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lunatic_jg's review against another edition
3.0
This book is really difficult to talk about. On the surface it's a story about Diana and Aedlynn. Diana struggles with sickness and past trauma while Aedlynn is used as a weapon of a powerful man while falling in love. In reality that describes probably about the first 20% of the book.
The problem I have with it is that the worldbuilding is so vast that this book barely seems to scratch the surface. I have no problem with books throwing us into a middle of a story with barely any explanation and letting us learn the world as the story goes. But this one had so much going on that it was impossible to comprehend every nuance of the world and I really wish the author actually spent a little more time building a clearer picture of the world, especially with Diana being such an easy vessel through which we could learn more.
My other issue was that while the book started as a two PoV story it didn't stay that way. Aedlynn stopped being a main character and became just another background character in the sea of them. It was frustrating because while Diana had the space to deal with her trauma and grow and become a stronger character, Aedlynn was pushed to the shadows right after the worst moment of her life and we were just supposed to accept that she healed enough to continue on. I found it especially grating due to how she was made to fit into the story afterwards, as an almost a cheerleader.
Diana frustrated me as a character only because how overpowered she was. It felt like every time something happened she discovered a new power that she had.
I really wanted to like this book more, especially that it had some really strong emotional bits and I'll admit it did make me cry once or twice. But it felt like it needed to be at least twice as long to have space for all the lore the author was trying to establish.
The problem I have with it is that the worldbuilding is so vast that this book barely seems to scratch the surface. I have no problem with books throwing us into a middle of a story with barely any explanation and letting us learn the world as the story goes. But this one had so much going on that it was impossible to comprehend every nuance of the world and I really wish the author actually spent a little more time building a clearer picture of the world, especially with Diana being such an easy vessel through which we could learn more.
My other issue was that while the book started as a two PoV story it didn't stay that way. Aedlynn stopped being a main character and became just another background character in the sea of them. It was frustrating because while Diana had the space to deal with her trauma and grow and become a stronger character, Aedlynn was pushed to the shadows right after the worst moment of her life and we were just supposed to accept that she healed enough to continue on. I found it especially grating due to how she was made to fit into the story afterwards, as an almost a cheerleader.
Diana frustrated me as a character only because how overpowered she was. It felt like every time something happened she discovered a new power that she had.
I really wanted to like this book more, especially that it had some really strong emotional bits and I'll admit it did make me cry once or twice. But it felt like it needed to be at least twice as long to have space for all the lore the author was trying to establish.
libraryofabibliotaph's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
At last, it's time to sit down and write my review. What a ride it has been...
I've read the first published version of ACOC way back in 2022. Although the story itself was chaos incarnate, I quickly fell in love with the characters. Since then, I've met Lauren on various occasions and I've become a big fan of her and her book. So of course I had to read the newly published ACOC 2.0. As always, I'll try to keep my review uninfluenced by all things mentioned above and spoiler free.
The story is set in a richly developed world, with lots of characters, species, deities, demons, creatures,... You name it. You can feel that everything is backed up by a complex history, and that every character is well thought through. While I love epic fantasy, and this story definitely is becoming one, it comes with a downside: sometimes it can be really confusing to remember everything and keep everyone apart. Luckily there is a glossary at the beginning of the book, and the author herself is very helpful as well. Normally I don't like it when a book starts with such an extensive glossary, because it makes me feel like I should study that first before I would be allowed to dive into the book (I prefer to discover the information bit by bit while reading). In this case however, my love for the characters outweighs that feeling for the biggest part.
You could say there seem to be some similarities to ACOTAR's storyline, but otherwise, the story contains more than enough original elements so that this didn't really bother me.
The author manages what few other authors manage to do, and that's making me bond and fall in love with characters from the very first chapters of a book. I want to be part of Diana's crew and go on adventures together, all while cheering and crying right alongside this marvellous cast. There is also a lot of character development, and you can follow various friendships bloom from close by.
The writing style varies from poetic to filled with humour and everything in between. I've highlighted various sentences, sayings and conversations because they were so beautifully written and/or made me snort out loud. Some parts were also very human and recognisable, making this book leave even bigger marks on every reader (or so I think).
The villain origin part of the story is mostly surfacing in the last 100 pages. Before that, it's mostly background information, build-up for the rest of the series, and characters trying to overcome their trauma. This results in the pace being somewhat slower than expected, but I get the feeling that the next book will contain much more action and villainous deeds. Because of that, I'm really looking forward to reading the other books in this series. I can't wait to discover what else Diana and her friends still have up their sleeves.
I've read the first published version of ACOC way back in 2022. Although the story itself was chaos incarnate, I quickly fell in love with the characters. Since then, I've met Lauren on various occasions and I've become a big fan of her and her book. So of course I had to read the newly published ACOC 2.0. As always, I'll try to keep my review uninfluenced by all things mentioned above and spoiler free.
The story is set in a richly developed world, with lots of characters, species, deities, demons, creatures,... You name it. You can feel that everything is backed up by a complex history, and that every character is well thought through. While I love epic fantasy, and this story definitely is becoming one, it comes with a downside: sometimes it can be really confusing to remember everything and keep everyone apart. Luckily there is a glossary at the beginning of the book, and the author herself is very helpful as well. Normally I don't like it when a book starts with such an extensive glossary, because it makes me feel like I should study that first before I would be allowed to dive into the book (I prefer to discover the information bit by bit while reading). In this case however, my love for the characters outweighs that feeling for the biggest part.
You could say there seem to be some similarities to ACOTAR's storyline, but otherwise, the story contains more than enough original elements so that this didn't really bother me.
The author manages what few other authors manage to do, and that's making me bond and fall in love with characters from the very first chapters of a book. I want to be part of Diana's crew and go on adventures together, all while cheering and crying right alongside this marvellous cast. There is also a lot of character development, and you can follow various friendships bloom from close by.
The writing style varies from poetic to filled with humour and everything in between. I've highlighted various sentences, sayings and conversations because they were so beautifully written and/or made me snort out loud. Some parts were also very human and recognisable, making this book leave even bigger marks on every reader (or so I think).
The villain origin part of the story is mostly surfacing in the last 100 pages. Before that, it's mostly background information, build-up for the rest of the series, and characters trying to overcome their trauma. This results in the pace being somewhat slower than expected, but I get the feeling that the next book will contain much more action and villainous deeds. Because of that, I'm really looking forward to reading the other books in this series. I can't wait to discover what else Diana and her friends still have up their sleeves.
escapebeyondpages's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
daphnehenkel's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-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
4.0
threemorechapters's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ACOC will never not be one of my favorite stories.
I read the first edition and now had the chance to read the revised edition. Honestly, go read this story now! I'm not a person with a wild visual imagination and Lauren is thus far the only author that makes me visible imagine certain scenes. For that alone the author has my endless respect.
Furthermore has Lauren been able to really bring alive some well-rounded characters with complicated relationships and feelings. The story truly comes to life in a big world with lots of different species, gods and sceneries.
I honestly cannot wait to see what Lauren does with the rest of the books in this series!
I read the first edition and now had the chance to read the revised edition. Honestly, go read this story now! I'm not a person with a wild visual imagination and Lauren is thus far the only author that makes me visible imagine certain scenes. For that alone the author has my endless respect.
Furthermore has Lauren been able to really bring alive some well-rounded characters with complicated relationships and feelings. The story truly comes to life in a big world with lots of different species, gods and sceneries.
I honestly cannot wait to see what Lauren does with the rest of the books in this series!
minb's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC!
I'm writing this review immediately after finishing this book, and truthfully I'm really not sure how I feel about it. I liked it, it wasn't bad. Some parts of it I adored, and some parts I really didn't. I'm trying a new format to my reviews, so I'll break it down into its parts.
Prose/Writing
The prose in this was.. odd. I didn't love it, I'll be honest. It was difficult to read at points and it felt clumsy - almost as if the author was trying to channel a book like Priory of the Orange Tree and not quite hitting the mark. As the story went on, I think it settled and became more natural, but the beginning was quite difficult to get through because of that. It wasn't difficult in the way that the classics are difficult, I've read a lot of them and didn't struggle too badly with the prose. It just felt unnatural? Also, it was very info-dumpy, especially in the beginning, with some pretty confusing head hopping going on.
Character
I do have some positive things to say about the characters. Again, in the beginning I didn't feel anything for them. Things moved so fast that I didn't really care about them, and I felt especially the first FMC we meet, her character was weirdly inconsistent. But as we entered the second half of the book, I found myself absolutely in love with the cast of characters that was introduced. All of them were fantastic, there was some amazing banter and all in all I really enjoyed reading about them.
Plot
I... enjoyed the plot? Again, the beginning was a real miss for me personally. It felt so rushed and disjointed, and I feel we really didn't get enough time to care what was happening. In my personal opinion, this book could really have done with starting at around the 50% mark and spending WAY more time fleshing that out, and then the first half of the book would have made a killer prequel, and would have (again) benefitted from being WAY more fleshed out. The redeeming thing for me is that the concept of the plot itself was VERY good. A real mishmash of a bunch of myth and legend that really appealed to me. I just wish it would have slowed down and taken its time a little more.
World
Now, the world itself is where this REALLY redeemed itself for me. The whole concept was fantastic, the magic was amazing. The folklore, all of it was brilliant. Again, if this was slower and it took its time it would have almost certainly been a 5 star read.
Conclusion
This book has so much promise. Queerness (always a plus in my book), interesting worldbuilding, compelling characters (in the second half), and WILD and interesting family dynamics. Whilst this wasn't my favourite, if there is a sequel at any point I will probably read it simply because I found the world itself so interesting, and I really hope the author will slow things down and give us time to love the characters before giving them stakes to come up against.
If you like ACOTAR or Fourth Wing and you're looking for something with a better plot and more in depth politics, I think you'll really enjoy this. It definitely has an audience, I just don't think that consisted of me. The author is really creative, and I look forward to seeing what they write next :)
I'm writing this review immediately after finishing this book, and truthfully I'm really not sure how I feel about it. I liked it, it wasn't bad. Some parts of it I adored, and some parts I really didn't. I'm trying a new format to my reviews, so I'll break it down into its parts.
Prose/Writing
The prose in this was.. odd. I didn't love it, I'll be honest. It was difficult to read at points and it felt clumsy - almost as if the author was trying to channel a book like Priory of the Orange Tree and not quite hitting the mark. As the story went on, I think it settled and became more natural, but the beginning was quite difficult to get through because of that. It wasn't difficult in the way that the classics are difficult, I've read a lot of them and didn't struggle too badly with the prose. It just felt unnatural? Also, it was very info-dumpy, especially in the beginning, with some pretty confusing head hopping going on.
Character
I do have some positive things to say about the characters. Again, in the beginning I didn't feel anything for them. Things moved so fast that I didn't really care about them, and I felt especially the first FMC we meet, her character was weirdly inconsistent. But as we entered the second half of the book, I found myself absolutely in love with the cast of characters that was introduced. All of them were fantastic, there was some amazing banter and all in all I really enjoyed reading about them.
Plot
I... enjoyed the plot? Again, the beginning was a real miss for me personally. It felt so rushed and disjointed, and I feel we really didn't get enough time to care what was happening. In my personal opinion, this book could really have done with starting at around the 50% mark and spending WAY more time fleshing that out, and then the first half of the book would have made a killer prequel, and would have (again) benefitted from being WAY more fleshed out. The redeeming thing for me is that the concept of the plot itself was VERY good. A real mishmash of a bunch of myth and legend that really appealed to me. I just wish it would have slowed down and taken its time a little more.
World
Now, the world itself is where this REALLY redeemed itself for me. The whole concept was fantastic, the magic was amazing. The folklore, all of it was brilliant. Again, if this was slower and it took its time it would have almost certainly been a 5 star read.
Conclusion
This book has so much promise. Queerness (always a plus in my book), interesting worldbuilding, compelling characters (in the second half), and WILD and interesting family dynamics. Whilst this wasn't my favourite, if there is a sequel at any point I will probably read it simply because I found the world itself so interesting, and I really hope the author will slow things down and give us time to love the characters before giving them stakes to come up against.
If you like ACOTAR or Fourth Wing and you're looking for something with a better plot and more in depth politics, I think you'll really enjoy this. It definitely has an audience, I just don't think that consisted of me. The author is really creative, and I look forward to seeing what they write next :)
books_and_yarn's review against another edition
3.25
3.25 stars
A Curse of Crows was one of my most anticipated book releases of the year, since it is a sapphic romanatsy which can be hard to find. Unfortunately although there were some good aspects there is also a lot I would change.
I did like the sapphic romance and their love for each other was very believable, even though it sometimes felt a bit rushed to the reader. I also enjoyed learning more about the world and the magic system, and the writing style was very easy to read.
Thank you to Netgalley for the arc
Thank you to Netgalley for the arc
thesparklingbook_'s review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lenalikestoread's review
5.0
Loved it!!
Especially the plot twists at the end.
I can't wait for book 2!
Especially the plot twists at the end.
I can't wait for book 2!