Take a photo of a barcode or cover
the_midwest_library's Reviews (796)
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-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:
Complicated
A fantastic improvement on book 1, I am enjoying this series more and more as we progress. This book definitely is not without flaws, there's a lot of plot confusion/holes/lose ends I'm not sure exactly what to call them but there's many open questions about this world, the technology, the politics, the relationships. But what is revealed throughout this installment was fantastic.
The multiple POVs were a welcome addition and really broadened the scope and the stakes of the book. Overall I really enjoyed this one and will be so curious where book 3 takes us!
The multiple POVs were a welcome addition and really broadened the scope and the stakes of the book. Overall I really enjoyed this one and will be so curious where book 3 takes us!
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Okay so I'm rating this book 3.5 stars but I rounded down to 3 stars on Goodreads, BUT I want to say that I ENJOYED this even though it's not quite 4 star material for me.
So, the good: the combat sequences are really fucking cool. Combat is typically my least desirable passages, I find them boring as hell (I know I know!) but the combat sequences in this book really shined. The concept too is really cool, a world where all the global powers come together and agree not to use nuclear weapons/WMD but instead settle disputes with non-armed combat. That's a sweet idea. The characters I also liked, gritty and tropey but well done. An older, out of retirement/glory days grump with a younger, chosen one type prodigy. And it's a debut!!!! Wow.
So then, Cassandra why rate it only 3.5 stars? Well I'll tell you, thank you so much for asking hahaha. The plot is really slow, the combat sequences used to carry the e plot forward are really small in scope from a plot standpoint. It's a lot of really small institution/training-facility scuffles and while they do add color to the development of the main character, they really don't push the plot forward in a way where it makes the stakes feel real. The world, because of this felt really small. The last 20% of the book and the first 20% of the book were really strong. The pacing and the content was great. But that middle 60% was just not engaging for me. I also felt like the book WANTS to be grimdark but just isn't quite there.
BUTTTTT all that to say, I did really enjoy this. I'm going to dive right into book 2 and I'm really hopeful book 2 will hit it out of the park for me!
So, the good: the combat sequences are really fucking cool. Combat is typically my least desirable passages, I find them boring as hell (I know I know!) but the combat sequences in this book really shined. The concept too is really cool, a world where all the global powers come together and agree not to use nuclear weapons/WMD but instead settle disputes with non-armed combat. That's a sweet idea. The characters I also liked, gritty and tropey but well done. An older, out of retirement/glory days grump with a younger, chosen one type prodigy. And it's a debut!!!! Wow.
So then, Cassandra why rate it only 3.5 stars? Well I'll tell you, thank you so much for asking hahaha. The plot is really slow, the combat sequences used to carry the e plot forward are really small in scope from a plot standpoint. It's a lot of really small institution/training-facility scuffles and while they do add color to the development of the main character, they really don't push the plot forward in a way where it makes the stakes feel real. The world, because of this felt really small. The last 20% of the book and the first 20% of the book were really strong. The pacing and the content was great. But that middle 60% was just not engaging for me. I also felt like the book WANTS to be grimdark but just isn't quite there.
BUTTTTT all that to say, I did really enjoy this. I'm going to dive right into book 2 and I'm really hopeful book 2 will hit it out of the park for me!
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This isn't a bad book, but it's not great either. What it is though is a small, self contained little story that is very vibey. The narrative style reminds me of retellings or mythology, the vibes are dark and autumnal. The characters were unfortunately, idiots, but I didn't expect too much from them. Overall, it's a book that I read. You might like it more than I did.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Lordy this is an experience of a book. I truly have not read anything this mystical and unique in a very long time. I truly have nothing to compare it to. I will say when I first started reading it, I immediately was transported to when I was a child and read The Neverending Story for the first time. There was a fantastic sense of wonder that the author was able to weave into the story merely due to the narrative style and voice.
It's a wonky, weird, bizarre and wonderful book. I really enjoyed it. It wasn't perfect, and I did find the beginning to be a bit jarring to get into. I thought I hated this book for a solid 20-30% of it. It's just such a FUNKY book but I really think on reread I would give this 5 stars. I hope I get around to a reread in a few months after I've sat with this story a bit more.
It's a wonky, weird, bizarre and wonderful book. I really enjoyed it. It wasn't perfect, and I did find the beginning to be a bit jarring to get into. I thought I hated this book for a solid 20-30% of it. It's just such a FUNKY book but I really think on reread I would give this 5 stars. I hope I get around to a reread in a few months after I've sat with this story a bit more.
informative
fast-paced
I really enjoyed this, it wasn't the most compelling modern feminism book I've read lately but it was still an excellent book. The prose was entertaining and overall I think it's a great broader overview of gender inequality with a focus on notable women figures.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this horrible, wonderful book. It's so purposefully obtuse, pretentious and gritty. This book will either work for you or you'll absolutely despise it. I loved it, I'm obsessed with it. And I'm jealous, I too have not been granted a year of rest and relaxation 😂😂😂
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This has been my least fav Leigh Bardugo book, it just wasn't for me. It started super strong, and it's not a bad book by any means, it's just so forgettable. The plot, the world, the characters- all like dust in the wind to me. I wasn't drawn really to any of them, I found the relationships a bit forced as well. This book feels like a summary of a really good book, but itself is stripned of the weight, emotion, and lusciou Move to Archive X I built by Bardugo. I'm probably in the mimority on this but it was mid for me.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
I enjoyed the second book in this duology much more than the first, and it's so interesting how different, yet how similar both books in this series are. The first book is a murder mystery with heavy politics taking place in a small area of the larger planetary system.
Book 2 is a first contact story, with those same politics just dialed up to world ending levels. I thought the uniqueness (for good and bad) of the prose in book 1 was really tightened up in book 2 making it much more enjoyable for me at least. The characters were of course fantastic and I love love love Eight Antidote. Overall a really solid scifi series, I definitely understand why this won't work for some people because book 1 is a bit choppy but the whole duology is really fantastic!
Book 2 is a first contact story, with those same politics just dialed up to world ending levels. I thought the uniqueness (for good and bad) of the prose in book 1 was really tightened up in book 2 making it much more enjoyable for me at least. The characters were of course fantastic and I love love love Eight Antidote. Overall a really solid scifi series, I definitely understand why this won't work for some people because book 1 is a bit choppy but the whole duology is really fantastic!
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5 rounded up
An avent-gard, beautiful mess of a book. So let's talk about what I loved, the themes and exploration of colonialism from a very interesting perspective. I also enjoyed the ambiguity of the characters identities and self imagery.
The bad: the pacing was all over the place, being rapid fire in some sections and bloated in others. I also disliked the prose. I have a complicated dislike for the prose I guess would be more accurate, the first part of the book I loved it, then I slowly started finding it tedious as the book progressed. The prose itself causes the book to be a lot of dialogue and less of the characters actually doing things. Which got old fast.
Overall, a very unique reading experience. I'm curious and will of course be finishing the duology!
An avent-gard, beautiful mess of a book. So let's talk about what I loved, the themes and exploration of colonialism from a very interesting perspective. I also enjoyed the ambiguity of the characters identities and self imagery.
The bad: the pacing was all over the place, being rapid fire in some sections and bloated in others. I also disliked the prose. I have a complicated dislike for the prose I guess would be more accurate, the first part of the book I loved it, then I slowly started finding it tedious as the book progressed. The prose itself causes the book to be a lot of dialogue and less of the characters actually doing things. Which got old fast.
Overall, a very unique reading experience. I'm curious and will of course be finishing the duology!
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Alright, so the good: the premise, the overall magic in the world and the plot and pacing is all pretty solid. The book flies by for being 500+ pages.
The bad: the characters were VERY flat for me, they were so one dimensional and spent the entire book just TELLING/THINKING about what was going on and not DOING things. Which leads to the second issue, that this book is all tell and no show to the point that legitimately I think 80% of the plot is told to us in the first 200 pages and I barely learned anything new in the back half I couldn't easily guess.
Here's the thing, while this isn't super strong the ideas are there and I did enjoy the writing. I would continue with this series to see if book 2 improved upon this one!
The bad: the characters were VERY flat for me, they were so one dimensional and spent the entire book just TELLING/THINKING about what was going on and not DOING things. Which leads to the second issue, that this book is all tell and no show to the point that legitimately I think 80% of the plot is told to us in the first 200 pages and I barely learned anything new in the back half I couldn't easily guess.
Here's the thing, while this isn't super strong the ideas are there and I did enjoy the writing. I would continue with this series to see if book 2 improved upon this one!