cody_crumley's reviews
162 reviews

Dark Water Daughter does a lot of interesting world building, and the two POV characters feel fleshed out and there internal and familial trauma that both Rosser and Mary have mean so much to the trajectory of their relationship and how they grow.

Unfortunately none of the other characters really get that much attention, most of the side characters get lost in the pages. The same can be said for main plot, especially the antagonist, who’s goal seemed kinda just whatever, with the last 100 pages or so kinda on fast-forward because it is like H.M Long realized they were running out of time to try and explain/solve the plot points that had been slowly developed.

Like I said everything that involved Rosser and Mary well done, with their slow burn romance being just top notch. Throw in Mary’s mother being the Stormsinger (which is such a cool name for someone what can control weather with their voice) for their enemy, and Rosser’s brother being a sexual predator who has the power of using magic to influence people’s decisions. There are layers to every interaction between them and I can’t wait to see more adventures with those two.

The magic systems are interesting, if maybe just a little bit underutilized. I think the idea of “The Other” being this world of spirits and creatures is cool but I need some more background given about how it was discovered and how these magical abilities were created/discovered.

I do want to give props to the audiobook narrators for both Rosser and Mary. I bounced between audio and digital and was satisfied with both.

Dark Water Daughter is definitely worth checking out, if only for interesting magic, slow burn romance, and a different kind of fantasy setting with pirates!

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

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hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

Talking at Night by Claire Daverley

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challenging emotional reflective sad 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

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

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informative reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

Jade City by Fonda Lee

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

“The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master.

On my honor, my life, and my jade.”

In Fonda Lee’s adult debut, she was able to establish a world and its history with a deep family background like “The Godfather”. While the beginning and end have some trouble taking off and landing, what she is able to do at the start of this trilogy is introduce multiple POVs and keep them all at varying levels of intrigue and importance.

That is what the backbone (or in the case of the city of Jonloon, the Pillar) of this story is. The interactions between characters is what makes this an easy book to read but hard to put down. Falling down the rabbit hole of politics in Jonloon with the two clans (this worlds version of the mafia) of No Peak and the Mountain, who use to be one and how it is told through the POVs that Lee selectively chose is what makes this such a page turner. Barrow is the only one who gets kinda shortchanged, but even that has a narrative reason.

Having this be an Urban Fantasy, it is able to easily bridge the gap of modern society with magical realism with the power of Jade. Jade in this world makes certain members of society called “Green Bones” have god-like powers, with the more Jade you have the more powerful you are. This does not become an OP problem though, as people can struggle to carry all of their Jade and succumb to its allure in a narcotics rule of way.

The most interesting character POV for me was Shae. She had left the No Peak clan and her family, married a foreigner from another area, and as we are introduced to her, she is coming back after a divorce and graduating from a foreign university. How she struggles with the pull of her family trying to get her back in the clan, and how she slowly falls back into clan business is fascinating. It goes to show how hard it is to separate yourself from your blood, no matter how toxic or bad for you it is. Family and Jade in this world have a lot in common.

There are some struggle points in this book, mainly focused on the beginning and end of this book. The openings at the front are not bad, but it’s slow while also throwing lots of info at the reader. My problems with the ending is how convenient the “conflict” of this book is kinda wrapped up, even if the war is alluded to not be over and will eventually continue, but then plan that was done just seemed weirdly “plot armored” in a way that up until that point had not been the case for many characters.

This book does a fantastic job of setting up the next book. Hopefully in the next two, the minor knit picks I have will be resolved and smoothed out because the foundation has been set and it is solid!

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

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mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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cody_crumley's reviews 162 reviews

cody_crumley's reviews
162 reviews