You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
opalmars's Reviews (350)
Contos de Fadas em suas versões originais, volume 1
Jacob Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, Wilhelm Grimm
dark
fast-paced
not really my thing but I respect their grind + they gave us some of the most iconic stories ever so how can I not appreciate them?
DNF @ 17% – I had already come to the conclusion, years ago, that this book probably wouldn’t be worth it for me to read, and yet I still decided to try. Lo and behold, I was bored and didn’t like anything about it, so I’m not even gonna bother continuing. I’m tired of mediocre books wasting my time. Goodbye.
lighthearted
Super sweet and heartwarming! 🥰 Need Amarante and Ash’s short story asap 🙂↕️
lighthearted
medium-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Cute!!! I’m really enjoying these cozy romances from Ireen Chau! I just love the Barbie movie vibes (royalty, magic, talking animals!!) and the slow-burn love story is super sweet! 🤭
I preferred the 1st book in this series, but that might be because I’m not the biggest fan of the arranged marriage trope that’s in this book. Also, I think some plot related things could’ve been better: Dominic (Narcissa’s ex) could’ve had more development, the investigation of the rioters/rebels could’ve started sooner, etc.
But still, I really enjoyed this book regardless! I especially enjoyed the SCs (particularly Giselle and Maddox; and where is their book???!?!?!?!! 👀). I can’t wait to get the physical version so I can appreciate all the illustrations!
I preferred the 1st book in this series, but that might be because I’m not the biggest fan of the arranged marriage trope that’s in this book. Also, I think some plot related things could’ve been better: Dominic (Narcissa’s ex) could’ve had more development, the investigation of the rioters/rebels could’ve started sooner, etc.
But still, I really enjoyed this book regardless! I especially enjoyed the SCs (particularly Giselle and Maddox; and where is their book???!?!?!?!! 👀). I can’t wait to get the physical version so I can appreciate all the illustrations!
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
2,5 * — I am once again asking if I read the same book as everyone else, because…………
This book didn’t earn its pages. Somehow, despite being 850 pages long, there isn’t much to get attached to, here. NOTHING (the world, characters, relationships, villain, plot) was interesting to me. Let’s get into my problems:
➤ The pacing was a mess. For soooo long nothing happened. Like….????? Why write an 850 page book if it’s gonna be filled with nothing??? And then the climax happens after like 750 pages and they just quickly and easily defeat the big bad guy. Loth just goes to a different country and after 1 conversation he manages to end 1000 YEARS of division between nations…. What??? It was soooo easy to end a literal MILLENIA of hatred and to get these countries to overcome their intrinsic differences… Alright… And then someone just says that the villain has a weak spot and they stab that spot. That’s it lol. So much buildup for such an anticlimactic ending. This should’ve had an explosive ending, but in actuality it ended in a fizzle.
➤ Speaking of the villain: we spend like 800 pages hearing about him without ever seeing him. This could’ve been alright if we actually knew anything about this Nameless One ™, but we really don’t. He’s more of a vague threat that people mention sometimes, but we don’t know much about his goals or his influence in this world. Such a boring and underdeveloped villain.
➤ The POVs were unbalanced. Tané and Niclays had the most potential and were definitely my favourite to follow, but their stories were mostly dropped at a certain point. Loth was basically irrelevant lol. Ead is the actual Main Character ™, but I honestly didn’t like her story at all. I just couldn’t bring myself to care about her mission to protect queen Sabran. It wasn’t that engaging, to me, and I was always wishing we could go back to the more interesting POVs (which ended up being uninteresting bc the author didn’t let them come into their full potential, but I digress).
➤ The relationships were also quite boring. Despite being with these characters for 850 pages, I never really cared about any of them, and especially not about their relationships. Tané and her dragon are supposedly super close, but because the author drops Tané’s POV I just never really managed to care about their bond. I felt absolutely nothing.
➤ Ead and Sabran’s romance was a joke. If I hadn’t seen all the fanart, I would’ve been shocked when they got together, because like…. What??? Where did that come from??? Why do they even like each other??? 🤨 I seriously couldn’t give you a singular reason for them to be in love. Sabran just favours Ead over her other servants for no apparent reason, and then one day they kiss (when Sabran is incredibly distraught for losing her daughter and finding out she can never have a child, which is also……….. 😬😬😬). Ead had been working for Sabran for 8 years, and then one day they’re just in love??? Okay. Sure. If you say so.
➤ The side characters were mostly irrelevant and I felt nothing when they died. To be fair, I probably would’ve felt nothing if the MCs died, too, so there’s that lmaooo. 💀💀💀
➤ This book was too religious for me. The religious aspects made for a richer world, and it was realistic that so many countries would have different accounts of the same story, and looked down upon anyone who believes in a different retelling (that’s kind of how the major religions in our world work, right?). HOWEVERRRRR!!!!!!!! It was soooo annoying when characters refused to do what they needed because of their religions! Once again, it IS realistic, and definitely made the world more interesting, but from a storytelling perspective, it was really boring. I was so tired of those characters being stupid because they didn’t want to go against their religion. Like, ffs just open your eyes! This book became very repetitive because they’d always have conversations about the same religious conflicts and the story DRAGGED because of the characters’ fear of heresy. Like…. Be serious. 🙄🙄🙄
➤ The world building also wasn’t that great???? The world itself was interesting, but the amount of times a character would be like “Let me tell you a story…” as a form of world building was kind of absurd. 💀💀💀 At one point someone tells a character they’re gonna tell them a story, and the character is like “Hm yeah I already know this story, but do tell it!!”…. Like, bitch???? 🤡🥴 Just straight up admitting that these info-dumps are there for the reader only, and not for the characters’ sakes lmaooooo alright. Just clunky world-building.
➤ Also, is it me or weren’t the locations described that well?? Perhaps I fell asleep when the places were being properly described, who knows. All I can say is that I couldn’t always visualize the places that well, which is a problem when you have a million different locations that we are constantly jumping to and fro.
➤ The fact that Tané was living with a magic rock right under her skin was so absurd lmaoooo that feels like it was written by a 13-year-old 😭🤣. Like yeah yeah she had a random bump since childhood and one day they cut it open to check if it could be bad for her health and BOOP magic rock that conveniently is needed to defeat the villain!!! LMAOOOOO
➤ The dragons were mostly irrelevant. They were mentioned (because some religions loved them and others hated them) but we didn’t really SEE dragons all that much. Booooo.
➤ God bless the audiobook bc otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to finish this bitch 🥴. And I only even finished it bc I didn’t want to DNF since 1) I had hope it’d get better, and 2) even when I realized it was kinda shit, I still wanted to say I finished this brick. Yessss I know it’s stupid to continue just for the feeling of accomplishment. Leave me alone. 😒😒😒
➤ 4+ years in my TBR only for it to be a huge let down and a waste of time…..
This book didn’t earn its pages. Somehow, despite being 850 pages long, there isn’t much to get attached to, here. NOTHING (the world, characters, relationships, villain, plot) was interesting to me. Let’s get into my problems:
➤ The pacing was a mess. For soooo long nothing happened. Like….????? Why write an 850 page book if it’s gonna be filled with nothing??? And then the climax happens after like 750 pages and they just quickly and easily defeat the big bad guy.
➤ Speaking of the villain: we spend like 800 pages hearing about him without ever seeing him. This could’ve been alright if we actually knew anything about this Nameless One ™, but we really don’t. He’s more of a vague threat that people mention sometimes, but we don’t know much about his goals or his influence in this world. Such a boring and underdeveloped villain.
➤ The POVs were unbalanced. Tané and Niclays had the most potential and were definitely my favourite to follow, but their stories were mostly dropped at a certain point. Loth was basically irrelevant lol. Ead is the actual Main Character ™, but I honestly didn’t like her story at all. I just couldn’t bring myself to care about her mission to protect queen Sabran. It wasn’t that engaging, to me, and I was always wishing we could go back to the more interesting POVs (which ended up being uninteresting bc the author didn’t let them come into their full potential, but I digress).
➤ The relationships were also quite boring. Despite being with these characters for 850 pages, I never really cared about any of them, and especially not about their relationships. Tané and her dragon are supposedly super close, but because the author drops Tané’s POV I just never really managed to care about their bond. I felt absolutely nothing.
➤ Ead and Sabran’s romance was a joke. If I hadn’t seen all the fanart, I would’ve been shocked when they got together, because like…. What??? Where did that come from??? Why do they even like each other??? 🤨 I seriously couldn’t give you a singular reason for them to be in love. Sabran just favours Ead over her other servants for no apparent reason, and then one day they kiss (when Sabran is incredibly distraught for losing her daughter and finding out she can never have a child, which is also……….. 😬😬😬). Ead had been working for Sabran for 8 years, and then one day they’re just in love??? Okay. Sure. If you say so.
➤ The side characters were mostly irrelevant and I felt nothing when they died. To be fair, I probably would’ve felt nothing if the MCs died, too, so there’s that lmaooo. 💀💀💀
➤ This book was too religious for me. The religious aspects made for a richer world, and it was realistic that so many countries would have different accounts of the same story, and looked down upon anyone who believes in a different retelling (that’s kind of how the major religions in our world work, right?). HOWEVERRRRR!!!!!!!! It was soooo annoying when characters refused to do what they needed because of their religions! Once again, it IS realistic, and definitely made the world more interesting, but from a storytelling perspective, it was really boring. I was so tired of those characters being stupid because they didn’t want to go against their religion. Like, ffs just open your eyes! This book became very repetitive because they’d always have conversations about the same religious conflicts and the story DRAGGED because of the characters’ fear of heresy. Like…. Be serious. 🙄🙄🙄
➤ The world building also wasn’t that great???? The world itself was interesting, but the amount of times a character would be like “Let me tell you a story…” as a form of world building was kind of absurd. 💀💀💀 At one point someone tells a character they’re gonna tell them a story, and the character is like “Hm yeah I already know this story, but do tell it!!”…. Like, bitch???? 🤡🥴 Just straight up admitting that these info-dumps are there for the reader only, and not for the characters’ sakes lmaooooo alright. Just clunky world-building.
➤ Also, is it me or weren’t the locations described that well?? Perhaps I fell asleep when the places were being properly described, who knows. All I can say is that I couldn’t always visualize the places that well, which is a problem when you have a million different locations that we are constantly jumping to and fro.
➤
➤ The dragons were mostly irrelevant. They were mentioned (because some religions loved them and others hated them) but we didn’t really SEE dragons all that much. Booooo.
➤ God bless the audiobook bc otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to finish this bitch 🥴. And I only even finished it bc I didn’t want to DNF since 1) I had hope it’d get better, and 2) even when I realized it was kinda shit, I still wanted to say I finished this brick. Yessss I know it’s stupid to continue just for the feeling of accomplishment. Leave me alone. 😒😒😒
➤ 4+ years in my TBR only for it to be a huge let down and a waste of time…..
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
so… I’m starting to think I didn’t read the same book as y’all…
This book was a whole bunch of nothing, to me. I read the whole thing and had zero thoughts or feelings about any of it. It was literally just a book. I almost wish I had hated it, because then at least I would be feeling something.
The plot is basically nonexistent. This whole book feels like the beginning of a story, and not like a story in itself. We’re just following the MC (Fitz) through the years as he grows and learns new skills. There really isn’t a plot I can summarize for you, because all we see is Fitz working a bunch of small jobs throughout his childhood. Fitz working as a stable boy. Fitz running errands. Fitz working as a scribe. Fitz learning more about his magic. Fitz working as an old lady’s servant and travelling with her. Fitz working and travelling for a wedding. Fitz stealing a couple of things. This wasn’t a story; it was just a bunch of side quests. I understand that this is a very long series, so we do need to setup Fitz’s character, but dear lord… Having an entire book full of just setup doesn’t compel me *at all* to continue this series. 🫤🫤🫤
The characters were forgettable. Fitz is an okay MC, though I never cared much for him. The villain felt a little cartoonish. Molly (who will for sure end up being a LI) was mostly irrelevant. A couple of SCs were interesting and definitely had potential, but I’ll never think about them again. Perhaps if the author had given me an actual story I would care more about the characters, but she did not, so I don’t either.
The magic system wasn’t super interesting. Telepathy with both humans and animals, although the latter is looked down upon. Nothing too unique or too relevant for the story.
The audiobook was also not great. It wasn’t atrocious (I got through it in 1 day lol) but the narrator’s accent was constantly changing, and I swear to god his voice changed too???? I literally had to look up if this book was narrated by multiple people, but apparently is just one person. One extremely inconsistent narrator.
Overall, while this book wasn’t bad, it was a huge disappointment. I thought I’d love this series, since it is so adored by everyone, but unfortunately this book gave me nothing. I’m really sad about it. 😢
This book was a whole bunch of nothing, to me. I read the whole thing and had zero thoughts or feelings about any of it. It was literally just a book. I almost wish I had hated it, because then at least I would be feeling something.
The plot is basically nonexistent. This whole book feels like the beginning of a story, and not like a story in itself. We’re just following the MC (Fitz) through the years as he grows and learns new skills. There really isn’t a plot I can summarize for you, because all we see is Fitz working a bunch of small jobs throughout his childhood. Fitz working as a stable boy. Fitz running errands. Fitz working as a scribe. Fitz learning more about his magic. Fitz working as an old lady’s servant and travelling with her. Fitz working and travelling for a wedding. Fitz stealing a couple of things. This wasn’t a story; it was just a bunch of side quests. I understand that this is a very long series, so we do need to setup Fitz’s character, but dear lord… Having an entire book full of just setup doesn’t compel me *at all* to continue this series. 🫤🫤🫤
The characters were forgettable. Fitz is an okay MC, though I never cared much for him. The villain felt a little cartoonish. Molly (who will for sure end up being a LI) was mostly irrelevant. A couple of SCs were interesting and definitely had potential, but I’ll never think about them again. Perhaps if the author had given me an actual story I would care more about the characters, but she did not, so I don’t either.
The magic system wasn’t super interesting. Telepathy with both humans and animals, although the latter is looked down upon. Nothing too unique or too relevant for the story.
The audiobook was also not great. It wasn’t atrocious (I got through it in 1 day lol) but the narrator’s accent was constantly changing, and I swear to god his voice changed too???? I literally had to look up if this book was narrated by multiple people, but apparently is just one person. One extremely inconsistent narrator.
Overall, while this book wasn’t bad, it was a huge disappointment. I thought I’d love this series, since it is so adored by everyone, but unfortunately this book gave me nothing. I’m really sad about it. 😢
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
This book was so charming and cozy! I absolutely ADORED the regency era + magical Barbie movie vibes; it was painting the most beautiful picture in my head!
And the story was just super fun! I loved seeing Amarante being a debutante, getting closer to her new friends, learning to use her newfound powers, and getting to know prince Ash while uncovering a mystery in the palace.
Amarante was a really good MC to follow. She was strong-willed and kind, and I was instantly rooting for her. I also liked the slow-burn romance with prince Ash. 🤭 He was so sweet and understanding!! Loved themmmmm both!!! 🥰
This book is the definition of sweet and cozy! I’m definitely buying the physical version so I can also appreciate all the illustrations!
And the story was just super fun! I loved seeing Amarante being a debutante, getting closer to her new friends, learning to use her newfound powers, and getting to know prince Ash while uncovering a mystery in the palace.
Amarante was a really good MC to follow. She was strong-willed and kind, and I was instantly rooting for her. I also liked the slow-burn romance with prince Ash. 🤭 He was so sweet and understanding!! Loved themmmmm both!!! 🥰
This book is the definition of sweet and cozy! I’m definitely buying the physical version so I can also appreciate all the illustrations!
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maysilee had to die because Snow knew she’d be too powerful if kept alive.
also, this book HURT even though I already knew everything that was going to happen. and that scene at the end where they talk about Katniss and Peeta’s memorial book (a scene that always makes me tear in in Mockingjay)?!?! fuckin’ OUCH!
also, this book HURT even though I already knew everything that was going to happen. and that scene at the end where they talk about Katniss and Peeta’s memorial book (a scene that always makes me tear in in Mockingjay)?!?! fuckin’ OUCH!
mysterious
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This wasn’t that bad, but also not that good. Just… fine. The concept is really interesting, but I feel like it didn’t reach its full potential. Looking back, not much happened in this book. I could summarize all the main events in like, 2 sentences (Luna goes to her dead sister Solina’s boarding school pretending to be her, realizes her boyfriend was an abusive cheater and learns that Solina wasn’t as good as she thought. Solina’s roommate Claudia bought drugs from a dude who wanted Solina gone so he could get the scholarship Solina was going to win, so he blackmails Claudia and threatens to expose her drug purchase if she doesn’t get rid of Solina, so Claudia kills her. ).
That story is definitely interesting (although you have to suspend your disbelief bc how did no one notice Solina wasn’t herself lol?). But the fact that I could tell you everything that happened in just a few words means that there wasn’t much to this mystery. I was expecting more: more players on the board, more suspects, more motives, more red herrings, more sleuthing, more clues to follow… All Luna did was look through people’s phones to find out they had alibis on Solina’s death date, and look at Solina’s therapist’s folder. There wasn’t a lot of investigation, idk…
I didn’t guess who the killer was, but I will say that, when it was revealed, I was PISSED. Not at who it was, but at Luna’s reaction. Like, I’m sorry, but this person killed your sister andyou lowkey just… let her get away with it????? What the fuck?!!! I genuinely don’t understand why she felt bad for Claudia.
“I wish I hated her more. I wish I didn’t understand the threat of losing everything you’ve worked for. Or the fear of failure, knowing someone gave up everything just for you to succeed.” ❓❓❓❓❓❓ EXCUSE ME?? Being scared of getting expelled from this one high school on your last semester does NOT excuse MURDERING A GIRL!!!!!!!! What the fuck??? 😭😭 Luna is better than me, because I would’ve had this bitch’s head on a PIKE.
Even though the plot was lackluster, I still think the pacing was alright, and the writing was good. I especially liked Luna’s backstory. I think her struggles and the way she dealt with grief were quite interesting. I liked the ending with Luna and Tiffany, and the way Izzy’s story was wrapped up was alright, I guess.
The romance was shit, though. 💀 There was literally no reason for the characters to like each other. It was lowkey insta-love. Thankfully, the romance wasn’t a big part of the book.
That story is definitely interesting (although you have to suspend your disbelief bc how did no one notice Solina wasn’t herself lol?). But the fact that I could tell you everything that happened in just a few words means that there wasn’t much to this mystery. I was expecting more: more players on the board, more suspects, more motives, more red herrings, more sleuthing, more clues to follow… All Luna did was look through people’s phones to find out they had alibis on Solina’s death date, and look at Solina’s therapist’s folder. There wasn’t a lot of investigation, idk…
I didn’t guess who the killer was, but I will say that, when it was revealed, I was PISSED. Not at who it was, but at Luna’s reaction. Like, I’m sorry, but this person killed your sister and
“I wish I hated her more. I wish I didn’t understand the threat of losing everything you’ve worked for. Or the fear of failure, knowing someone gave up everything just for you to succeed.” ❓❓❓❓❓❓ EXCUSE ME?? Being scared of getting expelled from this one high school on your last semester does NOT excuse MURDERING A GIRL!!!!!!!! What the fuck??? 😭😭 Luna is better than me, because I would’ve had this bitch’s head on a PIKE.
Even though the plot was lackluster, I still think the pacing was alright, and the writing was good. I especially liked Luna’s backstory. I think her struggles and the way she dealt with grief were quite interesting. I liked the ending with Luna and Tiffany, and the way Izzy’s story was wrapped up was alright, I guess.
The romance was shit, though. 💀 There was literally no reason for the characters to like each other. It was lowkey insta-love. Thankfully, the romance wasn’t a big part of the book.
dark
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If I had to describe how I feel about this book with just 1 word it would be: indifferent 😐
I think everything about this book is very interesting and it genuinely had the potential to become a new favourite, but unfortunately something about the story just didn’t click with me. I reeeeally enjoyed the setup: poor girl studying hard to go to the most prestigious military academy in the empire and then going to war is genuinely a cool story (on paper lol). But I just didn’t care about most of what happened throughout.
I think my biggest problem is that I couldn’t bring myself to care about any of the characters. The SCs from the academy had the potential to be very interesting, but I don’t think we spent enough time with them for me to become attached to any of them. We just had the 2 bullies (Nezha and Venka) and the 1 decent character in the book (Kitay), and, honestly, if any of them died, I wouldn’t bat an eye. Jiang, the Lore Master, felt mostly like a plot device, and he worked great as such!!! But I just didn’t care about him *as a person*.
In the 2nd half of the book, when Rin joins the Cike assassins, she meets a whole new cast of characters, and they were all extremely forgettable, imo. The only one who was kind of developed was Altan, who Rin already knew from Sinegard, but I thought it was kind of strange that Rin said she loved him. Like, what?? Where did all that come from?? I understand looking up to him and such, but I didn’t understand *love*. Maybe it was just supposed to show Rin’s infatuation with the dude, though. Idk. I just didn’t care about their connection because, once again, I couldn’t bring myself to care much about any of the SCs. 🫤
I also didn’t care about the villains. At the academy there were the bullies and the classist teachers, which like, whatever. Then there was the Emperess, who we barely knew anything about. The enemies were just faceless people from the enemy empire. And I get that that’s how things are in war: the opponents don’t hate every citizen of Nikan individually, of course! It IS realistic to have faceless nameless antagonists! But it just made it hard for me to care about the enemies, you know? 😐 Overall, I just didn’t care about any of the side characters.
I do think Rin was an interesting MC! Her anger and desire for revenge were well built-up, and I enjoyed the progression of her character. With that said, if she died, I wouldn’t really care 😅.
Regarding the writing: this was quite an easy read; very approachable and easy to understand. With that said, the fact that y’all let RFK get away with publishing the line “Rin let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding” in an ADULT fantasy book published in 2019 is lowkey criminal. That is a 2008 fanfic line written by a 12 y/o, I’m sorryyyyyyyy. 😩😩😩
The audiobook was GREAT!!! Genuinely, I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed this book as much if it wasn’t for the incredible audiobook!
Other random things:
✘ Her 1st period being bloody enough to soak everything was just silly lmaoo
✘ The graphic contents weren’t as bad as I thought. Everyone talks about how graphic this book is (which is why I put it off for so many years) but it genuinely wasn’t that violent. If you know about the war crimes committed in eastern Asia in the last century, then this won’t be that difficult to stomach. We mostly just hear about it from other characters, so it’s not even a 1st person POV, for most of it. Though maybe I was just hyper mega prepared, since I’ve been considering reading this book and looking through its TWs for years.
✘ I considered continuing the series, since the audiobooks are easy to get through, and I didn’t dislike this book. However, this was such a disappointment that I don’t think I want to keep going… 😕 I really thought I would LOVE this series, since everyone talks about it so highly! I’m so bummed I didn’t love this that I don’t even want to think about it anymore. Nobody talk to me. I need to mourn. I’m just really really sad rn. 😔😔😔
I think everything about this book is very interesting and it genuinely had the potential to become a new favourite, but unfortunately something about the story just didn’t click with me. I reeeeally enjoyed the setup: poor girl studying hard to go to the most prestigious military academy in the empire and then going to war is genuinely a cool story (on paper lol). But I just didn’t care about most of what happened throughout.
I think my biggest problem is that I couldn’t bring myself to care about any of the characters. The SCs from the academy had the potential to be very interesting, but I don’t think we spent enough time with them for me to become attached to any of them. We just had the 2 bullies (Nezha and Venka) and the 1 decent character in the book (Kitay), and, honestly, if any of them died, I wouldn’t bat an eye. Jiang, the Lore Master, felt mostly like a plot device, and he worked great as such!!! But I just didn’t care about him *as a person*.
In the 2nd half of the book, when Rin joins the Cike assassins, she meets a whole new cast of characters, and they were all extremely forgettable, imo. The only one who was kind of developed was Altan, who Rin already knew from Sinegard, but I thought it was kind of strange that Rin said she loved him. Like, what?? Where did all that come from?? I understand looking up to him and such, but I didn’t understand *love*. Maybe it was just supposed to show Rin’s infatuation with the dude, though. Idk. I just didn’t care about their connection because, once again, I couldn’t bring myself to care much about any of the SCs. 🫤
I also didn’t care about the villains. At the academy there were the bullies and the classist teachers, which like, whatever. Then there was the Emperess, who we barely knew anything about. The enemies were just faceless people from the enemy empire. And I get that that’s how things are in war: the opponents don’t hate every citizen of Nikan individually, of course! It IS realistic to have faceless nameless antagonists! But it just made it hard for me to care about the enemies, you know? 😐 Overall, I just didn’t care about any of the side characters.
I do think Rin was an interesting MC! Her anger and desire for revenge were well built-up, and I enjoyed the progression of her character. With that said, if she died, I wouldn’t really care 😅.
Regarding the writing: this was quite an easy read; very approachable and easy to understand. With that said, the fact that y’all let RFK get away with publishing the line “Rin let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding” in an ADULT fantasy book published in 2019 is lowkey criminal. That is a 2008 fanfic line written by a 12 y/o, I’m sorryyyyyyyy. 😩😩😩
The audiobook was GREAT!!! Genuinely, I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed this book as much if it wasn’t for the incredible audiobook!
Other random things:
✘ Her 1st period being bloody enough to soak everything was just silly lmaoo
✘ The graphic contents weren’t as bad as I thought. Everyone talks about how graphic this book is (which is why I put it off for so many years) but it genuinely wasn’t that violent. If you know about the war crimes committed in eastern Asia in the last century, then this won’t be that difficult to stomach. We mostly just hear about it from other characters, so it’s not even a 1st person POV, for most of it. Though maybe I was just hyper mega prepared, since I’ve been considering reading this book and looking through its TWs for years.
✘ I considered continuing the series, since the audiobooks are easy to get through, and I didn’t dislike this book. However, this was such a disappointment that I don’t think I want to keep going… 😕 I really thought I would LOVE this series, since everyone talks about it so highly! I’m so bummed I didn’t love this that I don’t even want to think about it anymore. Nobody talk to me. I need to mourn. I’m just really really sad rn. 😔😔😔