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bookishjd's reviews
744 reviews
The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
3.0
man. the stardust thief was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, so I'm bummed that i didn't enjoy it more.
I'm sure there are plenty of readers who will love this book. but i just found myself not caring about the characters or what they were doing. i think some reasons for this are:
1. all the characters had similar voices. i mean this literally, in that their dialogue with each other could be interchangeable, and although we are told these characters are distinct, they didn't actually feel that way. which leads me to...
2. sooo much telling instead of showing.
the "showing" of the magical elements of the world is where this book shines, but it gets so bogged down in what it's telling you. it left me feeling very disengaged and detached from the characters.
the plot also gets away from itself. many times, i found myself thinking "what's the point of any of this? what are they even trying to do?" which is never a good sign while reading a book centered around basically one quest, lol.
i gave it 3 stars for the worldbuilding, but tbh my enjoyment was a 2.
I'm sure there are plenty of readers who will love this book. but i just found myself not caring about the characters or what they were doing. i think some reasons for this are:
1. all the characters had similar voices. i mean this literally, in that their dialogue with each other could be interchangeable, and although we are told these characters are distinct, they didn't actually feel that way. which leads me to...
2. sooo much telling instead of showing.
the "showing" of the magical elements of the world is where this book shines, but it gets so bogged down in what it's telling you. it left me feeling very disengaged and detached from the characters.
the plot also gets away from itself. many times, i found myself thinking "what's the point of any of this? what are they even trying to do?" which is never a good sign while reading a book centered around basically one quest, lol.
i gave it 3 stars for the worldbuilding, but tbh my enjoyment was a 2.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
4.25 / 5
i really wish books would stop being pitched as 'x popular book meets x popular book.' sometimes it's accurate. but more often than not, it sets expectations for the reader that aren't met, through no fault of the book's or author's.
siren queen is NOT the seven husbands of evelyn hugo and it's not remotely trying to be. in siren queen, we have our narrator and main character, luli, a chinese american girl longing for hollywood stardom, going through a lot and sacrificing even more to achieve her dreams. that - a starlet of color in an old hollywood-ish setting - is the only real similarity you can find to TSHoEH. otherwise, this is an exceedingly *different* book. different from evelyn hugo and different, i'd go as far to say, as most books in a similar setting.
luli's world is one of pacts, arcane circles, changelings and fey-flavored magic. if you want a comparison that came to my mind as i was reading, the ballad of black tom by victor savalle has similar vibes in terms of a fantastical, unsettling urban setting where the magic just IS, the characters just ARE, and the reader is dropped onto the sidewalk alongside them and expected to keep up.
this, in my opinion, is actually the novel's strength, but you may be disappointed if you're expecting...well. something that's not WEIRD. because this book is definitely weird. it's not straightforward. it winds and weaves like the fey magic within. it's full of nghi vo's usual lush, evocative writing and it focuses on what's happening to and around our main character, rather than explaining the how's or why's.
i did enjoy the second half of the book more than the first, which mostly focuses on luli's childhood and youth. past the 50% mark is really where the story shined for me. and I'm glad to report that nghi vo remains an author whose books I'll automatically pick up.
i really wish books would stop being pitched as 'x popular book meets x popular book.' sometimes it's accurate. but more often than not, it sets expectations for the reader that aren't met, through no fault of the book's or author's.
siren queen is NOT the seven husbands of evelyn hugo and it's not remotely trying to be. in siren queen, we have our narrator and main character, luli, a chinese american girl longing for hollywood stardom, going through a lot and sacrificing even more to achieve her dreams. that - a starlet of color in an old hollywood-ish setting - is the only real similarity you can find to TSHoEH. otherwise, this is an exceedingly *different* book. different from evelyn hugo and different, i'd go as far to say, as most books in a similar setting.
luli's world is one of pacts, arcane circles, changelings and fey-flavored magic. if you want a comparison that came to my mind as i was reading, the ballad of black tom by victor savalle has similar vibes in terms of a fantastical, unsettling urban setting where the magic just IS, the characters just ARE, and the reader is dropped onto the sidewalk alongside them and expected to keep up.
this, in my opinion, is actually the novel's strength, but you may be disappointed if you're expecting...well. something that's not WEIRD. because this book is definitely weird. it's not straightforward. it winds and weaves like the fey magic within. it's full of nghi vo's usual lush, evocative writing and it focuses on what's happening to and around our main character, rather than explaining the how's or why's.
i did enjoy the second half of the book more than the first, which mostly focuses on luli's childhood and youth. past the 50% mark is really where the story shined for me. and I'm glad to report that nghi vo remains an author whose books I'll automatically pick up.
Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0