lily47270's reviews
305 reviews

Tears of the Nameless by George Mann

adventurous 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? Yes

4.75

Probably the best Phase 3 book so far, it was amazing!

I loved all the mystery and exploration of ancient civilization, it was fascinating.
The horror/thriller aspect was so well done, once I entered the final 100 pages I just could not put it down.

Amadeo and Leox made up a big part of the book, and I loved seeing them! I'd already loved their story in Tales of Light and Life, but this was even better!
Dorian!

I liked him from the second he was introduced and spend every single chapter he was in being terrified he was gonna die because ehe was just so nice and good but no he made it intact wow.
I hope well see more of him and Amadeo

Reath was so interesting as well! I don't remember having loved him as much in the previous books as I did in this one.
His relationship with Azlin was sooo well made!

The references to the Quest of the Jedi comic one-shot were nice, tho I had to re-read it because it's been a while 😅

RIP Master Lox, that chapter 41 was heartbreakingly well written, you will be missed

Also, sincerely, why does anyone in there things that bringing four live Nameless to Coruscant is a good idea?!?!?!!? Couldn't you keep them on some random deserted moon or asteroid ?!!?!? Thays just a ticking bomb waiting to explode imo

Star Wars: The High Republic: Edge of Balance, Vol. 3 by Shima Shinya, Daniel José Older

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Seing Reath so adult made me realize how all the Phase I padawans grew up, they're in their twenties now 🥹

The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

It has been over 3 years since I first finished this book, and yeah, it still hurts as much (

Stellan Stellan Stellan 😭😭

)

This book is amazing, there's so much tension, but also a lot of character development, especially for Stellan and Elzar (✨️"

I know who I am

"✨️ , this quote is branded into my brain)

It literally never stops until the end 😀

It somehow still manages to have funny moments, mostly thanks to Geode, and also

the bomb situation with Bell

Re-experiencing this book, but through audiobook was really cool. Star-Wars audiobooks are on another level compared to others.
Marc Thompson did an outstanding job narrating it, I don't know how one person can make so many voices and accents but he does it.
The music and sounds effects were perfect, it adds so much to the experience, and makes it really immersive (

really funny when it's Orla being killed, so immersive 😀😀😭

)

Using Across the Stars for Elzar and Avar's reunion was pure evil, I love it

Idk how I'm supposed to listen to non-Star Wars audiobooks now, because they don't have this level of quality

Carving Shadows into Gold by Brigid Kemmerer

adventurous emotional 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

4.75

I've read FSIS about 5 times by now so I was sooooo excited for this book, and it did not disappoint!

The plot took a vacation for like 90% of the book but the best part of BK's books is the characters anyway, so it was still awsome.
I'm so happy to finally have read more Tycho, Jax, and Callyn, I already miss them

Tycho is too precious, too nice, and too generous for this world. For any world. Somebody needs to find him a therapist asap tho.
He deserves So. Much. More

I loved seing Jax and how he adaptated to Emberfall. His relationship with Tycho is so precious. I love them so much

I'll forever cherish those first 100 pages of them together

it was perfection, I need thousands of pages of this

We need more Noah!!!!

Since he'll be going to Emberfall in the next book

, I hope we'll get scenes of him and Jax (with or without Tycho). They're like, the only two people who realize how Tycho is "working himself into the ground" with his responsibilities, as Noah said.

Rhen! I need to re-read the Cursebreakers trilogy, I whish we'd had his pov in AHSFAB, his few scenes where amazing.
Harper was amazing as well 😌

Malin was a complete surprise but I loved his character, i hope we'll see more of him I the next book!

I liked Sephran until he started being like "Hum, Tycho left u blah blah blah blah" and now I kinda want to punch him

I also had a few chapter of *uh, maybe Alek isn't that bad*, but lol of course he is

Tycho and Alek's first meeting by Brigid Kemmerer

fast-paced

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

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

medium-paced

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

3.75

I promise I'll never roll my eyes again when a sequel book re-explains what happened in the previous one, because damn, this was terrible.
It's been 15 months, how am I supposed to remember who Felix or Kylynn are ?!?!?! (I actually still don't know who Kylynn is and I read the whole book)
It doesn't take much, just a short explanation the first time they're mentioned in the book! Maybe this way I wouldn't have spent the first 150 pages being entirely lost. Or just a longer character list at the beginning.
Similarly,

why are the isles that made up 50% of the book not on the map

?

The plot was nice (once the first 150 pages of confusion were read). The

exploration of the isles was really interesting, it kinda felt like an 'cultural sampler' lol

. It was definitely my favorite part of the book.

Rip Trager, I liked him, but then he said "that's my favorite isle yet" when landing so of course he died 🥲

Violet annoyed me sometimes,

mainly because of how stubborn she is when it comes to trusting Xaden. Thankfully Ridoc was here 😌

I'm glad we got Rhi and Imogen's pov for a chapter each, I hope it'll be more common in the next books.

Aaric was such a highlight of the book!!!!

I hope we'll see more of him (especially with given his signet). But really I like how he's just quiet and thinking until it's usefully for him to act (that's too rare in this book lol)

I feel like the gods where more important in this book than in the previous two, so wonder if they'll be even more relevant in the next two

I debated how to rate this book for a long time, because it feels like I strongly disliked or did not care for a chunck of it and adored the other half 😅, so 3.75/5 it is

The Will of the Many by James Islington

mysterious 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

5.0

O.M.G
It has been a long time since a book kept me up until 3am but damn, it was worth it.

I loved the world building, although it was a bit hard to follow at the beginning (but there's a character list, glossary, and location list at the end of the book!).
But I got quickly used to the universe and wow, it's amazing.

The characters were all really well developed and fleshed out. I'm curious to see what they become in the next books. (

RIP Catellinus tho. You'll be missed

)

The plot was soooo good as well. Maybe a bit slow a few times, but only when it was needed.

And that ending. Wow

I was absolutely not expecting how the last 60 pages started resembling more of a slasher horror movie than a fantasy novel

The plot twists were twisting hard

I have So. Many. Questions. left and I absolutely can't wait for book two.

What is the command of isolation?
What's the Rendering? Is it when they first started using Will?
Obiteum and Luceum copies of Res? Like how in the first ruin there was 3 maps of the island?
Caeror run the maze, got cloned and sent to the two other dimensions, but the original in Res died?
Luceum's chapter started with a triskel, which symbolizes infinity, unity, and connection, while Obiteus's chapter started with an ank, which symbolizes life. Is that relevant?! It wouldn't be here if it wasn't I suppose.
How did that wooden boat get to the Academy infirmary?!?!?!?
Why did Emissa try to kill Vis?!?!?! Did she really thought he was doomed or something!??!?
After the naumachia, a physician took samples of Vis and showed him pictures of Luceum and Obiteus. How did he got these?!?!?
What power was in Suus?!?!?! Is it cloned in another way?!?!?
Why was Belli in the labyrinth in the first place?!?!? How did she know?!?!?!?
Melior. Did he run the maze?!?!?! Is that how he gained power?!?!? Or is it because of Suus?!?!?!

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

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

3.75

It was nice, just not the time of book I prefer.
In a way it kind of reminded me of The Little Prince (what with all the 'adult with a very dull, gray life, meets magical children and learns to see the world in colors and do what makes him feel complete). Again, not the kind of stories I like too much.

I wish we'd had other POVs, I think I'd have found Arthur soooo much more interesting than Linus. (Edit: well apparently that's the plot of book 2)

Idk if him being a phoenix was supposed to be a plot twist, but I had found it quite obvious from the second phoenixes were mentioned, and it just made me frustrated at Linus for not understanding it 😅

Overall he frustrated me a lot.

Also, characters had a tendency to go on monologues about how people are more than what they look like, etcetera, etcetera, and while that is true and an important thing to say, when it's said 3 times per chapter it starts feeling... unnatural? Because who speaks like that all the time?!

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional sad 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

Patroclus you are too nice and innocent for this world

The last 2hours or so disappointed me a bit mostly because I was just yelling at the character that they where obviously doing exactly what would bring their death, but that's just Greek mythology being Greek mythology 🥲😭
Prophecies fulfilling themselves


Also I'm thinking about Delo and Griff from The Aurelian Cycle trilogy, whose quotes where inspired by Patroclus and Achilles, and their ending quote

"In this corner of the earth that is mine, I will read poetry and grow old in love.
Let them sing of others."

That's what Achilles and Patroclus would've had if they hadn't chosen his fame

The Infernal Devices: The Complete Trilogy by Cassandra Clare

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.25

Herongraystairs you will always be legendary 🥹😭

Jem is of course as amazing in this adaptation as he is in every one of his appearances 😌

This manga adaptation was really nice overall! I do prefer the art style of the TMI graphic novel, as it feels less croded, but the manga was still awsome.
The one weird thing is that some pieces of the novels where taken out of the manga, but the characters still made references to the scenes later, so that took me out a bit. It definitely would be confusing for someone who hasn't read the books. The plot is not so relevant, as it's mostly the characters... waiting for things to happen? But that's just TID, this goes for the novels as well.

And how dare they take out the Gideon scones scene!!!!!
Also, RIP Gabriel and Cecily's relationship development, they had like, 2 scenes here.

Oh and what's this with the runes?! Why does it look like they're drawing them in the air ?!