Silviya

Let me summarise before I even begin: I gave this book one big YUCK! out of 10.

I read this piece of literature because I was challenged by e friend. And I wish I had eaten a rotting corpse instead.

Even though the writing style isn't half bad, this book is a disgusting pile of hot garbage!
There is sexual violence, condemned in one breath and glorified in the very next one.
The male “love interest” invoked in me the desire to buy a showel, so I can beat him to death with it. I don't think I have ever had the displeasure of withnessing more profoundly disgusting character, who I'm supposed to somehow roote for.
And that's without the horendously embarrasing sexual descriptions, which almost made me cringe myself out of existense. Now, to be fair, I made myself read them, nobody forced me. I just had to mention it, because my soul is bleeding vinegar even remotely thinking about them.

Do not recommend. Wish I could forget. My eyes are burning.

THE END

“Monarchy is a bad system because, no matter how smart you are, you can still squirt a moron out of your plumbing.”
4.5 stars

Intriguing quest story with an interesting protagonist, spectacular world building and one of the best writing styles out there. The book is gruesome, deep and hilarious.
Took away half a star because of one repeated inconsistency that bugged me.

I can't wait for the next book in the series and I'm definitely checking out the rest of this author's books!

This story didn't know what it wanted to be. A romantic comedy? A family drama? A sci-fi novel? A paranormal romance? A social cometary fiction? A detective mystery? Who knows...

A perfect example of a great idea with a mediocre execution.

What I really liked were the characters - all quirky and valuable. And I liked the setting - the author really brought New York to life.

But the romance was stale and the plot... A lot of things were happening, yet I was bored.

And I can't for the life of me understand why they had to spoil Jane's situation in the synopsis like that!

Anyway, it was okay, I guess.

DNF at 50%

This entire thing centers on the intimate relationship between Hades and Persephone. And by intimate, I mean, a specific kink acted out in extreme detail. And while I don't condemn it or the people who are into it, it is absolutely not for me. And because it is so intimate in its nature, reading about it makes me extremely uncomfortable. I considered skipping the parts related to it, but honestly this entire book is a set up for the intimate relationship - the Gods of Olympus and the conflict between upper and lower city - it's all an excuse to put our characters in the situation that will allow them to explore this kink. Skipping those parts basically means skipping most of the book. And at that point, why even read it?
So, as much as I hate to do that, I decided to DNF the book at 50%. This way, I won't just save myself some terrible discomfort, but I also won't have to give a low rating to a book, just because of something that is so specific to me.

I enjoyed reading this so so much!

I went into the book knowing nothing about it, besides the fact that it was a sci-fi set in space. And I would recommend you do the same if you are planning on reading it. I find that marketing nowadays tends to reveal the tropes featured in the book, which often kind of ruins the best surprises.

This book is really well crafted - both in terms of writing style and plot. The author knows his science (or maybe he doesn't - just managed to fool me) and has leaned heavily into it, and I loved it!
On top of that, this book had everything I needed - (moderate) action, drama, adorable moments, funny characters and HIGH stakes.

It's the first book I read by the author and I am very impressed!

I quite enjoyed this book - very original premise and a story well told. The characters were interesting and I liked how the backstory was revealed.
I took away a star because there were too many conveniences that were presented a bit too late in the book for comfort. To the point that I felt there were pretty much no stakes.

Either way, a nice read and I would recommend.

I am having so much trouble writing this review, because I have been stunned speechless by this book.
I feel like nothing I say will be good enough to praise this book as much as it deserves.
So instead of evaluating and talking about what it is, I'll just talk about my day.

I woke up this morning, I made myself a coffee and casually flipped through this book to see if I could potentially add it to my reading for the week. Then nothing else happened. Because I spent the day reading it. I think I smiled, I know I laughed, and I definitely cried (in the good way, after which you feel like spring rain just washed your soul).

I couldn't love this book more. Thank you for recommending it, mom! ❤️

I am not giving this book a rating, because i DNFed it at around 50%.

I was bored out of my mind the entire time while reading this.
Both main characters (and all supporting characters for that matter) were as bland as boiled egg whites. It felt like i was reading a book about cardboard cutouts. Not to mention, it was very difficult to even distinguish Edmond from Robin at times.
And even worse, there were no stakes to be found in this book. There was some action in the beginning and some bland story later on, but all of it was more like a setup for the romance between the two leads, rather than a story worthy of a read on its own.

I finished this last night and contemplated giving it 4 stars, mostly due to some of the omitted information. Like, what did Dorian write on that piece of paper to Alan Campbell?
But then i spent hours thinking about it and I believe part of the genius of this work lies in exactly that - omitting the exact sins and letting the reader conjure them in their mind, which would make them uniquely horrible, as nothing can scare or disgust us more than our own imagination.

I loved reading this and I find the philosophical monologues by the author utterly fascinating.

Oscar Wilde's writing is as always exceptional and I am happy I finally got to enjoy it in English as well.

I picked up this book today, as a part of a reading challenge and after reading 6 other romance novels, in rapid succession. And being a massive love hater (not my words) to begin with, it's safe to say I was getting pretty tired of romance (a major understatement). I intended to read a few chapters before moving on with the rest of my day, but before I knew it, I had finished the whole thing in pretty much one sitting.

I thought this book was gonna be a shallow, Starbucks-matcha-late-with-caramel-sprinkles (or whatever it is they sell)-type of giddy romance, about two horny edge-lords on vacation, who try to outsmart each other while getting drunk on piña coladas.
And while, technically, I could've been more wrong, I would've had to try hard.
This book is about two aggressively normal people who are dealing with some hard times and happen to fall in love in the meantime. It's about dealing with the beating down life gives us and the ways we find to deal with it. It's about stories and the strange paths they sometimes take to come to life.

It's beautiful and tragic, and hopeful, and sarcastic (not in the wannabe way, but actually), and funny, and sweet, and I loved it.
From the bottom of my romance hating heart, I loved it!

I quite liked where the book went - the expanded world building and the new locations, but I have to criticise the way it did it. More specifically, the overuse of some powers, which made it difficult to feel like there's any stakes.
Our main characters was brought to the brink multiple times, only to overcome said brink with basically no effort. It just seems like there's no limit to what she can do and that brings a certain level of flatness to my emotional investment. If you gonna give someone near unlimited power, you should limit the frequency with which they can use it.
And show me their struggle before they get to figure out how to surpass said limits. Simply alleging that they struggled with it at one point, then immediately allowing them to blast past any limitations makes it feel unearned.

Still, I was craving this sort of deep dive into this world, ever since I read Book of the Ancestor a few years ago. So, all the reveals were definitely satisfying. And those are the reason why I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

I quite enjoyed this one - in fact, I liked it better than the first book in the series.

The book managed to surprise me and at the same time confirm one of my suspicions about the history of this world and the people in it.

I did like the second part of the book slightly better than first one and I think the author would've done better to introduce the main villain a bit later than he initially did.

Either way, had a great time and given where this book ended, i am super excited to read the next one in the series!

This book exceeded my expectations significantly!

I have never been a big fan of the “archipelago world” concept, but this book executed it flawlessly.
On top of that, we had a super original magic system (actually at least 2 of those) and a very dark atmosphere.
I also loved the characters of this story. We followed a few POVs - all multilayered and very surprising. They had flaws and blind convictions, but those were done skilfully and only emphasised the potential of each POV.

The story itself turned out to be way more complex and twisted than I expected, and while I managed to guess one of the big twists fairly early in the story, I was not prepared for the whole picture!

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to continue with the series!

Okay, here's the deal, I liked this book. I'd give it something like 3.4 stars as a whole, mostly because I enjoyed reading it despite its shortcomings.

The romance is not bad, though a bit cringe inducing at times. The world building is nice, despite the many plot conveniences. The characters were nice, despite the inconsistencies in their personalities.

I just had a good time! Sarah J Maas knows how to pull you in and I am always looking forward to learning more about the worlds she builds.

DNF at 54%.

Why I DNFd:
- Boring - How can an author make a dark academia story about he library of Alexandria boring? This is an achievement in and of itself. There was no atmosphere and no gripping mystery. I am losing my inspiration to live just thinking about this book.
- Pretentious writing style - the author is writing like I did in high school - all full of imaginary wit and ignorant revelations. It's kitschy and stale.
- Empty and annoying characters - pompous fools, who wouldn't stop bitching and moaning about the weight of all the magnificent gifts they were imbued with. Don't you just love it when a bunch of self-centered pseudo intellectual elitists, who haven't had to cook a single meal on their own, wax poetically about the woes of capitalism and oppression, even while scrunching up their noses at everyone who isn't them, because they're so much better? We have the unintentional irony of the most pretentious characters I have ever seen bemoaning “high society” whilst being the epitome of it. Yeah, I hope you enjoy that if you're planning to read this book.

Once again, Olivie Blake has demonstrated a profound lack of awareness, relatability and ,sadly, skill.

There goes Brandon Sanderson again, saving me tons of money in therapy.

I love where this book went and the characters it brought to the forefront. I love how it broke them all down and built them up again. I love how much the world expanded. I love how the author broke my heart. I love how he united them (if you know you know). I love the shock it delivered at the end and the worry it sparked in me.

I love this book. I can't wait to re-read it!

I am so disappointed.
The book was hypocritical, pretending to stand up for some social issues and high morals, whilst excusing the worst behaviour, and promoting prejudice and dismissiveness. It was all performative platitudes.
No consistency.
The most ridiculous reason for the murderer to murder.
I absolutely hated the main character - no character arc, terrible personality, zero morals. But she was poor, so it's okay. Apparently.
I gave it two stars only because there was a moment between 20 and 60% where I was somewhat intrigued.

DNF at 30%

I was a bit disappointed when I found out that this is not actually a continuation of the story from book 1.
Other than that, the book was not necessarily bad, but I just wasn't feeling it and on top of that, there is only so many times you can call someone fat before it's too much.

I might pick up book 3, but this one definitely wasn't for me.

Great action! Great story!

If you are a fan of detective novels but always wished they were magical, you will love this book.
The story reminded me of Raymond Chandler books.
Harry Dresden is impossible not to like, despite sometimes trying to be too witty, and sometimes looking at the ladies a bit sexually. None of those reduced my enjoyment of reading this great story.

I can't wait to pick the next book in the series!