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misszoe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
r2d2dyingnoise's review against another edition
5.0
What a fun book! I HEART POLITICAL ESPIONAGE and Donnelly absolutely went nuts on it. The world building was also TOP NOTCH. The setting reminded me of Papers Please and Disco Elysium, which is definitely a good thing. Will be coming back to this series :]
karobiner's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
poppiesrising's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Reading this now feels timely and disheartening. It's a lushly descriptive book, firmly settled in its aesthetic style - what did the blurb say, "a mix of spy thriller and Caberet"? That's pretty accurate. Another review said something about queer Berlin in the 1930s, and that's the part that feels timely and heartbreaking - because the larger picture, the rise of fascism and the destruction of safety and "life as we know it," sure feels real in a way it didn't in 2017, when this first came out. I finished this book deeply sad about everyone in it. It was engaging, emotional, vivid, and more people should try it.
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I was really curious to see what Amberlough would do with its characters and plot. Overall I think it really delivered.
I thought the book had a really strong setting. The world building felt well done and consistent. I was curious about the wider world, but I was always given enough information to understand what was going on. The aesthetic of the world also felt well described. I felt like I could always clearly visualise what things looked like in a scene.
One of the biggest downfalls of the book were, unfortunately, the characters. Each character was uniquely interesting. I was always curious as to what they were doing, their thoughts on things, and how they would react to events in the story. The struggles I faced were finding Aristide and Cyril likeable. Cordelia was easily my favourite, and I didn’t face that struggle with her. It was just a mix of how Cyril and Aristide acted and treated others that pulled me away from them. This was also a struggle as a lot of their plot and actions hinges on their relationship, but I couldn’t get into it. I just wasn’t invested in their relationship and it damaged the plot.
On the topic of the plot, I generally found it hard to keep track of. I felt like there were huge swaths of information I was missing. Something would happen and I would try to remember why or where the buildup to it was. The book handled plenty plot points well, but enough felt very out of where it left me confused.
Overall it was an enjoyable book with an excellent setting. There were just a few short comings that stopped it from being great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Alcohol, Confinement, Drug use, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug abuse
silverseaslug's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a lot of fun to read, though a bit heartbreaking at the end. Sort of like Cabaret, set in an alt version of Edwardian England.
rymdkejsaren's review against another edition
3.0
I'm so terribly torn over this book. It has well-realised characters -- though I ended up more invested in the side characters than the main ones -- and wonderful prose; it has engaging storytelling and a great setting. But the setting is also the problem; it's a made-up place that's virtually a carbon copy of the real world. And that makes it feel emptier to me, like a cop-out from having to believably anchor it in history. If you're going to go through the trouble of creating a new world, what's the point in making it nearly exactly like ours (albeit seven or so decades in the past)? You have the freedom to surprise us by adding elements that we wouldn't know to expect, and I think the reader may well expect such elements to appear -- I know I did -- and be disappointed when they don't.
I enjoyed reading it but I'm on the fence about keeping up with the series. Donnelly may have had good reasons for picking a fictional setting, but for all its flair, I can't help but see through the gaps in the fence and catch a glimpse of a story with so much more meat on the bones.
I enjoyed reading it but I'm on the fence about keeping up with the series. Donnelly may have had good reasons for picking a fictional setting, but for all its flair, I can't help but see through the gaps in the fence and catch a glimpse of a story with so much more meat on the bones.
reedabook's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I found the character engaging, and the plot relatively easy to follow for being a political novel set in a fantasy world (which can get confusing). I liked the 1920s vibe, and I appreciated that the characters were flawed and had to make hard choices.
I disliked the voices in the audiobook. They made the characters seem cartoonish, which felt like a disservice. I also struggled with the ending, which is somewhat ambiguous.
I disliked the voices in the audiobook. They made the characters seem cartoonish, which felt like a disservice. I also struggled with the ending, which is somewhat ambiguous.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
lezreadalot's review against another edition
3.0
"With a lot of exhausting double-talk"
A phrase from the latter part of the book that perfectly sums up how the book was written.
It was good, don't get me wrong. Really good. Very creatively crafted world, with mystery and intrigue, dolled-up cabaret signer, spies in suits... and a lot of politics. Which, goodness me, no writer has ever really been able to write the politics of their world in a way that interests me, and that held true here as well. Donnelly makes a good effort, but there are just so many characters and factions and I appreciate the lack of expositions/info-dumping but also nothing was ever SAID clearly and there was just so much I didn't understand after finishing, it's so frustrating! And maybe I'm just a bad reader or this was too cleverly written for me or something but... it wasn't enjoyable.
I loved all three main characters (though coming down to the end Cyril kind of lost me) and the romance was good and achey... but I was really hoping for a HEA; I didn't realise this would be a to be continued sort of thing. And honestly? As good as this book was in general, I don't have any desire to read what comes next, if it's wrapped in in the same frustratingly-written package.
A phrase from the latter part of the book that perfectly sums up how the book was written.
It was good, don't get me wrong. Really good. Very creatively crafted world, with mystery and intrigue, dolled-up cabaret signer, spies in suits... and a lot of politics. Which, goodness me, no writer has ever really been able to write the politics of their world in a way that interests me, and that held true here as well. Donnelly makes a good effort, but there are just so many characters and factions and I appreciate the lack of expositions/info-dumping but also nothing was ever SAID clearly and there was just so much I didn't understand after finishing, it's so frustrating! And maybe I'm just a bad reader or this was too cleverly written for me or something but... it wasn't enjoyable.
I loved all three main characters (though coming down to the end Cyril kind of lost me) and the romance was good and achey... but I was really hoping for a HEA; I didn't realise this would be a to be continued sort of thing. And honestly? As good as this book was in general, I don't have any desire to read what comes next, if it's wrapped in in the same frustratingly-written package.