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aksmith92's reviews
162 reviews
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
I don't really love rating memoirs—these books are when humans talk about their lives, the people in them, and usually challenging events. Memoirs usually do or do not do it for me in terms of a great reading experience, and Crying in H Mart did it for me.
Michelle Zauner talks about her upbringing in this memoir—she's living a decent life and recognizes that, but somehow does not get along super well with her parents, particularly her mom. I don't know about you, but as a teenage girl once, this was highly relatable.
More importantly, though, this memoir talks about Michelle's identity as a half-Korean woman, trying to find solstice and being in the food she grew up hearing about and/or eating. She struggles regularly with her identity since she barely speaks the Korean language and only visits Korea every so often. And most important, this book is about dealing with grief and, acknowledging and accepting your past, and moving on from it during traumatic times. There is no mystery or spoiler here: Michelle talks about her family's experience with her mother's cancer diagnosis.
Michelle feels real in this book. She makes decisions you question and doesn't always know the answer. However, the heart in this book is so apparent, and it is simply moving. Not to mention all the incredible references to Korean recipes—this was SO good to add.
I do feel the 50-70% dragged just a little bit, but overall, this was an incredibly captivating story about a woman finding her own identity in massive grief while leaning on some of the most amazing food recipes she can to feel in her place and with her family. Highly recommend this memoir!
Michelle Zauner talks about her upbringing in this memoir—she's living a decent life and recognizes that, but somehow does not get along super well with her parents, particularly her mom. I don't know about you, but as a teenage girl once, this was highly relatable.
More importantly, though, this memoir talks about Michelle's identity as a half-Korean woman, trying to find solstice and being in the food she grew up hearing about and/or eating. She struggles regularly with her identity since she barely speaks the Korean language and only visits Korea every so often. And most important, this book is about dealing with grief and, acknowledging and accepting your past, and moving on from it during traumatic times. There is no mystery or spoiler here: Michelle talks about her family's experience with her mother's cancer diagnosis.
Michelle feels real in this book. She makes decisions you question and doesn't always know the answer. However, the heart in this book is so apparent, and it is simply moving. Not to mention all the incredible references to Korean recipes—this was SO good to add.
I do feel the 50-70% dragged just a little bit, but overall, this was an incredibly captivating story about a woman finding her own identity in massive grief while leaning on some of the most amazing food recipes she can to feel in her place and with her family. Highly recommend this memoir!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fatphobia, Abortion, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction
Addiction = not described, but talked about when describing someone's past. Also implied with a potential alcohol addiction.
Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? No
4.0
Cheers to a cute little palette cleanser (kinda?!).
The setup: The book opens with Joan Bergstrom sending fan mail to Imogen Fortier, a 59-year-old woman who writes a monthly column for Pacific Northwest magazine. Imogen lives on Camano Island in Washington outside of Seattle and has lovely things to say about the water, sunset, and oysters. Joan loves this, as she is an aspiring journalist, so she takes it upon herself to write a letter to Imogen with a bit of gift: saffron.
From there, Imogen and Joan begin a beautiful friendship—mainly through wonderful letters back and forth. The letters start in the year 1962, so in their beginning letters, as they get to know each other, we see them grapple with some women's issues, Kennedy's assassination, and the civil rights movement. As their friendship deepens, we see them writing secrets and tales they haven't told anyone. However, their letters mainly include recipes and other foods worth trying. Joan talks about Saffron, and Imogen talks about oysters. Joan takes an interest in local Mexican cuisine since she lives and works in Los Angeles, and she sends the recipes to Imogen for her to try. Imogen loves them all and even shares with Joan that her husband is interested in cooking because of the recipes (WILD for the early 1960s, am I right?!).
We walk through Joan and Imogen's few years together and see a lovely friendship form between two women you likely wouldn't have thought of: a 27-year-old city-loving woman and a 59-year-old columnist who loves her tiny island home.
What I loved: What a great premise! To write a book solely (well, 98%) in letter form was a great take. I'm sure it's been done before, but I haven't read anything like it. Somehow, even though it was just through letters, I felt the relationship and friendship between Joan and Imogen while still learning about them individually. It was fantastic to see the historical complexities of the time weaved in (although brief since this was a short-ish book) and how those impacted the two women. We watched them overcome various challenges, obstacles, and heartache. This was such a cute read, and I loved the recipes involved. Make sure to read the book's ending for a course meal to try! It simply was a feel-good story about an unconventional friendship.
What would have made it five stars? I think we missed some critical individual character development for Imogen. It felt like the story began to focus on Francis, her husband, which I could appreciate for the time, but I wanted more about her. I think we got that with Joan, but then Imogen became a little "parent-y" regarding Joan's life. It wasn't a big deal, but I walked away wanting more from Imogen's character. Thankfully, in the end, we got to read a column from the Pacific Northwest that Imogen wrote, which was nice! This takes place in the 1960s, so there was an element of historical context to this for sure, but I did find it a bit odd that two white women were constantly talking about Mexican food and food from other countries and then somehow profiting from it through their jobs. I wish that were fleshed out more to talk about that irony.
Regardless, this was a cute read, albeit the ending is sad.
The setup: The book opens with Joan Bergstrom sending fan mail to Imogen Fortier, a 59-year-old woman who writes a monthly column for Pacific Northwest magazine. Imogen lives on Camano Island in Washington outside of Seattle and has lovely things to say about the water, sunset, and oysters. Joan loves this, as she is an aspiring journalist, so she takes it upon herself to write a letter to Imogen with a bit of gift: saffron.
From there, Imogen and Joan begin a beautiful friendship—mainly through wonderful letters back and forth. The letters start in the year 1962, so in their beginning letters, as they get to know each other, we see them grapple with some women's issues, Kennedy's assassination, and the civil rights movement. As their friendship deepens, we see them writing secrets and tales they haven't told anyone. However, their letters mainly include recipes and other foods worth trying. Joan talks about Saffron, and Imogen talks about oysters. Joan takes an interest in local Mexican cuisine since she lives and works in Los Angeles, and she sends the recipes to Imogen for her to try. Imogen loves them all and even shares with Joan that her husband is interested in cooking because of the recipes (WILD for the early 1960s, am I right?!).
We walk through Joan and Imogen's few years together and see a lovely friendship form between two women you likely wouldn't have thought of: a 27-year-old city-loving woman and a 59-year-old columnist who loves her tiny island home.
What I loved: What a great premise! To write a book solely (well, 98%) in letter form was a great take. I'm sure it's been done before, but I haven't read anything like it. Somehow, even though it was just through letters, I felt the relationship and friendship between Joan and Imogen while still learning about them individually. It was fantastic to see the historical complexities of the time weaved in (although brief since this was a short-ish book) and how those impacted the two women. We watched them overcome various challenges, obstacles, and heartache. This was such a cute read, and I loved the recipes involved. Make sure to read the book's ending for a course meal to try! It simply was a feel-good story about an unconventional friendship.
What would have made it five stars? I think we missed some critical individual character development for Imogen. It felt like the story began to focus on Francis, her husband, which I could appreciate for the time, but I wanted more about her. I think we got that with Joan, but then Imogen became a little "parent-y" regarding Joan's life. It wasn't a big deal, but I walked away wanting more from Imogen's character. Thankfully, in the end, we got to read a column from the Pacific Northwest that Imogen wrote, which was nice! This takes place in the 1960s, so there was an element of historical context to this for sure, but I did find it a bit odd that two white women were constantly talking about Mexican food and food from other countries and then somehow profiting from it through their jobs. I wish that were fleshed out more to talk about that irony.
Regardless, this was a cute read, albeit the ending is sad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Misogyny and Sexism
Abortion is not completed but implied/talked about.
Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Spooky!
The Setup: Delicious Monsters follows two girls - Daisy and Brittany. Daisy is a seventeen-year-old living in Toronto who recently just went through a rather challenging breakup with some scum named Noah. She also has a tumultuous relationship with her single mom and distant dad. Daisy and her mom, Grace, soon find out that they inherited a house within their family - a mansion in Timmins, many miles from Toronto and a place where instead of the word "forest," "the bush" is used to describe the area surrounding the house; so, a big change! Grace leaves the decision to go up to Daisy since she has rather complicated feelings about the area and the mansion. Daisy decides she wants to start a new life away from her school and a rather horrific incident when she was younger, and of course, away from Nolan. Daisy and Grace pack their bags and head to the mansion to start a new life. Grace plans for her and Daisy to stay in the "bunkie" on the property while Airbnb the mansion. Daisy is ready to lay low for a huge reason: she can see dead people. Plot twist (but not; the summary on the back of the book mentions this, so it is not a spoiler)! Much of the story follows the rather interesting events at the mansion.
The story also follows Brittany, a college-aged woman working at a film company. She and her best friend Jayden are brainstorming what to film next after their massive success of Haunted and land on a story from 10 years prior about a mansion in Timmins. All we know is that Brittany wants to ensure this film series is a success since she wants the world to know about forgotten Black girls.
We know these two stories intersect, and while you can likely suspect how so, we don't find out until the end. Delicious Monsters is a good story about complicated familial matters, race, and very real monsters that may not look like you think.
What I liked: There was a lot packed into this book. While the two main protagonists, Brittany and Daisy, read a bit young, they were layered and nuanced, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about them. They were complicated, messy, and imperfect, but their characters (and many others) seemed very real. I also thoroughly enjoyed the plot of the ghosts (seeing dead people) and a haunted house. The connection between the two was clever and unique. While some elements were undoubtedly predictable, the sub-plot ties were fascinating to witness. Overall, the plot was intriguing, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to the end to see what would happen. Liselle Sambury also did an excellent job integrating important topics like race into this novel and shared a critical topic about missing Black girls. I don't want to give too much away because of spoilers, but this was vital to read. But please be aware that while this read YA, it was dark. There were very challenging topics here to read, and please check some of the content warnings before proceeding (Sexual Assault, Rape, Suicide Attempt). Sambury also has some trigger warnings in her author's note before the story even begins.
What I didn't like: This was so long. While I read through this pretty quickly for how long it was (500+ pages), many things in the beginning might not have needed to be in there. A lot of the background helped paint the characters better, but at times it dragged. I almost DNF'd this book in the beginning. Thankfully, I kept going! After pages 50-75, it picks up more and even more after the halfway mark. A big reason why I almost DNF'd was that this read REALLY YA to me. Daisy was truly dramatic, a typical seventeen-year-old struggling with very VALID traumas. However, the writing made it seem so young to me, and as an almost 32-year-old, it was initially challenging for me. I started getting used to it at about the 1/3 mark and was glad I kept going to the end because it turned out to be a pretty good book. But, the young writing style was still challenging for me. This is a me thing and most certainly might not be a you thing!
Overall, it was well done and an interesting tale that included some important topics. I recommend it for a YA Fantasy with some spooky elements.
The Setup: Delicious Monsters follows two girls - Daisy and Brittany. Daisy is a seventeen-year-old living in Toronto who recently just went through a rather challenging breakup with some scum named Noah. She also has a tumultuous relationship with her single mom and distant dad. Daisy and her mom, Grace, soon find out that they inherited a house within their family - a mansion in Timmins, many miles from Toronto and a place where instead of the word "forest," "the bush" is used to describe the area surrounding the house; so, a big change! Grace leaves the decision to go up to Daisy since she has rather complicated feelings about the area and the mansion. Daisy decides she wants to start a new life away from her school and a rather horrific incident when she was younger, and of course, away from Nolan. Daisy and Grace pack their bags and head to the mansion to start a new life. Grace plans for her and Daisy to stay in the "bunkie" on the property while Airbnb the mansion. Daisy is ready to lay low for a huge reason: she can see dead people. Plot twist (but not; the summary on the back of the book mentions this, so it is not a spoiler)! Much of the story follows the rather interesting events at the mansion.
The story also follows Brittany, a college-aged woman working at a film company. She and her best friend Jayden are brainstorming what to film next after their massive success of Haunted and land on a story from 10 years prior about a mansion in Timmins. All we know is that Brittany wants to ensure this film series is a success since she wants the world to know about forgotten Black girls.
We know these two stories intersect, and while you can likely suspect how so, we don't find out until the end. Delicious Monsters is a good story about complicated familial matters, race, and very real monsters that may not look like you think.
What I liked: There was a lot packed into this book. While the two main protagonists, Brittany and Daisy, read a bit young, they were layered and nuanced, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about them. They were complicated, messy, and imperfect, but their characters (and many others) seemed very real. I also thoroughly enjoyed the plot of the ghosts (seeing dead people) and a haunted house. The connection between the two was clever and unique. While some elements were undoubtedly predictable, the sub-plot ties were fascinating to witness. Overall, the plot was intriguing, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to the end to see what would happen. Liselle Sambury also did an excellent job integrating important topics like race into this novel and shared a critical topic about missing Black girls. I don't want to give too much away because of spoilers, but this was vital to read. But please be aware that while this read YA, it was dark. There were very challenging topics here to read, and please check some of the content warnings before proceeding (Sexual Assault, Rape, Suicide Attempt). Sambury also has some trigger warnings in her author's note before the story even begins.
What I didn't like: This was so long. While I read through this pretty quickly for how long it was (500+ pages), many things in the beginning might not have needed to be in there. A lot of the background helped paint the characters better, but at times it dragged. I almost DNF'd this book in the beginning. Thankfully, I kept going! After pages 50-75, it picks up more and even more after the halfway mark. A big reason why I almost DNF'd was that this read REALLY YA to me. Daisy was truly dramatic, a typical seventeen-year-old struggling with very VALID traumas. However, the writing made it seem so young to me, and as an almost 32-year-old, it was initially challenging for me. I started getting used to it at about the 1/3 mark and was glad I kept going to the end because it turned out to be a pretty good book. But, the young writing style was still challenging for me. This is a me thing and most certainly might not be a you thing!
Overall, it was well done and an interesting tale that included some important topics. I recommend it for a YA Fantasy with some spooky elements.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death of parent
Suicide attempt is on paper - towards the end of book. Please take care.
Rape and sexual assault are written about frequently; there are some descriptive parts scattered throughout the book. Please take care.
The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What an innovative fantasy book! It also combined a dash of historical context about one of my favorite places: Washington, DC. Therefore, I just had a great time with this novel.
The setup: We follow Clara Johnson, a woman living and working in Washington DC, after dark moments when she was thrown in jail. She works as a typist for a pretty arrogant man but knows the work is essential to the Black community. However, on the side, she also meddles with spirits, or Enigmas, because she has the "second sight." People will come to her to get a Charm - something Enigmas will hand out to humans to help them - but only with a Trick, making their lives more challenging.
Soon, Clara notices some of her friends and neighbors are starting to go missing. When a concerned mother comes to her about her son, who looks absolutely in a daze and cannot speak, Clara is sure that the spirits are to blame. This novel works through Clara trying to figure out who is at fault and what can be done about these folks controlled by spirits. While figuring out the details, Clara is tasked with finding and stealing a magical ring, which may be the reason for the spirits and afflicted humans. Therefore, she and a team of lovely characters take on this heist. It was such a fun and exciting ride, and it had unique storytelling.
Integrated into the fantasy novel was also some incredible historical context about the Black community in Washington DC and some of the atrocities that went down during this period (1919-1925ish). Yet, it was also a fantastic display of the community's growth and perseverance to make a great life for themselves. Leslye Penelope's Author Note at the end of the novel was beautiful, and I highly encourage you to include that in the final reading chapters.
What I loved: I thoroughly enjoyed the characters - Clara was a tough-minded woman who always spoke her truth, which could not have been easy in the timeframe. This book also had a lovely found-family aspect - the wonderful characters of Aristotle, Jesse Lee, and Zelda. Plus, we had the lovely and charming Israel Lee. I was glad to see that Penelope was able to integrate a lot of these characters' backstories into the novel, as we were able to catch a glimpse into their personalities. Zelda was one of my favorite characters in this novel; she had such a layered personality and provided her friends great insight (and comedic relief).
I also thoroughly enjoyed this plot - while ghosts and the spirit world are not new themes, I thought Penelope did it justice with unique worldbuilding and exciting subplots, especially with the charms/tricks component. I also loved Clara's connection with her late grandmother and how that was integrated into the story. Penelope's integration with these fantastical elements alongside actual historical context in 1920s Washington, DC, was also phenomenal. I thought it was a nice touch to weave these historical components (like real historical people like DeBois!) into this novel.
Overall, I was deeply immersed - there is a bit of fantasy, a bit of a mystery, and even a splash of a love story. I had a lovely time with it and think Penelope is a fantastic writer!
What could've happened for a higher rating: I think the pacing fell a little short for me, and I'm trying to figure out why. I think it is because most of the book was about planning for the heist and then only briefly getting to it. The action was relatively minimal but still had very interesting components. It took me some time to finish this book, which is pretty abnormal for me, so maybe that's where I'm going when I say pacing issues.
Lastly, I was a bit confused at the end with some of the Engima...fighting? I won't go into detail about spoilers, but the end of the heist scene was thrown together quickly and was confusing with the rest of the mostly intriguing and organized plot around the spirits. Even though I had some questions about the heist scene, it was the most action-packed, which I appreciated. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how it would all come together!
Overall, it was a great novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. In my opinion, heists are challenging to do, and Penelope did it well. I look forward to reading some of her other material in the future!
The setup: We follow Clara Johnson, a woman living and working in Washington DC, after dark moments when she was thrown in jail. She works as a typist for a pretty arrogant man but knows the work is essential to the Black community. However, on the side, she also meddles with spirits, or Enigmas, because she has the "second sight." People will come to her to get a Charm - something Enigmas will hand out to humans to help them - but only with a Trick, making their lives more challenging.
Soon, Clara notices some of her friends and neighbors are starting to go missing. When a concerned mother comes to her about her son, who looks absolutely in a daze and cannot speak, Clara is sure that the spirits are to blame. This novel works through Clara trying to figure out who is at fault and what can be done about these folks controlled by spirits. While figuring out the details, Clara is tasked with finding and stealing a magical ring, which may be the reason for the spirits and afflicted humans. Therefore, she and a team of lovely characters take on this heist. It was such a fun and exciting ride, and it had unique storytelling.
Integrated into the fantasy novel was also some incredible historical context about the Black community in Washington DC and some of the atrocities that went down during this period (1919-1925ish). Yet, it was also a fantastic display of the community's growth and perseverance to make a great life for themselves. Leslye Penelope's Author Note at the end of the novel was beautiful, and I highly encourage you to include that in the final reading chapters.
What I loved: I thoroughly enjoyed the characters - Clara was a tough-minded woman who always spoke her truth, which could not have been easy in the timeframe. This book also had a lovely found-family aspect - the wonderful characters of Aristotle, Jesse Lee, and Zelda. Plus, we had the lovely and charming Israel Lee. I was glad to see that Penelope was able to integrate a lot of these characters' backstories into the novel, as we were able to catch a glimpse into their personalities. Zelda was one of my favorite characters in this novel; she had such a layered personality and provided her friends great insight (and comedic relief).
I also thoroughly enjoyed this plot - while ghosts and the spirit world are not new themes, I thought Penelope did it justice with unique worldbuilding and exciting subplots, especially with the charms/tricks component. I also loved Clara's connection with her late grandmother and how that was integrated into the story. Penelope's integration with these fantastical elements alongside actual historical context in 1920s Washington, DC, was also phenomenal. I thought it was a nice touch to weave these historical components (like real historical people like DeBois!) into this novel.
Overall, I was deeply immersed - there is a bit of fantasy, a bit of a mystery, and even a splash of a love story. I had a lovely time with it and think Penelope is a fantastic writer!
What could've happened for a higher rating: I think the pacing fell a little short for me, and I'm trying to figure out why. I think it is because most of the book was about planning for the heist and then only briefly getting to it. The action was relatively minimal but still had very interesting components. It took me some time to finish this book, which is pretty abnormal for me, so maybe that's where I'm going when I say pacing issues.
Lastly, I was a bit confused at the end with some of the Engima...fighting? I won't go into detail about spoilers, but the end of the heist scene was thrown together quickly and was confusing with the rest of the mostly intriguing and organized plot around the spirits. Even though I had some questions about the heist scene, it was the most action-packed, which I appreciated. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how it would all come together!
Overall, it was a great novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. In my opinion, heists are challenging to do, and Penelope did it well. I look forward to reading some of her other material in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Confinement, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was cute! I had a great time reading, and it was a cool, modern take on Pride and Prejudice.
The setup: Pemberley Development is a big corporation coming in hot with some fancy new apartments to a DC neighborhood that will likely not be able to afford said apartments. Liza, one of our protagonists, is upset and most certainly gives a jam, as stated regularly in her radio gig. She sees her neighborhood getting wrapped up in a gentrification scheme right away and tries her best to stop it. Through the process of doing her best to protest these new apartments, she meets Dorsey Fitzgerald, the current/interim CEO of Pemberley Development, much to his chagrin. Dorsey, the son of parents who owned Pemberley Development, has to answer to a board that wants this deal done. But he never wanted to be the CEO in the first place and cares a lot more about WCO, his mother's foundation/nonprofit arm. Intentions and thoughts aside, Liza and Dorsey get wrapped up in numerous events focused around these apartments and can't escape each other.
As a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, we can all see where this is going - sparks fly between Liza and Dorsey, yet they have to deal with the immense differences in their upbringings. Liza comes from a pretty eccentric family who is trying to make ends meet in the neighborhood they've lived in for all their lives, almost the exact opposite of Dorsey, who, while adopted from the Philippines, grew up with millions and millions of dollars. We see them battle some intense challenges in different ways and see how differently yet remarkably similar they live.
What I liked: I liked the main protagonists! While I could see where some of this story would be a little cringy for some folks, it wasn't for me. There were great character nuances, layers, and development, and while both main characters could have an open mind and change some of their ways, they were both authentic. I also really enjoyed the family aspect of this story, and getting to know a little bit more than we usually do with NPCs about their backgrounds, grief, joys, and dreams. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Janae, Gigi, and Maurice and their overall involvement in the storylines. A big thing for me was liking the romance - that's what this book is about anyway! I enjoyed the romance between Dorsey and Liza. It took its time, and there was some excellent banter. There were two big spicy scenes in this book (outside of some other sexually explicit thoughts and tension), and I thought they were well done (but definitely a lot - fair warning!). See below for some pacing issues, but generally, I enjoyed them a lot and thought their characters brought out the best in each other, which I love to see in a romance novel.
I also enjoyed some of the cultural integration that Nikki Payne wrote about - such as traditional Filipino dances and even its rap scene. I'm also a sucker for this book because I'm from the DC area and lived and worked in DC for five years. I laughed out loud in some parts about them taking a tour of Alexandria, VA. Lastly, Nikki Payne did an excellent job at writing about bias and preconceptions and having the characters work through their mistakes.
What didn't hit the mark for me: I found some pacing issues that I'm finding hard to articulate. I think this was towards the 75-80% mark when a couple of months went by with some major tension, and then suddenly, it resolved itself in two or so pages. It was peppered throughout the novel, and it was subtle but noticeable. The ending was a bit rushed as well. Additionally, I have personal things here on two accounts: (1) I don't like any romance with "my body is just completely pulled to you even though I'm trying to convince myself I hate you." It's like, oh hey, I literally hate every single one of your values (which is always never the case because it's just that they don't know each other yet), but I'd still bang you because you are so hot, and I can't help my bodily reaction. This bugs me for many reasons, but mostly, it seems to be a scapegoat to build physical tension in the novel without doing some other work to make that happen. This was manageable for me in this novel, unlike in others, but it still felt there. (2) I wouldn't say I like it when the main female character is constantly overthinking that the main male character will end up wanting nothing to do with her, even though every single piece of evidence points otherwise. This fear-based modeling is realistic but a little cringe to read in novels. I totally get Liza's apprehension about the relationship working out because of their vastly different upbringings and her family being a bit on the eccentric side, but saying that he wants nothing to do with you over and over is blatantly false, and I don't like when it's integrated into the narrative too much.
Lastly, I wish there was just a teensy bit more time on the friendship between Liza and Chicho (Lucia) because I think it generally fell a little flat. But, it was to make some room for the family dynamic, which was done well.
I'm a really picky contemporary romance reader, with many coming in at three stars or lower, but I liked this one and would recommend it as a nice, fun, romantic read! I plan to read some more Nikki Payne when more books are released!
The setup: Pemberley Development is a big corporation coming in hot with some fancy new apartments to a DC neighborhood that will likely not be able to afford said apartments. Liza, one of our protagonists, is upset and most certainly gives a jam, as stated regularly in her radio gig. She sees her neighborhood getting wrapped up in a gentrification scheme right away and tries her best to stop it. Through the process of doing her best to protest these new apartments, she meets Dorsey Fitzgerald, the current/interim CEO of Pemberley Development, much to his chagrin. Dorsey, the son of parents who owned Pemberley Development, has to answer to a board that wants this deal done. But he never wanted to be the CEO in the first place and cares a lot more about WCO, his mother's foundation/nonprofit arm. Intentions and thoughts aside, Liza and Dorsey get wrapped up in numerous events focused around these apartments and can't escape each other.
As a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, we can all see where this is going - sparks fly between Liza and Dorsey, yet they have to deal with the immense differences in their upbringings. Liza comes from a pretty eccentric family who is trying to make ends meet in the neighborhood they've lived in for all their lives, almost the exact opposite of Dorsey, who, while adopted from the Philippines, grew up with millions and millions of dollars. We see them battle some intense challenges in different ways and see how differently yet remarkably similar they live.
What I liked: I liked the main protagonists! While I could see where some of this story would be a little cringy for some folks, it wasn't for me. There were great character nuances, layers, and development, and while both main characters could have an open mind and change some of their ways, they were both authentic. I also really enjoyed the family aspect of this story, and getting to know a little bit more than we usually do with NPCs about their backgrounds, grief, joys, and dreams. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Janae, Gigi, and Maurice and their overall involvement in the storylines. A big thing for me was liking the romance - that's what this book is about anyway! I enjoyed the romance between Dorsey and Liza. It took its time, and there was some excellent banter. There were two big spicy scenes in this book (outside of some other sexually explicit thoughts and tension), and I thought they were well done (but definitely a lot - fair warning!). See below for some pacing issues, but generally, I enjoyed them a lot and thought their characters brought out the best in each other, which I love to see in a romance novel.
I also enjoyed some of the cultural integration that Nikki Payne wrote about - such as traditional Filipino dances and even its rap scene. I'm also a sucker for this book because I'm from the DC area and lived and worked in DC for five years. I laughed out loud in some parts about them taking a tour of Alexandria, VA. Lastly, Nikki Payne did an excellent job at writing about bias and preconceptions and having the characters work through their mistakes.
What didn't hit the mark for me: I found some pacing issues that I'm finding hard to articulate. I think this was towards the 75-80% mark when a couple of months went by with some major tension, and then suddenly, it resolved itself in two or so pages. It was peppered throughout the novel, and it was subtle but noticeable. The ending was a bit rushed as well. Additionally, I have personal things here on two accounts: (1) I don't like any romance with "my body is just completely pulled to you even though I'm trying to convince myself I hate you." It's like, oh hey, I literally hate every single one of your values (which is always never the case because it's just that they don't know each other yet), but I'd still bang you because you are so hot, and I can't help my bodily reaction. This bugs me for many reasons, but mostly, it seems to be a scapegoat to build physical tension in the novel without doing some other work to make that happen. This was manageable for me in this novel, unlike in others, but it still felt there. (2) I wouldn't say I like it when the main female character is constantly overthinking that the main male character will end up wanting nothing to do with her, even though every single piece of evidence points otherwise. This fear-based modeling is realistic but a little cringe to read in novels. I totally get Liza's apprehension about the relationship working out because of their vastly different upbringings and her family being a bit on the eccentric side, but saying that he wants nothing to do with you over and over is blatantly false, and I don't like when it's integrated into the narrative too much.
Lastly, I wish there was just a teensy bit more time on the friendship between Liza and Chicho (Lucia) because I think it generally fell a little flat. But, it was to make some room for the family dynamic, which was done well.
I'm a really picky contemporary romance reader, with many coming in at three stars or lower, but I liked this one and would recommend it as a nice, fun, romantic read! I plan to read some more Nikki Payne when more books are released!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Domestic abuse and Drug abuse
Domestic abuse and drug abuse were off-page and assumed with the main characters best friend's dad. Nothing is very descriptive but it does mention him going to rehab.
Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Muse of Nightmares is a typical Young Adult fantasy novel where love saves the day, and I ate it all up!
She's beauty, she's grace, she's Laini Taylor. Her writing is poetic, atmospheric, gorgeous, readable, and accessible. Yes, it's young adult, leading to some dramatics, but nothing over the top, and indeed a piece of art. I loved this so much, and even more than the first one, dare I say.
The setup: We left off on a BIG plot twist in Laini Taylor's first installment of this duology, Strange the Dreamer. With Sarai's fate in question, we are left with confusion and madness in Weep, where most citizens must run out of town because the Citadel is shifting and changing. Lazlo has a pretty big plot twist (although I could see that coming in the first novel). Either way, we are left with many questions about godlings, citizens of Weep, and the infamous dead gods that must've left more of a story than many thought.
Now, the story pivots to those godlings up in the sky in the Citadel, Minya's intense vengeance, and Sarai's adaptability into a new self in more ways than one. Eril-Fane and Azareen are still big components of the story and work to shift mindsets on the ground in Weep. In addition, we still hear from the wonderfully facetious Calixte and the learning and growing Thyon Nero. Lastly, we get an entirely new story about two sisters living in what seems to be a wholly different world made of ice. You know immediately that the stories will connect somehow, but the road to get there is beautiful and intriguing, yet devastating.
Laini Taylor creates an intricate world(s!) and develops the lovely characters from book one.
What I loved: My favorite part was the unique villain arcs - here we are, 15ish years after the fall of some of the more horrible villains I've read about, and we are reading about those impacts, leading to one of the most fantastic character development novels I've read. Because this story takes place years after the deaths of the villains (not a spoiler; it was also the same in the first book!), and we don't get the why for those villains other than the typical power-thirsty monsters, we now see excellent nuances in characters like Minya being stuck in the past constantly feeling like she has to save her family. Or, Nova, whose character was phenomenal, and I won't get into it because of spoiler reasons. It was pure art to have a story embedded in the after-effects of an awful fantastical regime. I loved the characters, even the ones who took a bit of a back burner in this novel, and the world-building was quite interesting. The world aspect may not necessarily be "original," but I found it unique nonetheless. PS: I must admit, the writing around eliliths - the tattoos girls get once their bleeding begins - was actually really cool. I've grown up learning to hate that, and in this fictional world, it seems powerful and beautiful. This part of the book is obviously not big, but I wanted to mention it anyway.
What would've made this a perfect read? I rated this five stars because of how it made me feel, the writing, and the story arcs. However, I will say that if I were being ultra critical, I would mention that I did feel there was a miss in relationship development between Thyon and Lazlo, the friendship that could've been, and just a better and more exciting wrap-up relationship between the godlings and those in Weep. A LOT was going on outside of that, which was critical for the story, so I let it slide. Lastly, Lazlo and Sarai are a little bit instant-love (as a reminder, the majority of this book truly takes place in one to two days!), but I don't think it overtook the story. Oh, as much as this is wonderful writing, Lazlo learned about his mesarthium control a littleeeee bit too quickly to be believable. It's implied their powers are meant to be ingrained, but I still thought it was a bit fast. Again, I let this slide because the other parts were just so good!
I am excited to read other books by Laini Taylor when I'm in a young adult and fantasy world mood. I really enjoyed my experience with Strange the Dreamer, and I'll be sad to see it go (or, as Laini Taylor puts it at the end of this book, Muse of Nightmares, is it really the end?). Bravo to this beautiful story!
She's beauty, she's grace, she's Laini Taylor. Her writing is poetic, atmospheric, gorgeous, readable, and accessible. Yes, it's young adult, leading to some dramatics, but nothing over the top, and indeed a piece of art. I loved this so much, and even more than the first one, dare I say.
The setup: We left off on a BIG plot twist in Laini Taylor's first installment of this duology, Strange the Dreamer. With Sarai's fate in question, we are left with confusion and madness in Weep, where most citizens must run out of town because the Citadel is shifting and changing. Lazlo has a pretty big plot twist (although I could see that coming in the first novel). Either way, we are left with many questions about godlings, citizens of Weep, and the infamous dead gods that must've left more of a story than many thought.
Now, the story pivots to those godlings up in the sky in the Citadel, Minya's intense vengeance, and Sarai's adaptability into a new self in more ways than one. Eril-Fane and Azareen are still big components of the story and work to shift mindsets on the ground in Weep. In addition, we still hear from the wonderfully facetious Calixte and the learning and growing Thyon Nero. Lastly, we get an entirely new story about two sisters living in what seems to be a wholly different world made of ice. You know immediately that the stories will connect somehow, but the road to get there is beautiful and intriguing, yet devastating.
Laini Taylor creates an intricate world(s!) and develops the lovely characters from book one.
What I loved: My favorite part was the unique villain arcs - here we are, 15ish years after the fall of some of the more horrible villains I've read about, and we are reading about those impacts, leading to one of the most fantastic character development novels I've read. Because this story takes place years after the deaths of the villains (not a spoiler; it was also the same in the first book!), and we don't get the why for those villains other than the typical power-thirsty monsters, we now see excellent nuances in characters like Minya being stuck in the past constantly feeling like she has to save her family. Or, Nova, whose character was phenomenal, and I won't get into it because of spoiler reasons. It was pure art to have a story embedded in the after-effects of an awful fantastical regime. I loved the characters, even the ones who took a bit of a back burner in this novel, and the world-building was quite interesting. The world aspect may not necessarily be "original," but I found it unique nonetheless. PS: I must admit, the writing around eliliths - the tattoos girls get once their bleeding begins - was actually really cool. I've grown up learning to hate that, and in this fictional world, it seems powerful and beautiful. This part of the book is obviously not big, but I wanted to mention it anyway.
What would've made this a perfect read? I rated this five stars because of how it made me feel, the writing, and the story arcs. However, I will say that if I were being ultra critical, I would mention that I did feel there was a miss in relationship development between Thyon and Lazlo, the friendship that could've been, and just a better and more exciting wrap-up relationship between the godlings and those in Weep. A LOT was going on outside of that, which was critical for the story, so I let it slide. Lastly, Lazlo and Sarai are a little bit instant-love (as a reminder, the majority of this book truly takes place in one to two days!), but I don't think it overtook the story. Oh, as much as this is wonderful writing, Lazlo learned about his mesarthium control a littleeeee bit too quickly to be believable. It's implied their powers are meant to be ingrained, but I still thought it was a bit fast. Again, I let this slide because the other parts were just so good!
I am excited to read other books by Laini Taylor when I'm in a young adult and fantasy world mood. I really enjoyed my experience with Strange the Dreamer, and I'll be sad to see it go (or, as Laini Taylor puts it at the end of this book, Muse of Nightmares, is it really the end?). Bravo to this beautiful story!
"Many a choice is made this way: by pretending it makes itself. And many a fate is decided by those who cannot decide."
"But how do you stop someone from crying? How do you lead them out of fear? Can hate be reversed? Can revenge be defused?"
There comes a certain point with a hope or a dream, when you either give it up or give up everything else. And if you choose the dream, if you keep going, then you can never quit, because it's all you are."
"The ones who know can't tell us, and the ones who tell us don't know."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: War
There is a suicide on page (near the end) and some discussion about it throughout the book; specific to only one character.
Rape & sexual violence are not written in detail, and there are no scenes where they are explicitly described, but I put them in moderate because they're regularly and frequently implied. And theb book talks about after impacts of them.
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
As you can see, I had some sh*t to say! Officially, I am done reading SJM; I don't think I can head into the next series of Crescent City. I need a long break, if not a final departure from SJM.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Oh my....the war kept going and going and going and going annnddd.....
The setup (note: maybe some slight spoilers since this is the final book in the Throne of Glass series; I tried to make it as least spoiler-y as possible): Aelin is MIA and going through it; she's captured by the villain Maeve who I'm still so confused about, but regardless is quite ruthless alongside her weird "pet" named Cairn. Fenrys is there with Aelin, too, and they play an awful blinking game to ensure they know the other is ok [spoiler, they are not!].
The gang is all separated - Rowan, likely bawling every second, is with Lorcan, Gavriel, and Elide, who are all on the hunt to find Aelin. Dorian is traveling with some witches, including Manon, who pretends not to like Dorian at all, which is most certainly a lie. Chaol is still traveling from the southern continent with his new wife, Yrene, whom he married in 2.5 seconds flat; they are on their way to aid Terrasen with warriors. Aedion, Lysandra, and a bunch of others are fighting non-stop in Terrasen, constantly being told by some old dude named Darrow that they are ding dongs.
The connection? Fighting the infamous Vlag, "demons" from another world accidentally left in Erilea because of one of Aelin's ancestors. Oops! There are about 200 (ok, maybe not, but it seemed like it) other sub-plots that somehow connect, which is bananas. Anyway, this nearly 1,000-page novel is about the final battle (um, "final" 100 battles, maybe) between those in Erilea and the Vlag.
Buckle up! I have a lot to say about this novel. Notoriously, I've been relatively pessimistic about SJM's works. Almost everything I've read has been 3 or 3.5 stars (including the books in her ACOTAR series!), and this is the first book I've given below three stars, and it is my LEAST favorite novel I've read by SJM. It's important to me to describe why because this woman gets one million accolades about her work when this, to me, seems like cheap writing. Listen, I speed-read through her books. My brain goes *poof, off*, and if I don't think too hard, they can be somewhat entertaining. That is why none of her works are 1-star reviews for me. Buuuuuuuuut, I must shout to the world that these are not works of art, AND at times can be problematic. Let's jump riiiiiight in.
What I Liked: Hm, it was readable. I was invested this far. I wanted to know how SJM wrapped some things up and how she tied bows around specific plot points. I liked some characters in the previous books, including Lysandra, Elide, Lorcan, Manon, and Dorian; I was ready to see what became of them. I'll share more below, but I was disappointed in the character development. I still enjoyed Manon and Lysandra (outside of the men), and there were not too many blatant plot holes (if you don't think too hard).
What I Didn't Like: My main frustration was that almost every character is the same. Here it goes: has confidence that is closer to arrogance; is always ready to fight in whatever "profession" they've deemed appropriate: warrior, healer, rider, etc.; is always ready to go with absolutely zero hours of sleep; shares some funny sayings once in a while; is beautiful in every possible way; likely has a "thing" that prevents them from being their best selves and holds them back, but not too far back, they're still perfect; is strong; and is somehow touched by a god, destined to be INCREDIBLE, is a descendent from a royal line, or is a queen/king. Who did I describe? Literally every single character. In previous books, I liked Manon and Lorcan because they veered on morally grey. I enjoyed Yrene and Elide because they were more passive in some ways. However, this book's characters seemed to lose their uniqueness in every way, and it bothered me to no end.
On a similar note, SJM seemed to have a stakes problem. I'm not saying I need main characters to die - I think sometimes that works and other times it doesn't! - but every single character was just the BEST! They might have hit some obstacles, but I knew that those obstacles wouldn't be meaningful in any way, and they would overcome them in one second or pull some magic out of their butt (that happened regularly). I wasn't worried about any of the main characters (i.e., those with a POV, AKA like 14 characters, lol) at any point, even when those obstacles surfaced. Honestly, this led to me not caring much about them.
Lastly, this book should have been shorter. There were so many overdone battle scenes and moments or some POVs we didn't need (I'm looking at you, Evangeline!). I was so over it that my capacity for the final-final battle scene was so low.
On a random note, I still think that Arobynn Hamel should have been the main villain throughout this whole series. He was layered and interesting, and you truly loved to hate him. The other villains in here seemed distant and I couldn't really understand them. I know it's a personal problem - people will choose how they feel about villains, but I generally need to understand them a bit.
Below, I bullet out some specific "what the f" moments within this book that contributed to my low rating. Spoilers ahead!
The setup (note: maybe some slight spoilers since this is the final book in the Throne of Glass series; I tried to make it as least spoiler-y as possible): Aelin is MIA and going through it; she's captured by the villain Maeve who I'm still so confused about, but regardless is quite ruthless alongside her weird "pet" named Cairn. Fenrys is there with Aelin, too, and they play an awful blinking game to ensure they know the other is ok [spoiler, they are not!].
The gang is all separated - Rowan, likely bawling every second, is with Lorcan, Gavriel, and Elide, who are all on the hunt to find Aelin. Dorian is traveling with some witches, including Manon, who pretends not to like Dorian at all, which is most certainly a lie. Chaol is still traveling from the southern continent with his new wife, Yrene, whom he married in 2.5 seconds flat; they are on their way to aid Terrasen with warriors. Aedion, Lysandra, and a bunch of others are fighting non-stop in Terrasen, constantly being told by some old dude named Darrow that they are ding dongs.
The connection? Fighting the infamous Vlag, "demons" from another world accidentally left in Erilea because of one of Aelin's ancestors. Oops! There are about 200 (ok, maybe not, but it seemed like it) other sub-plots that somehow connect, which is bananas. Anyway, this nearly 1,000-page novel is about the final battle (um, "final" 100 battles, maybe) between those in Erilea and the Vlag.
Buckle up! I have a lot to say about this novel. Notoriously, I've been relatively pessimistic about SJM's works. Almost everything I've read has been 3 or 3.5 stars (including the books in her ACOTAR series!), and this is the first book I've given below three stars, and it is my LEAST favorite novel I've read by SJM. It's important to me to describe why because this woman gets one million accolades about her work when this, to me, seems like cheap writing. Listen, I speed-read through her books. My brain goes *poof, off*, and if I don't think too hard, they can be somewhat entertaining. That is why none of her works are 1-star reviews for me. Buuuuuuuuut, I must shout to the world that these are not works of art, AND at times can be problematic. Let's jump riiiiiight in.
What I Liked: Hm, it was readable. I was invested this far. I wanted to know how SJM wrapped some things up and how she tied bows around specific plot points. I liked some characters in the previous books, including Lysandra, Elide, Lorcan, Manon, and Dorian; I was ready to see what became of them. I'll share more below, but I was disappointed in the character development. I still enjoyed Manon and Lysandra (outside of the men), and there were not too many blatant plot holes (if you don't think too hard).
What I Didn't Like: My main frustration was that almost every character is the same. Here it goes: has confidence that is closer to arrogance; is always ready to fight in whatever "profession" they've deemed appropriate: warrior, healer, rider, etc.; is always ready to go with absolutely zero hours of sleep; shares some funny sayings once in a while; is beautiful in every possible way; likely has a "thing" that prevents them from being their best selves and holds them back, but not too far back, they're still perfect; is strong; and is somehow touched by a god, destined to be INCREDIBLE, is a descendent from a royal line, or is a queen/king. Who did I describe? Literally every single character. In previous books, I liked Manon and Lorcan because they veered on morally grey. I enjoyed Yrene and Elide because they were more passive in some ways. However, this book's characters seemed to lose their uniqueness in every way, and it bothered me to no end.
On a similar note, SJM seemed to have a stakes problem. I'm not saying I need main characters to die - I think sometimes that works and other times it doesn't! - but every single character was just the BEST! They might have hit some obstacles, but I knew that those obstacles wouldn't be meaningful in any way, and they would overcome them in one second or pull some magic out of their butt (that happened regularly). I wasn't worried about any of the main characters (i.e., those with a POV, AKA like 14 characters, lol) at any point, even when those obstacles surfaced. Honestly, this led to me not caring much about them.
Lastly, this book should have been shorter. There were so many overdone battle scenes and moments or some POVs we didn't need (I'm looking at you, Evangeline!). I was so over it that my capacity for the final-final battle scene was so low.
On a random note, I still think that Arobynn Hamel should have been the main villain throughout this whole series. He was layered and interesting, and you truly loved to hate him. The other villains in here seemed distant and I couldn't really understand them. I know it's a personal problem - people will choose how they feel about villains, but I generally need to understand them a bit.
Below, I bullet out some specific "what the f" moments within this book that contributed to my low rating. Spoilers ahead!
-There were like 6-8 heterosexual couples existing at once, and we had to hear about them all being mates all the time.
-Dorian managed to shapeshift in less than two days, and while he "practiced," it all seemed pretty unbelievable.
-SJM loved to romanticize war - "just under 500 deaths." "Good! Not as bad as it could have been." ~onwards to another battle, and not one single cares about the deaths~.
-Fenrys could suddenly break the blood oath, yes, with some consequence, but he did it ~magically~. [The blood oath is confusing anyway.]
-Yrene was supposed to be the Healer on High and the best healer in the world with 18 million tonics, even though her magic mostly does the healing (??). Also, she had all those tonics, and not one prevented a pregnancy during a literal war. There were lots of pro-life statements peppered in this narrative, too.
-The Vlag were apparently afraid of fire, hence why they were petrified of Aelin. Somehow, in the military and war strategy, everyone seemed to forget this fact and didn't plan on bringing any fire to the table. It changed a little bit near the middle/end, but they still made it seem like this revolutionary thing when they never tried.....fire....
-Manon begging for Dorian - that whole scene about marriage and Dorian being like "nah" because he "just knew" that Manon wouldn't want that without actually talking about it - was no bueno. Also, the Manon I've read about would do NONE of that—character regression at its finest.
-In Tower of Dawn, the Kaghanate knew everything because they had spies everywhere. Now, in this book, they knew NOTHING! Their interesting territory world-building fell through the cracks. And, instead, we got the random dude named Nox from Book 1 to be the messenger. Weak.
-I have to admit, I find it funny that the Ironteeth witches were all like, "The Crochans are pretty much wiped out since we've butchered and killed them all - ha ha!" Then, there were over 5,000 fighting in battle. Ok! Also, Terrasen's ancient Fae showing up at the end for funsies was ridiculous.
-Death and sacrifice were important themes, which I hate because yikes. In this book, Aedion was a JERK to Lysandra, and guess what? Lysandra gave him a chance once their lives were in danger. Lorcan and Elide said some pretty yucky things to each other and wanted nothing to do with each other until *ding, ding, ding* death stood in the way. This theme also impacted Gavriel and Aedion's relationship, and the list goes on.
-Thank goodness, after all that, Aelin still had access to tons of coins to live her lavish lifestyle. Phew, I was worried!
As you can see, I had some sh*t to say! Officially, I am done reading SJM; I don't think I can head into the next series of Crescent City. I need a long break, if not a final departure from SJM.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
Rape is not written or described in detailed but one can assume/infer.
Self-harm/suicidal thoughts/suicide attempts regularly happen are written as self sacrifice.
The Girl in The Tower by Katherine Arden
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The second installment of Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy was an absolute delight. While it did veer to the Young Adult side of the spectrum, I still very much enjoyed this book and liked it even a bit more than the first one.
The setup: Trying not to spoil anything from the first book ~ Vasilisa, AKA Vasya, is set to travel the world after defeating many challenges in her hometown, the frontier country of Rus', in the last book. Ousted from her community and deemed a witch, she is ready to find solitude in the great outdoors with her beautiful horse, Solovey. That Solitude lasts about a day when she stumbles upon villages that have been burned and their young girls taken. Dressed as a boy, since it is still medieval Russia and the time is not kind to adventurous girls and women, she sets on a quest to find the girls and help the villages outside of Moscow.
During her adventure, she links up with family and soon finds her way to Moscow, where she becomes comfortable in her boyhood. But darker and grimmer things await her. Throw in Morozko, the frost demon straight out of fairy tales, and you also have a sprinkle of a love story without taking too much away from the plot.
What I loved: This was an atmospheric book with beautiful prose. The vocabulary was a bit different, just like in the first one, because Arden did her best to try to stick with the medieval Russia (Rus') theme in a historical context. However, it was pretty poetic yet readable. I had a blast.
Additionally, each character was developed and layered in their own way, especially Vasya and the frost demon. And, I must admit, I couldn't help but love a talking horse (only to Vasya, though). Plus, unlike the first novel, this book had more profound plot points and action scenes, which I thought was a nice touch.
Lastly, there was something quite beautiful about Vasya's development in this book. For context, this book was deeply misogynistic, just like I would imagine medieval anywhere to be. Vasya, as someone who diverts from the typical girl-to-woman tracks, was not regularly rewarded or applauded. Therefore, a lot of this book was saddening and sometimes even uncomfortable to read. Vasya had to deal with choices that focused on being herself or possibly getting herself into real trouble and, worse, getting loved ones in trouble because of her actions. Because of this, I would imagine some people reading this might become frustrated with Vasya and her decision-making, but to me, it was about Vasya trying so hard to be herself in a world that didn't allow it.
Any critique? I gave this book five stars - my first of the year! Therefore, I have minimal criticism. From maybe another reader's perspective, I will say that I'm not sure how much the plot flows from the first to the second one, meaning that the plot didn't seem to be 100% connected other than throwing in fairy tale elements. Some characters were the same, and their stories continued to be connected, but the plot differed slightly from the first book. I loved it anyway because I felt like each book focuses more on one piece of the fairy tale.
I loved this book and cannot wait to read the trilogy's final installment!
The setup: Trying not to spoil anything from the first book ~ Vasilisa, AKA Vasya, is set to travel the world after defeating many challenges in her hometown, the frontier country of Rus', in the last book. Ousted from her community and deemed a witch, she is ready to find solitude in the great outdoors with her beautiful horse, Solovey. That Solitude lasts about a day when she stumbles upon villages that have been burned and their young girls taken. Dressed as a boy, since it is still medieval Russia and the time is not kind to adventurous girls and women, she sets on a quest to find the girls and help the villages outside of Moscow.
During her adventure, she links up with family and soon finds her way to Moscow, where she becomes comfortable in her boyhood. But darker and grimmer things await her. Throw in Morozko, the frost demon straight out of fairy tales, and you also have a sprinkle of a love story without taking too much away from the plot.
What I loved: This was an atmospheric book with beautiful prose. The vocabulary was a bit different, just like in the first one, because Arden did her best to try to stick with the medieval Russia (Rus') theme in a historical context. However, it was pretty poetic yet readable. I had a blast.
Additionally, each character was developed and layered in their own way, especially Vasya and the frost demon. And, I must admit, I couldn't help but love a talking horse (only to Vasya, though). Plus, unlike the first novel, this book had more profound plot points and action scenes, which I thought was a nice touch.
Lastly, there was something quite beautiful about Vasya's development in this book. For context, this book was deeply misogynistic, just like I would imagine medieval anywhere to be. Vasya, as someone who diverts from the typical girl-to-woman tracks, was not regularly rewarded or applauded. Therefore, a lot of this book was saddening and sometimes even uncomfortable to read. Vasya had to deal with choices that focused on being herself or possibly getting herself into real trouble and, worse, getting loved ones in trouble because of her actions. Because of this, I would imagine some people reading this might become frustrated with Vasya and her decision-making, but to me, it was about Vasya trying so hard to be herself in a world that didn't allow it.
Any critique? I gave this book five stars - my first of the year! Therefore, I have minimal criticism. From maybe another reader's perspective, I will say that I'm not sure how much the plot flows from the first to the second one, meaning that the plot didn't seem to be 100% connected other than throwing in fairy tale elements. Some characters were the same, and their stories continued to be connected, but the plot differed slightly from the first book. I loved it anyway because I felt like each book focuses more on one piece of the fairy tale.
I loved this book and cannot wait to read the trilogy's final installment!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Animal death
Sexual assault is giving and forced touching.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I binge-read this beauty of a book over a weekend filled with SNOW! It was perfect. Truly. There is nothing like reading Russian folklore that takes place in a tiny town centuries ago in northern Rus', where mid-winter is an integral part of their culture, and I get to read while looking out my window with snowflakes falling. I highly recommend doing it this way if you can plan for it!
The setup: This tale begins with a Russian fairy tale. A few children are huddled around Dunya, a nursemaid, hearing the story of the frost-king, a mythical being who controls the winter but can also be death itself. We pivot outside the story to learn about a family living in a small town in Rus' (pre-dates Russia, my friends) where Pyotr, the patriarch, overseas this land and community. He has a wife he loves, Marina, and a handful of children. Marina becomes pregnant again and notes how important this birth will be - Marina comes from a line of magical women. Unfortunately (no spoiler!), Marina dies in childbirth, and Vasya, her daughter, is left without her birth mother.
During the novel, we follow the family as children grow up and the patriarch remarries. There is a blend of "old ways," versus the growing Orthodox religion. A common theme throughout the novel is the replacement of the old ways/chyerti (gods) and the shunning of those who still practice the old ways. In addition to that prevalent idea, there is this fantastical element of the fairy tale itself around the frost-king and Vasya being connected to this magical line. Katherine Arden poetically combines Russian folklore and history into a magical realism/fantasy novel.
What I liked: The prose and writing style differed from what I am used to, especially since Arden tried to stay realistic with Rus' language at the time. However, it made it unique and compelling. I found this writing to be atmospheric in its own way, and not only was it interesting, but I had a blast reading it. I also loved many of the characters. So many were flawed, including Pyotr, Vasya's father, and Anna, Vasya's stepmother. Each character was unique and exciting in their own way. Lastly, I loved this fairy tale retelling. I know little Russian folklore and fairy tales, but this seemed original. It was something I hadn't read much about before (except for Uprooted by Naomi Novik), and it just had the vibes of a lovely winter read.
What fell flat: Not much! But it was a bit slow (for me). There was so much character development and setup, which I usually love, but at times, it did drag just a little. Additionally, this was hard to read at times because of all the misogyny in this culture and the blatant sexism that accompanied the time period (which I have no doubt is factual). And, you know, I have to mention it even though I know this fits the "time period," but I disliked that the main female character was 15, yet she was acting older, and there may be pieces of the plot in the future books that have her doing very non-15-year-old things! I don't want to elaborate because I don't want to give anything away, but you know how I feel about teenage girls in fantasy novels!
However, this was beautiful storytelling, and I cannot wait to read the next ones in the series!
The setup: This tale begins with a Russian fairy tale. A few children are huddled around Dunya, a nursemaid, hearing the story of the frost-king, a mythical being who controls the winter but can also be death itself. We pivot outside the story to learn about a family living in a small town in Rus' (pre-dates Russia, my friends) where Pyotr, the patriarch, overseas this land and community. He has a wife he loves, Marina, and a handful of children. Marina becomes pregnant again and notes how important this birth will be - Marina comes from a line of magical women. Unfortunately (no spoiler!), Marina dies in childbirth, and Vasya, her daughter, is left without her birth mother.
During the novel, we follow the family as children grow up and the patriarch remarries. There is a blend of "old ways," versus the growing Orthodox religion. A common theme throughout the novel is the replacement of the old ways/chyerti (gods) and the shunning of those who still practice the old ways. In addition to that prevalent idea, there is this fantastical element of the fairy tale itself around the frost-king and Vasya being connected to this magical line. Katherine Arden poetically combines Russian folklore and history into a magical realism/fantasy novel.
What I liked: The prose and writing style differed from what I am used to, especially since Arden tried to stay realistic with Rus' language at the time. However, it made it unique and compelling. I found this writing to be atmospheric in its own way, and not only was it interesting, but I had a blast reading it. I also loved many of the characters. So many were flawed, including Pyotr, Vasya's father, and Anna, Vasya's stepmother. Each character was unique and exciting in their own way. Lastly, I loved this fairy tale retelling. I know little Russian folklore and fairy tales, but this seemed original. It was something I hadn't read much about before (except for Uprooted by Naomi Novik), and it just had the vibes of a lovely winter read.
What fell flat: Not much! But it was a bit slow (for me). There was so much character development and setup, which I usually love, but at times, it did drag just a little. Additionally, this was hard to read at times because of all the misogyny in this culture and the blatant sexism that accompanied the time period (which I have no doubt is factual). And, you know, I have to mention it even though I know this fits the "time period," but I disliked that the main female character was 15, yet she was acting older, and there may be pieces of the plot in the future books that have her doing very non-15-year-old things! I don't want to elaborate because I don't want to give anything away, but you know how I feel about teenage girls in fantasy novels!
However, this was beautiful storytelling, and I cannot wait to read the next ones in the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy
Sexual assault happens on page, albeit briefly - unwelcomed forced touching and kissing.
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
This (these) book(s) also did teeter on the ROMANCE scale so much. I was finally glad not to have a love triangle anymore, and thankfully, those (kinda) went away, but everybody is paired with somebody. I'm not sure why it annoyed me because I've read other books where this happens (Roots of Chaos - Samantha Shannon), but I don't think anybody quite hypes it up and makes it a considerable plot point like SJM. I also wished I counted how many kisses characters gave at the "corners of mouths."
Lastly, there is a plethora of toxic perseverance and the glorification of war, which is something I must get used to with SJM writing. In addition [I'm putting a spoiler on this just in case], but
kind of healing Chaol's injury wasn't done super well in my opinion. He was disabled and then "magically" healed, yet still tied to Yrene's life and it can still go wrong? It's honestly a cop out of him being healed enough to still be mr macho man yet then things can go wrong? I don't know, it didn't quite sit well for me.
Overall, though, it was fine. This was a solid read (reads). However, I have officially decided that my TBR is too long for any more SJM. I will finish this series with Kingdom of Ash, and I will stop reading her works. Fated mates, toxic perseverance, and unnecessary romanticism of war simply isn't for me and I will officially put the books down after.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I read Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn as a tandem read, as requested by most BookTokers I've seen out there. Many recommend this because they love Aelin and Rowan and didn't want to be a part of them for one whole book; plus, there will ALWAYS be Chaol haters. I honestly don't care much about Aelin and Rowan (sorry!), and I am notoriously known for thinking there is more than meets the eye with Chaol. But, I will admit it: the tandem read slightly improved my experience with my Throne of Glass journey. While reading nearly 1400 pages, give or take, seemed daunting, I did fly through this read (these reads?).
Set up: The main characters are thrown into every direction as war breaks out between citizens and the infamous Vlag. Empire of Storms follows Aelin, Rowan, Dorian, Manon, Lysandra, Aedion, Elide, Lorcan, and others we know and love. Tower of Dawn follows Chaol and Nesryn as they trek to the southern continent to, hopefully, gain support from the kaghan there in the upcoming war. Also, to see if they can get Chaol walking again. In this book, we meet Yrene again after briefly meeting her in The Assassin's Blade.
What I liked: Lysandra. I also enjoyed Elide's and Lorcan's characters. I liked their romance. Theirs didn't feel forced per se, but their POVs were sometimes redundant. Finally, I was invested in this plot. I wanted to see how SJM wove in all the moving pieces and how it would end. I was invested. I didn't see TOO many plot holes. This is some decent high fantasy plotting.
What I didn't like: Aelin. Always. She's so annoying, even if she spouts some funnies occasionally. I didn't enjoy Rowan and Aelin either. "Just bang!" I would say throughout this novel, and THEN they did, and I was underwhelmed. Something about velvet-strapped steel also just....yuck.
Set up: The main characters are thrown into every direction as war breaks out between citizens and the infamous Vlag. Empire of Storms follows Aelin, Rowan, Dorian, Manon, Lysandra, Aedion, Elide, Lorcan, and others we know and love. Tower of Dawn follows Chaol and Nesryn as they trek to the southern continent to, hopefully, gain support from the kaghan there in the upcoming war. Also, to see if they can get Chaol walking again. In this book, we meet Yrene again after briefly meeting her in The Assassin's Blade.
What I liked: Lysandra. I also enjoyed Elide's and Lorcan's characters. I liked their romance. Theirs didn't feel forced per se, but their POVs were sometimes redundant. Finally, I was invested in this plot. I wanted to see how SJM wove in all the moving pieces and how it would end. I was invested. I didn't see TOO many plot holes. This is some decent high fantasy plotting.
What I didn't like: Aelin. Always. She's so annoying, even if she spouts some funnies occasionally. I didn't enjoy Rowan and Aelin either. "Just bang!" I would say throughout this novel, and THEN they did, and I was underwhelmed. Something about velvet-strapped steel also just....yuck.
"She really tortured them, she realized, by shoving her way into danger whenever she felt like it. Perhaps she'd try to be better about it if this dread was at all like what they felt." LOL, yeah, AELIN.
This (these) book(s) also did teeter on the ROMANCE scale so much. I was finally glad not to have a love triangle anymore, and thankfully, those (kinda) went away, but everybody is paired with somebody. I'm not sure why it annoyed me because I've read other books where this happens (Roots of Chaos - Samantha Shannon), but I don't think anybody quite hypes it up and makes it a considerable plot point like SJM. I also wished I counted how many kisses characters gave at the "corners of mouths."
"She thought of the new, delicate scars on his back - marks from her own nails (*cough* sex *cough*), that he'd refused to heal with his magic, and instead had set with seawater, the salt locking the scars into place before the immortal body could smooth it over. Her claiming marks, he'd breathed into her mouth the last time he'd been inside her. So he and anyone who saw them would know that he belonged to her. That he was hers, just as she was his." WHAT. First. What? Second. How would people look at his back and be like THOSE ARE FROM F'in! Third. What. Fourth. The dramatics. Fifth. What. Lastly, they can do that with salt water? Since freaking when? This internal monologue was also the start of a BATTLE IN WAR. Lol. Just lol.
Lastly, there is a plethora of toxic perseverance and the glorification of war, which is something I must get used to with SJM writing. In addition [I'm putting a spoiler on this just in case],
kind of healing Chaol's injury wasn't done super well in my opinion. He was disabled and then "magically" healed, yet still tied to Yrene's life and it can still go wrong? It's honestly a cop out of him being healed enough to still be mr macho man yet then things can go wrong? I don't know, it didn't quite sit well for me.
Overall, though, it was fine. This was a solid read (reads). However, I have officially decided that my TBR is too long for any more SJM. I will finish this series with Kingdom of Ash, and I will stop reading her works. Fated mates, toxic perseverance, and unnecessary romanticism of war simply isn't for me and I will officially put the books down after.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Alcohol
Minor: Toxic relationship and Pregnancy