eeves's reviews
284 reviews

This was a SLOG  to get through. Supposedly Maas’ first series in ADULT fantasy and… man, it doesn’t read that way. This is a YA fantasy with a lot of juvenile writing, stilted swearing and an unnecessary amount of horniness. It’s like a hormonal teen’s fanfic about a bunch of different fantasy worlds shoved together with cursing thrown in left and right “Alphahole?” I cringed every time it was uttered. Second-hand embarrassment from beginning to end. 

There’s no cohesion to the worldbuilding. There are so many species and mythological figures that she pulls from and yet there’s no real connective tissue between any of them.

This was so long for no reason. It easily could’ve been cut in half. Saying it gets better after page 500 is a bonker. The amount of infodumping is ridiculous, made worse by the fact that it was mostly shallow. I.e everytime a character popped up, it was followed by literally paragraphs of background info. 

All the characters are often objectified, the female characters especially and the MC in particular. This whole book is oddly written so heavily from the male gaze. The MC can’t be in a scene without someone looking at, describing or admiring her ass/body. Why is she reduced to a body for most of the novel?? This book is filled to the brim with slut-shaming, ageism, and objectification.

Speaking of MC: Bryce is the hottest, most badass, smartest, best at everything Chosen One Mary Sue = BORING. As I understand it, all of Maas’ MCs are written like this.

There’s a weird admiration towards the oppressors in this society and blaming the oppressed groups and framing them as terrorists when they try to fight for their rights and freedom. I can’t believe that’s such a strong message behind this book. 

Random side note: this kind of reminded my of the later Anita Blake books by Laurel K. Hamilton, who is incidentally praising the book on the back cover

This is marketed as gothic fantasy, and while there are some elements of that, it feels more just like a regular fairy tale fantasy. I wouldn’t call this a romantasy either. It’s there, but it’s not the focal point. I prefer that personally, but just an fyi if you’re looking for more romance… 

This whole book is completely predictable. There’s no intrique, no surprises. The plot twists are not twisting and when they finally happen, you’re left thinking “yeah I knew this 100 pages ago.”

The magic system (magic-granting tarot-ish cards) is neat, if underutilized. 

 It might not bother everyone, but I noticed very quickly that the author has a terrible habit of repeating certain turns of phrase, descriptions, titles, etc. (her lips curled, Captain of the Destriers, slick like oil, his gray eyes, among others). It makes reading so tedious. 

Elspeth… in constant need of saving from beginning to end. Everything interesting (and useful) about her comes from The Nightmare: the only remotely interesting character.

If you go into this specifically wanting an easy, light read then I think you’re good, but oof. I don’t really understand why this has such high ratings. 

Beautiful art from Junji Ito as always. 

I don’t know how to explain it, but the dialogue in a lot of manga, including this one, feels stilted and campy. Not a big deal in most cases, but tree are times it doesn’t fit with the tone of this particular story. I chalk it up to something getting lost in translation. 

Considering it’s supposedly autobiographical, simply said this is a sad tale. I’d never heard of the author until now and it has me curious to seek out Osamu Dazai/Shūji Tsushima’s works

I kept putting this book on the back burner, thinking I’d get back to it since I’ve already put so much time into it. After realizing it’s been over a month since I last read it, I’ve finally decided to just DNF. 

This is kind of a weird one. I do like the relationship between the main protag, Charlie and his dog Radar. There are genuinely moments that make you go awwww, especially if you’re an animal lover. However, this book really should’ve been edited down. You just… kind of forget you’re even reading a fantasy story. By the time you get to any fantastical elements, you’re already nearly 200 pages in (according to my Kindle) and the first few characters Charlie meets in the other world are so dull I found my attention slipping. 

Honestly, I eventually read a synopsis and the next several hundred pages sounds like uninteresting fantasy tropes, including Charlie’s hair and eyes changing color to show he’s the Chosen One. 

Hate to admit it’s an absolute slog of a book.

Some interesting bits of info, though it can be a little full of itself sometimes as well as repetitive. Love the art

On one hand, while I like the conversational tone, I do wish someone sat down with Dante to help him better express himself at certain points. More editing could’ve tighten things up some, as he could be a bit repetitive and scattered ….but in his defense he does point this out at the start! I think it helps to view this as a stream of consciousness letter he’s sent you, him signing it at the end gives it that vibe.