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onejadyn's reviews
63 reviews
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
2.0
This review has spoilers
Originality: 1/5
Characterization: 1/5
Classic, Fun Tropeyness: 4/5
I'm the kind of person who watches bad movies when I'm feeling down, and trope-y cliché books hit that exact same craving. This was pretty unoriginal and pretty trope-y and predictable, in all the best ways. It was fun to read, kept a decent pace, and I finished it in a few hours.
I'm not a fan of straight romance, so this story had enough fights and action scenes to keep me interested. From a Beauty and the Beast retelling to, well, any 3-trials format retelling, it was a classic trope-y mess and, yes, I mean that in a good way. If you're the type to watch cheesy terrible movies, you might enjoy this read.
Originality: 1/5
Characterization: 1/5
Classic, Fun Tropeyness: 4/5
I'm not a fan of straight romance, so this story had enough fights and action scenes to keep me interested. From a Beauty and the Beast retelling to, well, any 3-trials format retelling, it was a classic trope-y mess and, yes, I mean that in a good way. If you're the type to watch cheesy terrible movies, you might enjoy this read.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
3.0
This review has spoilers
It is still trope-y and imperfect, just as the first book was. However, if that's the kind of thing you're looking for, this book might still be for you.
I think it's ridiculous that they made Tamlin immediately completely unlikable. I know we saw hints of his overprotectiveness and that he left her out of planning in the first book, but rather than slowly emphasizing it while still showing Tamlin as a largely positive character before then, his new overprotectiveness and trapping behaviours suddenly take the forefront with no warning, leaving the audience and Feyre to hate him.
I found it semi irritating that after she left him, there was no word from him until the end of the story. I see that they were setting up for the reveal but meh. I read these sorts of stories for their angst and I could've used more.
I do find Rhys a more interesting character than Tamlin so I was glad to see more of him. I found him endlessly more interesting in the first book, but he was fine here too. He's essentially a blanket statement hero who has almost never done anything wrong but does everything for his city and his friends. I wish he was still a little more morally grey but what can you do.
Overall, the action was still decent, the characters were a lot more interesting (Lucian and Rhys were the highlights of the first book, whereas all of Rhys' crew interested me more or less in this one), but Tamlin's sudden villain transformation was done with less care than I'd prefer, and there was a bit more waiting and sap in this one, which isn't my preference but is likely someone else's.
I give it a 3/5 on trope-y classic absurdity, not necessarily on it being a great book. It's fine, but mostly I read it for that classic ever-running fanfic pacing and story beats, which it provides on well enough.
I think it's ridiculous that they made Tamlin immediately completely unlikable. I know we saw hints of his overprotectiveness and that he left her out of planning in the first book, but rather than slowly emphasizing it while still showing Tamlin as a largely positive character before then, his new overprotectiveness and trapping behaviours suddenly take the forefront with no warning, leaving the audience and Feyre to hate him.
I found it semi irritating that after she left him, there was no word from him until the end of the story. I see that they were setting up for the reveal but meh. I read these sorts of stories for their angst and I could've used more.
I do find Rhys a more interesting character than Tamlin so I was glad to see more of him. I found him endlessly more interesting in the first book, but he was fine here too. He's essentially a blanket statement hero who has almost never done anything wrong but does everything for his city and his friends. I wish he was still a little more morally grey but what can you do.
Overall, the action was still decent, the characters were a lot more interesting (Lucian and Rhys were the highlights of the first book, whereas all of Rhys' crew interested me more or less in this one), but Tamlin's sudden villain transformation was done with less care than I'd prefer, and there was a bit more waiting and sap in this one, which isn't my preference but is likely someone else's.
I give it a 3/5 on trope-y classic absurdity, not necessarily on it being a great book. It's fine, but mostly I read it for that classic ever-running fanfic pacing and story beats, which it provides on well enough.
The Stand-In by Lily Chu
1.75
This review has spoilers
I'm not going to lie—I read this book because it's set in Toronto. I also recently re-watched Scott Pilgrim for the same reason.
That said, it's a classic trope-y Wattpad-esque story, and I was looking for easy comfort reads. It was alright. Finished it in about 4 hours. The beginning set it up to be better than it was. Sam did a 180 switch from "can't stand you" to BFFs, with no casual awkward coworker stuff in between.
The ending felt rushed though resolved. I admittedly hate hate hate the misunderstanding trope. Gracie leaving them completely because she assumes she's being blamed for something she didn't do -- that's stupid. I don't know why she did that.
Overall, it was fine. Enjoyable enough as a quick read it and forget it comfort read. I wish there was more of a slow burn development in both Gracie and Sam's relationship, and in Fangli's mental health. I also wish they'd gone more in depth about Gracie's conversation with Sam about her previous Boss. It was oddly built up for something that was explained as "I told Sam what happened". I think hearing the story from her—at least parts of it—would've helped show where she is as a character when processing those sorts of challenges.
But hey, it took place in Toronto! They mentioned the Danforth, Bloor, the ferry, the CN Tower (never been), and even Kensington Market. And at the end of the day, that's basically why I read it.
That said, it's a classic trope-y Wattpad-esque story, and I was looking for easy comfort reads. It was alright. Finished it in about 4 hours. The beginning set it up to be better than it was. Sam did a 180 switch from "can't stand you" to BFFs, with no casual awkward coworker stuff in between.
The ending felt rushed though resolved. I admittedly hate hate hate the misunderstanding trope. Gracie leaving them completely because she assumes she's being blamed for something she didn't do -- that's stupid. I don't know why she did that.
Overall, it was fine. Enjoyable enough as a quick read it and forget it comfort read. I wish there was more of a slow burn development in both Gracie and Sam's relationship, and in Fangli's mental health. I also wish they'd gone more in depth about Gracie's conversation with Sam about her previous Boss. It was oddly built up for something that was explained as "I told Sam what happened". I think hearing the story from her—at least parts of it—would've helped show where she is as a character when processing those sorts of challenges.
But hey, it took place in Toronto! They mentioned the Danforth, Bloor, the ferry, the CN Tower (never been), and even Kensington Market. And at the end of the day, that's basically why I read it.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
1.5
This review has spoilers
I read this based on a recommendation online and honestly had a terrible time with this book. I almost DNF'd it, but instead skimmed to the end. Honestly, the concept was cool. I liked the concept of the Woods and the corruption, but honestly the characters were just so dry.
The main character was an overwhelmingly strong wizard despite a lack of training due to using a specific kind of magic, and honestly was roughly as dull as a rock. Aside from her love for Katsia, there were little real motivations or anything deep that drove her to action.
While the first few chapters in the tower weren't amazing, I assumed they'd build up to be greater then themselves. Instead we end up dawdling in the court of a nearby city, getting made fun of by some random noble woman while the main character just does nothing useful.
Soon after, everything goes wrong, corruption is discovered, the army is on the move, the king is dead ... but I just don't care. I can't even fully describe why, but while I did somewhat want to know how the situation resolved, reading about it was like pulling teeth. It was hard to convince myself to continue. It felt dry, dry, dry. I think largely because I didn't care for the main character.
At the end we got a half baked love story with the Dragon which seems to be 80% magic-lust and 20% "I guess we've been through a lot together".
Honestly I didn't much enjoy this, and it was hard to get through.
There were a lot of decent ideas and there was a cool story in there somewhere, but for whatever reason, I could never be made to care.
tl;dr: The plot could've been good but the characters were dry and boring. I was about as invested as I would've been reading a history book about people I didn't know and had only scarcely heard of. The "romance" was half baked, the penultimate friendship was not explored, and overall it fell short in a number of ways
1.5/5
The main character was an overwhelmingly strong wizard despite a lack of training due to using a specific kind of magic, and honestly was roughly as dull as a rock. Aside from her love for Katsia, there were little real motivations or anything deep that drove her to action.
While the first few chapters in the tower weren't amazing, I assumed they'd build up to be greater then themselves. Instead we end up dawdling in the court of a nearby city, getting made fun of by some random noble woman while the main character just does nothing useful.
Soon after, everything goes wrong, corruption is discovered, the army is on the move, the king is dead ... but I just don't care. I can't even fully describe why, but while I did somewhat want to know how the situation resolved, reading about it was like pulling teeth. It was hard to convince myself to continue. It felt dry, dry, dry. I think largely because I didn't care for the main character.
At the end we got a half baked love story with the Dragon which seems to be 80% magic-lust and 20% "I guess we've been through a lot together".
Honestly I didn't much enjoy this, and it was hard to get through.
There were a lot of decent ideas and there was a cool story in there somewhere, but for whatever reason, I could never be made to care.
tl;dr: The plot could've been good but the characters were dry and boring. I was about as invested as I would've been reading a history book about people I didn't know and had only scarcely heard of. The "romance" was half baked, the penultimate friendship was not explored, and overall it fell short in a number of ways
1.5/5
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
4.0
This review has spoilers.
This is a significantly deeper world than I had expected, and I'm glad that it is. There are still so many more mysteries to unravel, and I'm still hyper-aware that we've never gotten more word on the Ifrit, who claimed to work with Nahri's mother and wanted Nahri alive rather than dead. They exhibited grief over their dead kin, and it was only Dara who said that they were evil, and he's known to be biased in these matters.
Overall, the political intrigue was deep, and I feel just as out of my depth as Nahri was trying to navigate it. The unreliable perspectives are amazingly well done here. You can never trust a word out of anyone's mouth, because they're all remarkably biased, and no one paints a full and true story—even if they don't realize it themselves. you never know who to believe and it's honestly one of the best parts of this story.
I enjoyed Ali's character a lot once Nahri came in—he felt more grounded because he had ties to the city he was fighting for, whereas earlier, he was compassionate but alone and with no true connections or roots of any kind. I really wanted to connect with him in the early chapters, but even though I was interested in the story of the shafit, their rebellions, and their efforts to protect their people, Ali just felt kind of there and along for the ride, rather than like a person with his own motivations.
I loved the struggle Nahri went through in her transition into the court and especially with her failure as a healer. She was introduced to us as a cocky and capable con-artist, who struggled very little to achieve her ends. And watching that break was awesome and altogether too rare these days.
I really enjoyed the progression of Nahri and Dara's relationship, but I do wish we'd seen a bit more of their bonding on the way to the city. They both felt so strongly for one another and yet I feel like so much of it was off screen, and I wish we'd seen a bit more of that progression, which took them from distant strangers to reverent friends.
I loved Dara's progression into overwhelming overprotectiveness, as I felt it played really well into all of the things we'd already seen hinted in his character. I also loved the moral conundrum, where Nahri clearly cared for him even after seeing him do these horrible things, even though a part of her hated him and never wanted to go with him.
Overall, this was a fairly powerful introduction into a very politically charged world, with a character that I really enjoy reading about. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
Overall, the political intrigue was deep, and I feel just as out of my depth as Nahri was trying to navigate it. The unreliable perspectives are amazingly well done here. You can never trust a word out of anyone's mouth, because they're all remarkably biased, and no one paints a full and true story—even if they don't realize it themselves. you never know who to believe and it's honestly one of the best parts of this story.
I enjoyed Ali's character a lot once Nahri came in—he felt more grounded because he had ties to the city he was fighting for, whereas earlier, he was compassionate but alone and with no true connections or roots of any kind. I really wanted to connect with him in the early chapters, but even though I was interested in the story of the shafit, their rebellions, and their efforts to protect their people, Ali just felt kind of there and along for the ride, rather than like a person with his own motivations.
I loved the struggle Nahri went through in her transition into the court and especially with her failure as a healer. She was introduced to us as a cocky and capable con-artist, who struggled very little to achieve her ends. And watching that break was awesome and altogether too rare these days.
I really enjoyed the progression of Nahri and Dara's relationship, but I do wish we'd seen a bit more of their bonding on the way to the city. They both felt so strongly for one another and yet I feel like so much of it was off screen, and I wish we'd seen a bit more of that progression, which took them from distant strangers to reverent friends.
I loved Dara's progression into overwhelming overprotectiveness, as I felt it played really well into all of the things we'd already seen hinted in his character. I also loved the moral conundrum, where Nahri clearly cared for him even after seeing him do these horrible things, even though a part of her hated him and never wanted to go with him.
Overall, this was a fairly powerful introduction into a very politically charged world, with a character that I really enjoy reading about. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
4.0
This review has spoilers
This is a re-read for me, and admittedly that made it a bit less enjoyable. I've seen the first season of Game Of Thrones two or three times, and this is my second or third time reading the book.
However, I did enjoy it a lot more than I did on my first read through. The pacing didn't bother me the way it used to, and I enjoyed more of the point of views than I used to. Catelyn's perspective is still my least favourite, but I don't dread it as badly.
Overall, it's a great story, and more than that, a fantastic world. You really see almost everyone rise into their own here. Arya growing into a fighter, a capable individual who is more than her gender would typically allow, Robb following his father's footsteps as Lord of Winterfell, Jon Snow finding a place to belong and to protect, Bran in his journey to come to terms with his crippled state and find what he can do—though he's still fresh to that journey. Sansa, slowly realizing that the royal family, decorum, and the court was never as it seemed. Daenerys, growing from a runaway Princess in the shadow of her brother, then Khaleesi, and now a leader in her own right and mother of dragons. It's just amazing stuff seeing all these characters grow and evolve in such a massive way.
Overall, I did enjoy this. I'd love to read more, and I will. I've read the second and third books in the past, but I find those ones harder to recall.
Game of Thrones was a great story, but exhausting in a way (hence the 4/5 stars). Some chapters grow long and somewhat tedious when their story isn't the one you intended to read. I'd like to continue this series again, but I'll need a break first.
'Til the next one.
This is a re-read for me, and admittedly that made it a bit less enjoyable. I've seen the first season of Game Of Thrones two or three times, and this is my second or third time reading the book.
However, I did enjoy it a lot more than I did on my first read through. The pacing didn't bother me the way it used to, and I enjoyed more of the point of views than I used to. Catelyn's perspective is still my least favourite, but I don't dread it as badly.
Overall, it's a great story, and more than that, a fantastic world. You really see almost everyone rise into their own here. Arya growing into a fighter, a capable individual who is more than her gender would typically allow, Robb following his father's footsteps as Lord of Winterfell, Jon Snow finding a place to belong and to protect, Bran in his journey to come to terms with his crippled state and find what he can do—though he's still fresh to that journey. Sansa, slowly realizing that the royal family, decorum, and the court was never as it seemed. Daenerys, growing from a runaway Princess in the shadow of her brother, then Khaleesi, and now a leader in her own right and mother of dragons. It's just amazing stuff seeing all these characters grow and evolve in such a massive way.
Overall, I did enjoy this. I'd love to read more, and I will. I've read the second and third books in the past, but I find those ones harder to recall.
Game of Thrones was a great story, but exhausting in a way (hence the 4/5 stars). Some chapters grow long and somewhat tedious when their story isn't the one you intended to read. I'd like to continue this series again, but I'll need a break first.
'Til the next one.
The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty
4.25
This review has spoilers
This was a fantastic sequel to all that occurred in the previous story. With only brief introductions to our characters and the set up to the next year's of their life, we move forward five years later, where they have settled into their ways, all in different places.
Ali has his grove in the desert, Nahri in the heart in the politically unstable djinn city, and Dara under the thumb of the oldest living Bahu Nahida, raised from the dead.
Watching Dara fall apart was heartbreaking, simultaneously expected and terrible, as he agrees to his new Bahu Nahida's whims and takes on an assault beyond terror.
Watching Nahri struggle to hold onto herself and protect her city when others are constantly paying for her mistakes, trying to thrive and create a better world, is wonderful.
Seeing Ali finally come into himself, his powers, and leadership, still struggling to balance his sight of justice as well as his execution in such a politically driven land. Trying to console the parts of him that wished family and loyalty was everything, and the part of him that wished to do better than them. It's amazing.
That's not even talking about Jamshid and Muntadhir, both characters that grew so much, intertwined in a hidden way, but their stories so so seperate, as Muntadhir finally learns what it is to love his family, to question his father, and his potential responsibility to his land and his wife. Jamshid learning to accept his injuries and serve the kingdom in a way he might not have imagined, with no clue about his Nahid power shimmering beneath the surface.
Overall, this was a perfect followup, just as politically charged, with the powerful, terrible, and awe-striking assault representing its finale, where Nahri makes a choice that from the outside is counter to her people, her goals, and the city's safety, and from the inside, is a confusing mess of questions, hopes, that honestly, is likely the best chance that Daevabad has to survive this.
This was a fantastic sequel to all that occurred in the previous story. With only brief introductions to our characters and the set up to the next year's of their life, we move forward five years later, where they have settled into their ways, all in different places.
Ali has his grove in the desert, Nahri in the heart in the politically unstable djinn city, and Dara under the thumb of the oldest living Bahu Nahida, raised from the dead.
Watching Dara fall apart was heartbreaking, simultaneously expected and terrible, as he agrees to his new Bahu Nahida's whims and takes on an assault beyond terror.
Watching Nahri struggle to hold onto herself and protect her city when others are constantly paying for her mistakes, trying to thrive and create a better world, is wonderful.
Seeing Ali finally come into himself, his powers, and leadership, still struggling to balance his sight of justice as well as his execution in such a politically driven land. Trying to console the parts of him that wished family and loyalty was everything, and the part of him that wished to do better than them. It's amazing.
That's not even talking about Jamshid and Muntadhir, both characters that grew so much, intertwined in a hidden way, but their stories so so seperate, as Muntadhir finally learns what it is to love his family, to question his father, and his potential responsibility to his land and his wife. Jamshid learning to accept his injuries and serve the kingdom in a way he might not have imagined, with no clue about his Nahid power shimmering beneath the surface.
Overall, this was a perfect followup, just as politically charged, with the powerful, terrible, and awe-striking assault representing its finale, where Nahri makes a choice that from the outside is counter to her people, her goals, and the city's safety, and from the inside, is a confusing mess of questions, hopes, that honestly, is likely the best chance that Daevabad has to survive this.
The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty
4.5
This review has spoilers
This was by far the best book in the series. It took everything from the previous books, and went even further.
If you thought we'd fully explored Ali's blooming marid abilities, this story is here to remind you that we hadn't. We get to watch Ali not only learn more about his abilities but also learn more about his ancestors and his history, the culture he was born from. It was devastating to see him give up being a pure blooded Daeva, to lose the fire he held dear. It was also amazing to see him come into himself in a way we'd never expected.
Dara's story escalated to 11. The moral condundrums from the previous book look almost like child's play as he tries to navigate his loyalty to the Banu Nahida, the loyalty to the idealistic Daevabad with a Daeva standing at its head, as well as his growing realization that this isn't the way, and can never be the way. That Manizheh has gone too far, too far to ever be the one to shepherd in the new age they all wanted.
Seeing him fall under the slave ring again was devastating, and watching him break even more so. The love between him and Nahri was done impeccably — it'll forever bind them and simultaneously never, never be enough for her to ever be with him, forgive him, or even look upon him in peace.
Jamshid was just wonderful. I don't have words other than to be so pleased about Jamshid and his relationship with Nahri. It was lovely and wholesome and wow am I so glad that she didn't betray him in the end and leave for Daevabad alone.
For Nahri this was a final goodbye to a lot of what she wanted and what she knew. If you thought her saying goodbye to Cairo was hard, watching her accept that she may very well have to kill Ali, and then let him go? Wow.
Her growth into a true Banu Nahida, capable of remorse, but also knowing exactly when to say no, to let her enemy fall—it was awesome. She was awesome.
I was also stoked to learn more about her family, and I can't believe how quickly I grew to love her true mother in those flashbacks.
Overall, this story was breathtaking. Everything from the slow breaking of Daevabad under Manizheh's unstable hand, Muntadhir's rebellion and its cost, Nahri and Ali growing to care for each other and defend her, Jamshid learning he has family and a new life as a healer, Dara's painful path from one who committed genocide time and time again for his leaders and loyalty, broke under their rule, and is only now able to consider making up for his crimes.
There was a beautiful and tragic moment when Dara made Nahri promise to check the cave they once visited, so long ago. To look for relics in that cave every few years, to teach her children to do the same. For he will live millenia, and she will pass on, but no matter what he will pay his debt.
A near-perfect follow up to the existing trilogy, with perhaps the main caveat that we never truly got to see even the briefest glimpse of the Daevabad Manizheh was hoping to cultivate, for she broke so soon and so quickly, that she had no chance to be anything but the true scourge of Daevabad.
This was by far the best book in the series. It took everything from the previous books, and went even further.
If you thought we'd fully explored Ali's blooming marid abilities, this story is here to remind you that we hadn't. We get to watch Ali not only learn more about his abilities but also learn more about his ancestors and his history, the culture he was born from. It was devastating to see him give up being a pure blooded Daeva, to lose the fire he held dear. It was also amazing to see him come into himself in a way we'd never expected.
Dara's story escalated to 11. The moral condundrums from the previous book look almost like child's play as he tries to navigate his loyalty to the Banu Nahida, the loyalty to the idealistic Daevabad with a Daeva standing at its head, as well as his growing realization that this isn't the way, and can never be the way. That Manizheh has gone too far, too far to ever be the one to shepherd in the new age they all wanted.
Seeing him fall under the slave ring again was devastating, and watching him break even more so. The love between him and Nahri was done impeccably — it'll forever bind them and simultaneously never, never be enough for her to ever be with him, forgive him, or even look upon him in peace.
Jamshid was just wonderful. I don't have words other than to be so pleased about Jamshid and his relationship with Nahri. It was lovely and wholesome and wow am I so glad that she didn't betray him in the end and leave for Daevabad alone.
For Nahri this was a final goodbye to a lot of what she wanted and what she knew. If you thought her saying goodbye to Cairo was hard, watching her accept that she may very well have to kill Ali, and then let him go? Wow.
Her growth into a true Banu Nahida, capable of remorse, but also knowing exactly when to say no, to let her enemy fall—it was awesome. She was awesome.
I was also stoked to learn more about her family, and I can't believe how quickly I grew to love her true mother in those flashbacks.
Overall, this story was breathtaking. Everything from the slow breaking of Daevabad under Manizheh's unstable hand, Muntadhir's rebellion and its cost, Nahri and Ali growing to care for each other and defend her, Jamshid learning he has family and a new life as a healer, Dara's painful path from one who committed genocide time and time again for his leaders and loyalty, broke under their rule, and is only now able to consider making up for his crimes.
There was a beautiful and tragic moment when Dara made Nahri promise to check the cave they once visited, so long ago. To look for relics in that cave every few years, to teach her children to do the same. For he will live millenia, and she will pass on, but no matter what he will pay his debt.
A near-perfect follow up to the existing trilogy, with perhaps the main caveat that we never truly got to see even the briefest glimpse of the Daevabad Manizheh was hoping to cultivate, for she broke so soon and so quickly, that she had no chance to be anything but the true scourge of Daevabad.
Player's Handbook by Wizards RPG Team
3.0
It's a good game and a decent read. If you're a reader, I recommend checking out the inspirations in the back, where they list many of the great fantasy world that inspired the creators of 5e.