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whatjuliareads's reviews
504 reviews
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I love dragons. I might have a problem. If it's a lizard and it breathes fire, I want to boop the snoot.
I enjoyed the content of this book more than the first - less school, more politicking, more examining themes of grief and trust and forgiveness. Continuing to expand the cast of characters felt like a great choice - seeing Rhiannon come into her own and Dain not through a perspective of potential love interest was great. Cat, Sloane, and Aaric were also great additions, and seeing facets of Lilith that we previously hadn't seen was lovely. The emphasis on signets was also lovely.
That said, I felt that this may have been pushed out for publication too soon. There were places where the story just fell flat and needed more oomph (I'm thinking in particular of the temptation scene with the Viscount - the stakes just did not feel right).
Romance-wise, I was REALLY disappointed that another love triangle had to be jammed in there. I just can't get behind love triangles. In book one it was boring because obviously it was going to be Xaden and in book two it was boring because, obviously the super hot ex is going to be a jealous shrew that has to be put down to elevate our beloved MC. It's just so old and I just hate it so much. Fortunately, it was a small part of the book so I wasn't screaming into the abyss about it too much.
Just a titch.
I will be continuing the series! The ending upped the stakes and there were breadcrumbs throughout that make me really enthusiastic to continue. I thought the cliffhanger was beautifully done - high enough stakes and enough lack of clarity to leave you clamouring for more, but with enough substance to give you a couple of ideas of how this could play out.
I enjoyed the content of this book more than the first - less school, more politicking, more examining themes of grief and trust and forgiveness. Continuing to expand the cast of characters felt like a great choice - seeing Rhiannon come into her own and Dain not through a perspective of potential love interest was great. Cat, Sloane, and Aaric were also great additions, and seeing facets of Lilith that we previously hadn't seen was lovely. The emphasis on signets was also lovely.
That said, I felt that this may have been pushed out for publication too soon. There were places where the story just fell flat and needed more oomph (I'm thinking in particular of the temptation scene with the Viscount - the stakes just did not feel right).
Romance-wise, I was REALLY disappointed that another love triangle had to be jammed in there. I just can't get behind love triangles. In book one it was boring because obviously it was going to be Xaden and in book two it was boring because, obviously the super hot ex is going to be a jealous shrew that has to be put down to elevate our beloved MC. It's just so old and I just hate it so much. Fortunately, it was a small part of the book so I wasn't screaming into the abyss about it too much.
Just a titch.
I will be continuing the series! The ending upped the stakes and there were breadcrumbs throughout that make me really enthusiastic to continue. I thought the cliffhanger was beautifully done - high enough stakes and enough lack of clarity to leave you clamouring for more, but with enough substance to give you a couple of ideas of how this could play out.
Just Stab Me Now by Jill Bearup
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was delightful and very much had the same energy as the shorts series.
I do wonder how this will go over with folks who just pick the book up because it sounds neat and not because they loved the shorts series. The way the dialogue was executed makes me wonder - but I have no real way of knowing because I read the whole thing with Jill/Caroline/Rosamund's voice in my head.
I would like more sword lady books, thank you kindly. I loved Rosy's kids!
I do wonder how this will go over with folks who just pick the book up because it sounds neat and not because they loved the shorts series. The way the dialogue was executed makes me wonder - but I have no real way of knowing because I read the whole thing with Jill/Caroline/Rosamund's voice in my head.
I would like more sword lady books, thank you kindly. I loved Rosy's kids!
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
So many people told me to read this, and while I enjoyed it, it definitely wasn't the mind-blowing experience I was hoping for. I love dragons, I love world-building that centres around politics and betrayal, I love high stakes adventuring. Fortunately, this book had all of that.
As far as fantasy representation of disability goes, I was pretty happy with this. Dealing with pain, it can be really annoying to see a fantasy "cure" for disability. Violet has to deal with her disability, to work with it and try to mitigate issues arising from it. No one erases it, and we have people running the gamut of pretending its not an issue, to trying to coddle her, to trying to help her grow with it.
The romance is really where this one fell flat for me. The love triangle was so obviously going to go the way it went. If you love a trope-heavy love triangle, this is definitely for you! I just really can't get behind love triangles for whatever reason - one day I'll see one done in a way I like, but I just find them really difficult to care about. The sex scenes were... honestly almost funny, except for some of the choice of language (why there is a trend to describe consenting sex as "an assault" I have no idea - but I guess it's better than when people try to make assault into consenting sex) and I found myself really ambivalent about them.
Some real highlights were the dragons! The dragon personalities, and the personalities and shenanigans of the side characters were just delightful. I loved the idea of signets and the danger of their manifestation, the way magic works and the way that dragons have their own society and keep their own counsel? Loved that.
Overall, good enough to continue with the series.
As far as fantasy representation of disability goes, I was pretty happy with this. Dealing with pain, it can be really annoying to see a fantasy "cure" for disability. Violet has to deal with her disability, to work with it and try to mitigate issues arising from it. No one erases it, and we have people running the gamut of pretending its not an issue, to trying to coddle her, to trying to help her grow with it.
The romance is really where this one fell flat for me. The love triangle was so obviously going to go the way it went. If you love a trope-heavy love triangle, this is definitely for you! I just really can't get behind love triangles for whatever reason - one day I'll see one done in a way I like, but I just find them really difficult to care about. The sex scenes were... honestly almost funny, except for some of the choice of language (why there is a trend to describe consenting sex as "an assault" I have no idea - but I guess it's better than when people try to make assault into consenting sex) and I found myself really ambivalent about them.
Some real highlights were the dragons! The dragon personalities, and the personalities and shenanigans of the side characters were just delightful. I loved the idea of signets and the danger of their manifestation, the way magic works and the way that dragons have their own society and keep their own counsel? Loved that.
Overall, good enough to continue with the series.
The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This was just great. Exactly the kind of thing I was in a cozy novel.
If you like the idea of a cozy low-fantasy set in a 1930s university town, full of spiritualists and hacks, this book is for you. There was a lot to enjoy in this one - for me, I'm interested in the spiritualist movement of the early 20th century and a huge chunk of my undergraduate thesis centred around Egyptomania in the same time period, more broadly I love cozy fantasy and leads who aren't my age or much, much younger (I love my middle-aged and older leads!).
The writing falls into what you'd expect from a cozy mystery. Spare, well-paced, cluttered with the occasional Scrabble championship word. Megaera C. Lorenz doesn't delve deeply into a lot of her subject matter and keeps things light throughout. The stakes are appropriately high, but there's no revelling in violent or sexual content. If you're looking for a dark critique of Egyptology, colonialism, or poverty, this isn't the book for you. And, as far as I'm concerned, that's totally okay. Not everything has to be hard-hitting.
Dashiel (I love the pun of "Dash Quicke") and Hermann's love story is sweet and again falls into the guidelines of cozy mystery. They're both lovely characters and their romance is tied nicely into the storyline, rather than distracting from it. Like in most cozies, the romantic storyline isn't particularly well developed, but, again, that's what you expect. You know enough to root for them.
I also liked Hermann's affectionate use of Yiddish, though overall a lot of the dialogue read awkwardly for me (some of the 1930s slang just felt forced, but I'm not sure how one would fix that). The fact that competing identities (queer, Jewish, etc.) were not part of a trauma storyline was a pleasant surprise. It's the 1930s - it would be easy to go for a quick dance down the road of homophobia and antisemitism for some trauma spice without actually engaging in a meaningful way - but Lorenz didn't go there.
Overall, I enjoyed it. I felt that the pacing toward the end was off (is it just me or is there an insanely long chapter just randomly near the end??) and the ending seemed very neat and convenient. When you're writing a cozy with a happily ever after, this is to be expected, but I would've liked to see more. I'd have liked to see more on the Egyptology side of things, and I would've liked to see the connections between Egyptomania and the spiritualist movement explored a bit more. As usual, these are matters of personal taste and not something that is necessarily "lacking".
This was just great. Exactly the kind of thing I was in a cozy novel.
If you like the idea of a cozy low-fantasy set in a 1930s university town, full of spiritualists and hacks, this book is for you. There was a lot to enjoy in this one - for me, I'm interested in the spiritualist movement of the early 20th century and a huge chunk of my undergraduate thesis centred around Egyptomania in the same time period, more broadly I love cozy fantasy and leads who aren't my age or much, much younger (I love my middle-aged and older leads!).
The writing falls into what you'd expect from a cozy mystery. Spare, well-paced, cluttered with the occasional Scrabble championship word. Megaera C. Lorenz doesn't delve deeply into a lot of her subject matter and keeps things light throughout. The stakes are appropriately high, but there's no revelling in violent or sexual content. If you're looking for a dark critique of Egyptology, colonialism, or poverty, this isn't the book for you. And, as far as I'm concerned, that's totally okay. Not everything has to be hard-hitting.
Dashiel (I love the pun of "Dash Quicke") and Hermann's love story is sweet and again falls into the guidelines of cozy mystery. They're both lovely characters and their romance is tied nicely into the storyline, rather than distracting from it. Like in most cozies, the romantic storyline isn't particularly well developed, but, again, that's what you expect. You know enough to root for them.
I also liked Hermann's affectionate use of Yiddish, though overall a lot of the dialogue read awkwardly for me (some of the 1930s slang just felt forced, but I'm not sure how one would fix that). The fact that competing identities (queer, Jewish, etc.) were not part of a trauma storyline was a pleasant surprise. It's the 1930s - it would be easy to go for a quick dance down the road of homophobia and antisemitism for some trauma spice without actually engaging in a meaningful way - but Lorenz didn't go there.
Overall, I enjoyed it. I felt that the pacing toward the end was off (is it just me or is there an insanely long chapter just randomly near the end??) and the ending seemed very neat and convenient. When you're writing a cozy with a happily ever after, this is to be expected, but I would've liked to see more. I'd have liked to see more on the Egyptology side of things, and I would've liked to see the connections between Egyptomania and the spiritualist movement explored a bit more. As usual, these are matters of personal taste and not something that is necessarily "lacking".
The Royal Correspondent by Alexandra Joel
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I just did not enjoy this one. The premise and the plot are really interesting, but I just found their execution lacklustre at best. I expected more about women in journalism, more about what was going on at the papers, but the whole newspaper angle to this thing read like a lens to see Blaise's increasingly bizarre "love" triangle through.
My biggest criticism sums up most of my issues: Everything was so surface level. It meant that the stakes never seemed high and problems were played out very conveniently. We have moments where there are these seemingly dramatic things happening, but they don't matter until it's convenient for the narrator. The narrator doesn't really have to struggle with anything because she's so exceptional. And so on and so forth.
On the other hand, the fashion writing was very entertaining. I do love some good vintage fashion and the book delivered on that. Though the author and narrator majorly play down the importance of any woman other than Blaise, I enjoyed the fact that Dora and Harriet were pivotal in how things played out. With zero credit to them, naturally. The writing itself was fine, it seemed well edited, efforts were made to do some interesting things, it just fell flat.
My final point is just a general ick - race and sexuality were played off in this only insofar as it was convenient to tell the reader that Blaise isn't racist or homophobic.
My biggest criticism sums up most of my issues: Everything was so surface level. It meant that the stakes never seemed high and problems were played out very conveniently. We have moments where there are these seemingly dramatic things happening, but they don't matter until it's convenient for the narrator. The narrator doesn't really have to struggle with anything because she's so exceptional. And so on and so forth.
On the other hand, the fashion writing was very entertaining. I do love some good vintage fashion and the book delivered on that. Though the author and narrator majorly play down the importance of any woman other than Blaise, I enjoyed the fact that Dora and Harriet were pivotal in how things played out. With zero credit to them, naturally. The writing itself was fine, it seemed well edited, efforts were made to do some interesting things, it just fell flat.
My final point is just a general ick - race and sexuality were played off in this only insofar as it was convenient to tell the reader that Blaise isn't racist or homophobic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Xenophobia