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machelriller's review against another edition
3.0
Full disclosure: I was first motivated to read City of a Thousand Dolls because I saw its AMAZING cover. The novel matches its appearance: it too is beautiful. I was so swept up in the initial elegance of this book that, to be honest, my first impressions carried me through most of the novel.
I am talking mostly about the world building, which is just gorgeous. Miriam Forster uses southeast Asian influences to mold the history and culture of the Empire she depicts. It was so refreshing to read non-European inspired fantasy, but aside from that, she does an incredible job creating a mythology and history for her world. The world building aspects were far and away my favorite parts of the novel. I know that I will read Empire of Shadows, the upcoming sequel, just to get more.
Read the rest of my review here.
I am talking mostly about the world building, which is just gorgeous. Miriam Forster uses southeast Asian influences to mold the history and culture of the Empire she depicts. It was so refreshing to read non-European inspired fantasy, but aside from that, she does an incredible job creating a mythology and history for her world. The world building aspects were far and away my favorite parts of the novel. I know that I will read Empire of Shadows, the upcoming sequel, just to get more.
Read the rest of my review here.
gracexo7's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
lataylor10z's review against another edition
2.0
2.8 stars.
Very predictable and unrealistic ending. If I had read this in middle school it would probably have been a favorite.
When books have dramatis personæ that don't really need it, all my brain leaves me with is Colin Firth in a cold lake saying, "This isn't bloody Shakespeare."
Very predictable and unrealistic ending. If I had read this in middle school it would probably have been a favorite.
When books have dramatis personæ that don't really need it, all my brain leaves me with is Colin Firth in a cold lake saying, "This isn't bloody Shakespeare."
cancourtneyread's review against another edition
3.0
The first half or maybe 3/4 of this book was fairly slow and left me bored and uninterested. However, I persevered and as the book neared the end it got really intense and infinitely more interesting. Not a great book but the last half of the book more than made me desire to read the next.
sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
This was an interesting read. I liked the way Forster wove some real-world policies into her fantasy world. I would have liked just a little more world-building, but this story is so contained to the city, I can understand why there wasn't more. While this is a satisfying story arc without a cliff-hanger, the characters are interesting and I would want to follow them further.
victorianvalkyrie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kricketa's review against another edition
the premise of this book is awesome, and when i read the reviews i was really excited about it. then i started reading. there is a chart at the beginning to help you keep track of all the characters in all the houses, which made me nervous. sure enough, i couldn't tell any of them apart. too many minor ones. maybe they became important after page 134 but that is for someone else to find out.
also didn't love the tone, which seemed kind of naive & juvenile. and the tribe of talking cats was kind of...annoying? i know, i can't believe i said that either. i should be the first person to love a tribe of talking cats. i don't know. sorry book. i wanted to love you.
also didn't love the tone, which seemed kind of naive & juvenile. and the tribe of talking cats was kind of...annoying? i know, i can't believe i said that either. i should be the first person to love a tribe of talking cats. i don't know. sorry book. i wanted to love you.
trin_ney18's review against another edition
5.0
This book was really good. It had me guessing until the very end with its numerous secrets. I loved it. Though I am kinda sad that the next one is only a companion and won't be continuing on the same story I still think I will really like it. This book was a very fast read for me and kept me interested. I especially loved the cats' roles.
bookishnicole's review against another edition
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I wasn’t expecting to like it, and I honestly almost gave up when I was about 50 pages in, but I told myself I was just tired and that I needed to suck it up and stick with it. And so I did, and I found that I really enjoyed the book. I’m not really a fantasy person, the way that I like my fantasy is as close to reality as possible. By that I mean, pronounceable names and to be almost like the middle ages, but with magic. This book was not like that, at all, but I still found myself liking it.
This world sort of reminded me of China to be honest. There is a two child maximum in families, and so baby girls were not wanted as much because people wanted strong boys to carry on the family name. People from all stretches of society could leave their unwanted daughters in this place, The City of A Thousand Dolls, to be trained in one area and then sold off as apprentices, wives or mistresses. There is a caste society and an Emperor, so it’s a lot like old China and new China with magic. And talking cats, but we’ll get to that.
I thought the set up was really interesting. The whole idea of different houses with different purposes raising the girls for these different roles. A house of Music, Pleasure, Combat, and various others all worked together to raise these girls for a different purpose in life. Nisha, our main character sort of just floats as an assistant to the sort of house mother. This gives her access to learn from all of the houses if she so chose to do. I’m not sure that I really liked Nisha, and I can’t put my finger on why. She was kind and selfless, but she seemed a little too perfect in that respect. She also talked to cats, which was pretty awesome on its own, but still. Edit: I figured out what it was. She got her way with everything wayyy too easily and that irked me.
I loved the cats so much in this book, they were all so interested in helping Nisha find out what was going on in the city, but not only that, they were so protective over her and what was going on. I also liked that the plot revolved around the murders and Nisha’s attempt to solve them as opposed to a relationship being the center of the book. In fact, Nisha’s love interest was hardly a part of the book at all, and I loved that she had that individuality to not be focused on the boy she liked when someone was killing girls all around her.
I was surprised to find out who the killer was because there weren’t many indicators that this was the guilty party. Not only that there were a few other surprises at the end although we don’t get a lot of answers that I wish we had about her parents and such. I was still surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did, and I’m interested to see if Forster will revisit this world that she created. There is a lot of history that was explored and I think its possible for a lot more to come to light should she ever want to take us back into this world.
This world sort of reminded me of China to be honest. There is a two child maximum in families, and so baby girls were not wanted as much because people wanted strong boys to carry on the family name. People from all stretches of society could leave their unwanted daughters in this place, The City of A Thousand Dolls, to be trained in one area and then sold off as apprentices, wives or mistresses. There is a caste society and an Emperor, so it’s a lot like old China and new China with magic. And talking cats, but we’ll get to that.
I thought the set up was really interesting. The whole idea of different houses with different purposes raising the girls for these different roles. A house of Music, Pleasure, Combat, and various others all worked together to raise these girls for a different purpose in life. Nisha, our main character sort of just floats as an assistant to the sort of house mother. This gives her access to learn from all of the houses if she so chose to do. I’m not sure that I really liked Nisha, and I can’t put my finger on why. She was kind and selfless, but she seemed a little too perfect in that respect. She also talked to cats, which was pretty awesome on its own, but still. Edit: I figured out what it was. She got her way with everything wayyy too easily and that irked me.
I loved the cats so much in this book, they were all so interested in helping Nisha find out what was going on in the city, but not only that, they were so protective over her and what was going on. I also liked that the plot revolved around the murders and Nisha’s attempt to solve them as opposed to a relationship being the center of the book. In fact, Nisha’s love interest was hardly a part of the book at all, and I loved that she had that individuality to not be focused on the boy she liked when someone was killing girls all around her.
I was surprised to find out who the killer was because there weren’t many indicators that this was the guilty party. Not only that there were a few other surprises at the end although we don’t get a lot of answers that I wish we had about her parents and such. I was still surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did, and I’m interested to see if Forster will revisit this world that she created. There is a lot of history that was explored and I think its possible for a lot more to come to light should she ever want to take us back into this world.
novelheartbeat's review against another edition
5.0
Geo’s Top 3 Reasons Why City of a Thousand Dolls Was So Awesome:
1. Jerrit
2. Jerrit
3. Jerrit
So, I wanted to read this book really bad because the cover was amazing and it sounded cool, then when Inky was like, HEY this book is about a girl who can talk to cats! (because I somehow missed the cat part in the synopsis -JessiFail-) I was pretty sure I would love it. And love it I did!!! (I really don’t think there’s any possible way I could have NOT liked it!)
JERRIT OMG OMG. I LOVED JERRIT SO FREAKING MUCH. He has squeezed his way into the #3 slot in my top three favorite animal characters of all time (with #1 being Buruu and #2 being Grimalkin of course). I wish he was real so I could scoop him up and hug the crap out of him! He was the perfect best friend/sidekick character, and his loyalty to Nisha was endearing! He was always there for her to be her rock and her shoulder to cry on.
I really liked Nisha. She was easy for me to relate to (and she talked to cats, of course I’m going to like her). She screwed up a lot and tended to follow her emotions recklessly, but she had good intentions. And a good heart. She thought of other people before herself, even if mistakes she made affected the people she cared about.
Oh, and I adored Tac! He was quiet and mysterious, but for some reason I just thought he was awesome – and I found out in the end why….I knew there was a good reason!! ^.^
Because of the cats being main characters, this book tugged at my heartstrings! There were so many scenes were I AWWWed out loud, and in one scene I actually cried because something really awful happened. But there were just certain times when one of the cats (okay, mainly just Jerrit) would do something freaking adorable and I just couldn’t help but squee!
“You can’t fix this, Jerrit. You’re just a cat.”
Jerrit lowered his head, his tail drooping.
See what I mean? ADORABLE.
And of course, the murder mystery aspect was awesome! I didn’t really guess who the killer was (the suspicion crossed my mind a couple times, just didn’t actually think it would be that person). The motives were shallow, but justifiable. And I love how Nisha handled it in the end. Way to go, Nisha!
Oh, and I totally loved Nisha’s background! I figured it out pretty early – as well as the connection with the spotted cat tribe – but when it was actually revealed I was totally fist-pumping and yelling ‘I KNEW IT!!!’ instead of just feeling like, ‘Meh, I already had it figured out’ like I usually do in books I predict. And the revelation of Tac’s character….OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!! I let out a massive gasp (TOTALLY caught me by surprise! Didn’t see that one coming!) and was practically jumping up and down! XD (and okay I admit I may have gotten a little misty and squished the book to my bosom in a loving embrace….)
The originality of this book was amazing. First of all, the talking to cats! I can’t even think of one other book like that (except for maybe Iron Fey, but that was because Grim actually could talk, so that’s different). And because I’m a raging crazy cat lady, I was almost guaranteed to like it. But the rest of the story was just as good! The City with its castes and Houses was very unique, and I loved the setting with its exotic culture. It was very well thought out! Oh and the Sune were awesome!!! As soon as they were mentioned I wanted to see more of them (and I did!). I wish I could have known more about their culture, though.
Something else that worked for me was the infinitesimal romance. There were a few scenes where she met with Devan in secret, but they were short (not to mention few and far between) and the romance took a back burner to all the happenings. (As most of you know, I don’t care for too much romance.) I wasn’t really a fan of Devan, though – sorry Devan, but you were overshadowed by Jerrit’s awesomeness! And I didn’t like the way he acted toward Nisha after something happened to change her status. I understood because of the culture, but still. If he really ‘loved’ her, he wouldn’t have reacted so strongly.
The only complaint I have is that I would have liked to know more about the Empire and its background. I struggled a bit with putting some of the world building together. And maybe a clearer explanation of the houses, because I got the Houses and the castes confused a bit. I would have loved to see a map of the Empire, too! (I love maps!)
CAN WE PLEASE HAVE A SEQUEL, MIRIAM? PLEASE?! Or maybe a book about Jerrit? :D
Favorite character: Jerrit, of course! <3333
Favorite quotes:
They are wrong, you know. You are beautiful.
Jerrit’s words erased the last of Nisha’s urge to cry. Well, as long as you think so. She reached down and ran her fingers through the short fur of his head. Jerrit rubbed his nose against her hand.
If he doesn’t realize how special you are, he doesn’t deserve you. Not that he deserves you anyway.
SEE WHY I LOVE JERRIT?
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Plot: 4.5/5
Writing style: 4.5/5
Originality: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World-building: 4/5
Pace: 5/5
Cover: 5/5