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A review by soartfullydone
The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"The Lightning Tree" walked so The Narrow Road Between Desires could frolic.
Is this novella perfect in every sense of the word? To me, it is. I enjoyed reading "The Lightning Tree" so long ago—a day in the life of Bast, my fae husband? Say no more! The Narrow Road Between Desires is still a day in the life of Bast, but it was so much more than being an entertaining or enjoyable read. Reading it was a lot like falling in love again.
As far as the illustrations go, they lended so much additional joy to the words themselves. Some are full-page and lovingly drawn. Others are small dressings tucked into the corner of a page or at the beginning of a chapter. One in particular startled a laugh out of me, which is a rare feat for a book to do in general. Nate Taylor did a fantastic job.
It's been quite a few years since I've read the Kingkiller Chronicle. Both books were partly responsible for carrying me through the worst mental depression I've ever experienced working a certain job and hope to never experience again. I remember events in both with either sharp clarity or hazy vagueness and have always been hopeful to see book three appear out of the horizon. But as time has passed, I have not been clamoring for it.
What I had forgotten between then and now was how much I enjoy Rothfuss' writing, the breath and liveliness it has. I missed, in relation to The Narrow Road Between Desires, how he writes about fae, how familiar yet new it feels at the same time. And for the first time in a long time, my appetite for book three as been thoroughly whetted.
My patience, however, remains in tact. It's enough to have "The Lightning Tree" in a physical form, one that has been so beautifully reworked, its outline familiar yet notably expanded. "The Lightning Tree" had me going, "Look at my hot fae husband go!" But The Narrow Road Between Desires had me so close to tears over my hot fae husband and Rike that I had to set the book in my lap and just stare at the ceiling for a minute. (But it would've been a good cry, I promise.)
There are quite a few authors out there—I shan't name names—who keep churning out doorstoppers every year or so, about fae, about demons, about vampires, and whatever else. And I can honestly say that I would rather wait, however long it takes, for a single well-thought-out, beautifully-crafted sentence from Rothfuss before I would read one word more from those authors.
Is this novella perfect in every sense of the word? To me, it is. I enjoyed reading "The Lightning Tree" so long ago—a day in the life of Bast, my fae husband? Say no more! The Narrow Road Between Desires is still a day in the life of Bast, but it was so much more than being an entertaining or enjoyable read. Reading it was a lot like falling in love again.
As far as the illustrations go, they lended so much additional joy to the words themselves. Some are full-page and lovingly drawn. Others are small dressings tucked into the corner of a page or at the beginning of a chapter. One in particular startled a laugh out of me, which is a rare feat for a book to do in general. Nate Taylor did a fantastic job.
It's been quite a few years since I've read the Kingkiller Chronicle. Both books were partly responsible for carrying me through the worst mental depression I've ever experienced working a certain job and hope to never experience again. I remember events in both with either sharp clarity or hazy vagueness and have always been hopeful to see book three appear out of the horizon. But as time has passed, I have not been clamoring for it.
What I had forgotten between then and now was how much I enjoy Rothfuss' writing, the breath and liveliness it has. I missed, in relation to The Narrow Road Between Desires, how he writes about fae, how familiar yet new it feels at the same time. And for the first time in a long time, my appetite for book three as been thoroughly whetted.
My patience, however, remains in tact. It's enough to have "The Lightning Tree" in a physical form, one that has been so beautifully reworked, its outline familiar yet notably expanded. "The Lightning Tree" had me going, "Look at my hot fae husband go!" But The Narrow Road Between Desires had me so close to tears over my hot fae husband and Rike that I had to set the book in my lap and just stare at the ceiling for a minute. (But it would've been a good cry, I promise.)
There are quite a few authors out there—I shan't name names—who keep churning out doorstoppers every year or so, about fae, about demons, about vampires, and whatever else. And I can honestly say that I would rather wait, however long it takes, for a single well-thought-out, beautifully-crafted sentence from Rothfuss before I would read one word more from those authors.