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kimu23's Reviews (770)
When the culprit is revealed and defeated, the book is still at 70ish percent. I thought for sure there’ll be a plot twist near the end, but it goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on…
Nothing happened basically. That pretty much described this book. I’m being very kind by giving it a 2.5 stars
Nothing happened basically. That pretty much described this book. I’m being very kind by giving it a 2.5 stars
This book didn’t introduce anything new about Roku, bending, or the Avatar world. We already know about Roku and Sozin doomed friendship or how Sozin is a racist homophobic piece of shit (although the author changed him to not a homophobe for some reason). For this reason, I believe Sozin should not have a POV chapters. I also think it would be better if we read Roku’s story when Roku is already an established Avatar (like Yangchen’s story).
It’s also just not interesting for me to follow a main character from a colonizer empire without really challenging that role. Yes, Gyatso did called Roku out but the book didn’t explored Roku challenging his view and privilege enough for my liking. Worst of all, it treats the indigenous people’s armed resistance to oppression as if it makes them “just as bad” as their oppressors. That framing killed any enjoyment I might’ve had.
Honestly I admit I didn’t like Roku before reading this. Now, knowing that Roku and Gyatso were friends make me dislike Roku even more. Because that friendship is not enough for Roku to do something against Sozin when Gyatso got killed in the future Air Nomad genocide. It just made Roku looks even more like a spineless fucking coward.
Anyway, I would probably still read the sequel but I can’t wait for Roku’s turn to end already
It’s also just not interesting for me to follow a main character from a colonizer empire without really challenging that role. Yes, Gyatso did called Roku out but the book didn’t explored Roku challenging his view and privilege enough for my liking. Worst of all, it treats the indigenous people’s armed resistance to oppression as if it makes them “just as bad” as their oppressors. That framing killed any enjoyment I might’ve had.
Honestly I admit I didn’t like Roku before reading this. Now, knowing that Roku and Gyatso were friends make me dislike Roku even more. Because that friendship is not enough for Roku to do something against Sozin when Gyatso got killed in the future Air Nomad genocide. It just made Roku looks even more like a spineless fucking coward.
Anyway, I would probably still read the sequel but I can’t wait for Roku’s turn to end already
This was a really fun read and I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure if I love the found family aspect. I think the only really developed relationship was between Demeter and Steward. I loved reading how their connection grew. I don’t know if they’re meant to be read as romance or friendship, but I personally shipped them (which is probably ridiculous since they’re both AIs, but whatever). Both Demeter and Steward on their own POVs chapter are really fun to read, my favorite is probably Steward’s POV chapter although I’m attached to Demeter’s character.
The monster characters weren’t as well developed. In my opinion, Wilhelmina (the vampire) felt kind of useless. I honestly think the story would’ve worked better without her. Her scenes didn’t add much, and her role could’ve been given to one of the existing characters like Agnus, Steve, or Frank. It felt like she was just there without really contributing to the heart of the story. By the end, there was a time skip and Wilhelmina ended up together with Agnus (which is predictable) but I just don’t give a fuck about her and their ‘romance’.
That said, the concept is super creative, and I loved the tone of the story. The writing is clever and easy to read. Despite the weak spots, I had a great time reading this and I have high hopes for the other Bindery books.
The monster characters weren’t as well developed. In my opinion, Wilhelmina (the vampire) felt kind of useless. I honestly think the story would’ve worked better without her. Her scenes didn’t add much, and her role could’ve been given to one of the existing characters like Agnus, Steve, or Frank. It felt like she was just there without really contributing to the heart of the story. By the end, there was a time skip and Wilhelmina ended up together with Agnus (which is predictable) but I just don’t give a fuck about her and their ‘romance’.
That said, the concept is super creative, and I loved the tone of the story. The writing is clever and easy to read. Despite the weak spots, I had a great time reading this and I have high hopes for the other Bindery books.
Technically this is a 3 stars at best, but it’s been a while since I read an ebook and I managed to finished this one. I’m also rooting for Bindery so I’ll give this a 3.5 as a support
Cute but I kinda wish it was the prequel or Julius’s POV during the main book.
This series wasn’t amazing, but it was short and decent enough to pass the time. That said, this book should’ve been the best since it’s the final one yet it ended up being the most boring.
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I can tell this used to be self published and I mean that in a bad way.
This book did not need to be over 400 pages. You could easily cut it down to 200 and still tell the exact same story. It just dragged for way too long with very little actually happening. That’s honestly the main reason I’m giving it 2 stars. I got so bored I started skimming near the end.
I don’t know if Bal Khabra used an editor, but it seriously needed one. The pacing was all over the place, the dialogue felt clunky at times, and there were way too many repetitive scenes that added nothing.
There were some moments that I thought were cute but overall, it just didn’t deliver. A tighter edit and a better structure could’ve made this so much better.
