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:

Goodreads

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Weekly Wrap-Up: 11/11 – 11/17

It’s back for a third week in a row! That’s three weeks, so that’s technically a habit right? Or at least a turkey, like three strikes in bowling? Uh, nevermind.

I’m satisfied with my reading and my blog posting last week. Not only did I participate in a couple of my usual posts, but I put out two book reviews. Woohoo! Also, I read and finished three books! Fingers crossed I get the same kind of productivity this, or at least an amount that I’m personally happy with. 🤞🍀

Anyway, without further ado, on with the wrap-up!

Tuesday 11/12: One Piece Review (Part #1)

Last Tuesday, I finally posted my first review for One Piece. This one basically only focused on the pre-time skip arcs, but I’m planning on doing two more reviews of the long running series by the end of it. (One focusing on the New World and Wano, and the other focusing on One Piece’s Final Saga when the manga is finally complete.)

Though I had somewhat different thoughts regarding each of the arcs from the pre-time skip, I rated the entirety of it ★★★★✯.

One Piece Review Part #1

Wednesday 11/13: WWW Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in WWW Wednesday for the first time in a while. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. It focuses on talking about what you’re currently reading, what you recently read and what you’re thinking about reading next.

WWW Wednesday: 11/13

Friday 11/15: First Line Friday

Last Friday, I participated in First Line Fridays for the first time in several weeks. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s a fun little post that focuses on guessing books based on their first lines.

First Line Friday: 11/15

Saturday 11/17: Skyshade Review

Yesterday, I finally got my review out for Skyshade by Alex Aster. It’s a new release and a part of the Lightlark Saga, a YA romantasy series. I ended up giving this book ★✫☆☆☆.

Skyshade Review

Books I Read Last Week

💖🎁 Wrapping It All Up 💖🎁

So yeah, I’m really happy with both the posts I was able to do, as well as the amount of reading that I had gotten done. Also, I got out two book reviews, which I’m really satisfied with. I don’t know how common of an occurrence that’s gonna be, however, even though it might happen again this week, lol. We’ll see what happens together.

Regarding my upcoming posts for this week… I’m definitely planning on participating in a certain monthly post regarding the color of book covers. I’m also going to do at least one book review this week (I finished MDZS within the first half of last week, but wanted to review Skyshade first, so I still gotta review it). I’m hoping to read at least one or two books this week, as well. And I’ll probably participate in at least one weekly post, too.

Concerning stuff going on in life outside of books and blogs; there wasn’t too much of one, honestly. We mostly relaxed this past weekend, though I did clean a lot of the house last week. But other than that, nothing notable happened.

Anyway, as always, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you all have a awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

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:

Goodreads

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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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Monthly Wrap-Up: October Reading 2024

Ugh. I’m later in the month again. I hate it when I post my monthly wrap-ups later than like, the 5th of the month. ‘Cause then it just feels super late to me. But yeah, I’m finally posting my October reading for 2024.

I’m very pleased with the amount of reading I got done last month. It’s been some time since I’ve read nine books in a month, and it’s something that I wish I would do more often. And I enjoyed almost all of the books I read in October, which was a huge bonus.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into my StoryGraph statistics from last month!

October Reading 2024

I read 9 books and 3,995 pages

😐 MOODS: I had more reading Moods in October that I’ve had in a long while – possibly the most ever. Adventurous was of course the biggest chunk of the pie chart. The second biggest slice is Emotional, then Lighthearted and Hopeful. The other four Moods were Reflective, Mysterious, Inspiring and Funny.

👢 PACE: My books from last month were mostly medium paced, but around a third of them were fast or slow paced.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 152 and 640 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction in October. As is my usual.

🎭 GENRES: There were more Genres in October than there have been in months. Fantasy was the Genre I read there most of, which is always the case. Though, interestingly it’s actually tied with Young Adult this time. The other five genres were Manga, Graphic Novel, Romance, LGBT+ and Romance. (BTW, in case you were wondering, the genre vs. demographic thing still bugs me.)

📄 FORMAT: This particular pie graph is once again wrong. (As it always is.) About half of the books I read were physical copies, but some novels were digital.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.11. The ratings I gave were between 2.5 stars and 5.0 stars, so yeah.

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I did most of my reading during the last third of October. My biggest reading spike of the month was the 23rd, though my reading was decently high on the 14th, 29th and 31st. I also read books on the 3rd and 4th, and between the 21st and the 27th.

The Books I Read in October

★★★★✯ • my review

★★★✯☆ • my review

★★✯☆☆ • my review

★★★★☆ • my series review

★★★✯☆

★★★★✯

★★★★✯

★★★★★

★★★★★ • my review part one

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah, I liked how much stuff I ended up reading in October. Did it feel a bit like cheating because the majority of what I read were graphic novels or manga? Yes, but I’m actually okay with that this time. Especially because the One Piece super volumes are so thick. Plus, I enjoyed most – almost all – of the novels I read last month, which is always fantastic.

I’m not sure how my reading is going to be for November. This is usually one of my best months of the year for it, but I’ve been so indecisive about which book I’m gonna read next that I haven’t started reading a new novel yet. Which, ugh, I hate it when that happens. Hopefully I’ll finally make a decision and get something started tomorrow.

Anyway, thanks for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my October reading in 2024. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

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

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

Instagram

❗ 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.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell | Book Review

“My road to hell isn’t paved with good intentions – or bad – it’s just my road.”

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

SERIES: Simon Snow #1

LENGTH: 521 pages

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

PUBLISHER: St. Martin’s Publishing Group

RELEASE DATE: 6 October 2015

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

#1 New York Times best seller
Booklist Editors’ Choice 2015 – Youth
Named a Best Book of 2015 by Time Magazine, School Library Journal, Barnes & Noble, NPR, PopSugar, The Millions, and The News & Observer

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here–it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story – but far, far more monsters.

My Review

“You have to pretend you get an endgame. You have to carry on like you will; otherwise, you can’t carry on at all.”

I know, I know. It’s been a bit since I’ve last posted a book review. But last week was a bit… eh. Anyway, I’m here now, and with a book I started reading ages ago at that.

So reading Carry On in its entirety has been a long time coming for me. Honestly, after I DNF-ed it like – three or four years ago? – yeah, I didn’t think I was ever gonna come back to it. And trust me, I gave it a good shot too – I was like 40% through the novel before I gave up!

He’s still looking in my eyes. Staring me down like he did that dragon, chin tilted and locked. “I’m not the Chosen One,” he says.

I meet his gaze and sneer. My arm is a steel band around his waist. “I choose you,” I say. “Simon Snow, I choose you.

But something made me want to give it another shot, so I did. And for better or worse, I’m glad about it. This was, overall, a pretty good book.

Don’t get me wrong! The first third of the novel is an absolute slog to get through – I definitely had the same problems reading it the second time that I did the first. But it was easier to get through this time ’cause I’d already read it before so I kinda… skimmed a little bit. And once the plot (finally) started to really get moving, I really enjoyed what I was reading and had a little trouble putting the book down.

I enjoyed the characters, even though most of them felt a little basic, archetype-wise. Which is probably why Penny was my favorite – she seemed to be the most interesting. I liked Simon and Baz well enough too, even though their relationship felt a little shallow. And their pining – particularly Simon’s oblivious pining, kind of got annoying. Yes Simon, why are you so obsessed with what Baz is up to, I wonder??? Most of the dialogue and character interactions were really good though.

“Do you ever not go for the lowest blow? Like, do you ever think, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t say the most cruel thing just now?'”

“I’m trying to be efficient.”

The plot of Carry On was a fun riff on the Chosen One trope, not to mention all the other dark academia and magic school tropes. (And Harry Potter tropes – like, Simon and Baz share just a few similarities with Harry and Malfoy, respectively.) And I like it when authors do it – it’s fun. The twists were also pretty decent (even though Rowell isn’t shy of showing her hand full of breadcrumbs leading to them – predictably, I figured them out pretty early on, lol).

The climax and the ending were probably my favorite parts of the book, both because of how action packed they were, and because the biggest twists on the tropes were either revealed here or occurred here. The POV changes did get somewhat out of hand at this point, which was kind of distracting and annoying, with some of them only being like a sentence long. But it was mostly okay.

“People who tell you that slamming and bashing into things won’t make you feel better haven’t slammed or bashed enough.”

Anyway, I enjoyed Carry On. It gets three quarters of a star off for the 30% slog of a beginning, however, as well as an additional three quarters of a star off for smaller things that bothered me about the novel. Otherwise, I generally liked it.

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

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

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A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers | Book Review

“Oh, that’s lovely,” Mosscap said.

“What Is?” said Dex.

Mosscap pointed. “Crown shyness is so striking, don’t you think?”

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

SERIES: Monk & Robot #2

LENGTH: 152 pages

GENRES: Science Fiction, LGBT+, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tordotcom Publishing

RELEASE DATE: 12 July 2022

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a story of kindness and love from one of the foremost practitioners of hopeful SF.

After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home.

They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers’s new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

My Review

The thing about fucking off to the woods is that unless you are a very particular, very rare sort of person, it does not take long to understand why people left said woods in the first place.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, though not quite hitting the same spots for me as A Psalm for the Wild-Built that convinced me to give it a perfect star rating, was still a very fantastic novella to read. I really enjoyed my time with this book, as well as being heck in this world and seeing Dex and Mosscap again. I was a bit worried that it wouldn’t live up to the first one enough, which is why I put off reading it for a bit, but luckily my concerns were unfounded.

This little sequel builds a little bit on the world first introduced in Psalm. But gently – this is still a soft sci-fi series, after all. Not to mention that these little books are primarily character focused. But yeah, I enjoyed reading about Dex and Mosscap going around and interacting with people and places here, it felt like a very natural way to explore (and explain) the world.

It was also such a treat to meet new characters and have Dex have more than a couple lines of dialogue with them. Don’t get me wrong – I love how the first novella pretty much completely focused on Dex’s thought process and his evolving new friendship with Mosscap. But I really, really like character interaction, and a good chunk of book one is just walls of text.

The new characters we met were pretty decent too. At the very least their dialogue was good. It flowed naturally and felt like actual conversations. My favorite interactions were with Dex’s family (finally we get to meet them!) and one that almost entirely happens off-screen interactions with Ms. Amelia. (The one we see is also funny, but the implied interactions between Mosscap and the old lady seem golden.)

“Is this customary?” Mosscap whispered to Dex as Leroy fetched some herbs from the pots on his windowsill. “In some of the books I read last night, people made each other breakfast after having sex, but not universally.”

Dex threw Mosscap a look and lowered their voice as far as it would go. “What kind of books does Ms. Amelia collect?”

“Oh, entirely pornography,” Mosscap said. “It was very educational.”

Of course, the heart of this story is still the growing friendship between Dex and Mosscap, and how it changes them as a person and an object. Dex is also still struggling with the stuff from Psalm as well and, at the moment, Mosscap is currently the only one they feel comfortable sharing with. Mosscap is also going through it a little – as it’s realizing that it is getting older, and may start to break down sooner rather than later. Time keeps moving, after all.

And it wouldn’t be a Monk & Robot book without discussions of philosophy and self, so of course there’s a bunch of that here, once again. Not to the degree of the first book, ’cause of the slight differences in story structure, but A Prayer for the Crown-Shy definitely doesn’t… shy away from the topic either.

“Well, I didn’t know then,” Dex said, “and I still don’t. But what I do know is… you help. You’re helping me figure it out. Just by being here. You help.”

“Then we have the same answer,” Mosscap said. “I don’t know, either. But you are my best help, Sibling Dex.”

All in all, this is an absolutely solid follow-up to A Psalm for the Wild-Built. I love the soft sci-fi system, and how character focused it is. And I definitely recommend A Prayer for the Crown-Shy to those who enjoy these things as well, and who like quieter and more contemplative stories.

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

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

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Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan | Book Review

October. Best month ever.

The air was crisp. The leaves were changing colors in Central Park. And my favorite food cart on 86th Street was serving pumpkin-spice burritos.

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

SERIES: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #7

LENGTH: 322 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, YA, Middle Grade, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Disney Hyperion

RELEASE DATE: 24 September 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In his continuing quest to earn college recommendation letters from the gods, Percy has to pet-sit the goddess Hecate’s polecat and giant mastiff during Halloween week. What could go wrong?

Rick Riordan’s newest Percy Jackson adventure is full of hilarious set pieces, a diverse cast of gods and monsters, and many other delightful tricks and treats.

Percy Jackson, now a high school senior, needs three recommendation letters from the Greek gods in order to get into New Rome University. He earned his first one by retrieving Ganymede’s chalice. Now the goddess Hecate has offered Percy another “opportunity”—all he has to do is pet sit her polecat, Gale, and mastiff, Hecuba, over Halloween week while she is away. Piece of cake, right?

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover settle into Hecate’s seemingly endless mansion and start getting acquainted with the fussy, terrifying animals. The trio has been warned not to touch anything, but while Percy and Annabeth are out at school, Grover can’t resist drinking a strawberry-flavored potion in the laboratory. It turns him into a giant frenzied goat, and after he rampages through the house, damaging everything in sight, and passes out, Gale and Hecuba escape. Now the friends have to find Hecate’s pets and somehow restore the house, all before Hecate gets back on Saturday. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.

My Review

Her onyx eyes glittered. She sat forward and laced her fingers, looking more like a principal than my real principal ever did. “You may call me the Torch Bearer, the Star Walker, the Night Wanderer, the Disturber of the Dead, the daughter of Perses and Asteria, the Triple Goddess!”

“Uh-huh,” I said, still clueless.

You’re probably thinking, Percy, you’ve been dealing with the Greek gods for years. How could you not know her?

So Percy Jackson book seven came out… and I enjoyed reading it. And yes, I understand that nostalgia had some impact on my reading experience and overall rating, as it did with book six. Because of this I have altered my rating accordingly for Wrath of the Triple Goddess. (As even though when I read both books six and seven both felt like five star reads, I know in my soul that they weren’t as good as The Battle of the Labyrinth or The Last Olympian. So think of four and a half stars as the same rating for Chalice of the Gods now, I guess. I was a bit overzealous with that review.)

Out of the two new PJO novels, I’m honestly not sure whether I enjoyed The Chalice of the Gods or Wrath of the Triple Goddess more. On the one hand, TCOTG was the first actual-not-a-spinoff Percy Jackson book in years, and I loved the cameos and references, and seeing how Percy, Annabeth and Grover have grown up. But book seven was fun too, and it had Halloween vibes out the wazoo, which I always adore. I guess I enjoyed them equally?

Anyway, I never knew I needed a PJO book set around Halloween until now. It was great, and the book was released during the literal perfect time of the year for it. It’s still a little weird to me reading novels from this series that take place in the fall – nearly all of them, except for The Titan’s Curse which takes place over winter break – are set over the summer. But it’s a nice change.

Grover and I exchanged a look of relief. Whenever Annabeth joined the chat, the odds of us doing something idiotic went way down. The odds were never zero, mind you, because I was still in the mix.

Percy is still as sassy as ever, perhaps even more so than book six, and Annabeth and Grover still balance him perfectly. This really is one of the greatest trios I’ve ever had the pleasure of following. Grover also doesn’t feel like a third wheel here, which was a very minor problem in TCOTG, and his feelings on potential third wheel status and Percy and Annabeth moving on from him are addressed here and it’s great.

And I can’t forget about Percabeth, one of the greatest relationships ever written. Still here and still fantastic – Percy and Annabeth really are a great couple. They just work so unbelievably well together.

Annabeth and I were more than just two people. We were a pair, and when we stood at the crossroads, we did it together.

The plot, even though I really enjoyed it, might be a slightly weaker aspect of this novel, as it was with book six. But that probably feels that way because it doesn’t feel as big as the plots of my memories, nor is it a world ending prevention story like basically all other Percy Jackson novels and spinoffs. It was fine on its own, but is far more down to earth than the rest of the series (save TCOTG).

I can’t believe the final book in this additional trilogy to the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians is coming out next year. That’s twenty years after the original book, the one that started it all – The Lightning Thief – did. I can’t believe it’s been that long already. Just, the timing. I can’t wait to see how this ends. But at the same time, I’ll once again feel a little sad to see it go.

“Hey, Wise Girl,” I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice, “be wise. I don’t know much, but I do know we’re stronger together. Always.”

I definitely recommend Wrath of the Triple Goddess to fans of the Percy Jackson series. Alsoto fantasy fans who enjoy middle grade and YA stuff. But mostly to preexisting fans, ’cause you have to read the original five books (and book six) and have some knowledge of the sequel/spinoff series the Heroes of Olympus to really enjoy this novel. Also, read this book in October – the vibes are perfect.

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

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

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