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chantaal's reviews
2258 reviews
Livesuit by James S.A. Corey
4.0
Now this was a great read, and I think features something I was missing from The Mercy of Gods, but didn't know I was missing when I was reading that first book.
Livesuit follows a completely different faction of humans fighting the alien war, and they've developed a suit of technology that molds to the wearer semi-permanently. This novella follows one such livesuit soldier, detailing his life before and during his military service, and as he realizes the true cost of the war.
It seems like a very typical, tropey premise, but I really enjoyed it. Corey have a way with words and storytelling that I appreciate, and they drew out a LOT of surprising emotion in the last quarter of this novella.
I wonder if writing this novella that is much more action and military forward compared to The Mercy of Gods was a way to whet the appetites of those looking for more of it in that book. This does make me look back at The Mercy of Gods and wonder at what the greater plan is, considering we follow very research heavy characters in that one. I'm so CURIOUS now and appreciating The Mercy of Gods a bit more.
Jefferson Mays continues to be one of my absolute favorite audiobook narrators.
Livesuit follows a completely different faction of humans fighting the alien war, and they've developed a suit of technology that molds to the wearer semi-permanently. This novella follows one such livesuit soldier, detailing his life before and during his military service, and as he realizes the true cost of the war.
It seems like a very typical, tropey premise, but I really enjoyed it. Corey have a way with words and storytelling that I appreciate, and they drew out a LOT of surprising emotion in the last quarter of this novella.
I wonder if writing this novella that is much more action and military forward compared to The Mercy of Gods was a way to whet the appetites of those looking for more of it in that book. This does make me look back at The Mercy of Gods and wonder at what the greater plan is, considering we follow very research heavy characters in that one. I'm so CURIOUS now and appreciating The Mercy of Gods a bit more.
Jefferson Mays continues to be one of my absolute favorite audiobook narrators.
The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim
1.0
This book annoyed me so goddamn much, mostly because it could have been SO MUCH MORE.
This started as an interesting premise, and I liked how much the characters frustrated and annoyed each other in turns. It seemed like an actual rivals/enemies/hate to lovers situation vs the typical lukewarm "I hate you because of a misunderstanding 3 years ago" version of the trope. But then it kept going and going and the WAY these two annoyed each other started to annoy ME. I hated the way they talked to each other, I hated that they both smirked and scowled and had wicked gleams in their eyes and they sneered and snickered and were mischievous 100% of the time. I hated how these millennia old creatures acted like absolute dumbass idiot teenagers. And then they were horny for each other and falling in love.
Don't get me started on the fucking coffee running joke. IT STOPPED BEING FUNNY REAL FAST.
There was so much promise here, and I'm so upset that a book that could have done so much interesting stuff with this premise only wanted to do the romantasy bit and ignore everything else. It could have been so cool to expand a lot more on the gods and demons aspect, to really dig into what the world is like with demons running around and how they have to hide from humans. This felt like a romantasy taking place on a stage with a cardboard painted backdrop of urban fantasy.
I keep thinking about how childish this was. How many times did Hani stick her tongue out at Seokga? How many times did she fuck up his coffee on purpose? How many times did Seokga speak with an icy calm or snarl at someone? Why did this just feel like a Loki/Reader grumpy/sunshine fanfic? Why did they have a literal staring contest seeing who could keep their eyes open the longest like a pair of 10 year olds?? WE COULD HAVE DONE SO MUCH MORE.
The way they went from completely annoyed at each other to absolutely horny for each other in .5 seconds was WILD.All it took was for a fairy to make them kiss and for Hani to see Seokga shirtless and boom, horny romance??? The worst part was that the story WAS seeding moments where they were starting to break through the annoyance and seeing more in each other, but then it seemed like the story felt it was taking too long, so BOOM, now they're horny for each other and falling in love. IT COULD HAVE DEVELOPED THE ROMANCE SO MUCH BETTER.
There were some good red herring setups and lampshading and swerving, but then the actual reveal of who they're tracking down in the end was meant to be a big reveal but...it wasn't? It was as obvious as the first red herring. The journey that the side plot takes with Hani's gumiho friend was incredibly obvious as well. At least the very final moments were a bit of a surprise, but I didn't feel a thing by then.
Finally, the audio. All I'll say is that neither of these two narrators know how to act/emote. There are great audiobook narrators who read books and bring them to life. Then there are these two, who say a line of someone growling with the exact same cadence and tone as someone crying. Hell, I wouldn't even know what emotion a character was supposed to be feeling in a line of dialogue until the dialogue tag was read out. Go girl, give us nothing!
Anyway. What a fucking let down. We could have had a much more interesting in depth story with the mythology. The romance could have gone down a different, much more interesting path if it wasn't so interested in being a "spicy" romantasy.
My first disappointing read of 2025, woo hoo.
This started as an interesting premise, and I liked how much the characters frustrated and annoyed each other in turns. It seemed like an actual rivals/enemies/hate to lovers situation vs the typical lukewarm "I hate you because of a misunderstanding 3 years ago" version of the trope. But then it kept going and going and the WAY these two annoyed each other started to annoy ME. I hated the way they talked to each other, I hated that they both smirked and scowled and had wicked gleams in their eyes and they sneered and snickered and were mischievous 100% of the time. I hated how these millennia old creatures acted like absolute dumbass idiot teenagers. And then they were horny for each other and falling in love.
Don't get me started on the fucking coffee running joke. IT STOPPED BEING FUNNY REAL FAST.
There was so much promise here, and I'm so upset that a book that could have done so much interesting stuff with this premise only wanted to do the romantasy bit and ignore everything else. It could have been so cool to expand a lot more on the gods and demons aspect, to really dig into what the world is like with demons running around and how they have to hide from humans. This felt like a romantasy taking place on a stage with a cardboard painted backdrop of urban fantasy.
I keep thinking about how childish this was. How many times did Hani stick her tongue out at Seokga? How many times did she fuck up his coffee on purpose? How many times did Seokga speak with an icy calm or snarl at someone? Why did this just feel like a Loki/Reader grumpy/sunshine fanfic? Why did they have a literal staring contest seeing who could keep their eyes open the longest like a pair of 10 year olds?? WE COULD HAVE DONE SO MUCH MORE.
The way they went from completely annoyed at each other to absolutely horny for each other in .5 seconds was WILD.
There were some good red herring setups and lampshading and swerving, but then the actual reveal of who they're tracking down in the end was meant to be a big reveal but...it wasn't? It was as obvious as the first red herring. The journey that the side plot takes with Hani's gumiho friend was incredibly obvious as well. At least the very final moments were a bit of a surprise, but I didn't feel a thing by then.
Finally, the audio. All I'll say is that neither of these two narrators know how to act/emote. There are great audiobook narrators who read books and bring them to life. Then there are these two, who say a line of someone growling with the exact same cadence and tone as someone crying. Hell, I wouldn't even know what emotion a character was supposed to be feeling in a line of dialogue until the dialogue tag was read out. Go girl, give us nothing!
Anyway. What a fucking let down. We could have had a much more interesting in depth story with the mythology. The romance could have gone down a different, much more interesting path if it wasn't so interested in being a "spicy" romantasy.
My first disappointing read of 2025, woo hoo.
The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter, Vol. 5 by Yatsuki Wakatsu
5.0
I just really enjoy this series a lot, especially Aresh and Kondou being dumb dumbs in looooove
After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress
2.0
So. I'm trying to read more past Hugo/Nebula award winners and I've enjoyed Nancy Kress in the past so I thought this would be a good place to start.
Unfortunately, all I got here was a bunch of ideas thrown together in a way that tried to provide something compelling and thoughtful, but only made me groan. The general climate fiction theme here feels clunky, and everything that had to do with the After sections, I haaaated. I get that it was a very specific point of view, but I hated reading it. The other sections weren't much better.
I don't know. It was whatever. My reading slump to close out the year continues.
Unfortunately, all I got here was a bunch of ideas thrown together in a way that tried to provide something compelling and thoughtful, but only made me groan. The general climate fiction theme here feels clunky, and everything that had to do with the After sections, I haaaated. I get that it was a very specific point of view, but I hated reading it. The other sections weren't much better.
I don't know. It was whatever. My reading slump to close out the year continues.
So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens
3.0
So this was a cute idea and for what it's doing, it's great! Fun times! It's a bit silly and anachronistic and not meant to be taken seriously. World building is non-existent. The story exists only to ask the question of what happens after the D&D campaign is over and two of your party are in love and one of them accidentally triggers a magical binding to be the new king and has to find his soulmate or die and how can you make a romcom out of it. It's predictable and fun.
It just went on maybe 100 pages too long for how absolutely goddamn OBLIVIOUS the two main characters were. You fucking love each other, just fucking SAY IT and GET TOGETHER ALREADY.
Literally every trope you can think of that would keep apart two characters who totally love each other but think the other DOESN'T love them is utilized. If that's your jam, I am so happy for you. Go forth! Enjoy this book! It just frustrated me to no end and that frustration ultimately took away from the fun time I was having with the rest of it.
It just went on maybe 100 pages too long for how absolutely goddamn OBLIVIOUS the two main characters were. You fucking love each other, just fucking SAY IT and GET TOGETHER ALREADY.
Literally every trope you can think of that would keep apart two characters who totally love each other but think the other DOESN'T love them is utilized. If that's your jam, I am so happy for you. Go forth! Enjoy this book! It just frustrated me to no end and that frustration ultimately took away from the fun time I was having with the rest of it.
King In Black: Marauders #1 by Gerry Duggan, Russell Dauterman
2.5
I….what? What was the point of this existing?