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my_corner_of_the_library's Reviews (320)
Ooff.....this book was a struggle. When I first read the description of this book I immediately fell in love and was very excited. The next time I went to the bookstore I purposely searched for this book and was eager to put it at the top of my TBR. I didn't read any reviews previously to started this read and went in with good expectations. Unfortunately...the good ended at the back cover.
The Good
So...this will be short.
1) The premise.
Now for the rest of it...
The Bad
Buckle up guys, I've got some things to talk about.
The Writing
I am going to start with the writing of this book, because I think this got to me more than anything else.
Show Me Something
There was so much telling instead of showing in this book that I honestly did not become invested in a single character (which we'll get to later), and yet...I feel like I didn't learn anything at all. There were so many plot holes and unanswered questions in this book that I could probably spend this entire review listing off my questions that were completely left unanswered.
So often we were outright told things about the city or characters that easily could have been shown to us. We are literally given a sentence that tells us Hat is optimistic within a page or two of the book starting, without ever implying to showing that this character we met two paragraphs ago is in fact a happy person. Long before we meet Devil we are given a paragraph simply stating:
Things like this I can excuse here and there, but this was the entire first chapter, telling us things that easily could have been shown through interactions.
The Dialogue
This really really got to me. I don't think there was a single conversation in this book that didn't feel PAINFULLY forced. Often times there wasn't even a reason for characters to be saying what they were saying other than for the sake of moving the plot along. A great example of this would be when Coin and Glenquartz are in the dungeons and having one of their first conversations. Using her magic Coin deduces that Glenquartz has a daughter....and within one sentence Glenquartz is sharing his entire life story to this girl he is throwing in a cell.
Sometimes it felt like an editor didn't like the order the dialogue of a certain conversation was in and copy and pasted the lines of dialogue in a completely different order without any attempts to make it coherent. A great example of this being when Esther is training Coin near the end of the book. Often times the characters weren't responding to anything that had just been said and would go off on tangents that had nothing to do with the conversation being had, only for everyone to ignore it and then come back to it later like they were being fed their lines in the wrong order.
Repetition. Repetitiveness. Redundant.
I became so frustrated with just how repetitive this book became that I actually started groaning out loud when it would happen. Not events or plot points, but the recapping of what went on. At the end of every significant encounter we would get an entire recap of what just happened later that same page. An example of this would be any time Marcher shows up. Marcher will show up and Coin will have a two sentence inner monologue about hating him but needing his help, then Marcher will offer something, Coin will threaten him, and then Marcher will leave. Then later that page we will be told how Marcher showed up, that Coin hates Marcher, and that Marcher offered something and then left.
It started to feel like the author didn't think we as readers were intelligent enough to follow along with what was just plainly laid out early that chapter or even that page.
The Magic and Class System
This is the part that confused me more than anything. I have so many questions that I'm honestly not completely sure the author knew how it was really supposed to work. Most of my questions can be summed up into one big question: how does being nameless work?
Now, you may guess that being nameless simply means that no one gave you a name at birth. OK, great. So now that no one gave you a name at birth you are not a citizen and magic doesn't affect you. Except....the nameless give themselves names on the streets. So this makes me think that being nameless means that you were never LEGALLY given a name. Except this entire thought is completely upturned by the main character herself who SO...then is the knowledge of your name what makes you nameless or not nameless? Then, technically....no one actually needs to be nameless. A nameless parent could, by that logic, easily give their child a name at birth and that child is now a legal because the child knows their name. So how come there are any nameless at all? Must you name the child within a certain amount of time of birth? Does this name need to be registered to count? That doesn't work though, because Coin's name wasn't registered, and yet it was valid enough to name her queen, but NOT valid enough for her to not be nameless?
I could go on and on with questions about how this is supposed to work, but I think I'll end it there.
The Characters
Oh how I could rant on this and write a rant for each and every character, however for most characters it would simply be me saying over and over that there was no character development or depth at all...so instead lets focus on the main character: Coin.
I...don't know....if I've ever despised a character as much as I hate Coin. I really would have loved to read this book from the POV of literally any other character. Coin was so INCREDIBLY full of herself, which would be fine, if every other character didn't validate her arrogance at every turn. Trust me, by the end of the book you are very well aware of how clever she is. Why? Because she'll tell you, and every secondary character will tell you, and the plot will tell you, and then every secondary character will tell Coin, and so on. I was hoping with every page that SOMETHING would knock Coin down a few pegs, because she desperately needed it.
You know that person who thinks so highly of themselves that whenever they tell a story all they can talk about is how incredibly impressed everyone was by their every movement, even the smallest most insignificant thing? That's Coin. Don't believe me? Here is a quote from the book where someone had to do a double take because Coin stood up straight....oh yes.
EVERYTHING Coin says or does or thinks is commended and amazing to everyone in attendance and seriously...she hardly does anything impressive other than have near instant control over these powers she didn't really know existed (she knew there was magic but didn't know any of the details).
Conclusion
I'm very sorry for such a rough review, but I honestly had to drag myself through every page of this book. I cannot recommend this book to anyone. I really hope this author takes her time on the next book to learn a lot about world and character building, and dialogue, because this book really had so much potential
The Good
So...this will be short.
1) The premise.
Now for the rest of it...
The Bad
Buckle up guys, I've got some things to talk about.
The Writing
I am going to start with the writing of this book, because I think this got to me more than anything else.
Show Me Something
There was so much telling instead of showing in this book that I honestly did not become invested in a single character (which we'll get to later), and yet...I feel like I didn't learn anything at all. There were so many plot holes and unanswered questions in this book that I could probably spend this entire review listing off my questions that were completely left unanswered.
So often we were outright told things about the city or characters that easily could have been shown to us. We are literally given a sentence that tells us Hat is optimistic within a page or two of the book starting, without ever implying to showing that this character we met two paragraphs ago is in fact a happy person. Long before we meet Devil we are given a paragraph simply stating:
Devil is a Nameless girl a bit older than me who always has the latest gossip. Want to know which guards are good for bribing? Looking to hire a thief? Ask Devil. She's posted in the same place every morning, and she'll trade news for food or trinkets. That's how she makes her living as a Nameless. Instead of thriving on thefts and cons, she thrives with information. That and a smuggler's business.
Things like this I can excuse here and there, but this was the entire first chapter, telling us things that easily could have been shown through interactions.
The Dialogue
This really really got to me. I don't think there was a single conversation in this book that didn't feel PAINFULLY forced. Often times there wasn't even a reason for characters to be saying what they were saying other than for the sake of moving the plot along. A great example of this would be when Coin and Glenquartz are in the dungeons and having one of their first conversations. Using her magic Coin deduces that Glenquartz has a daughter....and within one sentence Glenquartz is sharing his entire life story to this girl he is throwing in a cell.
Sometimes it felt like an editor didn't like the order the dialogue of a certain conversation was in and copy and pasted the lines of dialogue in a completely different order without any attempts to make it coherent. A great example of this being when Esther is training Coin near the end of the book. Often times the characters weren't responding to anything that had just been said and would go off on tangents that had nothing to do with the conversation being had, only for everyone to ignore it and then come back to it later like they were being fed their lines in the wrong order.
Repetition. Repetitiveness. Redundant.
I became so frustrated with just how repetitive this book became that I actually started groaning out loud when it would happen. Not events or plot points, but the recapping of what went on. At the end of every significant encounter we would get an entire recap of what just happened later that same page. An example of this would be any time Marcher shows up. Marcher will show up and Coin will have a two sentence inner monologue about hating him but needing his help, then Marcher will offer something, Coin will threaten him, and then Marcher will leave. Then later that page we will be told how Marcher showed up, that Coin hates Marcher, and that Marcher offered something and then left.
It started to feel like the author didn't think we as readers were intelligent enough to follow along with what was just plainly laid out early that chapter or even that page.
The Magic and Class System
This is the part that confused me more than anything. I have so many questions that I'm honestly not completely sure the author knew how it was really supposed to work. Most of my questions can be summed up into one big question: how does being nameless work?
Now, you may guess that being nameless simply means that no one gave you a name at birth. OK, great. So now that no one gave you a name at birth you are not a citizen and magic doesn't affect you. Except....the nameless give themselves names on the streets. So this makes me think that being nameless means that you were never LEGALLY given a name. Except this entire thought is completely upturned by the main character herself who
Spoiler
actually does have a name.I could go on and on with questions about how this is supposed to work, but I think I'll end it there.
The Characters
Oh how I could rant on this and write a rant for each and every character, however for most characters it would simply be me saying over and over that there was no character development or depth at all...so instead lets focus on the main character: Coin.
I...don't know....if I've ever despised a character as much as I hate Coin. I really would have loved to read this book from the POV of literally any other character. Coin was so INCREDIBLY full of herself, which would be fine, if every other character didn't validate her arrogance at every turn. Trust me, by the end of the book you are very well aware of how clever she is. Why? Because she'll tell you, and every secondary character will tell you, and the plot will tell you, and then every secondary character will tell Coin, and so on. I was hoping with every page that SOMETHING would knock Coin down a few pegs, because she desperately needed it.
You know that person who thinks so highly of themselves that whenever they tell a story all they can talk about is how incredibly impressed everyone was by their every movement, even the smallest most insignificant thing? That's Coin. Don't believe me? Here is a quote from the book where someone had to do a double take because Coin stood up straight....oh yes.
Squaring my shoulders, I stand straight and tall. Be Royal and confident. Esther opens the doors to the corridor to let Glenquartz back into the room. She turns around and does a double take when she sees my posture.
EVERYTHING Coin says or does or thinks is commended and amazing to everyone in attendance and seriously...she hardly does anything impressive other than have near instant control over these powers she didn't really know existed (she knew there was magic but didn't know any of the details).
Conclusion
I'm very sorry for such a rough review, but I honestly had to drag myself through every page of this book. I cannot recommend this book to anyone. I really hope this author takes her time on the next book to learn a lot about world and character building, and dialogue, because this book really had so much potential
I never thought I'd be so intrigued by 16 pages! With each diary entry we get little disturbing glimpses into the room that has become our narrators world. Very rarely do I wish books were longer, but I truly wish this would have been a novella length horror. Though, I completely understand the power of conveying such emotions in such few pages.
Such a quick read and a very powerful look into the mind of someone who is struggling with severe mental health issues that are completely mistreated.
Such a quick read and a very powerful look into the mind of someone who is struggling with severe mental health issues that are completely mistreated.
Unpopular opinion time…
I HATED this book. Where do I start…
The Writing
This had to be the worst part of the book for me. The writing was incredibly mechanical and felt very immature. Often times I would forget that the characters were supposed to be ~17 because the whole thing felt like it was aimed for 13 and under. There was no emotion in the writing and often times things were repetitive and redundant. Such as the line… “I have done the thing, and now I must live with what I have done.” Which is a word for word quote from the book.
Also, the dialogue felt extremely forced and actually made me roll my eyes or cringe SEVERAL times. It often felt like we were being given a line by line script of a HORRIBLE teen movie.
SPEAKING of teen movies…What in the WORLD was that school bullying??? If you replaced the Gentry with jocks and Fairie with a high school this could literally be a PSA for school bullying that kids make fun of. In the beginning they are actually pulling Jude’s braids and telling her that she’ll never be as pretty as they are so why bother…
This book felt like a child who is writing for the first time and had an original idea but no original content, so they filled it with EVERY cliche they could think of.
The Characters
This will probably be short, because for the most part…I didn’t care.
Jude
I honestly despised Jude. I felt as though she never thought anything through and everything was the absolute end of the world, only to be forgotten two seconds later. We spent how long focusing every thought and breath on the tournament? Only to never think about it again the moment it was over. She would jump to the most outlandish conclusions on the barest evidence but not piece together the most obvious shit. A letter that we don’t know the writer or recipient that has absolutely NO reference to Locke’s mother we instantly decipher, but having one of Madoc’s spies used as a diversion is so vague that we not only can’t piece together that he’s a part of things but that we might want to tell someone??????
Taryn
Did nothing but whine. That’s it.
Vivi
Ok, I actually kind of liked Vivi. SHE was the independent rebel that deserved to be the Heroine of this book. Unfortunately, we barely got a look at her and she wasn’t fleshed out at all.
Cardan
Maybe I read a COMPLETELY different book than everyone else, but….EWWWWW!!!! Dude….he was very very very clearly unhealthily obsessed with Jude. He tormented her for literally no reason, angrily wrote her name over and over and over again, and then had the audacity to basically tell her, “I hate you because I love you.” This is not a broody bad boy, this dude is f*cking creepy and abusive.
Madoc
Ok, he was kind of interesting. Though I could have done without Jude’s repetitive analysis of, “He loves me. He loves Oak. He loves all of us. He’s just evil, so it’s ok.” Because that is a HORRENDOUS message to be giving literally anyone of any age.
The Plot
Oh dear God…this plot was everywhere. It felt like a dozen half thought out plots that were all smashed together into one storyline. When we would burn through one another would pop up with no explanation. First we are obsessed with the tournament, then that’s over in a minute flat, so then we are being offered a job as a spy, but that’s not interesting enough so then we have a fling with Locke. But not a real fling, because it lasts for 3 days and we didn’t really like him anyway. And then…and then…and then..
The “Romance”
I do not understand this part of the book at all. There….was none? And yet it is always dubbed as an amazing enemies to lovers. Um….where? She spends like 3 total pages with Locke where they kinda kiss and maybe flirt I guess and that’s most of the romance. Until she kisses Cardan and then….that’s our romance? There wasn’t even a build up to Cardan and Jude. They were hating each other for no real reason I guess? Cardan was mad because Jude was good at school….mad enough to let his friends try and kill her…and then he’s like, “Well, of course. I hate you because I love you.” And then they kissed and that was the entire romance? Ok…
In conclusion: My husband is asking if he can burn this book because I made him listen to some of the audio with me.
I HATED this book. Where do I start…
The Writing
This had to be the worst part of the book for me. The writing was incredibly mechanical and felt very immature. Often times I would forget that the characters were supposed to be ~17 because the whole thing felt like it was aimed for 13 and under. There was no emotion in the writing and often times things were repetitive and redundant. Such as the line… “I have done the thing, and now I must live with what I have done.” Which is a word for word quote from the book.
Also, the dialogue felt extremely forced and actually made me roll my eyes or cringe SEVERAL times. It often felt like we were being given a line by line script of a HORRIBLE teen movie.
SPEAKING of teen movies…What in the WORLD was that school bullying??? If you replaced the Gentry with jocks and Fairie with a high school this could literally be a PSA for school bullying that kids make fun of. In the beginning they are actually pulling Jude’s braids and telling her that she’ll never be as pretty as they are so why bother…
This book felt like a child who is writing for the first time and had an original idea but no original content, so they filled it with EVERY cliche they could think of.
The Characters
This will probably be short, because for the most part…I didn’t care.
Jude
I honestly despised Jude. I felt as though she never thought anything through and everything was the absolute end of the world, only to be forgotten two seconds later. We spent how long focusing every thought and breath on the tournament? Only to never think about it again the moment it was over. She would jump to the most outlandish conclusions on the barest evidence but not piece together the most obvious shit. A letter that we don’t know the writer or recipient that has absolutely NO reference to Locke’s mother we instantly decipher, but having one of Madoc’s spies used as a diversion is so vague that we not only can’t piece together that he’s a part of things but that we might want to tell someone??????
Taryn
Did nothing but whine. That’s it.
Vivi
Ok, I actually kind of liked Vivi. SHE was the independent rebel that deserved to be the Heroine of this book. Unfortunately, we barely got a look at her and she wasn’t fleshed out at all.
Cardan
Maybe I read a COMPLETELY different book than everyone else, but….EWWWWW!!!! Dude….he was very very very clearly unhealthily obsessed with Jude. He tormented her for literally no reason, angrily wrote her name over and over and over again, and then had the audacity to basically tell her, “I hate you because I love you.” This is not a broody bad boy, this dude is f*cking creepy and abusive.
Madoc
Ok, he was kind of interesting. Though I could have done without Jude’s repetitive analysis of, “He loves me. He loves Oak. He loves all of us. He’s just evil, so it’s ok.” Because that is a HORRENDOUS message to be giving literally anyone of any age.
The Plot
Oh dear God…this plot was everywhere. It felt like a dozen half thought out plots that were all smashed together into one storyline. When we would burn through one another would pop up with no explanation. First we are obsessed with the tournament, then that’s over in a minute flat, so then we are being offered a job as a spy, but that’s not interesting enough so then we have a fling with Locke. But not a real fling, because it lasts for 3 days and we didn’t really like him anyway. And then…and then…and then..
The “Romance”
I do not understand this part of the book at all. There….was none? And yet it is always dubbed as an amazing enemies to lovers. Um….where? She spends like 3 total pages with Locke where they kinda kiss and maybe flirt I guess and that’s most of the romance. Until she kisses Cardan and then….that’s our romance? There wasn’t even a build up to Cardan and Jude. They were hating each other for no real reason I guess? Cardan was mad because Jude was good at school….mad enough to let his friends try and kill her…and then he’s like, “Well, of course. I hate you because I love you.” And then they kissed and that was the entire romance? Ok…
In conclusion: My husband is asking if he can burn this book because I made him listen to some of the audio with me.
