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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
slow-paced
dark
funny
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Kidnapping
I am impressed. Maybe it helped that my partner warned me in advance that the first half of this book was slow and meandering, so I came in with that expectation and was pleasantly surprised that even the side quests, so to speak, presented interesting enough new characters and scenarios that I sped through this monster of a book without any trouble. Could some of it have been cut? Probably, here and there. But I can't say I really minded the diversions. I don't finish a lot of books when get bored. And that definitely didn't happen here. I immensely enjoyed becoming deeply frustrated by both Strange and Norrell's characters and choices. I loved how fully and completely Norrell just kept screwing himself over - very satisfying given how much delight I took in sort of hating him for a while. I will say, I loved the ending for *some* characters, particularly Stephen, but some felt rather incomplete. Segundis and Lady Pole, in particular. I suppose that as the first book in a duology or trilogy, this makes sense. If we ever get a sequel, I hope to find out what this reality makes of concept of witches. I think that would be fascinating.
A small but persistant annoyance to me personally: The F̶a̶i̶r̶y̶ otherworld/other crowd lore seemed mostly Irish, which felt extremely misplaced in an explicitly English setting. There ARE actually English historically appropriate terms that Clarke could have used. To add insult to injury, I'm also pretty sure the audiobook mispronounced some of these Irish terms. Clarke is a gifted enough writer that I'm sure she could have found a way to explain a few new terms in a way that communicates the idea. For me, the Irish terms really took me out of the English worldbuilding. It probably wouldn't bother someone who hasn't ever researched the topic, but tbh I don't think this does justice to either Irish or English history, culture, and lore on the other crowd.
A small but persistant annoyance to me personally: The F̶a̶i̶r̶y̶ otherworld/other crowd lore seemed mostly Irish, which felt extremely misplaced in an explicitly English setting. There ARE actually English historically appropriate terms that Clarke could have used. To add insult to injury, I'm also pretty sure the audiobook mispronounced some of these Irish terms. Clarke is a gifted enough writer that I'm sure she could have found a way to explain a few new terms in a way that communicates the idea. For me, the Irish terms really took me out of the English worldbuilding. It probably wouldn't bother someone who hasn't ever researched the topic, but tbh I don't think this does justice to either Irish or English history, culture, and lore on the other crowd.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Very slow to start, takes ages to get going. A very interesting style of book, worth the long haul.
Very good book! Very character driven with a light sprinkling of story. An excellent mix of quality and quantity, which kept me interested the whole time. Didn't see the ending coming, which was a brilliant close to the story.
Thoroughly hoping for a second!
Thoroughly hoping for a second!
Far too slow paced. Far too much "lore" that distracts from the story.
dark
tense
slow-paced