tvislife's reviews
377 reviews

I’ve found it a lot harder to get into Mistborn Era 2 than Era 1, but that’s not to say these books aren’t great. They are great! But the whole early industrial revolution is a much less exciting backdrop than a more Medieval setting (at least, for my own personal taste). 

Wax, Wayne, and Marsai are at it again, and Marsai is the only truly sane and thoughtful voice between them. I think she’s the best character, and wish more time was spent from her perspective. As much as I enjoy Wayne’s chameleon-like personality shifts when he puts on a new disguise, and Wax’s broody intensity, Marsai is the true heart of this series in my opinion. I like her determination and the fact that she’ll insert herself into the conflict, even if she’s not always strictly wanted there (she’s usually needed). As far as the plot, it’s just fine, I’m more concerned with the characters who are all steadily growing on me. 

I look forward to seeing where it goes from here, but I’m not dying for the next one. 

Adorable little read.

The artwork, while unexpected, was beautiful. It made this short novella much more engaging, and I loved seeing the depictions of Cardan and Jude. Even the smaller illustrations of scenery were breathtaking, and I am so pleasantly surprised they were included. 

The actual stories were just fine, not overly exciting. I did really like the variations on the story of the cursed princess and her lover, and how the different versions applied to different points in Cardan’s life. Other than those, the stories were just okay, but I’m glad I finally got around to reading this. 

I barely slogged my way through this, and only did it because I promised a friend I’d read it. Dawsyn lives on the Ledge, a frozen wasteland with no real escape, where occasionally Glacians come pluck human lives for slaughter. 

I think when you combine all the main and side characters into one, you get one fully-fleshed out personality. Seriously, everyone in this book felt so incredibly bland it was hard to get through. The worst by far was Ryon, the life interest who had no defining characteristic other than the fact that he was a “half breed” and called Dawsyn “girl” all the time (ew!). I’d say I hate him, but to hate implies strong feelings, and he is so boring that I can’t even manage that. 

Anyway. Other than the fact that the characters are boring, I guess the idea of the story was good. I thought it was way too short and the descriptions were lacking (not that I actually wanted more of this book), but it just seemed very surface-level. I think this could have benefitted a lot from another 100 pages of character work and better descriptions. Oh well. 

This book had so much potential. A mermaid-like creature leaves the kingdom she helped destroy with the assistance of a plague doctor. As they travel, they come upon a village of murderous children and the surgeons they worship as gods. 

If I were to just judge this book off of the general plot and the vibes, I’d say it was phenomenal. I loved the spooky, introspective thoughts from the narrator, and the gloominess of the world they inhabited. The mystery of the plague doctor’s origins, and their general willingness to assist the mermaid were fascinating as well, and I loved their dynamic. 

Unfortunately, those aspects of the book were completely overshadowed by how confusing and annoying the actual writing was. This author was trying too hard to make this sound poetic or like some deep literary fiction, and the actual story got lost with the attempts at deep-sounding sentences or overly flowery descriptions that seemed to be randomly cut and pasted into places. I can think of a few authors that would have made this story great, but as it is now, it’s just not there for me. Sad. 

It’s done! A fitting, if not particularly surprising, end to the series. This book followed Death, who is the final horseman sent to finish ending the world, and Lazarus, who is hell-bent on stopping him. 

Look, you and I both know these books aren’t high quality. They’re all the same (scary, murderous horseman is brought to heel by a badass woman), but that doesn’t make them less fun. I knew how this would end, I knew there would be an ungodly amount of murder, and torture, and conflicting emotions coming from the horseman. But I still found it fun, and I’m still sad the series is over (even though I will likely never think of this series again). 

He does it again! Man, do I love Cronin’s writing. This book follows Proctor, a “Ferryman” who begins to realize the things around him aren’t as they seem. 

Like his Passage series, this book was bonkers and completely changes what I think it’s about as it progresses. Like, plots come out of left field, but also, it makes total sense that that’s where the story would go. I love that his books are unpredictable, and yet grounded. Even though they’re these epic sci-fi stories, spanning significant amounts of time and complex interweaving plots, at their core, these are just stories about family and love. And I love love! It’s moving, and heartbreaking, and inspiring, and I just can’t get enough of his writing. 

Quick and engaging read, super easy to speed through this. It follows Kell, a magician that can travel through worlds to the different “Londons” and Lila, a thief who comes along for the ride. 

I loved the concept of parallel worlds in this book. It had Kell traveling to different “Londons”, but all the Londons were basically their own things, and examples of how a big city might look depending on magic levels. I had thought that the worlds would be basically identical, but none of the worlds were the same (one was basically like ours in the past, one is full of lively magic, one is overflowing with dark magic, and one is completely destroyed by magic). 

We didn’t get to spend much time in any specific London, it traveled a bit so we didn’t get anything more than impressions of each place, but even those impressions were exciting to me. I see the potential for this series to get really epic and exciting, and I can’t wait for the next book. 

Entertaining continuation of the series! Hattie is forced into a marriage with the sketchy Mr. Blackstone, and she must make the most of her situation. 

I liked this one a lot! This one was heavy in my favorite tropes (dark misunderstood hero, self-made man, forced marriage, etc), and I thought it did those tropes really well! Hattie was not my favorite (at all) in the other books, but she redeemed herself here as an interesting character. And Mr. Blackstone? Hot. Hattie got on my nerves still occasionally, but I did really enjoy seeing their love blossom, and I loved the Scottish setting. 

Perfect for some light entertainment! This was the most sci-fi of all the Brandy Sandy books I’ve read, which was a fun little change. It follows Johnny, who arrived in a Medieval-like world with no memory of how / why he got there, and has to help stop some gangsters from fucking shit up. 

This was fun, but like the other Sanderson covid-projects, not at all what I’m used to with him. I did think the humor in this book worked more than in Tress, but this will never be one of the books I point to when I want someone to start reading Brandy Sandy. It’s very surface-level, and easy to breeze through—which is fine, but I’m used to a bit more substance from his works. I think he’s known for his unique and elaborate magic systems / worlds, and I just don’t think these special projects really showcase that. Still, this was a fun read, and I’m glad I picked it up! 

Sweet little romance. Cassie moves into an apartment with an oddball roommate who seems acts and dresses strangely. It turns out (shocker!) that he’s a vampire and had spent the last century in a coma, so he wanted a roommate to see what humanity is like now. 

This is a ridiculous, adorable little romcom. The premise is very silly, and the situations they find themselves in are equally silly, but it’s a good time! Lots of tropes and cliches, and the “conflicts” and plot choices are pretty predictable, but it’s still just some good fun. I’ve loved vampires since I read Twilight in the sixth grade, and this book is just another cozy little read to add to my vampire-guilty-pleasure selection.