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allyups's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting way of looking at dreams and how deep some connections go. I really loved the words she used in the book and the through way in which she described things.
amymay84's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
needlesnbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Sometimes the writing style of the author was .... overly descriptive sometimes and she used some uncommon words to describe things, but this made the book more awesome to read as well. It took me 2 weeks to get through the book because I caught myself marveling at the writing style.
This is a creepy book to be sure. There is also a very present sexual element. I wouldn't recommend to someone who gets easily freaked out.
This is a creepy book to be sure. There is also a very present sexual element. I wouldn't recommend to someone who gets easily freaked out.
bungler's review against another edition
2.0
hmm i think i would have liked this more if i??? knew what the fuck was going on???? like really i kept waiting for the worldbuilding to happen so that all the magic and demons and shit would make sense but it...never did...the writing was really nice, the characters were interesting, it’s the first time i’ve seen asexuality depicted really well (even though she called it something weird like oneiromancy, is that a word? never heard that before), there were lots of references to greek shit that i actually got for once (the Core is finally useful i suppose) but like, it didn’t actually mean anything because i was so confused about what the hell was going on. it felt more like a sequel to a pre-established world than a stand-alone novel because there was just absolutely no explanation as to what the magic/otherworld system was. kind of reminiscent of more than this in that i kept reading because i was waiting for clarity but it just never came, so i would definitely never reread. the vibe of it is also similar to ilsa j bick’s white space, kind of gothic horror with literary references, but at least white space had a sort of mad order to it, you could tell what the structure was, whereas this was just...vague and barely sketched out. scenes in the Otherworld (which was not the dreamworld? but somehow accessible through dreams? and also drugs? what?) were distinctly not otherworldly precisely because they lacked detail & because the real world was described in similar ways.
yeah overall great writing and characters but really what the fuck was the plot? read white space instead same mood more clarity
EDIT: and oh my god can we talk about how alex has a fucking...memory palace? and that shit with samantha? and wtf is a jackal? and who the fuck are the twins? and is the yellow king actually a king or just some sort of skeleton cape thing? who is dionysus in this metaphor??? is it the yellow king? he seems not chaotic enough for that role? and who was that random ass maenad at the end? so many questions and no fucking answers but i will say the only person allowed to have a memory palace ever is aloiysus x l pendergast and it’s because he’s a pretentious southern bastard but like...we forgive him
ALSO who the fuck is seker if not a vaguely egyptian deus ex machina, wtf if that ocean beast leviathan thing (hello job), THE DEVIL???? WHAT???? and can someone please. tell me. what the Brotherhood is. i am not marking this as spoilers because....nothing was explained.....these are just words that she uses as if we should know what they mean
and how dare she do this to orpheus and eurydice (fuck your greek k no one cares) hadestown deserves better, also why the damned hell would you date someone who recites beowulf (don’t answer that don’t @ me) (also WHY WOULD YOU WRITE A PASSAGE OF BEOWULF INTO YOUR BOOK WITH NO EXPLANATION AS IF READERS SHOULD JUST KNOW WHO HROTHGAR IS i really thought this man was speaking elvish and talking about lotr at least i would have respected him then)
upon writing this review and realizing how many issues i have with this book it now gets two stars it’s a hard knock life
yeah overall great writing and characters but really what the fuck was the plot? read white space instead same mood more clarity
EDIT: and oh my god can we talk about how alex has a fucking...memory palace? and that shit with samantha? and wtf is a jackal? and who the fuck are the twins? and is the yellow king actually a king or just some sort of skeleton cape thing? who is dionysus in this metaphor??? is it the yellow king? he seems not chaotic enough for that role? and who was that random ass maenad at the end? so many questions and no fucking answers but i will say the only person allowed to have a memory palace ever is aloiysus x l pendergast and it’s because he’s a pretentious southern bastard but like...we forgive him
ALSO who the fuck is seker if not a vaguely egyptian deus ex machina, wtf if that ocean beast leviathan thing (hello job), THE DEVIL???? WHAT???? and can someone please. tell me. what the Brotherhood is. i am not marking this as spoilers because....nothing was explained.....these are just words that she uses as if we should know what they mean
and how dare she do this to orpheus and eurydice (fuck your greek k no one cares) hadestown deserves better, also why the damned hell would you date someone who recites beowulf (don’t answer that don’t @ me) (also WHY WOULD YOU WRITE A PASSAGE OF BEOWULF INTO YOUR BOOK WITH NO EXPLANATION AS IF READERS SHOULD JUST KNOW WHO HROTHGAR IS i really thought this man was speaking elvish and talking about lotr at least i would have respected him then)
upon writing this review and realizing how many issues i have with this book it now gets two stars it’s a hard knock life
urlphantomhive's review against another edition
2.0
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I should really learn to read at least part of a blurb before deciding I want to read a book based on the pretty cover and awesome title. Perhaps in that case I would have had different expectation. Because although the cover screamed Urban Fantasy to me, it was a completely different kind of Urban Fantasy I got.
Liz has powerful dreams, together with the mystics she encounters on the search for her friend Blake that's the fantasy you get. The rest of the story left me feeling unsatisfied and looking for something more to get from it. I didn't feel for the characters, and since I was unfamiliar with the concept of the yellow king, I didn't find that as interesting as it could have been. (But that's my fault of course).
I've been asking myself whether I would have liked the story better if I hadn't thought it would involve more fantasy, but frankly I'm not sure. I also read a lot of mystery books or books that just have a little something that's unexplainable, but this book fell short in those genres as well. It probably just wasn't the book for me.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I should really learn to read at least part of a blurb before deciding I want to read a book based on the pretty cover and awesome title. Perhaps in that case I would have had different expectation. Because although the cover screamed Urban Fantasy to me, it was a completely different kind of Urban Fantasy I got.
Liz has powerful dreams, together with the mystics she encounters on the search for her friend Blake that's the fantasy you get. The rest of the story left me feeling unsatisfied and looking for something more to get from it. I didn't feel for the characters, and since I was unfamiliar with the concept of the yellow king, I didn't find that as interesting as it could have been. (But that's my fault of course).
I've been asking myself whether I would have liked the story better if I hadn't thought it would involve more fantasy, but frankly I'm not sure. I also read a lot of mystery books or books that just have a little something that's unexplainable, but this book fell short in those genres as well. It probably just wasn't the book for me.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
sunflower_teeth's review
I shouldn't be mind-numbingly bored 67 pages into a book featuring the King in Yellow + a friend read a bit more and informed me I definitely wouldn't like the ending.
curgoth's review against another edition
5.0
Urban Fantasy in the tradition of Charles De Lint, but older and darker, with a heavy dose of Lovecraft mixed in. While Downum didn't literally write this book for me, personally, it feels that way. The people all feel like people I know, or knew. Except that none of the sorcerers I've known were German.
The characters are all the sort of people who probably hung out at goth clubs when they were younger, though for some of them it was because there wasn't anywhere else to go, rather than actually being goths. Some of them definitely used to draw eyeliner squiggles.
Much like in Kingdoms of Dust, though, these characters are older, and more focussed on things like their art careers, or have to admit that they never liked the smoke and loud noise. Or the scene just broke up with too many breakups and relocations. They've got important stuff in their lives, and none of it has prepared them for the terrible angels and forbidden dreamland they have been drawn into.
This book felt so intensely alive and present, not just visually stimulating, but evoking touch and taste and sound and scent. The world just a half-step away from mine.
It also left me wanting a couple drinks - both chartreuse, and the cocktail I get credit for in the acknowledgements (the Bete Noire - coffee liqueur, Kraken and campari).
The characters are all the sort of people who probably hung out at goth clubs when they were younger, though for some of them it was because there wasn't anywhere else to go, rather than actually being goths. Some of them definitely used to draw eyeliner squiggles.
Much like in Kingdoms of Dust, though, these characters are older, and more focussed on things like their art careers, or have to admit that they never liked the smoke and loud noise. Or the scene just broke up with too many breakups and relocations. They've got important stuff in their lives, and none of it has prepared them for the terrible angels and forbidden dreamland they have been drawn into.
This book felt so intensely alive and present, not just visually stimulating, but evoking touch and taste and sound and scent. The world just a half-step away from mine.
It also left me wanting a couple drinks - both chartreuse, and the cocktail I get credit for in the acknowledgements (the Bete Noire - coffee liqueur, Kraken and campari).
theartolater's review against another edition
4.0
I'm probably at the point right now where if a book is described as Lovecraftian in any way, I'll probably take a flier on it. Dreams of Shreds and Tatters is a book that's been on my radar for a while, and, while it's more Lovecraft-adjacent than anything (given the Chalmers/King in Yellow inspiration), it does do one thing exceptionally well, and that's instill the sense of dread that Lovecraft was so good at and modern Mythos literature often forgets.
The plot is fairly straightforward, with a woman and her vivid dreams and a comatose friend who is basically under the thrall of The Yellow King. The story is a balancing act between the real and the supernatural, and is just unsettling from beginning to end in a way that just makes a lot of things work.
I wish I had more to say about the book. It's a light story (when it's described as Lovecraft without a lot of the excess, the slimness of the story and the lack of excess fat in the plotting is really what's being described) and the way things go are just worth it for the ride. While the dread was there, my investment in the story, on a whole, was not in the way it was for a lot of other stories. I felt like I was more watching a film or observing as a third party, which is not always my reading experience.
Overall? Horror fans who like the sort of Weird Fic balancing acts that are so popular will find a lot to like here. Chalmers fans should definitely check it out as well, but if you're looking for something scary or more splatter-style, this might just not be your cup of tea. Not for everyone, but if you read the synopsis and think it sounds interesting, you're likely to enjoy.
The plot is fairly straightforward, with a woman and her vivid dreams and a comatose friend who is basically under the thrall of The Yellow King. The story is a balancing act between the real and the supernatural, and is just unsettling from beginning to end in a way that just makes a lot of things work.
I wish I had more to say about the book. It's a light story (when it's described as Lovecraft without a lot of the excess, the slimness of the story and the lack of excess fat in the plotting is really what's being described) and the way things go are just worth it for the ride. While the dread was there, my investment in the story, on a whole, was not in the way it was for a lot of other stories. I felt like I was more watching a film or observing as a third party, which is not always my reading experience.
Overall? Horror fans who like the sort of Weird Fic balancing acts that are so popular will find a lot to like here. Chalmers fans should definitely check it out as well, but if you're looking for something scary or more splatter-style, this might just not be your cup of tea. Not for everyone, but if you read the synopsis and think it sounds interesting, you're likely to enjoy.
meghan_is_reading's review against another edition
5.0
Some brilliant things have come through the lovecraftian revival, of which this is definitely one. Based off the King in Yellow mythology, the play that drives people crazy! Also set in Vancouver and features a lovely diverse cast of characters, I'm not sure I've ever read an asexual main character before. <3 <3 <3
I dug this book
I dug this book
sonyaleereads's review
1.0
This book was a solid two stars until "Because I've fought my way here through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered." I've seen Labyrinth enough times to know one of the most popular lines. Plagiarism is not okay.