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literalottie's reviews
133 reviews
The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska
1.5
The rating makes my feelings on this book seem a lot harsher than they really are - there are people who will enjoy this book, it just really didn't work for me. Didn't connect with the characters, worldbuilding or plot (and I felt like all of those things were pretty shallow and sometimes frustrating) and as a result I just didn't find myself enjoying this, which is disappointing.
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
3.5
Unfortunately not quite as captivating as the first book, hopefully it picks up again in the final one!
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
3.5
Alright, let's get the "bad" out of the way first - there were parts of this that just kinda dragged. I appreciated that the pacing slowed down a bit in Siege and Storm, but here it felt like we were getting a lot of build up to the plot and a lot less of the actual plot happening. Some of the build up didn't really have a pay off either since the plot went in a different direction, and while I'm not mad at the twists it took it's hard to not feel like I'd wasted my time and anticipation. I'm also generally not a fan of sections of a book where the characters are just travelling from point A to point B, and I think there was a bit much of that in this book. Some of the plot points in this book (aka Nikolai's) felt a bit weird too.
That being said, the final 100 pages of this book?! I'm shook. I wasn't ready. I had some ideas about where the plot would go, but so much of the ending was unexpected and I genuinely had to take a few moments here and there to just pause and take in the shock I was feeling (in a good way!).
I ended up really liking Alina's character after finding her kind of boring and cliche in the first book. She's written in a way that both her strengths and her flaws seem very real and believable, and therefore I was able to sympathise with her and understand her. I also really like her relationship with Mal (which is apparently an unpopular opinion?), and I felt like their relationship and the strain it goes through is also believable without being overdramatic or annoying.
Now, for the most baffling thought I have after finishing this series: I do not (I repeat, do NOT) understand the love for the Darkling x Alina ship. I can appreciate that the Darkling is an interesting villain character, and I can also appreciate a good enemies to lovers romance, and even a bit of a "problematic" enemies to lovers romance, but I just don't get that at all with these two. I mean...
<spoiler"I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but me."
Excuse me??! EXCUSE ME??! I just don't see the chemistry. I don't get it, sorry.
Anyway, I think it's safe to say I am now Grishaverse trash and I've gone ahead and ordered the rest of the Grishaverse books, to be read at some unspecified time in the (hopefully near) future.
That being said, the final 100 pages of this book?! I'm shook. I wasn't ready. I had some ideas about where the plot would go, but so much of the ending was unexpected and I genuinely had to take a few moments here and there to just pause and take in the shock I was feeling (in a good way!).
I ended up really liking Alina's character after finding her kind of boring and cliche in the first book. She's written in a way that both her strengths and her flaws seem very real and believable, and therefore I was able to sympathise with her and understand her. I also really like her relationship with Mal (which is apparently an unpopular opinion?), and I felt like their relationship and the strain it goes through is also believable without being overdramatic or annoying.
Now, for the most baffling thought I have after finishing this series: I do not (I repeat, do NOT) understand the love for the Darkling x Alina ship. I can appreciate that the Darkling is an interesting villain character, and I can also appreciate a good enemies to lovers romance, and even a bit of a "problematic" enemies to lovers romance, but I just don't get that at all with these two. I mean...
<spoiler"I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but me."
Excuse me??! EXCUSE ME??! I just don't see the chemistry. I don't get it, sorry.
Anyway, I think it's safe to say I am now Grishaverse trash and I've gone ahead and ordered the rest of the Grishaverse books, to be read at some unspecified time in the (hopefully near) future.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
Wow, this was a serious improvement over the first book! I really liked where the story went in this one, and I liked that it took a slower pace so that there was more time for the world and characters to develop around the plot, which I thought was something lacking from Shadow and Bone.
I also found myself enjoying the characters a lot more in this one. Where I found Alina to be a cliched, rather boring protagonist in Book 1, here she gains a lot of agency and takes control of her power more, and I liked how this brought both positive and negative consequences along with it. The new character introduced in this book, Nikolai, is the best character in the series so far and his involvement in the story meant we got more of an insight into the politics of the world which I really enjoyed reading about and I'm hoping this continues to develop in the third book.
The love triangle remains uninteresting, but I'm holding off on commenting on the love interests until I finish the series (mostly because I'm... baffled by the general consensus I see on which guy is better and I want to wait and see if there's something I'm seriously missing here).
Overall, while Shadow and Bone left me less than thrilled, Siege and Storm hooked me back in and especially with that ending, I'm excited to see how the series concludes!
I also found myself enjoying the characters a lot more in this one. Where I found Alina to be a cliched, rather boring protagonist in Book 1, here she gains a lot of agency and takes control of her power more, and I liked how this brought both positive and negative consequences along with it. The new character introduced in this book, Nikolai, is the best character in the series so far and his involvement in the story meant we got more of an insight into the politics of the world which I really enjoyed reading about and I'm hoping this continues to develop in the third book.
The love triangle remains uninteresting, but I'm holding off on commenting on the love interests until I finish the series (mostly because I'm... baffled by the general consensus I see on which guy is better and I want to wait and see if there's something I'm seriously missing here).
Overall, while Shadow and Bone left me less than thrilled, Siege and Storm hooked me back in and especially with that ending, I'm excited to see how the series concludes!
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
2.5
I'm a bit torn between 2 and 3 stars for this one, so let's just settle for 2.5.
Unfortunately I was very underwhelmed by this. Leigh Bardugo is an author who I see get so much praise (mostly for Six of Crows, which I do still plan on reading and I still have high hopes for!) and I was hoping to love her work as much as many others do. However, I found the beginning of this trilogy to be very cliched and a stock-standard YA fantasy. It was also quite fast-paced, which I know some readers like but for me I would've preferred to have spent more time learning about the world and characters, as ultimately I felt like these aspects were underdeveloped and therefore the plot also fell flat. Also, even though I went into this book pretty much blind, I did know in advance who the main villain of the story was (which is meant to be a twist) so that might've dampered some of my shock and excitement as well.
Despite it's flaws though, it did still keep me invested for the most part, although by the end I have to admit I had lost some interest in the story. I'm still going to continue the series with the hope that it'll improve, but if I didn't already own a boxset of the full trilogy I'm not sure how motivated I would be to seek out the other two books based on this one.
Unfortunately I was very underwhelmed by this. Leigh Bardugo is an author who I see get so much praise (mostly for Six of Crows, which I do still plan on reading and I still have high hopes for!) and I was hoping to love her work as much as many others do. However, I found the beginning of this trilogy to be very cliched and a stock-standard YA fantasy. It was also quite fast-paced, which I know some readers like but for me I would've preferred to have spent more time learning about the world and characters, as ultimately I felt like these aspects were underdeveloped and therefore the plot also fell flat. Also, even though I went into this book pretty much blind, I did know in advance who the main villain of the story was (which is meant to be a twist) so that might've dampered some of my shock and excitement as well.
Despite it's flaws though, it did still keep me invested for the most part, although by the end I have to admit I had lost some interest in the story. I'm still going to continue the series with the hope that it'll improve, but if I didn't already own a boxset of the full trilogy I'm not sure how motivated I would be to seek out the other two books based on this one.