Chelsea
THIS WAS LOVELY! The characters were lovely, the relationships were lovely, everything was lovely!!!
I really enjoyed how broad and diverse the cast was, including the aliens that were just straight up WEIRD (from my meager human perspective). Not all the alien species were humanoid with just one or two different physical features, they were unique and well thought-out and so very different from humans—physically, mentally, and culturally. But despite the crew of the Wayfarer being so drastically different from each other, they were a family. And if you know how I feel about found family stories (I ADORE THEM), you'll understand why this book was such a pleasure for me. The relationship between the crew as a whole, plus the relationships between many of them one-on-one, felt so genuine. They fought sometimes, they annoyed each other sometimes, but at the end of the day you could feel the love, respect, and support flowing through the Wayfarer.
The positivity of this book was so refreshing. So often, sci-fi is depressing as hell, and that's fine, that makes sense, I enjoy that sometimes. But I also enjoy a bunch of lovable characters zooming around in space and eating dinner together and watching giant flying crickets together. There were some obstacles and there was some angst, but you always knew that the characters would get through because they had each other—they had their crew, their family.
THIS WAS LOVELY! The characters were lovely, the relationships were lovely, everything was lovely!!!
I really enjoyed how broad and diverse the cast was, including the aliens that were just straight up WEIRD (from my meager human perspective). Not all the alien species were humanoid with just one or two different physical features, they were unique and well thought-out and so very different from humans—physically, mentally, and culturally. But despite the crew of the Wayfarer being so drastically different from each other, they were a family. And if you know how I feel about found family stories (I ADORE THEM), you'll understand why this book was such a pleasure for me. The relationship between the crew as a whole, plus the relationships between many of them one-on-one, felt so genuine. They fought sometimes, they annoyed each other sometimes, but at the end of the day you could feel the love, respect, and support flowing through the Wayfarer.
The positivity of this book was so refreshing. So often, sci-fi is depressing as hell, and that's fine, that makes sense, I enjoy that sometimes. But I also enjoy a bunch of lovable characters zooming around in space and eating dinner together and watching giant flying crickets together. There were some obstacles and there was some angst, but you always knew that the characters would get through because they had each other—they had their crew, their family.
OH (RAVEN) BOY(S)
Second read: I was afraid I wouldn't love this book as much as I did four years ago, but I think I loved it even more this time. These books certainly have their flaws, but all those flaws pale in comparison to the soaring, glorious magic and friendships in this series.
OH (RAVEN) BOY(S)
Second read: I was afraid I wouldn't love this book as much as I did four years ago, but I think I loved it even more this time. These books certainly have their flaws, but all those flaws pale in comparison to the soaring, glorious magic and friendships in this series.
don't touch me I'm fragile
don't touch me I'm fragile
I still love this book so much I love Katsa I love Po I love Bitterblue I love Raffin!!!!!! (also Raffin and Bann are gay af for each other I'm calling it)
I still love this book so much I love Katsa I love Po I love Bitterblue I love Raffin!!!!!! (also Raffin and Bann are gay af for each other I'm calling it)
Answered a promptWhat are your favorite books of all time?
Don't stab me with a kitchen knife but...I found this pretty underwhelming and overdramatic.
I by no means hated it. In true Victoria Schwab fashion, it was compulsively readable; I sped through the first half in one afternoon. But somewhere around that 50% mark, the uniqueness of a story about supervillains lost the exciting appeal that I'd felt in the first half of the book. I think I was hoping it would be more of a story about morally gray characters rather than just...over the top edgelords without much nuance. I know they were supposed to be over the top and overdramatic, and I really enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek of the steepled-fingers villainy at the beginning, but over the span of the book it just became tiresome.
Still, I mostly had fun reading it, and I was thinking it would be a solid 3-star book for me. But the ending left me so utterly disappointed. Despite the melodrama of most of the book, the ending fell flat. I expected a ridiculously theatrical showdown between the main characters–arch nemeses who spent the entire book plotting to find each other to exact their revenge. I expected them to circle each other like wolves on the hunt. I expected a tête-à-tête with soliloquies about a decade of longing and plotting and the obsessive kind of hatred that consumes the soul. I expected emotional admissions of betrayal and the pain of losing a friend to the dark side. Instead, I got a bare few pages of bland physical fighting with none of the verbose, villain-like explanations that I craved. Instead, the intense drama fizzled out exactly where it was most needed and expected–the climax of the book.
Oh, also, the romance (between Eli and Serena) was so unnecessary and rapey and made me really uncomfortable. Serena has the ability to persuade people to do whatever she tells them, and there's a scene where Serena and Eli are in a bedroom, and the chapter ends with her commanding Eli to kiss her, and he does, and it's pretty heavily implied that they sleep together. THAT! IS! RAPE! Ugh.
Sorry Victoria, not my favorite of your books 🙊
Don't stab me with a kitchen knife but...I found this pretty underwhelming and overdramatic.
I by no means hated it. In true Victoria Schwab fashion, it was compulsively readable; I sped through the first half in one afternoon. But somewhere around that 50% mark, the uniqueness of a story about supervillains lost the exciting appeal that I'd felt in the first half of the book. I think I was hoping it would be more of a story about morally gray characters rather than just...over the top edgelords without much nuance. I know they were supposed to be over the top and overdramatic, and I really enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek of the steepled-fingers villainy at the beginning, but over the span of the book it just became tiresome.
Still, I mostly had fun reading it, and I was thinking it would be a solid 3-star book for me. But the ending left me so utterly disappointed. Despite the melodrama of most of the book, the ending fell flat. I expected a ridiculously theatrical showdown between the main characters–arch nemeses who spent the entire book plotting to find each other to exact their revenge. I expected them to circle each other like wolves on the hunt. I expected a tête-à-tête with soliloquies about a decade of longing and plotting and the obsessive kind of hatred that consumes the soul. I expected emotional admissions of betrayal and the pain of losing a friend to the dark side. Instead, I got a bare few pages of bland physical fighting with none of the verbose, villain-like explanations that I craved. Instead, the intense drama fizzled out exactly where it was most needed and expected–the climax of the book.
Oh, also, the romance (between Eli and Serena) was so unnecessary and rapey and made me really uncomfortable. Serena has the ability to persuade people to do whatever she tells them, and there's a scene where Serena and Eli are in a bedroom, and the chapter ends with her commanding Eli to kiss her, and he does, and it's pretty heavily implied that they sleep together. THAT! IS! RAPE! Ugh.
Sorry Victoria, not my favorite of your books 🙊
So adorable, gorgeous art and colors! Just wish it was at least twice as long.
So adorable, gorgeous art and colors! Just wish it was at least twice as long.
This series singlehandedly got me back into sci-fi.
This series singlehandedly got me back into sci-fi.
As Linus would say, “oh dear, what a DELIGHT!”
You know how sometimes the fantasy genre uses a different world, species, or place as an allegory for marginalization and the discrimination people face in a world that is systemically against them? Well, this book sure has that. And you know how, despite the message they're trying to send about people's differences being beautiful and something to be celebrated, sometimes those books include nothing but straight, white, cis people and the “monsters,” a dichotomy that works against the message itself? Well, this book sure does NOT have that.
Linus Baker is a rule-abiding human caseworker for DICOMY (the Department in Charge of Magical Youths), tasked with visiting the isolated orphanage on the island of Marsyas, where the most dangerous and uncommon types of magical children are looked after by their master, Arthur Parnassus. Linus's goal is to reside at the orphanage for one month, and ultimately decide if the orphanage should remain open, or be closed down. Linus is a wonderfully drawn character. Though frustratingly uptight and obsessed with the government issued book Rules and Regulations, the way he opens up and learns while on the island is beautiful and heartwarming to watch.
The children are so vibrant and unique—not just because of the kinds of magical beings they are, but because of the depth with which they are written. Instead of blending together into an amorphous, annoying blob of childhood, they each have their own personality and voice. There's Talia, a gnome with a fierce heart and a beautiful garden. There's Phee, a forest sprite who has lost everything, but who can pull the beauty of nature from the bare soil. There's Chauncey, a green blob with tentacles instead of arms, whose sole dream in life is to become a bellhop. There's Theodore, a wyvern who collects buttons and other treasures. And there's Lucy, the Antichrist, the literal son of the devil, a 6 year old who loves to cook, listen to his old records, and most of all, his brothers and sisters.
And Arthur. The master of the orphanage, a man with a painful past, and a father figure to all of these children. Arthur is everything Linus is not—open-hearted and unconventional, adventurous and spirited. The way these two men learn from each other and develop feelings for each other is so lovely to watch. They help each other stand up for what they believe is right. It's also a true slow-burn!!! Finally!
A recurring question in this book is “Don't you wish you were here?” So—at a time when things are difficult and uncertain, when the world is scary and you just need something to make you feel warm and hopeful—I ask you, don't you wish you were here, reading this book?
As Linus would say, “oh dear, what a DELIGHT!”
You know how sometimes the fantasy genre uses a different world, species, or place as an allegory for marginalization and the discrimination people face in a world that is systemically against them? Well, this book sure has that. And you know how, despite the message they're trying to send about people's differences being beautiful and something to be celebrated, sometimes those books include nothing but straight, white, cis people and the “monsters,” a dichotomy that works against the message itself? Well, this book sure does NOT have that.
Linus Baker is a rule-abiding human caseworker for DICOMY (the Department in Charge of Magical Youths), tasked with visiting the isolated orphanage on the island of Marsyas, where the most dangerous and uncommon types of magical children are looked after by their master, Arthur Parnassus. Linus's goal is to reside at the orphanage for one month, and ultimately decide if the orphanage should remain open, or be closed down. Linus is a wonderfully drawn character. Though frustratingly uptight and obsessed with the government issued book Rules and Regulations, the way he opens up and learns while on the island is beautiful and heartwarming to watch.
The children are so vibrant and unique—not just because of the kinds of magical beings they are, but because of the depth with which they are written. Instead of blending together into an amorphous, annoying blob of childhood, they each have their own personality and voice. There's Talia, a gnome with a fierce heart and a beautiful garden. There's Phee, a forest sprite who has lost everything, but who can pull the beauty of nature from the bare soil. There's Chauncey, a green blob with tentacles instead of arms, whose sole dream in life is to become a bellhop. There's Theodore, a wyvern who collects buttons and other treasures. And there's Lucy, the Antichrist, the literal son of the devil, a 6 year old who loves to cook, listen to his old records, and most of all, his brothers and sisters.
And Arthur. The master of the orphanage, a man with a painful past, and a father figure to all of these children. Arthur is everything Linus is not—open-hearted and unconventional, adventurous and spirited. The way these two men learn from each other and develop feelings for each other is so lovely to watch. They help each other stand up for what they believe is right. It's also a true slow-burn!!! Finally!
A recurring question in this book is “Don't you wish you were here?” So—at a time when things are difficult and uncertain, when the world is scary and you just need something to make you feel warm and hopeful—I ask you, don't you wish you were here, reading this book?
Weird, existential, unsettling, and absolutely captivating. Couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait to read TVL.
Weird, existential, unsettling, and absolutely captivating. Couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait to read TVL.
Added to listClassicswith 36 books.
