looloolibby's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jaymeks's review against another edition
4.0
Alex Bledsoe is a damn genius. With each book, he continues to evolve this world, by taking it in places I never would have thought could work. These books are funny, touching, heartbreaking, and poignant, all at the same time. They are simply works of art. I find myself captivated by the prose, not able to put the book down until I'm done.
This book was different from his other Tufa novels. With the ending of the last book, I figured it would be a heavy novel talking about ramifications and focusing inward. Instead, out of nowhere, we get a first person book about a New York actor?
Part of me was disappointed at the start, not starting in Needsville, but then I read page 3 and all my fears were whisked away. The story simply flowed, like a river trickling through the hills, and before I knew it, I was done (and already longing for more).
I can't say enough about how much I love these books. They're not books that I traditionally would think of reading, let alone enjoying, but I am damn glad that I took the chance. Can't wait for the next 2, especially the epic 6th one!!
This book was different from his other Tufa novels. With the ending of the last book, I figured it would be a heavy novel talking about ramifications and focusing inward. Instead, out of nowhere, we get a first person book about a New York actor?
Part of me was disappointed at the start, not starting in Needsville, but then I read page 3 and all my fears were whisked away. The story simply flowed, like a river trickling through the hills, and before I knew it, I was done (and already longing for more).
I can't say enough about how much I love these books. They're not books that I traditionally would think of reading, let alone enjoying, but I am damn glad that I took the chance. Can't wait for the next 2, especially the epic 6th one!!
ielerol's review against another edition
3.0
The Tufa novels generally manage to handle some of my least favorite contemporary fantasy tropes (European magical creatures in the Americas, rival fairy courts, magic kept strictly secret from the mundane world) in ways that I actually quite enjoy. But this one being the first told only from the point of view of a non-Tufa character, it leaned heavily on another of my least favorite tropes, in-the-dark main character takes way too long to realize the supernatural nature of things the reader has known since the beginning. And this time I found it just as boring as usual. I just don't ever care about the journey of being convinced that fairies are real.
Not that I didn't like Matt, but I'm just more interested in the Tufa community itself than in outside views of it.
I think my favorite part of this book is the suggestion that the Tufa might finally end up a little more known to the wider world. Maybe someday one of them can leave Needsville without being traumatized in a war or dying young.
Not that I didn't like Matt, but I'm just more interested in the Tufa community itself than in outside views of it.
I think my favorite part of this book is the suggestion that the Tufa might finally end up a little more known to the wider world. Maybe someday one of them can leave Needsville without being traumatized in a war or dying young.
valjeanval's review
4.0
I really love the Tufa, and I make a point of downloading the next book whenever I go to my in-laws' house in the Smokies. Bledsoe really does justice to this landscape and I love his fae interpretation. That said, this installment really needed more of those two thing. The switch to first person, human POV didn't work for me, and while I'm always happy to read more diverse characters, Matt often seems defined by little else other than his sexuality and refusal to do literally anything anyone asks him to do. Emily's storyline gets zero emotional investment, and I just wanted more Bliss, Mandalay, and Bronwyn. Giving it a 4 because I love the series as a whole, but this was not the strongest volume.
graff_fuller's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is the most cinematic story of this series (so far). Not to say it couldn't be a great TV series, but THIS one was SO visual. I was watching it in my head...as I read and as Marie read. We also had the audiobook, when we were both tired, or eating meals.
Again, like the previous books, this story had a different protagonist, but a LOT of the previous characters populated the story, too...BUT more than anything, this was an outsider story looking in.
The idea of a Tufa going to NYC and writing a play/musical about a true event that happend at the Chapel of Ease. We want to see this play, part Hamilton, part Rent.
A lot of the plot devices were used in this story, as in previous ones, but to different effects.
We are LOVING this series immensely.
Again, like the previous books, this story had a different protagonist, but a LOT of the previous characters populated the story, too...BUT more than anything, this was an outsider story looking in.
The idea of a Tufa going to NYC and writing a play/musical about a true event that happend at the Chapel of Ease. We want to see this play, part Hamilton, part Rent.
A lot of the plot devices were used in this story, as in previous ones, but to different effects.
We are LOVING this series immensely.
ryelle_77's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
vailynst's review
4.0
Notes:
Currently on Audible Plus
I keep forgetting to mention how much I enjoy the way music & dance are woven to be at the heart of the Tufa life. Love it!
Currently on Audible Plus
I keep forgetting to mention how much I enjoy the way music & dance are woven to be at the heart of the Tufa life. Love it!
hopejrc's review
4.0
Loved it. I was anxious for them to get back to Cloud County. I wanted more Needsville at the beginning of the story but understand he had to build Matt's character first.
celtdrgn's review
4.0
The Tufa series probably isn't for everyone, but I seem to be the target audience. I know this part of Tennessee well, and like the rest of the series, this book is filled with just absolutely delightful in-joke moments and cultural references of all sorts. There aren't many books where I find myself singing an old spiritual out loud as I read a scene. While I've found the entire series to be just plain fun, I had a harder time staying absorbed in this one in a few places. These are moments when it seems like the main character is about to get carried away by his urban cultural blinders to an obnoxious extreme. However, each time, the author has the character's basic decency save him from his cultural ignorance. The important thing isn't that Alex Bledsoe has written a fish-out-of-water character. It's that he's written a fish-out-of-water character who still makes connections despite cultural difference that are extreme. Each time I had a moment where I just felt like groaning, the author would serve up a moment of sheer cultural delight to keep me hooked, much like the rest of the Tufa series. I wonder if someone dared the author to write this one (no _way_ you can write a Broadway musical in to the Tufa series!), and if so, he's made it work, and made it fun.