Scan barcode
ellianamaselli's reviews
204 reviews
Dew Upon Glass by Emilie Dallaire
2.0
OK, lemme preface this by saying that I really don’t wanna give this book a bad review. After reading a little bit about the author, I can tell you that I really appreciate what she did here. I love seeing women overcome adversity and do what they want/love/feel called to do despite what others say. And my girl Emilie Dellaire did just that.
So, this two-star rating is not a dig at the author. I really like what she did. I appreciate the story she told, the world she built. I appreciate that she did what she loved and had fun doing it.
WORLD-BUILDING
The world building here is hard to rate. I liked the overall feel of the book. The first three chapters were certainly the best as far as world goes. I felt like I really understood everything at first: how the world worked, how the magic worked, who the creatures were, what was going on. It was a lot of fun!
But about 1/4 of the way through the book, I got lost.
Here’s the thing: I am not versed in my Celtic mythology at all. I had no idea what a Kelpie even was up until a few days ago. I also don’t know a thing about witchcraft, as I don’t believe in healing crystals, psychics, &c. in real life. Obviously I’m willing to suspend my disbelief on those issues in order to enjoy a fantasy book. Because, well, it’s fantasy.
Even still, because of my lack of true belief in these things, I have no way of automatically knowing how that stuff works in this world either. But as I was reading, it felt like the author expected me to already know everything about witchcraft, Celtic mythology, &c. So there wasn’t a lot of explaining going on for the different magical items/spells they were using.
And if ever a new species of Fae was introduced, we were given no explanation for what that Fae was, or could do, or came from. Obviously, I knew what Elves and Pixies were, but species like Pooka and Selkies were introduced as well, and there was no explanation given for what they were. And it really brought me out of the story, as I wound up having to Google most of them on my own. (And found little to no answers, even then.)
Had there been just slightly more explanation as far as magick and Fae, everything would have been perfect! So, of course, it wasn’t a huge deal, but it made it harder to follow what was going on than necessary for a story like this.
CHARACTERS
I think the characters were easily my favorite part of this book. Our main girl, Kelpie, was really fun to get to know. She was out of her element, and it was obvious throughout the whole story.
The way Kelpie went about discovering the human world around her was fun to watch. I loved the way she expressed emotion and love far differently than the others. It felt very real for a completely different species brought up in near isolation to be less affectionate than the others. I liked it.
Jason was a good character, and though he wasn’t as well-done as Kelpie, I felt like I knew him pretty well by the end of the book.
I think the biggest issue I had with the character development is that while Kelpie’s arc seemed to move at a good pace, everyone else’s moved a little too quick for my liking. As did their relationships.
There were two relationships in particular (one platonic, one romantic) that I felt moved way too fast.
Maybe it’s just the way time was written here, but the friendship between Kelpie and Stacy was too easy imo. It felt like the two met and were immediately best friends. It didn’t feel natural to me, especially considering how long it took for Kelpie to warm up even to Jason.
In addition, the relationship between Balin and Stacy was...strange to me. Once they were together, I got it. They made sense, and they were cute!! But when we first meet Balin, it seemed to me like he was harassing her. It wasn’t until we were TOLD that they liked each other that I got what was happening.
PLOT
The plot here truly wasn’t bad. If anything, I almost feel like this book could have been longer. There were a lot of times when things were briefly mentioned (the murders, for example) that I didn’t quite understand the significance of...mostly because they were just dropped in there.
I also didn’t really understand why the murders were impacting Kelpie and Jason so much. I mean, why would they be targets?? I get that they were new in town, but I didn’t understand why that was such a big issue. Not to mention, I got the impression that this was taking place in a city. So...why did the murderer seem to learn immediately about Kelpie and Jason’s arrival?? I grew up in the suburbs of a huge city. In my experience, if two people of minority race moved in, it wouldn’t have been general knowledge, even to people in the same minority. Because there’s typically so much diversity in the city that word doesn’t travel beyond one’s own street...and even that’s a stretch.
Maybe I’m wrong here. And if I am, I’m sorry and please lemme know! I just...never got that impression growing up. And it didn’t seem that accurate to me. Maybe this will be explained later (I am still convinced that Crone is alive and working with some sort of evil murderer...she was too suspicious to be dead).
Other than that, though, the plot wasn’t much of an issue. Like I said, it moved a little fast. The book could’ve easily been a lot longer, and it still would have been good. If anything, it would’ve evened it all out.
PROSE
Ok. So. The prose here was good. I enjoyed it. There wasn’t a lot that I didn’t like. But there were a couple minor things that took me out of the story a little bit.
The biggest thing was the fact that Emilie did this thing some authors do where she told us what characters were thinking/feeling a lot of the time. There was a lot of, “Jason was angry.” Or “Stacy really needed him right now.”
The biggest issue with this is that it feels like you’re talking down to your readers. Instead of telling us that “Jason was angry,” show us that his face flushed and he clenched his jaw. Show us that his voice was strained and his eyes were sharp.
It’s not hard to do, and it add so much more nuance to the story. It shows that you trust your reader to make up their own conclusions about how the characters are feeling, and can lead to some great discussion about the story in and of itself.
One final thing I’d like to bring up regarding the prose is that near the climax of the book, when Kelpie was...uh...incapacitated? We suddenly switched to third person omniscient. And boy, oh, boy was that jolting after spending the whole book in first person limited.
I honestly would have preferred if we’d stayed in third person limited for that portion, even switching between the different POV’s and putting setting/chapter breaks between them. Obviously, this is a preference thing (most of these critiques are preference things) but I just thought I’d mention it anyway. :)
FINAL THOUGHTS
I did not hate this book. Far from it, actually. I thought it was a great debut. And most of what I mentioned were personal preference things or things that were easy, minor things.
I gave this book two stars not because I hated it, but because I realize that my personal enjoyment was not as high as I would’ve liked, only because I’m such a critical, analytical reader and I’m so sorry about that I WOULD TURN IT OFF IF I COULD.
I will continue to keep an eye out for more of Emilie’s books as she releases them, and will definitely read her future installments of this series as well as others, because I see a lot of potential in her, and I wanna support what she’s doing.
But despite my deep respect for this woman, I must still give my honest opinion and review. Please don’t take take this as hate on the book. I’m not throwing shade here!
—Elliana Maselli
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
11:35AM
So, this two-star rating is not a dig at the author. I really like what she did. I appreciate the story she told, the world she built. I appreciate that she did what she loved and had fun doing it.
WORLD-BUILDING
The world building here is hard to rate. I liked the overall feel of the book. The first three chapters were certainly the best as far as world goes. I felt like I really understood everything at first: how the world worked, how the magic worked, who the creatures were, what was going on. It was a lot of fun!
But about 1/4 of the way through the book, I got lost.
Here’s the thing: I am not versed in my Celtic mythology at all. I had no idea what a Kelpie even was up until a few days ago. I also don’t know a thing about witchcraft, as I don’t believe in healing crystals, psychics, &c. in real life. Obviously I’m willing to suspend my disbelief on those issues in order to enjoy a fantasy book. Because, well, it’s fantasy.
Even still, because of my lack of true belief in these things, I have no way of automatically knowing how that stuff works in this world either. But as I was reading, it felt like the author expected me to already know everything about witchcraft, Celtic mythology, &c. So there wasn’t a lot of explaining going on for the different magical items/spells they were using.
And if ever a new species of Fae was introduced, we were given no explanation for what that Fae was, or could do, or came from. Obviously, I knew what Elves and Pixies were, but species like Pooka and Selkies were introduced as well, and there was no explanation given for what they were. And it really brought me out of the story, as I wound up having to Google most of them on my own. (And found little to no answers, even then.)
Had there been just slightly more explanation as far as magick and Fae, everything would have been perfect! So, of course, it wasn’t a huge deal, but it made it harder to follow what was going on than necessary for a story like this.
CHARACTERS
I think the characters were easily my favorite part of this book. Our main girl, Kelpie, was really fun to get to know. She was out of her element, and it was obvious throughout the whole story.
The way Kelpie went about discovering the human world around her was fun to watch. I loved the way she expressed emotion and love far differently than the others. It felt very real for a completely different species brought up in near isolation to be less affectionate than the others. I liked it.
Jason was a good character, and though he wasn’t as well-done as Kelpie, I felt like I knew him pretty well by the end of the book.
I think the biggest issue I had with the character development is that while Kelpie’s arc seemed to move at a good pace, everyone else’s moved a little too quick for my liking. As did their relationships.
There were two relationships in particular (one platonic, one romantic) that I felt moved way too fast.
Maybe it’s just the way time was written here, but the friendship between Kelpie and Stacy was too easy imo. It felt like the two met and were immediately best friends. It didn’t feel natural to me, especially considering how long it took for Kelpie to warm up even to Jason.
In addition, the relationship between Balin and Stacy was...strange to me. Once they were together, I got it. They made sense, and they were cute!! But when we first meet Balin, it seemed to me like he was harassing her. It wasn’t until we were TOLD that they liked each other that I got what was happening.
PLOT
The plot here truly wasn’t bad. If anything, I almost feel like this book could have been longer. There were a lot of times when things were briefly mentioned (the murders, for example) that I didn’t quite understand the significance of...mostly because they were just dropped in there.
I also didn’t really understand why the murders were impacting Kelpie and Jason so much. I mean, why would they be targets?? I get that they were new in town, but I didn’t understand why that was such a big issue. Not to mention, I got the impression that this was taking place in a city. So...why did the murderer seem to learn immediately about Kelpie and Jason’s arrival?? I grew up in the suburbs of a huge city. In my experience, if two people of minority race moved in, it wouldn’t have been general knowledge, even to people in the same minority. Because there’s typically so much diversity in the city that word doesn’t travel beyond one’s own street...and even that’s a stretch.
Maybe I’m wrong here. And if I am, I’m sorry and please lemme know! I just...never got that impression growing up. And it didn’t seem that accurate to me. Maybe this will be explained later (I am still convinced that Crone is alive and working with some sort of evil murderer...she was too suspicious to be dead).
Other than that, though, the plot wasn’t much of an issue. Like I said, it moved a little fast. The book could’ve easily been a lot longer, and it still would have been good. If anything, it would’ve evened it all out.
PROSE
Ok. So. The prose here was good. I enjoyed it. There wasn’t a lot that I didn’t like. But there were a couple minor things that took me out of the story a little bit.
The biggest thing was the fact that Emilie did this thing some authors do where she told us what characters were thinking/feeling a lot of the time. There was a lot of, “Jason was angry.” Or “Stacy really needed him right now.”
The biggest issue with this is that it feels like you’re talking down to your readers. Instead of telling us that “Jason was angry,” show us that his face flushed and he clenched his jaw. Show us that his voice was strained and his eyes were sharp.
It’s not hard to do, and it add so much more nuance to the story. It shows that you trust your reader to make up their own conclusions about how the characters are feeling, and can lead to some great discussion about the story in and of itself.
One final thing I’d like to bring up regarding the prose is that near the climax of the book, when Kelpie was...uh...incapacitated? We suddenly switched to third person omniscient. And boy, oh, boy was that jolting after spending the whole book in first person limited.
I honestly would have preferred if we’d stayed in third person limited for that portion, even switching between the different POV’s and putting setting/chapter breaks between them. Obviously, this is a preference thing (most of these critiques are preference things) but I just thought I’d mention it anyway. :)
FINAL THOUGHTS
I did not hate this book. Far from it, actually. I thought it was a great debut. And most of what I mentioned were personal preference things or things that were easy, minor things.
I gave this book two stars not because I hated it, but because I realize that my personal enjoyment was not as high as I would’ve liked, only because I’m such a critical, analytical reader and I’m so sorry about that I WOULD TURN IT OFF IF I COULD.
I will continue to keep an eye out for more of Emilie’s books as she releases them, and will definitely read her future installments of this series as well as others, because I see a lot of potential in her, and I wanna support what she’s doing.
But despite my deep respect for this woman, I must still give my honest opinion and review. Please don’t take take this as hate on the book. I’m not throwing shade here!
—Elliana Maselli
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
11:35AM
Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
3.0
This really is a great book. It’s warm and cozy and feels like a sweet spring day. With that said, this book was only as interesting as it was because I listened to it on audio, and I was already invested in the characters.
Had this been my first jump into Green Gables, I would have surely DNF’d. Because it was more of an along-for-the-ride, transitional book. Or at least, that’s how it felt to me.
However, despite feeling pretty much ”meh” throughout the entire book, I was surprised to find that by the end, I was deeply intrigued in these characters and their stories. I even got incredibly happy during the final few scenes. I was just thrilled that my characters were happy.
So while it’s not as good as the first one, it’s pretty great. And I would highly recommend carrying on with the series. I know I will. ;)
—Elliana Maselli
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020
9:19AM
Had this been my first jump into Green Gables, I would have surely DNF’d. Because it was more of an along-for-the-ride, transitional book. Or at least, that’s how it felt to me.
However, despite feeling pretty much ”meh” throughout the entire book, I was surprised to find that by the end, I was deeply intrigued in these characters and their stories. I even got incredibly happy during the final few scenes. I was just thrilled that my characters were happy.
So while it’s not as good as the first one, it’s pretty great. And I would highly recommend carrying on with the series. I know I will. ;)
—Elliana Maselli
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020
9:19AM
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
5.0
This was my favorite of the series yet. Gosh, LMM’s writing is delightful.
Usually, the romanticism of typical conversation is overdone in classics—the characters talk in a way that no one ever has or ever will speak. But not with this series. The conversations, characters, and circumstances feel so REAL. Not to mention, the writing itself is concise. LMM doesn’t often go on useless tangents about silly things like dinner plates. And I appreciate that.
And let’s not forget the setting. LMM has a way of writing that really does take you to Avonlea and Prince Edward Island. It’s such a nice feeling there and it’s the kind of place that makes me crave the book when I’m not reading it. Throughout my reading of this whole series, no matter where I’ve been or what I’ve been doing, I’ve always felt that I’d much rather be in Avonlea with Anne than anywhere else. And I like that.
Also Philippa. Philippa was one of the best parts of this book. Her sass and banter with Anne. And her flat-out ABSURDITY made me love her so, so much. GAH. I can’t wait to continue on with the series.
—Elliana Maselli
Monday, September 7, 2020
11:47PM
Usually, the romanticism of typical conversation is overdone in classics—the characters talk in a way that no one ever has or ever will speak. But not with this series. The conversations, characters, and circumstances feel so REAL. Not to mention, the writing itself is concise. LMM doesn’t often go on useless tangents about silly things like dinner plates. And I appreciate that.
And let’s not forget the setting. LMM has a way of writing that really does take you to Avonlea and Prince Edward Island. It’s such a nice feeling there and it’s the kind of place that makes me crave the book when I’m not reading it. Throughout my reading of this whole series, no matter where I’ve been or what I’ve been doing, I’ve always felt that I’d much rather be in Avonlea with Anne than anywhere else. And I like that.
Also Philippa. Philippa was one of the best parts of this book. Her sass and banter with Anne. And her flat-out ABSURDITY made me love her so, so much. GAH. I can’t wait to continue on with the series.
—Elliana Maselli
Monday, September 7, 2020
11:47PM
All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury
4.0
This story screwed me up. Please excuse me while I go cry and think a lot.
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
5.0
The topic of this story just makes it all that much better.
Also I like his minimalist writing.
Overall it was just really great. Even if I didn’t quite understand it the first time through....somehow I think that was the point all along.
Also I like his minimalist writing.
Overall it was just really great. Even if I didn’t quite understand it the first time through....somehow I think that was the point all along.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
5.0
There is so much to say here. But everything I’m thinking can be summed up by this review/analysis I found on YouTube by Nick Courtright through Atmosphere Press:
https://youtu.be/6sNQAZdaXzw
https://youtu.be/6sNQAZdaXzw
Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi
3.0
I think Imma give this book 3 stars. I did like it, but there was a lack of...something. Though I’m not really sure what.
Also, not gonna lie, that phrase “I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding” was in here and that costed this book about a half a star lol. Sorry, Shay.
Bennett was by far my favorite character...in fact, maybe he was a little too perfect at times. Also, there are too many letters in that name (sorry to anyone whose name is Bennett out there. This isn’t a dig at you, it’s a dig at your parents for giving you that name.)
I wish we knew whether or not Maude actually wound up going to FSU or not. I know that’s not what the story’s about but it kind of is so LET ME HAVE THIS.
All-in-all, it was a good book. It just wasn’t, like, my new FAVORITE or anything.
Plot: 5/10
Friendships: 6/10
Romance: 6/10
Family Relations: 6/10
Writing: 4/10 (because of that one breath she didn’t know she was holding)
Total: 3/5 stars.
Also, not gonna lie, that phrase “I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding” was in here and that costed this book about a half a star lol. Sorry, Shay.
Bennett was by far my favorite character...in fact, maybe he was a little too perfect at times. Also, there are too many letters in that name (sorry to anyone whose name is Bennett out there. This isn’t a dig at you, it’s a dig at your parents for giving you that name.)
I wish we knew whether or not Maude actually wound up going to FSU or not. I know that’s not what the story’s about but it kind of is so LET ME HAVE THIS.
All-in-all, it was a good book. It just wasn’t, like, my new FAVORITE or anything.
Plot: 5/10
Friendships: 6/10
Romance: 6/10
Family Relations: 6/10
Writing: 4/10 (because of that one breath she didn’t know she was holding)
Total: 3/5 stars.