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parchmentandflour's reviews
169 reviews
The Poisoner by I.V. Ophelia
2.0
Slow & very descriptive start, an interesting middle, and then the ending was the worst thing that could have been written for the story. All characterizations from the past 350 pages were tossed out a window and set on fire, no clear plot reasoning for it, and not a single thing made sense or was enjoyable to read for the last 15% of the book.
The concept was so intriguing we had a buddy read for it, and the art the author has on her website for it is STUNNING. The execution of the ending just sunk all the enjoyment of the book.
The concept was so intriguing we had a buddy read for it, and the art the author has on her website for it is STUNNING. The execution of the ending just sunk all the enjoyment of the book.
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
fast-paced
3.0
I really enjoyed the 3 intertwined timelines element of this novel. I think the first half of the book is the strongest and I read 150 pages in basically one sitting last night. Another good aspect of the book is that most of the twists and turns were fun too.
However, the ending felt incomplete and fell really flat for me, especially with all the build-up to it. I was really hoping for an ending I could bite my teeth into and instead I felt like I got a bag of chips that was just filled with air.
I never got to a point in their relationships to ever get the feeling of "ok yes, they're in love and all of this makes sense" for a never-ending love that lasts through lifetimes. There aren't any real explanations/tied loose ends, the love felt very surface level at best, and the "villains" never villained?
In my opinion, we needed the first two timelines to have been the main focus with more detail and story dedicated to it so that we could see this epic love story. The modern era was fun but it did not give what it needed to to further the thriller/intrigue of the story. It was just drugs, parties, and a bowl of nothing.
There's also heavy drug use in the book, which is not a problem for me - however our MC had smoked something that makes him very randy and then he gets basically SA'd by someone, only for later on them to say he was actually in love with that guy all along. HUH? Did my copy miss some pages? Any time he pops up he is a bad guy and the MC does not have real feelings for them but then suddenly, lol jk you loved him too in all of our timelines. Made no sense but it did make me mad :)
However, the ending felt incomplete and fell really flat for me, especially with all the build-up to it. I was really hoping for an ending I could bite my teeth into and instead I felt like I got a bag of chips that was just filled with air.
In my opinion, we needed the first two timelines to have been the main focus with more detail and story dedicated to it so that we could see this epic love story. The modern era was fun but it did not give what it needed to to further the thriller/intrigue of the story. It was just drugs, parties, and a bowl of nothing.
There's also heavy drug use in the book, which is not a problem for me - however our MC had smoked something that makes him very randy and then he gets basically SA'd by someone, only for later on them to say he was actually in love with that guy all along. HUH? Did my copy miss some pages? Any time he pops up he is a bad guy and the MC does not have real feelings for them but then suddenly, lol jk you loved him too in all of our timelines. Made no sense but it did make me mad :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual harassment
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
Loved this! Looking forward to reading the rest of this series.