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peculiarb's reviews
477 reviews
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.
I wasn't in the right frame of mind for it but I hope to get back to it soon.
Barrow of Winter by H.M. Long
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Temple of No God by H.M. Long
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Temple of No God picks up about 12 years after the end of Hall of Smoke (you can find my review of it here), and we follow Hessa again–this time on a quest to quiet the fractured Arpa empire, crown an emperor, and defeat the new. In that decade, Hessa has grown as a character, she's now high priestess to Thvynder and had united with the Algatt by marrying Imnir, also a high priest. While she's still a fierce warrior, now matters of family, grief and a responsibility for her people weight down on her, making her character far more complex.
That relationship between her and Imnir is at the center of the book. Married for political reasons, Hessa tried to bring romance into their lives during their first few years together without much success, and Temple of No God follows how they deal with that years down the line. Imnir is caring and polite, though he withholds his affections for personal reasons that are explained through the story, while Hessa finds herself embittered due to his behaviour long ago. Throughout the book they must work together to secure the new emperor on the throne which allows them to reflect on their marriage and consider whether or not they want to continue living this way.
There was a scene halfway through the book where their tribes are going through a certain ritual, and Hessa chooses to approach Imnir for both their parts in it (keeping it super vague to avoid spoilers). It's becomes a heart warming exchange of affection, as well as giving insight into both their characters and the way each is trying for intimacy of any kind after years of drifting apart.
As such, Temple of No God is very much a character driven story. Like Hall of Smoke it contains well places action scenes to spur the plot along set in a backdrop of travelling the continent, though it lacks some of the urgency of its predecessor. Instead, Long places Hessa in the middle of a web of character relationships, using her to develop them as well. Caster is an enigmatic man whom Hessa mistrusts at first, Uspa is an outcast who Imnir has taken in as a ward and she eventually wins over Hessa as well, Mrandr is a flirtatious man with an edge that grow more apparent with every raid. I very much enjoyed experiencing all these characters through Hessa, though I would have liked to see more character development for some.
This time the story is set in the Arpa empire as the tribes journey to the capital. Long does as good a job at worldbuilding in this one, bringing the scenes to life with startling clarity. The descriptions of the Arpa monuments and towns were immersive, while those of the dark new magic were suitably frightening as whole swaths of land had the life sucked out of them with dust and grey moths left behind.
The plot itself was intriguing and well paced. The quest allowed for the characters to shine while the mystery behind this new devastating power was interesting. If anything I felt like it was somewhat relegated to the background at times. There were also some subplots that hinted at greater problems, though they went mostly unresolved so I'm curious as to what Long will do with those in the future.
Overall Temple of No God by H.M. Long is a worthy sequel to Hall of Smoke and a decent standalone. Since we followed Hessa a second time, I would recommend reading the first book to get the proper context, though it's not necessary as Long explains much of it here too. The characters shined in this one, and the story of two people trying to come together despite the obstacles added a heart warming quality to the harsh viking-inspired setting.
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
When Teo is chosen to compete in the trials he can barely believe it, but once Xio is chosen, he makes it his mission to protect the 13yo semidiós and he carries this intensity through everything he does during the trials and it even bleeds into his personal life. Teo was an interesting character; as the son of the Diosa of Birds he was raised by her mortal attendants, which has given him a healthy respect for the mortals that sustain his world unlike other characters. He is also quintessentially a teenager and this comes through both with his introduction (he's in the middle of convinced a couple bird friends to help him pull a prank) and the way he talks throughout the story. His friendships with Niya and Xio only drive this point home, as does how he treats the other contestants.
Niya was another wonderful character who brought a certain lightness to most scenes she was in. As the daughter of the Earth Dios, she's a strong, solid presence both physically and mentally. Her inside jokes and reminiscing with Teo, and stories of her life outside that friendship gave her character a lot of depth, while her antics made her my favourite of the bunch.
As for the rest of the contestants, I really admired the way Thomas brought them together as a group. Despite the looming tragedy of the trials, the time they spend together brings them closer until each of them realises that they don't want to sacrifice anyone in this budding friendship group. Though the story focuses more on some characters, it's clear that this dynamic affects everyone, even Ocelo (though they were loath to admit it). Towards the end of the book, Thomas does a wonderful job emphasising this change within the characters, both in the way they behave towards each other and towards the concept in general.
I also thought the cast of adult characters were supportive and, more importantly, present in a significant way in the kids' lives. both the parental figures and those organising the trials had distinct personalities, and I especially liked when those personalities were reflected either in the kids or the cities around them.
With The Sunbearer Trials, Thomas built an expansive world steeped in Mexican myths and folklore. Here the deities are alive and present in their domains and their children's lives. Through each Trial, we get to see aspects of each deity's realm; how different they are from each other, the architecture each city has, even how they interacts with their mortal populations. I was blown away by the details Thomas put in his world, and how well they brought it to life in this first book. The opening creation myth sets the wider stage, while each city shows how vibrant and diverse that stage is.
However, what I found most surprising was that the tech here was roughly equivalent to our tech today, if not more advanced. rather than being set in a time before modern technology, so to speak, Thomas gives his characters smartphones, he has reporters acting like modern day paparazzis out for a story, one of the contestants even watches baking videos to pass the time while another has a binder full of trading cards. It was another rarity for a high fantasy series that made it all the more enjoyable.
Overall as a writer, Aiden Thomas crafted an engaging book that kept me on my toes throughout. The plot revolves around ten competitors going through five trials in order to crown a winner and a sacrifice to refuel the protection Sol grants the world, but those trials varied to widely. The first one was a dangerous race that had me on the edge of my seat and served to show off each characters strengths, while another was a higher stakes game of tag. That first one definitely set the tone for the story overall, while the "lighter" trials reflected the lightheartedness of the characters despite the looming tragedy.
Thomas also uses this book to bring up themes of child abuse, trauma, gender identity and dysphoria, growing out of a friendship and a general feeling of not belonging with the grace and gravity they deserve though there is the occasional sprinkling of humour when the teenage characters use it to cope with the stress they're living with.
Another wonderful aspect of the book was the sheer amount of representation of all kinds in the story. In terms of gender identity, this is a world that fully accepts the diversity of gender expression. The creator deity, Sol, is non binary, as is one of the competitors, Ocelo, while three others, Teo, Xio and Xochi, are trans. But Thomas doesn't make this their definining trait. For Teo it's central to his story as he has yet to fully accept parts of him, but it's less so for Xio who is still unsure how he wants to express himself, and it's a blink and you miss it moment for Xochi. Really this is a world that's bathed in rainbows and the token characters are the cis-het ones.
My single complaint about the book was the villains of the story being fairly obvious, if not from the beginning but definitely from the first trial. Thomas followed a well known format, but I can't hold it against them as the way they got to the reveal did actually surprise me. I could've never predicted that ending if I'd tried, and the plot twist really came out of nowhere with this one.
Finally, I thought The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas was a very memorable first book to a series. I keep thinking of parts of it over the last few weeks, while I was blown away by the intricacies of the world Thomas created. I'm still delighted by characters, (yes, even the morally questionable ones), and I look forward to the next book, particularly since it looks like we'll get to see more of the world's deities in action!
The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliott
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Despite The Keeper’s Six‘s short length, it is teeming with interesting characters that give us a glimpse into the vast world Kate Elliot created. Each member of the Hex has a distinct personality: Esther is a bit of a philosopher, Faye very much embodies the identity of being the group’s Shotgun, Gus is a man of few but very supportive words, Lydia is a mysterious ancient witch, and Marianne is snarky with remarks that cut deep. I found her relationship with Esther to be particularly intriguing given Esther’s betrayal, and I was surprised by how they ended up after the novel’s climax.
The side characters Elliott creates are just as vivid. Daniel is a wonderful man who makes the most out of a bad situation, befriending his jailors and even suggesting better working conditions for them, while Kai is still healing from a deeply traumatic and complex backstory that is exposed to us throughout the novel. Even though Shahin is only in part of the novel, he also stood out as a character with a lot of potential, especially in relation to Esther.
As the book is a scant 200 pages, Elliott does not include big character arcs which I thought made sense, especially combined with the fact that the whole story takes place over six days.
However, this short length does impact the extent of Elliott’s worldbuilding as she creates a vast world that barely has the space to be explored. In The Keeper’s Six, Elliot’s blended fantasy and sci-fi elements left me wanting to know much more about it. From the dragons’ species and abilities to the different Realms and their populations (one of them is populated by sentient trains!), and questions about The Beyond, I could not get enough of it all.
Plot-wise, the story follows a familiar quest arc though there were some surprises along the way. It was well paced and I found myself flipping through it, especially closer to the climax of the story. The ending was fitting, though I would have liked to see it stretched out a little more so as to cement everything that happened.
In The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott, the focus is mostly on immersing the readers through vivid descriptions of the worlds the Hex goes through. This much description does take away from the plot somewhat, but it also allows Elliott to explore complex and darker themes such as trafficking of living beings, what happens when Nature fights back, and whether or not saving one group of people actually does damage to the whole of a bad system. These questions are often left open ended, which I didn’t mind as it gives the world and characters even more depth.
The Keeper’s Six is also teeming with representation of all kinds. Elliott differentiates species through pronouns, using them to also explore gender expression in certain characters. Additionally, Esther’s jewish identity is very prominent through the story while Shahin’s Persian background becomes a subplot of its own.
Finally, all of our protagonists are on the older side ranging anywhere between 30 to 62 to ancient immortal magical being. Issues such as bills and family make an appearance, while Esther does bring up various pains related to her older age throughout. I thought this was both refreshing and fun since it’s so rare to have a fantasy protagonist be in their 60s.
To conclude, The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott packs a punch in its 200 pages. It tackles themes ranging from family and altruism to trafficking of people and what it takes to heal from that, with a certain grace. I would have loved for the book to be longer in order to fully delve into both the heavier themes as well as the world itself.
The side characters Elliott creates are just as vivid. Daniel is a wonderful man who makes the most out of a bad situation, befriending his jailors and even suggesting better working conditions for them, while Kai is still healing from a deeply traumatic and complex backstory that is exposed to us throughout the novel. Even though Shahin is only in part of the novel, he also stood out as a character with a lot of potential, especially in relation to Esther.
As the book is a scant 200 pages, Elliott does not include big character arcs which I thought made sense, especially combined with the fact that the whole story takes place over six days.
However, this short length does impact the extent of Elliott’s worldbuilding as she creates a vast world that barely has the space to be explored. In The Keeper’s Six, Elliot’s blended fantasy and sci-fi elements left me wanting to know much more about it. From the dragons’ species and abilities to the different Realms and their populations (one of them is populated by sentient trains!), and questions about The Beyond, I could not get enough of it all.
Plot-wise, the story follows a familiar quest arc though there were some surprises along the way. It was well paced and I found myself flipping through it, especially closer to the climax of the story. The ending was fitting, though I would have liked to see it stretched out a little more so as to cement everything that happened.
In The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott, the focus is mostly on immersing the readers through vivid descriptions of the worlds the Hex goes through. This much description does take away from the plot somewhat, but it also allows Elliott to explore complex and darker themes such as trafficking of living beings, what happens when Nature fights back, and whether or not saving one group of people actually does damage to the whole of a bad system. These questions are often left open ended, which I didn’t mind as it gives the world and characters even more depth.
The Keeper’s Six is also teeming with representation of all kinds. Elliott differentiates species through pronouns, using them to also explore gender expression in certain characters. Additionally, Esther’s jewish identity is very prominent through the story while Shahin’s Persian background becomes a subplot of its own.
Finally, all of our protagonists are on the older side ranging anywhere between 30 to 62 to ancient immortal magical being. Issues such as bills and family make an appearance, while Esther does bring up various pains related to her older age throughout. I thought this was both refreshing and fun since it’s so rare to have a fantasy protagonist be in their 60s.
To conclude, The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott packs a punch in its 200 pages. It tackles themes ranging from family and altruism to trafficking of people and what it takes to heal from that, with a certain grace. I would have loved for the book to be longer in order to fully delve into both the heavier themes as well as the world itself.
A Knot of Lies and Rebellion by J. Collette Smith
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
A Knot of Lies and Rebellion by J. Collette Smith tries to tell an inspiring story of a power hungry sovereign being overthrown, but falls flat in its delivery.
In order to secure a better future for herself and her family, Emeuri's biggest dream is to become an attendant to one of this season's debutant Ladies. The first scene, her audition, was dynamic with engaging dialogue and a character that was quick to come up with solutions to problems, but it went downhill from there.
Emeuri present herself as a stubborn yet determined girl, when really she's flighty at best. She reminds herself, and the readers, that she must be a good attendant to give herself and her family a better future but she constantly risks that future even before she goes off to join the rebellion.
As for the rest of the cast, some are more complex than others. I was most intrigued by Kes, Lunal, and Alixe, while I appreciated Beck appearing powerful yet welcoming at first before revealing just how authoritative he is as the book went on. I didn't think Jax or Moran stood out all that much, in fact they are very similar in both their characters and their roles.
As far as character development, Lunal's was the only one that stood out. Emeuri finds herself in situations (both traumatic and not) that don't have much of an impact by the end, while the others were even more marginal.
The fundamental problem with the plot was that it tried to do too much for its length. Emeuri is supposed to mingle on the fringes of high society, fall in love, join a rebellion, defeat the sovereign, and install a new government all in the span of 326 pages. As such, sequences that should have taken chapters and chapters to impact both the main characters and the readers are rushed through, which left me unsatisfied and unable to connect with much happening.
For the next section of the review, I will be going into spoilers regarding the second half of the book, even the climax of the story:
My first major issue with this book was that the goodreads blurb for the Kindle edition gave most of the story away. Instead of keeping it vague the last paragraph goes as far as saying that Emeuri's family is captured which happens in the last 20% of the book. While the book itself is formulaic and a captured family can be expected to a certain extent, putting it in the blurb robbed the story of its tension since I knew what was coming.
My second major issue is that the story lacks continuity during two glaring and very important scenes and here is where I'll be going into a lot of detail because if I caught this, an editor definitely should have:
- The first has to do with the plot twist. Within this society, twins are seen as abominations and the second one born gets banished to a wasteland to die. While Emeuri is training, she learns that her friend Kes was a twin and she also learns that Sovereign Beck was one. However, when the second leader of the rebellion is revealed to be the sovereign's twin, Emeuri doesn't remember what Kes told her and describes the encounter as if it was the very first time she's heard of the banished twin.
- The second has to do with a major character's death. While getting rescued, Moran dies from an arrow to the neck. It's written as a poignant scene where he says goodbye to his loved ones before passing. Later, when Emeuri remembers this she states he was killed from an arrow to the chest.
I'll admit I did skim parts of the book so there could be more continuity errors, but these two jumped out at me immediately, and they are both integral to the plot itself so they should have been caught.
A Knot of Lies and Rebellion by J. Collette Smith has an intriguing premise that overpromised and underdelivered. The book's flaws add up to an unsatisfying read while the glaring mistakes just left me with a bad impression overall.
In order to secure a better future for herself and her family, Emeuri's biggest dream is to become an attendant to one of this season's debutant Ladies. The first scene, her audition, was dynamic with engaging dialogue and a character that was quick to come up with solutions to problems, but it went downhill from there.
Emeuri present herself as a stubborn yet determined girl, when really she's flighty at best. She reminds herself, and the readers, that she must be a good attendant to give herself and her family a better future but she constantly risks that future even before she goes off to join the rebellion.
As for the rest of the cast, some are more complex than others. I was most intrigued by Kes, Lunal, and Alixe, while I appreciated Beck appearing powerful yet welcoming at first before revealing just how authoritative he is as the book went on. I didn't think Jax or Moran stood out all that much, in fact they are very similar in both their characters and their roles.
As far as character development, Lunal's was the only one that stood out. Emeuri finds herself in situations (both traumatic and not) that don't have much of an impact by the end, while the others were even more marginal.
The fundamental problem with the plot was that it tried to do too much for its length. Emeuri is supposed to mingle on the fringes of high society, fall in love, join a rebellion, defeat the sovereign, and install a new government all in the span of 326 pages. As such, sequences that should have taken chapters and chapters to impact both the main characters and the readers are rushed through, which left me unsatisfied and unable to connect with much happening.
For the next section of the review, I will be going into spoilers regarding the second half of the book, even the climax of the story:
My first major issue with this book was that the goodreads blurb for the Kindle edition gave most of the story away. Instead of keeping it vague the last paragraph goes as far as saying that Emeuri's family is captured which happens in the last 20% of the book. While the book itself is formulaic and a captured family can be expected to a certain extent, putting it in the blurb robbed the story of its tension since I knew what was coming.
My second major issue is that the story lacks continuity during two glaring and very important scenes and here is where I'll be going into a lot of detail because if I caught this, an editor definitely should have:
- The first has to do with the plot twist. Within this society, twins are seen as abominations and the second one born gets banished to a wasteland to die. While Emeuri is training, she learns that her friend Kes was a twin and she also learns that Sovereign Beck was one. However, when the second leader of the rebellion is revealed to be the sovereign's twin, Emeuri doesn't remember what Kes told her and describes the encounter as if it was the very first time she's heard of the banished twin.
- The second has to do with a major character's death. While getting rescued, Moran dies from an arrow to the neck. It's written as a poignant scene where he says goodbye to his loved ones before passing. Later, when Emeuri remembers this she states he was killed from an arrow to the chest.
I'll admit I did skim parts of the book so there could be more continuity errors, but these two jumped out at me immediately, and they are both integral to the plot itself so they should have been caught.
A Knot of Lies and Rebellion by J. Collette Smith has an intriguing premise that overpromised and underdelivered. The book's flaws add up to an unsatisfying read while the glaring mistakes just left me with a bad impression overall.
All The Feels by Olivia Dade
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this second installment of the series, though not as much as the first.
As much as I loved Lauren as a character, Alex's had pitfalls that left me with a less than stellar view of him.
His anger was never fully addressed. I get he's protective, but that's not an excuse not to touch on how he handles such feelings, especially in a book that tackles themes of domestic abuse—a situation where that anger can be volatile.
As much as I loved Lauren as a character, Alex's had pitfalls that left me with a less than stellar view of him.
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Loved everything about it but the snippets of texts and fics before each chapter. As I listened to the audiobook, they were awkward and don't lend themselves well to that format.
The characters are incredible, with their flaws being front at center in a story that is ultimately the two of them healing from past trauma. I also lovedDade's emphasis on showing April's body in a positive and sexy light again and again throughout.
The characters are incredible, with their flaws being front at center in a story that is ultimately the two of them healing from past trauma. I also lovedDade's emphasis on showing April's body in a positive and sexy light again and again throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Sexual content
While April loves her body, she still has to take certain steps to fully control the narrative around her and that's where the fatphobia stems from.
The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
fast-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
5.0
Roshani Chokshi can have my entire soul and I would offer it up freely. What an ending to the series! RTC
Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
An interesting follow up to Dragon Pearl. I enjoyed Sebin's story, and his struggles with what's right vs loyalty to his family, as well as Hwan's return, and Min's adventures following the last book.