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★★★☆☆ I received this eARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way. All quotes are taken from the uncorrected proof and are subject to change. This would be my freedom: not the flight of a blossom nor even the slow decay of a leaf, but the inexorable plunge of a stone cast into the depths. No more would the webs of Unai constrain me. Obligatory Summary Set to be wed to the son of a lord since birth, a girl struggles to accept her role in life, especially when another lord comes to her home to see her fabled beauty and the two fall madly in love. Destiny has other plans, and the three fall victim to a devastating fate. Based on a Japanese legend. My Thoughts I just couldn't get into this. The writing was fine, though it relied too heavily on metaphors and similes, which became pretty repetitive fairly quickly. I liked each chapter being headed by a different season, and I a...

★★★☆☆ I actually liked this way more than I did the first time! I understand the issues I had with it initially, but found that they were either non-issues or just not a big deal. I was definitely a more impatient reader 2 years ago. What I thought was boring was actually pretty decent slow-build, and this time, I really liked it. It definitely had a problem with too many plot lines and perspectives, and could have been cleaned up and made more succinct, but it wasn't dreadful like I made it out to be. I had forgotten how much I love Simon's story line and how interesting Jace's dark side was. Considering that most of my reread of this series has resulted in a lower rating than before, I'm so glad that this one actually rose a star. Without a doubt, it's a filler book that had to introduce a new conflict in what was supposed to just be a trilogy, but I think it did a decent enough job of doing that without straying from the main themes of the series. (...

★★★★☆ It was basically if the Essen Tasch had blood-bending and I liked it Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★★☆ consider me surprised to find i enjoyed this book despite not liking the first opinions change and people grow both as readers and as writers never judge an author by their first book judge them by their second This pretty much addressed all of my criticisms of the first book. It wasn't just about sex (though there was definitely a lot of that); it was about family and love and what it means to be an immigrant. It actually made me cry on several occasions, and while I marked only 3 poems in the first book, I marked 25 in this. It was worlds away from the messy nonsense of Milk and Honey . It felt more real and genuine. It felt less like a 13-year-old's tumblr poetry and more like an adult. The narrative poems were some of my favorites and the shorter ones had messages that weren't reiterated repeatedly. I really liked it. I'm glad the years between this publication and the previous showed some growth and honed skill. Buy th...

★★★★☆ "The world isn't a romantic stage play; it's not all love or glory." The Writing and Worldbuilding This was a fun, wish-fulfillment fantasy, with altogether too many swordfights but just the right amount of Brasti. The writing itself was probably the best part, though the plot was a bit too repetitive. For a debut, it's really good. I enjoyed it a lot! The world was a bit confusing, and some of the more magical elements were introduced a bit too late in my opinion, but on the whole I liked it enough. For a fictional country, it felt real and I got a pretty good grasp on the land, the people, and the differing cultures. The very ending was alright, albeit cliché. Kind of wished some things had remained in place, but I guess you can't have a series if it stayed as it was. Overall, it wasn't a particularly deep or original story, nor was it well plotted. But it had some fun characters and read like a mindless action movie. S...

★★☆☆☆ i read this in one sitting and. i have to say. i was not impressed. — repeating the exact same sentiment for 200 pages doesn't make it more profound. I know my way around free verse poetry. My mom is a free verse poet that has been recognized internationally. She usually has me read her work before she posts it and we read the work of other poets together all the time. So I know what I'm talking about when I say that judging poetry is a tricky business, but honestly, this just wasn't anything special. It felt less like I was reading poetry and more like I was reading the notes app on her phone. I've heard the sentiment that was repeated over and over again a million times before this, so honestly, this had nothing to say to me that I didn't already know. If this is the first work of poetry someone has read, I can understand it being their favorite, and I do appreciate Kaur for pouring her heart and soul into this, but for me, it just ...

★★★★★ The beauty of it cannot be understood, either, and when you see beauty in desolation it changes something inside you. Desolation tries to colonize you. I loved this! It's so atmospheric and spooky! It doesn't really give you all (or any, for the most part) answers, but I think that added to the atmosphere tbh and I appreciated that. If it had attempted to answer literally everything, I think it would probably have fallen into the pit of parody like the Illuminae Files did for me. What this short book accomplished spectacularly for me is that it felt like a half-forgotten nightmare or a memory I've repressed. I felt, reading it, that I had read it before, but not in the sense that it was formulaic or overly predictable, or even that it was a blatant rip-off of something else. No, rather it gave me strong sensation of sensory discomfort and the idea that what is familiar is not familiar, that what is real is actually very much not real, which I believe was en...

★★★★☆ This was actually pretty freaking good! I even considered rating it 5 stars! It basically took almost every criticism I'd been ruminating over for the first 2 books and actually addressed them! Like, the nature of Rose and Lissa's friendship and the power imbalance that exists there, which was the biggest issue I'd had thus far. And the conflicts and plot progression felt both natural and fairly realistic, considering the circumstances. It kinda amazes me how Mead makes what is essentially just mindless interpersonal drama feel kinda interesting, when I usually hate that. It makes the world feel more real and lived in. And I legitimately liked Rose in this, and her ghostly encounters were pretty cool and well done. Over all, definitely the best in the series so far! (I usually write longer reviews than this but lol I'm not in the mood rn) Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★★☆ Does the world deserve forgiveness? Does it deserve another chance? I was very conflicted as I read this. The overarching emotion I felt throughout was disappointment. Unlike the rest of the series, this felt like it lacked a real direction. I wasn't sure what the goal was, and what had been the established goal at the end of The Burning World was pretty much entirely forgotten until the climax. Conflicts were often repeated multiple times, or borrowed from previous books, and it left me feeling drained and frankly a little pissed off. A lot of time was spent flipping through perspectives and I felt like I didn't have enough time to feel much of anything for most of them. The scope of this was too big sometimes and the plot was left drowning in it. We all decide the shape of the world, the sum of all minds together. Change has to be chosen. But luckily, Marion is an amazing writer, and his way with words and imagery pretty much saved this. R compl...

★★★★☆ Buddy read with the queen herself All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. (I recognize that everyone quotes this but that's because it's freaking good) I feel like there's little that hasn't already been said about this iconic book, but here's my thoughts regardless. I have seen all the movies already, multiples times, and love them a lot, so I already knew the plot and the world going into this, but there were just enough differences that I honestly don't know which I liked more. The movies were better at action and suspense, but lacked where characters were concerned (especially for the hobbits), while the book was often low-key boring, with long-winded dial...

★★★★☆ I honestly don't understand why so many people hate this. The Writing and Worldbuilding I really liked the writing! It was very well done and worked both as a historical novel and a YA fantasy. I never really felt bored, even when little was happening. There were a few times when I was sort of confused as to what was happening, especially near the very end, but as a whole, I loved it. I liked the themes, but they didn't really have the emotional impact they were obviously intended to. Same goes for some of the character moments. This was probably the biggest strike against this book: it just didn't give me any feels. The world was pretty cool! Reminded me of The Infernal Devices quite a lot, but the alternate dimension aspects were definitely my favorite part. Low-key gave me Insidious vibes sometimes, if I'm being honest. The Characters Anna : A lot of people really hated the main character, but while I recognize that she...

★★☆☆☆ I received this digital copy from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way. Obligatory Summary Three cousins live in the same isolated town of Running Water, but their perspectives on life couldn't be more different. Auris, the headwoman-in-training, has a strict view of how the world should and shouldn't be, and Saig seems intent on going against all of it. But both Saig and her cousin Trei have never felt like they entirely belonged to Running Water. Their parents have mysterious origins, and when outsiders and goblins attack their town, the status quo is shattered. The Writing and Worldbuilding I honestly thought I was going to like this. I hadn't known what to expect going in to things, but the first few chapters really won me over, and I felt invested in and intrigued by the world. But around 48% through, things went swiftly downhill and never managed to really get...

★★★★★ Yes, I read this all at once, with very few stops, and no, I'm not ashamed. Feed the Forest inside you with blood, and it would feed you in return. I loved EVERYTHING about this book. Literally everything. The love interests, the conflicts, the main character, the character arcs, the setting, the writing, the pacing, the world, the magic— E V E R Y T H I N G My favorite character was Rachelle herself, Erec being a close second. They felt so real and intense and everything about them was so well done. I didn't love Armand as much as I was definitely supposed to, but I still really liked him as a character and really appreciated his role in the plot. I hadn't expected Amélie to be as important as she was, as best friend characters usually don't have very big roles, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that she was a real person, not just a pretty painting for Rachelle to compare herself to. It was all very well done. Rosamund Hodge ha...

★★★★☆ I was almost tempted to leave the 5 star rating for this. Out of all of the first three of this series, it is by far the best, but also sometimes tends to feel like 2 different books. The first of those books is silly and lacks real stakes, but is entertaining enough. The second knows what it is and knows that it wants to tell a story, and best of all, it knows what story it wants to tell. Unfortunately, these two books don't mesh well. We have a protagonist who is an idiot. Said idiot protagonist does idiotic things, gets reprimanded for said idiotic things, and goes around said reprimands, never really learning her lesson. The book is asking us to believe that sometimes inherently bad things might not be so bad, but then says that those things were actually good all along, and that the really bad things make themselves known almost immediately. This wouldn't be a bad message if it didn't give me so much whiplash. But I did really enjoy it, and I love Se...

★★★★☆ After my re-read of City of Bones, I lowered what had been a 5 star rating to a 3 star. I went into this re-read expecting to have a similar experience. I'd already liked it less than the first book when I'd first read it, so I was quite surprised to find that I actually liked it. It's still a 4 star, but for entirely different reasons. Clary actually had a bit of a personality, though her priorities are all over the place. Jace's storyline was still the best, despite how much of a douche bag he is. I had a problem with the adults, though. They all behaved like caricatures of adults. They were so immature and short-sighted. They practically wore their motivations on their sleeves. I could probably take almost any scene out of context, not tell you how old the person was, and you would probably think they were 13 years old. Not that there's anything wrong with 13 year olds, but there is a huge difference between 40 and 13. I'm not sure why I ...