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_michelle_'s reviews
977 reviews
The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm by Christopher Paolini
4.0
First non-manga I've finished this year, and it's only the middle of March (note of sarcasm)!
A pretty enjoyable read. I wish it was a longer, continuous story, but considering we may have once thought Eragon's story was over and done with...well, again, it was fun and enjoyable.
A pretty enjoyable read. I wish it was a longer, continuous story, but considering we may have once thought Eragon's story was over and done with...well, again, it was fun and enjoyable.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
1.0
I waffled between giving this one or two stars, but I'm pretty disappointed and don't feel generous. I won't continue the series, but I may check out the movie one day, when time distances me from this book; and then only because it's Tim Burton's work.
I loved the atmosphere the book built until Jacob met the peculiars, then it fizzled and I stopped caring. I'm not saying there weren't, what some may call, interesting plot points, but the brooding atmosphere got sucked right out of the book. Photos accompanying the story stopped being mysterious and just highlighted details of the story. It bored me.
I loved the atmosphere the book built until Jacob met the peculiars, then it fizzled and I stopped caring. I'm not saying there weren't, what some may call, interesting plot points, but the brooding atmosphere got sucked right out of the book. Photos accompanying the story stopped being mysterious and just highlighted details of the story. It bored me.
The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman
3.0
This hurt to rate. Whereas La Belle Savauge seemed slightly inferior to the original His Dark Materials trilogy, it was still a fun book to read, if you could avoid putting too many expectations on it.
The major drawbacks of this installment was a personal, preconceived notion of what the titular Secret Commonwealth even was (based on the more traditional, fairy-oriented glimpse featured in La Belle Savauge). In general, there were too many ideas (refugees; oil wars; religion and abuse of power, but nothing that wasn't said better in HDM) that just make the overall plot jumbled and less succinct.
I didn't like how Pan and Lyra spent so much time apart without any clear, smart notion of why they were separating. It seems an important thing to think through, but Pan started traveling separately just because he was pissed. Searching for imagination? What, was Pan going to bring imagination back in his paws to Lyra? Pan, I thought, was too smart, since he's 20 and half of Lyra, but alas, no. So much drama ensued because of dumb characters.
The swearing. Adults swear, fine. I swear, too. But it really felt like, "Look, Lyra is an adult! She's swearing! Everyone is swearing! This is totally for adults," when the tone and writing wasn't much different from other books in the franchise. Just swearing thrown in.
I wish there were fairies like in La Belle Savauge. As much as I'd dreamt of Lyra being an adult MC, I wish we got more Malcom and Alice this time around, because they really grew on me. I wish Lyra and Pan were as smart in HDM. Overall, I will finish this series, but this put a damper on my excitement.
The major drawbacks of this installment was a personal, preconceived notion of what the titular Secret Commonwealth even was (based on the more traditional, fairy-oriented glimpse featured in La Belle Savauge). In general, there were too many ideas (refugees; oil wars; religion and abuse of power, but nothing that wasn't said better in HDM) that just make the overall plot jumbled and less succinct.
I didn't like how Pan and Lyra spent so much time apart without any clear, smart notion of why they were separating. It seems an important thing to think through, but Pan started traveling separately just because he was pissed. Searching for imagination? What, was Pan going to bring imagination back in his paws to Lyra? Pan, I thought, was too smart, since he's 20 and half of Lyra, but alas, no. So much drama ensued because of dumb characters.
The swearing. Adults swear, fine. I swear, too. But it really felt like, "Look, Lyra is an adult! She's swearing! Everyone is swearing! This is totally for adults," when the tone and writing wasn't much different from other books in the franchise. Just swearing thrown in.
I wish there were fairies like in La Belle Savauge. As much as I'd dreamt of Lyra being an adult MC, I wish we got more Malcom and Alice this time around, because they really grew on me. I wish Lyra and Pan were as smart in HDM. Overall, I will finish this series, but this put a damper on my excitement.
The Witch's Warning by Joseph Delaney
3.0
A solid installment to the series, the reason I'm giving it 3* is because it reads a little younger than the Tom Ward books from the same author and just doesn't appeal to me as much as an adult.
Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman
3.0
There was nothing inherently wrong with this retelling; in fact, if it had been longer and more fleshed-out, I'd have easily given it a higher rating. Despite the art being meant to complement an existing story, the short length of the story made it feel like it was just there to contextualize some pretty pictures by a talented artist, if that makes sense. I'm not sure if this story exists by its own somewhere and is more detailed in its original format, but it didn't do it for me as a graphic novel. Take my opinion with a grain of salt; the few Gaiman works I've read are all hit or miss.
Curse of the Bane by Patrick Arrasmith, Joseph Delaney
3.0
Listening to this on audio as a reread did increase my enjoyment from the 3* I originally gave it, but I'm not sure I want to give it a whole extra star for that; it's like 3.5*/3.75* but I just feel too stingy to round up. It's because I know how good this series can be and this just happens to be a weaker early entry that keeps me from giving 4*. I'm hoping to do a complete reread this year, including the sequel series (it could extend into 2021, because I still have 14 more books ahead of me).