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eliotts_library's Reviews (1.01k)
Lament ★★
DNF'd at page 134
I can't believe I'm DNFing a Maggie Stiefvater book but here we are
There are a few reasons I'm DNFing this, the main one being a spoiler so I'll talk about that last
First of all, the writing is kind of terrible for me. I adore Maggie, she's my favourite author of all time, but yikes. This is bad. I think a lot of it has to do with James being the narrator. I liked him in the first book because he was funny and sarcastic, but it's way too much when he's the one narrating. Literally every single line is a joke, even when something is really serious (like the part where I DNF'd) he's still cracking jokes, or at least thinking them, and it's really inappropriate and cringey.
Ballad is also just kind of a mess. The plot feels like it has no direction, at 130 pages I'm still not even sure what the plot was supposed to be. The characters are wildly underdeveloped, the dialogue is awkward, and everything just feels like it's existing in a whole other world somehow. Again, I love Maggie but there is nothing about this book that was well done for me at the point where I stopped
And now for the last straw of what made me DNF. This is a spoiler and also trigger warning for sexual assault
DNF'd at page 134
I can't believe I'm DNFing a Maggie Stiefvater book but here we are
There are a few reasons I'm DNFing this, the main one being a spoiler so I'll talk about that last
First of all, the writing is kind of terrible for me. I adore Maggie, she's my favourite author of all time, but yikes. This is bad. I think a lot of it has to do with James being the narrator. I liked him in the first book because he was funny and sarcastic, but it's way too much when he's the one narrating. Literally every single line is a joke, even when something is really serious (like the part where I DNF'd) he's still cracking jokes, or at least thinking them, and it's really inappropriate and cringey.
Ballad is also just kind of a mess. The plot feels like it has no direction, at 130 pages I'm still not even sure what the plot was supposed to be. The characters are wildly underdeveloped, the dialogue is awkward, and everything just feels like it's existing in a whole other world somehow. Again, I love Maggie but there is nothing about this book that was well done for me at the point where I stopped
And now for the last straw of what made me DNF. This is a spoiler and also trigger warning for sexual assault
Spoiler
I do not fuck with rape scenes in any kind of media. I strongly dislike when rape is used as a plot device, and I especially dislike how it was handled in this book in particular. Maggie had already made it clear enough that Nuala is treated as less than all the other kinds of fae, there was no need to have her be raped in order to further demonstrate it. While that was bad enough, the way that James handled it when he came to "rescue" her was just awful. I understand that everyone reacts differently to things, but he didn't seem to give a single fuck about what happened. Didn't ask her if she was ok, if she needed anything. He just stood there thinking about what a "psychotic creature" she is and wanting to write shit on his hand while she's crying and trying to straighten her clothes. Oh and restraining himself from making jokes and being sarcastic, because at least he had the common sense to realize that wouldn't be appropriate. Jesus Christ. Like what the fuck is that? Why Maggie thought this would be a good scene to include in this book is beyond me. Maybe it'll serve a purpose to the plot later on, I have no idea, but I won't be sticking around to find out.
Felicia Day has had such an interesting life! She's worked so hard to accomplish everything she's done. I think she's a huge inspiration for so many people, especially young women, to follow their dreams and not let anything stop you. All the stories in her book, even the bad ones, she tackles with humour. Felicia has gone through so much to get to where she is today and I really enjoyed reading about her life. Even if you're not a nerd or a gamer, Felicia's experiences would be awesome for anyone to read.
I got to meet Felicia at her book signing in Toronto on August 13. Seeing her beautiful smile in person made reading her book even better!
2015 Reading Challenge: A memoir
I got to meet Felicia at her book signing in Toronto on August 13. Seeing her beautiful smile in person made reading her book even better!
2015 Reading Challenge: A memoir
I can't remember the last time I read a book in less than a week. I haven't read much this year, and it's been so long since I've loved a book so much that I couldn't put it down. I don't really know why I loved this book so much, but I did. If I'm being critical, this book actually lacked in a lot of areas: the world, which seemed very interesting, could have developed more, the ending was somewhat anticlimactic, and I wish there had been more character development. But despite all of that I still absolutely loved The Bird and the Sword. Boojohni was definitely my favourite character, even though he didn't have a huge role. I liked Lark a lot, how she stands up for herself even without the ability to speak, and how she won't take shit from people or let herself be controlled by men. The ending left room for a possible sequel, so I'm hoping there will be one day (I'd love to see make a comeback and fuck everything up
Spoiler
Lady Firi
★★★★
I'm opting out of writing a review for this one, because the opinions of a white person is not what needs to be heard in regards to this stunning, powerful novel. Go read reviews written by those who's own lives reflect that of the characters in ways that I can never understand
I'm opting out of writing a review for this one, because the opinions of a white person is not what needs to be heard in regards to this stunning, powerful novel. Go read reviews written by those who's own lives reflect that of the characters in ways that I can never understand
★★★
*Deep sigh*
This book was... fine. It was ok, nothing terribly wrong with it but just rather underwhelming.
I found both Lou and Reid to be intolerable for most of the time; Lou for being stubborn selfish and annoying (but sometimes hilarious because of it), and Reid for being a misogynistic prick. I really didn't understand how this was going to turn into a romance, how these two people who hate the very essence of who each are, could possibly fall in love. But they did, and I'll admit that the romance was actually quite cute for a while. But then it became just a weeeeee bit *too much*. Just sickening in how much they adored each other and would die for each other like ??? can we relax a little please?
By the end of it, I liked Lou a lot more, her personality really grew on me. But Reid didn't change much. He still hates women, hates witches, believes in his church, but has made Lou his only exception. I didn't find he had a whole lot of character growth like Lou did. And the ending of this kind of pissed me off to be honest, it completely went against everything that Lou had been working to prove to everyone. I'll probably still read the second book when it comes out, but it's mainly because I love Coco and Ansel and I feel like they'll have bigger roles in the sequel. I definitely won't be reading it for either of the main characters lmfao
*Deep sigh*
This book was... fine. It was ok, nothing terribly wrong with it but just rather underwhelming.
I found both Lou and Reid to be intolerable for most of the time; Lou for being stubborn selfish and annoying (but sometimes hilarious because of it), and Reid for being a misogynistic prick. I really didn't understand how this was going to turn into a romance, how these two people who hate the very essence of who each are, could possibly fall in love. But they did, and I'll admit that the romance was actually quite cute for a while. But then it became just a weeeeee bit *too much*. Just sickening in how much they adored each other and would die for each other like ??? can we relax a little please?
By the end of it, I liked Lou a lot more, her personality really grew on me. But Reid didn't change much. He still hates women, hates witches, believes in his church, but has made Lou his only exception. I didn't find he had a whole lot of character growth like Lou did. And the ending of this kind of pissed me off to be honest, it completely went against everything that Lou had been working to prove to everyone. I'll probably still read the second book when it comes out, but it's mainly because I love Coco and Ansel and I feel like they'll have bigger roles in the sequel. I definitely won't be reading it for either of the main characters lmfao
3.5 stars
I’m highkey disappointed with the ending of this series. I really didn’t like where Tella’s character went in Finale, and a lot of things didn’t really make sense to me. I found the plot to be a lot less interesting than the first two books (but I still enjoyed it enough to stay up until 2am to finish lmfao), and the characters seemed flatter. But the part that really got me frustrated was where things went with The Fallen Star. The whole ending was too convenient and sudden to be believable, and it was way too easy. I don’t really know what I would have wanted to happen instead, but it wasn’t that. Actually maybe what happened with Legend is what got me the most, I’m not sure. Legend and The Fallen Star are tied for most frustrating part of this book I guess
But regardless, I still really love this series. The world is just so fun and intriguing, and the kind of dangerous that makes me want to be part of it, to see if I could survive it. The world of Caraval will definitely stay with me for a long time
I’m highkey disappointed with the ending of this series. I really didn’t like where Tella’s character went in Finale, and a lot of things didn’t really make sense to me. I found the plot to be a lot less interesting than the first two books (but I still enjoyed it enough to stay up until 2am to finish lmfao), and the characters seemed flatter. But the part that really got me frustrated was where things went with The Fallen Star. The whole ending was too convenient and sudden to be believable, and it was way too easy. I don’t really know what I would have wanted to happen instead, but it wasn’t that. Actually maybe what happened with Legend is what got me the most, I’m not sure. Legend and The Fallen Star are tied for most frustrating part of this book I guess
But regardless, I still really love this series. The world is just so fun and intriguing, and the kind of dangerous that makes me want to be part of it, to see if I could survive it. The world of Caraval will definitely stay with me for a long time
3.5 stars
The first 1/4 of Siege and Storm kind of sucked.
The second 1/4 was fantastic.
3/4 of the way in and we're back to snoozeville.
But then that last bit! WOO was that some exciting plot!
Basically, this book was a rollercoaster. I have such conflicting thoughts about it; I'm really not sure if I like the vast majority of the characters. I know I don't like Alina (except in the last 20 pages), Mal is just ok, Tolya and Tamar are pretty good but could use some more character development. The only character that I know for sure I really enjoy is Nikilai, everyone else is just kind of meh.
I feel the same about the plot of this one. I really enjoyed parts of it, but then there were big chunks that just dragged forever. I'll definitely still read the third book, and Six of Crows afterwards as well, because for some reason this series is really addicting despite the fact that I also find it to be relatively boring. Maybe it's just all the hype around this series, or maybe I actually enjoy it. Regardless, I'm glad I finally got around to reading Siege and Storm!
The first 1/4 of Siege and Storm kind of sucked.
The second 1/4 was fantastic.
3/4 of the way in and we're back to snoozeville.
But then that last bit! WOO was that some exciting plot!
Basically, this book was a rollercoaster. I have such conflicting thoughts about it; I'm really not sure if I like the vast majority of the characters. I know I don't like Alina (except in the last 20 pages), Mal is just ok, Tolya and Tamar are pretty good but could use some more character development. The only character that I know for sure I really enjoy is Nikilai, everyone else is just kind of meh.
I feel the same about the plot of this one. I really enjoyed parts of it, but then there were big chunks that just dragged forever. I'll definitely still read the third book, and Six of Crows afterwards as well, because for some reason this series is really addicting despite the fact that I also find it to be relatively boring. Maybe it's just all the hype around this series, or maybe I actually enjoy it. Regardless, I'm glad I finally got around to reading Siege and Storm!