stardust_heidi's reviews
462 reviews

I never know how to review memoirs. Some I find really engaging and others are just…fine? This one was fine. Disclaimer: I’ve never watched one of her cooking show episodes. I haven’t read her books or cooked from them. I literally knew nothing about her…and now I do! I think her life has been interesting, for sure. She’s got a great stubbornness and tenacity to succeed in her chosen field, and I love the variety to her interests. Howeverrrrrrrrrrrrr, money sure does help a lot to get you the things you want in life. I only read this because it’s a pick for the Governerd Book Club. 

What a charming book! I loved and appreciated the joyful queer and trans representation! The characters were engaging and flawed, but we see them grow and accept parts of themselves they never thought they could have. 

Becky Chambers hits right every time. As someone who has been struggling with the concept of purpose in life, this spoke to me. 

(The audiobook formatting was a bit odd at times, and I found transitions awkward.)

What a fantastic book — someone I follow on IG posted about it, so I was able to grab it from Libby. I started it yesterday and spent all morning today wandering aimlessly around my house while listening. 

The narrator was excellent and really captured the voice of the author. I found the excerpts from the Quran tied into the author’s real life experiences so meaningful and insightful. I also kind of liked that we got excerpts of her life, not fully told stories. She time hopped around her life to tell the relevant moments at the right time. 

While this took me a beat to get into, I really enjoyed returning to this world. Small Sade’s story is absolutely brilliant! Even with his

deception

, I love how the Crocodile helps Small Sade to see her worth in the world. I’m not sure if there’s a cultural significance with the term “Small” in front of her name, but I thought it was an interesting parallel as she thinks of herself as small, worth the place of a maid in a home and nothing more, because that would be above her place. But we see Small Sade grow out of that “small” box as the story goes on, and I love that evolution! Climba (sp?) was darling! It was fascinating to return to Oluwan 10 years later and see what was good…but what also still needed improvement. 

Overall, this was a heartwarming story about how we can all make a difference in the world, and no one is too small for any of it. 

Look. I adore this book. This series is quickly becoming a comfort fave. But if the author continues to dangle this romance in front of our noses for another entire book with no resolution until the very, very end of the series, I will riot. Riot, I tell you. I thought it was a trilogy but someone I know said the author mentioned it’s now 4 books in an IG reel??? (Unverified, I’m not sure where this information is >> https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBeUlx-PQmx/?igsh=MWFhZmkxbTkyYWxyaA%3D%3D) But I love these two main characters so much that it would be a shame to dangle “true love” in front of us readers for 3 books without actually getting to enjoy a romance between these two ALONG with the story.

Honestly, Trystan and Evie reminded me of the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler — driving me utterly mad with shippy <insert NOW KISS smooshing faces together gif> feelings and absolutely zero resolution. Torture, is what that is.

(I docked ¼ star off for emotional damage from unresolved tension.)

HOWEVER.

Part of me wishes I had been reading this on Kindle, because there were so many lines or moments of witty banter that I wanted to highlight. My favorite chapter beginnings were when Trystan was thinking, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK. The first chapter like this, I was cackling. Actually sent my friend a text with a picture of the page saying “Love chapters that start like this.”

Especially when it’s because a love interest is on his bed or in his bedroom/safe place.

But Trystan, honey, GET. IT. TOGETHER. YOU. FUCKING. IDIOT.

And of course, destiny monster said a Thing™, so now he’s all up in his fucking head about it, and they can’t be together and need to spend time apart. I D I O T. And it’s also been a roller coaster for Evie, which she does not deserve at all.

I LOVE the development of the side characters, especially Becky — and then the way Becky and Evie’s rivals (?) to friendship is written. It’s not petty and catty, like some female relationships are often represented; it’s true respect and appreciation. Well done. I also love little sister’s part in the story, her child’s innocence, cleverness, and delight.

I hate that her love and trust was used by their father — what a truly despicable man. I hope he gets destroyed.

The way the author dangled little teasers for us throughout this book without any further exploration was truly devious (aside from the main romance).

I’m definitely intrigued about the way Trystan’s magic has changed and seems to be attaching itself to Evie — of course he’s going to be a giant DumbDumb about it instead of considering why this might be happening and exploring the possibilities. The True Love Kiss™ implication, especially after it was revealed that the antidote wasn’t given to Evie, feels like an obvious plot device for this series. (I’m not complaining, to be fair.) It’s riddled with delightful tropes used in hilarious ways — little sister locking people in cupboards anyone?? The hints about Evie and magic, especially with her dagger, have been conveniently ignored, so I look forward to reading about that. I’m sure there are more, but I didn’t take notes while reading, lol.

I feel like there are other things I wanted to write about this, but that’s it for now. I might return later. Basically, though, I really enjoy this series. I think I’ll have a greater appreciation for everything once it’s complete and I can reread knowing how it resolves. I’m already excited about it. 

ALSO, FOUND FAMILY. LOVE. 

This book is SO FUN. It’s lighthearted and goofy, a really unique spin on the morally grey trope. It’s the same kind of fantasy (not quite a romance yet) romp as Between by L.L. Sterling; funny, witty, hilarious side kicks, etc. 

I love Evie and her enthusiasm and competency. Her feud with Becky is also entertaining in that their mutual disdain for each other is more of a mask, because at the end of the day, they have a lot of respect for each other. The rest of the main side characters are charming and engaging. KINGSLEY. 🐸👑

Trystan and Evie are just…. *chefs kiss* The slow, slow, slow (and unresolved) burn in this first book makes me eager for more (or to just set myself on fire, haven’t decided yet). I love some good “let’s kiss to distract the guards and make ourselves seem like something we are not” trope. Classic. 

Despite the lighthearted humor, I did like the way the author balanced the silly and the serious. Evie has some significant past traumas that she clearly hasn’t properly worked through yet, and I appreciated how she responded to being confronted with past abusers (

yassss, girl, cut his head off) and then attempted to face the extreme betrayal of her father. Honestly, that revelation was so heartbreaking, because Evie had been caring for him for years, and he turned out to be a total scumbag. Garbage. The ink/notebook was a clever way to spy on the Villain. Anyway, my heart still breaks for Evie and her sister. But the way she rose out of that all fierce and unapologetically filled with rage, YES.

I also appreciated the introduction to Trystan’s siblings and some background to their past, though clearly not all. I felt the lightheartedness/seriousness were well balanced while still keeping the book out of dark and dreary territory. 

What a fun book, honestly. I was going to read something else before Apprentice, especially since Accomplice doesn’t come out until late this summer, but….I need it now. 

My only major complaint about this book is that I cannot stand the audiobook narrator; I tried listening to it twice, and the narrator’s cadence and word emphasis drove me insane. It’s such a shame, because this book would be a DELIGHTFUL audiobook with the right narrator. (Keep in mind, this is a PERSONAL OPINION.)

I was really hoping to finish this in 2024, but I found myself getting distracted and zoning out. Not wanting to miss anything, I decided to make it an early 2025 finish! 

This was a great read (listen) and I really enjoyed the author’s natural inflections and the way she brought these real historical figures to life. I’ve been reading Sharon’s newsletter for a while and just joined her Governerd program, so I look forward to more of this!

As far as the book goes, I love how it truly was about ordinary Americans making an impact throughout history; the power of education was a central theme, as it should be. Knowledge is a powerful tool. 

I think this would have been a good one to dual read in both text and audiobook, but I only owned the audiobook format.

Overall, I enjoyed this! I thought it set a great foundation for the rest of the series (5 books total, I think?), though I did read the epilogue and now have many regrets about my life choices. But alas, I can’t not read a book through to the finish when an epilogue is all that is left. But… Read the author’s note and warning before diving into the epilogue because there will be many years until there’s resolution to the full story.

(Brb, gonna stare off into the distance for a while, because I could have had a happy ending and chose to ignore it.)

I do think I’m starting to burn out on the classic romantasy storytelling, and this is 100% a me thing. I think the author balanced the fantasy world/plot well with the romance elements, though at times I got a bit bored/tired of the rather saccharine declarations of love and, well, emphasis on love being the savior to all things. I don’t necessarily completely disagree, but at times it was rather heavy handed within the walls of this story and I found myself rushing through some of these scenes just to get past them.

Wren developed a lot as a character throughout the story, though there were several times she drove me a bit batty. However, these things as well as some other plot points were usually explained or resolved within a few chapters, which I did appreciate quite a bit. Obviously, I want a flawed character, but I do like it when growth happens and others step in to help temper impulsivity and so forth. 

There were a few situations in which the classic “I dabbled in ‘xyz’ sport and am now an expert at it, even if I haven’t touched it for years” came into play, but whatever…. I’ll support the good guys winning while they can. 

All in all, a great read. I think the author’s plan for the series is clever, and I look forward to learning about the rest of the thrones.