I'm not sure I've fully processed yet. I can't think of a coherent way to review this yet so I'm just going to list the positives and negatives below for future examination
▪️ There are loads of positives here: the quality of writing really helped to unfold the mystery organically as it needed to, and Joe as an unreliable narrator is interesting to follow. The characterisation of the main players was handled well, but sometimes the heaviness of the plot interfered with the romantic arc too much for my liking. The amount of powerful female characters was wonderful but they did take a sideline to the men too often, when I can think of instances where they could have been better utilised. The multiverse of historical differences were fascinating to explore and Pulley felt in her element writing these sorts of scenes
▪️There are also some negatives I need to mull over: there are elements of the plot that feel unresolved for me, considering how much this style of book relies on unveiling and linking up ideas. The biggest question mark for me lies in why so many people were willing to lie to Joe about who he is, and what that gain actually was (the given answer from Kite felt too irrelevant to me in the grand scheme of this story). The ending felt more rushed than the rest of the book, and the choice to speed up historical changes and erase part of Joe's family felt too coordinated and artificial to really hold me emotionally, which is unfortunate because the scale of the story needed to be anchored in the connection between Joe and Kite
▪️I'm not sure if I can separate my thoughts adequately but I would still encourage others to read this, if only for the rollercoaster of a narrative that Pulley takes you on, which may not be totally successful for me, but is a ride I'm glad I took.
"He wasn't used to hearing authority in an English voice and it was so strange he wanted to tell the man to knock it off, except it clearly wasn't a joke. When the man sat down, he did it like a gentleman, his ankles crossed, posture neat. He looked like the kind of person who would sit like that even if someone set him on fire."
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
Best fucking book I’ve ever read. Jesus Christ. Nothing compares. Kite is my little cowboy sailor who can do NO WRONG. I am so so so so glad he got a happy ending :’)
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is the first book in years that made me feel about reading the way it did when I was a kid.
I absolutely loved this story and I know I’ll want to read it again eventually!
The story of The Kingdoms in a historical alternate reality. The majority of the story centers around the 1800s in England and France.
This is a timey wimey story (apologies for the Doctor Who reference), and I really enjoyed that aspect of it! It was concise and clearly demarcated when there was a switch in time or place. Time travel is one of my favorite sub genres so I was really excited it was done well in this book!
My only real criticism of the writing style was that so many scenes in the book are very emotionally charged and had the potential to carry a lot of heavy-hitting weight with them. Occasionally, though, these scenes either ended a little quickly or fell just short of where I felt their potential lied. I wish Pulley had invested a little more in these scenes because these characters have great chemistry with each other and it would be so easy to really pack in the emotional gravity of some scenes.
The queerness of this book also isn’t front and center, and, really, is hardly addressed at all. By the time I was about halfway through, I was still trying to decide if the MCs were actually queer or if I was just coloring it with my own perceptions.
Maybe this is intentional or maybe this is another aspect that could have been a little more fleshed out. I really didn’t mind this part, though, because it wasn’t the main focal point of the plot but did serve as a pleasant secondary story.
Overall, this is a really exciting, engaging, and mysterious story with some GREAT plot twists multiple times throughout. I really enjoyed this one and absolutely want to add it to my collection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, War, Classism
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Blood
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Complicated