bookforthought's reviews
714 reviews

Ok, so this one had been sitting on my digital shelf for so long I had almost forgotten all about it until I randomly decided to pick it up in the summer. Oh, the joys of mood reading... I was actually really excited about a Middle Eastern fantasy since it seems to be a setting I usually enjoy but, I'll admit, some of the reviews I'd read mentioning heavy politics had me worried for a minute. Seems I worried for nothing though, because I ended up liking this one a lot!

Everything about this book was fascinating: the plot, the setting, the characters, the writing... I also started listening to the audiobook because I couldn't bear to tear myself away from it while walking or doing chores. That's quite rare for me, so it was an excellent sign. The way it was all woven together actually felt new and refreshing, even though it builds on several common tropes and mythology. Still, it never feels that way, certainly thanks to the author's amazing writing.

The worldbuilding was a bit intricate and I'll admit to getting lost at times (and I'm still not sure about a few things), but I did like the focus on the politics and the relations between different social groups in Daevabad. I decided to just roll with it and enjoy the ride, which proved to be the winning choice as otherwise I would have ended up too confused to appreciate the settings and the relationships between the characters. Speaking of which, the characters were one of the things I liked the most here: morally grey, flawed and with plenty of secrets to hide... just what we like to read about! I will admit to rolling my eyes a bit when a love triangle reared its head, especially since I definitely wasn't a fan of one of the pairings.

Now, I did have some issues with the pace, which felt very uneven. After a great start, things sort of dragged along for a while and then exploded again towards the end. While the emotions stirred up by the end were plenty and made up for the slight boredom in the middle, it still felt unbalanced. Still, I had a great time with this and definitely hope to pick up the second book in the trilogy in the New Year!

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

I love a good murder mystery, and even better if it's a historical one. Sadly, Miss Aldridge Regrets didn't quite hit the mark for me. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad book, but it just felt very bland, repetitive and generally quite boring.

I did like the historical context, which felt very well done and detailed, and I particularly appreciated the introduction of the racial aspect and reflections on Lena's passing as white, as well as discussions around class differences. I also enjoyed some of the relationships that developed between different characters, which added something of interest to what would have otherwise been a fairly bland read.

Most of the story takes place on board the Queen Mary on the journey towards the USA, with occasional flashbacks to Lena's life in London and excerpts from the killer's diary. That being said, the characters mostly just go about their business, occasionally interrupted by a murder. They seemed to be just drifting along, with no sleuthing of any kind, and Lena felt especially passive, letting things just sort of happen to her, even despite being a murder suspect at one point.

By the time I got to the ending, I just didn't care about any of it anymore, and the final reveal did nothing to improve my feelings towards this. So, this one just didn't quite work for me, leaving me unsatisfied and bored, and I don't think I'll pick up the next books in the series.

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

As the long winter nights draw in, a heartwarming, cosy story is perfect for reading near the fairy lights with a hot drink. And this is exactly what Inspirational Wink and the Altogether Extraordinary Notebook was!

Inspirational Wink (better known as Good Idea) is sixty years old, quite ordinary and perfectly content having never left the farm she grew up in. When her father dies, though, her world is turned upside down by the revelation that her mother is a witch who used to possess a very powerful notebook which could destroy everything if it ever fell into the wrong hands. Good Idea's mother carefully hid the notebook many years before, but having grown old and weak is now unable to retrieve it, a task only her firstborn can undertake on her behalf. The only problem? It seems every prince, witch and demon in the country will be trying to snatch the notebook from Good Idea, making this quite possibly the worst trip ever... Good Idea will have to rely on a motley crew of hastily assembled allies and her own wit to carry out this task... and try not to be killed in the process.

I loved the characters! Good Idea especially was a fabulous main character. At sixty, she's not exactly your typical fantasy hero and she made for a perfectly reluctant hero, keen as she was to return to her quiet farm life, far away from all adventure. She's smart and caring, resourceful and extremely good at managing crises and thinking outside the box. I loved seeing an elderly main character rep in this novel, especially since it felt very realistic: Good Idea is strong and resilient (which would make sense after a lifetime of farmwork), but she also has frequent aches or gets tired and cranky when she has to skip a meal.

The side characters were also delightful! They were a really diverse bunch but I came to love each and every one of them, and I enjoyed every second spent with them. It felt as though a few of the characters received much more attention than others, making the latter come across as rather thin, but it really wasn't a big issue overall.

The plot itself is quite straightforward, with this being an almost classic Big Quest as the characters set out to search for the titular notebook. It's a cosy fantasy, so it is fairly predictable overall in its results but the journey to get there was still enjoyable, and the characters managed to surprise me a couple of times with the way in which they got out of a sticky situation. There is a lot of humour as well, which makes it even more pleasant to read and lends a whimsical quality to it. 

Overall, this is a cute and endearing cosy fantasy, perfect for a heartwarming light read on a winter night. I hope we'll see more stories set in this universe and have a chance to discover more of the absolutely delightful characters who were introduced here.

I received an advanced review copy of this book via BookSirens for free. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

In my last review, I shared how I was starting to feel a bit burnt out from Greek myth retellings so I was extremely cautious when starting this book, especially since it hadn't been that long since I read another retelling of Clytemnestra's story. I worried for nothing though, because Clytemnestra's Bind had me completely hooked right from the start.

This retelling started a lot earlier in Clytemnestra's story than I was expecting, all the way back to her first marriage with Tantalus, just before Agamemnon took everything from her - including Clytemnestra herself. What follows is a deep, painful and harrowing account of the life of this queen, forced to live with the killer of her husband and son, torn between her duty to avenge the dead and the one to protect her new living children.

I really appreciated the time the author took to explore Clytemnestra's character (who is also our narrator) and the build-up to the terrible events we all know, rather than simply retelling the exact same story. Her grief and multiple traumas are explored in great detail and really help to understand her feelings towards her children, and the sometimes tormented relationships she had with them. Her hatred towards Agamemnon honestly needs no further explanation, yet we are shown time and again just how horrible and misogynistic he could be.

The exploration and unveiling of the pervasive patriarchy in this society is something I particularly liked, especially in relation to Clytemnestra's own gradual awareness of it. Initially, she feels trapped in her role as wife and mother, hoping that by conforming to her husband's and the rest of society's expectations she might finally find the peace she longs for. And yet, this keeps eluding her and she slowly realises that it doesn't really matter what she does, because as a woman she will always be seen as inferior, an object to be used and discarded at will by the men in her life.
 

Clytemnestra's resilience and her mistakes, her slow growth into the powerful and vengeful queen we were told of in the past all contributed to making her a well-rounded and fully developed character, one that I had been longing for in recent myth retellings. I also appreciated the time spent with other often-overlooked characters such as Aegistus, as their relationship slowly developed realistically and organically, and Clytemnestra's children, with the seeds of future tragedy being planted and foreshadowed throughout.

Despite knowing the story fairly well, I kept turning the pages to see what might happen next and desperately hoping for a miracle. This is a testament to the author's talent in weaving a compelling story from a well-known tale and her gorgeous writing, holding me captive well into the night and thinking about the moment I could pick this up again during the day. I am really curious to see what she will do with the rest of the story to continue the saga.

This book also includes a very handy character list, which I expect would be really helpful to anyone who is not familiar with Greek myths and their many, many characters. Also, be mindful that this does get pretty brutal at times, so make sure to check the trigger warnings first.

Overall, this is one of the best Greek myth retellings I have read so far. Definitely one not to miss if you like the genre or even if you enjoy stories about powerful women in historical settings.

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley as part of the blog tour organised by TheWriteReads. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

The Great War may be over, but its haunting presence lingers on for Charlie Briggs, a crook trying to lay low in a small Hampshire town while waiting for the heat to die down after a botched job in London. But hiding out doesn’t mean he needs to stop working completely, even though riches seem scarce in town. So he can’t quite believe his luck when he spots a book so rare and so valuable it could actually set him up for the rest of his life. But will this last job turn out to be more than he bargained for?

I was completely captivated by this short story and its haunting Christmas setting. Charlie was a deeply unlikeable main character, someone who clearly had a hard life but made some extremely questionable choices to satisfy his greed much more than his need. And boy, was it satisfying to see that greed come back to haunt him.

The effects of the curse and the war setting were extremely vivid, with a slow build-up that kept me turning the pages, desperate to see its conclusion. Although I found this to be really well-built (especially for such a short book), the ending is perhaps what I found to be the weakest element in the story. I’ll keep this spoiler-free, but I felt it didn’t quite do justice to the great build-up to that point and had a (minor) inconsistency.

Still, it was a greatly entertaining read perfect for anyone looking to keep the spooky vibes alive during the Christmas season!

I received a copy of this book as part of the blog tour organised by TheWriteReads. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

It's no surprise to anyone that I love a Greek myth retelling but I have to admit, with new retellings being released in what feels like an almost endless stream, I have burned out a little on the genre. This is partly why I cut down on these retellings for a while but also why I've been struggling to write up a review for this particular book.

I was actually very excited for Atalanta to get her own book, as she is definitely a much-overlooked character and one I haven't read nearly enough about. This probably helped when I picked up this book because, contrary to Jennifer Saint's previous works (Ariadne and Elektra) where I knew the original pretty well, here I had virtually no expectations of how the story would play out beyond the main points.

There is definitely a lot more action in this book as opposed to the previous two, and I really enjoyed the journey Atalanta undertakes with the Argonauts and the challenges they have to face. Saint's writing is rich and flows nicely so it's always a pleasure to read. The settings are vivid and gorgeous, and the dangers many, so I was often sucked into the story, even though certain sections kind of dragged on and felt a bit too "filler-y".

The main issue I have with this book is essentially the same as with the previous two as well: they are marketed as feminist retellings, but there really isn't that much feminism in here. The female characters are barely given any agency beyond what was already there in the original. Atalanta is a wonderfully strong woman who grew up without any of the social constraints other women were subjected to, enjoys the favour of a goddess, and is keen to prove she is equal to the men who constantly belittle and undermine her.

And yet, she is very quick to adapt to social expectations, barely challenges the dominant power structures and easily defers to a man in everything. She is often passive to circumstances and the only work of deconstruction and personal growth she engages in relates to her romantic relationship, which is questionable at best. Most of the book is actually Atalanta narrating the male heroes' exploits instead of her own, even in those (extremely few) times where she is given a chance to demonstrate her superiority to them both in cleverness and skill. Passivity worked well with Ariadne, who was an entirely different character and made a different point, but it just clashes with what Atalanta's character is supposed to be. Once again, retelling a story from a woman's point of view is an interesting and important work and one that is absolutely necessary, but merely doing that is not enough for it to be a "feminist" retelling.

Overall I had some fun with this book, I enjoyed seeing a different myth being retold and it was entertaining enough, but not much more than that.

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

I read Little Thieves last year and absolutely adored it, so it was safe to say that Painted Devils was one of my most anticipated reads this year. Going back to this world to spend time with Vanja and Emeric was everything and I loved every moment!

The author has a way of just fully drawing me in, and I was so engrossed in the story I barely noticed time passing and completely lost myself in the book, something I've found hard to do recently. As with the first one, this book is full of humour and heart and it made me tear up several times - both from laughter and how touched I was by certain scenes. I loved that in this book we had the chance to find out more about Vanja's past and her family: seeing her talk about - but also confront - her fears and feelings of abandonment was truly emotional and made me feel all the more connected to her.

The way that the various relationships were developed in this book was fantastic. I particularly appreciated how Vanja and Emeric grew together, and the demisexual rep was a breath of fresh air. Intimacy and sex were approached in an extremely respectful and dignified way, which I found to be really well done, particularly considering this is a YA book that managed to speak so meaningfully to a young-at-heart adult like me.

This book managed to have everything I loved in the first one (heists! gods! curses!) while building on it in new and exciting ways. The worldbuilding and lore are also expanded on and enriched, known characters make a comeback and there are plenty of new ones to get to know. There's also a fair bit of battling social injustice, which is never amiss.

My only negative comment on this book is that after having enjoyed these characters' company for so long, and with that bombshell of an ending, I honestly don't know how I will wait for the next one to come out!

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.