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theinquisitxor's reviews
804 reviews
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
3.0
I love the beginning and ending of this book, but the the middle is a bit of a drag. Nikolai is the best though!
The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan
4.0
Definitely a bit slower, but some big things still happen at the end!
A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
4.0
Okay okay, I know this series gets 'slow' between books 7-10ish, but I flew through this book and I think it had some of my favorite moments so far in the series.
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
5.0
There's a deep thread of melancholy woven throughout this book, but there is also hope and love and a mourning for the things we have lost. I adored this book, but it's also left me with a weight on my chest hours after finishing it. This will be a book that stays with me, and one that I will probably find myself thinking about a lot.
This book takes place in a future where climate change had devastated the earth. Almost all wild animals are close to extinction or extinct, and the seas are almost depleted of fish and sea life. Franny Stone is a woman trying to track the last of the Arctic Terns, as they undertake perhaps their last migration from Greenland to Antartica. Franny is able to convince a fishing boat to take her on, and make the journey across the world following the birds.
The book alternates between Franny's present on the boat, learning the ropes and making friends with the strange and wonderful crew, to her tragic and often saudade past. Franny is an Irishwoman who feels the sea in her bones, and has restless, wandering feet. Her past is certainly a mix of happy and sad, and she sees following the terns as a final cathartic journey.
This book made me feel. It made sad and anxious about our bleak future if we don't do anything about climate change. It also made me hopeful about how people try to do the right thing and try their hardest to stop the unstoppable. It made me mourn for the species we have already lost, and the future animals that will suffer because of climate change. I can see how some people could call this book 'predictable', but it's in a way a tragedy is. You know from the beginning that things are not going to go well, but you can't stop reading because what if? and then you crash right into the ending.
This book takes place in a future where climate change had devastated the earth. Almost all wild animals are close to extinction or extinct, and the seas are almost depleted of fish and sea life. Franny Stone is a woman trying to track the last of the Arctic Terns, as they undertake perhaps their last migration from Greenland to Antartica. Franny is able to convince a fishing boat to take her on, and make the journey across the world following the birds.
The book alternates between Franny's present on the boat, learning the ropes and making friends with the strange and wonderful crew, to her tragic and often saudade past. Franny is an Irishwoman who feels the sea in her bones, and has restless, wandering feet. Her past is certainly a mix of happy and sad, and she sees following the terns as a final cathartic journey.
This book made me feel. It made sad and anxious about our bleak future if we don't do anything about climate change. It also made me hopeful about how people try to do the right thing and try their hardest to stop the unstoppable. It made me mourn for the species we have already lost, and the future animals that will suffer because of climate change. I can see how some people could call this book 'predictable', but it's in a way a tragedy is. You know from the beginning that things are not going to go well, but you can't stop reading because what if? and then you crash right into the ending.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
2.0
2.5 stars/ This review aka: How to not to conduct historical research by someone (me) who does historical research as my job: just about everything our main character does in this book.
this book definitely had the possibility of being very good with a rich historical backdrop, female characters who've been wronged and seeking revenge, a woman in the present day digging for answers. Instead, we get boring, melodramatic, flat characters. A woman that somehow unearths decades worth of research in just a few days, and a twelve year old girl who thinks her period is a ghost. Oh, and they're all obsessed with pregnancy for some reason.
(minor spoilers below)
Our main character, Caroline, finds a small, mysterious apothecary bottle in the Thames. Okay, cool.
Step 1: Caroline wants to know more about the vial, but she really has no clue where to start. Perhaps the woman with an undergrad in history knows what a library is? Apparently not, and she has to be told to go to the British Library.
Step 2: Caroline goes to British Library and talks to a Maps Librarian. That is fine, if you're interested in maps, not apothecary bottles. The maps librarian (the only competent character) helps her the best she can (considering, you know, her specialty is in maps)
Cue to Caroline breaking into a building in London (seriously, how does a little alley way survive London construction and ww2? not much sense is made here). And her almost immediately finding what she needs on databases and newspapers. A historical project of this size would take years, if not decades to unearth and figure out. A scholar could spend their entire career on this topic. Our special Caroline figures it all out in just a few days.
The ending was hilarious. Special Caroline decides that she's going to go to grad school in Cambridge (the application took her one night to fill out) (and somehow she knows she's going to get in) but to study English Literature. She wants to write about the Apothecary, right? An English lit degree isn't going to do that either, sorry.
I know I haven't even talked about the characters in the eighteenth century, but tbh, they were so boring I really don't have anything to say. The research and scholarly side of this book really didn't work, and is clear that our author didn't know enough or didn't want to make things realistic.
this book definitely had the possibility of being very good with a rich historical backdrop, female characters who've been wronged and seeking revenge, a woman in the present day digging for answers. Instead, we get boring, melodramatic, flat characters. A woman that somehow unearths decades worth of research in just a few days, and a twelve year old girl who thinks her period is a ghost. Oh, and they're all obsessed with pregnancy for some reason.
(minor spoilers below)
Our main character, Caroline, finds a small, mysterious apothecary bottle in the Thames. Okay, cool.
Step 1: Caroline wants to know more about the vial, but she really has no clue where to start. Perhaps the woman with an undergrad in history knows what a library is? Apparently not, and she has to be told to go to the British Library.
Step 2: Caroline goes to British Library and talks to a Maps Librarian. That is fine, if you're interested in maps, not apothecary bottles. The maps librarian (the only competent character) helps her the best she can (considering, you know, her specialty is in maps)
Cue to Caroline breaking into a building in London (seriously, how does a little alley way survive London construction and ww2? not much sense is made here). And her almost immediately finding what she needs on databases and newspapers. A historical project of this size would take years, if not decades to unearth and figure out. A scholar could spend their entire career on this topic. Our special Caroline figures it all out in just a few days.
The ending was hilarious. Special Caroline decides that she's going to go to grad school in Cambridge (the application took her one night to fill out) (and somehow she knows she's going to get in) but to study English Literature. She wants to write about the Apothecary, right? An English lit degree isn't going to do that either, sorry.
I know I haven't even talked about the characters in the eighteenth century, but tbh, they were so boring I really don't have anything to say. The research and scholarly side of this book really didn't work, and is clear that our author didn't know enough or didn't want to make things realistic.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
3.0
3.5 stars/ while this book was entertaining and kept me turning the page (I pretty much read this in one sitting) it really wasn’t my cup of tea and I kinda guessed the ‘twist’ at about 60%. A little disappointed for sure.
Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey
4.0
Another solid installment in The Expanse series. While the second book, Caliban’s War is still probably my favorite so far, I love the direction this series is going in. This book took a little while for me to get into, and it took a little while for me to warm up to the new pov’s, but I really enjoyed the second half of this book a lot. It’s setting up for the rest of the series well and I can’t wait to get my hands on the fourth book!
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
4.0
For being one of my most anticipated releases of 2021, I wan't let down by this one. Pitching a book for 'fans of the Winternight Trilogy and Spinning Silver' creates a very high expectation, and while I don't think these comparisons are always fair, I definitely got vibes from both books in this one. The writing was beautiful and reminded me of Naomi Novik's writing style.
What I liked:
-The religions in the book. The main conflict revolves around three different religions. Our main character, Evike is a 'pagan' and has been raised and practices the old ways. The new religion of the land, the Patrifaith is trying to drive out the old ways. And the third religious group are the Yehuli who are Jewish.
-The settings. I enjoyed the landscape and atmosphere of this book. Whether the characters were in a dark magical forest, a frozen tundra or the capital city, the setting never disappointed.
-The Hungarian inspired setting. I'm not Hungarian so I don't know how well the words and names in Hungarian actually come across, but I enjoyed the eastern-europen setting and change from the 'typical'. I've only read two other books with Hungarian settings and I will always welcome more.
-The Jewish culture. It's about family, it's about celebrations, about learning and overcoming. One of my favorite parts of Spinning Silver was the Jewish culture and identity the book has. It was also one of my favorite parts of this book.
-The romance is: "I'm a stoic woodsman and you're a powerful pagan girl so lets travel across the land together encountering monsters while we grudgingly learn to like and maybe even love each other as we cuddle for warmth every night" the romance is good ya'll. it's very good.
Some things I didn't love in this book:
-I don't typically enjoy books where there is a lot of 'blood magic' stuff- where characters are self-harming in order to have access to magic. This book does that, and while I didn't necessarily 'enjoy' reading it, it wasn't too off-putting in this case.
- nitpick with descriptive words: almost every time someone's eye(s) are mentioned, the author uses the word 'pooling' like "His eye pooled with darkness" and almost every wound was "weeping". It actually got a little funny because these words were used almost every time! please find another descriptive word!
Overall, I did thoroughly enjoy this book, and if this was Ava Reid's first book, then I can't wait to see what she writes next and how she improves even more!
What I liked:
-The religions in the book. The main conflict revolves around three different religions. Our main character, Evike is a 'pagan' and has been raised and practices the old ways. The new religion of the land, the Patrifaith is trying to drive out the old ways. And the third religious group are the Yehuli who are Jewish.
-The settings. I enjoyed the landscape and atmosphere of this book. Whether the characters were in a dark magical forest, a frozen tundra or the capital city, the setting never disappointed.
-The Hungarian inspired setting. I'm not Hungarian so I don't know how well the words and names in Hungarian actually come across, but I enjoyed the eastern-europen setting and change from the 'typical'. I've only read two other books with Hungarian settings and I will always welcome more.
-The Jewish culture. It's about family, it's about celebrations, about learning and overcoming. One of my favorite parts of Spinning Silver was the Jewish culture and identity the book has. It was also one of my favorite parts of this book.
-The romance is: "I'm a stoic woodsman and you're a powerful pagan girl so lets travel across the land together encountering monsters while we grudgingly learn to like and maybe even love each other as we cuddle for warmth every night" the romance is good ya'll. it's very good.
Some things I didn't love in this book:
-I don't typically enjoy books where there is a lot of 'blood magic' stuff- where characters are self-harming in order to have access to magic. This book does that, and while I didn't necessarily 'enjoy' reading it, it wasn't too off-putting in this case.
- nitpick with descriptive words: almost every time someone's eye(s) are mentioned, the author uses the word 'pooling' like "His eye pooled with darkness" and almost every wound was "weeping". It actually got a little funny because these words were used almost every time! please find another descriptive word!
Overall, I did thoroughly enjoy this book, and if this was Ava Reid's first book, then I can't wait to see what she writes next and how she improves even more!