anna4's reviews
301 reviews

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I'm writing this while being about 40% into the sequel.

This books ends somewhat in a cliffhanger and book 2 basically picks up right where this one left off, so you might want to have book 2 on hand when starting this.

We have multiple pov which, yes, we love. However, I cannot say I was interested in everyone and I can't really tell if it was just the length of the book (too short) or the characters themselves.
Skedi for example, while cute in the beginning, turned out annoying towards the end. 

What I really liked though was the world building and the concept of gods as well as the approach the people have in regards to them. 

Filthy Rich Vampire by Geneva Lee

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This is your typical billionaire romance. But make the billionaire a 900+ year old vampire.
This might also just be a The Originals/The Vampire Diaries fanfic with a tiiny sprinkle of Twilight in it and you cannot convince me otherwise. As if Julian is not a mix of Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson lmao. 

Not the greatest by any means but entertaining to some degree and a relatively quick read. Will proooobably read the next book.

Having said that...:

• The chemistry between Thea and Julian was basically completely absent. Starting with the fact that this book covers about 5 days from start to finish and during those 5 days they went from complete strangers to not only being madly in love (how?) but also mates. MATES. Not sure how mating works with vampires+humans or vampires+witches or vampires+vampires, but it is what it is. Literally no one in the book was happy about this and I was just confused but whatever. Not the biggest issue here. 

• I am a full-blown nickname-hater and while I understand that in this book vampires see humans as (kinda literal) pets, there's absolutely no rhyme or reason for nicknaming your girlfriend (and mate) "pet". Just no. 

• On that note: this is my unofficial petition to cancel the phrase "take me to bed". If the 900+ year old vampire can adjust to a BMW with GPS and texting after being asleep for 40 years, then that very vampire (AND THE 20 YEAR OLD GIRL) can use normal/modern language to say "let's have sex". 

• Something I hated probably more than this stupid nickname was the fact, that Thea being a virgin was a main plot point in the book and a recurring topic in a lot of conversations between what felt like everyone. Julian's mother even smelled it on her. How. 
  SURELY the whole problem of a vampire having sex with a virgin could have been plotted around him not being able get in contact with her blood or something. 

Meister der Dschinn by P. Djèlí Clark

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Als ich auf das Buch aufmerksam wurde, dachte ich, dass mich eine epische Fantasy Geschichte erwartet. Episch ist es zwar, aber was die meisten wahrscheinlich unter “episch” verstehen, findet sich hauptsächlich auf den letzten ca 20% des Buches. 

Ansonsten ist es eher ein Krimi-Mystery-Buch mit entsprechenden Fantasy Elementen, auch wenn diese gut und absolut passend für die Geschichte und das Setting gewählt wurden.

Erzählt wird aus der Sicht der Protagonisten Fatma, die sich in einem alternativen Kairo in 1912, als eine der wenigen weiblichen Agentinnen in einer männerdominierten Behörde, mit allerlei magischen Mysterien auseinandersetzen muss. 

Fatma ist nicht nur eine toll gewählte Protagonisten, sondern harmoniert auch wunderbar mit so ziemlich jedem Charakter, dem wir in der Geschichte begegnen. Etwas, was wahrscheinlich zum Teil dem immer wiederkehrenden leichten Humor und den entsprechenden Kommentaren und Gedanken aus Fatmas Sicht zu verdanken ist. 

Besonders gefallen haben mir Fatma und Hadia. Obwohl Fatma Hadia anfangs eher als Last gesehen hat, haben die beiden nach einer ordentlichen Aussprache eine ganz tolle Freundschaft und noch bessere Chemie entwickelt. 

Was dieses Buch vor allem auszeichnet, ist die Liebe zum historischen Detail und das vor allem in Bezug auf Ägypten und seine Kultur. Kein Wunder, denn der Autor ist selbst Historiker.

Wer jedoch Bedenken hat, dass der historische Anteil trocken wirken könnte, den kann ich beruhigen.

Neben dem historischen Aspekt, hat der Autor auch noch viele andere Themen in das Buch einfließen lassen, darunter gleichgeschlechtliche Liebe, Religion, Frauenwahlrecht und mehr.

All das wurde toll in das Buch eingebracht, ohne gezwungen oder irrelevant für die Geschichte zu wirken. Da habe ich nämlich schon das eine oder andere Buch gelesen, wo solch ein Vorhaben eher missglückt ist.

Auch wenn das Buch mit vielem Glänzen kann, muss ich doch sagen, dass es beim Lesen ein Auf und Ab war: das alternative 1912-Kairo war interessant, die Story an sich gut, die Charaktere sehr gelungen, jedoch konnte es mich oft nicht genug mitreißen, sodass ich länger am Stück gelesen habe.

Nichtsdestotrotz finde ich "Meister der Dschinn” ein gelungenes Buch. 

Vielen Dank an CrossCult für die Bereitstellung dieses Rezensionsexemplars über NetGalley. Meine Meinung wurde dadurch nicht beeinflusst.

Cruel Castaways - Fallen by L.J. Shen

emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Vorweg muss ich sagen, dass mir bewusst ist, dass “Fallen” Teil einer Reihe ist und ich Band 1 (“Rival”) noch nicht gelesen habe. Zum Verständnis ist dies auch nicht nötig. Falls also jemand der Klappentext von diesem Band eher zusagt, kann man ihn sehr gut ohne den Vorgänger lesen. Mir hat es sogar noch mehr Lust auf Band 1 gemacht.

Das Buch ist in zwei Teile aufgeteilt, wobei Teil 1 komplett aus Arsènes Sicht und Teil 2 überwiegend aus Winnies Sicht erzählt wird.
Durch die verschiedenen POV konnte man sehr gut erkennen, wie unterschiedlich Arsène und Winnie in ihren Persönlichkeiten sind, wie sie ihre Umwelt wahrnehmen und wie ihr Umgang mit ihren Mitmenschen ist. Also ein komplettes Kontrastprogramm zueinander. 

Arsène ist das, was man als klassisches Arschloch bezeichnen würde. Winnie hingegen ist das nette, süße Mädchen von nebenan. 

Viele der Gespräche zwischen den beiden waren von Humor geprägt, aber wenn es darauf ankam, konnte man sich vor allem auf Arsène und seine ehrliche Meinung verlassen.

Arènes Entwicklung in dem Buch war sehr deutlich zu sehen, aber für mich nicht zu 100% flüssig. Man hat beim Lesen gemerkt, dass ab ca. der 50% Grenze ein gewisser Cut war, und Arsène jetzt “der Gute” sein musste: Gefühle zeigen, nett und entgegenkommend sein, Winnie in einem anderen Licht sehen. 

Was mir persönlich sehr gefallen hat, war der nicht vorhandene 3rd-Act-Breakup. Ich finde diesen Teil in mindestens 80% der Fälle schrecklich als auch unnötig und in sehr, sehr wenigen Fällen verständlich.

Einen weiteren Pluspunkt bekommt die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema Endometriose. Ob diese Thematik in dem vorhandenen Ausmaß gut oder schlecht dargestellt wurde, kann und möchte ich auch gar nicht beurteilen. 

Nachdem mir “Beautiful Graves” eher mäßig gefallen hat, war “Fallen” total nach meinem Geschmack!

Ich freue mich nun sowohl Teil 1 der Reihe nachzuholen, als auch auf das Erscheinen von Band 3.

Vielen Dank an LYX für die Bereitstellung dieses Rezensionsexemplars über NetGalley. Meine Meinung wurde dadurch nicht beeinflusst.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

3,5 - 3,75

I wasn’t necessarily the biggest fan of “Encyclopaedia of Fairies” for a couple of reasons, so I was a bit hesitant going into the sequel. And I’m not sure what it was: the plot, the characters or maybe even the format (read book 1 as a physical book and book 2 as a digital)? But I liked this one better than book 1.

Emily and Wendell’s chemistry was great. Cute even! They seemed way more comfortable with each other compared to their relationship in book 1, where I almost felt like Emily was bothered by Wendell's presence.
A pleasant surprise was that Emily was the same, yet different, in a good way. Something happened between the books with her and I like it.

We were introduced to two new characters and while I surprisingly did end up liking Rose, I wasn’t really a fan of Ariadne. She was fine in the beginning and the end but everything in between, I was disappointed and almost annoyed with her? I guess I expected some sort of friendship-like relationship between Emily and her.

The book is still rather slow, though it definitely felt faster compared to book 1, which I found *too* slow for my liking.
The plot was easier to follow and even adventurous in some parts.
There were a couple of scenes that mentioned the events from book 1, which I thought was really nice. Especially, because I think this book can almost be read as a standalone.
However, I did hit some sort of a low in the last third of the book, which was unfortunate, because it had a rather important plot point.

Nonetheless I am actually excited for the next book! The ending was rather interesting here and promises an even better plot for the book 3.

Thank you Orbit for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. 

Im Zeichen der Mohnblume - Die Schamanin by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard

3.25

Had mostly the same issues and non-issues as with book 1. Though I this one was slightly better.

I might need to do a reread before book 3 released, because even though I read book 1 and book 2 about 2 months apart (maybe less ?), I already had forgotten some things. 

Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

We were robbed. Should have been a full novel.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

The story felt very heavy, and slow, throughout most of the book.

Vasya as a character was interesting in her own way. I was almost more interested in the relationship between her and her siblings and family in general, because I felt like this was somewhere between liking each other and co existing. Especially between Vasya and Irina, who loved her older sister but was also loyal to her mother.

I think one of the rather interesting ones was Father Konstantin. He was very suspicious from the moment he appeared and I couldn't really tell his alternative motives, which I still think exist without every being revealed, besides being very devoted to god. 

Though somewhat predictable, it was a nice touch the way the story from the beginning tied up with the story of the book itself.

The setting was really nice, though I have to admit I map or a layout of their house would have been really nice, because my brain just blanked whenever they were sleeping around the oven.
Regarding the language and use of russian words, I found myself having similar issues as in After the Forest. I don't really know if there's a necessary reason to use "dvor" instead of "yard" or "kasha" instead of  "porridge". Maybe someone who isn't a native speaker would feel otherwise.
But I do appreciate the glossary at the end of the book!

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I’m so utterly confused by this book that I don't really know where to begin with this.

When I read the description of the book and it said “for fans of The Starless Sea”, I knew this would be a hit or miss, as I wasn’t a big fan (or any fan for that matter) of The Starless Sea. But I got blinded by the cover and the rest of the description so here we are.

Now that I’ve finished the book, all I see is really a shorter version of The Starless Sea to be honest, but with more plot. Both books have a similar and arguably the same structure and if the books give off anything, then it’s the same vibes. And confusion.

The world building of anything not-real-world-related was very vague: Doors, keys, scholars and elsewhere. So vague, that I still don’t have a concept of it, really. I guess the goal was to make it seem magical. This other, unknown place, where all those great things are possible. Whatever they may be.

The characters in general were meh at best and unnecessary at worst. 
The best I can say about the main characters Violet and Aleksander is probably that I feel indifferent to them. 
Violet was your typical “doesn’t know anything and has to figure out everything”- type of girl. And she really did know nothing. But was really quick sometimes to make sense of things. How ?
And Aleksander is “the broken one who fails to pick a side because it’s loyalty > common sense and is blind to the obvious”- kinda guy. I’m still not sure of his full backstory, his personality or him as a person.

The romance, if you can call it that, between those two was more of a suggestion considering they barely spend any actual time together. Their connection really boils down to Violet seeing him as her source of all those things she doesn’t know anything about.
Penelope is the one and only character I would call interesting and that's only because she reminded me of the Evil Queen from the early seasons of Once Upon a Time…

The writing was fine. The descriptions were very..broad? A lot of big words were used and a lot of the time it was a mouthful to a point that I had to reread some parts because I didn't know what the author was talking about.

The strongest and best part for me of the book were the handful of interlude chapters. They were short and nicely done.

The pacing was fine up until the 50% mark and then it just got very weird. A lot of time jumps and changes of locations. 

The last ca. 50 pages of the book I can only describe as rambling and constant repeating of thoughts and things we already know ( and have read several times). This whole part could have been either shortened or edited out.

This book felt in equal parts too long and too short.

I wasn’t feeling like I got a satisfying conclusion for all of the different plot strings, even though the author made sure to mention everyone who had more than a-one sentence-appearance.

Having said all of that, I can see who this book might appeal to. And the cover is pretty.The rest..I think going into this with no expectations will help with your reading experience.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.