angie_the_bibliophile's reviews
81 reviews

Salute the Dark by Adrian Tchaikovsky

4.5

The war in this book hits a bit differently. It is savage, tense, relentless and heartbreaking. Even though there might be hope the casualties and sacrifices to achieve the glimmer of it is immense.
I've never read a series longer than a trilogy and this one, I'm very lucky to say, is keeping me intrigued. I'll be starting the 5th book tomorrow.
I love the war tactics in this series - something I never knew I'd like to read page upon page about. The characters are great, Thalric and Tisamon being my favourites; Che at last coming into more development. I've had no issues remembering any of the list of characters - once again showing Tchaikovsky's skill.

Blood of the Mantis by Adrian Tchaikovsky

3.5

This book was quite a bit shorter than the first two with the fourth picking up in length once again, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Compared to the second book this one was very slow the first half whereas the second half was everywhere everything all at once and was very action packed. We get some warfare and action in this one but a lot more spy work, magic, alternative agendas, tension etc was focused on which it does well. Characters that experienced a lot of change in the previous book now try and find their place in the world deciding who they want to be. On to the next! 

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.25

As with Ninth House the ending was good, but getting there was a bit of a slog. Not sure if there will be a third book, but I hope not as it tied up well in the end.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A good read and satisfying end going into the next book. Bardugo's writing tend to lean a bit to the repetitive style, but not overly so. To anyone wondering, this is not dark academia as with the OG banger "The Secret History", the setting is at a university, but there's not a lot of academics going round haha, but a lot of magic with horror elements and I thoroughly enjoyed it for that aspect.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

I think it was good, maybe a tad too long, but still a quick read. The story was quite different and I enjoyed the magic etc. Writing is good, albeit a bit repetitive in parts. My first Bardugo book, Ninth House still on my TBR. 

Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

Another fantastic read, I struggled to put it down and to my own detriment read into the wee hours of the morning, similary to the first book, haha. You absolutely hit the ground running on this book after the first, it's very war-forward (obviously), it slows down a bit around 60%, but luckily not for long. Characters are great and we get to meet more kinden types. Villain from book 1 develops more and other evils are introduced as well as a lot more magic. On to book 3 👌

Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell

5.0

Fantastic book written with so much empathy, humour, wit and honesty filled with tons of examples making it very easy to understand and digest. I enjoyed how much research and interview material Amanda refers to throughout. Even though the title states "a feminist guide" it contains a lot of interesting information about language of marginalised communities and she speaks on some of the challenges that men face as well.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.

DNF at 19%. I found the audio production 🎧 way too distracting. There are a total of 8 narrators, but for each POV chapter a character's narrator also does anyone's else narration which feature in dialogue so it means each character basically has 8 different voices.
This is not shade to the narrators themselves, individually, they were all brilliant, but the production doesn't work for me unfortunately.
I've listened to other cast productions in the past that were brilliantly done and I usually am very excited when I see that.

Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

I've been wanting to read Tchaikovsky a long time and randomly found this series at the library knowing nothing of it and having never read the author.
The book starts out a bit slow, but Adrian cemented his main character cast very well and I got to know them, their worlds and culture etc. and was able to easily tell them apart. By the time the book ramps up the stakes and the danger and the adventure I could easily absorb new characters and keep up with all that was happening. 
Adrian's writing is fantastic and I enjoyed his world building so much. The human insect races were so well done and I loved them all! I've just never read anything like it before. 
Definitely taking out the second book at the library tomorrow. 

Bonus points for the last chapter being an even round 40, that made me so happy haha.