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inquisitivevic's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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? No
4.25
Exquisitely written, full of rich detail without ever sacrificing pace. The book is full of brilliantly, meaty characters, adventures, exotic locations and beautiful imagery.
You won't be able to put this book down.
You won't be able to put this book down.
Content Warnings
Minor: Physical abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
the_cheerful_necromancer's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
- 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
Partially ported over from my now-abandoned Goodreads:
I cannot recommend this book enough! Really unique premise, super fun, the setting is rich and vibrant and beautifully described, the pacing held my attention all through (and what more could you ask for?) and best of all, there's queer people in it! (/hj). What's not to like? So glad I picked this one up! My only point to note, for some it may go on a little too long as the plot threads are tied up. Didn't bother me too much though.
I cannot recommend this book enough! Really unique premise, super fun, the setting is rich and vibrant and beautifully described, the pacing held my attention all through (and what more could you ask for?) and best of all, there's queer people in it! (/hj). What's not to like? So glad I picked this one up! My only point to note, for some it may go on a little too long as the plot threads are tied up. Didn't bother me too much though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Sexism and Transphobia
Period-typical sexism is portrayed, but most main characters disagree with it and so does the narrative. The main character's mother dies in childbirth, it is not graphically described but it is dwelled on for a while. Those sensitive to deaths by illness should note thatyvo_about_books's review against another edition
Finished reading: December 3rd 2023
DNF at 32%
DNF at 32%
"He is like a clock that tells of time to come and of time past and missed, yet is driven by blood and a beating heart, not by mainsprings and ratchets and bobs of steel and brass."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Union Square & Co. in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
WARNING: yet another unscheduled unpopular opinion stop! That makes two in a row... Which seems quite unfair.
This DNF came completely out of the blue to be honest. I'm still not sure what happened... I mean, I absolutely LOVED the sound of the blurb of The Second Sight Of Zachary Cloudesley, and I was already penciling it in as a new all time favorite. I have a weak spot for historical fantasies with magical angle, and the steampunk elements and Constantinople setting sounded like heaven. This should have been the perfect book on paper, and I think this is where it went wrong for me. Why? Let's just say that I don't think this book delivered the story that was promised in the blurb.
What do I mean with the statement above? Well, from the title and blurb, you would expect a whole lot of magic and steampunk elements incorporated into the plot, so imagine my surprise to find this mostly absent during the first 32% I did read. The main character this story is named after, Zachary, is also notably absent in this first third... I've seen reviews and I know he will become more present later on, but still this is too little too late for me. I mean, I get that characters have to be introduced and background has to be given, but is it really necessary to use more than a third of the book to do so?
Related to this is the fact that what I did read was considerably tiring and repetitive, and mostly an account of both the life of Zachary's father and a lot of other seemingly unimportant and dull characters. There is again a lot of repetition going on, and I just couldn't get over the feeling that I wanted things to hurry up and get to the good part. This might have been me expecting a completely different story, and I probably wouldn't have picked up The Second Sight Of Zachary Cloudesley if the story had shown its true colors from the beginning... But the fact is that I started to resent my time with this story almost straight away.
One of my main issues, and the one that was probably the hardest to overcome, was the writing style itself though. The tone was rather pompous and old-fashioned, and I simply couldn't warm up to it nor appreciate its potential beauty. I suppose the author wanted the style to match the 18th century setting, but it completely failed to hit the mark for me. Then again, these feelings are highly subjective and what doesn't work for me might work wonders for other readers. There is no doubt that Sean Lusk's writing isn't my cup of tea though.
I tried the hardest to convince myself to keep reading, but after 32% and starting yet another dull account of the nursemaid, I decided I was done waiting for things to improve. Especially since I've read some reviews and the lack of magic won't be compensated in the second half... I'm SO sad and disappointed I ended up having this reaction though! Like I said, after reading the blurb I had this pegged as a new favorite. I guess you can't always trust the shiny package a book comes wrapped up in...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
tericarol21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Transphobia
bel017's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- 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
A stunning debut full-length novel.
Well written, researched and plotted. The world is intricately detailed, but mostly not overwhelmingly so. The story is told from various view points, moving from Abel (father) to Zachary (son), with detours to others, which keep all the narrative threads in view.
A bit slow and miserable at the start (part one is pretty much a series of crises to set the scene for parts two and three, which--admittedly--contain their own crises, but they are the plot in motion rather than preparation for it), but people with fascinating main characters, well fleshed out secondary characters, and even peripheral characters who have some detail to them, to keep you going until the plot really kicks in.
Well written, researched and plotted. The world is intricately detailed, but mostly not overwhelmingly so. The story is told from various view points, moving from Abel (father) to Zachary (son), with detours to others, which keep all the narrative threads in view.
A bit slow and miserable at the start (part one is pretty much a series of crises to set the scene for parts two and three, which--admittedly--contain their own crises, but they are the plot in motion rather than preparation for it), but people with fascinating main characters, well fleshed out secondary characters, and even peripheral characters who have some detail to them, to keep you going until the plot really kicks in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Slavery, Xenophobia, Murder, and War
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