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agbrom73's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
tale_of_tales's review against another edition
5.0
Throughout reading this book there had to have been 17 times I imagined writing a Goodreads review complaining about something different. But she really tied it up nicely and I don’t have anything to complain about anymore
Emotional torment going through this book
Emotional torment going through this book
melissasbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
A pretty good conclusion to this series. Rosamund Hodge is creative and this story shows her ability to take a known story (Romeo and Juliet) and turn it completely on its head with a fantastical storyline that really draws you in. I wish I had actually read the book instead of listened to it. I think I may have missed some things, but therein lies the problem. There were too many parts that could have been skipped over and the story would have been just fine. The characters were engaging and the story was good. There were just some parts that seemed unnecessary, confusing or a little redundant. Overall though, I enjoyed the books and look forward to more by this author.
laughlinesandliterature's review against another edition
4.0
*I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
This book is a tough one to review. The world building and character development is incredible. I can’t believe the level of detail that was involved here in making this world believable. However, this book was incredibly tough to get into. I can read a book this size in about a day but it took me 3 days. I had a hard time connecting to Runajo. I understood her reasons, they made sense and were believable but I didn’t like her. I also had a hard time getting around without Paris’s point of view in this book. Romeo just didn’t have the same perspective, and I just felt bad for those from Juliet’s point of view. For me the book really picked up towards the end, when Juliet saves the world. Those chapters were beautifully written and flowed together in a way that the rest of the book didn’t. If anything it highlighted the disjointedness in the beginning. I think this was a great ending to the duology and I would say that I enjoyed the series and this book as a whole. That disconnect in the beginning shaved off 2 stars, but the beautiful finish gave a star back. 4 out of 5 stars, and this is for fans of fantasy and revisited stories.
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2018/09/endless-water-starless-sky-by-rosamund-hodge-review.html*
This book is a tough one to review. The world building and character development is incredible. I can’t believe the level of detail that was involved here in making this world believable. However, this book was incredibly tough to get into. I can read a book this size in about a day but it took me 3 days. I had a hard time connecting to Runajo. I understood her reasons, they made sense and were believable but I didn’t like her. I also had a hard time getting around without Paris’s point of view in this book. Romeo just didn’t have the same perspective, and I just felt bad for those from Juliet’s point of view. For me the book really picked up towards the end, when Juliet saves the world. Those chapters were beautifully written and flowed together in a way that the rest of the book didn’t. If anything it highlighted the disjointedness in the beginning. I think this was a great ending to the duology and I would say that I enjoyed the series and this book as a whole. That disconnect in the beginning shaved off 2 stars, but the beautiful finish gave a star back. 4 out of 5 stars, and this is for fans of fantasy and revisited stories.
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2018/09/endless-water-starless-sky-by-rosamund-hodge-review.html*
edressa's review against another edition
5.0
I cried several times and I am absolutely not embarrassed to admit it
Anyway, on a more serious note, I think this duology being promoted as YA kind of harmed it in the long run? It's excellent, but I feel like the reading level is a lot closer to The Night Circus than, say, These Violent Delights. Or maybe that says something about the current state of YA, I don't know.
Anyway, on a more serious note, I think this duology being promoted as YA kind of harmed it in the long run? It's excellent, but I feel like the reading level is a lot closer to The Night Circus than, say, These Violent Delights. Or maybe that says something about the current state of YA, I don't know.
cuckleberryfins's review against another edition
1.0
I really wanted to love this because the world building was amazing and the story stepped up from book 1. BUT.
Vai is easily the best character in this duology but the way he was handled seemed extremely transphobic. He was constantly misgendered when he explicitly told people he was a man. There was a whole arc about Vai being forced to become a man by his parent??? And I just hated it so much. It could have been handled so well??? We could have had that GOOD GAY SHIT and we got this?? I wish Vai's gender hadnt been used as a plot point. It was gross.
Vai is easily the best character in this duology but the way he was handled seemed extremely transphobic. He was constantly misgendered when he explicitly told people he was a man. There was a whole arc about Vai being forced to become a man by his parent??? And I just hated it so much. It could have been handled so well??? We could have had that GOOD GAY SHIT and we got this?? I wish Vai's gender hadnt been used as a plot point. It was gross.
faithtrustpixiedust's review against another edition
4.0
This really felt more like 3 stars but I rated the first book 3 stars and this was way better than it so I guess a 3.5 is more accurate. So for official reasons, 4 stars will do.
I definitely liked the premise and atmosphere more than the story itself. The characters improved a ton from the first book (considering the fact that I either didn’t care about them or lowkey hated them before). Like, Runajo was completely ridiculous in the first book and Juliet was a stupid robot, while Romeo was sweet but boring and Paris was an inconsistent wimp. But I really felt for all of them in this, and liked Juliet and Romeo together. Paris was a bit less than I wanted but that would have been fixed with just a few more scenes with him, and what I got was perfectly fine. Their struggles really moved me in this. I legit shed a few tears, which even books I thought were good sometimes don’t do. So it earned that, at least.
The atmosphere and scene setting were fantastic, and I loved the lore. Everything with the land of the dead was iconic and awesome and felt like something I’d write. It really had a mythical/folkloristic vibe that I loved. And the aesthetic was just on point. If it weren’t for some pacing issues, I would have rated the worldbuilding 5 solid stars.
And related to that, the plot and execution of it really faltered in this. By the middle of the book, it felt like it should have been ending, and I guess the main conflict just wasn’t as intense as this kind of story needed. Like, the world was literally going to end and it felt like a mild inconvenience because it had already almost ended 150 pages before. I liked the necromancer as a villain WAY more than what I ultimately got and felt like he was taken out of the picture just way too soon to hold any narrative tension. If it hadn’t happened this way, I probably would have loved this. As it was, this book was boring and awkward and felt like it was tripping over itself. This duology was a huge disappointment from this author.
I definitely liked the premise and atmosphere more than the story itself. The characters improved a ton from the first book (considering the fact that I either didn’t care about them or lowkey hated them before). Like, Runajo was completely ridiculous in the first book and Juliet was a stupid robot, while Romeo was sweet but boring and Paris was an inconsistent wimp. But I really felt for all of them in this, and liked Juliet and Romeo together. Paris was a bit less than I wanted but that would have been fixed with just a few more scenes with him, and what I got was perfectly fine. Their struggles really moved me in this. I legit shed a few tears, which even books I thought were good sometimes don’t do. So it earned that, at least.
The atmosphere and scene setting were fantastic, and I loved the lore. Everything with the land of the dead was iconic and awesome and felt like something I’d write. It really had a mythical/folkloristic vibe that I loved. And the aesthetic was just on point. If it weren’t for some pacing issues, I would have rated the worldbuilding 5 solid stars.
And related to that, the plot and execution of it really faltered in this. By the middle of the book, it felt like it should have been ending, and I guess the main conflict just wasn’t as intense as this kind of story needed. Like, the world was literally going to end and it felt like a mild inconvenience because it had already almost ended 150 pages before. I liked the necromancer as a villain WAY more than what I ultimately got and felt like he was taken out of the picture just way too soon to hold any narrative tension. If it hadn’t happened this way, I probably would have loved this. As it was, this book was boring and awkward and felt like it was tripping over itself. This duology was a huge disappointment from this author.
the_bookish_scorpio's review against another edition
2.0
Stesso piano del primo.
Se volete un bel retelling di Romeo e Giulietta, sarebbe meglio non scegliere questo.
Un pregio sono le cover, bellissime come sempre.
Se volete un bel retelling di Romeo e Giulietta, sarebbe meglio non scegliere questo.
Un pregio sono le cover, bellissime come sempre.
blueshadow's review against another edition
3.0
I typically love Rosamund Hodge's writing - and to be fair, I did like the writing of these books quite a bit - but I did not enjoy reading them very much. Zombies and necromancy simply don't appeal to me, and had I not enjoyed some of Hodge's other works so much, I never would have tried this book. But in the end, excellent writing was not enough for me to enjoy characters with constantly shifting alliances, frequent betrayals, and I quickly lost track of who was alive, dead, living dead, revenant, how many times dead, and so on. I liked some of the issues Hodge tried to address, but didn't relate very well to the characters and therefore didn't relate very well to the issues either. The ending, however, was a clever way to resolve a hopeless situation.
In the end, good books, but not really my kind of thing.
In the end, good books, but not really my kind of thing.
leann_bolesch's review against another edition
3.0
I hate stories that hammer home how impossible something is on a fundamental level only to go and do it anyway for cheep reasons, but other than the ending I still enjoyed reading this.