mayastef's reviews
175 reviews

Let me preface this by saying that I have a better command of chemistry than the average person. I don't consider myself a great chemist, but with my current job, you could make a case for my career being chemistry.  With that said, I think this is a very fun-factable book in the way that when you read it, the stories are so interesting that you immediately want to go tell someone about the weird little thing you just learned. Overall I think the science is pretty accessible, but towards the end, it got a bit too heavy even for someone working in STEM (partially because I do not like reading about too heavy science in my free time since it feels like work).  I think if you consider yourself a science person in any way, this book will be more of a light read for you, but someone without a science background may find it slightly more challenging not to be overwhelmed. I truly think it's easily accessible to those who passed high school chemistry.

It is beautifully written and an interesting concept but its a little too real for me. I bought this book before I realized that reading nonfiction vaugly related to my field is PAINFUL for me. I started reading this book in 2021 and finished it in 2023. It is not a bad book! The writing is beautiful and the places described are very interesting! It's just not a book for ME!

I have some very specific bones to pick with the plot of this book that I will not elaborate on in review form bc of spoilers. It basically boils down to SJM picking bad times to be predictable and worse times to be unpredictable. I think a lot of her choices undercut the greater development of the characters when you really boil it all down I think SJM is stretching my brain thin. I'm totally down to let her cook with this whole multiverse thing/ bringing in characters later in the book to come and clutch up in the 11th hour but I think she has too many bits of the story in different pots and the metaphorical stove of my brain does not have enough burners for all the plots. 

Feyre is not my favorite main character, I will admit it, but I don't hate her, I do think she is dumb as hell, though. Not a lot of forethought with that girl. Sarah J Maas has a real talent for writing the first books in a series that could stand alone. In my opinion, both ACOTAR and TOG could be stand-alone books with some minor tweaks here and there. Once you've read one SJM series your experience of the others will be tainted because you will start being able to predict her antics. 

I do love gay space teens, but overall I felt like there were parts of the story missing. I enjoyed reading this book but I probably will not read any sequels. 

The scheming is constant, so much so that this book gave me anxiety. Overall the story is cool, but the actual magic/fantasy elements of the story really do not feel whole at all. I am not mad that I read it but I wont be recommending it there are just better options. overall these books are middle of the road but have chunks of them that are 5 star worthy so I think it shakes out to 4/4.25 ish.

The world-building was weak to me, but I understand that there are other books in this universe that maybe would fill that world-building hole for me, so that might just be the fault of my reading order, not the book. I overall liked the vibes of this book but I didn't feel it was anything super special. I do like the mafia vibe of the Ballengers so it is hard to see them as outlaws when I like their vibe so much. I am going to mark the next point as a spoiler out of an overabundance of caution but I truly do not believe it is one.  

The last chapter of the book threw me off so hard?? I thought that where Jase and Kazi's stories left off was a solid stopping point for the book to launch into a sequel and the very final chapter confused the shit out of me

This is the first book in the series to captivate me in such a way that I couldn't put it down. I think that is partially because this is the first one I've read not covered by the show. If the show gets a second season and adapts this book as well as they did the first 2 season 2 will be terrifying. 

lovely little book. there are a few things that resonated super hard with me. 

Listening to the audiobook read by the author herself is the way to go for this book. Hearing her story from her mouth really adds another layer of depth to this already very solid book.