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__ceecee__'s Reviews (414)
I've been really bad to this book. I can't seem to finish it, among all these other more interesting book. I'm sorry, Watership Down.
There are love stories that I love and then there are love stories that I wish with all my being were my own love story. Guess which category this novella belongs in.
I just don't think I could have the guts that Zuzana did. I am a milquetoast girl. And, like, Zuzana was super lucky in that Mik was interested in her from the start, and how lucky can anyone get? Zuzana thinks Mik doesn't know she exists, but they are actually just really shy of each other, isn;t that adorable? And normally confident Zuzana turns into mulsh when it comes to Mik. I kind of relate because the only guy I can never really talk to is the guy I am attracted to. SOMETHING JUST GOES HAYWIRE WHEN I'M NEAR HIM, I CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT AND I BECOME EVEN MORE BORING THAN I REALLY I AM.
But like I said, these two are so so lucky.
I never really give 5 stars to novellas because they just don't seem to be as complete as the novels are. They are just pleasant additions to a series.
But this one is just perfect. I cried once or twice reading this 89-page story. This is a story of the night Mik and Zuzana met, and I loved that it didn't just end with the kiss.
It was all I asked for, and more.
Spoiler
I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT THIS TO BE HOW MY STORY GOES. NOT IN THE EXACT DETAILS BUT OH MAN IF ONLY MY CRUSH THOUGHT LIKE THIS ABOUT ME.I just don't think I could have the guts that Zuzana did. I am a milquetoast girl. And, like, Zuzana was super lucky in that Mik was interested in her from the start, and how lucky can anyone get? Zuzana thinks Mik doesn't know she exists, but they are actually just really shy of each other, isn;t that adorable? And normally confident Zuzana turns into mulsh when it comes to Mik. I kind of relate because the only guy I can never really talk to is the guy I am attracted to. SOMETHING JUST GOES HAYWIRE WHEN I'M NEAR HIM, I CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT AND I BECOME EVEN MORE BORING THAN I REALLY I AM.
But like I said, these two are so so lucky.
I never really give 5 stars to novellas because they just don't seem to be as complete as the novels are. They are just pleasant additions to a series.
But this one is just perfect. I cried once or twice reading this 89-page story. This is a story of the night Mik and Zuzana met, and I loved that it didn't just end with the kiss.
It was all I asked for, and more.
Like I said on my status updates while reading this book, I was kind of bored with the goings on here. It just might be that Brennan didn't create a compelling enough villain, and therefore, not very strong main conflict for a paranormal ya novel. However, she did create amazing, fresh and endearing main characters. I just gotta say
ASH IS MY BABY AND ANYONE WHO SAYS BAD THINGS ABOUT HIM ABOUT BEING A WEAKLING AND A GOODY TWO SHOES WILL FEEL MY WRATH.
Also, I love Lillian Lynburn.
(If you haven't read [b:The Night After I Lost You|18588890|The Night After I Lost You (The Lynburn Legacy, #1.5)|Sarah Rees Brennan|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1380278372s/18588890.jpg|26330449] which was the novelette between the first and second books, then you should, because it painted even more how easily people can misunderstand and stereotype these two characters but they are so so human, and therefore, endearing.)
Of course, you can argue that the internal relational conflicts between friends and conflict between family are good enough to stir this story, but goddammit, this is a paranormal book and I want action, not mushy domestic problems. Because it really did just focus on relationships: Jared/Kami, Holly/Angela, Mom/Dad, etc etc
It took me a month to finish it!
The prominent thing on this book was Ash, to tell the truth. There were other interesting things as well, and this book was still really well written imo, but overall, boring. I even found myself not caring about Kami and Jared because I knew from the start that they would end up together, that the ANGST ANGST ANGST before they FINALLY GOT TOGETHER was too much and too longwinded to me.
Still, there is a gem in this series, and I look forward to reading the last installation.
ASH IS MY BABY AND ANYONE WHO SAYS BAD THINGS ABOUT HIM ABOUT BEING A WEAKLING AND A GOODY TWO SHOES WILL FEEL MY WRATH.
Also, I love Lillian Lynburn.
(If you haven't read [b:The Night After I Lost You|18588890|The Night After I Lost You (The Lynburn Legacy, #1.5)|Sarah Rees Brennan|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1380278372s/18588890.jpg|26330449] which was the novelette between the first and second books, then you should, because it painted even more how easily people can misunderstand and stereotype these two characters but they are so so human, and therefore, endearing.)
Of course, you can argue that the internal relational conflicts between friends and conflict between family are good enough to stir this story, but goddammit, this is a paranormal book and I want action, not mushy domestic problems. Because it really did just focus on relationships: Jared/Kami, Holly/Angela, Mom/Dad, etc etc
It took me a month to finish it!
The prominent thing on this book was Ash, to tell the truth. There were other interesting things as well, and this book was still really well written imo, but overall, boring. I even found myself not caring about Kami and Jared because I knew from the start that they would end up together, that the ANGST ANGST ANGST before they FINALLY GOT TOGETHER was too much and too longwinded to me.
Still, there is a gem in this series, and I look forward to reading the last installation.
hooray for the last book i finished this year. happy new year everyone!
I don't understand why people would say this was a disappointing ending to the series, when it was a pretty good one actually. And I kind of regret not finishing this series sooner (bc I was influenced by the people who said the ending wasn't as good as the previous books)
War is a tricky subject. We are never the same during and after a war, after the losses, after the pain, and I think Collins did a good job portraying the harshness of war, and portraying Katniss in a realistic way. I found a newfound respect for this series.
War is a tricky subject. We are never the same during and after a war, after the losses, after the pain, and I think Collins did a good job portraying the harshness of war, and portraying Katniss in a realistic way. I found a newfound respect for this series.
**THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD**
The Hedge Knight takes places a hundred years, some say, eighty-nine years, before the events of A Game of Thrones takes place. In it, we are whisked through the Seven Kingdoms through Dunk, a hedge knight, who after the death of his master and sort of foster father, seeks to be a champion in the Ashford Tourney. He meets Egg, whom we all know as brother to Maester Aemon and grandfather to Mad King Aerys. And Dunk will become Ser Duncan the Tall, one of the most loved Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
The Hedge Knight is easy to love because at its core, it's the story of an underdog. An honorable underdog who gets caught in circumstances where the powerful and mighty exercise their might and power unjustly and leaves the underdog in some deep shit. And quite frankly, that's a story I cannot resist liking. Why, even though it's such a cliche? This novella struck me as a typical underdog story. The underdog conveniently has a powerful backer in the form of Baelor Breakspear because the underdog has unfailingly displayed his honor as a knight. Be that as it may, it reminded me that you have a good fighting chance if you only stick to your principles, and if you're lucky, and that's a good thing! Granted, this is a much more simpler plot than the ASOIAF series, and maybe that's also why The Hedge Knight is easy to like.
So when Dunk defends this girl whom Aerion (Egg's other older brother) was abusing, and he had to do trial by the seven (which is rare and you need 6 other champions), well, that was a well-played storyline. Dunk is a lowly hedge knight, by Seven Kingdom Standards, so how will he find 6 knights who will fight for him? It's really touching when 6 strangers offer their lives to defend your honor, because they believe your cause is just. Underdog has a fighting chance at last! Hoorah! I was starting to think that GRRM does know how to make a happy ending.
But typical GRRM kills off characters, even in a novella like this one. First he had to kill of Humfrey Bee-something, who was only fighting for his brother-in-law Humfrey Hardyng after Aerion cheated on his fight with Hardyng and this poor Bee Humfrey is a casualty of "fighting for justice". And then Hardyng dies too after sustaining mortal wounds. But some could argue that at least they died with honor. Honor, bs, they didn't have to die when their opponents had no casualties!
And of course, the biggie, The Prince of Dragonstone, Baelor Breakspear, Hand of the King, took a fatal blow to the head during the melee and died. Here was Dunk's hero and savior, a person whom everyone expects will be a great king, and he dies, and Dunk is troubled by that, because a prince died for a common hedge knight. I'm guessing Baelor didn't really expect to die, confident in the fact that Kingsguards can't hurt the blood of the dragon. But he died anyway (because he was lax?) TYPICAL GRRM. TYPICAL, TYPICAL. *shakes head*
So if Baelor didn't die, then maybe Mad King Aerys wouldn't have been born, or at least wouldn't have been made a king, and the whole ASOIAF series wouldn't have happened? Maybe. Alas, that's life. Dunk and Egg went on to have great and fruitful lives, influencing those who followed them, and the characters of ASOIAF will just have to manage with the hand they were given with.
*4 stars A very engaging short story of honor winning above all. But I hate that some characters had to die. *shrug*
The Hedge Knight takes places a hundred years, some say, eighty-nine years, before the events of A Game of Thrones takes place. In it, we are whisked through the Seven Kingdoms through Dunk, a hedge knight, who after the death of his master and sort of foster father, seeks to be a champion in the Ashford Tourney. He meets Egg, whom we all know as brother to Maester Aemon and grandfather to Mad King Aerys. And Dunk will become Ser Duncan the Tall, one of the most loved Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
The Hedge Knight is easy to love because at its core, it's the story of an underdog. An honorable underdog who gets caught in circumstances where the powerful and mighty exercise their might and power unjustly and leaves the underdog in some deep shit. And quite frankly, that's a story I cannot resist liking. Why, even though it's such a cliche? This novella struck me as a typical underdog story. The underdog conveniently has a powerful backer in the form of Baelor Breakspear because the underdog has unfailingly displayed his honor as a knight. Be that as it may, it reminded me that you have a good fighting chance if you only stick to your principles, and if you're lucky, and that's a good thing! Granted, this is a much more simpler plot than the ASOIAF series, and maybe that's also why The Hedge Knight is easy to like.
So when Dunk defends this girl whom Aerion (Egg's other older brother) was abusing, and he had to do trial by the seven (which is rare and you need 6 other champions), well, that was a well-played storyline. Dunk is a lowly hedge knight, by Seven Kingdom Standards, so how will he find 6 knights who will fight for him? It's really touching when 6 strangers offer their lives to defend your honor, because they believe your cause is just. Underdog has a fighting chance at last! Hoorah! I was starting to think that GRRM does know how to make a happy ending.
But typical GRRM kills off characters, even in a novella like this one. First he had to kill of Humfrey Bee-something, who was only fighting for his brother-in-law Humfrey Hardyng after Aerion cheated on his fight with Hardyng and this poor Bee Humfrey is a casualty of "fighting for justice". And then Hardyng dies too after sustaining mortal wounds. But some could argue that at least they died with honor. Honor, bs, they didn't have to die when their opponents had no casualties!
And of course, the biggie, The Prince of Dragonstone, Baelor Breakspear, Hand of the King, took a fatal blow to the head during the melee and died. Here was Dunk's hero and savior, a person whom everyone expects will be a great king, and he dies, and Dunk is troubled by that, because a prince died for a common hedge knight. I'm guessing Baelor didn't really expect to die, confident in the fact that Kingsguards can't hurt the blood of the dragon. But he died anyway (because he was lax?) TYPICAL GRRM. TYPICAL, TYPICAL. *shakes head*
So if Baelor didn't die, then maybe Mad King Aerys wouldn't have been born, or at least wouldn't have been made a king, and the whole ASOIAF series wouldn't have happened? Maybe. Alas, that's life. Dunk and Egg went on to have great and fruitful lives, influencing those who followed them, and the characters of ASOIAF will just have to manage with the hand they were given with.
*4 stars A very engaging short story of honor winning above all. But I hate that some characters had to die. *shrug*
What are you going to do with a book that makes you want to fall asleep just as you finish each chapter?
You put it in the DNF shelf.
I fell asleep after reading each chapter and thats why it took me so long to finish this. And i eventually had to give it up while I was moving to a new country.
Sorry, Mr Greene, you and I were not a good fit.
You put it in the DNF shelf.
I fell asleep after reading each chapter and thats why it took me so long to finish this. And i eventually had to give it up while I was moving to a new country.
Sorry, Mr Greene, you and I were not a good fit.