Kelsey

I could not put this down. I had a few friends tell me this book wasn't as good as the first, it's a bit slower and the change of scenery might take me a moment to get used to, but honestly, I felt this was better than the first.

I felt much closer to Alina and Mal, as well as getting a closer insight into their relationship, their flaws and their need to protect one another. Watching them discover themselves and their demons together and apart hit all the right notes for me.

The introduction of the new characters felt seamless, I was never bored and loved the mix of new faces. Leigh Bardugo is now one of my favourite authors, I personally just couldn't find a fault with this as a sequel and usually sequels can be quite tough to follow in their debut siblings steps.

The only issue I had while reading this was the inescapable feeling that I may never read a book that makes me feel like this again, I wish I could go back to the start already and jump back in with my mind blank.

It's been a really long time since I've finished a book and had to just sit there holding it and looking out the window like okay... wow, now what?

I generally don't like the overuse of the term “altered my brain chemistry” but right now I can't really find any other words to encompass my reaction to this. I have so much to say and unpack and rave about but I also would like to just hold onto all the information I have on this book and just lie down with it like a comfort blanket and go to sleep.

This was fantastic, I didn't expect it to be what it was or go there way it did and I was pleasantly surprised. It was beautiful and I had to put it down a few times and just look out the window to let the information soak into my little pea brain. I'd recommend this to every single person on Earth if only just to help them expand their own understanding of their consciousness and their place in the universe.

My only problem (which is my own flaw) is that I think the translation doesn't 100% match up. I think if I was able to read it in Norwegian a lot of the humour between Sophie and her peers would have made more sense, there were a few bits of dialogue I couldn't quite understand and I think it was a translation/cultural gap but that's my own fault for only speaking one language

I first heard of this book close to ten years ago and have been desperate to read it since seeing the opening page posted on Tumblr. I found this book compelling to begin with, I could see the foundations of the narrator being unreliable, narcissistic and a misogynist, well written too. Obviously the point of the novel is that the narrator is a dick and his ‘diary' is a love letter to his shitty behaviour. I put the book down on page 81, the beginning of chapter 3 and the final chapter of the novella (?), once I jumped back in I felt bored and almost robbed up until pages 130-151 which gave a sense of excitement before ending abruptly (he did warn us of this).

I'm torn, in one sense I feel that there could have been so much more yet I fear that could also have ruined it. I'm very much keen to read the following novels and hopefully by the end of the currently trilogy I can return.