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keen's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, Sexism, and Sexual assault
cryptofauna's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
this was a really good time! I was hooked from the start, and i was so into it the whole time. A super interesting premise and format with all the letters, and managed to have two points of view through one person. i loved the worldbuilding!
this was a recommendation from both my parents which i am glad i followed
this was a recommendation from both my parents which i am glad i followed
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Incest, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
maxierosalee's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Rating: 3.5 stars.
_______________
Should have been called "Exposition Dump: The Novel."
This is one of those books that had a stellar premise but was unfortunately marred by subpar execution.
A woman, Myfawny, wakes up in a park with absolutely no memory of who she is and is only guided by letters written by herself from before she was saddled with her amnesia. As it turns out, she's a person of significant supernatural ability in a secret organization whose job is to protect the world from supernatural phenomena while also keeping them secret from the general populous. The basis of this premise has been used many times before, but it's an appealing facet of worldbuilding that's led to many successful and endearing properties before.
The main issue is that this kind of setup requires a lot of knowledge to be passed onto the reader so that they know what's going on. And this leads to now of the trickiest parts of writing...exposition. Sometimes, the only way to give readers the knowledge they need about the world in your story is just through telling them in prose. And if it's written in a genuinely engaging way, I usually don't mind. In fact, I think learning about an interesting world can be fun.
In this book, it is not fun. Much of the exposition we are given through Myfawny's letters from before she got amnesia. It's a very cool setup that's dampened by the fact that these letters go on for pages. They make up entire chapters in some cases. The letters that detail was Myfawny was doing before she got amnesia and are tied to the plot are kind of interesting, at least. But half of them are just info-drops on certain individuals, about the Chequey organization, things like that that aren't connected to the plot. It brings the story to a grinding, uninteresting halt. And it's a shame because I already think the book has pacing issues, where it feels like the plot plods along in the early-mid section of the book before suddenly ramping up around the 60% mark, and then slowing down in favor of a subplot of introducing another character to Myfawny before ramping up once more around the 80% mark.
It also doesn't help that Myfawny in general is one of those clever and snarky protagonists. She always quipping about things, likes to make nonchalant comments in tense situations, and has skewed priorities (asking for coffee during important operations). These kinds of characters, I find, are very hard to write well. I've only seen them pulled off a handful of times. Most of the time, they're just incredibly annoying and also hurt the atmosphere in a book. How am I supposed to take anything seriously in this book when the character doesn't themselves? How am I supposed to find weight in anything that happens in the story when the character is treating it like a big inconvenience?
It's really too bad because there are some really cool concepts in here. Some of the characters, like Gestalt, were a fascinating character concept that I thought was interesting to see fleshed out. The main villains of the book (no spoilers) had some great, visceral descriptions going for them. Ingrid was cool. Alrich was also kind of cool. There was one part in the book that got a genuine chuckle out of me and I thought was kind of legitimately clever and not the artificial cleverness the book tries to make us think (won't put details because of spoilers).The last part of the book where the plot ramps up did kind of have me hooked and I read through it pretty fast.
This book has a sequel, which makes sense considering how the book ended. Too bad I'm not interested in continuing.
_______________
Should have been called "Exposition Dump: The Novel."
This is one of those books that had a stellar premise but was unfortunately marred by subpar execution.
A woman, Myfawny, wakes up in a park with absolutely no memory of who she is and is only guided by letters written by herself from before she was saddled with her amnesia. As it turns out, she's a person of significant supernatural ability in a secret organization whose job is to protect the world from supernatural phenomena while also keeping them secret from the general populous. The basis of this premise has been used many times before, but it's an appealing facet of worldbuilding that's led to many successful and endearing properties before.
The main issue is that this kind of setup requires a lot of knowledge to be passed onto the reader so that they know what's going on. And this leads to now of the trickiest parts of writing...exposition. Sometimes, the only way to give readers the knowledge they need about the world in your story is just through telling them in prose. And if it's written in a genuinely engaging way, I usually don't mind. In fact, I think learning about an interesting world can be fun.
In this book, it is not fun. Much of the exposition we are given through Myfawny's letters from before she got amnesia. It's a very cool setup that's dampened by the fact that these letters go on for pages. They make up entire chapters in some cases. The letters that detail was Myfawny was doing before she got amnesia and are tied to the plot are kind of interesting, at least. But half of them are just info-drops on certain individuals, about the Chequey organization, things like that that aren't connected to the plot. It brings the story to a grinding, uninteresting halt. And it's a shame because I already think the book has pacing issues, where it feels like the plot plods along in the early-mid section of the book before suddenly ramping up around the 60% mark, and then slowing down in favor of a subplot of introducing another character to Myfawny before ramping up once more around the 80% mark.
It also doesn't help that Myfawny in general is one of those clever and snarky protagonists. She always quipping about things, likes to make nonchalant comments in tense situations, and has skewed priorities (asking for coffee during important operations). These kinds of characters, I find, are very hard to write well. I've only seen them pulled off a handful of times. Most of the time, they're just incredibly annoying and also hurt the atmosphere in a book. How am I supposed to take anything seriously in this book when the character doesn't themselves? How am I supposed to find weight in anything that happens in the story when the character is treating it like a big inconvenience?
It's really too bad because there are some really cool concepts in here. Some of the characters, like Gestalt, were a fascinating character concept that I thought was interesting to see fleshed out. The main villains of the book (no spoilers) had some great, visceral descriptions going for them. Ingrid was cool. Alrich was also kind of cool. There was one part in the book that got a genuine chuckle out of me and I thought was kind of legitimately clever and not the artificial cleverness the book tries to make us think (won't put details because of spoilers).The last part of the book where the plot ramps up did kind of have me hooked and I read through it pretty fast.
This book has a sequel, which makes sense considering how the book ended. Too bad I'm not interested in continuing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Incest
idroplungs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.5
This book sat on my shelf being judged for it's cover and the short synopsis on it for far too long while I wondered what drew me to it in the first place. But when I finally gave it it's chance I regretted taking so long almost immediately.
The book sweeps you away pretty quickly, bringing up questions and hypotheses in just the first few chapters that dont pay off until the final pages (I was worried too much was going on so far in, and learning it was a series that it would all be pushed along, but the author rewards you, don't worry). I also have a talent for predicting twists and was sure I had this right away, I didn't and love the book all the more for it.
The humor was well spread out and felt more as a natural evolution and enhancement to the story than something forced upon the reader. It's a book that can be funny, not an every page has to have a dozen punchlines funny book, which while are fun in their own right, are not generally my cup of tea (I love you anyway Adams and Pratchett).
I highly recommend The Rook for anyone who wants some mystery, some spy craft, intense (and unique) fight scenes, and equally unique super powers.
The book sweeps you away pretty quickly, bringing up questions and hypotheses in just the first few chapters that dont pay off until the final pages (I was worried too much was going on so far in, and learning it was a series that it would all be pushed along, but the author rewards you, don't worry). I also have a talent for predicting twists and was sure I had this right away, I didn't and love the book all the more for it.
The humor was well spread out and felt more as a natural evolution and enhancement to the story than something forced upon the reader. It's a book that can be funny, not an every page has to have a dozen punchlines funny book, which while are fun in their own right, are not generally my cup of tea (I love you anyway Adams and Pratchett).
I highly recommend The Rook for anyone who wants some mystery, some spy craft, intense (and unique) fight scenes, and equally unique super powers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
jessicakornelsen's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
tpasta's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I used to read a lot of fantasy, but recently have been in a slump the past few years and this book got me out of it. This book was the perfect balance of fantasy, science fiction, spy adventure, and mystery. The plot hummed along, the characters were funny, and I loved the world building. This is a great book for lovers of “our world but different” fantasy. As well as those who like a little bit of mystery and thriller elements in their fantasy. Excited to read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Incest, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Torture
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I DNF this book ages before this site was even a thing and decided to pick it up again because I was on a paranormal fiction kick after playing Remedy Entertainment's Control (which you should definitely experience in some form or another if you've read this book).
Long story short: this book is a huge disappointment with tantalisingly good bits hidden like needles in a haystack, and could have benefitted from being shorter.
Things I liked:
Long story short: this book is a huge disappointment with tantalisingly good bits hidden like needles in a haystack, and could have benefitted from being shorter.
Things I liked:
- I liked the contrast between Myfanwy before and after losing her memory. I can see why it would be a point of contention for some people, but I felt like it fit the fact
Pre-Amnesia!Myfanwy did snoop around Chequy's finances, but lacked the confidence and was too marginalised by her peers to take the initiative. Her losing her memories gave her the push she needed to get the ball rolling in my opinion. - Chequy felt like a believable organisation. I enjoyed reading how they conducted operations, the efforts they went to cover up paranormal events
and you could feel how heavy the consequences of several of its members turning traitor were as a result. - The action/horror sequences are well written.
The flesh cube in the police station bit really made my skin crawl.
Things I did not like:
- It was pretty blatant at times that the author was a cishet man writing women, almost bordering on "breasting boobily" esque descriptions at times, and it felt overly catty.
- I struggled to suspend my disbelief during Pre-Amnesia!Myfanwy's letters to her Post-Amnesia self; specifically the fact she would be able to accurately recall every single word in all of the conversations she had. Eye for detail or not, there are some things you are just not going to remember.
- Several of the background characters feel like caricatures that are just there to fulfill a role, but at the same time if those characters didn't exist their absence would be noticeable. An example being a bodyguard for Myfanwy late into the book who is Scottish-Japanese who dies not a chapter after he is introduced, and the best I can remember about him was the author's dodgy description about how he cussed up a storm of a mixed slur Japanese and Gaelic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Misogyny and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming and Racism
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