onejadyn's reviews
63 reviews

Considering my massive distaste from the first Naomi Novik book I've ready—and I really did hate Uprooted—this was honestly far beyond my expectations. 

Overall, I found the writing style odd and brief, and it definitely seemed to enjoy assuming you knew things you didn't, but that you could infer. While odd, it wasn't bad, and after adjusting to it, its fairly quick and quirky tone really did set the tone for the story. 

The characters were okay, with the main character very purposefully prickly, and it was overall a fun tromp in a fairly deadly school, even if deadly sometimes comes across more as mildly inconveniencing. 

Normally I write a spoiler filled review, but I don't know if it's necessary here. I liked the book, though it didn't blow my mind. The school feels almost like it's ... badly worldbuilded, not because it's poorly designed, but because it's genuinely and canonically just unfathomable in enough ways that there are always more blank spots. 

Overall, an interesting take on the school genre, even though it in places felt rushed and brief. I like the characters but I'm not in love with them, and I liked the worldbuilding and magic, even if I'm not in love with it. 

I'm glad I read it, it was enjoyable if not mind bending, and sometimes that's enough.

This review contains spoilers.

18% 
(After meeting the Old Blood for the first time)

I'm enjoying this book so much more than I ever expected. Though I was hesitant when I realised the full consequences of Fitz's bonding with Nighteyes, I quickly fell deep into his life and struggles, and felt every moment of his "recovery" to a man as though it were me.

Few stories can hold me so enraptured and close to a character's life as this one has, and especially the last book. I didn't expect to learn more of the Wit but after meeting Rolf and those of the Old Blood, my excitement to discover more is at an all time high.

Everything from recovering from his very close bonding, disappointing and being forced to separate from Chade and Burrich, leaving his cabin only to discover he'd slipped too deeply into his kinship with a wolf once again.

I didn't expect the depth to his trauma, but watching him struggle with Forged where he didn't used to is harrowing, and I really feel just how vulnerable he is at this time. 

His traveling with the minstrels was also extremely telling in a lot of ways, about how healed he was in the presence of people, but also just how much he doesn't fit alongside men anymore, regardless of how he craves it. It seems there are reasons that those of the Old Blood, at least so far, seem to keep to themselves?

All I can say now is that I'm more enraptured in this book than any before it in this series, and the Old Blood fascinates me so deeply that I wish Fitz had stayed for learn the ways of it. As of now it's a 5/5 read.

73%
(While following the skill road)

This is easily the best of the trilogy for me. It's late and I don't have much time for this write up, but while we haven't learned much more of the Wit, we've learned so much else.

We've reunited with the Fool, and I really didn't know how much I'd missed him until he was back. What we lack in knowledge of the Wit is made up for all the bits and pieces we're learning of the Skill, especially on this long Skill Road. The way it affects Fitz is entrancing, almost more for me than him. I love the way his muddled mind is written—and I also felt an aching pain when I realised he couldn't hear Nighteyes in the depths of it. 

Kettle is unfathomably interesting. She had all these hints of older knowledge and skill knowledge, but at the end of this chapter we got a great reveal — she had killed another member of her coterie, which for her exiled. She's Skilled!

All of this doesn't even mention all we've been learning of the Fool, and I'm definitely noticing hints that his gender is either changing or was never fixed in the first place? But honestly I just love his friendship and relationship with Fitz. It's desperate and companionable and longing and I honestly can't get enough. 

Overall I'm thoroughly enjoying this one, so so much. Got to head to sleep, but I'm super glad I picked this trilogy up.


100% 
Alright. I loved it. By the end I was immersed to a fault, and the relationship between Fitz and the Fool only got better. But it was more than that. I could feel the tired numbness in Verity, and despite that how much he truly cared for Fitz. I could feel the deep sadness of Girl-on-a-Dragon.

I also felt it when Fitz's illusion of coming home to Molly finally shattered. Trying to give his memories up to the dragon, with the Fool and Nighteyes trying to convince him otherwise—it was painful. Especially in the numb, always hurting, never healed sort of way that Fitz specialises in. 

I don't think I need to speak of how I felt reading of Verity's dragon rising, and his last goodbye. Nor do I need to speak of the final battle where all the dragons were raised once and for all, a culmination so great I couldn't possibly have expected it. It almost felt cheap for being so "easy", but it felt as glorious as it did cheap and I certainly didn't mind.

I will speak of this: nothing made me happer than realising that Little Ferret fulfilled his vengeance on Regal. I gasped out loud. It was incredible. And a fitting end to Regal, essentially a spoiled child with far too much power and political cunning to do no harm with it.

5/5. Though at times a bit slow, and lacking in the some of the deeper exploration of Wit that I desperately wanted, this book soars legions ahead of the previous entries. It was an incredible culmination, with so much development, personal difficultly, interesting character dynamics, and just ... honestly incredible.

This review contains spoilers.

I honestly really enjoyed this book. I picked it up looking for something lighthearted and easy to read, to get myself out of a minor slump. 

It's not my usual book, being a bit more heavy-handed in romance and coziness, but it wasn't something I was particularly averse to either. 

Honestly, the story was in a lot of ways wholesome and delightful. The children were wonderful, and all the characters were charming. 

I do feel like a lot of the story felt a little brushed over. There were frequent time jumps that glossed over lessons with the children or nights with Jamie, and I felt the story might've been better served if just a few more of those scenes were better fleshed. 

Similarly, I wish the story lingered a bit longer on the few conflicts they had. When Mika got badly hurt by a child's magical negligence, it was brushed off within a page with a simple apology, and didn't linger much longer. When Mika felt betrayed by the occupants of Nowhere House for trying to use her and manipulate her, it similarly got resolved and was not revisited after just a few pages, though that was nearer to the end of the book. 

I admittedly did not enjoy Jamie's perspective early on in the book either. It was very much "ugh I hate her but why do I find her so pretty and enjoy being around her so much!" and I feel that he would've been better served if he'd been more distracted by his overprotectiveness of the kids rather than his blossoming and sudden attraction to her. 

Overall though, the book is what it says on the tin and does it fairly well. It's wholesome, cozy, and fun. You end up loving the characters, even if you wish some might've had more time to be better explored, and the resolution and character growth—while a bit heavy handed and unsubtle and often told rather than shown—is satisfying and well tied up with a neat bow. 

This was a good book, and I read it in a short few hours. I was engaged and I enjoyed myself. While lacking some of the depth and more subtle exploration that I wish it had, I honestly enjoyed it, and I'm glad I read it.

This review contains spoilers.

This book was a lot of fun. 

I was hooked from the beginning, reading about Kelsier in the prologue, and though I thought initially that Vin would be a fairly cliché street girl, I loved reading about her too.

This story had what I consider masterful pacing, with the action in the mists perfectly balanced with Vin's spying in the ball and other slower scenes to take a breath. 

Though their romance felt more than cliché, and it moved all too quickly, I also still really enjoyed Vin and Elend. It was a breath of fresh air between moments of tense action, and I wish we'd seen more of them getting to know the other. Though their romance moved far too quickly, with Vin declaring love for him after we as a reader got only a few scenes, I found it almost fitting. Vin, after all, was starved for emotions like love, and it wouldn't be surprising to have her fall too quickly. 

I do think his foreshadowing as love interest was laid on a bit thick, with Vin entranced by him from the get-go, but I do think it added a lot of interest to the ball scenes.

Notably, the ball scenes, and this romance, is really only a small part of the larger picture here. I loved the Mistborn practice that Vin underwent with all her metals. The magic system was simple but also addicting to hear about it, and I was as excited as Vin to find the nuances in it, the amount of skill she could find in studying soothing as well as pewter, and of course the ironpulling and steelpushing.

I wish she was slightly less of a prodigy, but obviously the raw strength and instinctive skill she possessed was important to the story as well.

Also notably, I loved her much of a god that the Lord Ruler really did present as. He was the sole religion left, and so powerful he couldn't be conquered. His mere presence drove depression through his powerful soothing magics. He was immortal and would never fall. Taking him down was so unbelievably ludicrous, that you couldn't help but agree with the characters. What an impossible task, how can these people ever manage it? Comparatively, their brainstorming sessions felt almost like the optimistic meddling of small children, and I love that he managed to evoke that feeling in the reader.

It all fell into place in the end when Kelsier died. Suddenly an impossible mission came into fruition, and the nature of their challenge suddenly clicked. Though we wondered about Kelsier painting himself almost as a god-like figure, and worried he wouldn't be able to give it up, the whole time he was preparing for this—to die for them. To become the Skaa's belief and religion. To push them to fight.

I loved a lot of the characters here. Kelsier without a doubt, but also Spook, Breeze, Ham, and don't get me started on Sazed, who might be my favourite of them all, with his studying of religion and his attempt to preserve his own culture—or what little he knew of it. He was loyal to a fault, but a strong and pragmatic character that I couldn't help but love.

Notably though, I was frustrated by Vin's motives more that once. Often she would convey to the reader or her own thoughts no reason to be with Kelsier and his team, but then explain it in a one-liner at the end of a chapter. "I guess I want to see what happens" kind of style. I think she was meant to be aimless, but after she had started learning all the metals, and before she began to trust them, there was an awkward point where she felt like she was just being pulled along by the plot despite not deciding much for herself about whether this impossible mission was worth it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. I'm excited to continue with it, and it was nearly a 5 stars for me. Though I did notice a difference in the writing style between this book and his later Stormlight Archives, the improvement I see in the later books is only natural, and good if anything, as you can see he's grown as a writer. Though I noticed his comparatively less polished writing style in the first couple chapters, it all fell away eventually. 

The pacing was superb, and the characters lots of fun. The magic system was both simple to understand but hard to master, and I was holding on close throughout the entire climax, which in Sanderson fashion, picked up near the end of the book and did not let go until the book fell to an end. 

This review contains spoilers.

I picked this book as a light read after finishing Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb. 

I expected a fairly cliché but faster paced and enjoyable book, and it was that, but it also surprised me quite a bit.

While at first everyone seemed obscenely talented with no flaws, but later we learn that they do, in fact, of many flaws, even if they're still obscenely talented at the end of it.

I genuinely enjoyed reading about every character, which isn't very common in multiple POV stories. But honestly, I enjoyed slowly unraveling the pasts of Kaz and Inej, and I think their romance is also fairly well done. The hints came early, but I appreciated that it was rightfully secondary to the time-sensitive plot, and that they didn't jump in recklessly into a silly relationship that neither were ready for.

I also enjoyed Jesper and Wylan. While they had less depth to uncover in their backstories, they were both fun characters to hang out with, and their banter was great.

Nina and Matthias were a really big highlight as well. While Matthias' point of view was explored though, I somehow feel that we didn't get nearly enough justification for his participation in the Druskelle. 

We learn of his hatred for the Grisha, but there's a startling lack of why. He doesn't seem to have a lot of real reasons to believe what he does, aside from the fact that he was taught to. He mentions a Grisha attack to a town only briefly, and while he obviously has revulsion to Nina's magic, I don't remember any negative experiences that he or anyone else he knows had from it. Obviously the environment he grew up in was the majority of the reason for his beliefs, but there's very little personal weight to it, and that's a bit disappointing.

At the end of the day, the book wasn't mind blowing. Everyone involved was a prodigy, the heist was fairly predictable in execution, and this isn't the first cast that has had a decent rapport with each other. Arguably the rapport between the group as a whole is largely only okay, as there are clear relationships that are explored (i.e. Wylan + Jesper, Kaz + Inej, Nina + Matthias), some mild relationships explored (Inej + Nina?) and then a lack of content between many other dynamics in this party.

So while it's not mind-blowing in any way, it's honestly just enjoyable. It's fun, it's well-paced, and the folding of each character's history is engaging. I had a good time, and I'm glad I read it.

This review contains spoilers.

I had a good, but very long, time with this book. This book was in many ways VERY dense. It is political fantasy as much as it is reflective, and you spend a lot of time in Fitz's head, and his life isn't great. 

The beginning I found much faster paced. Everything from getting home to Buckkeep and studying with Verity, making up with Molly, and guiding the new queen in waiting. It was a routine, a fairly slow one, but one I was happy to fall along with. 

I very much enjoyed Fitz and Nighteyes. While at first I thought the literal speech between them was silly, as we didn't much see that with Nosy in the past, I grew to understand it, and I loved their connection with each other, and Fitz's acceptance of the Wit.

When Verity left, the atmosphere changed quite a lot. Around this time I found I was picking up the book less, but when I did I was wholly absorbed. 

It's hard not to get into Fitz's head, to avoid feeling what he feels. It's solemn and tense and reflective, and you really do just live inside his head while you read the story. 

The rushed attempts to move Kettricken and the King out of the city were wholly absorbing to read, and the Fitz's life in the cell afterwards were such a stark contrast that I feel like my perception as a reader of it was almost as shocking as Fitz's experience himself. 

The choice of Burrich in the end to tell Fitz to become one with the wolf in order to escape—it's hard to determine if that is growth, overwhelming paternal love, or selfishness that he didn't feel prepared to lose the boy who was like a son to him. Within all likelihood it was all three. 

I enjoyed this story very much, slow as it was, despite not always rushing to pick it up. 

And as I've forgotten to mention it til now, I feel I must add that the Fool was a highlight and a character like no other, and seeing his loyalty to his king, spilled our and bared for all to see, was absolutely one of the best parts of this story for me. 

This review has spoilers.

Mort was a book that I loved and then liked. It begins with interesting characters, interesting settings, and a tone both humorous and whimsical. I laughed out loud several times, which is rare for me. I found the first half was an absolute joy, getting to know Mort, slowly beginning to understand Death, seeing Ankh Morpork. 

As it went on, I felt the characters became less fleshed, and the pace of certain events became a little rushed for my tastes. By the ending, things felt simultaneously resolved and just a bit unsatisfying, as though the true consequences and world was just a touch unresolved. 

Overall though, I loved Mort's beginnings as a boy trying to do right by his father, daydreaming more than he should, and struggling to understand his new job. I loved Death's journey to find happiness. And I was fairly invested in the princess and the wizard, struggling to be recognized. 

The connecting bits didn't particularly resonate with me. By the end I was ready to put it down, but this book has a lot of promise and I look forward to my next read in Discworld.

Well worth the read, and I'm glad it was my first book in Discworld.

This review has spoilers.

This book was interesting for me to say the least. First and foremost, it is my first classic. The difference in writing style compared to what I'm accustomed to definitely impacted my thoughts on it, as I was struggling with the idea of whether I would place this at 3/5 or 4/5. 

The beginning I found relatively interesting, with the introduction of Dorian Grey and Basil. Truthfully at this point, I had no interest in Lord Henry. I found Lord Henry was either a brilliant character or an unbearable one, as he constantly bounced from genuinely wise and thoughtful, to what I could only interpret as trying to say something interesting and quote worthy despite the truth behind his words being rather lackluster. 

I was neutral to the book until the introduction of Sybil Vane at which point I enjoyed it rather thoroughly until the end — excepting chapter 11, which took several days to get through, though that could be just as much because I read it in small sessions and in distracted times as it was because the chapter was actually poorly done. I liked the idea of chapter 11 but for whatever reason I couldn't enjoy it. 

The slow corruption of Dorian Gray was something I did enjoy though, and I like the way he passed in the end as well. The role reversal and the stark lack of beauty, poetry, or preparation really seemed to fit the ending. It was incredibly unsatisfying in the best way. 

Overall I really liked it, though I was also admittedly excited for it to be over as the writing style was somewhat draining to me, probably because I was so out of practice with reading. That said, I think most reading fanatics should read this book at least once I'm very glad I did.