207 ratings (4.04 avg)
128 reviews

Joe

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Joe is currently reading

The Crystal Shard (Forgotten Realms: The Icewind Dale, #1; Legend of Drizzt, #4)

by R.A. Salvatore

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Aug 10, 2024 02:17PM

Joe is currently reading

A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers, #1)

by Brigid Kemmerer (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in March 2020

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Joe said: " "We are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose - just as a poor hand can win - but we must all play the cards the fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless."

Okay, to be clear, "We are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose - just as a poor hand can win - but we must all play the cards the fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless."

Okay, to be clear, I did enjoy the book despite a 3 star (more like 3.5 star) review. I just had quite a few problems with it that I cannot ignore. I am glad I actually read it though and realised that I have not completely lost my faith in YA fantasy.

The plot was very- stale at first. While I did find the whole fairy tale retailing exciting, I found myself skipping through some sentences just to get to the gist of the point. The villains did not impress me and I did not really get Lilith’s motive? Like, what’s her reason for cursing a prince and dooming more people on the process? The fact that he did not have romantic feelings for her after an one night stand? I’m sorry honey, but I’m not convinced. Also, why did that other Queen want to conquer the land and declare war? Just because she can? We got so little on the background of these villains that it left me not caring about them.

Harper was... a very meh protagonist. I have made clear my disdain for women who ‘are not like other girls' and for some reason, all the characters want to keep remind us. Harper was, without it being given a basis, good at everything, everyone instantly liked her and praised her for how badass she was. And it was getting so tiring, I literally kept rolling my eyes while reading.

Rhen at least, had more depth as a character. His chapters were far more interesting to read and he had a few layers to him that added to the character of Beast from the classic fairy tale. But the one who stole the show for me was, OF COURSE, Grey. Please hand me all your blankets so that I can wrap them around this cinnamon roll that I love so so much now. For a moment there, I thought he would end up with Harper but I then remember he has his own romance in the second one. Anyways, he is basically Chaol's rip off but I have something for characters who are loyal and protective. Also THAT TWSIT IN THE END come on, it was so obvious the moment it was foreshadowed.

The relationship dynamics were a bit weird so now I do not know what to make of them. On the one hand, you have a prince and his Commander who share a strong relationship of trust but then... it’s not actually that? Everything seems to be based on some oath, even if Rhen was arrogant and spoiled once and forced Grey to do stuff because he ordered them. And then, you have Harper and Rhen who were kind of very indifferent. I’m not even sure what to say about them now but I honestly did not care even if Harper would have ended up with Zo at this point.

Okay so, this review makes it seem as if I hated the book. I DIDNT. I really enjoyed it. But I felt the need to voice all these problems I had with it. Overall, if all these things I mentioned generally did not seem too bothering to you, you should definitely read this one. I cannot wait to get my hands in A Heart so Fierce and Broken.

"Words spoken in the dark in the middle of the night always feel so much heavier than they would at any other time." ...more "

Mar 13, 2020 03:10PM · see review