quillnqueer's reviews
377 reviews

This is a truly weird story set in Seoul, and made me think of the concept of Hungry Ghosts. There's many characters, some the same character seemingly in different situations, or told from different perspectives. I felt that the note from the translator at the end really helped with gathering context, but even if I hadn't, I really enjoyed the ride.

I really dislike it when it becomes obvious that the author had a great idea for a story, but didn't know how to finish it. Told from the perspective of a live in maid, Estela, after an event causes the death of the child in her care, this is a slow, plodding story that I frequently felt frustrated with.

While Estela's voice isn't one I'd forget, I did get the sense that at times she could be an unreliable narrator, but this was never confirmed. I was never quite sure where she was telling her story from, and the shocking ending left me with unresolved questions.

This author doesn't have much experience writing middle grade, and it really shows here. The story has it's high moments, when Dhikilo finally travels to a fantasy world and meets the unusual creatures there it kept me reading, but that wasn't quite enough to save just how slow the first half and the last few chapters were. By the end I felt myself forcing myself to keep reading just to finish it.

The one where everybody is in a relationship now. This sequel requires a strong suspension of disbelief, as what is apparently a major God tries to take over the world via the means of... hiring a young reporter to write news articles for him. And the God just acts like some annoying dude for 400 pages.

The ending made the trek through the chapters worth it, as it got back to the Divine Rivals level of desperation and hope that I connected to so strongly. But the majority of the book very little happened other than Roman dealing with the amnesia trope, while seperated from Iris.

I slogged through most of this book in a fog of depression. I liked the concept of this, but I think I wanted more time spent during the epidemic, and the aftermath, told from Mary who was there when it happened, was an incredibly bleak portrait of the future.

This book frequently did it's Queer characters dirty, was fairly dismissive of the one named trans woman, and gay characters were left devastated or dead. This just added to the bleakness, and while I'm curious to see what the sequel will bring, I'm not sure I'll be picking it up.

I TRIED.

While the vast world and 400 page count intimidated me at first, I quickly got really into this story of Hell and it's librarian's hunt across different realms, with new friends and enemies in tow. The multi POV was used perfectly here as the characters all have such wildly different personalities, and the ending was so emotional as I stressed over the potential for losing any of them.

I don't know how a book written this well can be so terrible. City Of Circles has that poetic chaotic writing style like Starless Sea, and it sucked me in so fast. I fell in love with Danu quickly, and her raw grief at losing both her parents at once made me quickly care for her. But Morrie's obsession with her and the rushed ending really let this down for me.

At first, I liked Morrie and the comfort Danu found in him after the loss. But then I started to notice that while she saw him as a friend, he very much seemed to be waiting for her to decide she wanted to marry him. This took a dark turn when he started looking at her under the bedsheets, naked, and magically thought stalking her when she leaves for the city. I felt that this was painted as romantic and it was so uncomfortable.

I enjoyed Danu's time in the city, as she started to piece together the secrets of her parent's past. The city itself is vibrant, mysterious and chaotic, and I wish we had gotten much more time there. Towards the end, there was one scene that really weirded me out, but I loved the path Danu found. Unfortunately though, the end was too abrupt, leaving me with unanswered questions, and I left feeling frustrated.

I started reading this book the same week I started listening to Good Luck Babe by Chappell Roan, and the song encapsulates this story perfectly. Similar in tone to the Achillean Giovanni's Room, this story follows Red and Mara, two women in Second World War London, as they struggle to hide their relationship from Red's family and Mara's husband.

What made this story so interesting for me was Red's brutal honesty. While she seems to want to paint Mara in an ideal light, as the story progresses she has to come to terms with her own faults, and the failures that caused their relationship to break down. It's a complex, messy story that feels like someone's lived experience.

I was surprised by the ending, and the questions it left me with. We know throughout the book that Red chooses to marry a truly deplorable man, and I felt Red made this decision to punish herself for losing Mara. Unfortunately, neither we nor Red ever get any closure about Mara's future, and while that kept the realistic tone, I really wanted the answers.

There's so many series where I could say they would likely be better as a duology, but this series truly needed to be a duology. For most of Stardust and Poison, the story moves forward at a snail like pace, and this was hampered by the page count of both books totalling over 500 pages each. I started Poison thinking that we would finally see some action, but it actually felt slower than Stardust.

I don't think I've ever read a book where so little happens. Violie and Beatriz make moves towards Bessemia, and Daphne waits there in her mother's castle for the final showdown. When this finally arrived in the very last chapters, it was over so quickly if you had blinked you'd have missed it. After this, the story was quickly wrapped up and done.

I was so disappointed by the lack of character growth, and I wanted more of Daphne and Beatriz spending time with each other. They've been apart for three books, losing their sister, and I barely registered when they finally met again. The romance, story and background characters all felt lacking, and I left feeling like I wasn't rewarded for the time spent reading this series.