Sara

03/01/24: I have picked this already once, read the first part and decided it wasn't for me. The motivation of the MC was for me somehow to weak to even start with. I decided I would pick it up again, mainly because Vippi loved the trilogy and kept talking about it. I hope it will work for me this time.

Review:

From the premise I had started off biased. The idea that the bargaining chip with a potentially dangerous being was kissing had given me the idea that the story was only focused on romance and love triangles or polymers. Until 30% I still wasn't entirely convinced because even though the falling in love was fictitious, the dynamic had the feel of a love triangle. once I got past that hurdle, I was hooked on the story, its mysteries and characters. But let's go in order.

The book is set in a fantasy world. It seems that the continent is divided into a northern part that takes a bit of inspiration from a Nordic and Harry Potterian setting (cold climate, fairy-tale atmosphere, creatures like dragons, lots of legends and magic - with lots of shops selling potions and spell books and very fairy-tale names). Not having read caraval I can't say whether the setting was described in more detail in the trilogy, but I would have preferred more depth and cohesion. Perhaps a map of the whole continent where the events of Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart take place would have come in handy. I note that there is a map of the magnificent North (very nice and in fairy tale style) but not of the Middle Empire (southern part of the containing where the story begins). In short, world building is very interesting but lacks cohesion.

The plot has a strong build-up (tension) and kept me on my toes until the end. I really want to know where and how it will end. The story is told in 3rd person by Evangeline, so it is one of those situations where you either like or dislike the voice of the protagonist. Evangeline is naive and stubborn, but the author in my opinion was good at reworking all the doubts and insecurities of the protagonist, because in the end I cared about her as well as all the secondary characters.

The secondary characters I found them sufficiently characterised and many still remain a mystery, considering the length of the book, perhaps the reason why I'm interested to know more about them and what role they will play in the following books.

In short, this story, the world and the characters are all shrouded in an aura of mystery, with Disney-style curses distorting the truth. Every piece of information is cleverly revealed to the reader drop by drop with a good balance between mystery and characterisation. It all contributes to building up this tension of wanting to unravel mystery after mystery and gives one a thirst for answers.

Unexpectedly, I really enjoyed the book and devoured it. I will definitely read the second one. I hope the second one delves further into the world and setting, bringing us closer to the cause of all the curses and I hope Evangeline matures by learning from her experiences. Recommended!

PS. Jacks & Chaos are in my heart. I hope a prequel spin-off is made about Chaos (unless this has already been done with Caraval).

Recensione:

Dalla premessa ero partito prevenuta. L'idea che la merce di scambio con un essere potenzialmente pericoloso fossero dei baci mi aveva dato l'idea che la storia fosse concentrata solamente sul romance e su triangoli e polimeri amorosi. Fino al 30% non ero ancora del tutto convinta perché anche se l'innamoramento era fittizio, la dinamica aveva il sapore di un triangolo amoroso. una volta passato questo scoglio mi sono appassionata alla storia, ai suoi misteri e ai personaggi. Ma andiamo con ordine.

Il libro è ambientato in un mondo fantastico. Sembra che il continente sie diviso in una parte a Nord che prende un po ispiratione de un' ambientatione nordica e harrypotteriana (clima freddo, atmosfera fiabesca, creature come draghi, tante leggende e magia -con tanto di negozi che vendono pozioni e libri di incantesimi e con nomi molto fiabeschi). Non avendo letto caraval non posso dire se l'ambientazione fosse stata descritta più in dettaglio nella trilogia, pero avrei preferito avere più profondità e coesione. Magari una mappa di tutto il continente dove si svolgono le vicende di Caraval e once Upon a broken heart avrebbe fatto comodo. Noto che c'è una mappe del magnifico Nord (molto carina e in stile fiabesco) ma non dell'impero di Mezzo (parte sud del contenente dove la storia inizia). Insomma, world building molto interessante ma manca di coesione.

La trama è caratterizzata da forte build-up (tensione) e mi ha tenuto sulle spine fino alla fine. voglio proprio sapere dove e come andra a finire. La storia è raccontato ine 3º persona da Evangeline, quindi è una di quelle situazioni in cui la voce della protagonista vi piace o non vi piace. Evangeline è ingenua e testarda, però l'autrice secondo me è stata brave a rielaborare tutti i dubbi e le insicurezze della protagonista, perché al fine mi importava di lei come di tutti i personaggi secondari. I personaggi secondari li ho trovati sufficiente mente caratterizzati e molti rimangono ancora un mistero, considerando la lunghezza del libro, forse ragione per cui mi interessa sapere di più su di loro e che ruolo andranno a ricoprire nei libri successivi.

Insomma, questa storia, il mondo e i personaggi sono tutti avvolti da un'aura di mistero, con maledizioni in stile disneyano che distorcono la verità. Ogni informazione viene sapientemente rivelata al lettore goccia per goccia con un buon equilibrio tra mistero e caratterizzazione. Il tutto contribuisce a costruire tutta questa tensione di voler svelare mistero dopo mistero e dà sete di rsiposte.

Inaspettatamente il libro mi è piaciuto molto e l'ho fivorato. sicuramente leggero il secondo. Spero che il secondo approfondisca ulteriormente il mondo e l'ambientazione, portandoci + vicini alla causa di tutte le maledi zioni e spero che Evangeline maturi imparando dalle sue esperienze. Consigliato!

Jacks & Chaos nel cuore

PS. spero che venga fatto 1 spin-off prequel su Chaos (a meno ciò sia già stato fatto con Caraval).

This manga is a very nice addition. The art is very cute.
The story develops very quickly. The pace is a bit too fast for my taste.
Characters are very enjoyable and pretty well-characterized for being a manga.
Link is very immature and impulsive in this volume. I hope I can see him grow in the next volumes.
The setting and the world are also pretty well-depicted yet simple.

3.75 stars

3,5 stars.

The author manages the story very well aware of the limits she has. She knows where she has to focus: what to tell and what not to tell. It was an enjoyable read, but for me too short to have a good grasp on the world. The characterization was done very well instead I got affectionated to Ester pretty quickly. It also has a little of a bittersweet end.

Age of swords is a book of preparation, a preparation for war.

After Age of Myth we are left with a threat of war between Runes and Fhreys. In Age of swords we see our characters planning and finding strategies to go to war.

I find the pace of this installment very slow especially in the first half and I found myself not interested in the characters of Moya and Roan. I found myself dragging off during this read. The second part was more fast-paced and it captured my interest again. I don't react positively to the death of animals, especially if they have a strong bond with characters, though. I cried for the last.. 40 pages or so?! That was torture, my poor feelings -_-
* I will never forget you for that, Michael Sullivan *

But at least I am glad if an author can connect to my feelings and make feel for the characters and the story :)

Overall, a nice installment with a good plot and with solid character development. Right now, I need a break from the series but I am curious to know what Age of War will bring.

4.5 stars.

This first book in the adult series “Emily Wilde” was not perfect, but it's the first time I have read a book like this one, making it difficult for me to rate it. I see all the aspects which need some improvement and I see why this book doesn't work for several people. Nonetheless, I have enjoyed much more than I expected because I could relate to Emily. I will start listing the cons and then come back to the reasons why it is still worked out for me.

Most of the issues are just the consequences of the diary format. Emily brings with her a fieldwork notebook and we see her entries over a time of 6 months. This means that we have only Emily's point of view (besides for a couple of entries by Wendell), leaving the characterization of othe characters very limited. On the other hand, I noticed the efforts and the very well crafted writing to create depth.
Also, Emily feels very real and human with her imperfections and weaknesses. I could follow her reasoning and motivations.

The plot is, in my opinion, the weakest aspect of this book. The pace was very slow for the first two thirds and little happened, while the finale feels very rushed. I didn't mind though, because it mirrored the fact that Emily was getting adjusted to a new place, people, routine, etc. It also had this kinda of “cozy” feeling or “slice-of-life” vibe, which I enjoyed it. I would have appreciated some pages more to give more space to the conclusion. Also, where did the students end up? At the beginning it is mentioned that they were gone, but nobody cared about them.

To sum it up, I enjoyed the vibes and could connect with Emily in a way that rarely happens. Probably it's because I love dogs and I am doing my PhD, but I also shared Emily's curiosity. That made me stand the negative aspects much easier. If you are into a comfortable winter read with a nice protagonist and story, I would recommend you reading it.

Thank you, Netgalley UK, for approving my request in exchange for a honest opinion.

I found myself having to read it unwillingly because I received an ARC copy to review. I am very sorry about this because i had a very high motivation to read it. There is a severe shortage of modern novels with mythological sea creatures and above all there is a shortage of good, solid novels!
When I read the back cover, I had already imagined that it would be the best book with sea creatures, given the multitude of mythological creatures and troublesome current issues such as pollution and discrimination.

The world is indeed rich, well-researched and well-thought, but what annoyed me the whole time is that names of spirits and creatures are thrown into the book without explantation (and at least in the arc copy without a glossary). In order to understand what the author was talking about or how that newly introduced character looked like, I had to constantly google them. A few examples are: kappa, saltlick, Fumiho, chang-bi, chinthe.

I had problems with the characters as well. I could never tell Nami from Mira, who was the half-mermaid and who was the water dragon because they had the same voices. The same goes for Kai who was supposed to be the finacée of one two, but it didn't make any difference. I thought it was an initial difficulty due to the fact that I had to orient myself in the new world and adapt to the new characters, but unfortunately this difficulty remained even at the 60% reached. Furthermore, all three of these characters seemed very immature to me and I didn't get attached to them.
the only voice distinct from the others was Cordelia the sea witch who plots and manipulates characters to her personal advantage from behind the scenes. hard to get attached to her, though :D

unfortunately, the story didn't grab me either. i got the impression that nothing happened in the first half of the book and events start to happen towards the second half. unfortunately, by that point i had already lost interest in the whole thing.

It's not a debut that I feel like recommending, unless you are prepared for what to expect.

Rtc

I remember that i had a huge issue with this: Curran and Kate..what's wrong with you, guys?
You were awesome until the previous book and now you're acting like children, fighting without finding a solution for a little misunderstanding! :/
The plot was very good fortunately and also the continuing characterisation and evolution of the characters. That's why I love this series.
I hope the next book will be better :)

3,75 stars.

I enjoyed this one more than the previous one. I found this last installment a very nice conclusion to a light-hearted and nice series.
The plot was more interesting to me: more action-packed and containing more revelations about Alexia's father. I was waiting for that since volume one! I also enjoyed Alexia and Conall's moments.
Regarding character development, I found also in this one changes out of the blue that made me roll my eyes.
Even if I am left with a positive feeling about some characters, I don't feel enough interest to read further series set in the same world.

4.5 stellePiuttosto che scrivere una recensione, in questo momento vorrei prendere Sanderson per il colletto della camicia e sbatacchiarlo urlandogli contro: “Are you fuc***** crazy?! You gave me hope and faith, then you shattered my heart! Is this the treatment you give to your readers?”.Superata questa fase, devo dire che la trilogia rimarrà una delle mie trilogie preferite.Ha un world building spettacolare, non sto neanche a parlarvene perché mi servirebbero giorni per farvelo apprezzare. Ha una trama e degli intrighi ben congegnati e i personaggi sono ben delineati. Sono personaggi dinamici: evolvono nel corso della trilogia, cambiano, si mettono in discussione ed è ciò che più mi piace dei libri dei libri di Sanderson, tranne quando suddetti personaggi me li uccide, spezzandomi il cuore in mille pezzi.Difetti:si, purtroppo Sanderson non è perfetto e ho notato che i suoi libri andrebbero letti da pag.600 in poi per entrare nel vivo dell'azione, ma non è possibile, altrimenti ti perdi dei micropezzettini utili a capire meglio tutta la faccenda. La prima parte di questo libro (compreso tutto il secondo libro: [b:The Well of Ascension 68429 The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2) Brandon Sanderson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406990198s/68429.jpg 2120474]), l'ho trovata lenta, o meglio, la parola giusta sarebbe “poco allettante”. Si parla di fatti che riempiono la trama, si, ma di cui non me ne frega un tubo. Di Elend cha va a conquistare tutta la Dominazione non mi importa un fico secco. Di tutte le paranoie di Sazed che occupano il secondo e il terzo libro non me ne importa un fico secco. Si, sono eventi utili per capire tutto il worldbuilding, ma potevano essere snelliti. La sensazione è quella che di non arrivare mai a una risoluzione dei fatti, di una stasi. Mi ritrovo a sbatacchiare il libro dicendo: “dai, su! voglio sapere, ma non è questo che voglio sapere”.Secondo me, con una duologia bella giotta oppure tre libri un po' più brevi, avrebbe una trilogia perfetta. PS. Ho adorato Kelsier, Elend, Vin e anche Sazed, ma Spook non ce la potevo fare. La sua evoluzione l'ho trovata alquanto forzata e per me rimarrà sempre un po' sfigatello.

actual vote: 4.5 stars.


Geralt di Rivia sembra essere un personaggio molto interessante, perspicace e pieno di segreti. Il racconto più bello è stato “L'ultimo desiderio” in cui si narra l'incontro tra lo strigo e Yennefer, una potente maga.
L'autore rivisita le fiabe in modo piuttosto originale: lo fa dal punto di vista di Geralt, ne prende alcuni elementi e li applica ai suoi personaggi modificandone gli eventi. a me le rivisitazioni delle favole non mi piacciono per niente, però queste non mi sono dispiaciute.

2.5 stars.

I knew of the postsript before reading this novella and, with all honesty, that influenced my rating positively by half star. I found totally cool what Brandon did.

The novella per se was barely interesting to me. I was not interested in Matisse, the main character, nor the children. In my experience, I have noticed that novellas work for me if the characters are already introduced in a “canon” book and I had the time to get a connection with those characters. Novellas are in general too short for me to grow fond of new characters. I was expecting more a short anedcote focused on Sarene, Raodem and Ashe in New Elantris. However, it was nice to go back to elantris even for a few pages after so many years I have read the book. I noticed I also like its magic system with seons resembling somehow sprens of the stormlight archive. I hope we can come back to Elantris soon.