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ktc8's reviews
172 reviews
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
wow somehow her writing kept getting better and better throughout these books, im impressed and happy!! she really wrote nesta well, and this book was really such a wonderful journey into the light for her.
sometimes i feel like every character she writes has a like. glorified depression arc like does Every character (feyre, nesta, bryce, etc.) need one but she writes them so well that im happy to read it! and PHEW nessian scenes were way better than rhysre…. feyrhys? rhey? fhys? ones imo. I’m soooo hoping to get Azriel pov next book I’m so curious about this man. I love a male character who never talks. altho i did love Cassian this book!!
i also felt in the beginning like sjm didn’t know how to write female friendships like… i love the valkyries and they def got better by the end and i love the trio but the beginning just feels like nesta is into both of them lol which like. i’m headcanonning as her being bi, but sjm did that with bryce and d in crescent city like… this has got to be at least a LITTLE fruity. and considering the extreme lack of actual lbgt stuff in her writing im declaring that every character that i want to be gay, is gay, thanks for coming to my ted talk.
also this inspired me to start working out again so theres that, too
sometimes i feel like every character she writes has a like. glorified depression arc like does Every character (feyre, nesta, bryce, etc.) need one but she writes them so well that im happy to read it! and PHEW nessian scenes were way better than rhysre…. feyrhys? rhey? fhys? ones imo. I’m soooo hoping to get Azriel pov next book I’m so curious about this man. I love a male character who never talks. altho i did love Cassian this book!!
i also felt in the beginning like sjm didn’t know how to write female friendships like… i love the valkyries and they def got better by the end and i love the trio but the beginning just feels like nesta is into both of them lol which like. i’m headcanonning as her being bi, but sjm did that with bryce and d in crescent city like… this has got to be at least a LITTLE fruity. and considering the extreme lack of actual lbgt stuff in her writing im declaring that every character that i want to be gay, is gay, thanks for coming to my ted talk.
also this inspired me to start working out again so theres that, too
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
5.0
“We aren’t normal; we are gods born with pain built in.”
“We are not the same.” “How are we different?”
“Did he even understand what existed at his fingertips? Did any of them?”
oh my GOD this was so much more than I’d thought it’d be, and man I loved it! I need a second book now. the plot twists, the behind the scenes actions, everything… i was so into it
it was really dense in some ways and took a bit for my little brain to wrap around but in a good way— how do u make magic real? tangible and intagible and accessible and beyond comprehension—it seemed like that was what the characters went through and what we as readers were also supposed to feel. the writing is so interesting and im putting it in the same pile of Writing In Books That Make Me Feel Some Type of Way, with Starless Sea, Bear and the Nightengale, Jasmine Throne, etc. i love the way wrote bc we never truly got answers, like the intitiates, until she wanted us to. what an experience.
at first i was iffy about the characters and i really hated Collum bc he scared me, but it was so interesting to see them develop and their intricacies with each other. i still cant fully tell who is who (of the guys) from the little drawings, but what a cool thing to add to a book!
“We are not the same.” “How are we different?”
“Did he even understand what existed at his fingertips? Did any of them?”
oh my GOD this was so much more than I’d thought it’d be, and man I loved it! I need a second book now. the plot twists, the behind the scenes actions, everything… i was so into it
it was really dense in some ways and took a bit for my little brain to wrap around but in a good way— how do u make magic real? tangible and intagible and accessible and beyond comprehension—it seemed like that was what the characters went through and what we as readers were also supposed to feel. the writing is so interesting and im putting it in the same pile of Writing In Books That Make Me Feel Some Type of Way, with Starless Sea, Bear and the Nightengale, Jasmine Throne, etc. i love the way wrote bc we never truly got answers, like the intitiates, until she wanted us to. what an experience.
at first i was iffy about the characters and i really hated Collum bc he scared me, but it was so interesting to see them develop and their intricacies with each other. i still cant fully tell who is who (of the guys) from the little drawings, but what a cool thing to add to a book!
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
5.0
“Let me tell you my name: Zhu Chongba.”
He answered coolly, “Should I know it?”
“One day you will,” she said, and drew her sword.
“I’ve been reborn as myself.”
“He had no idea if it was a yearning for or a yearning to be, and the equal impossibility if each of those hurt beyond belief.” ow relatable content Ouyang
(So many good lines in this one!!)
Wow this was amazing. Once I heard about this one I got so excited I waited so many months for this lol. I literally couldn’t put it down for Days, the writing was so wonderful and the concepts were spot on. The first chapter was spectacular—referring to Zhu as the girl, before she chooses her name and her fate!!! I was obsessed from the start. The like calls to like of Zhu and Ouyang and their separate but parallel journies was great, and also seeing the POV of the “enemy”!! very cool. The concepts of gender and being, and “having” versus “not having” of traditional roles of masculinity is so well thought out and displayed in this book. It shows how much gender can be an internal feeling but is so expected and performed for the outsider. I loved how we get Zhu’s development into herself. I also LOVED her and Ma Xiuying they’re so cute and also its just so interesting the parallel comparisons of Zhu and Ouyang for loving those who feel and hope and empathize in a way that they cannot. Projections of the self they lost or never could be, and the pain and imperfections of loving someone that way and putting them in harms way. It was beautifully painful and I can’t wait for the next one!!!
There are some parallels to Poppy War that make me want to read up more on China’s history, Mongol rule, etc. but mostly the use of the names Altan and Chaghan. (ahhhh I’m so traumatized from TPW that it hurt to read the names lol.) Also I was glad that battles were not as graphic for which i was grateful
He answered coolly, “Should I know it?”
“One day you will,” she said, and drew her sword.
“I’ve been reborn as myself.”
“He had no idea if it was a yearning for or a yearning to be, and the equal impossibility if each of those hurt beyond belief.” ow relatable content Ouyang
(So many good lines in this one!!)
Wow this was amazing. Once I heard about this one I got so excited I waited so many months for this lol. I literally couldn’t put it down for Days, the writing was so wonderful and the concepts were spot on. The first chapter was spectacular—referring to Zhu as the girl, before she chooses her name and her fate!!! I was obsessed from the start. The like calls to like of Zhu and Ouyang and their separate but parallel journies was great, and also seeing the POV of the “enemy”!! very cool. The concepts of gender and being, and “having” versus “not having” of traditional roles of masculinity is so well thought out and displayed in this book. It shows how much gender can be an internal feeling but is so expected and performed for the outsider. I loved how we get Zhu’s development into herself. I also LOVED her and Ma Xiuying they’re so cute and also its just so interesting the parallel comparisons of Zhu and Ouyang for loving those who feel and hope and empathize in a way that they cannot. Projections of the self they lost or never could be, and the pain and imperfections of loving someone that way and putting them in harms way. It was beautifully painful and I can’t wait for the next one!!!
There are some parallels to Poppy War that make me want to read up more on China’s history, Mongol rule, etc. but mostly the use of the names Altan and Chaghan. (ahhhh I’m so traumatized from TPW that it hurt to read the names lol.) Also I was glad that battles were not as graphic for which i was grateful
Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
5.0
okay WOW!!!!!!!!! Leigh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! one of my favorites in the grishaverse now that was incredible im in awe and im so happy about what happened and crying because its done im a mess that was beautiful
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
4.0
So I think I actually give this a 4.5 stars because I blame my high expectations and my current desire just to read adventure fantasy, but I wasn't totally blown away by this as much as I hoped (I kept comparing it to how I felt reading Starless Sea.) I really adore the writing, the prose is gorgeous and kept me reading beyond anything else for sure. I loved the characters and the love story and it was really wonderful. Her prose has a way of just sticking in my brain so I will read anything she writes tbh. And a Smithie alum! I wish I had gone to see her when she visited MHC ugh the things I would give to hear about her writing process.
The thing I loved most about this book was how like real and manifested the circus was in my head. It was so easy to fall in love with it with Herr Thiessen and Bailey and the second POV, and the circus seemed to exist as a real place in my brain as I read. I'm not explaining this well, but anyways, It was really great and very magical.
I'm glad I finally read it after so many years! Very nice to read in the fall. I think Starless Sea is still my favorite of the two but this was a very magical and wonderful read.
The thing I loved most about this book was how like real and manifested the circus was in my head. It was so easy to fall in love with it with Herr Thiessen and Bailey and the second POV, and the circus seemed to exist as a real place in my brain as I read. I'm not explaining this well, but anyways, It was really great and very magical.
I'm glad I finally read it after so many years! Very nice to read in the fall. I think Starless Sea is still my favorite of the two but this was a very magical and wonderful read.
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
4.0
I wanna give this 5 stars bc the world was great and a book with badass women and revolution and the gays sans homophobia is great, and a story about French colonization and the complexities of that for every level of person in the empire is somehow unique in the fantasy genre and I want more.
But I felt like it was lacking something crucial and idk what that was but i couldnt fully get into it or even understand what was happening half of the time. Sometimes there wasnt a build up to something or it wasnt fleshed out the way i needed or we moved on too fast. But the characters were great and I loved Touraine.
But I felt like it was lacking something crucial and idk what that was but i couldnt fully get into it or even understand what was happening half of the time. Sometimes there wasnt a build up to something or it wasnt fleshed out the way i needed or we moved on too fast. But the characters were great and I loved Touraine.
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
4.0
fantastical violent and good!! if you read the winternight trilogy or uprooted, you’ll like this one. read it on a snowy day :)
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
5.0
i think this is a 4.5! i really loved the writing and the story, it was really interesting and easy to read and i loved the characters. the plot twists are great and the plot itself was well written. lots of good content: trying to meet fatherly expectations, revolutions and uprisings against corrupt governments, coming to terms with complacency to systemic problems, magic and myths, the gays™️, and fun creatures.
my only issues were that im not sure the first person POV for jovis was necessary. phalue and ranami were great in third and lin was good in first ig but idk i wasnt a fan of using both first and third in one book (i prefer third anyways). also my own issue but i thought this was an adult fantasy but it felt YA so i had to adjust my expectations but thats a me problem but also why i would do 4.5 stars. anyways i def recommend! i would say if u liked soc, and jasmine throne maybe, u would like this!
my only issues were that im not sure the first person POV for jovis was necessary. phalue and ranami were great in third and lin was good in first ig but idk i wasnt a fan of using both first and third in one book (i prefer third anyways). also my own issue but i thought this was an adult fantasy but it felt YA so i had to adjust my expectations but thats a me problem but also why i would do 4.5 stars. anyways i def recommend! i would say if u liked soc, and jasmine throne maybe, u would like this!
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson
5.0
wow this is exactly what i needed this year. wish i had heard of it in high school! great for my healing journey now tho :)
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas
4.0
ohohohohohohoohoh boy. cc3 is gonna be Insane i literally lost it at the ending of this book sjm is Crazy
this was probs 4.5stars!! always fun w sjm but it ranks like probably lower than most of her other stuff and slowed down sooo much in the middle but its fun as always and sets up the ending to come out of Nowhere.
this was probs 4.5stars!! always fun w sjm but it ranks like probably lower than most of her other stuff and slowed down sooo much in the middle but its fun as always and sets up the ending to come out of Nowhere.