ritsukas's reviews
337 reviews

rating:4 stars

leigh's writing never fails to enchant me. the depth in these stories are beautiful, its really a great bind up, but maybe it was that i started to lose interest that i found the last couple stories to be worse than the first few.

individual stories:
ayama and the thorn wood // 4 stars
—plot twist? great. romance? uh... it's a no from me
the too clever fox // 4.5 stars
—nikolai lantsov. nikolai. that's it. that's all i need to say.
the witch of duva // 4. 5 stars
—thank god this didn't end up like the actual story of hansel and gretal because god i was so worried
little knife // 3.5 stars
—the message is cute and all but the plot was boring as hell
the soldier prince // 3 stars
—the message was not clear in this one. at all. my braincells couldn't figure it out until i read the author's note oops
when water sang fire // 4 stars
—the longest story yet but i still didn't love it, guess it goes to show that quality over quantity

rating:4 stars

i love this world so much. jumping back into this universe feels like going home. that being said, this has always been my least favourite of the five; i don't really know why but it has always fell short for me. however, rereading this, I loved it more than I ever have. i guess that's what happens when you feel nostalgic huh?

rating:4.25 stars

this. book. the importance of it. i read it so fast. two days and i was done with it. and maybe that has to do with the fact that it's really short but hey, that's still fast.

topics of rape and sexual abuse really hit me hard. reading about it never gets any easier but i think its important for me to do so. especially since this book doesn't paint owen as a "bad guy" necessarily. yes he raped hannah. yes, that doesn't make him pure or good or whatever. but seeing as the book is from his twin sister's pov, mara, she is never able to see him as a straight up rapist.

it brings a whole new perspective to the story.

Spoiler

not to mention that owen never actually realizes that he might have actually raped hannah. for a while he thinks that she had consented, or tries to convince himself that he did. and he doesn't ever seem like he did it antagonistically. which, again, is new. because most rapists will know what they did and take pleasure and pride in it. while owen seemed severely conflicted and at the end of the book, seems to feel guilty about it (from what i can remember)

.

this book also had some lgbtq+ relationships? which was a nice touch. along with mara figuring out her problems and thoughts about owen, she was figuring out her own problems in terms of relationships. also the other thing.

honestly, this whole book was done well. there were dynamics from every pov and i was near tears towards the end. the book broke my heart and put it back together again, but it was a learning experience and i'm glad that i read it.

rating:3.25 stars

you know it's bad when you go back to write a review but forget everything that happened in the book. the only thing i remember (and its because i wrote it down) is that this book felt like [b:Ender's Game|375802|Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1)|Orson Scott Card|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408303130l/375802._SY75_.jpg|2422333] (because of the space school thing) and [b:Illuminae|23395680|Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)|Amie Kaufman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443433956l/23395680._SY75_.jpg|26653661] (the invasion and fighting back) combined. and considering i didn't like any of those books... i didn't like this one.

turns out, sci-fi isn't my thing. this whole book felt like a mixture of learning to be a pilot/being in flight school and then a bunch of sneaking around. the plot felt like it was dragging on too slowly. a lot of the scenes had no substance and added nothing except it developed Spensa's skill.

speaking of Spensa... i couldn't do it with her. i think she was supposed to be comedic in the way she talked but honestly all it did was annoy me. her personality was too aggressive without any motive for me and she really didn't click with me.

the only character i semi enjoyed was the flight leader (jargon? i really can't remember anything). but he was barely in the story and was an asshole for most scenes. why i liked him? i don't know. but at least he had a personality i sort of liked. it brought entertainment at least.

so, this book was really an annoying protagonist (in my opinion) + a plot/story line that i didn't like.... resulting in my dislike for the book. which is sad because i've heard a lot about Brandon Sanderson (and the rave reviews about this book). this doesn't discourage me from reading more from him but it definitely makes me more suspicious.

rating:3 stars

...it's a tad slow. like kinda really slow.

rating:4 stars

probably the most unpopular opinion of the fandom but... house of hades is my least favourite book of the five. i mean, it took me a month and a half to push through and read it (even on a reread)... if that doesn’t say anything i don’t know what does

rating:4.25 stars

rating:3.75 stars

i really don't know why i loved caraval as much as i did. because in all honestly, it wasn't incredible. but something about it kept drawing me back in. so much that i finished the last 200 pages all in one sitting, past midnight while needing to wake up early for school the next day.

the plot of the book was pretty straightforward. scarlett has been whisked away to the land of caraval, a circus type carnival that moves around and happens every so often. she arrives with a cocky pirate named Julian, and when she realizes her sister has been kidnapped to be the main prize of this year's game, she and Julian race to solve the clues to save her. simple right?

there was never really a dull moment in the plot. from the beginning, i always felt like at the very least it was moving forward, not being stagnant and staying in the same place. although i didn't feel like it was the best written (some of the clues were solved fairly easily in my opinion), it made you always want to come back and find out what happen next.

the characters on the other hand, were sort of the opposite for me. i never really connected with any of them. scarlett has the usual "super safe and cautious turns into more rebellious and outgoing" arc. she wasn't the worst main character i've ever read but definately not the most interesting.

julian mostly stayed static with his cocky personality, smirks and nickname calling. he did however, seem to have some sort of backstory that was hidden or a secret he was keeping, which kept the intrigue there.

as for everyone else... character development where? the father was the usual "big bad" that seemed to have no motive except for being mean. tella was just the bubbly outgoing sister, foil to her sister. and... that's about it?

in general, i'm definitely down to read [b:Legendary|36329818|Legendary (Caraval, #2)|Stephanie Garber|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1506803153l/36329818._SY75_.jpg|54501288]. the end of the first book left me craving more. all i can hope for is that there's more development for everyone in the sequel, as well as less of those weird metaphors and similes (how does something taste like nightmares? and nostalgia?)

rating:4.25 stars

reread mar 19, 2020
bitch. will herondale. that epilogue kills me every time, and what he said to tessa... bro i am not okay fucking crying in the club-

rating:3.25 stars

reread march 31, 2020
leigh bardugo really took every trope in existence and mashed it all together, creating the mess that is shadow and bone