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pagesplotsandpints's Reviews (2.1k)
Read Completed 12/6/23 | 4.25 stars
I really ended up enjoying this and I'm glad I continued the series! JADE CITY went well for me but it took me a really long time to become invested. I'm glad that I really connected with the characters in JADE WAR, much more than I did in the first book. It was still a highly character-driven book, but it also had a bit more action and a lot more political intrigue.
There's not a ton to say about this because it's SO character-driven that you really just have to spend time with the characters and enjoy their journeys to appreciate the book. I especially love Anden and Wen, and I'm glad we got to see so much more of Wen in this book! Really all of the characters are so interesting and they really get developed in this book.
I really ended up enjoying this and I'm glad I continued the series! JADE CITY went well for me but it took me a really long time to become invested. I'm glad that I really connected with the characters in JADE WAR, much more than I did in the first book. It was still a highly character-driven book, but it also had a bit more action and a lot more political intrigue.
There's not a ton to say about this because it's SO character-driven that you really just have to spend time with the characters and enjoy their journeys to appreciate the book. I especially love Anden and Wen, and I'm glad we got to see so much more of Wen in this book! Really all of the characters are so interesting and they really get developed in this book.
Read Completed 12/3/23 | 3.25 stars
This was a little too overhyped for me to really enjoy as much as I wanted to. There's so much hype and so many good reviews and so many people saying how amazing this series is that I assumed it would be a slam dunk. Admittedly, I am connected to it but it's a very slow, character-driven book so from all of the excitement, I thought it would be a little more... captivating.
In the end, I enjoyed the book. There were some exciting things that happened over the halfway mark that I didn't see coming and after spending a lot of time with these characters, I really grew to appreciate their story and want to spend more time with them. I'm not sure if I'll read the next book yet -- it would be an easier decision to make if they were a little shorter, but hey, it's the end of the year and I'm way ahead on my reading goals so maybe I'll just continue anyway. But now that the world and characters are established, I'm hoping the second book picks up in pacing just a bit.
I guess I wasn't expecting this to be AS character-driven as it is. There's not a lot of plot or one specific plot point. There's an on-going feud between two clans and the story is how the family is coming together and also being driven apart all at once. It's very light on fantasy, which I can appreciate, but I wanted juuuust a bit more world-building to really suck me in. I really wanted to know a bit more about the jade and its history and its properties. It's not really spoken outright what jade DOES and is instead woven into the story, learning by the actions of the book. Don't get me wrong, I love a good show not tell, but like I said, I just wanted a touch more to really get more knowledge of how all of the magic works.
I'm going to sit on this book for a few days and see if I change my rating! If anything, I'd bump it up and that usually depends on "stickability" and if a book really leaves a lasting impression. I love the Asian-inspired fantasy also combined with a modern-day approach so we're not stuck in some medieval-feeling high fantasy world. If you're a fan of Holly Black's YA series WHITE CAT, this definitely has that sort of vibe, but more adult and more of a slow burn.
This was a little too overhyped for me to really enjoy as much as I wanted to. There's so much hype and so many good reviews and so many people saying how amazing this series is that I assumed it would be a slam dunk. Admittedly, I am connected to it but it's a very slow, character-driven book so from all of the excitement, I thought it would be a little more... captivating.
In the end, I enjoyed the book. There were some exciting things that happened over the halfway mark that I didn't see coming and after spending a lot of time with these characters, I really grew to appreciate their story and want to spend more time with them. I'm not sure if I'll read the next book yet -- it would be an easier decision to make if they were a little shorter, but hey, it's the end of the year and I'm way ahead on my reading goals so maybe I'll just continue anyway. But now that the world and characters are established, I'm hoping the second book picks up in pacing just a bit.
I guess I wasn't expecting this to be AS character-driven as it is. There's not a lot of plot or one specific plot point. There's an on-going feud between two clans and the story is how the family is coming together and also being driven apart all at once. It's very light on fantasy, which I can appreciate, but I wanted juuuust a bit more world-building to really suck me in. I really wanted to know a bit more about the jade and its history and its properties. It's not really spoken outright what jade DOES and is instead woven into the story, learning by the actions of the book. Don't get me wrong, I love a good show not tell, but like I said, I just wanted a touch more to really get more knowledge of how all of the magic works.
I'm going to sit on this book for a few days and see if I change my rating! If anything, I'd bump it up and that usually depends on "stickability" and if a book really leaves a lasting impression. I love the Asian-inspired fantasy also combined with a modern-day approach so we're not stuck in some medieval-feeling high fantasy world. If you're a fan of Holly Black's YA series WHITE CAT, this definitely has that sort of vibe, but more adult and more of a slow burn.
Read Completed 11/29/23 |
I've loved Kerry Winfrey's books in the past and don't read many (or really any) Christmas romances, so I was excited for this one! Ultimately, it ended up being way too cheesy for me. The characters were way too over-the-top, especially the boss, and it was trying a little too hard when it didn't have to. Sadly, this just didn't click for me. While I liked the concept and the base of it all, everything was just too overdone.
I wanted to like Laurel but I actually really didn't. She kept hating on Max for almost literally no reason. We find out the reason much later and I get why she hated him, but she continued to try to hate him after it was a non-issue. There was just too much enemies, not enough lovers. I don't need or want spice, but I wanted more feelings, tingles, exciting moments. She just spent far too long being angry and fighting the feels and it got irritating.
I've loved Kerry Winfrey's books in the past and don't read many (or really any) Christmas romances, so I was excited for this one! Ultimately, it ended up being way too cheesy for me. The characters were way too over-the-top, especially the boss, and it was trying a little too hard when it didn't have to. Sadly, this just didn't click for me. While I liked the concept and the base of it all, everything was just too overdone.
I wanted to like Laurel but I actually really didn't. She kept hating on Max for almost literally no reason. We find out the reason much later and I get why she hated him, but she continued to try to hate him after it was a non-issue. There was just too much enemies, not enough lovers. I don't need or want spice, but I wanted more feelings, tingles, exciting moments. She just spent far too long being angry and fighting the feels and it got irritating.
1.5 stars
What… why…. This was just trauma, twisted, and not at all what I expected. I hated the way these characters were treated — in creation and what they did to each other. I think it has decent reviews because people like to be shocked but this was too far for me. It gets a half star because I was interested in the beginning. The end was insane.Rape, multiple instances of incest, brutal murder, manipulation. Nope nope nope.
What… why…. This was just trauma, twisted, and not at all what I expected. I hated the way these characters were treated — in creation and what they did to each other. I think it has decent reviews because people like to be shocked but this was too far for me. It gets a half star because I was interested in the beginning. The end was insane.
Read Completed 11/25/23 | 3.5 stars
There. I did it. After swearing I wouldn't read this book because "I know I won't like it", I hit a reading slump, didn't know what to read, and thought this could fit my mood.
So firstly, I get the hype a little bit.FOURTH WING was entertaining and the stuff that gathered us to reading around 2011 - 2014 with all of the YA dystopian and Throne of Glass era type vibes. This was definitely that and I'd easily recommend it for THRONE OF GLASS fans who also like a dash of DIVERGENT. If this had come out around that same time, chances are I would have loved it. I feel like now I've read so many books -- and fantasy books -- that I know what I want from a fantasy novel and this just fell short.
I actually really liked the pacing. I listened to about 20% the first time I picked this up and once I had to stop, I could admit to myself that I was itching to get back to reading. It was long, but it didn't feel overly long and flowed easily, packed with action and romance to keep the reader entertained, and I was definitely entertained! There was a small section maybe around 35% where I got a little bored, but that quickly went away and things picked up again.
My biggest issue was that the world-building was sloppy and lacking. I get it, this was like, all vibes and it didn't have to be a Sanderson/Tolkein/Rothfuss/Jordan level of world-building. (Would this just be more "romantasy" than "fantasy romance"? Is that what romantasy is? We don't need as much world-building and the romance vibes take over? I already know that's not my vibe, so maybe it's just all not for me?) That wasn't this book.... but I do think a few small improvements would have really helped me, and likely some other fantasy readers, appreciate the book overall.
The parts where Violet is reciting things from history books while in the middle of action or a tense moment was just sloppy and a cleverly-disguised info dump and I instantly forgot anything she said because that wasn't the point of the scene. I would have rather been in the moment and worked in other things about the history and lore when it made more sense and would stick with readers.
I was disappointed that we didn't get to see more training or bonding with the dragons -- there was barely anything and all of a sudden everyone is just totally cool with riding them. There also wasn't much about how all of these powers worked. There was a lot of telling the reader that bam, here's a power, but not why or how to use it the origins or other people who have these powers, etc. Maybe Rebecca Yarros didn't want it to turn into standard "fantasy magic school" with too many classes and everyone getting educations on all the magical things, but I always love a good fantasy school and wished we had at least gotten a liiiittle more to really establish the world.
I also really wanted a little bit more development of the setting and the world in general. I felt like a lot wasn't described, so I imagined a lot of things in my own way anyway, but there could have been more of feel for how the college looked and felt.
And lastly on the development of the book, I wanted to see more character development. I wanted more bonding between friends. I think the most bond we get aside from Xaden is Liam, which I loved, but Violet had other friends in the beginning and I wished we had gotten to see more actual conversations and bonding moments with them. I don't like when a book is so narrowly focused on a romance and all of the other characters get tossed aside.
Violet herself is just an OKAY character. I liked a lot of things about her but she was still a little flat for me. I think a lot of her personality gets washed away by the obsessive romance. This is the exact reason I stopped reading YA, because the two fall in love and all of a sudden, they're overwhelmed by their love and do stupid stuff and shut everything else off. I feel like she lost all personality while the romance was happening, until the end when she starts to make her own decisions again.
SO. The romance. I kind of knew I wouldn't like it, but I hoped I would. It wasn't bad, but we've seen it all before. Xaden was also kind of a blah character. There, I said it. He was just your typical Rhysand-type (except more bland? ACOTAR, if you don't know) where everyone thinks he's the bad guy and the hate turns to infatuation. He wasn't anything new.
It felt a little too insta-love because we don't really see a ton of genuine interactions before they're proclaiming undying love to each other and how they can't live without each other (ugh). The romance definitely felt young adult in terms of development and depth (is that also a New Adult vibe? I don't read much New Adult), but clearly Rebecca Yarros wanted this to be an adult novel and be sure it was NOT young adult with the spicy scene(s) thrown in (that I genuinely didn't care about whatsoever). Again, the romance was FINE but that was it for me. I got annoyed with it in the end because now they're madly in love and can't live without each other. Ew. I think you have bigger problems...
I also really wanted to see more with Dain without it being a Tamlin situation? (Another ACOTAR reference, if you don't know...) I liked that Violet realized that she didn't have a thing for him and we didn't dwell on that, but I think a few more interactions to amp up that past connection and friendship would have been nice. I liked that it wasn't a love triangle and there was only a touch of jealousy so it wasn't too frustrating to go back and forth, but I think I still would have liked a bit more development in that friendship at least. All of the personal connections just really felt lacking until the romance. And even the romance was more we were told they were in love and they're both physically attracted to each other. Eh. I need more.
The other reason it felt young was because of the way all of the characters were written. I know they're college age/in their 20s but it was annoying that the only character development for over half the book was just everyone trying to kill each other and making death threats all the time. It was snark, snark, snark and I wanted more depth, something more real. It grew tiresome and annoying.
Yarros also had some SJM moments where she overused a few words that drove me nuts (like "chuffed" for the dragons and the eye roll-inducing nickname of "Violence" for Violet).
I heard the ending was wild, and it was good, but nothing too surprising! There's a lot of hand-holding in this book, delivering all the foreshadowing directly to readers so I picked up on the biggest surprise in the end long before it was revealed. Don't get me wrong, I liked it a lot! I thought it was great and it's something that makes me excited to continue and read the sequel. But I just clearly saw that, and many other things, coming.
I wish we had gotten to know more about the world so this epic battle in the end caught more of my interest. Too much of these new characters/creatures were not talked about at all in the book so it wasn't as exciting. It was just bam! Here are the bad guys and now they're gonna kill you and everyone you love, and you just have to take my word for it.
So, I'm glad I read FOURTH WING. Did I love it? Nope. Did I hate it? Surprisingly, no. It was still entertaining, didn't feel long despite its length, and it was a fun break from whatever else I was reading for the sake of being fun. It's not the most amazing book in the world, but I can see why people really enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I'll read the sequels... maybe if I'm in the mood. I definitely feel like I will continue to be bothered by the stuff that bothered me here, so we'll see if I feel like picking those up someday.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: This book was narrated by Rebecca Soler with one chapter by Teddy Hamilton at the end. I'm very familiar with Rebecca Soler having listened to The Lunar Chronicles multiple times and listening to her for other YA novels. Having her read this book was pleasant but also made me feel like it was more YA since that's what I most associate her with. Teddy Hamilton is the opposite, being mostly associated with adult books, primarily romances. I was warned before that Rebecca has a cold through part of this book, and it was definitely very noticeable but not as bad listening at 3x speed. It was nasal and jarring when I noticed it, but I kept trying to put it to the back of my mind, and then it went away. Probably far more irritating at a slower speed, and I didn't hear any other cold-related noises like other people said they did, again, probably because I was listening so fast. I thought the rest of her narration was very good, but some of her voices ran together -- including Violet and Xaden towards the end, which should be very different voices. I'm interested to see if Teddy Hamilton / Xaden will have more alternating roles in future books? That could make things more interesting.
There. I did it. After swearing I wouldn't read this book because "I know I won't like it", I hit a reading slump, didn't know what to read, and thought this could fit my mood.
So firstly, I get the hype a little bit.FOURTH WING was entertaining and the stuff that gathered us to reading around 2011 - 2014 with all of the YA dystopian and Throne of Glass era type vibes. This was definitely that and I'd easily recommend it for THRONE OF GLASS fans who also like a dash of DIVERGENT. If this had come out around that same time, chances are I would have loved it. I feel like now I've read so many books -- and fantasy books -- that I know what I want from a fantasy novel and this just fell short.
I actually really liked the pacing. I listened to about 20% the first time I picked this up and once I had to stop, I could admit to myself that I was itching to get back to reading. It was long, but it didn't feel overly long and flowed easily, packed with action and romance to keep the reader entertained, and I was definitely entertained! There was a small section maybe around 35% where I got a little bored, but that quickly went away and things picked up again.
My biggest issue was that the world-building was sloppy and lacking. I get it, this was like, all vibes and it didn't have to be a Sanderson/Tolkein/Rothfuss/Jordan level of world-building. (Would this just be more "romantasy" than "fantasy romance"? Is that what romantasy is? We don't need as much world-building and the romance vibes take over? I already know that's not my vibe, so maybe it's just all not for me?) That wasn't this book.... but I do think a few small improvements would have really helped me, and likely some other fantasy readers, appreciate the book overall.
The parts where Violet is reciting things from history books while in the middle of action or a tense moment was just sloppy and a cleverly-disguised info dump and I instantly forgot anything she said because that wasn't the point of the scene. I would have rather been in the moment and worked in other things about the history and lore when it made more sense and would stick with readers.
I was disappointed that we didn't get to see more training or bonding with the dragons -- there was barely anything and all of a sudden everyone is just totally cool with riding them. There also wasn't much about how all of these powers worked. There was a lot of telling the reader that bam, here's a power, but not why or how to use it the origins or other people who have these powers, etc. Maybe Rebecca Yarros didn't want it to turn into standard "fantasy magic school" with too many classes and everyone getting educations on all the magical things, but I always love a good fantasy school and wished we had at least gotten a liiiittle more to really establish the world.
I also really wanted a little bit more development of the setting and the world in general. I felt like a lot wasn't described, so I imagined a lot of things in my own way anyway, but there could have been more of feel for how the college looked and felt.
And lastly on the development of the book, I wanted to see more character development. I wanted more bonding between friends. I think the most bond we get aside from Xaden is Liam, which I loved, but Violet had other friends in the beginning and I wished we had gotten to see more actual conversations and bonding moments with them. I don't like when a book is so narrowly focused on a romance and all of the other characters get tossed aside.
Violet herself is just an OKAY character. I liked a lot of things about her but she was still a little flat for me. I think a lot of her personality gets washed away by the obsessive romance. This is the exact reason I stopped reading YA, because the two fall in love and all of a sudden, they're overwhelmed by their love and do stupid stuff and shut everything else off. I feel like she lost all personality while the romance was happening, until the end when she starts to make her own decisions again.
SO. The romance. I kind of knew I wouldn't like it, but I hoped I would. It wasn't bad, but we've seen it all before. Xaden was also kind of a blah character. There, I said it. He was just your typical Rhysand-type (except more bland? ACOTAR, if you don't know) where everyone thinks he's the bad guy and the hate turns to infatuation. He wasn't anything new.
It felt a little too insta-love because we don't really see a ton of genuine interactions before they're proclaiming undying love to each other and how they can't live without each other (ugh). The romance definitely felt young adult in terms of development and depth (is that also a New Adult vibe? I don't read much New Adult), but clearly Rebecca Yarros wanted this to be an adult novel and be sure it was NOT young adult with the spicy scene(s) thrown in (that I genuinely didn't care about whatsoever). Again, the romance was FINE but that was it for me. I got annoyed with it in the end because now they're madly in love and can't live without each other. Ew. I think you have bigger problems...
I also really wanted to see more with Dain without it being a Tamlin situation? (Another ACOTAR reference, if you don't know...) I liked that Violet realized that she didn't have a thing for him and we didn't dwell on that, but I think a few more interactions to amp up that past connection and friendship would have been nice. I liked that it wasn't a love triangle and there was only a touch of jealousy so it wasn't too frustrating to go back and forth, but I think I still would have liked a bit more development in that friendship at least. All of the personal connections just really felt lacking until the romance. And even the romance was more we were told they were in love and they're both physically attracted to each other. Eh. I need more.
The other reason it felt young was because of the way all of the characters were written. I know they're college age/in their 20s but it was annoying that the only character development for over half the book was just everyone trying to kill each other and making death threats all the time. It was snark, snark, snark and I wanted more depth, something more real. It grew tiresome and annoying.
Yarros also had some SJM moments where she overused a few words that drove me nuts (like "chuffed" for the dragons and the eye roll-inducing nickname of "Violence" for Violet).
I heard the ending was wild, and it was good, but nothing too surprising! There's a lot of hand-holding in this book, delivering all the foreshadowing directly to readers so I picked up on the biggest surprise in the end long before it was revealed. Don't get me wrong, I liked it a lot! I thought it was great and it's something that makes me excited to continue and read the sequel. But I just clearly saw that, and many other things, coming.
I wish we had gotten to know more about the world so this epic battle in the end caught more of my interest. Too much of these new characters/creatures were not talked about at all in the book so it wasn't as exciting. It was just bam! Here are the bad guys and now they're gonna kill you and everyone you love, and you just have to take my word for it.
So, I'm glad I read FOURTH WING. Did I love it? Nope. Did I hate it? Surprisingly, no. It was still entertaining, didn't feel long despite its length, and it was a fun break from whatever else I was reading for the sake of being fun. It's not the most amazing book in the world, but I can see why people really enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I'll read the sequels... maybe if I'm in the mood. I definitely feel like I will continue to be bothered by the stuff that bothered me here, so we'll see if I feel like picking those up someday.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: This book was narrated by Rebecca Soler with one chapter by Teddy Hamilton at the end. I'm very familiar with Rebecca Soler having listened to The Lunar Chronicles multiple times and listening to her for other YA novels. Having her read this book was pleasant but also made me feel like it was more YA since that's what I most associate her with. Teddy Hamilton is the opposite, being mostly associated with adult books, primarily romances. I was warned before that Rebecca has a cold through part of this book, and it was definitely very noticeable but not as bad listening at 3x speed. It was nasal and jarring when I noticed it, but I kept trying to put it to the back of my mind, and then it went away. Probably far more irritating at a slower speed, and I didn't hear any other cold-related noises like other people said they did, again, probably because I was listening so fast. I thought the rest of her narration was very good, but some of her voices ran together -- including Violet and Xaden towards the end, which should be very different voices. I'm interested to see if Teddy Hamilton / Xaden will have more alternating roles in future books? That could make things more interesting.
Read Completed 11/22/23 | 3 stars
I picked this book up on a whim because of the cover (why is hot pink always so enticing?) and because it had high ratings. It was just a standard middle of the road thriller for me! It was entertaining but lacked the depth and twists I was hoping for. I don't always need a wild twist, but sometimes it's great to knock you off your feet.
I did see the final twist coming miles away. It was very easy to spot because the rest of the book was too easy if the main characters suspicions were correct from the start.
I picked this book up on a whim because of the cover (why is hot pink always so enticing?) and because it had high ratings. It was just a standard middle of the road thriller for me! It was entertaining but lacked the depth and twists I was hoping for. I don't always need a wild twist, but sometimes it's great to knock you off your feet.
I did see the final twist coming miles away. It was very easy to spot because the rest of the book was too easy if the main characters suspicions were correct from the start.
Read Completed 11/20/23 | 4.25 stars
Thank you to the publisher at Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the early listening copy!
THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR is the perfect holiday read without being a Christmas book. The story starts and ends around New Year's and also has some holiday vibes with some Thanksgiving and Christmas. We get to see a whole year, but I loved that this helped me get into a little holiday spirit without being ALL about the holidays.
THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR is about Sadie and how she wishes she could do over her Very Bad Year. She ends up getting a wish granted by a fortune teller and getting sent back to the beginning of the year to do it all over. I love cute little time loops stories and this one definitely delivered! We get to see Sadie do the whole year over, which doesn't come off as long as it seems, and learn things about herself. She tries to change how she acted and makes different decisions to try to make things better and ends up asking herself if all of these changes to who she is really made anything better at all.
There's also a lovely, sweet romance between Sadie and her brother's best friend. I loved the way this was set up in the time loop so we get a dash of romance nearly right away and then spend the rest of the book pining for him, so we have a reason to keep encouraging this romance. The ending of the book was so sweet and I loved the personal journey that Sadie took to really be confident in herself. She ended up doing what other people wanted in one way during her "original" year and then trying to do what she *thought* she wanted for herself in the "do over" year and had to find a balance in the right way.
My ONLY complaint was the amount of baking similes and metaphors. It was sooooooo cheesy in the beginning and had me rolling my eyes every time one popped up. I seriously cringed and hated it so much. It took me out of cute romcom and was going into cheesy cozy mystery (obviously not a mystery but how blindly theme-driven cozies can be). That settled down in the middle of the book but popped up in the end, and I got reminded how much I hated it. Sadly, that ruined the writing for me a bit.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend this one and had a lot of fun reading it! It was so sweet and very well written. The time loop concept didn't feel overdone or overused, and the romance was just lovely.
Audiobook Impressions: Helen Laser was the audiobook narrator here and I've listened to a couple other books from her, but I didn't even realize it. Along with those other books, I really liked her narration here! She reminded me of a lot of my favorites from the romance genre and her voice just really fit the book. I liked her narration of Sadie since this is in the first person, and I think she did everything else really well. Everything was very pleasing to listen to and this was a kind of narration that I'd seek out again!
Thank you to the publisher at Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the early listening copy!
THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR is the perfect holiday read without being a Christmas book. The story starts and ends around New Year's and also has some holiday vibes with some Thanksgiving and Christmas. We get to see a whole year, but I loved that this helped me get into a little holiday spirit without being ALL about the holidays.
THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR is about Sadie and how she wishes she could do over her Very Bad Year. She ends up getting a wish granted by a fortune teller and getting sent back to the beginning of the year to do it all over. I love cute little time loops stories and this one definitely delivered! We get to see Sadie do the whole year over, which doesn't come off as long as it seems, and learn things about herself. She tries to change how she acted and makes different decisions to try to make things better and ends up asking herself if all of these changes to who she is really made anything better at all.
There's also a lovely, sweet romance between Sadie and her brother's best friend. I loved the way this was set up in the time loop so we get a dash of romance nearly right away and then spend the rest of the book pining for him, so we have a reason to keep encouraging this romance. The ending of the book was so sweet and I loved the personal journey that Sadie took to really be confident in herself. She ended up doing what other people wanted in one way during her "original" year and then trying to do what she *thought* she wanted for herself in the "do over" year and had to find a balance in the right way.
My ONLY complaint was the amount of baking similes and metaphors. It was sooooooo cheesy in the beginning and had me rolling my eyes every time one popped up. I seriously cringed and hated it so much. It took me out of cute romcom and was going into cheesy cozy mystery (obviously not a mystery but how blindly theme-driven cozies can be). That settled down in the middle of the book but popped up in the end, and I got reminded how much I hated it. Sadly, that ruined the writing for me a bit.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend this one and had a lot of fun reading it! It was so sweet and very well written. The time loop concept didn't feel overdone or overused, and the romance was just lovely.
Audiobook Impressions: Helen Laser was the audiobook narrator here and I've listened to a couple other books from her, but I didn't even realize it. Along with those other books, I really liked her narration here! She reminded me of a lot of my favorites from the romance genre and her voice just really fit the book. I liked her narration of Sadie since this is in the first person, and I think she did everything else really well. Everything was very pleasing to listen to and this was a kind of narration that I'd seek out again!
Read Completed 11/18/23 | This was such a fun concept but it really fizzled after the first third, for me.
The concept of the book is that three women all find out they're a part of a "story". They're taken from their real lives and put into a wild situation. The first woman is essentially trapped inside of a cozy mystery, the second in a slasher film, and the third in a dystopian novel.
Firstly, I think the mystery behind everything was more exciting than the actual reveal itself. I was most curious in the beginning where we started with Celia's story. She discovers that she doesn't remember her life, her husband, her daughter, and nothing feels like it's actually her real life. The town is weird, the people are over-the-top, and she thinks she's being drugged. That was the most interesting part of the book! We get the full chunk of Celia's story up to the tipping point, and then we switch to the next POV and follow suit. I really wish the three POVs had been alternating because I liked Celia's part and couldn't have cared less about the second girl. The third POV was okay, but by that point, I had already felt like I had read two stories that prevented me from getting to the good part and I just wanted the book to end so I could find out what was going on.
The ending was very underwhelming for me. Toss in an evil villain, a villain speech, and a nonsensical reason to create these WILDLY detailed and expensive scenarios for random strangers ... it was just weird and not justifiable for everything that happened. I didn't buy the ending. It tied up too neatly and easily with a fizzle.
The concept of the book is that three women all find out they're a part of a "story". They're taken from their real lives and put into a wild situation. The first woman is essentially trapped inside of a cozy mystery, the second in a slasher film, and the third in a dystopian novel.
Firstly, I think the mystery behind everything was more exciting than the actual reveal itself. I was most curious in the beginning where we started with Celia's story. She discovers that she doesn't remember her life, her husband, her daughter, and nothing feels like it's actually her real life. The town is weird, the people are over-the-top, and she thinks she's being drugged. That was the most interesting part of the book! We get the full chunk of Celia's story up to the tipping point, and then we switch to the next POV and follow suit. I really wish the three POVs had been alternating because I liked Celia's part and couldn't have cared less about the second girl. The third POV was okay, but by that point, I had already felt like I had read two stories that prevented me from getting to the good part and I just wanted the book to end so I could find out what was going on.
The ending was very underwhelming for me. Toss in an evil villain, a villain speech, and a nonsensical reason to create these WILDLY detailed and expensive scenarios for random strangers ... it was just weird and not justifiable for everything that happened. I didn't buy the ending. It tied up too neatly and easily with a fizzle.
Read Completed 11/16/23 | 2.5 stars, but rounding up because it was disappointing but not bad
PARADOX BOUND was a (very) watered down AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman with a little time travel. The AMERICAN GODS vibes were the only things holding my attention and I kept hoping for some plot development, but we really didn't get it.
The premise of the book is that Eli meets a mysterious woman, and he encounters her multiple times from when he's a child to his current adult age. She looks like she's from the past, driving an old car, but there's something else about her. Long story short, Eli joins Harry (short for Harriet) on her quest to find & protect the American Dream (because it's a real, tangible thing) and they can slip through time based on certain points in the country where the timelines grow stagnant and blur.
So the actualization of the American Dream becoming a real item gave me those AG feels (and it was given to the Founding Fathers by an Egyptian god, which sadly we only really hear in passing and don't get to know much about), and there's a sinister force of Faceless Men chasing after the good guys. I just.... I WANTED to like this. It's a neat concept, unique, different from other time travel books and a fun spin on a historical tie. I just never could get into it, mostly because I didn't know what the heck I was reading. The world-building and plot were minimal. There were a lot of things I had to take at face value because we were told but didn't really get to learn about in detail. I don't know why things happened, how they happened, and why everything was so important.
Eli was a good enough character, and as always, Ray Porter did a fantastic job narrating the audiobook to bring him to life. If I hadn't been listening to the audio, I don't know if I would have stuck with this book for very long. Harry was just fine. She was all special snowflake and I don't know... some things about her just screamed character and not real person (yes, she IS a character but I want to feel lost in the story).
Really, the plot just didn't do it for me and I didn't feel like it was developed enough. Very cool concept, some people really loved it, but this fell pretty flat for me.
PARADOX BOUND was a (very) watered down AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman with a little time travel. The AMERICAN GODS vibes were the only things holding my attention and I kept hoping for some plot development, but we really didn't get it.
The premise of the book is that Eli meets a mysterious woman, and he encounters her multiple times from when he's a child to his current adult age. She looks like she's from the past, driving an old car, but there's something else about her. Long story short, Eli joins Harry (short for Harriet) on her quest to find & protect the American Dream (because it's a real, tangible thing) and they can slip through time based on certain points in the country where the timelines grow stagnant and blur.
So the actualization of the American Dream becoming a real item gave me those AG feels (and it was given to the Founding Fathers by an Egyptian god, which sadly we only really hear in passing and don't get to know much about), and there's a sinister force of Faceless Men chasing after the good guys. I just.... I WANTED to like this. It's a neat concept, unique, different from other time travel books and a fun spin on a historical tie. I just never could get into it, mostly because I didn't know what the heck I was reading. The world-building and plot were minimal. There were a lot of things I had to take at face value because we were told but didn't really get to learn about in detail. I don't know why things happened, how they happened, and why everything was so important.
Eli was a good enough character, and as always, Ray Porter did a fantastic job narrating the audiobook to bring him to life. If I hadn't been listening to the audio, I don't know if I would have stuck with this book for very long. Harry was just fine. She was all special snowflake and I don't know... some things about her just screamed character and not real person (yes, she IS a character but I want to feel lost in the story).
Really, the plot just didn't do it for me and I didn't feel like it was developed enough. Very cool concept, some people really loved it, but this fell pretty flat for me.
Read Completed 11/14/23 | 2.75 stars
Somewhat cute but mostly pointless. I didn’t really feel like it added enough to Vero’s story/character to really be meaningful as a short and it didn’t really have that Vero feel as much as the Finlay books too. A little underwhelming how Vero & Finlay met. The little mystery was not quite funny/cute enough to make me “feel okay” about the lines that Vero crossed in order to solve a crime that was not her job to solve. I don’t know, it didn’t really endear her more to me. In fact, kind of the opposite.
Somewhat cute but mostly pointless. I didn’t really feel like it added enough to Vero’s story/character to really be meaningful as a short and it didn’t really have that Vero feel as much as the Finlay books too. A little underwhelming how Vero & Finlay met. The little mystery was not quite funny/cute enough to make me “feel okay” about the lines that Vero crossed in order to solve a crime that was not her job to solve. I don’t know, it didn’t really endear her more to me. In fact, kind of the opposite.