This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone | Book Review

How can there be more when this is done? But it will never end – that’s the answer. There is always us.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

LENGTH: 198 pages

GENRES: Science Fiction, Romance, LGBT+, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Gallery / Saga Press

RELEASE DATE: 16 July 2019

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From award-winning authors Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone comes an enthralling, romantic novel spanning time and space about two time-traveling rivals who fall in love and must change the past to ensure their future.

Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, becomes something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Except the discovery of their bond would mean the death of each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win. That’s how war works, right?

Cowritten by two beloved and award-winning sci-fi writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space.

My Review

Words can wound-but they’re bridges, too. (Like the bridges that are all that Genghis left behind.) Though maybe a bridge can also be a wound? To paraphrase a prophet: Letters are structures, not events. Yours give me a place to live inside.

Oh my stars. I finally read it. I finally read This is How You Lose the Time War. And though it wasn’t the five star – or even four and a half star – read that I was kinda expecting it to be, I still greatly enjoyed it and am very glad I read it.

I’ve been peripherally aware of this novella for years; since sometime in 2020, I believe. But it didn’t quite catch my attention until the Bigolas Dickolas Incident of 2023 on Twitter (sorry “X”). If you know, you know. And like, I actually found out about it on Twitter (not sorry “X”) from the actual Twitter thread it occurred on, as opposed to like an article or YouTube video first. So it’s been on my TBR since this time – it’s just taken me forever to get around to reading it. And I finally did!

Out of all the things about this book, I think the two main characters are probably one of the strongest aspects of the book (we’ll get to the other in a bit). But it would have to be, in order for the book to be this compelling, considering how character focused it is. Which is very, by the way. This is a very character focused story – it’s all about how two characters interact with each other and how this ignites change in both of them.

Words can wound – but they’re bridges, too. (Like the bridges that are all that Genghis left behind.) Though maybe a bridge can also be a wound? To paraphrase a prophet: Letters are structures, not events. Yours give me a place to live inside.

Out of the two of them, I’d probably consider 🍓 Red ❤️ to be the technical main character. She has the most chapters, and a pretty decent chunk of the plot of the This is How You Lose the Time War is her character arc front and center. I also think that I preferred her over the two of them, I loved how long and emotive her letters to Blue were, and loved her personality.

The deuteragonist, 🫐 Blue 💙, was also a pretty fun and interesting character, and I was surprised she wasn’t my favorite considering I prefer the color blue to red in real life. But, I dunno, I guess I just didn’t like her letters as much. Especially at first. But I guess the less emotions in her letters (particularly in her first ones and compared to Red’s) just shows that she’s a bit more reserved about her feelings than Red is, even if Blue was the first to reach out.

Regarding the plot… I’d say that I definitely preferred the characters to it by a pretty good amount. The 📖 plot 📖 just wasn’t as strong, and for almost half the book, feels pretty nonexistent. This changes in the second half of course, and an incident close to the end makes you consider the amount of plot actually happening in the first half in a new way. But it’s still extremely light in the book’s first half. Which is why I was really happy when it did feel like plot was finally happening; in some ways, the beginning of this book was kind of a slog for me to get through.

There’s a kind of time travel in letters, isn’t there? I imagine you laughing at my small joke; I imagine you groaning; I imagine you throwing my words away. Do I have you still? Do I address empty air and the flies that will eat this carcass? You could leave me for five years, you could return never-and I have to write the rest of this not knowing.

I liked the budding🌹 romance 💘 here well enough. Red and Blue had a surprising amount of chemistry for two people who hadn’t properly met. Their letters to each other were also beautiful, though I really had to suspend my disbelief in some of their construction. I also found the pet names to get a little annoying after awhile. However, I thought the varied terms of address in the letters’ salutations to be awesome.

The 🖋️ writing 📃 was actually what I felt to be the strongest part of This is How You Lose the Time War. Yes, the character interaction and development was crucial to this story. But I think the novella’s writing is what actually carries it for me. The 💜 purple prose 💜 here is lyrical and lovely and so intricately written. This is some of the best purple prose I’ve read in a while, actually. I had so much trouble choosing quotes that I liked for this review. There was just too much great writing here.

But maybe this is how we win, Red.

You and me.

This is how we win.

So yeah, even though it wasn’t a perfect hit for me, I still greatly loved this book. And I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone interested, especially to those who like well-written science fiction and romance. Even if you’re not usually into sapphic fiction, I still encourage you to give this one a shot.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

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Liar’s Kingdom by Christine Calella | Book Review

I am not the girl he met at the ball.

Liar’s Kingdom by Christine Calella

LENGTH: 320 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Page Street YA

RELEASE DATE: 14 January 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Ell has spent years slaving away for her cruel stepfamily. So when Prince Bayard—who seems to have difficulty recognizing faces—shows up at her door with a glass slipper, Ell allows him to believe she danced with him at the ball. There’s just one problem: Ell didn’t attend the ball and she’s never met the prince before in her life. But if it’s a choice between moving to the royal palace or staying home, Ell is willing to say anything to escape.

However, Ell finds that being royalty comes with its own problems. Bayard’s sister, the princess, has gone missing. The king is preparing for war against the fae. And Maxim, Bayard’s treacherous (and handsome) best friend, appears to know Ell is lying.

If Ell wants to keep this life she’s stolen, she’s going to have to roll up her sleeves and rescue herself.

My Review

I’ve never had a moment that sweet. Not even in my wildest dreams.

Liar’s Kingdom was one of my anticipated reads in the first half of 2025. Not only was it a fantasy novel, which I love, but it was also a fairytale retelling. And if you’ve read some of my other book reviews, you know how I feel about those. (As in, I can’t resist reading them if they intrigue me, lol.)

Though I enjoyed several aspects of the novel, it’s not my favorite Cinderella retelling. That honor still goes to The Lunar Chronicles. Liar’s Kingdom was definitely a very interesting take on the fairytale though, and I really liked the angle the book was going for.

Trude shrugs, a shy smile warming her face again. But she does not meet my eye as she answers: “I think anywhere, no matter how lovely, would begin to feel like a cage if you could never leave it.”

Ell was our protagonist. I really liked her throughout the first half of the novel, but aspects of her character started to irritate me the further I got. I did like how emotionally strong she was, however.

Bayard was the kind and handsome prince. He was probably my favorite character in the novel. I just loved how sweet and generally optimistic he was, and him being face-blind, and it being incredibly relevant to the novel, was very interesting.

Maxim was the a-hole edgelord type character, who the MC is inexplicably drawn to, that also secretly has a heart of gold. He kind of annoyed me from the get-go, honestly. Like, the second the description said he wore all black all the time, I was already Done with him. Not the character’s fault, I’m just starting to get tired of his archetype.

Trude was a sweet supporting character, and Ell’s first ever friend. I really liked her. We don’t get enough just nice and wholesome friend characters like this. I do wish she had a few more layers, though. She was a little bland.

But from now on, I intend to be honest. And I can honestly say that with my court of rodents and rogues and social climbers, I expect to live very much happily ever after.

I also enjoyed what the story did with Ell’s “evil stepsisters”, Amalia and Frieda. They had pretty good character arcs, and I loved them being dynamic characters capable of change as opposed to static bullies.

The plot of Liar’s Kingdom was a really cool take on the classic Cinderella story, and it’s by posing a pretty simple question: What if Cinderella wasn’t the girl from the ball but fit the slipper? What the author tried to do here was really interesting, even if I didn’t enjoy everything about the execution.

I didn’t really like the romance here either. I don’t consider it to really be a love triangle, because it was obvious who Ell was going to end up with, as well as who everyone was actually into. But occasionally it felt like it to me.

I can’t help it; I laugh in his face. “Please don’t tell me you intend to be petty and jealous.”

Maxim raises an eyebrow at me. “I’m never petty.”

“Oh, no?”

I think that the world building was okay, but I wish there was a more fleshed out magic system. Like, fairies seem to be almost all powerful in terms of what their magic is able to accomplish and only really have one weakness. Granted it’s highly specific, but still. I hated that the fairy realm was called Fairyland. I just, I hated it. It’s the worst name.

As a whole, I think that Liar’s Kingdom was pretty good. I think that those who enjoy fantasy YA will like it, and especially people who like fairytale retellings. It was also well written, for the most part.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

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Summerfall & Homecoming by Claire Legrand | Book Reviews

That was one thing Rinka had always loved about humans, in the books she had read-like the faeries, they were governed by their hearts, by their passions. Their love of food and beauty, their love of country and home, even their love of love itself.

Summerfall by Claire Legrand

SERIES: Winterspell #0.5

LENGTH: 116 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

RELEASE DATE: 26 August 2014

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In this captivating novella, prequel to the upcoming Winterspell, Claire Legrand weaves a story of magic, political intrigue, and forbidden love.

Rinka is a faery, passionate and powerful, determined to maintain the tenuous peace between faeries and humans.

Alban Somerhart is a human, a reluctant king trapped in an arranged marriage, desperate to prevent war.

Their love could save the kingdom of Cane—or shatter it forever.

This entrancing tale sets the stage for the rise of a wicked queen, and the journey of a lifetime for a human girl named Clara…

My Review

“Anise,” Felazita whispered, tucking the blanket more closely around the child. The word dropped from her tongue like the beginning of a dance.

“I’d like to name her Anise.”

So, I finally got around to reading the Winterspell prequel novella. And it was okay. It wasn’t something that I really got into, but it made me appreciate stuff about Winterspell more, and reminded me about stuff I enjoyed about the book.

I wasn’t super into Rinka or Alban or their relationship, but I could understand why they were into each other, and I appreciated the background for the main story. I also liked seeing more faery characters, and it was nice to see faeries as a whole portrayed more sympathetically, as Anise and her cohort just didn’t do that for me in the main installment.

Summerfall really made me realize that one of the things I really enjoyed was the world of Cane and the way magic worked. It was cool to see more of it. I also liked seeing Cane in a more peaceful state, as opposed to the dystopian winter nightmare that it is for essentially the entirety of Winterspell. Aside from the epilogue, of course.

All in all, even though I didn’t really care much for the characters – especially since I already knew what had happened to them before I read it courtesy of the novel sequel – I appreciated a lot of other things this novella had. I also definitely recommend Summerfall to those who read and enjoyed the main story of the novel.

“Clara?” he questioned. His thumb circled softly against her palm, and love swelled in her like the rising sun.

“It will be a long journey,” she agreed, leaning down to kiss him, “but we will make it, together.”

Homecoming by Claire Legrand

BOOK DESCRIPTION: A brief epilogue to Claire Legrand’s YA Nutcracker re-telling, Winterspell. (Available for free download at Claire’s website.)

My Review

Yes, Clara had thought of these things. She had prepared herself to expect differences-an older world, progress made without her, decisions come and gone.

But knowing something and actually seeing it were, she was now finding out, two radically different things.

I don’t have too much to say about Homecoming either. Not only is it even shorter than Summerfall, what with it being a short story as opposed to a novella, but it’s really not anything more than an extra epilogue, as it says on the tin.

It was nice to see all the characters reunite after everyone split off at the end of Winterspell. I also liked seeing how everyone grew as characters apart from one another, as that doesn’t usually happen; especially for an extra epilogue like this. It was really nice to see Cane mostly patched up though, and that was probably the thing I enjoyed the most about this short story.

I definitely recommend this if you enjoyed Winterspell and wanted to see that happy ending that didn’t quite make it into the novel. Especially since it’s free on Claire Legrand’s website. Really, there’s no excuse not to if you’re a fan of the novel.

Anyway, as always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

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Winterspell by Claire Legrand | Retrospective Book Review

You cannot shy away from yourself. Look the world in the eye, and it can do nothing to hurt you.

Winterspell by Claire Legrand

SERIES: Winterspell #1

LENGTH: 454 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books

RELEASE DATE: 30 September 2014

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Darkly romantic and entirely enchanting, this reimagining of The Nutcracker from Claire Legrand brims with magic, love, and intrigue. New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer (Cinder) says “this is not your grandmother’s Nutcracker tale.”

After her mother is brutally murdered, seventeen-year-old Clara Stole is determined to find out what happened to her. Her father, a powerful man with little integrity, is a notorious New York City gang lord in the syndicate-turned-empire called Concordia. And he isn’t much help.

But there is something even darker than Concordia’s corruption brewing under the surface of the city, something full of vengeance and magic, like the stories Clara’s godfather used to tell her when she was a little girl. Then her father is abducted and her little sister’s life is threatened, and Clara accidentally frees Nicholas from a statue that has been his prison for years. Nicholas is the rightful prince of Cane, a wintry kingdom that exists beyond the city Clara has known her whole life.

When Nicholas and Clara journey together to Cane to retrieve her father, Clara encounters Anise, the queen of the faeries, who has ousted the royal family in favor of her own totalitarian, anti-human regime. Clara finds that this new world is not as foreign as she feared, but time is running out for her family, and there is only so much magic can do…

My Review

So many stories yet to be told, so many secrets to be unearthed. It would happen soon; Clara would make sure of it, and if Nicholas tried to evade her, well, she still had her daggers.

It’s been quite a while since I last looked at a book retrospectively. But there are still a few books I’d like to look at retrospectively, and this time of year is absolutely perfect for talking about Winterspell by Claire Legrand.

I’ve loved this book ever since I read it years ago. I’m a total sucker for retellings, fairytale or otherwise, and this novel is a retelling of The Nutcracker 🎄🥜, which is something I also adore. So this book was a match made in heaven for me.

Winterspell primarily follows Clara Stole ✨ after her family is attacked by and she is forced to flee to Cane, a strange, wintery, and magical land. Clara starts off a little unsure and nervous – but fiercely protective of her family – and she has a lot of growth throughout the novel, and ends it as a strong young woman ready to face anything. She is Winterspell’s Clara/Marie.

Nicholas 🌰 is an interesting take on the Nutcracker (the character). He’s a little gray, compared to the more helpful and trustworthy and wholesome character in the original, but he still retains many of these same qualities. He’s just a little more complex. I actually enjoyed him for the most part, and I loved the twist of him being a secondary POV character.

Anise ❄️ was the villain, and the leader of the faeries. Though she irritated me a lot of the time, I still understood her motivations, and I thought she was a fine antagonist. She’s also my favorite interpretation of the Sugar Plum Fairy as a villain yet (and I think she was one of, if not the first version of this take – I’m probably wrong though, haha).

“You’re powerful, Clara. Or you could be, if you would let go of your fear long enough to realize it.”

Regarding the plot… of course I loved it. It’s basically The Nutcracker, but with enough unique changes to help it stand on its own (in my eyes). It’s kind of like a slightly edgier, YA version of the story, in a way. I liked all the changes Legrand made to the story, and I appreciated the stuff that she mostly kept close to the original. The world was also fantastic, and I enjoyed the conflicts between the three fractions of Cane: the humans, the mages and the faeries.

I enjoyed the writing, too. The dialogue felt pretty natural, the descriptions and such weren’t too overly detailed, and the POV choices were 🧑‍🍳💋. I loved how the book was primarily in third person following Clara, but was intermittently broken up by the first person perspective of Nicholas giving context to the events leading up to the main plot. It was wonderfully woven together.

I think the only thing I’ve ever really felt was noticeably weak (to me personally), was the romance. It just wasn’t something that I found I could really buy into, for some reason. I enjoyed Clara and Nicholas okay – they are the iconic pair of Clara/Marie and the Nutcracker, after all – and I’m happy for them. But to me, that little tryst in the middle of the book between Clara and Anise really felt like it came out of nowhere. And then the romance between them disperses just as quickly.

His eyes shone with an anguish Clara understood well. Loss, horrible loss. Pain and anger, and the world being pulled out from beneath one’s feet.

I wish there had been a bit more time to develop Clara and Anise’s relationship, as I felt it was quite interesting. Oh well. Also, the romances between these three characters (Clara and Nicholas, and Clara and Anise) also felt unequal for the first three fifths of the novel. But as Clara grows as a character… yeah, so eventually sets everyone straight, haha. I will say I was happy with the ending.

Looking back – and going through the book again for the nth time – I don’t think I’d change my rating at all. For me, Winterspell still holds up. When I first read it, I immediately went back and read my favorite scenes. Then, later that same year (like a month later around Christmas time), I basically reread the whole thing again. I’ve never gotten tired of this retelling. I find myself reading pieces of it every few years, at the very least.

This was a solid foray into the YA sphere by Legrand, and as I enjoyed this one so much I really should check out her other stuff. I will – eventually, lol. Though it did definitely have its weaker aspects (like the romance).

I definitely recommend Winterspell to YA fantasy fans, as well as fans of The Nutcracker and other Christmas set and Christmas themed stories. Not to mention, it’s absolutely perfect reading for this time of year.

She had forgotten how to care about the city that had taken so much from her. Forgetting was the only way she had found to keep moving every day.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

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Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS) by MXTX | Book Review

“Thanks,” he said in a hoarse voice.

He wasn’t scared of falling. He had fallen many times over the years. But hitting the ground still hurt.

[…]

How wonderful it would be if there was someone there to catch him.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX)

LENGTH: 2,000 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction, LGBT+, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Seven Seas

RELEASE DATE: 21 December 2021 – 2 May 2023 (originally serialized online and in Chinese in 2015)

BOOK DESCRIPTION OF VOLUME #1:

This historical fantasy tale of two powerful men who find each other through life and death is now in English, for the very first time.

Wei Wuxian was once one of the most outstanding men of his generation, a talented and clever young cultivator who harnessed martial arts, knowledge, and spirituality into powerful abilities. But when the horrors of war led him to seek a new power through demonic cultivation, the world’s respect for his skills turned to fear, and his eventual death was celebrated throughout the land.

Years later, he awakens in the body of an aggrieved young man who sacrifices his soul so that Wei Wuxian can exact revenge on his behalf. Though granted a second life, Wei Wuxian is not free from his first, nor the mysteries that appear before him now. Yet this time, he’ll face it all with the righteous and esteemed Lan Wangji at his side, another powerful cultivator whose unwavering dedication and shared memories of their past will help shine a light on the dark truths that surround them.

My Review

“Who was it?” another boy asked.

Wei Wuxian cleared his throat quietly.

“The Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian,” Lan Sizhui replied.

Wei Wuxian cleared his throat again. “Um, why him again? Can we not talk about something else?”

No one paid attention to him. Lan Jingyi waved him off anxiously.

This book. This monstrous, gigantic book. I love it. It has its flaws, of course, but on the whole, I think it’s an amazing story.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, originally known as Mo Dao Zu Shi, and almost always shortened to MDZS, is a (very long) Chinese historical danmei fantasy novel by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (otherwise known as MXTX). And it’s a great book.

Also, it’s gay.

It’s also notable that it’s spawned numerous adaptations. There’s an animated series adaptation that I adore, a live action version known as The Untamed that I don’t give a crap about (I have absolutely zero interest in watching it), a graphic novel adaptation and an audio drama. So yeah, a lot of adaptations. I personally discovered this novel through fanfiction, and have thoroughly enjoyed it ever since. (It’s how I knew I’d like the book.)

But yeah, this book is a long one, too. And as a result, I have more to say than I normally would. So, I’m gonna break this up a bit.

The Characters

“Because that’s just how you are,” he continued with a smile. “To put it nicely, you’re chivalrous and free-spirited. To put it bluntly, you offend people wherever you go.”

To me, the characters are the heart of MDZS. Yes, the plot is fantastic. And everyone loves the romance here a ton. But I think the characters are what hold it all together.

🖤🪈 Wei Wuxian is our protagonist here. The book is told in third person perspective, and it’s pretty much just him. He’s a fun main character to follow – Wei Wuxian is smart, funny, kind and utterly without shame, and I enjoyed his personality and perspective. He’s also the character archetype that I affectionately the stupid genius, because he’s also one of the most oblivious characters I’ve ever seen.

🤍🗡️ Lan Wangji is the deuteragonist, and spends the novel supporting Wei Wuxian. He’s reserved and kind, and will do everything he can to make sure Wei Wuxian is happy and healthy. Lan Wangji is also the love interest. (This isn’t a spoiler – it’s very obvious he’s in love with Wei Wuxian from the beginning. Well, to the readers at least – Wei Wuxian is another story.)

I also really enjoyed all of the supporting characters to some degree, though there are far too many to talk about. My favorite dynamic in the novel, however, was between Wei Wuxian and the juniors. I really liked the teaching role he took with them – and not just because it made world building and exposition feel very natural.

The Plot

“One step at a time,” Lan Wangji said.

“How did you recognize me?” Wei Wuxian asked.

“Think for yourself,” Lan Wangji replied.

Speaking of the plot, it’s definitely one of my favorite things about MDZS. I loved the gruesome mystery that gradually unfolds with the mysterious disembodied arm that appears the day of Wei Wuxian’s rebirth, as well as following where it went. 🎁📖 The present plot was my favorite of the book, and I feel that it’s the stronger of the two that exist within.

⏰📃 The other plot, because I wasn’t kidding when I said there were two, takes place as an extended flashback, and covers all the stuff leading up to Wei Wuxian’s death, as well as his revival thirteen years later. I felt that this plot was necessary to understand the full scope of the novel, but I definitely enjoyed it less than the current plot. (This isn’t unusual for me, though. Whenever there’s a current plot and a past story told in flashbacks simultaneously, I pretty much always enjoy whatever is going on in the story’s present. The flashback stuff is why I gave Volume 3 four and a half stars, though.)

🗺️✨ The world building was also fantastic. As I mentioned above, it really came across very naturally because of the way it was presented to the reader. Making Wei Wuxian a bit of a teacher was a great decision for the exposition of this novel.

The Romance

“Or, in other words – I fancy you, I love you, I want you, I can’t leave you, I whatever you.”

I really enjoyed the ❤️‍🔥 slow-burn ❤️‍🔥 between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. It was generally well written and has a sweet conclusion. These two have a great dynamic and good chemistry. MDZS also features my favorite love confession that I’ve ever seen, and I think one of the best ones I’ve ever read, objectively.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy about this relationship were the sex scenes. Now, I don’t like reading smut or about sex to begin with, so I’m a bit biased there. But I didn’t like the smut here at all. Some of it definitely has to do with the fact that sometimes the consent seems a bit dubious to me, but that’s neither here nor there. And the less said about the incense burner dreams extra, the better. (Please, for the love of God, just skip that extra/chapter if you ever read this book. My eyes.) (I think you can guess why I only gave Volumes 4 and 5 four and a half stars. Though with Volume 4 it was also the flashback stuff.)

The Writing

“No one can walk along a single-plank bridge their entire lives and never fall,” Wei Wuxian explained. “It can’t be helped.”

Since this is a translation, it’s nearly impossible for me to comment on the writing and prose. But I can certainly talk about this novel’s translation itself. Which ranges from… not the best to generally okay. (The Exiled Rebels translation found online is said to be better, but I also found it to have its own issues. Different ones, but I think they both have problems. It’s a very good translation for free, though.)

Not gonna lie, the translation for MDZS starts off rough. Like, Volume 1’s translation is straight up noticeably awkward and clunky and not the best. Volume 2’s is a little bit better, but there’s still something to be desired with it. The quality of the translation is specifically the reason why I gave the first two books four and a half stars. Because they had a lot of my favorite arcs, and would’ve otherwise been five stars.

In Volume 3, the translation felt like it had a noticeable improvement, to me. Even from the get-go. And Volumes 4 and 5 were slightly better than 3, which was great. I just wanted to warn anyone interested that the translation starts out rough, even though the story itself is definitely worth it. (Or you can just read the free translation online.)

The Extras

Wei Wuxian easily derailed this argument with some nonsense of his own. “Don’t you go trying to intimidate people with Lianfang- zun’s name. Furthermore, Little Apple is a steed that Hanguang-jun gifted me! Why would you guys bring Little Apple down the mountain to a Night Hunt? And allow it to be injured too?!”

“Liar!” the Lan juniors responded as one. They refused to believe that Hanguang-jun, with his taste and class, would pick such a steed as a gift. Even though Lan Wangji didn’t refute the statement, they vehemently refused to believe it.

MDZS features some short stories at the end of it. I enjoyed most of them, and thought they fleshed out the world and characters a bit more. (Hated the extra sex scenes, though. All of them. Especially the incense burner extra. Never going near that again. Whoo boy.)

My favorite extras were the ones with the night hunts, though I also enjoyed the one with the villains just hanging out. Most of the others were pretty good or at the very least okay, however.

Final Thoughts

“Lan Zhan,” he called. “Look at me. Quick, look at me!”

Wei Wuxian was calling to him with a smile on his lips. Just as he always had, Lan Wangji looked at him.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is a masterpiece. I loved almost everything about it, and had trouble putting it down. I read this entire 500,000+ word monstrosity in five days ’cause I liked it so much. It’s a really engaging story.

Like One Piece, however, I find it a bit difficult to recommend simply because it’s so long. Well, not as difficult, because MDZS is still far shorter and much less time consuming to get into. But it’s still long. So if you can handle long fantasy novels and enjoy LGBT+ relationships in fiction, as well as good character writing and world building, then I can recommend this. Just mind the translation.

Also, it would be remiss of me not to talk about the art here. It’s gorgeous, it’s beautiful, and it’s ultimately the reason I decided to go with the official translation. The book covers are pretty and vibrant and the illustrations within the volumes themselves are also very lovely.

But yeah, as always, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic day/night.

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

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Snow Drowned by Jennifer D. Lyle | Book Review

Every small town has stories, and Fall Island is no exception.

Snow Drowned by Jennifer D. Lyle

LENGTH: 304 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Horror, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire

RELEASE DATE: 5 November 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

There’s a saying on Fall Island: the snow will get you.

Gracie Hutchinson has lived here her whole life and knows there’s some truth to those words. Every few years someone dies in a snowstorm, or loses their mind, or disappears without a trace. Sometimes it seems like more than just New England weather. Now, a hundred-year-storm is approaching, and while most of the locals have taken the ferry to the mainland, Gracie must stay behind.

But she’s intrigued to find someone else her age has stayed too—Joseph Wescott, whose mysterious family lives in Wescott Manor, descendants of the legendary first settlers of Fall Island. Together, they stumble across something even more unsettling than the coming storm: the body of a stranger, murdered in a grim ritual. Someone on the island believes the old Fall superstitions have a dark power—and now, they have Gracie in their sights.

As the hours count down to the blizzard’s landfall, it seems the only safe place to go is Westcott Manor. But Gracie wonders if there’s another reason why she’s been brought there, one that has to do with Joseph. She’ll discover secrets that have been kept for generations, a hidden history, and the terrifying truth about Fall Island. Because even when the storm ends, there’s no escape from the horror beneath the snow.

My Review

It’s like snow just swallows them. The snow got ’em, say the old people. Snow drowned ’em but good.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a horror novel, and Snow Drowned didn’t disappoint. It was dark and unsettling, and there were several twists lurking beneath the surface. And no, it unfortunately wasn’t evil snow.

First off: the plot. I actually ended up really enjoying it for the most part, and there were several things about it that I didn’t immediately predict, which is always fun. This book had a lot of Harvest Home vibes, right down to a disconcerting old lady who’s in charge of the community, and the strange, perplexing mystery the protagonist slowly unravels throughout the novel. There was some unexpected eldritch horror referenced as well, and I was definitely not expecting to read another book with it this year – or for it to be this one.

Though I really liked the story as a while, as well as several individual scenes and chapters, I didn’t enjoy parts of the climax and most of the ending. And I can’t really say why because it’s a huge spoiler. Well actually, part of it was because there didn’t end up being evil snow that kills people, which I thought would’ve been a really cool concept, but part of it was that the actual stuff behind everything (revealed about 85% through the book) kinda disappointed me, for some reason. (I know why I didn’t really like it, but telling could ruin the story.) I also didn’t really care for the ending for this reason as well. But it’s also because the ending was darker and more open-ended than I expected it to be.

“It’s just shitty luck, being born here and being born first.”

Regarding the characters of Snow Drowned, I found I ended up liking them for the most part. Though I initially found 🌨️ Gracie Hutchinson to be a little annoying, she ended up being a fairly decent protagonist to follow. I ended up liking her curiousness and the fiery bits of her personality that emerged as the book went on. Our male lead, 🌊 Joseph Wescott, was also fairly interesting in that he ended up being more than just the nice rich heir to the island. I found his grandmother 🏔️ Marin Wesott and the old, mysterious nun, 📔 Sister
Francis, to be more interesting, as well as their and conflicts and history and secrets.

The family dynamics between characters and the mysterious history of Fall Island were also interesting. They were honestly the things that had my attention the most during the novel. I really wanted to know what was going on.

The writing of the book was also pretty good – both the prose and the dialogue. My only major problem (and it really is an issue) is how repetitive everything is in the first few chapters. Chapter 1 has a huge exposition dump that lasts a decent chunk of it. It honestly wasn’t that fun to read. I immediately thought that it would’ve been far more enjoyable to follow if it was integrated into the story proper via dialogue. Instead it was something that the main character was randomly thinking about for no real reason other than to feed us the plot.

Which… the novel actually does in chapters 2 and 3 which makes it even worse. Like, why are you bothering to front load all this at the very beginning if you’re just going to do it again in a better way just a little bit later. It was a decision I didn’t understand, and feel like it should have been changed in editing. But that’s just me. Other than that, though, the writing was fine.

“Because as long as there’s a mark bearer, they will always rise,” I remember.

So yeah, for the most part, Snow Drowned was pretty good. I enjoyed it well enough and I certainly recommend it. I think that people that enjoy stuff like The Wicker Man unironically, or books like Harvest Home or ones that feature eldritch horror but with a YA flavor, might enjoy this book.

As always, thanks to everyone for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

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Skyshade by Alex Aster | Book Review

“We read omens in the clouds.”

“And?”

His head lowered. His voice was nearly a whisper, “They warn of a storm to end all storms. A reckoning.”

Skyshade by Alex Aster

SERIES: The Lightlark Saga #3

LENGTH: 384 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Amulet Books

RELEASE DATE: 12 November 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The pulse-pounding third novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, The Lightlark Saga, by acclaimed author and #BookTok sensation Alex Aster

Love kills kingdoms…

Back in Grim’s castle on Nightshade, Isla is reeling in the wake of a brutal battle and the devastating truths it exposed. Her future—and the fate of the world—now hinge on a heart split in two.

Past Isla, who fell in love with the ruler of Nightshade, fights to resist feelings she considers treasonous. The Isla of the present, who has seen the ruin her powers can cause, will do anything to save Lightlark and its king.

As the line between enemy and friend is tested, Isla is more desperate than ever to understand the oracle’s final prophecy and change her heartrending fate. But a storm is coming. And with it, a long-buried evil greater than anything the realms have faced before.

With the clock ticking on her destiny and the survival of two warring kingdoms hinging on her own shattered heart, Isla Crown will either save the world—or destroy it.

My Review

“You feel it, don’t you?” The augur said, watching her far too closely. “Power… it’s in the blood, you see.”

So. It wasn’t as bad as Nightbane. But Skyshade wasn’t that great either.

Despite the fact that I made the conscious decision to “hate read” this book (and this series in general), I always have this hope inside me that the book will exceed my expectations completely and turn out to be at least decent. This hasn’t really been the case with the novels in the Lightlark Saga, unfortunately. I’ve found all three books to be disappointing in some way, though some definitely more than others.

Let’s start with the one thing that I legitimately liked – the cover. Whoever the publisher has do the Lightlark book covers does a great job. The book cover art is always eye-catching and gorgeous.

Now for everything else.

Heart. Hers was split in half. One part wanted him more than anything- remembered. Another wanted to stab him through the chest again.

The characters continue to be either insufferable and annoying, or bland and irrelevant. Isla Crown somehow becomes worse. She doesn’t learn from any of her experiences or training really from the last book and continues to eff everyone over with her powers – whether it be her refusing to use them or letting them completely out of control. Also, she’s an actual serial killer now, guys! WTF, I know. It’s just, ugh. I hated her before, so now I don’t know what to feel.

It’s even more annoying because both of the “hot” 500+ year old men that she can’t choose between completely forgive her for this. Grimshaw is absolutely no surprise, he’s even worse than Isla is, but Oro… Dude, you can do so much better than her. (Oro and Isla also continue to have no chemistry, btw.)

“You’re right. I don’t know what love is. I don’t know how to love. If you ever gave me another chance to love you, I would learn. I would learn the right way to love you.”

The other side characters once again didn’t really matter, and the other two rulers – Cleo and Azul – hardly made appearances. (Except for when the plot needed them to be, or Isla needed a plot device.) Also, what the heck happened with the Starlings this book? Did Aster forget about them? Because the Wildlings showed up, but sometimes in Skyshade it seems like she forgot that the Starlings were now Isla’s people too and not just the Wildlings, seeing as I don’t think they show up at all.

The writing still wasn’t the best. There have been some improvements from Nightbane, but it’s still not that great. However, I will say that the majority of the things I noticed while reading had to do with editing. (But these mistakes definitely should have been caught in editing.)

Here’s some weird prose, or writing and editing mistakes I noticed:

“Remember?” the old woman said. “I’m still finding blood stains in my floorboards.”

(I’m pretty sure it should say “on my floorboards”, but I could be wrong…)

She took his hand. Grim’s wide shoulders melted in relief until she said, “Take methere.”

(I swear to you, this IS NOT a typo on my part – this was exactly how it was in the book. There are also several paragraph errors in Skyshade, whether it be a paragraph break where there shouldn’t be one or a lack of a paragraph break where there should.)

“Your blood spoke to me in many tongues. You wear your fate like a crown of blades. Doesn’t it hurt?”

(This one reads very oddly to me. I know there’s something wrong with it, but I guess I’m having trouble putting it into words at the moment.)

(Anyway.)

The story itself… At the very least, it’s fast-paced so it didn’t feel like it lasted too long whilst reading. The actual plot was, hm, meh. It could have been worse. I didn’t like the Big Plot Twist, however, mostly because it wasn’t foreshadowed properly at all. Like, there was pretty much no chance that you could guess what or who it was – it just appears before you and you’re like “Huh?” The way it was handled was just frustrating and bad.

Oh, wait! I just remembered, there was another thing that I did like a little about this book. It suddenly got unexpectedly kind of morbid, which I kind of enjoyed only because it came a bit out of nowhere. But yeah, kudos to the novel for impressing me there, I guess.

“Many would have died. Only the strongest would have made it through. Many did die, in the creation of Lightlark. Their bodies were used as the foundation of the island. It gave it power. Did you know?”

So yeah, even though I hadn’t gotten my hopes up or anything, I didn’t enjoy Skyshade. Lightlark is still the best book in this series so far, guys. It was nice to see that it seems that Asters writing improved a little bit. (But it could be much better than it is.)

Though I didn’t like this book, I think that ACOTAR and Fourth Wing fans, as well as fans of that type of romantasy in general, will probably enjoy Skyshade and the other novels in the Lightlark Saga. People that like YA fantasy and don’t care about how good the pride is might like it as well.

As always, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

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One Piece (Pre-Time Skip) by Eiichiro Oda | Review (Part 1)

The titles of the first eight arcs of One Piece

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

NUMBER OF VOLUMES: 110 (as of this review)

GENRES: Fantasy, Manga, Fiction

ENGLISH PUBLISHER: Viz Media

ORIGINAL RUN: 22 July 1997 – present

BOOK DESCRIPTION OF VOLUME #1:

Join Monkey D. Luffy and his swashbuckling crew in their search for the ultimate treasure, the One Piece.

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He’ll never be able to swim again—a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…

Get Ready to Set Sail!

My Review

This review has been a long time coming. I’ve been buddy reading One Piece with my spouse for the past year – it’s so long that we take breaks every month or so (also so I can read stuff other than One Piece).

It’s also so long that I decided from the get go that I’d split it into three reviews. The first review: the Pre-Time Skip Arcs (aka: this one). The second review: the New World to Wano. And the third review: the Final Saga (this one I wouldn’t do until after One Piece is complete, which could be a couple more years).

So yeah, my spouse and I started reading it about a year ago. Which, wow, that’s a while. There’s a lot of ground to cover here (because of how freaking long this manga is), but I have surprisingly little to say. Or maybe I have too much to say about it and it’s too much, so my brain decided to automatically process the extraneous stuff out. I don’t really know. Either way, this might be a shorter review than you’d expect for such a long and long-running series as this.

The Characters

The characters are one of the things that keeps me coming back. I love the Straw Hats, they’re such a fun, eclectic crew with all kinds of quirks.

👒 Luffy: Ah, the crazy rubber man. He’s so ridiculous, funny and dumb. I know he’s a cookie-cutter shounen protagonist, but I love him. He’s so extra.

🗡️ Zoro: Zoro and Luffy are two peas in a pod. They’re both dumb and ridiculous and extra, but different kinds of dumb and ridiculous and extra. He’s the first person to join the crew, and he’s Luffy’s right hand man. I love the running gag about his complete lack of sense of direction.

🍊 Nami: The second one to join the Straw Hats, and the navigator. For so long, Nami held the single brain cell (until Robin). I love her attitude and how she keeps the group on track.

🏹 Usopp: Luffy’s ~~liar~~ – I mean sharpshooter. His arc in Water Seven changed how I saw him as a character – though his exaggerated cowardice alternatively irritates and amuses me.

🍲 Sanji: The ship’s cook. I like Sanji for the most part, but his pervy tendencies annoyed me sometimes. The anime pervert trope needs to go away for a bit, I’m kinda getting tired of it.

🦌 Chopper: The reindeer doctor. He’s so CUTE. 😍

📚 Robin: The sixth member to join the Straw Hats and an archeologist. I really enjoyed her – she’s got a great character arc and I like her dark humor.

🛠️ Franky: The Straw Hats’ shipwright. Also, a blue haired cyborg engineer powered by cola (yes, really). I didn’t expect to like him as much as I did, but I think he’s in my tip five Straw Hats.

💀 Brook: A skeleton and musician. He was the Straw Hat I was most excited to meet, partially because it took a bit to get to him (and also because he’s a singing skeleton who makes bad puns). He didn’t disappoint.

I loved a lot of the supporting characters that appeared in each arc as well, but there’s waayyy yo many to even mention here. My favorite characters that weren’t Straw Hats, though, were: Vivi, Buggy, Dr. Kureha, Chouchou the dog, Iceberg, Kokoro, and Ace.

The Plot

There’s. So. Much. Plot. Like, so much. This story just keeps going on and on. And I love it, even if it is incredibly long. Every arc in One Piece has something to love, even if I enjoy some a little bit more than others.

The setting itself is also really cool. I love the idea of a world that’s basically a giant ocean. It reminds me a lot of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. (And yes, I know One Piece predates this game by about five years and that Oda was working on it for years before it started being serialized. I just played this Zelda game first, many years before I started reading OP, in fact.) I love all the unique islands and biomes and how like sixteen different seasons technically exist. It’s also really interesting how even this early on, there’s some foreshadowing and implications that not everything about the way the world is currently is as it seems.

Impressively, nearly all the arcs have some relevancy to most of the major plot points that have come up as well. Even the ones that don’t really seem to affect it as much still have stuff to contribute to the world building. I’m also impressed with the consistency, despite the length and how long this series has been running.

But now for a brief review of all the arcs I’ve read so far:

🏴‍☠️ East Blue: Though some people have said that this is the weakest and one of the worst arcs compared to the rest of the story, the East Blue Arc is actually one of my favorites. I think it’s even in the Top Three. I found it to be a fast-paced, engaging and solid start. Most of the Straw Hats are introduced in this arc, and I loved reading them join the crew, and all the hijinks that occurred along the way.

🧭 Baroque Works: My favorite arc in the series so far. There’s just something about it that I really love. I gave nearly every part of it five stars. The crew finally venture out to the Grand Line here, and I loved seeing the crazy adventures turn up to eleven.

☁️ Skypiea: As much as I ended up loving the later parts of this arc, Skypiea definitely wasn’t my favorite. Let me be clear, I enjoyed this arc as I did all of the rest of One Piece. But… it’s probably my least favorite. It just doesn’t feel as connected to the rest of the story, and I think that’s part of what bothered me. (That, and the build up at the beginning felt a bit slow.) Here, the crew sail to an island in the sky.

🌊 Water Seven: I really liked this arc. Top Three (or Four) definitely. We get to learn a lot about some of the crew, and stuff really starts to build up for the stuff that leads to the time skip. There’s also a lot of world building that goes on here. In this arc, the Straw Hats seek a shipwright to help repair their shop, the Going Merry.

👻 Thriller Bark: Probably my second least favorite arc, actually. I love it to bits still, like Skypiea, but it isn’t quite up to par with the rest of the story for me. I really enjoyed the idea of a Halloween themed island (or ship I guess, technically), but parts of it just weren’t as interesting as other arcs. The crew are waylaid and sucked into the Florian Triangle in this arc.

🏝️ Sabaody / 🔐 Impel Down / 🔥 Marineford: I know, I know, these are technically three separate arcs. But they’re all so short and the events that occur throughout all three are highly related and really build off each other before culminating in the event that causes the time skip. So I’m grouping them together here. Anyway, this was another Top Three Arc for me; everything is all just so crazy and intense and it’s one event right after another. During these arcs the Straw Hats are separated and Luffy sets off to rescue someone close to him.

The Art

It would be remiss of me to review a manga without mentioning the art. Though I was initially put off by the art style – this was several years ago now when during my one and only attempt to watch the One Piece anime – I ended up liking it. It’s pretty goofy and unique.

The only thing kind of negative I gotta say about it is that there aren’t really unique female character designs. A lot of the women generally look the same. But other than that, I don’t really have anything unfavorable to say regarding the artwork.

Final Thoughts

I really, really enjoyed what I’ve read of One Piece so far, and am definitely looking forward to what is to come. I can’t wait to see what happens next! And the characters and story and world building and art are all just so good. I really do love almost everything about this magnum opus of Oda’s.

Unfortunately, as much as I adore this manga, I don’t really feel comfortable recommending it. Because of how insanely long it is. One Piece is definitely a commitment, and despite what OP manga superfans claim about this being the greatest manga ever (which I don’t think, just to be clear), probably not for everyone. If you are interested, however, this series is very accessible – there are a lot of different options to read and/or watch it. As of now, I rate what I’ve read as a whole:

But yeah, I’m possibly going to continue with this perhaps at the end of this month, but if not then hopefully next month in December. I wanna read what happens next, but I also want to read other books, too. So I have to manage my OP reading!

Anyway, as always, thank you so much to everyone for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

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The Sheets Series by Brenna Thummler | Book Review

It’s difficult to list, in order, the things I hate. But I can say with no uncertainty that laundry and ghosts are currently tied for first.

Laundry because it’s much too real.

Ghosts because they’re not.
Sheets

The Sheets Series by Brenna Thummler

LENGTH OF SERIES: 928 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Supernatural, Middle Grade, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Oni Press

RELEASE DATES: 28 August 2018 – 5 September 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION OF SHEETS:

A story of ghosts, family, loneliness, and laundromats.

Marjorie Glatt feels like a ghost. A practical thirteen-year-old in charge of the family laundry business, her daily routine features unforgiving customers, unbearable P.E. classes, and the fastidious Mr. Saubertuck who is committed to destroying everything she’s worked for. Wendell is a ghost. A boy who lost his life much too young, his daily routine features ineffective death therapy, a sheet-dependent identity, and a dangerous need to seek purpose in the forbidden human world. When their worlds collide, Marjorie is confronted by unexplainable disasters as Wendell transforms Glatt’s Laundry into his midnight playground, appearing as a mere sheet during the day. While Wendell attempts to create a new afterlife for himself, he unknowingly sabotages the life that Marjorie is struggling to maintain.

Sheets illustrates the determination of a young girl to fight, even when all parts of her world seem to be conspiring against her. It proves that second chances are possible whether life feels over or life is over. But above all, it is a story of the forgiveness and unlikely friendship that can only transpire inside a haunted laundromat.

My Review

Humans are delicate, too. The teensiest mistake can ruin them, even if you do everything else right. Just because mistakes seem small and insignificant, doesn’t mean they are.
Delicates

Ugh. I wanted to have this review out on Halloween. Clearly, that didn’t happen, lol. So much for that. (Here’s a belated Happy Halloween 🎃👻🐈‍⬛🧹🦇🕸️ to everyone, by the way.) But it’s here now, I guess. Anyway.

I decided to read the Sheets series because it looked cute, and… honestly, that’s kind of it. But I don’t think I really need to have another reason than that. I mean, that’s my initial reason for picking up most books – there’s something about them (usually their covers) that draws me to them. And this wasn’t any different.

Since there are actually three books in this series (it isn’t just the same book split into three volumes, like The Glass Scientists), and I felt differently about each one, this review is actually gonna be split into three mini reviews. So let’s start off where this series starts off – with the first book in this little series: Sheets.

Sheets

“But this place is home, baby. And once you have that, there’s nowhere you’d rather be.”
Sheets

I rather enjoyed Sheets. It was a solid start to this little series of graphic novels. My favorite thing about this installment – and I guess the rest of the books as well – was how nostalgic it made me feel.

If I put the pieces together correctly based on the information provided, and am remembering that correctly, this series starts in 1998. I was very young at that time, so I barely remember anything, but since a bunch of nineties stuff carried over a bit to the 2000s, it was enough to make me feel the nostalgia. The Gameboys, the lack of cell phones everywhere – all these things awoke ancient memories within me. It was so weird, but it was nice to look back on that time.

The thing that I loved the second most about these graphic novels was how ghosts’ forms come from bedsheets. I absolutely loved that idea – I thought that was so clever and adorable. The ghosts were also my favorite part of the art style.

The characters were also cute. I really liked Marjorie and Wendell’s friendship, but I wished we’d gotten to see them more as friends during the novel, instead of just becoming friends near the end.

Speaking of the ending, it was kind of… eh. Everything wrapped up just a little too neatly, and parts of it didn’t make sense. If being seen by humans is such a huge law in the ghost world, why is it suddenly okay at the end? But I recognized that this series is targeted towards middle grade and younger, so I kind of get why everything was wrapped up so quickly and efficiently.

Delicates

“Everyone has ghosts. I think we all need to learn that there’s no shame in letting them out.”
Delicates

Out of the three graphic novels in this little series, Delicates was unfortunately the one that I enjoyed the least. Don’t get me wrong – I still liked it, I just didn’t like it as much as the other two.

The main reason for this was definitely all the middle school drama. It just annoyed me to read about, likely because I already lived it. I didn’t enjoy middle school drama when I was in middle school and I don’t enjoy it now. And out of all three books in the Sheets series this one definitely deals with it the most, which is why it’s my least favorite. I think that actually kids in middle and primary school will enjoy it for this reason, though, because they’re probably going through this stuff right now.

I did enjoy the new main character introduced, however. Eliza was awkward and quiet, but she really rounded out our main trio in the best way. Unfortunately, like in Sheets, we didn’t get to see as much of this interaction as I’d have liked. We also didn’t get to see too much of Marjorie and Wendell just hanging out as I had expected either, which was also disappointing. Because most of Delicates was focused primarily on introducing Eliza and the aforementioned middle school drama.

I will say that the topics focused on in this installment are important for middle school aged kids, as well as sensitive, so reader discretion might be advised. (Depression and suicide ideation are very heavily implied.)

Lights

It’s much harder to create light than it is to extinguish it.
Lights

Lights was my favorite out of the Sheets trilogy, and it really isn’t that surprising. It was the most “action packed” of the three, and had the most interesting plot to me. It focused on the thing I was most curious about from the beginning: Wendell’s past before he died and the events leading up to it.

This is also the installment where we got to see the friendships play out between the trio that I’d wanted to see since Sheets and that I felt were a bit neglected in Delicates. We also got to see a lot of catharsis playing out regarding parts of the story and between characters, so that was also nice to read.

All in all, I don’t really want to say too much about this one, as it is the last book in this series. But I will mention that I really enjoyed it and that it definitely had a satisfying conclusion for the trilogy.

Final Thoughts

“There’s good and bad in everyone, you know?But the more friends you have in your life… well… the more, uh, brightness you’ll have overall.”
Lights

Regarding this series as a whole, I think the Sheets series is a solid little collection of middle grade graphic novels. I definitely recommend this to kids that age that like cute supernatural stories with a bit of a darker side.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure teenagers and adults might find something (or things) to enjoy about it, whether it be the art, the nostalgia or the ghost story aspect of it. But I definitely think kids will get the most enjoyment out of this trilogy out of everyone.

As always, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you have an excellent day/night! I hope everybody had a great Halloween, too!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

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Bloodguard by Cecy Robson | Book Review

Gone were the days of hearty meals and opportunities to heal and rest. And gone were the cheers for besting a competitor without a death blow. Decrepit and filthy conditions claim most of us now. The arena claims the rest.

Bloodguard by Cecy Robson

SERIES: Old Erth #1

LENGTH: 512 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Entangled: Red Tower Books

RELEASE DATE: 21 October 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

One hundred years. Tens of thousands of gladiators. And today, only one will rise…

Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie.

Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena―vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive―would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose.

He was wrong―and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity.

All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day.

Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard―and his freedom.

But in a kingdom built on secrets and lies, hope doesn’t come cheap.

Nor will his ultimate revenge…

My Review

To hear the stories, they waited decades for the mythical bird to rise again after claiming victory over Arrow’s enemies and dying in the final battle. But it never did.

(Sooo… This review was meant to come out two days ago, on Thursday, but there was a family emergency. And I already had stuff going on yesterday that ended up taking much longer than planned. So yeah, this is a bit late. Sorry.)

(Anyway…)

Bloodguard had been on my radar for a long time. Since, like, a year and a half, I think? I originally saw the premise and the gorgeous sprayed edges sometime last year, and both really caught my eye. So I preordered it. Then the release got delayed.

And then the release got delayed again.

And then the release got delayed a third time.

So yeah, I kind of forgot about this book until Amazon reminded me earlier this month: “By the way, you have a preorder being delivered later this month.” And I was like: “Whoa, oh yeah.” – and – “They didn’t delay it again? Cool.” Which is why it wasn’t on my anticipated new books list for October, November and December 2024.

But because of all this, the hype for this book had kinda died down for me anyway, so I wasn’t as super excited to read it as I usually am for books I decide to read. Especially since it took so long to come out and didn’t have the benefit of being a sequel or whatever. So my expectations were already a bit lower than normal, but I still had decently high hopes for Bloodguard. Did it deliver?

Not really.

“Then tell me what you want,” I say with deadly calm.

She bites her bottom lip. Does she want me to tear this place apart? “Just tell me.”

“I want the throne, Leith. Do this, and I’ll become queen.” Her bright eyes challenge me. “You want revenge? You want to bring the arena down…be my king.”

Even though my anticipation for this new release was a bit lacking, I still wanted to like this book. But that didn’t really end up happening – I found the book mid at best.

I also wasn’t into Leith or Maeve – the main characters – and I also didn’t care about their romance. (And that’s never a good sign, lol.) Like, I found their instant attraction to each other to be extremely annoying. And a lot of their POVs consisted of them ruminating about how into one another they were, even when they didn’t know each other that well yet. It was irritating. Also, some of their inner monologues, as well as some dialogue with other characters, was cringe. Or worse. Like this:

Thank the phoenix that Maeve’s breasts are there to catch me when I fall forward.

Ugh. Just. Something about this sentence (and others) makes me hate it for whatever reason. It’s just. Bleh.

The book also got way darker than I had expected at a certain point and something happens that I wasn’t into at all. Click/Tap the tab at the very, very bottom of the review labeled ❗Spoiler-y Thoughts Section❗ if you don’t care about spoilers and want to see my rant about this novel. (I had trouble with the accordion show/hide thing – it kept hiding the rest of the text in this review, which is why it’s at the very bottom.)

However, I did enjoy some of the connections and interactions between characters. I loved the familial and found familial bonds that appeared throughout the book (which is why I felt so strongly about the stuff in my rant). Platonic relationships have always been just as interesting as romantic relationships to me, if not more so.

I catch Caelen’s smirk. “Something funny, elf?” I ask over the pounding melody of hooves.

He grins, an expression I’ve rarely seen on this soldier. “No. But it would have been if your horse hadn’t kept your ass in that saddle, gladiator,”

“It’s too late in the game to develop a personality,” I retort, forcing my features to still when Star skids along a sharp curve and all but kills us both.

Bloodguard was, admittedly, also generally well written, particularly compared to a few books I’ve read recently. (I’m looking at you The Girl With No Reflection. Grrr!) I did find the first quarter or so of the book to be slow, however. Which I did not enjoy.

I also didn’t completely despise the ending – and at the very least found it far more tolerable than the abominable section of the novel that consisted of the 50% mark to around the 80% mark. Good God did I hate that part of the book. I legitimately was this close to DNF-ing it. But yeah, back to my original point, the ending was fine – it was even a little bit satisfying, honestly.

But it wasn’t satisfying enough for me to overlook the parts of this book that I didn’t enjoy, so it gets a two and a half star rating. (Because I have read worse books.) I’m not gonna continue with this series, though. I’m done with Old Erth.

“I love you, Father.”

Sadness clouds his tired eyes, ringing the orbits with deep shadows. “And I will always love you, my dear, dear daughter.”

Since I didn’t really enjoy Bloodguard I’m finding it a bit difficult to recommend. But I guess people that enjoy insta-love and its assorted tropes, as well as generic fantasy romance and brutality and gladiator stuff (and those assorted tropes), then you’ll probably enjoy this book more than I did. My biggest problems with this novel likely stem from the fact that it wasn’t for me.

Anyway, as always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

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❗ Spoiler-y Thoughts Section ❗

I didn’t enjoy all the death that started happening around this point of the novel. Like, almost everyone who was related or considered family to Leith or Maeve was either murdered around 50% to 70% of the book, or they were revealed to be dead all along. And it all felt a little… senseless to me. Now, I understand that characters die, and that one she “kill their darlings” so to speak, especially in a fantasy novel like this one. But this was a freaking massacre. It just felt a bit ridiculous to me, and it made me mad.

Also, Maeve kind of turns into a bit of a girlboss at this point and took on and defeated a few foes that I found a little bit hard to believe sometime after the 80% point. Tut is an ogre that is several decades old with a bunch of experience that is much larger and stronger than Maeve. She manages to take him down in a big poofy dress that would make fighting extremely difficult (like it seems like something she wouldn’t be able to fight in, honestly), somehow evades him perfectly and doesn’t get any of his blood or guts on her unwieldy outfit, and then fights a mage that wasn’t as built up as she could’ve been.

Maeve then also summarily defeats this character and kills them, even though she’s never fought a mage before. Like Maeve wins just about every fight she’s in, expect for her training with Leith, who is better than her. And he’s also the bestest gladiator ever, which was also something that bothered me. Actually, there were a lot of The Savior’s Champion vibes going on, and I don’t think that was a good thing.