mattiedancer's Reviews (126)

Clariel

Garth Nix

4.0

adventurous sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Writing: 4⭐️/5

In contrast to the other books in the series, I found Clariel lacking a bit something. The start of this novel is a bit lackluster, taking a while to get started. In contrast, the ending wrapped up a little quickly.

Characters: 3.75⭐️/5
*Some Spoilers*

Clariel, unlike Lirael, Sameth, and Sabriel, lacks a bit of depth. While the Clariel we see as the novel progresses does get deeper and more interesting, she never gets to a point where I believe her fully. For her motives, she’s relatively one-dimensional, searching for a way to escape the city without giving up her lifestyle. At nearly every interval we are reminded of this as a core of her being and, while I appreciate this motive, it makes her feel less real that she rarely thinks of anything else. I did enjoy Bel and the character shift we see in Mogget when left alone for too long.

Plot: 4⭐️/5
*Some Spoilers*

I do find the plot interesting, though I wonder at the initial plan to trap a Free Magic creature using two children. I did like following Clariel and watching her sanity slip away as she craves more and more Free Magic. As a backstory for Chlorr of the Mask, it served its purpose, creating an interesting backdrop in an already well-established world. I wonder what might have been gained if the attention was split or focused more on Bel, and how that might have helped the pacing and the characters.

World 5⭐️/5

Here’s the thing: the Old Kingdom and the world in which it resides is fascinating, well-developed, and always interesting.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of The Old Kingdom
Fans of Garth Nix

Content Warnings?

Gaslighting, Emotional Abuse, Murder, Death, Death of Parent, Animal Death, Animal Cruelty

Post-Reading Rating: 4.25⭐️/5

It’s always a good adventure into The Old Kingdom.

Final Rating: 4⭐️/5

Content Warnings

The Shadow Rising

Robert Jordan

3.0

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Writing: 2.25⭐️/5

*Some Spoilers*

The repetition in Jordan’s writing returns, but this is not my biggest complaint with this novel. My biggest complaint is the first half of the novel (so just a very short 500 pages) is dedicated to misogyny and sexism. The amount of times I wanted to stop reading this book because it really felt like Jordan didn’t like writing about women (at least, clothed women) was honestly too many.

And then, the second half. It’s not a review of a Jordan novel without conflicting opinions. And, wow, did Jordan deliver. The second 500 pages contained some large sections of prose that I thoroughly enjoyed. The section when Rand is in Rhuidean and witnessing the history of the Aiel? Wow. So cool. The section where Rand is fighting in Rhuidean? So damn interesting.

So, I’m gonna do the only thing I can: I’m splitting the difference. The first half of the book would have truly been a 2, the second half about a 3.75. And so, he gets a 2.75.

Characters: 3⭐️/5

*Some Spoilers*

I wish Jordan could keep his characters a touch more consistent. I did enjoy some of the growth around Faile, though I still can’t stand how both she and Perrin treat each other. Mat’s sections left him feeling useless and tangential to the story, with only a few sections (outside of his objectification of every woman ever) being of true importance. However, I did find Rand all the more interesting and complex in this section. Overall, I just wish the characters could keep a consistent voice and tone, instead of feeling like traced outlines of who they could be. Also, just really wish not every male character resorts to misogyny at the first little shove.

Plot: 3.75⭐️/5

*Some Spoilers*

The plot is unnecessarily slow at the beginning of the novel, leaving chapters upon chapters to be padded with misogyny and sexism and the forbidden ankles of serving gals. As the novel picked up, I found myself thoroughly entertained and enthralled to see what happened next (outside of the comments on women’s bodies and all the women just getting naked randomly). Perrin’s sections seemed the most contrived with the slowest moving sections where Jordan had people conveniently forget or become unwilling to do things in order to send them to do them later (hey, Loial). Also, we have an entire section where we are led to believe the stakes against Perrin are high, only to have Perrin pull a “well actually” on delivering those stakes. Felt unnecessarily confusing. However, I will say Rand and Nynaeve/Elayne’s sections were truly enjoyable, and I looked forward to their rotation. And, Jordan’s battle scenes are quite fun to read, even if they’re a bit predictable.

Who Should Read This Book?

Those who read books one, two, and three of The Wheel of Time (The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, and The Dragon Reborn) and are able to overlook some misogyny

Content Warnings?

Toxic relationships, blood, gore, abuse, domestic abuse, war, sexual assault, toxic friendships, gaslighting, misogyny, sexism, death, murder, injury, injury detail, sexual harassment, emotional abuse, slavery, animal death, child death,

Post-Reading Rating: 4.25⭐️/5

I actually enjoy the ending of Jordan’s books, generally a lot more than the beginning.

Final Rating: 3.25⭐️/5

I can see why, outside of the misogyny, people love the story. The misogyny is so overwhelming though, like too much cilantro in an otherwise savoury dish – when I’m allergic to cilantro.

Content Warnings

Silenced

Ann Claycomb

3.0

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Writing: 3.25⭐️/5

The writing conveyed the story well, and yet it lacked a little finesse here and there. A lot of the lines that I really liked truly could have been situated in nearly any story about feminism and still make sense, and I wanted a bit more from the writing to specifically move me in regards to the plot of this novel.

Characters: 3⭐️/5

While the women’s experiences felt unique, their characters were just different enough. I didn’t really feel like the women had super different personalities, other than two of them. But I also liked reading about them, learning about their experiences, and learning how they attempted to deal with their individual curses.

Plot: 3 ⭐️/5

So, the plot concept is really intriguing, but the execution felt wrong. The concept of a man cursing women as part of a sexual assault did make a certain amount of sense, especially given the fairy tale connection Claycomb took as inspiration. However, I think the part that didn’t jive with me is that there are already reasons women don’t speak out about sexual assault, sexual violence, and rape: they often aren’t believed. It felt a bit oversimplistic to say that the only reason these women couldn’t speak out was because of their boss cursing them. I also felt like the final moment of betrayal was unnecessary, and really only served to help the group, rather than hinder them, which is also heavy with implication that made me feel icky.

Who Should Read This Book?

Someone looking for magical realism meets feminism and who doesn’t mind a bit of a simplification for it.

Content Warnings?

Sexual assault, sexual violence, rape, misogyny, sexism, violence, gaslighting, emotional abuse, dementia, body horror, vomit

Post-Reading Rating: 3.25⭐️/5

Oh, okay. Fine?

Final Rating: 3⭐️/5

Content Warnings

In the Lives of Puppets

TJ Klune

4.5

adventurous funny hopeful 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

Please Note: TJ Klune’s “The House in the Cerulean Sea” novel greatly affected my reading of “In the Lives of Puppets.” THitCS uses the residential school system in Canada, as well as the Sixties Scoop (a genocidal event where Indigenous children were ripped from their homes and sent to white families and/or residential schools in an effort to destroy Indigenous families and culture), as a base for a light-hearted fantasy story. While I understand that inspiration can come from a number of points, this simplification is dangerous and ignorant of the ongoing generational trauma caused to Indigenous peoples. He has mentioned that this is where he got his inspiration, and to make that connection explicit and known, compares the books to the events, thus connecting the book’s theme of “children needing love” to these disgusting and traumatic real-life events.

Writing: 4.25⭐️/5

Klune is a good writer. While many parts of this book seemed to oversimplify and overexplain certain obvious plot points, the overall writing and pacing of the story was extremely well-done. I enjoyed reading it.

Characters: 5⭐️/5

The characters are extremely cool. Listen, I wanted to not like the book, but the characters were incredibly well-written. I loved Nurse Ratched. I loved Rambo. And I really did love Victor and his unique perspective on the world. Personally, I really enjoyed that he seemed to be Autistic-coded, without making direct reference to him being a person with autism. I also really did enjoy the love interest, Hap, and his slow way of discovering his personality and humanity.

Note: After some digging about Klune’s desire to make Victor’s autism named and more significant to the theme, I really think that the sensitivity reader who pushed back against that version did a good favour.

Plot: 5⭐️/5

Oh, I really did love the plot. The Pinocchio-inspired story really worked well, and I enjoyed the references to the story without it seeming too heavy-handed, or at least not too heavy-handed for my tastes. I also adore a good slow start to a story, where it all builds to a great and final unspiralling of all the events we built up. Really well-paced and earned.

World 4.75⭐️/5

The world is cool. There’s a believability about how the robots remove humans to save the world. I loved the world the robots created, and their attempts to mimic humanity more perfectly – but they naturally misunderstand it a bit. The world felt clear and vibrant, though I would have loved a bit more clarity around the city.

Who Should Read This Book?

As someone who does not intend to read Klune again, I will not be recommending it to anyone.

Content Warnings?

Murder, death of parent, death, grief, violence, gun violence, gore, blood, injury, injury detail,

Post-Reading Rating: 4.5⭐️/5

I did really enjoy the book. I also really liked the ending.

Final Rating: 4.5⭐️/5

Content Warnings

Legends & Lattes

Travis Baldree

4.5

adventurous hopeful lighthearted 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

Writing: 4.25⭐️/5

I think the writing serves the story extremely well. At moments, Baldree chooses to include extraneous details, which sometimes feel interesting and sometimes feel unnecessary, but these moments are short-lived and do not get in the way of the story. I really liked how he combined the lightness of the story with the starkness of the world, and I found really vibrant moments of beautiful prose.

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

I really loved the dynamics of the characters. An orc who wants to give up adventuring and open a cafe, but is still bound by her need to keep to herself? A brilliant character. I loved our love interest, and her dynamic with the MC. Where I wanted a bit more from the characters was with Viv’s old crew. I felt a distinct lack of understanding of what drove them, other than their need for adventure. For a group of people who spent a lot of time together, they were relegated to a small role and little screen time.

Plot: 4.75⭐️/5

I really loved the plot. While I wanted a bit more from our adventuring party to fully understand their connection with Viv, I loved the cute way this story progressed. I really enjoyed how the story started with the end of a final adventure, how we slowly uncovered her plans, and how we saw her work hard towards her goals. I thoroughly enjoyed the choice to go against the grain with this work of high fantasy as well. Normally, we see the epic adventure, but I enjoyed the chiller story and plot, the after-the-adventure story. Well done.

World 4.75⭐️/5

The world is well understood and conveyed. It felt big and bright, without being overwhelming with its detail. I really loved how Baldree chose to introduce us to the world, jumping right in while adding a little detail when necessary. I think it’s a cool world that I enjoyed reading about.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of D&D
Fans of high fantasy novels looking for a change of pace
Someone looking for a chill, cozy read with a cute romance

Content Warnings?

Fire, fire injury, blood, violence, injury, injury detail, grief, sexual harassment, bullying, stalking, emotional abuse, toxic friendship,

Post-Reading Rating: 4.5⭐️/5

Aw. Cute. Love Viv and Tandri. <3

Final Rating: 4.5⭐️/5

Content Warnings

Sabriel

Garth Nix

5.0

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Please note: With this book, I’m incapable of removing the amount of bias I generally try to remove before writing reviews. Sabriel is a book I read when I was in my teens, and it has stayed with me over the years. Further, it would transgress my own values to give this book anything other than a five-star review, given the lasting and impeccable impression it left on me. Lastly, in a world where young women are often handed books full of dangerous, exhausting, and demeaning tropes, I fully love Garth Nix for introducing me – at a young, impressionable age – to a female character who is strong, capable, powerful, and loves fully.

Writing: 5⭐️/5

I love how Garth Nix uses the perfect mixture of language to hook us into this story. Starting with a young woman who wants to save a rabbit, it’s clear through his language that this story will supersede those simple expectations. I love how the dialogue feels natural and I really love his clarity to expose such a complicated world with ease.

Characters: 5⭐️/5

Sabriel is one of my all-time favourite characters. She is a badass without being snippy, she’s sassy without being harsh, and she’s strong without giving up her femininity. I also fell in love with Touchstone the first time I read this novel. I loved his gallantry, his humility, and his growth throughout the book. Beyond those two, the side characters are invaluable and fascinating. I love Mogget: a small cat-like creature who desires freedom from its cage without truly wanting it, who defends his Abhorsen, who appears innocent and actually holds immense power. Sabriel’s father, full of flaws and regrets, feels real – instantly real and vibrant – despite getting very little “screen” time. A whole cast of fantastic, deep characters to enjoy and read about.

Plot: 5⭐️/5

I mean, I love this book, and the plot follows suit. With a mixture of fast-paced adventure and world-building, I really love (and have always loved) how the plot progresses, slowly introducing us to our world and then quickly identifying our big bad. No notes.

World 5⭐️/5

The Old Kingdom is a rich world. I love the mixture of high and low fantasy elements, with a world similar to ours edging on a world that’s very different. I love the references to technology, I love the thoughtfulness of the world’s politics, structure, and beliefs. To quote Leigh Bardugo: “There is no joy like returning to the Old Kingdom.”

Who Should Read This Book?

Readers looking for a fantastic fantasy read with a drop of romance
Young adult readers looking to bridge into high fantasy
Readers looking for a good fantasy read with a great female lead.

Content Warnings?

Blood, injury, injury detail, death, death of parent, death of child, slavery, body horror, gore, sexual content, confinement, grief

Post-Reading Rating: 5⭐️/5

*sigh* I just love it.

Final Rating: 5⭐️/5

Content Warnings

The Liar's Dictionary

Eley Williams

4.75

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Writing: 4.75⭐️/5

Eley Williams writes with fascinating control and ease. I thoroughly enjoyed how our two main characters thought about and used language, given how in love with language they both were. At very small moments, I do think the writing became a bit too much, but these moments were so short and fleeting that it really didn’t matter.

Characters: 5⭐️/5

I really loved both main characters. Williams extended the depth and arcs she crafted towards her side characters as well, giving them a fullness that was wonderful to read.

Plot: 4.75⭐️/5

The plot is deceptively simple and suddenly explosive, leading up to an exciting ending that was unexpected but not unwelcome. I did feel that a portion of Peter Winceworth’s plot happened a little too quickly, as though to match the pace of Mallory’s story, which was winding to a close. I would have enjoyed a bit more time there to build to the ending.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of literary reads
Fans of dictionary-based fiction
Fans of learning new words and discussions about language
Someone looking for a good read with decadent language and stunning, well-developed characters.

Content Warnings?

Homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia, fire, fire injury, injury, injury detail, ableism, sexual content, bullying, animal cruelty, medical content, infidelity, blood, outing, hate crime, emotional abuse, alcohol

Post-Reading Rating: 4.75⭐️/5

What an unexpected ending, and yet, so right.

Final Rating: 4.75⭐️/5

Content Warnings

Death

Laura Thalassa

3.75

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Writing: 3.75⭐️/5

The writing is serviceable. Somehow, Thalassa made this very relatable despite being a novel about the apocalypse. AND YET, I wanted more. I fully believe Thalassa could have made me contemplate so much about humanity with both Death and Lazarus, and yet she almost held back, depending more on tropes and less on the potential for sections of more interesting prose. Overall, still a good read.

Characters: 4⭐️/5

I liked Lazarus. She was much different than Miriam, Sara, and Ana, even if only in her ability to defy death – both literally and figuratively. I liked how her voice came through differently than with the other two. Death, on the other hand, felt fascinating for the first half of the book, and then he fell into a rut where he really just seemed like another carbon-copy Horseman. I feel like there was so much potential with him, and I’m a little disappointed it wasn’t used, even if the outcome was still enjoyable.

Plot: 3.75⭐️/5

I wish I could pull this book in two and rate each half. The first half of this book was so fascinating – and so different from the others. I wanted a bit more from this section, and would have loved to see Thalassa push this section as far as it could go. I liked the two chasing each other, slowly coming to look forward to seeing the other person. And then, when Lazarus meets Death’s brothers, it would have been much more interesting to keep Laz with them for longer, or to tease out this section in a new one. I feel like there was so much potential for more, and I felt a bit disappointed those choices weren’t followed. However, I do appreciate that this plot (at least for the first half) varied from the plots in books one, two, and three of this series.

Who Should Read This Book?

Those who liked and loved the first three books (but maybe take a break between so it’s not too fresh)
Those who like spicy scenes (there were quite a few of them in this one)

Content Warnings?

Death, murder, sexual content, physical abuse, emotional abuse, kidnapping, gore, blood, injury, injury detail, violence, torture, grief, body horror, alcohol, cursing, child death, illness, medical content, medical trauma, pandemic/epidemic, suicide, suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, sexism, misogyny, vomit, pregnancy

Post-Reading Rating: 4.25⭐️/5

A good end to the series.

Final Rating: 3.75⭐️/5

Content Warnings

Famine

Laura Thalassa

3.5

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Writing: 3.5⭐️/5

I feel like in this book Thalassa tried to strike out and make her writing a bit different, but I’m not sure it worked. Much of the writing felt the same. I was, however, less surprised by this than I was when I read book two, War. I feel like expecting the similarities made them less bothersome.

Characters: 3.25⭐️/5

Famine bears similarities to both War and Pestilence, but manages to strike out on his own as the novel progresses. Ana feels very much like a mix of Sara and Miriam from the previous two novels, and while the story progresses to a point that I enjoyed reading about, I wanted a bit more from the characters.

Plot: 3.5⭐️/5

Girl gets captured by a Horseman. Slowly, she falls in love with him. And then, she slowly finds herself as the only reason he wants to stop the apocalypse. It’s very predictable. Yes, I was prepared for the predictability. Yes, I was still a bit annoyed at how similar it was. However, I will say that I did enjoy how Thalassa struck out to make the ending very different. I just wish this would have started sooner.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of ACOTAR and dystopian societies
Someone looking for a romance with an intriguing plot
Those who like fantasy/apocalyptic novels that centre on romance
Readers who like (or don’t mind) a bit of spice, but not just spice
Those who liked and loved the first and second books (but maybe take a break between so it’s not too fresh)

Content Warnings?

Death, murder, sexual content, physical abuse, emotional abuse, kidnapping, gore, blood, injury, injury detail, violence, animal death, torture, grief, body horror, sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, alcohol, swearing, child abuse, child death, misogyny

Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5

Made me kind of pumped for the fourth one.

Final Rating: 3.5⭐️/5

Content Warnings

War

Laura Thalassa

3.75

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Writing: 3.25⭐️/5

Alright, so the writing is serviceable. I liked it in the sense that it didn’t get in the way. I did feel like the pacing was a bit off for this one. I noticed a lot more exposition starting to creep in. It felt a bit less polished. Overall, though, it stood out less than her first book in this series (Pestilence) strictly because it felt a bit like a carbon copy in certain sections.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5

Above I said that the writing felt a bit too familiar. So did the characters. Now, War is completely different than Pestilence. Miriam feels a little too similar to Sara. As the novel picked up, she definitely struck out on her own, gaining her own sense of self. However, by then the similarities were embedded into my brain too much, and it became harder to notice their differences. I did appreciate getting a few more side characters in this one as well, even if some of them lacked a bit of depth.

Plot: 3.75⭐️/5

The plot is fun – and, you guessed it, overall very similar to Pestilence. All in all, I did enjoy the differences, loving how Miriam pushed against her fate as War’s wife. I loved how he, in his differences from Pestilence, forced her to move in different directions. I will say the end felt a bit too pulled out. Everything felt so over, and for everyone to come back to kill War just felt a bit contrived, as though Thalassa was trying too hard to make the ending similar to Pestilence.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of ACOTAR and dystopian societies
Someone looking for a romance with an intriguing plot
Those who like fantasy/apocalyptic novels that centre on romance
Readers who like (or don’t mind) a bit of spice, but not just spice
Those who liked and loved the first book (but maybe take a break between so it’s not too fresh)

Content Warnings?

Death, murder, murder, sexual content, physical abuse, emotional abuse, kidnapping, fire, fire injury, gore, blood, injury, injury detail, gun violence, violence, animal death, torture, grief, body horror, sexual harassment, sexual assault, war,

Post-Reading Rating: 3⭐️/5

I didn’t love how the ending came about. Very contrived and pushed towards predictability, when it didn’t have to be.

Final Rating: 3.5⭐️/5

Content Warnings

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