simonlorden's reviews
1229 reviews

I've never watched iCarly and didn't really know Jennette McCurdy before this book, but I'm so so proud of her.

Definitely not an easy read. Absolutely horrific things are presented from the perspective of a child who thinks these things are totally normal, in a somehow entertaining and funny way. A narcissistic mother, being forced into a career you don't want from a young age, eating disorders (with quite graphic vomiting descriptions), and more.

Unfortunately I don't drink and I don't really have romantic relationships, so 80% of this book was unrelatable to me. I was also disappointed, because it's not really a book, or essays, or even longer blog posts, but mostly short jokes and doodles. I would have preferred a mix, or just, generally more text.

I liked this a lot up until the end, I think.

It's a fantasy world, but it's surprisingly realistic for one - war, after all, is very similar whether it's fought by monsters or planes dropping bombs. Even Roman and Iris's letters to each other would be the same if sent by post rather than magical typewriter, although it would be harder to receive them. Still, the little scene with Iris going into a magical shop was almost out of place for me, because magic didn't feel that normalized otherwise.

It's a war story, and as such it has its own horrible and terrifying scenes, but it's also a romance between two teenagers. I liked the romance, but I admit that the "big step" was way too soon for me, and it would have felt better in the sequel.

Gods and men will always let you down, I guess.

5 stars for the writing and story and all, but emotionally it's not a favorite because ow.

Maggie is as oblivious as Whyborne about other people's relationships. But she speedran her own because she knew about the whole Widdershins thing before the first kiss.

Not sure what my problem is., I'm just not really vibing with this main arc that is taking up the last several books, and probably the following ones as well. Also this one had A Lot of homophobia which is just a bummer.

This book was just sort of... dull. It's short, and there isn't much happening, so it feels more like the first chapter of a story than a standalone book, even in a series. The characters are not very deep, and their relationships are even more shallow. Apparently there's some romantic interest and friendship, but it's all told rather than shown.

Widdershins is Weird, but we love it like that. Mr Quinn is one of my new favorites.

It was interesting to learn more about international magic societies, since Whyborne kind of fell into it on his own and still new to the topic. I suspect there will be more consequences to so many people knowing about him now.

I feel bad for Miss Parkhurst though, somebody should really let her know Whyborne is spoken for.

By far my favorite in the series is this closing book. The pairing matches my tastes perfectly, but also this book had everyone from the previous ones working together and had a much stronger found family feel than the previous two. We also learn more about the two types of magic, and magic society is changed forever, etc. I kinda cried at the epilogue because wow, we've come so far.

Jack and Alan couldn't be more different as far as their statuses go. Alan is a poor working man who is supporting his family by illegal deeds to keep them clean and safe, and he has revolutionary ideas about the class war - but since sexual fantasy doesn't care about politics, he also really wants to be spanked by Baron Hawthorn. Their sexual roleplay in this book was incredibly hot, and so good for them.