kelsyer's reviews
845 reviews

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.25

 

I have been looking forward to reading this book for years and maybe if I've read it when it came out, I would have been more generous with my rating. Alas, by now, I've read a lot of fantasy and also a large amount of stories with queer pairings (let's call them on their name, fanfics)

The Priory sounds great in theory, right? It has everything (and more) that I like, including, but not limited to:
magic ✅
lgbtq+ characters (and romance) ✅
history/mythology of said magic ✅
political intrigue ✅
dragons ✅
pirates (privateers!) ✅
very cute animal companion ✅
flowers, trees, nature description ✅
badass female characters ✅
characters that love to read ✅
a map ✅
gender neutral name (companion) instead of husband or wife ✅
it's not your sexual orientation or the colour of your skin that has to be considered between companions, but rank ✅ (I mean... progress?)

It's just that even when the book filled in these slots on my checklist, it somehow missed a few arguably more important ones, such as: great worldbuilding, great characters and most of all, the excitement that I've got when reading fantasy. You know, the cluching the edges of my book and trying to read faster because oh gosh I can't believe that's happening, what is going ooooon?

I know that we have got an Author's note at the start about being "inspired by events and legends from various parts of the world", which is great, if somewhat simplistic. We have a massive, Arthurian/general European part of the world, an African one and a vaguely Asian one. Okay. Shannon is more comfortable with the first one, seeing that we know everything about that world, info dump style (I am not mad about that, actually, it's just making the overall story very unbalanced); we know some important information from the Priory and very few from the East. And we have Niclays, of course.

I have seen that some people are saying that this is such a massive book, it should have been shorter. I disagree. It's a long book in the terms of page numbers, yes, but it reads quite easily after you comfortably positioned yourself in Camelot Inys. Especially if you've read something like Game of Thrones where you get rare POV's that you have to reread multiple times, to remember 2 books from now, because it doesn't fit in the story yet, but know that it will become important later.
Here? If it's mentioned twice, you have a good chance it will become a Thing. Three times? I felt like we've been bludgeoned with Excalibur Ascalon.
I think it would have been better as a duology, to give Shannon and her editors time to work on the balance (hah!) of POVs and the characters a bit more. (The Enemy is bad for the reason of being evil and he is evil because in this universe there was an unbalance and he just happened to be born angry and wanted to destroy everything. Ooookay? Does that mean that the next time this unbalance happens, we will have a new Enemy? Will we have a neverending story?)

We are in an 800 pages standalone novel. There was a character who lamented multiple times, pages upon pages, about hedonism and alchoholism and the fact that even true love wasn't enough to curb this habit (and in fact it made it worse). Sure, sure, we are building characters, giving them depth, making him a human being with flaws and knowledge that we can relate to, cool. He is a POV character, but a minor one, just there to push the main characters into action. (He did have a character growth though, that was nice to see at least.) 
Might have been cool to give a stray POV to the big baddie, not just some vaguely threatening throwaway sentences when we meet him for a second.

On the other side of the world, the dragons are knowledgeable, loyal, they have their lore, their jewels, their riders, their habits. Not massively developed, but we know things about them, other than 'they are pure and good'. See what my issue is here?

The plot twists were not really twisting (I was only surprised at the first Queen's... previous relation to the King. Because my brain doesn't go there as a possible option).

A lot of times the characters got their Very Important Information from rumours, even when they were at court and they should gave gotten it from spies or informants. Or they were looking for something and *deus ex machina* they have found it just like that. No struggle or misdirection. 

Did you faint in a desert? If you are an Important Character, you will get saved. If not, you already died before the book began.
Don't worry, Dear Reader, because actions have no consequences, anyways. Things go missing all the time, but they will magically come around when you need them. You believed for a second that your life was in danger? Ah, as long as you are an Important Character, you will get plot armor and your HP will stop at 1, so you will be saved. The badass evil sorceress who is unstoppable and very powerful? She will give her very evil monologue. We will not get her in one hit, but maybe like three. That's believable, right? You don't know the ways of diplomacy? Your smile is just so gorgeous and this Emperor is so friendly to strangers that he trusts you and your Queen, because he is trying something new, otherwise how will we get an army in the last 120 pages? 

Here is my prediction based on the rules Shannon set up: if something grants immortality, I will take it as a world building truth. We know that the first fruits gave the Firstbloods long life and magic. Cleolind's body is in the Priory, Kalyba's got returned to her hawthorn tree and Neporo is nearby to hers. Kalyba was too easily defeated (so she will be back), the other two are I believe, in a sort of magical coma, because there were a lot of references like how Tané was tired after using it, but she recovered with time or "How she longed to sleep for eternity". I wonder how will they wake up? (Possibly Tané's blood will awaken the tree and her ancestor and Kalyba's flesh her tree, getting her back to life, in a weird never-ending cycle.)

There were characters that I enjoyed reading about, mainly Aralaq, Susa, Kit, Nairuj, Tané.

I enjoyed the book for what it is, in the end, a queer romance story with some fantasy elements. (I could go into how crazy fast their relationship developed as soon as we actually started the book vs. the time they spent together before, imbalance in power -yes, technically not your Queen, but she didn't know that when you started- etc., but I am not going to). I admit it, despite it faults, I did enjoy this romance. It's just a shame that the fantasy plot, the one that I was reading the whole book for, fell so flat, because damn it had a lot of potential to be great. I liked that we have had some discussions about womanhood and that we shouldn't just be for continuing the bloodlines.

I will be continuing the series, hopefully the next one will be better balanced.

 

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

dark funny lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"Everything's a game if you play it right"

From the get-go, it reminds me of the storytelling of Moore and Pratchett as well (for obvious reasons) and in a way Supernatural (I know, again).

The humour is not the laugh-out-loud kind, it's more like a chuckle with a friendly eyeroll.

Still, it's a great read if you are not taking Death (or Life) seriously.

Oh how I've missed urban fantasy! (I am not sure if books like this have a special subgenre, but please, give me more like this.)

Olivie made such great characters, main and minor ones, that I could really feel their joy and pain, sorrow and hope. Loved the romances as well.

"... you persisted, and now I think you've lured me into some outrageous sense of expectation."

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

adventurous hopeful tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Okay, wow.

I am a bit conflicted, as I genually enjoyed this novella, found Binti and her roots, culture and potential future interesting and intriguing. However. I believe that the last few parts were too rushed. 

I liked the twist too! I actually thought that it would be the other way around, in some distant past.

Looking forward to continuing her story.

The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

"Ahh, the planet earth. A whole lot of culture. A whole lot of spunk. So many dumbasses."

Oh, the crawlers that you are!
Love the Winchesters energy that this book finally got. Dare I say that the series just went from a stable 4 to a 4.5?

This was a rollercoaster: made me tear up a bit, I got angry at a lot of parts and my crusader side also wants to come out to play.

The structure of this level was interesting as usual and the storylines are fucked (as usual). It was also full of great quotes.

I freaking love Donut. Her "he's probably never going to dance again" monologue? 😘

"The alien beasts congregate in the pleasure districts. I don’t dare venture down there, lest my impression of this fantasy is tainted."

String, Volume 1 by Paul Tobin

dark funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

I have received an ARC copy through NetGalley, however my review is my honest opinion.

***
Do you know the story of the red string of fate? Good, good.

How about the black string of murders and blue string of lovers, hm? 

This graphic novel has a something for everyone: a stunning cover and artwork (these pulled me in to request it, actually), an intriguing premise, a diverse and loveable duo, a solid backstory to build up on, pets (!).
 
It's also the funniest damn thing I've read in a long time. I was chuckling at our characters banter on almost every page.

Who doesn't want to get take away coffee from Agatha Crispie's? 

I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the series. 

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

 Well, here it is, my love, the end of the world.

Was it everything you were hoping for? No, of course not.
You sessed parts of it, possibly more than your comm anticipated that you would, but you were always observant. Why would the end change you?

*
Oh, rust. Oh, Earth.

In all seriousness, I had to take a few hours to think about the third installment.

I felt that there were additions in this book that were ultimately only added to increase the significance of the sacrifices for us (when so much of their life was about just that) and to show us that things are dire indeed. (If anybody had any doubt about that at this point, they were reading a very different story.)

I liked our time in the distant past, but I wish that after Zero, we got more information about the bloodline. It felt a bit misconnected for me, too quickly discarded (although yes, time passed, memories got lost, I get that).

In my review about the Fifth Season, I wrote that I don't really get how the magic system works, but possibly most of them don't, either. My biggest issue with this book is that this remained the case (I understood the reasoning behind this and I loved how it was woven in all through the trilogy), except when it comes to a certain Prodigy.

I marked down the previous books because of this as well. In the end, my rating for this book is 3.75 rounded up to 4 stars (in my living memory, this is the first book that I couldn't place at half or full stars).

There are many chacters that I wish I didn't have to say goodbye to. I hope that there is another story somewhere that documents their past (or from my current point of view, future).

And I would also like to take this time to remark, just for myself, how far I've come. In the past I would have been so pissed at the motivation of the Prodigy, I would have rated this book 2 stars max. That's on character growth. 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

adventurous funny tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I am fully aware that I am in the minority with my review, but for me, it was lacking in emotional impact, because I couldn't connect to the main characters.

Miller is very good at romanticizing the small moments of everyday life. I wish we had spent more time with them when they were growing up, because this book gave me the same feelings that Romeo and Juliet did, as in 'sit down, that's not love'.

Part of my rating comes from the unfortunate fact that I hyped this book up for myself. As a lover of greek mythology and a member of LGBTQ+ community, I had high expectations for it, but sadly it seems that I am on the other side of viewing romantic relationships. (Even when I originally read Homer and I had a feeling that Achilles and Patroclus had a deeper relationship, I had no name for it yet.)


I know how messed up the gods were, some of them r*ping left and right (looking at you, Zeus) and of course this book is only a retelling, a way for us to fill in the blanks, a how-it-could-have-been; it can't step out of the original greek tragedy (it has all the great stuff: oatbreaking, hubris, vengence, war.

*sigh*

My biggest issue is that I don't understand why they loved each other.

We barely got to know Patroclus. We know all the bad things in regards to the exile and all the good things after they went to war. In between these, to me, he felt like an almost person: he  almost said something,  almost did something,  almost forgot. Everything happened to him. The gods took the reins, others made the choice e.g. with princess Deidameia: "I could not bear to see her face broken open with more sorrow, more disappointment", so I had no choice but to sleep with her, but I too as indifferent towards her, so in the end "did not understand what she had wanted; I only knew I had not given it". If Achilles was made for war, Patroclus's only purpose was to admire and love Achilles.

And Achilles. What I liked about him the most, at the beginning at least, was that he always thought before he spoke. That's it. He was a prince, a demigod, everyone turned into sunflowers when he was around, following him with their eyes, like he is the greatest person ever (or the greatest hero, even when he wasn't proven himself yet).

What do we know about him? That he is beautiful, like marble, his hair is golden or fiery, his feet smell great (at the fist mention of this, I wrote down in my book: if I would not know his story, I would say Patroclus has a foot fetish). Even the trees know he is destined for greatness, so they adjust themselve to be his crown. What else though? What do we love about him? If he were to live to 50, would they tell about how clever and honorable he was? 

What we do know is that he was indifferent to everyone except for Patroclus and his destiny; that he "has a tender heart", is stubborn, speedy and the best fighter (they are his demigod powers) and proud.

Are these enough for love?

Sadly, not for me. 

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Sweet flaking rust, the second book did not go into the direction I was thinking it will go to. The title made me think it will be "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff", but the third book is still beckoning me, so. Fingers crossed?

There are a few things I wrote down in my notes, but mostly it went from "I WANT TO KNOW MORE" about this and that, writing down their swear words or picking up on the foreshadowing that happened later in the book. 

One little romance mention got my attention - I too would swoon if somebody got me books and snacks. 

One last, unrelated note - are you familiar with the saying *'the devil couldn't reach me, so he sent me a...'*? Well, somebody is sending me ideas to read stories about love and revenge and morally grey characters. That's it. That's the story I've been reading this year.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

RUSTING EARTHFIRES, THIS BOOK!

It's a heavy story, but in a good way. I love it when a book makes you think and playes with your emptions as well.

Not gonna lie. Sometimes I had to stop while reading, just to stare in front of me, while trying to process and whispering fuck with increasing speed and volume.

I really enjoyed the way the multiple POV's were set up, each having access to different pieces of the puzzle.

I still don't really get how the magic system works, but I have a feeling that most of them don't, either, because of how the stonelore changes. History is written by the victors, and all that.

I am wondering why it's Father Earth and not Mother Earth, though.
I usually have no solid idea about what the book will be about when I pick it up, so I was pleaseantly surprised by all the LGBTQ+ rep in this book. Love is love, by all shapes and forms.

What tripped me up a bit, was the fact that I always have questions in the back of my head and sometimes I find answers even when I am not directly looking for them. (At the Fable app I already shared this quote, but rust it, it does reasonate hard, so here it is again:
"Home is people (...)
Home is what you take with you, not what you leave behind."

The last sentence? I was cackling so hard. I love Interludes as well

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I am here for the backstories and the character growth.

There were a lot of plot elements in this book that I didn't expect and I enjoyed the layout of this level.