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citronella_seance's reviews
327 reviews
Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
2.0
MAJOR BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!
I, no lie, made a GoodRead's account just so I could leave a review about this book. When I read Carry On, I blasted through it in a day because I was hooked on the characters and this amazing, magical world. It was the first time I had ever seen an LGBTQ+ couple set in a world of witches and wizards and magic and I was in awe. It made me so happy.
Admittedly, maybe I built up Wayward Son in my head way more than I should have because Carry On meant so much to me, but I blasted through Carry On in a day because it was magical. I blasted through Wayward Son in a day because it felt like a chore I needed to get done as fast as possible.
Here are my three biggest problems with the book:
1) SnowBaz
The relationship between Simon and Baz in Carry On was amazing. They had a love/hate relationship that made you want to keep reading. It kept you invested in their story and how it was going to progress. You knew there was going to be a tipping point and you waited for it to happen with baited breath. In Wayward Son, the relationship between Simon and Baz feels like a literal wet blanket. Having read Carry On I was the MOST excited to see Baz and Simon happy and together and thriving because it's what they deserve. Instead all I got was two boys filled with the most manufactured ennui one can imagine, too scared to have one whole conversation together. It was, for lack of a better word, lame, and also not what /anyone/ was hoping to get out of that relationship with a second book.
2) The Plot (or utter lack thereof)
Plot? What plot? We don't know her here. I love a good road trip story but only if the events throughout the road trip make sense and follow a specific thematic element or serve some common character development purpose. A road trip adventure story is only exhilarating and exciting if there's some over arching meaning or lesson to be learned along the way. It feels like Rowell was TRYING to do that but just never settled on anything. Because of this, the plot meanders aimlessly with absolutely no clear direction until it arrives at a conclusion that, frankly, really makes no sense. Some "side quests" were fun, but then others felt short and unexplained. Like, I'm just supposed to accept mountains are dragons and there's a river spirit that controls all the water on the earth but like...without any actual lore to back it up. I'm all for magikal creatures but the set-up for there being "American" magikal creatures was never really discussed until half-way through the novel when they meet a badger-man with a semi and Simon goes "Oh yeah, I remember, America is pretty bad."
The conclusion, after the climax, is legitimately so baffling it was laughable. Like, I audibly laughed. If you're going to end on a cliff hanger is should...at least make any sort of sense.
3) The Character Development (or utter lack thereof)
Again, Character Development, who's that? Even Rowell's half-hearted attempt to give Penny some character development was a flop. Simon in the beginning, sad, depressed, afraid to look at Baz. Simon at the end, the tiniest bit less sad, depressed, and still afraid to look at Baz. Baz in the beginning, coasting, struggling to understand Simon, desperate. Baz at the end, coasting, struggling to understand Simon, desperate. Literally NOTHING changed. There was no forward momentum for any of the characters.
I seriously wish I could like Wayward Son but it left me sorely disappointed and sad. I finished the novel and literally asked myself "What was that novel for?" It has no purpose to any overarching plot or character development, it just wanders down a dirt bath until it reaches a very very very confusing and unsatisfying ending.
I, no lie, made a GoodRead's account just so I could leave a review about this book. When I read Carry On, I blasted through it in a day because I was hooked on the characters and this amazing, magical world. It was the first time I had ever seen an LGBTQ+ couple set in a world of witches and wizards and magic and I was in awe. It made me so happy.
Admittedly, maybe I built up Wayward Son in my head way more than I should have because Carry On meant so much to me, but I blasted through Carry On in a day because it was magical. I blasted through Wayward Son in a day because it felt like a chore I needed to get done as fast as possible.
Here are my three biggest problems with the book:
1) SnowBaz
The relationship between Simon and Baz in Carry On was amazing. They had a love/hate relationship that made you want to keep reading. It kept you invested in their story and how it was going to progress. You knew there was going to be a tipping point and you waited for it to happen with baited breath. In Wayward Son, the relationship between Simon and Baz feels like a literal wet blanket. Having read Carry On I was the MOST excited to see Baz and Simon happy and together and thriving because it's what they deserve. Instead all I got was two boys filled with the most manufactured ennui one can imagine, too scared to have one whole conversation together. It was, for lack of a better word, lame, and also not what /anyone/ was hoping to get out of that relationship with a second book.
2) The Plot (or utter lack thereof)
Plot? What plot? We don't know her here. I love a good road trip story but only if the events throughout the road trip make sense and follow a specific thematic element or serve some common character development purpose. A road trip adventure story is only exhilarating and exciting if there's some over arching meaning or lesson to be learned along the way. It feels like Rowell was TRYING to do that but just never settled on anything. Because of this, the plot meanders aimlessly with absolutely no clear direction until it arrives at a conclusion that, frankly, really makes no sense. Some "side quests" were fun, but then others felt short and unexplained. Like, I'm just supposed to accept mountains are dragons and there's a river spirit that controls all the water on the earth but like...without any actual lore to back it up. I'm all for magikal creatures but the set-up for there being "American" magikal creatures was never really discussed until half-way through the novel when they meet a badger-man with a semi and Simon goes "Oh yeah, I remember, America is pretty bad."
The conclusion, after the climax, is legitimately so baffling it was laughable. Like, I audibly laughed. If you're going to end on a cliff hanger is should...at least make any sort of sense.
3) The Character Development (or utter lack thereof)
Again, Character Development, who's that? Even Rowell's half-hearted attempt to give Penny some character development was a flop. Simon in the beginning, sad, depressed, afraid to look at Baz. Simon at the end, the tiniest bit less sad, depressed, and still afraid to look at Baz. Baz in the beginning, coasting, struggling to understand Simon, desperate. Baz at the end, coasting, struggling to understand Simon, desperate. Literally NOTHING changed. There was no forward momentum for any of the characters.
I seriously wish I could like Wayward Son but it left me sorely disappointed and sad. I finished the novel and literally asked myself "What was that novel for?" It has no purpose to any overarching plot or character development, it just wanders down a dirt bath until it reaches a very very very confusing and unsatisfying ending.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
I finished this book Saturday and I'm glad I have myself a few days to stew in it before I wrote my review.
SPOILER WARNING!!!!
Let me just start by saying this book shouldn't be called "Ninth House" it should be called "Darlington's House" because he owns it. Seriously though, this book owes Darlington its life, because he was one of the few things that got me through the first half of the book.
Let's start with a little backstory. Galaxy "Alex" Stern's life really couldn't get any worse, she's chained to a hospital bed and just had the most traumatic night of her life. Things really aren't looking up, until she's approached by Dean Sandow, from Yale, with an offer. A clean slate and a full-ride to college in exchange for her help policing eight secret societies, their magic, their rituals, and lots of ghosts and ghouls. Why? Because Alex can SEE ghosts, called Greys in the book, and that's pretty much unheard of. She takes the offer, but can she stay alive?
I want to admit right off the bat, this was my first time dipping into the vast pool of Leigh Bardugo, so that may have helped me a bit. I didn't have to reconcile her as a YA author before I started reading Ninth House. I know a lot of people have talked about how dark it is and how intense the themes are, but they personally weren't anymore vile or gruesome than any other adult horror, sci-fi, or thriller novel. I think the only problem lies in people who may be TOO young or have never read fiction like this before, reading it and being totally caught off guard. This is NOT NOT NOT a Young Adult novel.
If you had asked me halfway through the book what I thought, I most likely would have said I wasn't enjoying it. The time jumps were easy for me to follow, but the Fall timeline, with Darlington, was the only one really holding my attention. I would, hands down, read a whole series simply about Daniel Arlington. He stole the entire book and he really isn't even in hardly half of it. For the first few chapters I found Alex COMPLETELY unlikable and extremely predictable. It wasn't until she started really forming bonds with the other characters that I grew to like her. Her relationship with Dawes is A++++++.
But y'all, if the first half was a 2 star kind of book, the second half was a 5. It picked up in speed and it didn't stop until the end. It was fantastical, it was full of twists I literally did not see coming, it was magical and spiritual and empowering. It's what I wished the WHOLE book was like, not just pages upon pages about Yale building descriptions. I understand this is the first book in a series, but I wasn't sold on the world Bardugo had built until the very end and, boy, was it worth.
Every mention of magic no one understands, of Alex's past, of Darlington's whereabouts, were finally paid back twofold and it was simply stunning. The end of the novel helped me understand why Stephen King himself loved it so much. It has every bit of cosmic weirdness and magical realism you would expect from a King novel, but with the badassery and empowerment of a female character and a female author.
The cliff hanger at the end left me wanting more, if only to GET DANIEL ARLINGTON BACK DAMMIT and I can't wait to see what other adventures Alex and Dawes have.
Some TWs for this book include: Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual Assault, Drugging, Revenge Porn, Sexual Violence.
SPOILER WARNING!!!!
Let me just start by saying this book shouldn't be called "Ninth House" it should be called "Darlington's House" because he owns it. Seriously though, this book owes Darlington its life, because he was one of the few things that got me through the first half of the book.
Let's start with a little backstory. Galaxy "Alex" Stern's life really couldn't get any worse, she's chained to a hospital bed and just had the most traumatic night of her life. Things really aren't looking up, until she's approached by Dean Sandow, from Yale, with an offer. A clean slate and a full-ride to college in exchange for her help policing eight secret societies, their magic, their rituals, and lots of ghosts and ghouls. Why? Because Alex can SEE ghosts, called Greys in the book, and that's pretty much unheard of. She takes the offer, but can she stay alive?
I want to admit right off the bat, this was my first time dipping into the vast pool of Leigh Bardugo, so that may have helped me a bit. I didn't have to reconcile her as a YA author before I started reading Ninth House. I know a lot of people have talked about how dark it is and how intense the themes are, but they personally weren't anymore vile or gruesome than any other adult horror, sci-fi, or thriller novel. I think the only problem lies in people who may be TOO young or have never read fiction like this before, reading it and being totally caught off guard. This is NOT NOT NOT a Young Adult novel.
If you had asked me halfway through the book what I thought, I most likely would have said I wasn't enjoying it. The time jumps were easy for me to follow, but the Fall timeline, with Darlington, was the only one really holding my attention. I would, hands down, read a whole series simply about Daniel Arlington. He stole the entire book and he really isn't even in hardly half of it. For the first few chapters I found Alex COMPLETELY unlikable and extremely predictable. It wasn't until she started really forming bonds with the other characters that I grew to like her. Her relationship with Dawes is A++++++.
But y'all, if the first half was a 2 star kind of book, the second half was a 5. It picked up in speed and it didn't stop until the end. It was fantastical, it was full of twists I literally did not see coming, it was magical and spiritual and empowering. It's what I wished the WHOLE book was like, not just pages upon pages about Yale building descriptions. I understand this is the first book in a series, but I wasn't sold on the world Bardugo had built until the very end and, boy, was it worth.
Every mention of magic no one understands, of Alex's past, of Darlington's whereabouts, were finally paid back twofold and it was simply stunning. The end of the novel helped me understand why Stephen King himself loved it so much. It has every bit of cosmic weirdness and magical realism you would expect from a King novel, but with the badassery and empowerment of a female character and a female author.
The cliff hanger at the end left me wanting more, if only to GET DANIEL ARLINGTON BACK DAMMIT and I can't wait to see what other adventures Alex and Dawes have.
Some TWs for this book include: Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual Assault, Drugging, Revenge Porn, Sexual Violence.