Bianca
0.5 Stars
It took me so long to finish this book and for what price.
The writing style of Julie Kagawa is different, sometimes long and dissolute but readable. Also the premise of giving the fae (not a hint but a big bucket of) shakespearean influence was new and somewhat refreshing for fae books. But oh. my. gosh. I hated the characters! I couldn't relate to ANY character at all. Puck was just weirdly stupid, Ash was just meh and Meghan was a character without any traits or brain cells.
Because of this stupidity I almost DNFed the book months ago. And now, I wished that I had done that.
1.5 Stars
(1 Star for the promising plot and 0.5 because of the writing style)
I loved the premise of the book but it turned out pretty badly for me. First off, the writing style is nice and easy to read. The problems I had were with the execution of the plot and the characters!
The plot was too overloaded. It felt like there were several novels written into one big plot mess. I loved the Mythos Academy because it was well structured and focused on just fewer themes then this book.
Also the plot was quiet forseen. All the “twists” were super obvious in my eyes and made me sigh through the entire book. That also reminds me of the plotdriven actions of the out-off-character characters (because the plot must have gotten on). I really would have loved to see a strong willed and strong minded character since Gwen from the Mythos Academy was quiet indecisive and a little more reserved in the first books. But here we get an exaggerated character with almost no braincells! I began to dislike Lila after 30 pages because she just was bitchy in my eyes, not the character I was looking for. Her character gets worse and also irrational in further parts of the book. There were many parts were her thoughts suggests a different action then the ones she choose to do. Or times when she changed her attitude in a pageflip! These kind of characters drive me nuts!
The love interest of our special snow flake protagonist (which I don't really mind as a used trope) is a blank sheet of paper for me. I couldn't get to used to him or didn't understand the need for him to be an even more special snow flake (maybe for the ongoing plot but meh). I facepalmed so hard because of the terrible from-one-page-hate-to-pageflip-love forced romance in this book (just for the plot's sake I guess).
I will now rage onto my boxing sack until I get this stupid book out of my head. And hell, I will not read the next books in this series.
3.5 Stars
These endless repetions, these super stupid characters..... got on my nerves.
I liked Katys development in the previous books but here she is indecisive and stupid 99% of the time. Daemon also enerves with his two modi: super arrogant (I would have killed him already) and super caring which aren't traits that work together. It feels like no character development happened on his side or even that he has no traits. Due to this, I needed a few breaks from the story because of the nervefullness.
Offensive and horribly wrong. Geeks and nerds doesn't have a strict correlation, rather causality. Many grammar errors (even noticed by a non native speaker. Perhaps I am too much of an geek myself.
The charts and graphics are either to be appreciated for non geeks or non überGeeks it seems. I rolled my eyes over most of the graphics because they were either old jokes or not funny at all. The curves are either too simplified or have no relevance and proposition whatsoever. Excluding the fact of missing references.
For example the color wheel (paragraph Wardrobe) from Newton has not the purpose of complementary colors. It was to show the blending of colors and the spectrum of a rainbow. The color theory states that artists such as Boulet or Goethe brought the conclusion from the light spectrum to the complementary colors. So I cringed over such wrongly delivered informations.
For a good book into geekdom I would recommend a rather funny one that doesn't drag everything trough the mudd and portrays geeks healthier. Sure there are the stereotypes out there but that has not to be the case for each and everyone of them.
Too long and too obvious in some aspects. If you have read some productivity, self management books, you can skip this one and save yourself some time.
Also the german translation pushed even more prose in this book than the original version has.
This book began good but went wrong pretty fast. The female main character Helen is described as shy but I don't see her as being so. Her actions are naive, stupid and illogical. Most of the times I couldn't understand why she handles certain situations the way she does. So, Helen annoyed me very much!
The male counterpart is a quiet and nice guy. But nothing more. There is no real character due to the lack of character description.
I also wasn't surprised by the obvious plottwists that happened.
In the future, I will try to read the second book to see if it will become better.
1.5 stars
It was horrible. I hated Katy and Daemon, I hated the selfmade and daedalus made drama as I guessed the entire plot pages and pages before they happened. It took so long to finish because I had so put the book down (like the previous two books in the series) to calm my nerves down due to the toughts and actions of Katy and Daemon. I tried to listen to the audiobook, as this method worked for other cheesy romances for me in the past, but this made it worse. So I got back to reading again but that doesn't help with the flaws I had and have with the series.
My hatred for false or wrong medical science was also strong with this one (not as much as in Allegiant but still). I get that this is “Alien science” but there are still some scenes in hospitals or the research centers which let me twitch as someone working in the medical department.
I received an electronic copy of this book via Netgalley.
The art was nice but simple. The story was also simple and quite predictable altough told light and fluffy. I would recommend it for kids and teens.
2.5 Stars
It took me a very long time finishing this book since I stopped midway because of work stress and the fact that I didn't feel for the characters. I had a hard time reading it in german because of the not quiet fitting youth language used in here. I also didn't really liked the use of the third person view which made it even harder to understand Allies actions. Overall the premise of the book is perfect and a great mystery book for young age, but I seem to be a little bit to old with my age over 20 because the writing style, language and the - in my eyes - missing tension.
I will not continue to read the rest of the series.
4.5 Stars
I loved the writing and the theme. The romance was quiet realistic and cute (as an introverted who used to write fanfiction, I could relate). What got on my nerves, was the end. I didn't understand the last few pages (Cath's fiction class story) and these pages quiet ruined the novel for me.
3.5 Stars
In my eyes, this is a typical Jennifer L. Armentrout book. It's a quick and easy read but I has similar flaws compared to the Lux series. I hoped to get some fresh air in this book, since I hated Daemon and also Katy in the second book, but the characters and their traits are nearly identical. It had the same feeling than the Lux series and I hope this series continues on in a better way.
This book was chapterwise hit or miss. Either the questions are really interesting and easily understandable but researched or totally boring. My problem was the scope of the book: This isn't a well rounded or science-centered book. I found the chapter and also section selection totally random and not fitting for this kind of book.
The story was taking directions I was suspecting it would go. Gwen got quite on my nerves sometimes but her development through the books helped her to be more realistic and less annoying than in the previous books.
This really is a book for (pre) teens but as such it does the job quite well. It has a nice, cute and colorful layout and easy understandable instructions. Although the diys are not special they are a good way to keep your nephew /child/little sister occupied on an afternoon or even a weekend (especially for the painting activities).
I think it's a good way to introduce younger people to crafting and this book can make a cute gift for this purpose. Sadly the ideas are quite basic and often seen on the internet and also in this kind of books. But also because they are so basic, they are easily accessable and can be made by beginners.
A digital copy of this book was provided by NetGalley.
The Codex is a great extension to the shadow hunter world. Filled with lots of new content and known facts from the mortal instruments series, I found myself easily reinvested in the series. The comments were sometimes unneccessary but overall this book was a nice one to fill the void until Lady Midnight comes out.
4.5 Stars
It was a great book although it was sometimes predictable. I loved the world building and the steampunk elements. The characters were quiet naive at first but got a great development.
Vielen Dank an Netgalley.de für die Zurverfügungstellung einer Rezensionsexemplars
Das Buch ist, ähnlich wie der Vorgängerband, recht kurz und hat aufgrund dessen sehr schnell wechselnde Szenen und recht schnellen, springenden Handlungsverlauf. Eigentlich wollte ich das Buch genießen und habe nach gut 30% des Buches es erstmals zur Seite gelegt damit die Wartezeit auf Band 4 nicht ganz so lange ist. Als ich dann doch wissen wollte wie es weitergeht, hab ich mich zurückhalten müssen nicht das Buch in einem zuende zu lesen. Die letzten 50% des Buches gingen unfassbar schnell zuende, weshalb das Buch für schnelle Leser ein recht kurzes Lesevergnügen ist (was bis auf Wartezeit auf das nächste Buch ja nichts schlechtes sein muss).
Charaktere:
In diesem Band merkt man sehr die Veränderung des Trios zu den Vorbänden. Wo man sich manchmal denkt, dass die Charaktere anders handeln, merkt man dass die Charaktere reifen. Auch wenn sie manchmal in ihren anfänglichen Charakter zurückfallen (Callum vor allem). Dies macht die Figuren realistisch und immer noch verständlich/liebenswert.
Inhalt:
Der Plot geht in eine andere Richtung als ich es zunächst erwartet hatte. Nachdem der letzte Band eher ein Roadtrip war, haben wir hier einen Plot der sich größtenteils auf das Magisterium selbst beschränkt. Wem also das Reisen in Band 2 nicht so gefiel, wird hier wahrscheinlich glücklicher. Das Magiesystem wird nicht so weit ausgeschöpft wie ich das gerne gehabt hätte, da die Chaosmagie immer noch ein großes statt ein kleines Mysterium ist. Ich denke aber, dass sich das in dem nächsten Band noch ändern wird.
Ohne spoilern zu wollen: einige der Plottwists waren offensichtlich für mich, weshalb die Suche nach einer Person für mich recht langwierig und offensichtlich rüberkam. Andere Änderungen der Storyrichtung waren genial und absolut unvorhersehbar für mich (vor allem das Ende). Ich weiß nicht genau was die Autorinnen aus diesem Ende für die nächsten Bände zaubern wollen, aber ich bin gespannt und werde den nächsten Band fieberhaft erwarten.
Oh my gosh. This was hell of a ride. I mostly listened to the audio book since I find the writing style (in english and the german translation) too ... flowery to keep on going in my normal reading speed. Hitting about 30% I knew I was going to like the book and went to order the second book... and was spoiled for this book because of the synopsis tableflip. But it was still nice done plotwise even though I knew the ending of the first book. There were still conclusions that where hinted at but were shocking and exciting.
This book went way better than book 2. It still had plotholes and too many indecisive moments of both America and Maxon. Some “plot twists” weren't that shocking. I guessed the connection between America's dad and the rebels, but I didn't believe in the fast rebel attacks with that many deaths since almost no one died in the first two books and now.... boom! Tousands of deaths!
The end wasn't sophisticated for me... It felt super flat and knowing about the next two books and the fact that they aren't really America's story, kinda leaves me.... a little bit empty.
This is a great non fiction book about art and science.
While there are good and helpful discussions about art style, physics and so on written in this book, it does blend in with other similar art books. It's a nice overview through history and also art but nothing very deep and super special since we only get the “major” artist and scientists and there are some hidden gems that I missed.
This copy was received by netgalley for review.
I liked Logan as a character. But his PoV made this short story horrible. He was whiny and totally not what I excepted from him as a character. The premise to go into his thoughts after book 4 was really intriguing but was rather plain.
There is no real conclusion or life advice/tips in this book. I doubt that it was lost in translation.
This book..... Juliette pissed me off because of her whinyness and her ‘character development' (or more like: no development). The problems in the first half were all selfmade by her and Adam. The poetic writing didn't capture the essence and Juliettes feelings. I thought most of the times that the writing was in the way of understanding/sympathizing with Juliette. Ever other character except for Castle got on my freaking nerves in this book. Adam was like a whiny little dog, Kenji was either an asshole or a normal human being saying things to Juliette she needed to be told (in my opinion by everyone), Warner was either Adam from book one or his usual crazy self (I don't really get why people like Warner that much, he's better than other characters but not that great). Also Juliettes indecisiveness: one page loving Adam, the next not. One page stupid and whiny as fuck, next ‘heroic' and selfconfident. One page loving Adam, next loving Warner.
This book is a mess. (I will continue because of readathon reasons.)
Dieses Buch ist, im Vergleich zu Nerdikon, zu gefühlt 75% nur Fremdtext (Porträts, Essays,...), die immer wieder gleiche Erfahrungen wiederspiegeln. Ich ging von einem sehr allgemeinerem und sachlicheren Ansatz (wie in Nerdikon) aus und wurde aus dem Grunde enttäuscht. Auch sonst ist informativ vieles bereits im Vorgängerbuch geklärt und wiederholt sich ins schier endlose.
Erwartet hatte ich eine Homage an die 80er und 90er, aber irgendwie wirkte das Buch sehr fokussiert auf die 80er (die ich persönlich nicht miterlebt hab). Der Schreibstil war abschweifend und vor allem in den ersten Kapitel wirkte es sehr ... elitär auf die 80er bezogen.
Häufig technische falsche und unpassende Aussagen, zumindest offensichtlich für Technikafine, sowie ein sehr starker Fokus aus Videospielkultur, sorgten für diese Bewertung.