Book Blog #409: The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

 

Title: The Burning God

Author: R.F. Kuang

# of Pages: 619 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead. Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation. Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it?

Review: This one is about as good as the previous book; high two stars to low three stars.

I was definitely more hooked at the end of The Dragon Republic compared to the ending of this book. However, I was more consistently engaged with The Burning God's story.

It's obvious Kuang has gotten better at story building throughout this series. She started narrowing the focus on the main trio in The Dragon Republic: Rin, Nezha, and Kitay. She continues this focus in The Burning God which makes it a lot easier to be invested in these characters. 

There's still plenty of flaw though. Some historical events dragged the plot (e.g. long army marches in dire conditions with no obvious contribution to driving the story forward), and some fantasy aspects weren't fully fleshed out (e.g. how do hamanistic power and Hesperian technological innovation measure up to each other, and how do you explain when someone overpowered is defeated by the other?). Characters are introduced only to live long enough to be a plot device and are killed off just as the readers is about ready to be invested in them.

Rin developed a bit more into be more power hungry and bloodthirsty....but also continues to be frustratingly immature and horny. She's not someone who I can love to hate nor is she some who I can respect for being logical or having a strong set of morals (she has always been wishy washy with what she cares about and believes in).

This is actually one of the few books/series that I've read where I've considered that it might have been better told from alternating perspectives: from Kitay's or Nezha's POV. I'm not sure where that would place Rin though since then she'd just be an extremely annoying character who rises to power from a lot of luck. 

Overall this series isn't worth the effort it takes to get through this triology (since these three books are also each on the longer side). The second and third books were definitely better than the first, but none of them were page turners. It felt like this was a series that needed to be reworked with a storyboard for all three books and more focus on fully developing the fantasy elements and important characters. 

Book Blog #407: The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

 

Title: The Dragon Republic

Author: R.F. Kuang

# of Pages: 654 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: In the aftermath of the Third Poppy War, shaman and warrior Rin is on the run: haunted by the atrocity she committed to end the war, addicted to opium, and hiding from the murderous commands of her vengeful god, the fiery Phoenix. Her only reason for living is to get revenge on the traitorous Empress who sold out Nikan to their enemies. With no other options, Rin joins forces with the powerful Dragon Warlord, who has a plan to conquer Nikan, unseat the Empress, and create a new Republic. Rin throws herself into his war. After all, making war is all she knows how to do. But the Empress is a more powerful foe than she appears, and the Dragon Warlord’s motivations are not as democratic as they seem. The more Rin learns, the more she fears her love for Nikan will drive her away from every ally and lead her to rely more and more on the Phoenix’s deadly power. Because there is nothing she won’t sacrifice for her country and her vengeance

Review: Slightly better than the first book, but not by much.

Major downside, this one is longer which means suffering longer through this story. If it takes me 300 pages to even get into the story, there's no way the book is getting 3+ stars.

My main gripes with this sequel continue to be with the character development and the plot.

Rin is still unlikable. Although her not having a clear motivation might actually be an intentional conflict in both books 1 and 2 and could justify poor big-picture decision making, her smaller-scale decision making sucks and is frustrating to read about. She's like when a movie's Rotten Tomato rating is a 6.0; not good but also not bad enough to love to hate.

I was happy to see some returning characters who I enjoyed reading about in book 1 (or at the very least enjoyed more than Rin). 

I was really happy to see Nezha again, but I really don't understand who him and Kitay are as people. Nezha used to be the cool enemies to friends (or lovers??) guy vs Kitay was the annoying goodie two shoes, Hermione-esque friend. But this seems to get thrown out the window by the end of this book; Nezha is a Rin-simp until he's not, Kitay a rule follower until he's not. What do you mean that Nezha will do anything for Rin and also publically defies his father in strategic meetings when in the end he betrays Rin by literally stabbing her in the back? This isn't so much as a surprising, well planned betrayal as a complete 180 for the character that doesn't make sense at all.

Although I wasn't a huge fan of Kitay in the first book (rule followers are boring), I enjoyed him way more once Rin and Kitay had their anchor bond. Kitay's characterization also is all over the place which means he turned into a non-rule following, logical man. Now that they're literally bonded, this is as close as I'm guessing the reader will get to Rin ACTUALLY developing a close relationship with someone (whether it be platonic or romantic).

However, I have major gripes with their characterization. For example, Rin is supposed to have close relationships with some of the people, but the only reason why the reader knows is because of explicit verbal declarations of love rather than Kuang writing in scenes that build characters' emotional connection.

A lot of supporting characters are clearly just plot devices, and it shows. My theory is that Kuang wrote in too many characters in book 1 and realized she had to do some culling of her own once they served their purpose.

Rin is too OP with her genocidal-level fire power? Just slap a seal on her powers so she can't use it for most of the start of the book and force the reader to experience normal warfare scenes! The Cike characters are now irrelevant because Kuang decided to develop the Rin x Nezha x Kitay trio? No problem; just break up Cike and don't mention them until Rin needs them, then kill them all off! Really I don't see why Ramsa's death had to be a SUICIDAL distraction. And will all this talk about how hard it is cull the Cike, Suni and Baji were sure captured and executed easily. They should have at least gone out "guns" blazing.

Although I continue to not know much about the historical events that this series is based off of, it's way too clear that Kuang has some goal in mind that she's trying to reach and/or a historical framework that she's trying to mold the story into.  

Rin (who's supposedly paralleling Mao Zedong) is unnecessarily unsympathetic toward the common man that she sees on the Dragon Warlord's campaign. Her declaration that the people are too stupid to govern themselves (even in the face of valid, logical counter arguments from people she trusts) felt forced just to fit her into the Mao Zedong mold.

If you enjoyed the first book then you should keep reading the second. I am not in that boat, and the first half was definitely 2 star material. The last 200 pages were actually somewhat entertaining despite the flaws, which might've actually put it into low 3 star territory if Kuang was better and tying this whole story together. 

Book Blog #405: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

 

Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Author: V.E. Schwab

# of Pages: 442 (hardcover)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: France, 1714: In a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

Review: I went in expecting a fantasy romance and instead got a contemplative contemporary laced with magical realism. But the best part is I fell in love with this story more than I expected. 

This story was basically a big hypothetical scenario on what would life looked like if you had unlimited time (which most people wish they had more of) but no one remembered you (what many fear will happen in death). It makes me feel existential in the best way possible but also inspired; if Addie can still find beauty in being alive after 300 years then so can everyone else in our relatively short lives.

This book is pretty reads slowly in that there's a lot of nostalgic, vibes based writing that isn't directly related to the plot (the book would be 1/3 shorter if we cut out all the "fluff"). Although I wished the plot was a bit stronger, I actually liked the fluff in this case. The dialogue was simplistic, but the descriptions were so cinematic that captures not only the visual aspect but emotional as well. This is one of the few books I've read where the experience felt more like a movie in my mind.

Some parts actually reminded me of A Little Life, partially because both showcase the romantic aspects of NYC, but also because the story would jump between perspectives (but for this book, it's all in third person) and time. These latter two were actually downsides for me and almost made me want to give this book 3 stars (the chapters are short, so ever perspective change and/or time skip kept breaking my immersion).

I was really invested in learning more about Addie, the demon with whom she make a bargin, and the young man at the bookstore (no spoilers!) and how at least the former two are morally grey. I also really enjoyed reading about their relationships especially in the last 1/3 of the book. 

However, the magical realism aspect of this story is pretty weak; the story is best enjoyed if you DON'T think too much about the rules. The rules aren't even clear to Addie, which is fine, but even by the end it's pretty ambiguous to the reader and feels like there's conflicting examples on when the curse does/doesn't apply. 

Got a bit emotional at the end thinking about mortality. Would recommend for people who like feeling existential and are okay with sad reads.

Book Blog #401: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

 

Title: The Poppy War

Author: R.F. Kuang

# of Pages: 530 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. But surprises aren’t always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school. For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . . Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

Review: I heard rave reviews both online and irl, but I don't understand the hype. I was ready for a dense adult high fantasy, but instead The Poppy War is an unserious YA historical fiction with magical/religious elements. 

Part 1 (aka the first 200 pages) was suffering through some shallow exposition that honestly felt like some blend of Harry Potter/Divergent/<insert your popular YA fantasy sci-fi book here>. The plot points during this part are very predictable (classic underdog heroine takes on seemingly impossible tasks! story).

Kuang introduces a lot of characters without diving deeper into their characters and their interpersonal relationships. Even the protagonist Rin is incredibly generic; a hormonal teenager who doesn't really know who she likes/loves/cares about and what motivates her since she's some random orphan who doesn't have commitments other than surviving. 

The pacing of the story picked up quite a bit in Part 2 and 3. There's significant war events that happen and plenty of gore-y descriptions that can keep the reader interesting, By this point I could appreciate some of the characters a bit more (surprisingly I really liked Nezha and Rin's relationship since it's more complex than just straight a enemies/friends/mentor/idol relationship that Rin has with other characters). 

Overall I wished there was more focus on interpersonal relationships and more unique world building than just relying/repackaging Chinese history. I didn't know too much about this part of history but I would have preferred a more original story that was loosely inspired by real Chinese culture; I kept wondering if I was missing something by mostly missing the references to real foods/events/countries. 

The story doesn't end in a cliff hanger per se, but there's a lot that unresolved. But when I finished the book I found that I didn't really care about what happened next. I won't be reading the other two books in a hurry.

Book Blog #398: To Drown Among The Stars by L.K. Frost

 

Title: To Drown Among The Stars

Author: L.K. Frost

# of Pages:

Genre: Adult, Romance, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: In an unprecedented turn of events, Bastion emerges from his Trial of Knighthood a failure. Certain the gods have abandoned him, he travels down the coast on a leave of absence, looking for solitude. Instead, he walks into trouble in the wake of a series of pirate attacks on seaside villages, where he meets Ulla, a deaf dragon-kin healer with secrets of her own. Despite their initial, disastrous meeting, they’re drawn together by their mutual loneliness. Then, they discover the attacks aren’t random - they’re coordinated. The pirates are planning a large-scale attack on Moonwatch, the kingdom’s naval base, with the intent of stealing an ancient secret. Together, Bastion and Ulla race to Moonwatch only to learn the commander has been drawn away by the attacks. Unable to deny his duty or his very nature, Bastion takes command of their diminished forces in the face of a pirate fleet armed with a mysterious weapon. When Ulla is wounded, the world comes crashing down on Bastion and he must reveal his darkest secret to save her, even though it may mean losing her, after all.

Review: I received an ARC directly from the author. 

To Drown Among the Stars had a lot of potential (the premise sounded interesting to me!) but unfortunately it fell short of expectations.

Each scene in isolation is pretty decently written (immersively descriptive) but the transitions between them were abrupt or the catalyst in a change of action seemed random and unrealistic. Multiple times throughout the story, Bastion ends up wandering around for time to think or for some unexplained "leave of absence" that didn't feel nature with the flow of the greater story. 

The writing was too verbose on aspects that don't matter. Instead of spending a few sentences describing an empty pint rolling along the ship floor, those lines could've been spent doing more world building or moving the plot forward. I actually had to check if this was a sequel in a series because it read as if world building and character backstories were covered in a previous book.

The characters are not fully developed; they felt flat. The reader is told by other characters how they would characterize Bastion (a man of high moral character), but the story didn't show his personality. Am I supposed to view him as a young knight-to-be who's still building his confidence? or an experienced swordsman with authority? The characterization flipped flopped between the two personas without a it being clear on what type of person Bastion is supposed to be. 

The romance between the main characters came off more as infatuation rather than actual romance (there's a lot of focus on how Bastion feels when he's interacting with Ulla, and not as much about what he loves/cares about her as he spends more time with her). Despite being depicted as independent and capable, the female lead Ulla is just a narrative accessory for Bastion's journey rather than a fully autonomous character.

While I was excited to read this, I had a hard time staying engaged in the story and feeling invested in the characters. There's some major improvements that I'd want to see before I recommended this book to someone.

Book Blog #390: Manacled by SenLinYu

 

Title: Manacled

Author: SenLinYu

# of Pages: 945 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Harry Potter is dead. In the aftermath of the war, in order to strengthen the might of the magical world, Voldemort enacts a repopulation effort. Hermione Granger has an Order secret, lost but hidden in her mind, so she is sent as an enslaved surrogate to the High Reeve, to be bred and monitored until her mind can be cracked.

Review: This is the OG fanfic that SenLinYu later reworked and published as Alchemised late last year. Since I already read, loved, and reviewed Alchemised, I won't repeat those thoughts here since the overall plot is the same and instead do some compare/contrast. 

There's more sex scenes. I was surprised on how non-smutty Alchemised was based on my general impression of fanfics, but in the OG fanfic, there's a lot more (not too graphic) sex scenes, more aligned with what I initially expected.

Draco is sweeter than Kaine. There were moments where I was "kicking my feet and screaming" over Draco x Hermione moments vs Kaine x Helena moments. This might be related to my previous scenes; more sex is a result of having more loving moments between the two main characters. 

Manacled isn't as dark as Alchemised. I was impressed to learn that the world building SenLinYu did in Alchemised is actually gorier than the Harry Potter components incorporated in Manacled. This is most noticeable when comparing the "evil" side's fight strategies and torture methods.

Alchemised is still the best iteration of the story. Both would benefit from more editing (fluff in the beginning that could be slimmed down). In retrospect, you can tell the SenLinYu selected key moments from this fanfic and tried to fit them into the new world they built, but these moments flow more organically in the original fanfic.

- A key example of this is how Harry x Ron x Hermione is already a known tight knit trio, so moments referencing their friendship as a key plot point makes sense in Manacled but feels weaker in Alchemised when they're Luc x Soren x Helena. 

It was fun to be able to experience this story again with the original Harry Potter premise. I would recommend most people to just read Alchemised and to only consider reading Manacled in additon if you loved Alchemised and wanted to read some "deleted" (edited out) scenes.

Book Blog #389: Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 

Title: Midnight Library

Author: Matt Haig

# of Pages: 288 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?

Review: The Midnight Library's plot feels like something I've read/watched before. 

I kept thinking that there must have been an early 2000s feel-good movie that had a similar plot, but then I realized there's a ton of media out there that involves reflecting on your life choices (one being The Five People You Meet in Heaven). 

The point being: the premise of this book is hardly original, but I was hoping that Matt Haig would add some new to the concept. Unfortunately, I was disappointed; the ending and message for this type of "reflective" story is fairly predictable. 

Nora, the protagonist, felt like a mouth piece for the author to spout some Thoreau quotes and ramble some inspiration philosophy. The reader is supposed to be learning and growing with Nora, but then suddenly Nora is lecturing someone on something she barely just realized/learned! Her character growth didn't feel organic. 

That being said, some of the imagery was quite beautiful; it would probably be a better movie than a book. I was actually surprised it wasn't already a movie, but apparently it was just announced this month that it's being adapted into a movie. I suppose we are all on the same page after all. 

This was a 2 star to maybeeee low 3 star for me. It didn't make me feel anything (except scared in the middle, but this is likely because of my overactive imagination making some scenes more dramatic than they actually are, especially considering horror is NOT one of the book's genres), and I didn't gain anything from read this book.

It's not a BAD book, but I spent most of my time not enjoying reading it. Wouldn't recommend this book in a hurry unless the premise already sounds like it's up your alley.

Book Blog #387: Alchemised by SenLinYu

 

Title: Alchemised

Author: SenLinYu

# of Pages: 1030 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed. In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive. According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit? To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.

Review: This was a very solid read IF you're reading it from the perspective that it originated a Harry Potter universe Draco x Hermione fanfic. 

As a stand alone book, the character development is actually quite weak. I haven't read the original fanfic Manacled (although I'm tempted to read it just so I can compare), but presumably SenLinYu relied on the character/relationship building from the original Harry Potter series that is now missing in this new world she created. 

The story also READS like a fanfic, and not just because of the romance (in fact, although the romance is a prominent part, there were less romantic/smut sections than I would expect from a fanfic). The characters were overly expressive and descriptions of their expressions were repetitive (e.g. characters often have their face contoured in rage, which read as an over dramatized and unrealistic).

But from the perspective of a fanfic, the story is quite good and insanely addictive. Since I care about Harry Potter characters like Hermione, Draco, Harry, Ron, etc, I was invested in their continued story through this book (it's pretty obvious to tell who is who even with their names/descriptions slight changed). 

Despite being over 1k pages, I flew through this book (Part 3 I read in one sitting!). Part 1 was repetitive and slower to get through mostly because the world building isn't clearer until later in the book (so up to you if reading 200+ pages before really getting immersed in the world. 

Solidly a 4 star read, but I would only recommend it if you're familiar with the Harry Potter characters.

Book Blog #383: Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu, Vol. 1 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

 

Title: Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu, Vol. 1

Author: Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

# of Pages: 401 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Adventure, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedication and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise, can also fall...and fall he does, cast from the Heavens again and again and banished to the mortal realm. Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time. Now only a lowly scrap collector, he is dispatched to wander the earthly realm to take on tasks appointed by the heavens to pay back debts and maintain his divinity. Aided by old friends and foes alike, and graced with the company of a mysterious young man with whom he feels an instant connection, Xie Lian must confront the horrors of his past in order to dispel the curse of his present.

Review: I was pitched that this story was a gay romance, which is why I wanted to give this story a shot since I was craving a good romance. But somehow I ended up reading a fantasy-adventure horror comedy instead?

I wouldn't even call this first volume of this series romance; when they say it's slow burn, they mean across the WHOLE series apparently. But I didn't even have an issue with the romance being slow burn (it actually is moving faster than I expected). The bigger issue is that the plot is ALSO slow.

My dislike for this book could also be chalked up to a bad translation. There's a lot of concepts/terminology that weren't translated in a way that's easy for the reader to understand without having some Chinese cultural/historical knowledge, and the prose was choppily written to the point where I had to reread sections that were phrased weirdly. 

I also did not expect this book to actually be a poorly written YA. Any mysteries are revealed in long monologues by one of the characters, and it's just not engaging nor organic to be told rather than shown the whole plot. 

I'm curious on if the romance progresses in the latter books. The male love interest is actually a character I really liked (very cool yet soft personality), and he was one of the more redeeming parts of the book. However, I'm still undecided on whether I'll continue reading (definitely need a break after slogging through this one). I wouldn't recommend this book. 

Book Blog #382: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

 

Title: The Poet Empress

Author: Shen Tao

# of Pages: 387 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic lost to all except the powerful. Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves. Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel heir of the beautiful and brutal Azalea House. But in a twist of fate, the palace stands on the knife-edge of civil war with Wei trapped in its center…at the side of a violent prince. To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself. Even if it means becoming a poet in a world where women are forbidden to read—and composing the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of death...and love.

Review: Reading The Poet Empress made me feel like I'd been punched in the gut.

As an enjoyer of imperial court dramas (shout out to K-dramas Empress Ki and Scarlet Heart: Ryeo, and even the video game Road to Empress), this seemed like something right up my alley. I love it all, particularly the court politics that is inevitably tied up with some romance plot with a prince or a king. 

If you didn't know anything about this book going in, it's easy to see how this book could be no different; some romance book mixed with crafty deceit. The author Tao actually does a great job in telling this story in a way that makes it incredibly obvious where she COULD have leaned into the romance aspect of the story (it was practically writing itself in my head). But while she toes this line with her writing, don't be fooled: this is NOT romance. 

This book is actually about power, family, and duty. There's the power struggle and the court politics that I love. While Frozen (yes the Disney movie) is a VERY different story, The Poet Empress is similar in that there's a significant focus on complex sibling relationships. They also both do a great job at demonstrating that stories about sibling love can be just as captivating as those about romantic love.

By at least 50% in, the story will have you hooked and racing to the end. The story is told non-linearly, so I initially was skeptical that I was going to like this book. I kept putting it down in the first 30%, but then suddenly I jumped to 60%, then the end! It felt like I was with this characters forever from what they went through, but it only took me ~2 days to get through this book (which is fast for a book this length).

Some of the story read like it was being told rather than shown to the reader, so I was bracing myself for the story to end predictably. However, I ended up being surprised in ways I never would have guessed, so the end solidified this as a solid 4 star read rather than the initial high 3, low 4 star rating I was initially considering. 

I would highly recommend this book.

Book Blog #381: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

 

Title: The Song of Achilles

Author: Madeline Miller

# of Pages: 369 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: The legend begins... Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. “The best of all the Greeks”—strong, beautiful, and the child of a goddess—Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yet despite their differences, the boys become steadfast companions. Their bond deepens as they grow into young men and become skilled in the arts of war and medicine—much to the displeasure and the fury of Achilles’ mother, Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece, bound by blood and oath, must lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Review: I finally understand the hype.

I was reluctant to read this book because I already read Miller's more recent book Circe (which was also hyped up) and thought it was...just okay. I wasn't a huge fan of how she balanced the original mythology and the fictional aspect (I actually wanted MORE of the fictionalized aspect), and Circe isn't a particularly likable nor interesting person.

ON THE OTHER HAND, The Song of Achilles has a VERY likable main character. Don't be fooled by the title, the narrator is Patroclus, Achilles's close companion (and likely lover according to the actual mythology). While Patroclus is relatively unknown (I didn't know who he was at all) and comes of as meek and uninteresting as Circe in the beginning, the reader will see that he's just a really well-intended, caring person, and faithful companion to Achilles. 

I didn't know how Achilles's nor Patroclus's stories ended, and even though the ending is intentionally predictable, I was flying through this book on the edge of my seat praying for a good ending for this duo. The start of the book is way more romance heavy than I expected from Miller's writing, but this was exactly what I was hoping for so it's was very pleasant read. 

The middle portion, or whenever Miller went into recounting war events/logistic/politics that are necessary for staying true to the mythology, went a bit slower for me. This is why this book is getting 4 stars instead of 5; for both Circe and The Song of Achilles, there's aspects of the myth's retelling the read more like a nonfiction recounting of events rather than something the reader can be immersed in (aka good fictional storytelling). 

However, this was less of a problem in The Song of Achilles since Miller included more fictional aspects in the book (or at least I presume) with many interactions between Achilles and Patroclus (which I doubt the original myths wasted their time with). I blazed through the last half, and it wasn't even as romance focused; it was just a really gripping, fast paced story.

Achilles and Patroclus's story reminds me of the second-to-last song from the musical Hadestown (retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice) where even though we know the ending of the Greek mythology stories, we want to tell them again and again because they are so hopeful, even if they may end in tragedy. The Song of Achilles is no exception to this; I feel like sad and hopeful at the same time after finishing this book but loved the journey it took me through. 

This is a solid if not high 4 star read; I would highly recommend!

Book Blog #364: Mate by Ali Hazelwood

 

Title: Mate

Author: Ali Hazelwood

# of Pages: 457 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Serena Paris is orphaned, pack-less, and one of a kind. Coming forward as the first Human-Were hybrid was supposed to heal a centuries-long rift between species. Instead, it made her a target, prey to the ruthless political machinations between Weres, Vampyres, and Humans. With her enemies closing in on her, she has only one option left—if he’ll have her. As Alpha of the Northwest pack, Koen Alexander commands obedience. His authority is so absolute, only a fool would threaten his mate. It doesn’t matter if Serena doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, nothing will stop him from keeping her safe. But power-hungry Vampyres and Weres are not the only threats chasing Serena. Sooner or later, her past is bound to catch up with her—and Koen might be the only thing standing between her and total annihilation…

Review: Not as good as Bride, unfortunately. It has the same addictive quality, but not as much. 

Bride already had its flaws, and Mate fixes some of these but introduces others. Serena and Koen actually spend more time together compared to Misery and Lowe (so the former's relationship feels more authentic). 

At the same time, Koen is a problematic male protagonist that makes me not want to root in the Serena x Koen situationship. He seemed blunt and cocky, but his confidence and charisma was still likable in Bride. But in Mate, his sarcasm and attitude toward Serena was super off-putting. It felt like the only reason why he cared about her at all is because she's his mate (rather than caring about her as a person). There's also the big age difference, which sometimes could be a non-issue, but Koen's (unlike Lowe's) Alpha personality came off as infantilizing (especially when Serena is new to all things Were). 

A lot of the problems the characters encounter come from character withholding information from each other.  Pretty tired of this poor communication trope and made me frustrated with Serena especially.

This could have been a three star read like Bride, but since I didn't love the Serena and Koen relationship as much as Misery and Lowe, I'm deducting a star. I'd only recommend reading this is if you already loved Bride.

Book Blog #363: We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida

 

Title: We'll Prescribe You a Cat

Author: Syou Ishida

# of Pages: 297 (hardback)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Tucked away on the fifth floor of an old building at the end of a narrow alley in Kyoto, the Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul can be found only by people who are struggling in their lives and who genuinely need help. The mysterious clinic offers a unique treatment to those who find their way there: it prescribes cats as medication. Patients are often puzzled by this unconventional prescription, but when they “take” their cat for the recommended duration, they witness profound transformations in their lives, guided by the playful, empathetic, and occasionally challenging yet endearing cats. Throughout these pages, the power of the human-animal bond is revealed as a disheartened businessman finds unexpected joy in physical labor, a middle-aged man struggles to stay relevant at work and home, a young girl navigates the complexities of elementary school cliques, a hardened handbag designer seeks emotional balance, and a geisha learns to move on from the memory of her lost cat. As the clinic’s patients grapple with their inner turmoil and seek resolution, their feline companions lead them toward healing, self-discovery, and newfound hope.

Review: 2025 has come full circle - I started my year off reading a cozy (as many of these popular translated Japanese novels are) book called Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, and the last book I finished on the last day of the year is a similarly cozy We'll Prescribe You a Cat.

Unlike Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, I actually really enjoyed reading this book; not sure if this is credit more to the original author vs the translator, but the writing flowed in a way that was easy and quick to read. The magical realism aspect (aka what is up with the Nakagyo Kokoro Clinic for the Soul?) actually made the book less cozy and more mysterious and at times unsettling (some characters can't explain mysterious behavior and attribute it to a building being haunted). 

The book at first appeared to be 5 separate stories of different people's experience going to the mysterious clinic. However, the reader will realized all these stories are peeling the onion on understanding how and why this clinic is operating.

Of course, as common with magical realism in Japanese literature, there's a lot of "magic" aspects that could have been easily proven/disproven if they used modern technology (why don't they just pull out their cell phones and take some pictures??), but these characters like to be aloof and just go with the flow. 

I'd recommend it as a quick read if you're already familiar and enjoy Japanese literature and the cozy style. At the very least, readers will enjoy the 5 mini cat drawings at the start of each chapter. 

Book Blog #361: Bride by Ali Hazelwood

 

Title: Bride

Author: Ali Hazelwood

# of Pages: 410 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again... Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was…. Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

Review: If I'm being honest, Bride is not a well written book.

If I continue to be honest, I still really enjoyed reading it. 

I've been a sucker for paranormal romance for years, and this was no exception. I was looking for an easy to read, romance heavy story, and this mostly fit the bill. My main complaint is that the build up is really slow (took days to chip away at the romance-less first ~50% of the book, but flew through the last half in one sitting). 

This book is definitely not going to be for everyone. Unlike the Shadow Falls series (young adult paranormal romance books), Bride is closer to The Fourth Wing in that large parts of the book are pure smut. Pair that with the simplistic writing (if only I had a dollar for every time Alpha Lowe's "pupils dilated" upon seeing Misery), sometimes these scenes came off as a bit cringey.

I read in Hazelwood's bio that she likes incorporating STEM topics into her books, but having Misery be a "software engineering major" and calling herself a "hacker" and throwing out random buzzwords ("fuzzly logic circuit") to prove how tech savy Misery was also pretty cringe and felt like Hazelwood didn't fully do her research to write about some in that field.

Characters also like to go on long expositions to tell you exactly what is going on or as an easy way to do character/world building. This makes it easier to follow along but doesn't exactly feel like an organic way for characters to actually interact with each other.

If you're a big fan of paranormal romance or romantasy like I do and want an easy read, this is a good book for you. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother.

Book Blog #355: Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

 

Title: Onyx Storm

Author: Rebecca Yarros

# of Pages: 527 (hardback)

Genre: Adult, Romance, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust. Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him. Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.

Review: Tell me your publisher is forcing you to write a 5 book series without telling me your publisher is forcing you to write a 5 book series.

All jokes aside, historically Yarros works are in the form of stand alone books or a 3 book series, so I can't help but think that someone saw dollar signs with the success of The Fourth Wing and force the monstrosity of Onyx Storm into existence. 

I started this back in February, so it was an over 5 month struggle to get through 527 only for the plot to BARELY progress. Yarros's editor really dropped the ball - if this book had to exist for $$$, at least help CUT OUT the fluff so fans aren't wasting hours of their time reading this nonsense. Save readers time, save some trees (for those of us who read physical copies), and all the while still lining the publisher's and author's pockets! What's not to love?

Violet and Xaden's relationship used to be addicting - the tension, the forbidden love, the whirlwind romance. But now I just want them to get a room; I don't need to have a more sex scenes that plot-important moments (if I wanted to read erotica, I would go read an erotica!). Yarros has seemingly already pulled all the stops to try to spice up their relationship, so we get some repeats - Xaden gets jealous, Violet's ex is in the picture, etc. It gets old, and I was not into it. 

Usually it's really boring for me to reread the recap/character reintroductions that authors intertwine into the latter books of a series, but this book really needed more of them. There's a lot of characters and only more get introduced in this one, so sometimes there would be a big reveal where someone surprising shows up, and I have no idea how I'm supposed to know them. 

The final nail in the coffin? First person POV switching. Not consistently nor as a one off in The Fourth Wing. At least 3 times randomly near the end with not a very good reason to do so, and without these characters having a distinct narrative. It should have been written in thirst person because the switching REALLY slowed me down even with my already slower-than-normal pace.

I would not recommend this book. At the moment, I'm resolved to not continue the series, but maybe I'll forget all the pain this book caused me by the time the next book comes out. 

Book Blog #350: Circe by Madeline Miller

 

Title: Circe

Author: Madeline Miller

# of Pages: 407 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft. When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe's place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home. There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe's independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

Review: I'm going to have high expectations for any book that has high ratings (4+ star average) and has won a Goodreads Choice award. However, I'm really struggling to understand the hype.

I can appreciate how Miller took a lesser known goddess from Greek mythology (Circe) and built out her story to highlight the roles she played in many famous Greek myths (think Odysseus and the Underworld, the Minotaur, the Golden Fleece). It's giving the same empowering-hidden-women-in-history vibes that I got from Hamilton (and is a common theme in many modern historical re-tellings). This concept, while not entirely original, was one of first popular Greek mythology re-telling I've seen since Percy Jackson.

However, this book is just okay. I had no idea who Circe when I started this book, and I had no idea where her story was going. Since she is immortal, there's some detachment from her narrative that isn't relatable to the reader. Her "life story" quite literally spans centuries, so there's no urgency since she has all the time in the world and more. The beginning half of the story really dragged because of the slice of life nature of it and is what caused me to take so long (almost 2 months) to get myself to finish reading it. 

Things pick up in the latter half, partially because there are more references to the recognizable Greek myths. It was a lot more fun to read when comparing how the original Greek myth compared to Miller's telling of it compared to the sludge that was Circe's character building (or lack thereof). 

You MUST read this book knowing that everything Miller is writing is in the framework of already written mythology. If Greek myths were written today, they'd get a lot of flack on their realism, character building, etc. A lot of the parts I didn't enjoy (e.g. a character's decision making is unrealistic/far fetched, events occur that are too convenient) are unfortunately part of the OG myths and have to be carried into this story as well. 

I can see how people who are really into Greek mythology might enjoy this book. I'm unfortunately not that type of person, and there wasn't enough original content to get a clear idea on whether Miller was particularly good at crafting a story. 

From what I've learned about Circe in this book, there's good reason why she is not famous - her story is not particularly interesting, and that's okay (and even part of the messaging of this book). But I think because of this, I don't think the book was particularly worth reading, and I question whether Circe was the story Miller should be retelling. 

I would recommend this only if you are already interested in Greek mythology/re-tellings.

Book Blog #345: Wicked: The Life and TImes of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

 

Title: Wicked: The Life and the Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Author: Gregory Maguire

# of Pages: 406 (paperback)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.

Review: As a long-time fan of the musical and with the recent release of the part 1 movie adaptation, this seemed as good a time as any to finally read the original source material.

It's very important to know that the musical/movie is a VERY LOOSE adaptation of this book. I went into this reading with the goal to:

- Compare the book and the musical (identify what's different/missing)

- Appreciate the decisions made by Maguire vs writers/lyricists of Wicked to tell a similar story in their respective medium 

This review assumes spoilers comparing the book to the musical/movie is NOT a spoiler, proceed with caution. 

I already knew the following qualities/popular perspective of the book that I ended up agreeing with upon finishing:

1. The book delves deeper on the politics/racism/classism. 

In the musical/movie, Elphaba is the only one who is exaggeratedly ostracized based on her appearance, despite featuring a diverse cast. It was more realistic in the book that most of Oz struggled with accepting difference between people from different areas, even those from "Winkie" country where the popular Fiyero from the musical is from are looked down upon by other people in Oz (including musical love interest Glinda, who in the book explicitly cites the color of Fiyero's skin as a reason to not have had an affair with him). 

The Wizard and Madame Morrible are more totalitarian in the book than the musical. I actually preferred the musical's interpretation of these characters because they were more nuanced than blatantly power tripping as they are in the book. 

The book describes more of Oz, including Quadling Country which is perceived as being less advanced economically and technologically, thus inferior and is seen throughout the book as a class of people to disregard at best and take advantage of at worst. The political parts of the book were actually heavier than I expected, already indicating that the book is less family friendly than the musical/movie.

2. The book features beastiality. 

Obviously there none of this in the PG movie/musical. But I heard before reading that this book was "weird" and goes into "graphic" detail about sex with animals. With my expectations basically set to "beastiality smut", I actually didn't think it was prevelant enough to require that much of a fuss about it. There's mainly this one scene where theres beastiality rape, and there are some details about how it happens. It's definitely not something kids should be reading, but this is something that most young adults should be able to handle. 

However, there were still differences that surprised me:

1. Elphaba was portrayed to be even more "different" than she is in the musical. 

The musical has the color of her skin be her primary difference with her peers (which is clearer messaging of the racism theme). The book goes farther to make her different by giving her razor sharp teeth as a newborn and even bring into debate her gender at least twice. It's unclear whether these differences are meant to be taken literally or if this is because of unreliable narrators (there's third person POV switching), but giving her sharp teeth made her seem more like a monster rather than a protagonist people could sympathize with. 

2. The main characters (Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, Boq, Nessarose) are not as interconnected as they are in the musical. 

This is more realistic than having everyone pair off (or create a love triangle) like they do in the musical, but it introduces a lot more "extra" characters that are not important to the driving plot.  I can appreciate Maguire keeping the tin man's origin story true to The Wizard of Oz book. I actually liked the how these characters are related to the origin stories of the scarecrow and tin man in the musical, and we get a happier ending in the musical compared to the book. 

3. There's a drawn out period where Elphaba is in The Vinkus in the book that is completely cut out from the musical.

I think the musical made the right decision for this one. While this helps justify how Elphaba becomes "The Wicked With of the West" (since Vinkus is in western Oz) in the book, there's not much that actually happen. The little character development that does happen could have been included but with much less pages. 

For a book of this length written in this denser fantasy style (and being a relatively older book, originally published in 1995), I was surprised how gripping and fast the read was, and almost gave it four stars. However, I think if I was not already a fan of the musical, it would have been hard for me to keep track of the characters, the different areas of Oz, etc, and I would have been less engaged without having something to compare the story against. This in addition to having third person POV switching which caused parts of the story to drag made me give the three star rating. 

I don't plan to read the rest of the series and would only recommend reading if you're already interested in the movie/musical AND have expectations that the book will tell a very different story. 

Book Blog #340: Every Day by David Levithan

Title: Every Day

Author: David Levithan

# of Pages: 329 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Romance, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Review: I really wanted to like this book, but I slowly got more frustrated with the characters as the plot progressed.

This book is clearly not timeless. First published in 2012, it was fun to see how much the world has changed since then. The heavy use of email and ignorance around gender and sexual identity are some example of this book feeling dated. Most people would know what being transgender refers to unlike one of the characters in the book who claims to not understand what it means to be male but biologically female. 

The fantasy concept used Every Day is actually very cool - the protagonist A switches between 16 year old bodies and has to live their lives for a day. The reader gets to see perspectives from teenagers of different backgrounds which is the aspect of this book I liked the most. There is a lot of handwaving in terms of explaining HOW this body changing works (maybe something explained later in the series?). It would have been better if this first book leaned into explaining the "fantasy" aspect rather than having the reader accept this bizarre situation A finds themselves in. 

The romance aspect is what I disliked about this story. The whole plot is around A falling in love with Rhiannon, who already has a boyfriend. If the reader still thinks The Notebook is one of the greatest romances of all time, then maybe this story is also acceptable. As for me, I find it difficult to "cheer" for A and Rhiannon's relationship while Rhiannon is still in a relationship, regardless on whether Justin is a good boyfriend or not. Even Rhiannon implies that her relationship is complicated (he might be emotionally absent and inconsiderate but this still doesn't justify infidelity on Rhiannon's end). 

A is a frustrating character as well. They arguably have more experiences than most 16 year olds yet somehow falls in love with Rhiannon basically on-sight and doesn't prove to have any reason to be so in love with her (at the expense of the people A is inhabiting) other than thinking that they can be a better boyfriend than Justin. 

Honestly considered giving this book 1 star as well just because of how weak the romance was, but I really did like the concept of living a different life everyday. Overall not worth the read and wouldn't recommend this book. 

Book Blog #337: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

 

Title: Iron Flame

Author: Rebecca Yarros

# of Pages: 895 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Romance, Fantasy

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves. Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules. But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year. Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

Review: Much better balance of fantasy elements and romance than in the first book. HOWEVER, there are some gaps in the story that don't get addressed (and reading through the Goodreads Questions for this book shows that some things go unexplained by the end of the book). 

One critical point from the Fourth Wing is that Violet must live for Xaden to live - this is reiterated repeated. However, at one point in this book, that notion seems to be forgotten. There's also a returning character who's actions and presence at Basgiath don't make sense...but I bet (and hope) that Yarros will make something up to justify what's happening in this book. 

Overall the writing is still sloppy, but there's enough world building and attachment to characters to have a successful series going here. Iron Flame could have actually been broken up into two books since the first half and the second half are so different (but the first half dragged on longer than necessary). 

This series is strangely addictive - despite it's flaws, I'll consider reading the third book in the series when it comes out. If you enjoyed first book, you'll likely enjoy the second book. 

Book Blog #313: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

 

Title: Clockwork Angel

Author: Cassandra Clare

# of Pages: 479 (paperback)

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos. Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own. Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

Review: I don't think there's much else to be said about this book that I didn't already say about Clare's The Mortal Instruments series almost 10 years ago. Both were written only a handful of years apart - I wasn't expecting any major growth in that span of time and unfortunately was not pleasantly surprised.

The flaw that gets them all - third person POV switching. Honestly, since it was in the third person, the POV switching was less offensive that other books I have read. I wouldn't hold it too much against it even if there was slight overlap with some of the POVs. 

What REALLY annoyed me though (similarly to The Mortal Instruments) was the main character, Tessa. Surprise, surprise, she's a huge book nerd. People who are writers have a higher likelihood to ALSO be big readers, so if I were to take a guess, Tessa has adopted the same love of books that Clare does OR Clare is pushing this character trait to try to make her protagonist more relatable. Try as she might, she tried a bit too hard, and it came off disingenuous.  I'm supposed to believe this girl can only relate to others through relationships she's read about in books, yet also has no problem getting along with the wide variety of personalities around here?

Speaking of wide variety of personalities, while each character is very different, many of them have one over-exaggerated quality that defines them. Will is "tsundere" type, Jem is the un-ironic version of the "me, an empath" meme, etc. It makes the roles they play in the story SO predictable. 

On a positive note, I knew this would be a pretty mindless and quick read because of Clare's simplistic writing style. She reiterates important story points, so it's easy to skim quickly through the book and still basically be able to know what is coming next. It was also pretty easy to visualize each scene in my head - there are a lot of "thriller/horror"-eque moments that I'm sure would play out as a jump scares if it every made it on the big screen...

Not the worst thing I've read, but not a very original piece of fiction either. I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you already liked some of Clare's other books.