Ok so basically this was the same thing i went through with The Bone Season: i love the characters, i love the plot, i love the s3.5 stars rounded up.
Ok so basically this was the same thing i went through with The Bone Season: i love the characters, i love the plot, i love the story......... but the writing isn't really doing it for me. i feel kinda shit saying it's BAD writing, but... it's just not my style. It's very simple and direct, short sentences, action over introspection - and by this point i think everyone knows i'm a BIG fan of flowery prose and introspection. ;) So yeah, at various points I thought "if only the author spent a bit more time on the character's inner thoughts this scene would be so much better!". As it is a lot of things ended up feeling a bit too sudden or coming out of nowhere, because I wanted a bit more buildup before the action.
Also I have to be honest here and say the romance didn't convince me (I knew i would want to kick jb's ass since scene 1 tbh), unlike what happened with The Bone Season.
BUT what really sold me on this book, and what in the end made me give it a higher rating than what I gave to the bone season (sorry for bringing this book up over and again, it's just that the reading experience was very similar lmao), is that Boy Robot is very obviously a book for the lgbtq+ community, BY someone in the lgbtq+ community. The plot, the characters, the themes of the book itself, it's all - again, very obviously - inspired by the lives of lgbtq+ people from all over the world. Not only that, I could make some direct connections and allusions between what happens in this book and real life (in some cases, the allusions get kinda disturbing, because a certain scene seemed very obviously inspired by The Pulse tragedy; but this book was written BEFORE it happened).
Therefore, as you can guess, it's a book with a lot (a LOT) of violence in it - but I completely disagree with all the reviews who said the violence was senseless, gratuitous, or even too much for a YA book. Because what happens here is happening or has happened to a large percentage of lgbtq+ teens from all over the world. I guess you could say it IS senseless violence; but it's a senseless violence that happens in real life, and that's kind of the point. And, what was the most important thing to me, this is a book about violence and the darker side of humanity, but not ONLY about that. It's also a book about hope, and surviving the odds, learning to love what society seems to hate in yourself, and finding happiness even after all that horrible shit happened to you. Simon Curtis' dedication and acknowledgements were very emotional for that reason.
Overall, Boy Robot is a great thriller, that offers you a deeper meaning under all the scifi talk. Also, a great protagonist. Only the writing left a bit to be desired. I'd 100% say everyone should give it a try; just be mindful of all the trigger warnings.
Merged review:
3.5 stars rounded up.
Ok so basically this was the same thing i went through with The Bone Season: i love the characters, i love the plot, i love the story......... but the writing isn't really doing it for me. i feel kinda shit saying it's BAD writing, but... it's just not my style. It's very simple and direct, short sentences, action over introspection - and by this point i think everyone knows i'm a BIG fan of flowery prose and introspection. ;) So yeah, at various points I thought "if only the author spent a bit more time on the character's inner thoughts this scene would be so much better!". As it is a lot of things ended up feeling a bit too sudden or coming out of nowhere, because I wanted a bit more buildup before the action.
Also I have to be honest here and say the romance didn't convince me (I knew i would want to kick jb's ass since scene 1 tbh), unlike what happened with The Bone Season.
BUT what really sold me on this book, and what in the end made me give it a higher rating than what I gave to the bone season (sorry for bringing this book up over and again, it's just that the reading experience was very similar lmao), is that Boy Robot is very obviously a book for the lgbtq+ community, BY someone in the lgbtq+ community. The plot, the characters, the themes of the book itself, it's all - again, very obviously - inspired by the lives of lgbtq+ people from all over the world. Not only that, I could make some direct connections and allusions between what happens in this book and real life (in some cases, the allusions get kinda disturbing, because a certain scene seemed very obviously inspired by The Pulse tragedy; but this book was written BEFORE it happened).
Therefore, as you can guess, it's a book with a lot (a LOT) of violence in it - but I completely disagree with all the reviews who said the violence was senseless, gratuitous, or even too much for a YA book. Because what happens here is happening or has happened to a large percentage of lgbtq+ teens from all over the world. I guess you could say it IS senseless violence; but it's a senseless violence that happens in real life, and that's kind of the point. And, what was the most important thing to me, this is a book about violence and the darker side of humanity, but not ONLY about that. It's also a book about hope, and surviving the odds, learning to love what society seems to hate in yourself, and finding happiness even after all that horrible shit happened to you. Simon Curtis' dedication and acknowledgements were very emotional for that reason.
Overall, Boy Robot is a great thriller, that offers you a deeper meaning under all the scifi talk. Also, a great protagonist. Only the writing left a bit to be desired. I'd 100% say everyone should give it a try; just be mindful of all the trigger warnings....more
3.5 stars. super cute, but some of the stories couldve used some more development to flow better. and i wish there were more stories abt the batfamily3.5 stars. super cute, but some of the stories couldve used some more development to flow better. and i wish there were more stories abt the batfamily as a whole instead of just bruce&damian, but ofc this one is just a personal preference, and not the writer's fault....more
you know that post on tumblr that goes like "student: here's my analysis of macbeth / teacher: you just wrote SAVAGE every time lady macbeth spoke"? tyou know that post on tumblr that goes like "student: here's my analysis of macbeth / teacher: you just wrote SAVAGE every time lady macbeth spoke"? that's me with medea....more
Uma leitura bem diferente do que estou acostumada! Quatro soldados é mais um conjunto de quatro novelas com personagens em comum do que um romance hisUma leitura bem diferente do que estou acostumada! Quatro soldados é mais um conjunto de quatro novelas com personagens em comum do que um romance histórico "de verdade" como estamos acostumados, com apenas uma história principal do começo ao fim. Cada história apresenta uma combinação diferente de dois dos quatro personagens principais, ambientado (belamente, diga-se de passagem) em um Brasil colônia. Essa falta de "uma história principal" fez um pouco de falta no começo, mas logo percebi que o importante aqui não era a história - sinceramente não era nem mesmo os personagens por si só - mas sim toda a camada metatextual com a qual o livro brinca. Temos um narrador não confiável misterioso que conversa diretamente com o leitor, e dois temas principais ao longo das quatro narrativas: primeiro, a literatura, e segundo, ficção vs realidade - ou seja, verdadeiro vs falso. Os dois temas se misturam, e se confundem, se intermeiam à trama de modo que em certo ponto o próprio livro Quatro Soldados em si é colocado na roda de discussão. Analisar a história por esse ponto foi a grande diversão do livro para mim, apesar de minha "novela" preferida acabar tendo sido a terceira, justamente a que menos toca nesses temas - mas que em compensação tem um desenvolvimento narrativo TÃO INCRÍVEL que quando a terminei tive que tirar uns cinco minutos pra ficar andando pela casa e pensando no qual FODA a história - e o final - foram. Sinceramente esse livro podia ter sido só sobre o Antônio Coluna que eu já estaria muito feliz, ele com certeza foi meu personagem preferido....more
I can't believe the person who wrote A Court of Thorns and Roses wrote A Court of Mist and Fury.
Ok no, I can, because ACOTAR was a foundation book (liI can't believe the person who wrote A Court of Thorns and Roses wrote A Court of Mist and Fury.
Ok no, I can, because ACOTAR was a foundation book (like book 1 of Captive Prince was a foundation), and everything that happens here could only happen after the events of ACOTAR; but even then, book 1 was so boring and forgettable plot-wise - just because it's a foundation book doesn't mean it has to be boring and slow and nothing can happen until the last 10% of the story (again, see: book 1 of Captive Prince). ACOMAF, however, doesn't even know the meaning of boring. It's plot plot plot action action action the whole way through. It's always new characters being introduced, new places, plans within plans within plans. It's a great Hades/Persephone retelling, which lbr was the only thing I cared about going in, and even better, with the way it combines Hades/Persephone with Beauty & the Beast, it shows why I love retellings of the first one but dislike the second. It even gave me court politics and deceptions and a (pretending to be) evil power couple as its main characters! And then the ending promises even more deception and spy games and pretend!evil marrieds in the next book. YES. YEEEEEEEEEES.
It's not a perfect book, mind you. We have the usual SJM critiques: every male character is beautiful pretty sexy so manly so flirty wow im swooning etc. Everyone's a white heterosexual - there's attempts to diversify, but the diverse characters are the background of the background, so does it even count? No it doesn't lmao (give me more abt the married queens instead of just leaving it to subtext in the next book and I may forgive you, SJM). The prose still has some wtf moments. And of course we have the famed SJM Character Assassination (TM) of Tamlin, but I actually disagree on this one: everything Tamlin becomes here, already existed in the first book. He's not a new character; the actions he takes here are just the next step of the actions he took in ACOTAR. The problem is that SJM doesn't have one subtle bone in her body, and just slams the reader with "look how bad Tamlin is, look how Rhys is actually good" over and over again, to the point that it feels forced. If it wasn't so overdone, if SJM trusted her readers a bit more to understand her subtext, it'd be a better story. But it's still an entertaining one, and honestly I'm really hyped for the sequel. I'm a sucker for well done Hades/Persephone retellings, and this is shaping up to be a memorable one....more
So, kind of funny story: I had no intention of reading this book, or any SJM book, to be honest with y'all here. Just from everything I heard2.5 stars
So, kind of funny story: I had no intention of reading this book, or any SJM book, to be honest with y'all here. Just from everything I heard about it, I knew it wouldn't be the type of book I'd enjoy, so why read something I know I'm going to hate, right? Except I started hearing things about the sequel to this book, and the more spoilers I read about ACOMAF, the more curious I got... so I thought, fuck it, I know I'm most probably going to dislike ACOTAR but let's get it over with so I can get to the book I'm actually interest in. So I finally picked up my first SJM.
And, as you can tell by the rating, it wasn't a pleasant experience.
Surprisingly, I didn't dislike it for the reasons I expected to. First of all, I heard a lot about how bad SJM's writing was; and maybe because I entered this book with such low expectations, I didn't mind the writing all that much. I've seen worse. This was decent. Of course, nothing extraordinary, and there were some parts that made me go ??????, and of course all the descriptions about how pretty and sexy and whatever the dudes in the book were got tiring after 2 seconds (Rhysand's descriptions were especially cringe-worthy lmfao like yes I know he's pretty, I got it the first two thousand times, chill????). But it was a perfectly readable book. The writing never got in the way of my enjoyment (or not) of the plot, unlike some other books, so that's a win for me.
Then, I saw everyone complaining about the protagonist; but honestly I should've known I'd end up liking Feyre just out of spite, because that's what I do with female characters who get dumped on for being too "weak"/"annoying"/"dumb" or whatever. She was a perfectly decent protag (tho I do admit when she didn't get that riddle at the end I facepalmed for an eternity). Most of all, I found her arc beliavable. She's fierce at the beginning, and keeps getting meeker and meeker as the book progresses; and considering everything that happesn, and what I think of the romance arc based on book 2 spoilers, this development made sense to me.
Finally, the reason I never wanted to read the book in the first place: the romance. Yeah, everyone warned me, and they were right on this one, it's pretty bad. If I entered this book without knowing what happens in the sequel, I'd have DNFed it at the speed of light. Fuck Tamlin, etc. BUT (again) knowing what happens next, I think I was supposed to not like the romance. And knowing that it's bad on purpose, instead of shitty romantization, changes things for me. I can appreciate the story-telling, even if I'm cringing at every turn.
So all in all, all the points I thought I'd hate weren't as bad as I expected. Instead, I found myself struggling with something totally different, which was.... the plot.
Or the lack of it, I guess, because really, NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENS FOR 300 PAGES. Oh my god it was such a struggle. It was 300 pages of Feyre begin stuck in a castle painting and having vomit indulcing interactions with Tamlin. Why. Why, God. There was nothing else going on! It's Kiss of Deception all over again. All I want is some damn fantasy plot about faes, and all I get is romance. SMH.
And of couse, when stuff did finally happen, I didn't give a fuck, because before that point there was nothing that made me care about anyone in this book. The only character that went beyond an "eh they're alright" for me was Nesta, because she's kinda my type, but that was it. Rhysand has my interest, but for his potential, not from anything he did so far. Same with Feyre; I see some potential, but so far she's on the "eh alright" point of the scale. Everyone else.... I couldn't give less of a fuck.
The final 10% of the book FINALLY got entertaining, which is where the addition of a .5 to my 2 stars come in, because that was good! Really good! An obligatory fairytale-type three trials against faes, that's the good shit! But I had to slog through 300 pages all about Feyre being stuck in a stupid castle to finally get to the exciting bits, y'all. Jesus Fucking Christ.
But anyway, I pretty much KNEW I wouldn't like this book, so I'm not surprised. I'm glad Rhysand did end up picking my interest even here, because I think that's a good promise for the second book. And if the sequel is as good as the last 10% of ACOTAR, I'll jump for joy, but... we'll see....more
2.5 stars? I picked this up for a easy & quick read, and it did the job, it was entertaining. But if I stopped to really think about the plot/characte2.5 stars? I picked this up for a easy & quick read, and it did the job, it was entertaining. But if I stopped to really think about the plot/character development.......... lmao....more
this is kind of weird one, which explains why im rating this only now instead of 2 days ago when i finished, but i honestly dont know how to 3.5 stars
this is kind of weird one, which explains why im rating this only now instead of 2 days ago when i finished, but i honestly dont know how to rate it? because there's nothing really wrong with the book*, it just didnt click for me. authors who choose to expand their world in the last book of a series always take a risk, because some times it works - sometimes readers really do want to read about these new characters and new places - and sometimes it doesnt - sometimes readers just want to know how the story with the characters they already know ends. i thought i was safe in the first category (after all, i enjoyed the raven king), but shadow scale had me firmly in the second category. the first half of this book was a chore to get throught just because i didnt care - and i didnt WANT to care - about all these new characters, i just wanted more seraphina, kiggs, and glisselda. the plot was still tightly woven, the characters were still beautifully constructed, the worldbuilding was still fascinatingly detailed.... and yet i didnt care. it's the not book, its me~
*nothing wrong with the book, until the very end. the second half of shadow scale, when we came back to the characters already established in the first book, was very entertaining and engrossing, and i thought "ah, not a 5 star book, but certainly a solid 4"..... until the ending pulled an ex deux machina to quickly finish the big bad. i thought you were better than this, hartman....more
Vol4 follows a very experimental vol3 with wicdiv's most commercial arc to date. Lots of fighting, explosions, and action shots a la dc/marvel; and ifVol4 follows a very experimental vol3 with wicdiv's most commercial arc to date. Lots of fighting, explosions, and action shots a la dc/marvel; and if this arc was only about that, I probably wouldn't have liked it. But all the action scenes are interspaced with character scenes, and this arc has some of my favorite interactins between the gods so far. The flashback with Inanna and Persephone, everything about the Underworld Squad, Cassandra in general... I loved it. And of course, this arc ends with a bang, as all wicdiv arcs do. I can't wait to see where this story will go next.
Gillen has said that the issue following the end of vol4 is their most experimental issue so far, and tbh maybe it's bc, I admit, I do live up gillen+mckelvie's ass, but I'm PUMPED. I loved everything they've done so far, especially their more "experimental" moves (call me pretentious i dont caaare), and I have full confidence in this creative team....more
This one started out so well but the second half kinda went off the rails (i know this is a story about how everything went to shit a3.5 stars, maybe?
This one started out so well but the second half kinda went off the rails (i know this is a story about how everything went to shit after this kid appeared in town but really, SO much bad shit happened in the most random ways that even for a story "about the devil" it was too much for my suspension of disbelief) and the final "moral of the story" speech from the dad...... i wasn't sold on it, let's say. this author sure can write tho. a gorgeously written book but kinda ???? on the plot....more
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