#kind of a book review

[bomberqueen17]

The Witch King

This is not like, a coherent review or anything.

Yesterday I was just like possessed with anxiety nonstop the whole day and everything I did seemed to make it worse and i just like spun my wheels and I got some things done but mostly felt worse and worse and more and more stressed, due partly to external circumstances but largely, i think, to nothing in particular. And finally after dinner I was sitting on the couch comfortably and realized you know what, fuck it, I am not going to "try to write" and wind up refreshing tumblr and chatting on discord all night, not while I'm already fretting and stewing like this, i'm going to be miserable and probably get in a fight or something and i don't want that. Fuck it. So I went to the tab I already had open in my browser, which I'd had open for weeks but the time was never right, and I bought the kindle version of Witch King and read it right there in my browser, the whole way through, did not click away or put it down or move or do anything else, and you know what it was fantastic.

I'd read a preview and been like hm i don't know what this is about and read a couple of amazon reviews that were like this was really confusing, some of which concluded so i didn't like it and some of which concluded so i super liked it, and like, I've been a fan of Martha Wells since she put the Element of Fire up for free chapter by chapter on her Livejournal when the rights reverted to her in like 2006 or so, so I knew what I was going to get and also knew that I would not particularly know exactly what I was going to get until I got it, and I also knew I was going to enjoy the ride, but I hadn't wanted to read it in stolen or exhausted moments lest the "this is confusing" bits prove too much.

In the end I found it not in the slightest bit confusing, it was a very straightforward interspersed flashbacks storytelling technique that i thought suited the story beautifully (not to be spoilery but we join a character in medias res with an action scene and it's him trying to figure out who has betrayed him in a complicated political scenario, and in the process of unspooling this he has to revisit the site of where the complicated political scenario was first set up, some sixty (?) years earlier, so he's retracing his own steps and it's really well done I think, introducing new bits of history right as they're relevant to the current storyline-- and just fantastically done, not at all forced, completely natural and compelling, and no the reader isn't told anything they don't need to know but you do get everthing you need to know, there's no unneccessary coyness at all).

So anyway i loved that, and I hope there's a sequel planned but it stands alone just fine if not, I'm already figuring i'll alternate my rereads and do every other chapter each time, so I can do All The Backstory first, then All The Current Timeline story, and that's such a fun way to eke out many many many rereads of a story that like all of Wells' works I will reread until I have chunks of them memorized (anyone who has read my works surely has found whole undigested bits of hers bobbing around in there because I do this so much; I found the phrase weary past bearing in something of mine the other day and was like oh that's moon when ember first shows up i stole that whole emotion wholesale out of the third raksura book yes i did).

Little side notes: Love the aroace qpr vibes with Kai and Zeide, also sort of enjoy the lowkey genderfuckery that comes with a demon who has his own gender then inhabiting bodies that had different genders. Great magic system too, and I love that we first get introduced to how Kai's pain magic works as a like totally fait accompli chunk of didactic worldbuilding and then in a later chapter we get to see the flashback of him inventing it and understand why it works the way it does, that was also so well-wrapped-up.

Anyway-- Definitely recommend this one but probably it is best if you can do it like I did, in one big binge-read. It took me probably three hours and I was trying hard not to read it too fast.

Yeah. Anyway. People assume I'm a big reader. I was, as a kid. I am not now. This is the first new book I've read since probably the spring sometime. I don't casually read things i only read them if I'm going to add them to my Pantheon of Rereads, and that goes for fic too mostly.

#martha wells #witch king #book recs #kind of a book review #sort of

[aroaceleovaldez]

they girlbossed Sally Jackson

#pjo #pjo tv #riordanverse #sally jackson #this shall be my non-spoiler only review of the show so far #just watched the first two episodes - they were good! #i might make a post about Percy's char so far cause i am very pleasantly surprised so far with the adhd experience vibes #my compliments to the writing team for the good good disabled character rep in this script #very pleased with almost all the characters and plot so far #my only one i'm iffy on is Sally as mentioned ^ they girlbossed her #like. book sally is most defined by her kindness and perseverance. this sally is just kind of. tough. she's tough. girlboss. #which is not necessarily a bad thing? she's still a fine character she's just different #also only semi-spoiler in my review: Chris is there! Love that Chris is there #he's just there! but i am a rogue demigod enjoyer #so his presence alone is appreciated

[souldagger]

so normal about the gender fuckery of the Polish murderbot translation (lie i am on the verge of tears)

#it uses verb inflections that imply it/otherwise non-binary pronouns in first person #and it looks like in third person the translator went with #she pronouns when using security unit (bc the word unit is gendered female in polish) #and he pronouns when using Murderbot (bc the word robot is gendered male) #which... isn't ideal #but in a language this excessively gendered it was always going to be messy #and it's the first person verb endings that matter most bc you're reminded that mb's opinion on gender is No Thanks EVERY SENTENCE. !!!!!!! #the fact that the translator went with that instead of the easy route of he pronouns #(which are unfortunately kind of implied in the name Murderbot/Mordbot in polish since like i said robot/bot is gendered male) #is so so so important to me #(and ofc half the reviews for this translation include complaints about 'woke' verb endings 🙄 whatever) #.txt #books #murderbot

[genericpuff]

yeah i don't think this is the kind of advertising rachel needs right now-

#again rachel doesn't really have anything to do directly with this situation BUT #cait still included LO as one of the series she inflated the rating of with 5 stars alongside her own book #correlation doesn't equal causation #but it's still really telling that these are the kinds of works cait simps for to the point of RATING THEM HIGHLY IN HER REVIEW BOMBING #when they're really so problematic and controversial at their core #and are laced with so much casual misogyny and racism #the latter of which cait has a LOT of #though 'casual' racism is really understating it #she promoted herself from casual to competitive ranked racism #and yeah that includes touch of darkness as well which she also rated high with her alts and it's literally just LO: The Wattpad Novel #cait corrain #oh and sidenote #her 'apology' was not a real apology at ALL lmao #it literally opened up IMMEDIATELY with her using her medication as an excuse #for RACISM #watch out y'all you don't wanna take the depression meds that come with racism as a side effect /s #lore olympus critical #lo critical #anti lore olympus

[julescarstairs]

But seriously though, all in all, I think that Sword Catcher was phenomenal. It’s easy to see why CC took her time with this project, because there’s been time and effort and, I imagine, countless amounts of research put into each and every aspect of the story: the setting, the characters, the plot, the magic. The lore and religion. The history. The intricate social web of Castellane and its surrounding neighbours: Marakand, Malgasi, and especially Sarthe (as we see in the closing end of the story.) It’s a far cry from the modern angst of the Shadowhunters world (which I do so love) but it’s so refreshing to read up on an epic fantasy world with such a familiar writing style behind it. If you haven’t already guessed from my spam, Conor takes the cake for my favourite character, and reading all the fandom analyses of his personality and the consequences of his upbringing only drives home why I love him so much (also because his character design is stunning. I’m in love! What can I say?.) But I also adore each character in our lineup, if I’m being honest. CC has taken the time to develop and give each and every character — From Kel and Lin, to the Ragpicker King’s ragtag team, to even the one-hit-wonder characters of the Malgasi procession — their own flair, their own depth. Because each character is so well loved and thought out, their dynamics and interactions feel authentic and humane. Sword Catcher took me for the ride of my life and is easily one of my favourite reads of 2023. For the plot, the world, the character dynamics and the very discreet, underlying promise of romances to come in the future books.

#sword catcher #Cassandra Clare #book review??? kind of??? #conor aurelian #kel saren #Lin caster #joss falconet #the ragpicker king #Merren asper #the chronicles of castellane

[rayyreads]

Y’all have no idea how exited I am for The Sunshine Court….

Like.. I am in the middle of graduation exams rn and I CANT EVEN CONCENTRATE BECAUSE I CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS BOOK AND I AM SO EXITED FOR SATURDAY AHHHHHHHHHSJSJDJSJSJSJ😭😭😭

#the sunshine court #all for the game #lgbtq #book review #reading #books #jean moreau #the foxhole court #the raven king #the kings men #i am so excited #PLS JUST RELEASE IT #AHHHHHHHHSJSJDJSJ #no bc fr i kind of need to learn but I already know that this book is going to traumatize me but I love it anyways :’) #THE SUNSHINE COURTTT AHHHHH #okay sorry hahaha (*cries*)

[evansbby]

yall I read this book when I was like 12-13 and it was a “sweet valley high senior year” book and yesterday I found it again and reread the whole thing in 3 hours and honestly??? THIS BOOK IS WILD LIKE IT SAYS FOR AGES 12+ BUT IT IS SOOOOOO WILD OMFG!!!

I kinda wanna do a review on it 😭😭😭 like I think I understand why I write fanfics the way I do… it’s bc I was reading these types of books when I was young lmfaooo

I would love to do a review on it here if anyone would be interested in reading? Like it would be a fun, full of pictures type review post where I summarise this wild af book YOU GUYS PLS WOULD U BE INTERESTED

#THIS SHIT WAS WILD WODJSKXKS #I MEAN FOR A KIDS BOOK LIKE WTF #THERE WAS SOOOO MUCH GOING ON #it was also….. well written?? #I also used to read Mary Kate and Ashley books when I was young #like two of a kind and so little time and sweet 16 #but they are soooo tame compared to SWEET VALLEY HIGH SENIOR YEAR #like the boys are so toxic and the girls are bitches and OH MY GOD???? #I wanna do a lil review on it would yall read???? #please tell me you’d read it I’d love to do it! it would be with pics and really fun and interactive lil review post #sweet valley high

[theriu]

Brace yourselves.

(I know I am.)

This weekend, I shall begin blind reading the book (my first experience of the Twilight books or movies outside of internet memes and general information osmosis) and recording my insights. I think I will post them in chapter chunks, for organization and so as not to overwhelm my dashboard with Twilight content (the horror).

For those wishing to tag along on what I hope will be an entertaining ride (for you all if not for me), or for those who wish to continue in blissful denial that the Twilight series exists, I will be tagging my reports with “river reads midnight sun”! If this endeavor does NOT prove sufficiently entertaining, I give myself leave to spare myself further agony, because why should the clown cry in public if no one is there to laugh at her tears? So basically ya’ll can continue my self-inflicted torment by interacting with the posts or sending asks or whatnot you heathens.

Also, fun(???) fact: I looked up the wordcount because my WORD this book is SO THICK, and turns out the original Twilight was 118,975 words. Midnight Sun is (drumroll please) . . .

240,095 words.

I trust you lot to remind me later that I did it for the vine (or whatever the current equivalent is).

~River

P.S. The hat and jacket have nothing to do with the book; I was just wearing some of my steampunk gear around on errands and it happened to make a really cool picture. XD

#River reads midnight sun #Twilight #edward cullen #Book review #kinda #look I do plan to try and be nice where needed #As a fellow author I can appreciate the hard work put into this kind of thing #Even if it doesnt all…land right #But there will also be some roasting #So #stephanie meyer if you somehow actually stumble upon this ridiculousness #I respect and appreciate you as a person #Okay lets crack this baby open #Ugh never let me say that again

[maaaxx]

dont get me wrong i am more excited for this atla remake and the inevitable renaissance part 2 than i have ever been for anything in my life. however im also terrified of what changes this is going to bring to the fandom. Obviously the 2020 renaissance brought a lot of new and good things (zukka, a ton of amazing fics, etc). But more people joining the fandom means new people joining ao3 and interacting with fics and authors and artists too. Even in the few years that i've been active in fandom i've noticed a dramatic shift in how people interact with artists and authors especially. And I can't see this not getting worse as more people whose main social media experiences include tik tok and instagram coming to ao3 and tumblr. Like these people are used to content creators who revolve their content around what their audience wants because its their job, and I know this isnt going to translate well to the culture around ao3 writers especially when unconsolidated comments and 'advise' is already a problem for a ton of authors. And for people who dont understand that fics and fanart are supposed be transactional in the sense that you need to leave comments and kudos and reblog stuff when they're used to simply liking something *maybe* being enough. Idk whats going on with other fandoms, but I do know that these things have been an ongoing issue for the atla fandom and like I said, I can't imagine having another 'renaissance' and this stuff not getting worse.

#ive been plotting out new fics to post soon with the same energy as someone trying to start a business during a recession #but like i said idk if this is an issue with other fandoms because the atla fandom is the only one im active in #but i *know* that this is an issue for the atla fandom #Like people are commenting less and less on fics but demanding more frequent chapters #and people want to leave critism that the authors didnt ask for while also not leaving an ounce of praise #like there has been an influx of people just being so shitty to authors #and im not sure if its because of ignorance and people genuinely not knowing how fandom works #or if its entitlement and people are expecting the same thing from fandom creators that they do from influencers or book authors #like fandom has been so weird recently and it is a huge reason of why i havent been updating fics and stuff #when i started posting i wanted a community of people who shared my interests #not people who look at me like a celebrity who they can critisize like theyre leaving a review on rotten tomatoes #idk people have gotten a lot more hostile and its not as fun as it used to be and im scared that another flood of people #joining the fandom is going to make in unbearable #this feels kind of whiney but i am curious if anyone else has noticed it #fandom #ao3 #zukka #atla #max thinks shes relevant

[koszmarnybudyn]

Wow i actually drew my ocs??? Crazy.. crazy indeed, anyway have some gay pirates that i created at twelve.

#my ocs #original character #my art #pirates #do i know how to tag no <3 #they do not have actual names but do have exceptionally tragic backstories and one of them is a prince lol #and they begane existing cause of a book review about a smutty gay book with a ginger elf #from a person i really like watching at the time that made lion kind theory videos #at any point in my life i was a degree away from being a furry i guess

[melhekhelmurkun]

Watched The Shining by Kubrick last night, and I can honestly understand why Stephen King hates it so much. It’s definitely not the best adaptation of the book at all, and the film really did destroy all the characterization the book goes through for each of the characters.

He might’ve been a bastard and a drunk, but Jack Torrance did love his wife and son, and the book does show that. It’s only towards the late middle and end that he really goes psychotic, and that’s mainly because of the hotel itself essentially possessing him and bringing out the worst of him. I am in no way excusing his actions, because he is an attempted murderer and an abusive father, but he did love Wendy and Danny, and he wasn’t a psychopath. Ultimately, it was his love for his son that stopped him when he managed to catch up to Danny, and it was what made him try to kill himself in an attempt to save his family. Unfortunately, at that point the Hotel was too powerful, and it didn’t matter if Jack was alive or dead; it just needed his body. The movie really failed to show his descent into madness; it just jumps right into crazy, with nothing to show the man he was before everything at the hotel happened. It also failed to show that the Hotel - the ‘manager’, as was stated - was truly what was behind everything. Had the Torrances not gone to the Overlook, would Jack have snapped and killed his family? It’s a possibility, but a low one - it’s more likely that Wendy would’ve ended up divorcing him, or he would’ve carried out his suicidal thoughts.

Wendy Torrance was not a weak woman - she not only had the courage and drive to stand up to her husband when he went batshit crazy, she locked him in a pantry, stabbed him, and went up multiple flights of stairs while very badly injured… and then she lived to be happy afterwards! She survived having her back broken by her husband when he tried to kill her, and lived a happy life afterwards! I can name maybe three people in my life who I am confident could do that. Kubrick’s decision to depict Wendy as an emotionally fragile woman was just demeaning to her character. Shelly Duvall did an incredible job, however, and I respect her immensely for it. That’s not an easy role to be put into in any way, especially not when you’re working for a nightmare of a director who decides that the best way to get results is to psychologically torture the star actress. She depicted the movie version of Wendy perfectly. I was cheering for her the whole way.

And then there’s all the other changes which I can understand from a filmmaker’s perspective as being more logical to making a movie, but they did change the story quite a bit. Having Jack use an axe rather than the roque mallet was an understandable change, as it was more recognizable to the public as a dangerous weapon, however… it meant that most of the important scenes, such as when Wendy’s back gets broken, never happen. You can’t exactly do that with an axe, can you? But that scene is one of the most impactful (pun not intended) and important to the book, at least in my view, since it shows her resilience and her love for her son, as mentioned in the above paragraph about her character. The choice to use the axe also meant that that Dick Hallorann died when he should not have.

That man, the chef with the Shine, was more important to the book, I think, than any character. He was the first to tell Danny that he wasn’t alone, that there were more people out there who had the same abilities he did, and that it wasn’t a bad thing. He was the one to tell Danny of the strange happenings at the Overlook, and to tell him that the visions might be scary but ultimately he didn’t think they could hurt him - which ended up being a major part of Danny’s choices. The main part of the reason Danny went into room 217 (237 in the movie) was because he remembered Dick telling him that the visions couldn’t hurt him, that all he had to do was look away when he saw them. And then there was how Dick came all the way across the country to help Danny when he was called. He pledged to help that boy if needed, and when he was needed, he came immediately, and ended up saving the remaining Torrances. His refusal to let that boy and his family die was such a big part of the story.

I can also understand the decision to turn the hedge topiary into a hedge maze. Making bush animals move is not at all easy, especially for a movie made in the 80’s. However, the animals were also fairly important to the story; they were the first real visual of Jack’s descent into madness, and then later a big factor of his possession by the Overlook; when he refused to believe that he’d seen them move, he essentially shut down any possibility of belief that there was something wrong at the hotel. By the end of the book, we sort of find out that the hotel itself was influencing his willingness to believe that, but his initial refusal did push that along. Once someone has made up their mind about something, even something they’ve seen with their own two eyes, it’s often very difficult to get them to change it, especially in a scary situation. The topiary was the first big turning point in Jack’s psyche.

Then there’s the decision to change his death scene - having him freeze to death after getting lost in the hedge maze and suffering a mild heart attack. It was… definitely a choice? In the book itself, after Jack ‘kills’ himself (again, the Hotel was possessing him fully at that point and no longer needed him alive, just needed his body, so him fighting back and bashing his own face in really did nothing in the long run but was a rather important scene - see the paragraph on Jack Torrance for clarification) the boiler in the hotel begins to overheat. The Hotel (possessing Jack’s body) goes to release the steam from it to prevent it from exploding - the problem here is that Jack was told by Watson that the boiler would blow long before the pressure gauge reached its red zone, because it was so old. But since it was not Jack present in that body but the Hotel itself, it had no idea about this and believed the boiler was now safe, as it had managed to reach it before the needle hit the red… and then the boiler exploded. Having Jack freeze to death in the hedge maze (and thus forcing us to experience that absolutely ridiculous final scene where we see him frozen) was a much less final and impactful death than that of the boiler exploding. With the explosion, his body was destroyed, and so the ‘manager’ of the Overlook was destroyed (the ghost/demon). It was a finale; the evil perished, the good guys got away, and everything was right in the world. With the freezing, it was much less final, and much less satisfying.

Objectively, if you separate the book from the movie, the movie wasn’t terrible. I did like it, and I had a lot of fun watching it. But as an adaptation, I found it VERY lacking. I can understand why King hates it so much.

#long post #very long post #film review #kind of #film analysis #book analysis #the shining #stephen king #jack torrance #wendy torrance #danny torrance #dick hallorann #opinion post #I’ve been thinking about this all day #the book was absolutely incredible and it’s now one of my favorite books #I couldn’t put it down #I would analyze Carrie 1976 next but I don’t have the energy #its 12am so #maybe tomorrow #the shining 1980 #I also don’t like how they never used the quote ‘this inhuman place makes human monsters’ #like that was such a bomb ass quote I loved it #instead they did the whole ‘all work no play’ thing which was weird af #didn’t like that at all #I do appreciate how Jack put the sentence into a proper play format tho lol #he was losing his mind but by god was he gonna follow correct formatting

[that-sweet-thief]

just finished binge-watching season 2 of shadow and bone. my thoughts are mostly in disarray but the cringe is real.

this was an off-paced, haphazard fanfiction. it'd be just fine if the writers weren't paid for it but they actually are, so it's just... wow. I'm at best mediocre when writing in english and i reckon even i would do a better job of writing dialogue.

anyway, here's a list of my thoughts on the show, though it's more of a word vomit than a comprehensive series review:

no ivan or fedyor. immediate downvote for that alone. ivan should've survived so we could have a heartbreaking moment between him and fedyor across the two sides of the battlefield. i guess they thought there were too many characters and couples to juggle already. or maybe the actors weren't available, who knows.

costume design took a surprising turn for the worse: for example, nina's and zoya's dresses were eyesores. how anyone could make these two very attractive women look that frumpy i've no idea but they've managed. i liked sankta neyar's costume, sturmhond's coat aaand that's about it.

the settings were more varied, so glad we've seen a little of bhez ju. the introductory map-to-location shots were very helpful for people who haven't read the books, namely my gf who fell asleep halfway through the show. also, if the music had any tracks that weren't already from the first season i'll be incredibly surprised, it's that repetitive.

they've messed up nikolai as a character mainly because the actor misunderstood his assignment, though i don't know what else he could've done with the mess he was given. while he's still sympathetic, lovely and witty, paddy's nikolai thinks of sturmhond as just another disguise, rather than who he really is, to the point of gifting said disguise to mal. that's irreconcilable with my understanding of nikolai, whose real mask is the bastard prince.

tamar & tolya were better realised than expected. along with the exclusion of the soldat sol cult, their zealotry's scrapped which is a big win for them. i enjoyed their scenes, great casting too. though, as an ardent kanej fan, i cannot in good conscience support the blink-and-you'll-miss-it tolya/inej moment. tamar/nadia had maybe a minute of screen time but better than nothing.

sankta neyar was a pleasant surprise, great idea to show how powerful durasts can also be. people often disregard materialki so this was refreshing. what i liked about her is how formal, collected, old-fashioned she both appeared and acted, as if her manners and speech style were leftover from a few centuries ago, kudos to her actor tuyen do.

the crows' arc was... lacking in some way. maybe it's because pekka rollins' attitude towards kaz and his group is very different than how it was established in the books, here he was way too proactive and less secure in his position in ketterdam for some reason; anyway rollins' framing of the crows felt off to me.

the crows' character dynamics are interesting and the saving grace of the show, all kanej and wesper scenes were great. seriously, the tension of kanej & cuteness of wesper nearly destroyed me.

they did helnik dirty, of course, but that was a given.

freddy carter outperformed everyone this season, i really think out of all of them he's given the best performance, sometimes even better than ben barnes and that's practically heresy coming from me, his devoted fan since ages ago when i first saw narnia.

i kinda dig that they brought in a tidemaker (fruszi) who's practically an early version of zoya for the darkling's side but her death felt cheap. i mean, the crows arriving to help out nikolai and his team at the very last second was already eye roll inducing, but then nikolai shoots her in the neck? cheap. also, if she and zoya came to face off that'd be interesting since they share so many similarities. i personally don't think it will but if the series continued along with the darkling's canon resurrection, i wish she'd lived and replaced elizaveta, she certainly seemed devoted enough.

david and genya made me cry. that's all i have to say on them.

baghra... where do i even start with her? baghra's nonchalance, her one-eighty about deciding to help alina find more amplifiers is stark raving bonkers imho. yet at least most of her scenes weren't as bad as they could've been, her proving to mal he was the firebird and her saving genya as well as alina actually came across better than the ultra passive, constantly berating version in the books. her death felt less dramatic but more spiteful, though aleksander's reaction to her death was appropriately heartbreaking. ben & zoe sold it so well, my eyes actually welled up.

speaking of sasha, his death is soooo badly executed, it's impossible not to be pissed off at the way they filmed it. even the books were more sympathetic to his demise and alina herself showed much more empathy for him at the end. it's genuinely disturbing how they framed it, makes alina seem more like a villain than the reluctant hero she used to be. i guess it fits with the surprise ending: how she kinda becomes what she sought to destroy, poetic irony and all, but still...

aleksander's whole arc this season makes him seem more desperate and pathetic and so, less of a tyrant: he doesn't even take control of the country or more than a small group of grisha let alone become tsar, instead the apparat rules over ravka on behalf of the lantsovs till nikolai is coronated. he and his people constantly lose to some clever last minute thwarting by alina's allies. the only thing scary about him is the nichevo'ya, the shadow monsters, which in the books are entirely under his control and that of course makes it all the more terrifying. here though, sick and tired and dying, he's merely desperate and fearful. the lack of wins on aleksandr's part really defeats the purpose of the writers' continuous attempts at making him simply the most terrible, horrifying and supreme villain of gregverse.

nope, can't get over it, aleksander practically died in her arms in the books, here she just looks down at him like she's the villain. i guess she now is. oh and mal's retort to sasha about dying in her arms was somehow a foreshadowing, see, but sasha doesn't get that because he's evil, see? gosh, so patronising.

since they've constantly emphasised this season how it was the fold's and thus sasha's fault that grisha were persecuted (not that this explains the ceaseless mistreatment, endangerment and more often death that grisha face everywhere they go, of course, nor does it explain his backstory) i gathered they'd go for a retcon but i didn't imagine they'd exonerate baghra, the apparat and tie the border wars with shu han and fjerda to the fold's existence entirely. the reason the war broke out in the first place was because those countries' fundamental approach to grisha was to kill them or worse. that is what grisha persecution meant. and now... what, the war is over, just like that? i have no words.

also, the exclusion of the "don't let me be alone" line. now that I think about it, those writers should be fed to nichevo'ya.

alina, alina, alina... sure, she's a self-insert, so her motivations don't make sense anyway, but as sweet as jessie is and how hard she tries, show!alina is now an equally awful mess as book!alina. the two things i liked about her this season were her manipulation attempt through the tether and the ending where she goes a bit darkling. the latter, i really like. i wrote a fragment of a power reversal fic before but never put it up, might just do that now.

i'll admit: it's rather funny how mal dumps alina after losing his amplification because he doesn't feel the same way anymore. he doesn't know if it was him being an amplifier that made them love one another. see how easily he turns away from alina? if i were aleksander, I'd be laughing at her from the grave.

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone spoilers #season 2 shadow and bone #season 2 spoilers #the grisha trilogy #book spoilers #siege and storm spoilers #ruin and rising spoilers #kind of a review #kind of a rant #mostly word vomit #grishaverse #pro darkling #anti baghra #make it make sense #at least the ending is better #aside from the way aleksander dies #anti s&b writers

[opheliaweeps]

so I just finished reading ‘the oleander sword’ by tasha suri. I’m at work, so I finished the book, stared at my laptop for a minute, then came to the bathroom to cry and write this post (yeah, I’m in the bathroom right now. I’ve been crying for five minutes).

I’m crying because reading this book (which is book #2 of suri’s trilogy ‘the burning kingdoms’) has been… cathartic almost. the plot is high fantasy and political unrest, but the setting, the worldbuilding and careful nuances of the story are based on historical india, the country and myths and history I grew up with. somewhere inside me, the young girl who never saw a book that had a character that looked like her is sobbing in grief and gratitude and vindication, because an author like her decided to write this story. and it’s everything.

I’m crying because the relationships in this series are complicated and heartbreaking and human. siblings, friends, lovers, and the tangled webs in between - they’re so beautiful to read about. the pain of betrayal and bittersweetness of love, in a time when nations are at war and the characters are torn between their duty and their heart (an age-old story, the original tragedy). the delicate details that show the madness of corruption, the humanity in even the most twisted of villains, and the pain in hurting those you love so that they can live.

I’m crying because not only does this book speak to my desi heritage, it’s a queer story, setting a princess rebelling against her dictator-emperor of a brother and a temple-elder of a conquered nation of flowers and eldritch worship on a tumultuous path. their bond is fraught because of what they must do to serve their own countries, honour warring with the desire and love for each other in their hearts. a sapphic desi-high fantasy series - that’s something I never thought I would see.

I’m crying because the side m/m romance is pure tragedy and yet, it’s so beautiful it hurts to read. while the main heroines are separated by treachery and prophecy and gods of old, coming back to wage war for their glory, these two boys are separated by something much simpler: death. one dies (for his honour, for the men he leads, for his sister), and the other lives. the other lives to grieve and push forward, and isn’t this the oldest story? someone must always leave first, but we are never prepared, and I was not prepared for this death. because the one who lived had already lost so much, bled out for an empress he is bound to and her brother whom he loved. and he was taken away from him.

I’m crying because I love the world that has been built here, the stories woven and characters that suri has breathed life into. I’m crying because of the story, the pain, and the representation I never thought I’d see. but most of all, I’m crying for the love that this story holds, and the hurt that always follows bliss, because no good thing can ever be felt without unwanted anguish to sweeten these brief, tender moments.

#the burning kingdoms #tasha suri #jyot writes #my writing #my thoughts #my stuff #rant #the jasmine throne #the oleander sword #malini #priya #priya x malini #rao #aditya #aditya x rao #bhumika x jeevan #queer characters #indian mythology #book review #(kind of I’m mostly just sad) #lgbtqia #desi queer #local desi queer is not doing too well #long post sorry

[charmwasjess]

Still reading The Living Force. I'm actually much farther in now than when I took this pic over the weekend, before I got kicked out of the winery for throwing the book across the room--

No, no, I kid. In fact, there's lots to like about this book. Much of it is warm, funny, and full of Jedi details and lovingly crafted little scenes given to more obscure Council characters. Depa and Mace continue to shine.

I'm still... very much struggling with some aspects, some inconsistencies and contradictions that I can't tell are there on purpose to make a point in the narrative, or just unsuccessful writing. But I'll try to post an actual write up shortly when I'm officially finished.

#hey Protobranch crisis mention for you Dooku: Jedi Lost fans #one of the contradictions I was talking about actually lol #I really am trying to divorce myself from my inherent need to defend a thesis about how Sifo-Dyas did nothing wrong HE WAS A SAINT #you can see how successful I was when I write up my review #spoiler alert not very #but I'm also trying to keep in mind that a lot of my favorite Star Wars books I kind of hated at first #like actually I think my first reaction to DJL was “what the fuck did I just read” and the Yoda comic I did actually throw #not Dark Rendezvous though Dark Rendezvous you've never done anything wrong #star wars books

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread    

The Art of Prophecy

Wuxia inspired epic fantasy

about a spoiled prophesied chosen one who’s never been in a real battle

the greatest war artist of her generation takes things into her own hands and decides to train him, but things go wrong and they both have to go on the run

martial arts, bounty hunters & assassins, some steampunk vibes, mentor relationships

no romance!

this is so fun and funny I loved it.  the MCs three awesome baddass women and one pathetic teen boy and i love them all

#The Art of Prophecy #wesley chu #aroaessidhe 2023 reads #fav #this is so great i loved it so much!!! #also natalie naudus audio narrator! #i wrote 'women!!!' like 3 times in my notes zkjdgfd #no romance books #**i do feel like there might be a little in book 2? will probably be pretty minor side things tho #one of the MCs is a chaotic lesbian(?) assassin. im pretty sure the boy is gay? some kind of queer #also i love the cover so much shoutout to Tran Nguyen and designer Cassie Gonzales #also this had been on my periphery for ages but i saw someone say 'older lady training teen boy' and came running #--then i also saw a review that said they spend a significant part of the book separated; which was probably good to know going in (they do) #but i think they will be together more in the next book. their dynamic is great #she accidentally adopts a different young person in the meantime anyway LMAO

[smalltownfae]

I cannot stress enough how you should 't read Lonely Castle in the Mirror for the mystery. All the bad reviews I saw for it are from people that were too foccused on the mystery. The mystery is easy, especially if you know your fairy tales. The book is about characters connecting through their shared insecurities and trauma. Of course the kids weren't that invested in solving the mystery when they had time and a safe place where they could be together for a while. It made perfect sense to me. Plus, I knew the solution to the mystery all along and figured other parts as I got more information, which also makes sense to me because the characters are kids with less common knowledge than me, an adult.

#lonely castle in the mirror #mizuki tsujimura #those kind of reviews frustrate me as much as the ones about klara's iq in klara and the sun 😆 #I can't help feeling they missed the point of the books even though they have the right to their interpretations #but it seems so obvious to me that it gets frustrating