angeliqueazul's review against another edition
1.0
I adore Maggie Stiefvater's writing. I have read everything she has published (except for the illustrated children's books and some of the short stories).
With that being said, All the Crooked Saints was an absolute miss for me. In my opinion, this is the worst of Maggie Stiefvater's books to date. In fact, it is so far removed from all her other books that it is completely baffling to me that this book was written let alone published. It breaks my heart to say this of a work of one of my favorite writers.
However, this is a work of fiction in which a few good ideas drowned in contradictory rules, gigantic metaphors, and long family histories. None of the characters came to life, the story was almost non-existent and therefore the pacing was agonizingly slow, and worst of all, the writing was clumsy. When a writer sets a book in a specific time period, she has to find a way to make it both believeable and comprehensible for the reader who is not part of the time. But not only did research-based paragraphs here and there stick out like cactus plants in the middle of the desert, even period-based jokes were explained (and thereby made obsolete).
Even worse for me, however, were the occasional narrator comments that either explained a situation (unnecessary! you have intelligent readers!) or let the reader know that the words said by a character did not convey the emotion they were expressing (what happened to finding the words that let the reader know what emotion the character is trying to express?). These comments made me very uncomfortable and further detached me from the story and its very flat characters.
I also briefly want to mention that not only is this book not well written, it might also be read as problematic, as people from the Latinx community have expressed.
If you are looking for a great Maggie Stiefvater book, please read the Shiver series for its beautiful prose, The Scorpio Races for its evocative landscape paintings, or the Raven Cycle for its ingenious characters and story.
With that being said, All the Crooked Saints was an absolute miss for me. In my opinion, this is the worst of Maggie Stiefvater's books to date. In fact, it is so far removed from all her other books that it is completely baffling to me that this book was written let alone published. It breaks my heart to say this of a work of one of my favorite writers.
However, this is a work of fiction in which a few good ideas drowned in contradictory rules, gigantic metaphors, and long family histories. None of the characters came to life, the story was almost non-existent and therefore the pacing was agonizingly slow, and worst of all, the writing was clumsy. When a writer sets a book in a specific time period, she has to find a way to make it both believeable and comprehensible for the reader who is not part of the time. But not only did research-based paragraphs here and there stick out like cactus plants in the middle of the desert, even period-based jokes were explained (and thereby made obsolete).
Even worse for me, however, were the occasional narrator comments that either explained a situation (unnecessary! you have intelligent readers!) or let the reader know that the words said by a character did not convey the emotion they were expressing (what happened to finding the words that let the reader know what emotion the character is trying to express?). These comments made me very uncomfortable and further detached me from the story and its very flat characters.
I also briefly want to mention that not only is this book not well written, it might also be read as problematic, as people from the Latinx community have expressed.
If you are looking for a great Maggie Stiefvater book, please read the Shiver series for its beautiful prose, The Scorpio Races for its evocative landscape paintings, or the Raven Cycle for its ingenious characters and story.
shicanread's review against another edition
1.0
This is one of the few books I DNF. I’m not sure why but it felt like the character introduction was just dragging on way too long for me to keep interest. I will probably try again at some point however, this one just didn’t catch me.
its_riana's review against another edition
4.0
*3.75
Although the writing style was stunning, and I mean STUNNING, I found myself wanting more from the storyline.
Although the writing style was stunning, and I mean STUNNING, I found myself wanting more from the storyline.
wawayaga's review against another edition
3.0
it's good and has a great premise but lacked the panache of the raven cycle. overall i would recommend it but with the warning that it is missing the heart and depth i expected from maggie
nonsensicaljourney's review against another edition
4.0
Maggie Steifvater has a beautifully unique writing style that is always a pleasure to read. Her characters are decent and well developed, and she adds an element of self-awareness to each of them, and to the book in general. Stand-alones with a very clear theme like this book are really interesting as literature and definitely some food for thought despite being YA. Beautiful little world, good characters and theme - an enjoyable read.
wizardowl's review against another edition
5.0
This is an odd book, a collection of tall tales and the story of a family and many musings on the human condition, somehow all woven together smoothly. It made me cry but I would like to thank it for making me cry.
megstyas13's review against another edition
1.0
I'm so sad 😭😭😭 I just couldn't get into this at all, and even when I finished it I just didn't feel like I enjoyed it.
I absolutely ADORE the Raven Cycle so I'm so gutted I didn't enjoy this 😭
I absolutely ADORE the Raven Cycle so I'm so gutted I didn't enjoy this 😭
kylielovesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Ok, first I want to say that I do want to reread this book at some point, but read the physical book instead of doing it audio. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't make my brain comprehend what was going on for the first half of this book. It felt like there was no plot at all and I couldn't keep any of the characters straight. I know I did zone out here and there, but I can usually realize it and get back on track and know what's happening. When I found myself zoning out with this book, I just couldn't figure out what was going on, and I couldn't figure out what was going on even when I knew I was actively listening.
I did finally get into the groove of listening and I actually really enjoyed the ending. I think that because the narrator had an accent and there were so many characters and they all had Spanish names, it would be a better book to read physically for me.
I did finally get into the groove of listening and I actually really enjoyed the ending. I think that because the narrator had an accent and there were so many characters and they all had Spanish names, it would be a better book to read physically for me.
tiffani_reads's review
4.0
I’m not sure how to rate this book. It had so many hidden meanings layered throughout it that I’m unsure of what rating to give it. I will settle for 4 stars now but that may change in the future.