Pippin the three-legged dog deserves better. I hope those cardboard cut out friends of hers adopt him.
In this book, generic YA heroine Seraphine fleePippin the three-legged dog deserves better. I hope those cardboard cut out friends of hers adopt him.
In this book, generic YA heroine Seraphine flees from her burning home after her mother is murdered by a member of the Daggers, the most illogical guild of assassins yet. Her plan is to join the Cloaks, a guild of thieves who have never heard of the words “subtlety” or “subterfuge” or have any grasp of the concept of “keeping a low profile.” Seraphine absolutely does not want to steal, however, which is sort of a problem if you are joining a thieve’s guild. Instead of spending any time actively working on avenging her mother’s death or meaningfully advancing the plot, she spends her days making friends with various unmemorable thieves (they have names but I forgot them) to fulfill the found family trope. Ransom, our broody love interest, is an assassin from the Daggers and tasked with killing her, which shouldn’t be a problem for a killer so skilled he’s been tapped to be second in command to the shadow assassin mafia leader. Except oh no, he thinks she’s pretty and looks really sad and innocent, or something, and he likes how much she wants to live when he tries to kill her? They smirk at each other and snark back and forth trading juvenile quips in what I assume is meant to be banter. There’s not much else to summarize without spoilers because not a whole lot happens in this book. There are monsters, Seraphine and Ransom team up, they both have daddy issues and family drama, there are some silly reveals, minor cliffhanger for book two.
The blurb comps are bold. The Leigh Bardugo comparison is setting impossible expectations considering the bland and flavorless prose, and Stephanie Garber, despite being unable to end a trilogy in a satisfying manner if her life depended on it, at least writes fun romantic tension. I’m no SJM fan, but even her books are easier to get through than this 500+ page slog.
The ultimate sin for me was the use of dual POV. There was so much repetition and rehashing. Every single time we saw an event happening in Seraphine’s POV, we then rehashed it and how it made him feel in Ransom’s POV, and then rehashed it AGAIN when we switched back to Seraphine. No wonder this book is 500+ pages despite having a pretty thin plot.
The worldbuilding feels small and ill thought out. I didn’t get any sense that anyone other than these two criminal gangs lived in Fantasy France Fantome. I got the impression that the author was trying for an organized crime/mafia vibe with how the guilds operate with full knowledge of the crown, but in practice it made very little sense. The magic system is ridiculous. We are told the two guilds formed over the disagreement over the right way to use shade but it’s all pretty squishy. Why do the Daggers need to consume the shade at all to kill? (especially given the long term negative effects) Because consuming the shade means you can kill people by touch? The Cloaks have shown they can simply use the shade and become literally invisible, a skill that is just as useful to an assassin as it is to a thief. It seems like the shade is meant to be addictive and drug-like in nature but this is never fully explored so it makes character motivations very flimsy.
This book has an identity crisis. There’s liberal usage of “shit” and “fuck” but characters refer to sex solely as “screwing.” The characters are instantly lusting after each other (albeit in a tame, YA fashion) and the banter is trying to sell the reader on a cat and mouse, enemies to lovers dynamic, but it is so incredibly childish. So it was certainly surprising to get to the alley fingerbanging scene, as vague as it was. I never knew it was possible but this book manages to make instalust into an unsatisfying slow burn. Seraphine and Ransom interact very little in a book that seems to be targeting romantasy readers, and when they do interact they are only thinking about how attractive the other one is, or how annoying (and hot) the other is, and very little progress is made towards an emotional or romantic connection or chemistry until they kiss at 70% and then decide they like each other and should be on the same side.
I don’t give out one star ratings lightly but unfortunately nothing about this worked for me.
Would I re-read this? Only if I desperately needed a cure for insomnia. Similar books: Powerless, Heartless Hunter/The Crimson Moth, These Hollow Vows
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review....more
dnf life is too short to be this bored. it took me literal hours to read like 30 pages, I can’t do this for like 450 more. I’ll force myself through adnf life is too short to be this bored. it took me literal hours to read like 30 pages, I can’t do this for like 450 more. I’ll force myself through a bad book when it’s fun bad but this was a slog. The Cruel Prince comparison… beyoncé sweetie I’m so sorry.gif I’ll never learn, I’ll pick it up every time.
anyway here are my out of context notes:
how are we opening in the middle of an action scene spy mission and I’m this fucking bored
she goes on a seduction mission to drug the prince and steal his kidnapped fae and she’s like better have a glass of wine while I’m here? she says she’s trained to be her foster queen mom’s secret spy weapon but kinda seems like she sucks at it
plant powers and a lust to kill
seduction furs x3
blond childhood friend who has been gone for years, oh he’s not winning this love triangle for sure
forced princeling nickname I’m already tired of it
i’m on page 17 why are we having a tensionless fake out make out with the childhood friend I don’t know anything about this man except he’s blond and has muscles and he ABANDONED HER (questionable) and she’s sad about it
how can a belt buckle shred a dress how vigorously were they faking this makeout
i just checked my page #/percentage compared to how long i have been reading and could not believe my eyes i must have been distracted by my phone every time i picked it up to make a note that is bad even for me i gotta call it...more
DNF @ 30%. you can’t have a slow burn romance and a slow burn plot. I think Allison Saft’s books are not for me. I’ve tried a few and it seems they’reDNF @ 30%. you can’t have a slow burn romance and a slow burn plot. I think Allison Saft’s books are not for me. I’ve tried a few and it seems they’re all on the cozy fantasy side. And really it’s my fault, I keep picking up anything marketed as cozy as if I am capable of liking books that don’t have some kind of tension.
Niamh’s only character trait is her martyr complex — she’s nice, I guess. Kit, our love interest, is deeply uncool. I’m so sorry, this grumpy, pipe-smoking, rude introvert was not doing it for me. My best friend would want me to mention he is also short.
I couldn’t handle the fantasy chronic illness narrative and the romance hadn’t even kicked off yet. you can check out my highlights but “no good ever came from loving fragile things” ENOUGH ALREADY...more
2.5 stars. Definitely another one for the “so okay it’s average” pile. But three stars feels…generous. I really only finished this because I wanted to2.5 stars. Definitely another one for the “so okay it’s average” pile. But three stars feels…generous. I really only finished this because I wanted to see if I guessed all the plot twists correctly (I did, it wasn’t worth it.)
I picked this up because I simply cannot resist a Scarlet Pimpernel retelling, no matter how loose. I am desperate for more cat and mouse hidden identity books. I did not know this was YA going in and tbh i’m entirely unconvinced it started out as one, it feels like NA at minimum based on the weird tonal dissonance and dark content. Also like, these characters own estates. Maybe they won’t publish hidden identity books with main characters with fully developed frontal lobes because I guess they believe no one over the age of 25 would go through the mental gymnastics to string along such a plot but you know what?? some people are both smart and very dumb! where is my representation!!
This is less a hidden identity book and more a fake dating to learn secrets book, which I also enjoy but it just was not what I was expecting. For a book about witches and witch hunting, Rune sure doesn’t really use magic all that much and we only get ONE confrontation between her as her alter ego and Gideon hunting her down. They don’t even really trade barbs since she can’t risk him recognizing her voice. This is maybe one of the only actual smart strategic things she does in the whole book so I mean I GUESS but also what are we even doing here if we’re not going to play with the alter ego.
tl;dr: two morons pass the horny idiot ball back and forth between them because they suck at subterfuge and manipulation as soon as they flirt with each other. no really, they’re into each other right away and spend soooo much time internally justifying why it’s all “just a game” while absolutely being the worst about not catching feelings.
One of the wilder (and once we learn certain information, uncomfortable) plot points that is clearly to further along the fake dating trope is the push to have Rune and Gideon sleep together. I think we have three separate instances of Gideon’s witch hunter friend encouraging him to figure out a way to see Rune naked to check for her casting marks (witches need blood to use their magic and they take it from themselves, which leaves scars) and every time it made me laugh because the escalation was like:
“figure out a way to see her without her clothes on.” “idk that makes me feel weird, my brother is in love with her, can’t i just fake court her for a while?” “NO you MUST check for her magic witch scars and for that you HAVE to get her naked.” “Okay I convinced her I needed her to strip down to her underwear so I could take measurements for the dress I designed for her because my parents were tailors and designers. so I saw her almost naked body and she didn’t have any scars, guess she’s not a witch.” “not good enough!! she could be hiding her identifying witch marks under her bra and panties!! do better!!” “all right heard, I took her skinny dipping at sunset and saw her totally naked so can confirm, no marks in those areas.” “you said at sunset?? so like it was dark right?? and you didn’t see between her thighs?? get to fuckin, soldier.”
This was silly enough, but once the details of Gideon’s past are revealed this becomes truly unpalatable. And speaking of Gideon’s past, the way things unravel from the climax to the end really made me dislike Rune and a few other side characters. I don’t appreciate a narrative putting the main character in a position to side with an unrepentant rapist to escape certain death (no, I’m not kidding.) I understand that the book wants the reader to feel that both Gideon and Rune have their justifications for their actions, and no side is all in the right, but honestly by the end I just felt like everyone sucked. None of the characters were developed well enough for me to be on board with their shitty decisions.
I thought the enemies to lovers was pretty bland. Dual POV was not always used effectively here. We often saw the same events twice, and when it was used to hide information for reveals it was clunky in the exposition.
I’ve seen Rune’s character done better in other books with 100x less annoying inner monologue. Gideon was whatever. I liked that he sewed, and I thought his backstory was tragic enough to understand where his fanaticism came from, but I just did not buy the romance. When Alex, the childhood friend, asked Rune to ditch the Crimson Moth routine I was like yeah just go with him abandon the witches this shit sucks problem solved girl. That does not bode well for your book.
Also I have to talk about how she uses her period blood to cast spells so she doesn’t have to cut herself. The trade off for this is that if she doesn’t use fresh blood her spell casting is weak and of course it’s a limited supply each month, but she avoids the scars that could put her. Okay, sure. But when I tell you that she gets her period in the middle of the climactic battle and I’m sorry I just couldn’t take it seriously. ...more
Middle book syndrome strikes again. I have to agree that this was a weak follow up to A Marvellous Light, and I hate to say that about a f/f successorMiddle book syndrome strikes again. I have to agree that this was a weak follow up to A Marvellous Light, and I hate to say that about a f/f successor to a very popular m/m book. But this book DRAGS, I truly had to push myself to finish because I want to read book 3. In A Restless Truth, I didn’t connect to Maud and Violet’s romantic arc as much, perhaps because their dynamic felt mostly physical. The whole book takes place over six days, and we don’t see enough character development for me to feel as invested. I love emotionally closed off characters, but due to the condensed time frame, Violet is only considering opening up to Maud at the end of the book.
The supporting cast additions of Hawthorn and Ross were very fun, and I loved scenes with all four of them, especially when we finally got some more information on the grand magical conspiracy teased in book one. But my god, for a book about a murder mystery on a boat the actual murder solving part was interminably dull. Things picked up in the last 20% but by then I was just ready to be done. Here’s hoping book 3 is worth it. ...more
3 stars. This was…fine. But I just can’t imagine why this book needs a sequel, there just simply wasn’t enough going on to merit it. This could have b3 stars. This was…fine. But I just can’t imagine why this book needs a sequel, there just simply wasn’t enough going on to merit it. This could have been a serviceable standalone romantasy with some tighter plotting. I agree with other reviewers that this is essentially a bodyguard romance with some light fantasy trappings. I hate to compare books with other books (jk i do it all the time), but this felt like From Blood and Ash meets Kingdom of the Wicked with a little Shatter Me thrown in for good measure.
Alessa is the Maiden Finestra, which means she’s chosen by the gods to protect her island (where things are named after Italian words clearly) from the Divorando, which is a huge plague of human sized demonic (?) beetles that happens every certain number of years. She is taken away from her family and forced to live in a palace and without touch/in chastity, considered holy, etc. She has no power of her own and requires a Fonte, someone with actual powers that she can amplify during the battle. (weird, don’t think I’ve heard of a human amplifier before. I’m sure that wasn’t a major plot point in some other series…) Only problem is whoopsie, she keeps accidentally killing her chosen Fontes when she touches them, so the people on the island are losing faith in her, and they start to think maybe if they kill her she’ll be divinely replaced by a new Finestra, one who doesn’t suck. So after an assassination attempt, she does what any reasonable romantasy heroine would do, and goes out in disguise to find the first hot dangerous stranger she can to hire as a bodyguard.
I was reminded a lot of Kingdom of the Wicked, another book set in nebulous fantasy Italy with witches and demons where not a lot happens but there’s enough of a driving background mystery along with banter and tension between the FMC and MMC to make it readable. And just like in FBAA, we have the bodyguard trope with forbidden touching. It’s even mentioned that she used to have to wear a veil in public (but now no longer has to.) Unlike both those books, this is not enemies to lovers and there’s no 75% “twist,” it’s fairly straightforward.
Here, yes the MMC has a secret and he’s tortured and they can’t touch and it’s a slow burn so that’s fun, but I wanted more Peril and guarding of her body from a bodyguard romance. Alessa also spends a lot of time just kinda moaning about how she kills all the Fontes and it takes her until at least 50% to even attempt to be proactive about attempting otherwise. Like idk girl, read a book, investigate your circumstances. The secondary characters are flat and the climax was pages of “we fought the giant bugs. there were so many giant bugs. we were exhausted because the bugs kept coming.” The antagonists (aside from the bugs) are barely on page so there’s never really any sense of danger. I read the whole thing so I didn’t hate it but I also doubt I’ll remember most of it a month from now....more
we don’t even find out what the apples are for ZERO STARS
but for real i am not a clown i am a whole circus. I continue to read series that are uneven we don’t even find out what the apples are for ZERO STARS
but for real i am not a clown i am a whole circus. I continue to read series that are uneven AT BEST and then I’m annoyed when the final book is unsatisfying lmao. I couldn’t believe when i checked the percentage on my kindle and I was at like 40% because fuck all had happened. soooo many chapters of Evangeline having amnesia and being in the palace and being stuck with creepy Apollo’s POV (WHO COULD CARE he’s not even interesting and creepy) while we get copy pasted paragraphs from the first two books. since I just spent the last two days re-reading them I did not find this emotional or affecting (as I assume was the intention) I found this BORING. and it took until SEVENTY PERCENT for her to get her memory back, which felt like such a dramatic waste of page time.
the FMC and MMC got personality transplants. they barely interacted. when you build your entire trilogy up to a kiss, that kiss better be incredible. that kiss better be the best written kiss scene and declaration of love you can write. it was so anticlimactic I basically skimmed through it to the ending.
And why, yet again, just like caraval, are we introducing new villains in the third book of a trilogy? what is even going on with the motivations here? why is the last 15% of this book happening at such a breakneck speed when we spent the first 85% doing fuck all?
and we were left with so many unanswered questions and plot threads. I don’t understand why page time was devoted to the most boring uninteresting things possible. no resolution to the deal made in the first book! you know, the literal inciting incident? the MMC is still an immortal and the FMC is still human and it’s not addressed at all?? but most importantly: five books and no answer to the apples!!! ...more
**spoiler alert** 2.5 stars. Really interesting idea, but I think this is another one with a lot of potential that kind of fell flat.
The book really **spoiler alert** 2.5 stars. Really interesting idea, but I think this is another one with a lot of potential that kind of fell flat.
The book really falls apart for me once Zurilya is rescued from the Fire rebellion. the manufactured conflict between her and Calstar (it’s not unreasonable that she assumes he purposefully didn’t come to rescue her, but why didn’t she ASK him why he didn’t come) drags on for far too long. at the 75% reveal that Calstar isn’t going to help her break the spell and is, in fact, taking her to the cave thing to break the binding, she acts as if this is the most unthinkable betrayal. Not only was this reaction unearned (they spend the majority of the book before this not trusting each other) there was so much focus on her shock over that he betrayed her at all, it felt ridiculous considering she manipulated him and bound him to her against his will in the first place. I think this scene would have been more successful if the focus had been about her being triggered because she was in the cave where she was burned, and that he took her to the place where she was burned to betray her rather than take her there to help her. Or if she had been hurt that he felt he still had to trick her into breaking the binding rather than just asking her to let him go.
The reveal that Zurilya doomed Emillion to a life of immortality against his will is good, but we aren’t given much foreshadowing for it. I also wish there had been more depth to their relationship. He was both a pretty flat caricature of a shitty ex and also had a few moments of not being so terrible. The glimpses we got that he did somewhat care for her, were very interesting, and I think if we had learned earlier in the book why he hated her and how it twisted his feelings for her maybe there could have been more time spent on the complexities of his feelings.
I saw other reviews saying Calstar is like a combination of Rhysand, Howl, and Cardan. I think this is accurate. I am not a fan of the Rhysand hero type, though I love a tragic backstory I much prefer a vain pretty malewife to a growling alpha hole. So the romance started to lose me the more Calstar leaned into the Rhys vibes. The smut does feel a bit shoehorned in, and Calstar’s personality takes a turn for the annoying due to it.
The way the plot ties things up in the last few chapters makes the pacing of this book crazy. The final battle has so many things being revealed at rapid fire, it feels like this should have been a two or three book series with more time spent on plotting and world building. I actually really liked the “go back in time and make amends so everyone else can be happy even if that means I lose out on love” ending. Zurilya is a flawed FMC trying to be better, so this ending is thematically appropriate. If this was going to be a stand alone I think that ending could have been satisfying even if left open-ended. I would check out the sequel though, I think the author has a lot of potential that an editor could help shape. ...more
I read and loved the V&V series earlier this year (in hindsight my earlier reviews weren’t effusive enough and I should go back and change them becausI read and loved the V&V series earlier this year (in hindsight my earlier reviews weren’t effusive enough and I should go back and change them because it was truly my favorite series I’ve read in recent memory) and I was so excited to see that this spin off novel was releasing so soon. I recommend that series constantly. I absolutely was refreshing the Amazon page for this at midnight release. (AKC, if you’re reading this, how can I be an arc reader for you.)
This book can be read as a stand alone but I recommend you read Villains and Virtues first, because there are small spoilers for that series and a lot of fun callbacks. Regardless, I hope anyone picking this up first decides to go back and check out that series because the world building, romance, and characters are a delight.
This book is more cozy fantasy than the romantasy adventure we had in V&V, and as a matter of personal taste I prefer a bit more driving action. But AKC’s world is so lived in and interesting, I want to read anything they write. The characters are so charming: virgin(!) himbo Reeve and lonely kindhearted Celeste, a talking enchanted sword who makes dad jokes, and adorable animal companions named after fruit, I loved them all. Despite being a die hard enemies to lovers girlie, I loved the slow burn tender idiots to lovers romance. (The scenes between her and the villain were hot too. Thanks for throwing those in for those of us who enjoy both.)
Very excited to read what sounds like another spin off(?) And very curious about who it could be featuring. ...more
DNF @ 74%. After 411 pages, I am throwing in the towel. This is the chronic pain/disability romantasy rep I want, but this book doesn’t deliver on itsDNF @ 74%. After 411 pages, I am throwing in the towel. This is the chronic pain/disability romantasy rep I want, but this book doesn’t deliver on its great premise. I can see why this book has such middling reviews. It’s far too long, uneven, and mostly boring despite moments of intrigue. And it’s essentially two books forced into one but without the sense that the genre change is a deliberate bait and switch.
I think this book has a lot of potential but it’s just too long and boring to put up with its flaws to see it to the end. And I’m just so bummed that it didn’t do anything cool with the interesting things it set up. The world building is thin but could be neat with more depth!
One thing I see a lot of reviews citing as a reason for their DNF was actually one of the only reasons I kept reading, and that was the FMC. I think a lot of people who claim to appreciate flawed female characters really only enjoy a certain palatable kind of flawed, and Gemma is absolutely polarizing and unlikable. Gemma is vain, spoiled, selfish, and shallow. She’s calculating and her inner monologue is often openly manipulative. She’s toxic and knows it, and yet somehow amidst her self loathing she is still charming. I appreciate the unflinching examination of the ugly side of chronic pain and the resulting anxiety, depression, self harm, and suicidal ideation. It is not surprising to me to see people hate this character and criticize her for “complaining” when her inner monologue is unabashedly negative and unflattering, rather than self sacrificing and stoic.
Unlike another hugely popular romantasy that blew up on tiktok this year, characters that tell Gemma she should not push herself beyond her limits and encourage her to seek help are not condescending and infantalizing, but instead are acknowledged as caring and loving. In Fourth Wing, Violet’s “strength” comes from ignoring her pain and acting able bodied, with zero consequences. Here, Gemma’s mental strength is acknowledged without every single character telling us she’s so strong for “pushing through” like Violet does. Additionally, I think her pain was mentioned an appropriate amount. It wasn’t every other fucking sentence like Fourth Wing, but it also wasn’t an after thought.
Unfortunately, for as much as it does right, there was a lot left on the table/unexplored. The love interest is an empath who can control emotions and literally take away pain. The scene where he offers this to her in exchange for her partnership in his personal revenge quest is particularly affecting:
“An immediate peace once again rushed over me, leaving me feeling light as air, pliable and limpid and happy. For once I could breathe the magic-soaked air of my family home and not feel sick. I could shift my body without a distant dull ache throbbing in my joints. I could think without a fog of pain as my companion, coloring my every waking moment. […] How dreadful it was to understand in that moment, more than I ever had before, how starkly pain and illness had defined my existence, and what it would feel like to live without it. […] This gift was too exquisite, too dear, no matter that it was a form of payment in a fair transaction, and yet I could not resist it. Could not resist him. […] “I hate you,” I whispered, “and I always will, for offering me this thing I cannot possibly refuse.”
“As soon as the terms of our bargain have been met, you will take your leave of me and never set eyes on me or speak to me again. Because as long as you are near, I will accept your offer. I will ask you to do this thing for me, to disguise my pain again and again, always and forever, and I do not wish to be beholden to you for the rest of my life. And while you are here, and we are allies, you will offer this relief only when I ask it of you.” I drew in a ragged breath. “I will not exchange the prison of my illness for the prison of craving someone else’s power.”
At first, it seems as if this is being set up as a parallel for for drug use, or addiction, or even just mental clarity/memory, because at one point Gemma realizes she has lost track of time and forgotten things while in his presence, so imagine my immense disappointment when this goes absolutely nowhere. I understand this can be a difficult needle to thread, but introducing this at all and NOT engaging with that implication left me feeling some type of way.
Spoilers below:
I think the insta-love between Gemma and Talan really makes the beginning drag. They very briefly have some mild banter and it seems like we might get some adventuring together but they’re immediately in love. This is where I have to agree with other reviews that despite this being an “adult” fantasy, the main characters feel very young because of how wrapped up they are in each other. We have to suffer through so many OTT declarations of love between the two of them for pages and pages and mediocre flowery “steamy” scenes. It would have been worth it for an early reveal that he was Evil or manipulating her or that his empath powers were more sinister, but barring that I think their relationship needed more build up and more tension. He’s very bland, especially in comparison to Gemma, who is sassy and witty in their back and forth, and he offers very little aside from being described as gorgeous. Imagine my disappointment when despite being foreshadowed to be untrustworthy, this was just a boring ass romance. Even the reveal that he was really the demon all along couldn’t deliver a proper betrayal!
The reveal that Gemma’s illness was really a spell masking her dangerous body horror magical powers could have easily bothered me, as I’m often irritated by “the disability/mental illness was supernatural all along” but the parallels to childhood medical intervention by well meaning parents leading to lifelong complications are obvious, if imperfect. This was another instance where it felt like the author was on the brink of saying something but either couldn’t or wouldn’t follow through on it.
And sadly, a whole lot of nothing happens for a lot of this book, and by the time something starts happening it’s been hundreds of pages and I just can’t care anymore....more
Sometimes I read books and I just know in my bones the author was deep in the fandom trenches. I agree with reviA himbo and a librarian fall in love ~
Sometimes I read books and I just know in my bones the author was deep in the fandom trenches. I agree with reviewers who say this is a bit like top tier fanfiction, and I mean that with all affection. The prose is lovely and lyrical and we spend a lot of time on yearning and the sex scenes are steamy. A plot is also sort of there.
At about 50% I was like remember how Reggie is missing and probably died? We’re spending a lot of time in the library and messing around in boats and rolling up sleeves and having visions and being in pain from a curse (but also being kinda sexy about it, see aforementioned rolled up sleeves) and I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of magical conspiracy happening. And it was around that time I realized we had spent half the book on filler but I was still having a very good time.
This is dual POV but it feels like Edwin gets a bit more love from the author, perhaps because Robin is sweet but a bit generic in comparison to the emotionally closed off sad boy bullied librarian. We spend more time with Edwin wrestling over his feelings compared to himbo Robin, whose inner monologue is mostly oh no my curse oh no my visions and pining for Edwin in between all that.
The worldbuilding is a bit thin but I’m interested enough to read the sequel(s) regardless. ...more