#owlcrate review

[bookishlyvintage]

Omen of Ice by Jus Accardo (owlcrate edition)

#book review #omen of ice #jus accardo #special edition #sprayed edges #owlcrate #hardcover #snow #winter #mini review #bookstagram #bookblr #booklr #bookish #reading #cold #sweater weather #cozy reads #audiobook #books #book cover

[ljf613]

OwlCrate Unboxed (01/24)

I just got my first @owlcrate box, and honestly, I wasn't really sure what to expect, or if this was really worth it-- I rarely spend more than $10 on a book, so the full charge of just one of these boxes (including shipping) definitely had me thinking twice. And what if, after all that, I didn't even like the book?

But one of the reasons I was willing to take a risk on this one was because the theme was clearly tailor-made for me specifically.

"Enchated to Meet You"? Regency-esque romance with magic and royalty? That soft, vintage aesthetic that I adore? Yes, please.

And I was not disappointed. While I still haven't read the book, so I can't say if I'll like it or not, what I can tell you is that before I even got particularly deep into the box, I already knew that the price I'd paid was more than worth it even without the book.

(To avoid spoilers, product images and reviews beneath the cut.)

First up, this canvas tote bag:

The design is based on a book called Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. (It's on my to-read list, I'm just waiting for my hold to come in!) It's got a sweet, elfish woodland vibe going on-- I half-expect to see a tiny winged fairy peeking out from behind one of those toadstools. This bag is also has great functionality. I am always in need of a sturdy cloth bag to carry my books, and I am positive this is one I'll be getting a lot of use out of. The material is thick and durable, and it's wide and deep enough to easily hold at least half a dozen books without any stress. An all-around cute and useful item!

Next up, a reusable cleaning cloth:

The design is based on a book called Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. (I'd never heard of this book before, but it looks intriguing, so I suppose I'll add it to the list.) It's kind of generic, but I do like the colors. And it does look like the kind of thing that would be perfect for dusting my desk and bookshelves. It's probably my least favorite item in the box, but I don't hate it.

Moving on to the metal bookmark:

The design is inspired by Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. (I just read it a few weeks ago, and the sequel is currently sitting on top of my dresser waithing for me to read it.) It's supposed to be Shadow, the dog belonging to the stories main character. However, my first thought upon seeing a large black dog in a forest, standing on a pile of skulls, was of Ruth from The Ancient Magus' Bride-- who just-so-happens to be one of my favorite characters ever. I hope no one minds if I continue to see it that way. (No hate to Shadow-- he's a good boy!) It's a very whimsical design and I like it a lot!

And now the coloring kit:

I definitely wasn't expecting this from a subscription book box, but I am absolutely not complaining. (I've been thinking I wanted to sit down with some colored pencils and coloring pages one of these days.) The quote on the left is from Pride & Prejudice (my beloved), the top-most is from Bridgerton (read the books and liked them well enough but have zero interest in watching the show), and the one on the right is from Outlander (I think that's a show based on some books, maybe I'll look into it one of these days). The quotes are lovely, I like the simple yet elegant floral designs, and I love the soft pastel color palette (and will absolutely be holding onto those pencils).

The last item (aside from the book) is the enamel pin:

The characters shown here are Sophie and Howl (+ Calcifer!) from Howl's Moving Castle (the book, not the movie, though I love them both!). I love enamel pins and happen to have a decent-sized collection, but I don't think I've ever seen a sliding design like this. This design is absolutely enchanting, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from this pin collection in future boxes. I included the envelope it came in because I think it's really cute, and it gives me some serious Violet Evergarden vibes. (The design on the backer card is also pretty! It's really evident that a lot of thought and care was put into every aspect of every item in this box.)

And, of course, there's the book:

This is A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft. I'm not going to take pictures of every single customization in this one, but suffice it to say that it looks really pretty and I'm hoping the story inside lives up to everything else in here.

All in all, I'm really happy with this box, and glad that I got it.

#owlcrate #enchanted to meet you #thoughts #product review #subscription box #i think i'm going to skip february's box because i just don't vibe with the 'treacherous love' aesthetic #but i'll do another review of whatever my next one is if y'all want #all queued up

[moirabookwyrm]

Omen of Ice - Jus Accardo (Bookwyrm Reviews)

Characters: ⭐ Setting: ⭐ Plot: ⭐ Prose: ⭐

My Summary

In the land of Derriga, fae magic no longer exists. The fae courts that once ruled the land have torn themselves apart, leaving roving bands of desperate fae to fight over the scraps of what’s left. All the courts, that is, except for the WInter Court, which owes its survival to the aid of the human druids.

To honor the alliance that was struck a thousand years ago, the young women of the druid order are sent to the fae as bodyguards and protectors. Keltania Tunne is one of them, assigned to Prince Valen of the Winter Court, but when she arrives at court, nothing is what she expected, least of all her charge.

Bound by a force neither one can control, Keltania and Valen must work together to break the bond before it kills them, even as their own secrets threaten to tear them apart.

My Overview

From the very first page, I was wary of what might be in store for me. Beginning with a long monologuing infodump from the High Priestess of the Druids, Omen of Ice didn’t seem to know where its story actually started. Broken up into two very different sections of plot, with characters whose emotions and motivations changed with the wind, the experience of reading this was much like watching someone try and fail to whisk together the dry and wet ingredients of a cake, ending up instead with a lumpy, starchy mess that they then hand to you with pride the moment it came out of the oven.

To avoid being entirely uncharitable, I do think there were good bones. The concept of a fae land without magic was intriguing, and the initial mystery of why Keltainia had been so misled as a druid would have been fascinating if it didn’t feel so much like the author was laughing at you the entire time, reveling in how ~clever~ and ~twisty~ her plot was.

I think if it had focused on one aspect of its plot, or even taken the time to refine all of them, I think I would have loved it. There was promise in the worldbuilding, questions that I would have LOVED to get answered, and the dynamic between Keltania and Valen could have been entertaining.

Unfortunately, I feel like Omen suffered from Lightlark Syndrome: it was based on flash and aesthetic, the most surface-level understanding of tropes and character archetypes, and all the nitty gritty underneath that was supposed to hold it together had the structure of dandelion fluff that would blow away if you looked at it wrong.

I literally cannot concisely describe everything that was wrong with this book, so I’ll break it down in sections, if for no other reason than to have it stop haunting my thoughts. Be warned, though, this is about 6,000 words long, so buckle up.

Keltania - The Isla Crown Wannabe

My problem with Omen started with our main character. Much like Isla Crown of Lightlark infamy, our heroine, Keltania Tunne, has been trained her entire life to be a fighter. Raised in a tiny, brutal order of druids along with three or five other girls who may or may not have been her cousins, she had to fight for scraps.

I don’t entirely know where this idea of “training” came from, but it seems to be the current understanding in YA fantasy that all your character needs to be skilled in battle is to grow up in a horrific living situation and survive physical abuse. Keltania describes her life in the order with references to how they often went hungry or were deprived of sleep or were forced to train until their entire body hurt with no rest, but fails to mention any actual instruction in either swordplay or hand-to-hand combat, both of which she has mastery of.

(Last I checked, food and sleep deprivation do not a warrior make.)

At any given moment, Keltania may be a strict adherent of tradition or be completely fine with breaking all the rules. The only seemingly consistent thing about her personality is her absolute inability to have moderate emotional reactions to anything. Tiny slights make her explode or collapse, depending on which will give her the chance to have some mic-drop moment that the author seems far too pleased about.

Most of these mic-drop moments made very little sense, which did not make her enjoyable to watch. Early on, in a confrontation with Valen’s magic teacher, Keltania is reminded that she isn’t allowed to attack the court staff unless she thinks he is in genuine danger from them. Her response is, bafflingly, to grab the teacher’s hand and smack Valen with it, like some sort of demented “why’re’ya hittin’ yourself?” game. This, for some reason, is treated as enough cause to think the teacher is a threat, giving her free reign to have a girlboss moment and threaten the teacher in earnest with some grisly fate.

Her explosive temper was even worse with Valen, with whom she had a will-they-won’t they dynamic to the point where she would throw herself into kissing him and then claim there “wasn’t enough soap in Derriga to wash him off of her.” (Yes, they kiss three times in this book. No, neither of them seems to be happy about it.)

At least one of these instances was spurred on by the ridiculous portrayal of alcohol. Supposedly, Keltania had never gotten drunk in any way before the events of Omen, but the way her intoxication was written I would be inclined to think that the author had never gotten drunk either. The effects of whatever she drank hit quickly, making her over-the-top giggly and incapable of keeping her mouth shut, and then left within the space of a few paragraphs, sometimes leaving her magically sober between two lines of dialogue.

(Also, Valen kept wine in a flask, which just annoyed me in principle. Wine is carried in skins. Flasks are for whiskey or other hard liquor, because you need less of it to get you drunk.)

Overall, I think the most interesting thing about Keltania was her longing for the power that her people used to have. I wouldn’t say her grief was well-written - about half the time it came up it manifested in her semi-lusting over the wolf that Valen can turn into - but it at least made for an interesting emotional response outside of her usual Girboss moments.

Valen - Rhysand Wolf Winter Greenbriar Way

If Keltania was an Isla Crown knock-off, Valen was a Cardan Greenbriar knock-off, which made me incredibly sad, because Cardan is one of my all-time favorite characters. I wanted to like Valen so badly, but his character just felt like the author took Cardan’s facade from the first 100 pages of Cruel Prince, merged him with Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses, and turned him into her very own Ebony D’arkness Dementia Raven Way.

His first chapter - which mostly has to do with how much sex he has and how much wine he drinks and how very sweet and caring his aunt is -  includes the line “...I’m never at a loss for company. My uniquely colored violet eyes have garnered many admirers over the years. The royal blood in my veins doesn’t help me.” which is a pretty solid indication of what the entire rest of his perspective feels like; shallow and irritating.

Where Keltania’s perspective feels like an endless slog of excuses to let her be the Specialest Fighter Ever, Valen’s feels like a slow-creep nightmare of him resolutely refusing to do anything but take people at face value, no matter how many people he trusts end up stabbing him in the back for ridiculously contrived reasons. This extends to not only important characters like his aunt, but characters so minor that their entire role is to be trusted by him before attacking him for literally no coherent reason.

Every few pages he contemplates how hot Keltania is, how she’s just not like any other woman he’s - to use the terminology of the book - “brashed” before, and how badly he wants her gone. He has a briefly touched on tragic backstory that is forgotten by page 150, and is constantly getting so angry that he freezes the world around him with his magic.

Levina & Liani - The Evil Stepmothers

The only characters more annoying than our leading couple were their surrogate mothers. 

Levina, the priestess of the druids, can best be compared to Celeste/Aurora from Lightlark in both her level of plot involvement and what it is she actually does to the plot. As the one who sent Keltania to Valen, she set the whole story in motion, and is absent for all but the beginning and ending. Her presence in the beginning is too small to get any good feel for her personality outside of “cruel taskmaster for these warriors in training” and her strange favoritism towards Keltania. (No, it’s never explained why. By the end, she doesn’t even seem to like Keltania.) The entirety of her role at the end of the book is to monologue with Liani for nearly thirty pages, revealing what felt like more than half a dozen twists in rapid succession. Her motivation here seemed bizarre and thin at best, but more on that later.

Liani, on the other hand, is frustratingly present. For the entire beginning half of the book, whenever she is on page, she is described one of two ways: either Valen is fawning over how wonderful and pure of heart she is, or Keltania is calling her a two-faced bitch. All she seems to do is show up at the worst possible time and simper about how scared she is for Valen’s life or make thinly veiled threats at Keltania, neither of which establish any solid personality for her outside of Saintly Mother or Vaguely Evil Queen. At the very end of the book, she embraces being the archetypical Evil Stepmother with a vengeance, in accordance to a truly contrived backstory that had literally no foreshadowing outside of Keltania’s insults.

Delkin & Daroose - The Only Interesting Ones

About two thirds of the way in, we finally meet someone interesting: a long-lost father and horse-turned-love-interest! (I think? It was really unclear whether Daroose was into Keltania or if he was just a freak.)

Delkin is the long-lost king of the Winter Court, as well as Valen’s father. Though I didn’t really give a shit about his relationship with his son, he brought with him a reprieve from hearing Keltania and Valen snipe at each other 24/7, which made me nearly weep for joy. He seemed like he had the most consistent characterization, but that might have been because his only role was to be a good leader and the reasonable, caring father Valen always wished he had. I was pleasantly surprised that all the twists revolving around him in the last 30 pages were just about his power and not that he was a terrible person.

Daroose was the first extra member that Keltania and Valen picked up on their trip through Derriga, and I liked him best, mostly because he was just so bizarre. Daroose is a Kelpie who gave his bridle to Keltania, (for unknown reasons,) which meant that she could control and command him (it’s never explained why Kelpie’s work like that.) He was in humanoid form for most of it, but did have his horsey moments, which was fun. The strangest part about his characterization was his relationship with Keltania. Though he had almost no page-time outside of being vaguely annoying, he seemed to be in love with her? Or, at least, wanted her for himself because he didn’t like Valen? Valen also seemed jealous of him, which was just incredibly odd.

Along with Benj, Delkin’s brother, these two were pretty much the only members of the cast that didn’t make me want to rip my hair out every other line. They weren’t fantastic characters but on a scale of “kill me so i don’t have to hear them ~banter~ anymore” to “I hope they get more page time” they were a solid “this is more enjoyable than a root canal.”

The Plot

The plot of Omen was so messy I’m not even entirely sure where to begin, but the book didn’t seem certain either. It opened with about 5 pages of lore dump about the world in the wrapper of the high priestess of the druids telling the story of their founder and the winter court to the girls who were about to become priestess-warrior-bodyguards themselves. Let me give you a brief recap, because it was the central issue of the whole plot:

A thousand years ago, there was a druid woman named Aphelian who fell in love with the Winter Lord, Servis. Faerie magic began to disappear, in an event called the Great Drain. (This is never explained, it’s just later on vaguely handwaved away as “oh, it wasn’t the first time it happened.”)

The faerie courts began warring, and in order to save both their people, Aphelian and Servis made an alliance where the druids gave half of their magic to the Winter Court. The magic donated helped them win the war, but when it was time to give the magic back to the druids, Servis and Aphelian were killed in an ambush and the tear holding the druid magic was lost and broken.

Now, a thousand years later, druid girls are raised as weapons and given to important fae as bodyguards. Supposedly, they will be treated as honored guests and given everything they could ever want, but unfortunately for us, LITERALLY NOTHING in that story is true.

(The tear of magic is undestroyed and being kept secret in the winter palace; Servis didn’t love Aphelian, he groomed her; it was Aphelian who wielded the druid magic and saved the court and the humans; Servis didn’t die in the attack that broke the tear, he was killed by a woman he was sleeping with; Aphelian was dumped by Servis afterwards and killed herself. Keltania and Valen know all of this except for the tear of magic thing from before page one. It's stupid and I have no idea why it took up the entire first chapter.)

The moment Keltania gets to the Winter Court, people treat her horribly. It’s revealed that the fae don’t see the Aphelian priestesses as honored allies, but as “playthings” to be used and tossed aside. The only small mercy is that Valen doesn’t think this way, he just wants Keltania to be gone.

The first many chapters of Valen’s perspective are painful, because he constantly makes reference to his previous Aphelian guard, who at first seems to be a past lover, but it turns out was a surrogate mother figure. He makes it seem like he doesn’t want Keltania there because he killed his previous bodyguard and doesn’t want to kill her, too, but it’s then revealed that she was assassinated by some unknown figure. (No, I don’t know who killed her or why, it’s never explained. I also don’t know why he says it’s his fault.)

The first night Keltania and Valen meet, while arguing about whether she will leave or not, Valen is attacked by a faerie man. Keltania can’t kill him fast enough, which gives the author an excuse to reveal that Valen is the only faerie alive with magic. He can turn things into/control ice, which he does to the man’s weapons. He also later reveals to Keltania that he can shapeshift into a wolf, and she is weirdly into it. (More on that later.)

The man is revealed to be Valen’s tutor, who says something about The Omen. Valen explains that some think he’s the fabled Omen of Ice that will bring about the destruction of the Winter Lands, because he’s…a bastard?? It was really unclear, especially because no one but his aunt and uncle, magic teacher, and Keltania know about the magic. A little later on, he is attacked again by a girl he was sleeping with and her brother because they also think he’s the Omen and want him on the throne because…his uncle is an awful king??

Don’t worry too much about this Omen thing, it literally never comes up again until someone mentions it at the end like “Don’t worry, being The Omen might not be a bad thing!” Even though he never really seemed worried about being The Omen? It seemed like something the author was going to make the central plot but got distracted.

(Went back and found the page, the Omen of Ice is a “child born from two factions who will have the power to freeze the world and bring an end to their way of life.” This fits Valen because his mother was kidnapped, escaped, showed up with infant him in her arms, and then promptly died.)

The first act of the book is taken up with a lot of banter between Keltania and Valen, mostly consisting of him calling her Fungus, leering at her, and accidentally freezing her with his powers when he gets mad. Gonna do a little lightning round of plot points to speed this along:

Keltania was given a Rebirth sigil (magic tattoo that she can ink on herself and someone else with the last of the druid power) to start Valen’s heart again if ever he dies, like an extra life in a video game.

Both Keltania and Valen have Heartbreaker Sigils, which are basically just magic to ensure they never fall in love. For Keltania, it’s part of her duty as an Aphelian, since they are forbidden from anything that may distract them from their duty. It’s never actually explained why Valen has one, just that being near him is dangerous.

Keltania and Valen are sent to deal with a town that was raided by rebels, which is just an excuse to have them both be attacked. Valen gets an injury and it appears on Keltania as well. Despite the Rebirth sigil being weeks old, they are now suddenly linked because of it.

Keltania then sends a message in secret to Levina, the druid high priestess. While they wait for a response, several things happen in quick succession: Valen finds out that the tear of druid magic is still being kept at court, his aunt Liani tells him that he can never tell Keltania or there will be a war between the fae and druids, and the Winter Lord makes Liani siphon off some of Valen’s magic to keep the court afloat.

The pain of the siphon almost kills Keltania. Soon after, they get a message from Levina, the priestess, that she can meet them a week’s travel away from the estate in Ventin to undo the bond. Unfortunately for Valen and Keltania, when they inform the Winter Lord and Liani about this, they suggest just killing Keltania and being done with it, since it wouldn’t kill Valen.

This kicks off the second portion of the plot: The Road Trip!

Our heroes escape with Liani’s help and venture off in whatever direction Ventin is (I legitimately do not remember.) They fight some monsters and are warned by a talking rabbit about a troll bridge (strange, because druids haven’t been able to talk to animals since the tear was lost,) and figure out that they can share their skills through the bond.

At the troll bridge, they have to find a golden chest in a kelpie’s lake as payment to get across the bridge, but in order for them to get the chest they need to promise the Kelpie (Daroose,) the thing inside. The thing inside is his bridle, which is a necklace that he gives to Keltania in return for letting him come with them. The bridle is a way to control him, and she literally cannot be rid of it for twelve months, meaning he’s stuck with her for a year.

(Supposedly every Kelpie inherits a necklace/bridal from their mother that has the power to control them, but this is never brought up again or explained in more detail. We never even learn why Daroose wants to follow them. He doesn’t have any ulterior motives, he's just there for the ride.)

They get across the bridge, Keltania and Valen have their first “let’s kiss then say we hate each other” moment, and then they magically restore some of the forest to what it once was. Now, I need you to know that this place called Vey Brill has been mentioned like five times already as a place where humans kidnap fae. Keltania falls ill, and Daroose is like “I know a guy.”

He brings them to Vey Brill which is conveniently right nearby, which brings US to another lightning round of plot beats:

Valen is brought before the leader, Delkin, who is revealed to be his father. Delkin tells him that he didn’t kidnap his mother, he saved her from assassins sent by the Winter Lord, and that she was then kidnapped and returned to the court along with Valen.

Delkin is identifiable as his father because no other fae in the world have purple eyes. They can also both shapeshift into wolves. This is not explained.

Valen’s mother was meant to be queen and was kidnapped on the night of her coronation. This makes Valen the rightful ruler.

Keltania is taken to meet the humans who live in Vey Brill. They don’t like the druids, especially the Aphelians.

An old woman comes up to Keltania and says “You are broken in two and lost, but that is good. It saves you. And us.” This is not explained or even mentioned, the other humans just send the old lady away. (I think this is foreshadowing for book 2 that Keltania and Valed TOGETHER are the Omen, but I digress.)

Something happens that makes Valen’s power spike and both Keltania and Valen pass out for four days.

When they come to, Delkin tells Keltania that accessing Valen’s magic is killing her and gives her a magic-suppressing oil bracelet to help stave it off. (Checkov’s essential oil)

Delkin and his brother Benj decide to accompany Keltania and Valen the rest of the way to Ventin.

This brings us to the last quarter of the book. While traveling with Delkin and Benj, Keltania and Valen manage to have two more “let’s kiss then say we hate each other” moments, one of which is spurred on by Keltania getting drunk on piskie ale that Daroose buys her. They also run into some winter guards that Keltania freezes and kills with Valen’s power because Delkin is furious with them and she suddenly has Super Druid Empath Powers.

(No this is never explained or mentioned before or after this single moment. I think it’s just an excuse to say her magic-suppressing bracelet got used up.)

Valen and Keltania have one last huge fight where Keltania tells him that being bonded to him is killing her, he doesn’t understand she means it literally, and tells her the truth about the tear of druid magic. This makes her storm off and try to walk to Ventin the rest of the way alone, which leads to her getting captured by Liani after making Daroose go back to guard Valen by any means necessary.

Valen and the rest of them get to Ventin, but no one is there, so they split up and look for clues. Liani finds him, dragging Keltania behind her in chains, and Liani blames her having to kill Keltania on Valen telling her about the tear of magic.

This leads us to the LAST lightning round of plot beats. Buckle up, because this is 30 pages of villain monologue worth of plot twists.

Liani and Levina are working together and have been since before the book started. Levina used her magic to let Liani control the Winter Lord, and she’s been pulling the strings the whole time.

Liani was the one who sent assassins after Valen’s mother. She only spared him because only one family in Derriga has eyes like that so she knew he would be powerful.

The “REBIRTH” sigil that Levia gave to Keltania is actually an inheritance sigil. When Valen dies, Keltania will inherit his magic. Levina and Liani both want her to kill him because then she could give the magic to Liani.

Levina betrays Liani and says she never intended to give her the magic. If Keltania won’t give up the magic, that’s okay, because Levina has an inheritance sigil on HER that she put on her after drugging her the night of the ceremony, so she’ll just kill Keltania and take the magic that way.

Delkin IS Valen’s father, but it turns out that he used to be the Winter Lord before Servis usurped him. The royal Winter family is the only family in Derriga with the ability to turn into animals or that has purple eyes. This is why Liani knew that Valen would be powerful, but she thought Delkin was dead.

Levina betrays Liani and kills her, revealing that she IS Aphelian, the original druid who was groomed by Servis. This is all a convoluted, thousand-year-late vengeance plan.

Servis cursed Levina to never be able to harm a member of his bloodline, which means she had to rely on Liani to get rid of the previous king, and was going to have Liani kill the current king as well, and then once she had Valen’s power she was going to kill Liani and take over.

I’m not entirely clear on WHY she involved Keltania and Valen, but she’s been leading the Aphelian Order since the beginning, posing as her own daughter every time she gets old enough to be suspicious. She still has druid power because she took some for herself before giving half to Servis.

She kills Liani which also kills the Winter Lord and tells Valen and Keltania that there is no way to break the bond between them. Valen bargains with her and says that if she makes it so the bond won’t kill Keltania that he’ll take the throne of the winter lands and make it so she can take whatever vengeance she wants on the court.

Also, all of this monologuing only happens because Valen and Keltania can’t use magic because they were chained up with iron coated in the magic-suppressing oil.

After Valen makes the deal, we time skip back to the palace where only three more things happen: Delkin tells Valen that he and Keltania can’t be together yet because the court wouldn’t trust him if he took a human lover, Valen and Keltania tell each other they love each other but know they can’t be together yet, and then the book ends with a random guard saying “We’ve got a situation.”

That’s it. By the end of the book the entire idea of The Omen of Ice is abandoned, we’ve had so many out-of-left-field plot twists my head is spinning, and literally nothing is resolved. They haven’t resolved their feelings on each other, they haven’t broken the bond, and they are quite literally right back where they started.

I have a few theories for what might come next in the sequel, but honestly I’m not sure if I’m up to the task of reading it when it comes out. The plot of this book was such a slog, and I couldn’t go more than two pages without having to whine and moan about how goddamn stupid it was, in ways that need their own sections to cover.

The Romance

This romance was, truly, awful. Keltania and Valen were both intensely unlikable, and all development of their internal emotional state as well as their feelings for each other was eclipsed by pages and pages of mindless banter that went around in circles. Nearly every interaction they had followed one of three scripts: Telling each other how much they hated each other, Valen shamelessly flirting while Keltania tells him off, or discussing the plot for approximately three sentences before going back to one of the other two scripts.

It was exhausting watching them rehash the same thing over and over, and even with enormous secrets hanging over their heads nothing ever got done. There were probably over a dozen times over the course of the book where one of them almost confessed their secret and then was interrupted by someone or something.

I think the biggest issue with their dynamic, though, was that the author so staunchly refused to give anything in this book emotional weight that actually meant something. The characters' moods were ever-changing and didn’t seem to have any kind of emotional center. Like everything else in Omen, it felt like there was nothing below the flashy aesthetics and quippy banter that has come to define this hyper specific genre of ACoTaR-alikes.

Part of the worldbuilding was this idea that people can be each others in what was everything short of the high fae mating bond in Sarah J. Maas’s world. Though it was clearly trying hard to be something different, the word “mate” slipped through a few times, alongside this idea of an unbreakable bond that only ever happens once for any person. I would bet money on this bond becoming a problem for our duo in the next book.

Also, there was a strange manufactured jealousy between Valen and Daroose, even though Keltania never showed the latter any affection and it was hard to tell what Daroose even felt for Keltania.

The World

This world made no sense. Like, actually none. Immediately, we are introduced to the idea of the Great Drain, where all faerie magic disappeared. We are told that this manifested in fae losing access to their powers, as well as some going mad entirely, and that it had happened before in even-ancienter-history, but the idea of the Great Drain and what caused it is never explored in the slightest. As someone who loves worldbuilding, this was really frustrating, especially since the entire rest of the story hinges on the idea of the Great Drain.

As Keltania and Valen adventured across Derriga it was very clear that the author didn’t have a clear picture of this world outside of what we directly saw on the page. With good fantasy novels, it feels as if you could walk from one end of the map to the other and never reach “unrendered” space; everything is vibrant and alive, and you have a good idea of how the world works, what sort of people live in it, and how they go about their lives.

With Omen, I felt like even the spaces we saw were incomplete. Aside from a handful of named side characters, the estate, the towns, and the greater wilderness felt eerily empty. We got almost no description of what the lives of common people were like aside from vague allusions to rebels and nomads and constant wars.

I don’t think that the author really has an idea of what those people’s lives look like either, which is sad. My favorite fantasy stories are those where it feels like the author could write you a scene from anywhere in the world, from the poorest peasant to the richest king, and still have their life and perception of the world feel real and vivid and worth living.

We are told in vague pinterest-aesthetic-ideas that the world is cold and empty, that the trees are dead, that no one lives a good life anymore, but that’s it. Similarly, we are given no guidelines for what magical powers or creatures to expect. And, honestly, those that we were shown made me want to rip my hair out.

Some examples of the beautiful, rich world that Jus Accardo painted for us:

In the lands of what used to be the autumn court live a powerful race of reptilian predators. Bright orange, with black stripes, these dragons mimic the hunting habits and appearance of a tiger, stalking prey amidst the dead trees. They are called Tragons. Like tiger-dragons. Yes, this is serious. It is killed easily by our duo.

Older than any fae or human, older than the concept of Derriga itself, there is a race of monsters that can scent magic like a bloodhound. Dangerous and deadly, they are kept as weapons and trackers. They are called Sniffers. Because they Smell Magic Really Well. I wish I were kidding. It is also killed easily by our duo.

There’s blue deer. For some reason. And big white snakes, I think, called Yorgers. Also, whatever a wivryn is? I’m guessing it’s some kind of dragon, but I have no idea.

There’s a berry tree that Keltania really likes called a Hilpberry tree. I just think it’s a silly name.

I really wish I knew more about the Kelpies, because Daroose was the best character, and the worldbuilding he got was confounding.

The Prose

The absolute worst thing about this book was the prose. Not because it was ugly or messy, but more because it was so deeply self-satisfied. No matter what happened, no matter how obvious a lie was, it felt like the author was laughing at you, reveling in how ~clever~ and sneaky~ she was.

Every piece of exposition would go like this. “The tear was lost forever, and we owe the winter court for saving us. Servis was a great man, and it wasn’t his fault the tear was lost. It was a tragedy that Aphelian and Servis were killed and the tear was destroyed. Our people will always mourn the power that was stolen from us, though it wasn’t Servis’ fault.” And there would be four passages like this per chapter. I wish I was kidding.

The process of reading and writing a book is a collaboration. The writer has to trust that the reader is here in good faith, and the reader has to trust them the same. This book was in complete opposition to the idea of any sort of cooperation between writer and reader. Not only was every twist glaringly obvious, I got the distinct impression that Miss Accardo thought she was the smartest cleverest writer ever for the impenetrable mystique of her foreshadowing.

Also, some lines were just bad. I don’t know why the author thought that having Valen call Keltania “fungus” as a pet name was cute or funny, but it was incredibly grating and gave birth to perhaps one of the worst lines I’ve ever had the misfortune of reading. “She had grown on me, just as she said she would. Like a fungus. A very attractive, deceptively innocent-looking fungus.”

On top of that, the author's inability to convey what emotions exactly her characters are feeling left me with the impression that Keltania desperately wanted to have sex with Valen’s wolf form. Over and over she described the primal desire she felt looking at him, which I believe was a clumsy attempt at conveying the grief she feels at the loss of her own druid magic, but it just left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I know that with high fantasy you have to walk a careful line between dialogue feeling too stilted and formal and having it seem too modern, but Omen of Ice handled this problem by swinging between both extremes with reckless abandon. Characters constantly use phrases like “heads up” or “what’s up,” while also using “aye” interchangeably with “yes,” which leaves the whole thing feeling temporally disconnected, floating in some sort of limbo space between Tolkien and bad Wattpad fanfiction.

The author also has a strange quirk of repeating the “theme” or “lesson” of a scene in the last line of said scene. Every few scenes she would throw in something like “If Kitara could betray me, then I’m not safe around anyone…” which just added to the feeling of being talked down to by the narration.

Despite a few evocative lines, my takeaway from Omen’s prose is that there really is nothing more frustrating than an author who approaches twists and surprises in their plot like they’re pulling one over on their reader instead of building something alongside them.

Final Thoughts

Reading Omen of Ice was like watching a slow-motion train wreck, if both halves of the crash were made of powdered sugar and the wreckage rained sticky, uncomfortable debris down on you as you trudged slowly towards your destination. I love bad books - like, I love reading things I know will be wretched just for the fun of seeing them fall apart - but this was too far even for me.

With most awful fiction, there’s something to recommend it by. I loved Lightlark as a cheesy homage to everything I love/hate about YA fantasy, I enjoyed the A Court of Thorns and Roses series as a ridiculous romp, and even books that I think are filled with enough plot holes to be see through, there’s something to enjoy. With Omen, the thing I’ve enjoyed most has been tearing it to pieces and studying its corpse like a bug.

If you read it, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts, and if I end up dragging myself through the sequel when it comes out, I will surely be back with more bitching and moaning. Until then:

One Bookwyrm Out of Five

#omen of ice #ya fantasy #owlcrate #bookwyrm reviews #booklr #ya books

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

Series: The Luminaries #1Author: Susan DennardPublisher: Tor TeenReleased: November 1, 2022Received: Own Book Summary: Winnie Wednesday comes from a line of monster hunters. Like many of her kind, she lives in Hemlock Falls. Unlike most of her kind, Winnie’s direct family has been shunned. They bear the brunt of the guilt, as her father was declared a traitor (and worse). All Winnie ever…

View On WordPress

#Book #Book Review #Books #Fiction #Literary #Literature #Net Galley #NetGalley #OwlCrate #Review #Susan Dennard #The Luminaries #The Luminaries 1 #The Luminaries by Susan Dennard #Tor #Tor Books #Tor Publishing #Tor Teen #Tor.com #Young Adult #Young Adult Review

[bookboxaddict]

Day 2

Day 2 was one of their trademark candles. This one was meant to smell like Calcifer’s hearth. At first I didn’t agree, because I didn’t think that’s how it would have smelled… but I think it might actually fit movie!Calcifer. It smells like apples, mostly; rather cozy, but also kind of bright and fresh in a way I don’t really associate with book!Calcifer, who I thought might smell more like bacon or sausages and woodsmoke. It’s really nice, though! My space is a disorganized mess right now, but I definitely NEED to make space so I can light this before it fades!

#book box review #book merch #timeless tales #advent calendar #12 days of christmas #christmas 2023 #owlcrate

[elliepassmore]

Revelle review

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: historical fantasy, 1920s, Moulin Rouge, insta-love I had a hard time getting into this book, but once I was 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through it, I became much more engrossed. I wasn't all that connected to the characters in the beginning and the scene introducing the characters to one another felt a little too much like Moulin Rouge. The magic system in this book was pretty interesting. Each family on Charmant has an inherited magical power. The Revelles can manipulate emotions if you provide them with a gem, which they draw the magic from until the gem crumbles to ash. The Chronoses, the family that runs the island, can time travel but age every time they do so. There are other families, such as ones who can heal and another who can read palms (or maybe just fates), but the Revells and Chronoses are at the forefront. The magic system is pretty well setup and has clear boundaries for what can/can't be done. Luxe Revelle is one of the narrators. She's a trapeze artist in her family's circus and the star of the show, a stronger magic user than most. She's the "Sabine" of the story, and is desperate to do anything she can to keep her family and their circus afloat. Over the course of the story, Luxe reveals herself to be more than the shallow star many seem to believe she is. In reality, the weight of her role and her own secrets have resulted in her drawing away from the people she was once close to. Despite that, she clearly loves her family and longs for the connection she used to have with them. Jamison is the other narrator and is an orphan desperate to figure out where he came from. He can be pretty judgy at times, which I didn't love. Jamison is someone who is looking for his place in the world and happens to fall somewhat in love with Charmant (and a certain Luxe). Frankly, I didn't love his chapters because there just wasn't a ton going on. I will note, Luxe and Jamison pretty much instantly fall in love with each other. At least Jamison has an excuse (i.e., Revelle magic), but another character mentions it should wear off pretty quickly, so it really is just insta-love. There were a lot of side characters. Luxe's cousins--Millie, Colette, and Roger--are some of the main side characters and I did enjoy them. While Millie might not understand why Luxe pulled away and Colette may be somewhat resentful that Luxe got the role that belonged to her, they both clearly care about her and are more than willing to help her out and reconnect when given the chance. Roger was quite funny, and protective, and I loved getting to see him interact with his family again. Trys is a Chronos and one of Jamison's friends (along with Roger), and is another side character who had particular spunk and whom I liked. Once I got past the beginning though, I couldn't help but be swept in by the plot. There was a sense of desperation from the Revelle family that kept the importance of Luxe's alliance at the forefront. Then there were all the mysterious things that kept happening. Jamison is also trying to figure out what happened to his family and where he came from, but that was honestly much less interesting to me than the rest of it. I liked trying to figure out what was going on and how the Chronoses had a role in it. There were a number of layers to the story's intrigue that kept me hooked once they started being hinted at. That being said, I feel like part of the 'twist' came out of nowhere. I'm fine with who the antagonist turned out to be and I'm find with their motivations, but the how of it isn't something I'm totally satisfied with. I feel like the author could've stood to hint at it more than she did (and maybe set it up in-world a bit more), just so that it didn't feel like it just got dropped into the story to make things work. Also...wtf was up with Jamison in the climactic scene? Again, it felt very random and like it was done because the author wanted things to work a certain way and accidentally wrote herself into a corner. Overall, I think this book is okay. It's definitely more interesting in the latter half, but it can be a bit of a struggle to get through the beginning. I do wish the characters and setting were more thoroughly utilized, as it stands, something just kind of feels missing.

#book #book blog #booknerd #booklr #bookblr #book review #book recommendations #bookish #book addict #bookaholic #books #ya books #bookstagram #owlcrate #revelle #moulin rouge #ya fiction #ya fantasy #historical fantasy #ya book #1920s

[nikkilovesbooks]

#the depths #owlcratejuly #owlcrate #book review #books #fantasy books #booksbooksbooks #bookish #booklovers #booklover #non spoilers #spoiler free #bookaddict #bookaholic #book reviewer #book reveiw #book reviews #reviews #reading #nicole lesperance #horror #fantasy novel #ya fantasy #youngadult #young adult books #young adult #gothic #love books #Youtube #youtube

[daemondaughter]

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones | Book Review

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones | Book Review

This is one of my favorite books I’ve read all year! Check out my full review in the video below.

View On WordPress

#book #book review #drowned woods #emily lloyd jones #emily lloyd-jones #illumicrate #owlcrate #review #Youtube

[enter-the-phantom]

Finished this thing, finally, today. You can read my 2-star review here! 

Please follow or like my Goodreads reviews, it really helps! Hoping to really get into reviewing more books soon, I’ve been bad about only reviewing like one out of twenty or so books that I read, so show me some support if you feel like it! 

#bookblr #book reviews #hotel magnifique #ya lit #goodreads #owlcrate

[daniellethamasa]

December 2021 OwlCrate and FairyLoot Unboxings

December 2021 OwlCrate and FairyLoot Unboxings

View On WordPress

#Books! #FairyLoot Unboxing #OwlCrate Unboxing #Review #Signal Boost

[bookishlyvintage]

everything I read in october (& what I thought about it)

#book review #october wrap up #october #books #book stack #stcak challenge #midnight strikes #the forest grimm #the restless dark #pax #the witch hunt #king of battle and blood #fantasy #ya fantasy #owlcrate #bookblr #booklr #bookish #wake the bones #cozy reads

[thepiedsniper]

A huge review for A Curse For True Love (spoilers, obviously - all below the cut).

DISCLAIMER: I have read the B&N and Waterstones epilogues but not the OwlCrate one yet (I don’t think anyone has, to be honest). So possibly some of my questions will be addressed in that ending.

On the Kiss: there was a compelling theory that Jacks would turn human due to his love for Eva (per the rules established in Caraval) and that’s how they could kiss and be together without killing Eva. I thought this made a lot of sense (because if your universe has established that becoming human is the canonical consequence of an Immortal falling in love, this kind of definitely needs to happen for the prequel series readers to believe that he really loves Eva, right?). Except Jacks clearly never really became human - his tears were tears of blood and the story curse refers to him as a not-quite-human in the epilogue. This also means he's still ageless and will ultimately outlive Eva by A Lot. So, oof.

To that end - I know Jacks is a fatalist and Eva is an optimist, but did it never even OCCUR to either of them to be like "what if we just did everything together EXCEPT kiss for the rest of our lives?" I know Jacks is compelled to kiss (and it’s obliquely confirmed that the apples are his way to fighting that urge) so you'd have him struggling with that arrangement in the long term. But also, Eva seems convinced she's never been in danger of Jacks kissing her before, so why wouldn’t she at least float that idea and see if he goes for it? Why go for the kiss other than Extreme Belief in The Power of Love; i.e. the exact thing Eva found out was actually the one condition that would ensure the curse killed her, according to Aurora like five minutes beforehand. Which Eva Does Not Mention to Jacks, by the way. "Hey, you know that blonde from Valenda you thought was the one exception to your curse and caused you a tonne of angst and confusion ever since? Turns out you had your whole curse backwards these last several hundred years lol."

Eva still owes Jacks a kiss. If you even care.

No but forreal, at least address it. Do a cutesy "OK, then spend that kiss on me, right now, mwah!" bit in the epilogue, or even a juicy "I’m never cashing it in, because not only is it practical that we can still speak telepathically, but I like that you're still tied to me magically foreverrrr". But like, these three magic kisses were the main conceit of this series. Until they weren’t.

The book seemed to shy away from many interesting plot hooks and tropes. Not even subverting them, just...moving on and away instead of fleshing them out. The main one off the top of my head is The Hunt. This seemed like a really specific and interesting event, with a lot of potential tension and parallels to Jacks’ former life as a hunter, if things went wrong in interesting ways. Except we never see any of it, and instead Someone Tries to Kill Eva (turns out Petra had a lover? This plotline is Not Important and everyone quickly moves on despite the fact that I’m pretty sure Belleflower was never found or dealt with) and we get a slightly less satisfactory Hollow II with the Ye Olde Brick Inn. And even the Inn introduces the Only One Bed trope only to sort of fumble it. Jacks has some mystery gold sleep dust (providence unknown) which just kind of doesn't do anything until it knocks them both out at differently convenient times. Idk man, it felt kinda meh to me.

I love Lala. She should have been in this more because she’s honestly one of the more interesting things outside of the romantic tension (which is great, but a novel cannot live on romantic tension alone, lest it become one-note). But also, when she does appear and we finally get to find out what her reunion with her great love was like, it's just kind of glossed over and hinted that her love with Dane has gone sour. Where’s the actual development/exposition!! Who actually dumped who, and why? What did she actually see in him in the first place? The small amount he’s in this book he is a) not turning into a giant dragon (Chekov would be disappointed), and b) kind of a tool. Lala became The Unwed Bride for this guy!!! At least let her have a proper “I realised I was sabotaging all my engagements not because I still loved my unreachable First Love, but because I enjoy the idea of love more than love itself” moment and make her canonically aromantic or something.

Chaos likes/loves Lala? I guess? He also murdered a bunch of people from great houses, for Reasons. He’s around, more than many characters were, but I dunno. What’s his deal these days? Does he still hang out with his vamp friends? Was he killing all those people because his parents asked him to, or was it pure hunger, or personal vendetta? Is he like, Tight with his folks now?

Another wasted (in my opinion) trope is Aurora stealing Jacks' heart away from Eva. I thought we'd get a little juicy angst from Eva seeing the man she loves be manipulated into fake-loving another (which would have also been a little poetic justice for Tella, but that's neither here nor there I guess because the Caraval characters Do Not Matter and are in fact not mentioned At All). But instead, we don't even find out what Aurora wanted to do with the heart, because it's immediately stolen back by Jacks (which like, why didn't Aurora make him swear in blood not to immediately knock her out and steal it back if that was an option? Is she just super delusional?). Also, it was meant to seem really romantic and self-sacrificing that Jacks gave up his heart and possibly autonomy to Aurora to save Eva... except he never intended to let Aurora keep it, so it was just another selfish scheme and not a sign of actual growth/love.

The Valor children in general (aside from Castor and Aurora) were pretty much non-existent when I honestly thought they'd be more of a Thing. One of them has memory magic, but that's not important for some reason. Nah, the thing Apollo did to Eva was just a potion from Aurora or something (providence unknown). Yeah.

It’s unclear why Honora Valor couldn't have reversed Jack's original Archer curse if that's something she easily did with a bit of hair at the end of TBONA. like I guess that says more about that book than this one, but it seems kind of lame that this mythical healer is never even ASKED about Jacks' kissing curse (or anything related to healing ever again).

Cycling back to Aurora for a moment: what was her magical ability in the end? Just non-specific spellwork that seemingly anyone can do (based on the first two books)? They made a point of lamp-shading it and then never actually addressed it.

And speaking of witches/witchcraft, Marisol is one of the many characters that never reappear or get much (if any) mention at all. Eva wouldn't have remembered her stepsister while her memories were gone, which I would have assumed would make for some interesting retconning opportunities for the conniving Marisol. But no, she's just not important anymore, I guess.

Also Gone: Luc. Did he and Marisol run away together after hashing out their twisted histories? Did Luc eat Marisol and then fall of a cliff? Who cares!!!! Not Important Anymore!!!

Tiberius is also Gone (possibly because his existence would have reminded the audience that Apollo has people he Actually Cares About in his life that might have helped him back from The Dark Path). The whole Protectorate just stopped being a thing as soon as the Valory opened. Do they know, or care? Surely they monitor that sort of thing? Was someone from the Protectorate able to piece together the sudden arrival of the “Vale” family at least?

Phaedra of the Damned from the very first book (the girl who first discovered Apollo wasn’t dead after trying to steal his secrets, and also Havelock is there) never gets explained. I assume she’s one of the twins from the Vanished Market mentioned in the Caraval trilogy, but she really was just there for half a scene in the first book and then never mentioned again. OK.

Havelock, Apollo’s most loyal guard, is not mentioned after Chapter 13 (when Apollo really starts ramping up the Atrocities). Again, possibly his existence would have complicated Apollo’s evil villain speedrun, but it would have been interesting to see what he might have done (and if he decided to leave Apollo’s service out of condemnation for the monster Apollo had become, a sentence or two establishing that might have been nice).

Which leads me to Apollo. He went very evil very quickly. I actually really liked the self-delusion in his focalisation, and his whole backstory with the pressures put on him by his father made sense. But damn, dude went from No Murder to Child Murder pretty dang quickly!!! Also, his death was fairly predictable. Which I wouldn't have minded, because not everything needs to be a Surprise Twist, but it really felt like that scene was the climax/final conflict in a sea of other loose ends that got ignored, so I guess I wanted it to be More so that it could make up for all the plotlines whose resolutions got sacrificed for it.

The original fox from the ballad doesn’t matter. She doesn't ever get a name. It's Fine. She could turn into a freaking FOX, which seems like a very cool and rare ability, but sure, she was just Some Chick Jacks was forced to hunt (and then kind of fell in love with and got traumatised by killing). Why do you want to know about her?? Why do you want Jacks to address the ways his feelings for her (and Tella) are inherently interwoven with trauma, in ways that don’t specifically relate to Eva?

I’m not sure I’m explaining this properly (because on the surface, of course the original fox is an important part of Jacks’ backstory and the overall plot; but only in a “Jacks is scared to love because he killed this one girl one time, and that also makes Eva sad” kind of way. The same story could arguably have been told without the Archer ballad, and just keeping the original concept of Jacks from Caraval – he’s the prince of hearts, doomed to kill all but his one true love. He kills many ladies that he hopes he’s actually in love with, but they always tragically die instead.

Cool twist with Aurora’s involvement in the curse, even if it was somewhat predictable (again, not a crime for a plot twist by any means), but I don’t know. It just felt like one of many things that got “resolved” with a quick aside (Eva found an expository journal entry) and then everything quickly moved on because hey, the reader knows what happened now that Eva found that journal entry, so who cares if Jacks knows too? Telling him everything important that Eva learned since seeing him would just detract from the love confession!

It's never officially confirmed whether Jacks of the Hollow's family owned the Hollow? Or what happened to his family, or the original owners if it wasn’t his family. The Hollow doesn't seem particularly attached to Jacks, nor he to it (according to the epilogues).

Eva should have gnarly back scars from her secondhand flaying and it's pretty clear they're either not there or just forgotten in ACFTL. My understanding was that The Hollow allowed Eva to become "fully healed" due to the effects of several weeks passing in the space of a day or two. So Eva's body essentially got the chance to heal naturally over time, in a sped-up way (which still would have left hella scars). Apollo, on the other hand, was healed with vampire venom (which canonically removes scars; see: Luc) but he's still got his back scars for some reason. Both of them healed in different ways during the period when the mirror curse wouldn't have mattered. I personally think it would have been interesting to give Eva horrible back scars she can't explain due to her amnesia. But alas.

All in all, it felt like the kind of book that wanted to be third of four instead of third and final. It wanted to introduce new and interesting concepts, but still had to rush to put a conclusion (satisfying or otherwise) to everything that had come before. I had fun reading it, and all the usual romance/drama/angst with Eva and Jacks was still super fun, but pretty much every other element felt lacking (and even a lot of the EvaJacks stuff kind of just Happened and then Kept Happening without a strong plotline to run along). I look forward to reading a lot of fanfiction addressing all the missing bits. Or a new trilogy series from this rich universe, maybe (even though I doubt it would follow Eva and Jacks directly).

#a curse for true love #acftl #a curse for true love spoilers #once upon a broken heart #the ballad of never after #ouabh #tbona #stephanie garber #let me know if you agree with any of this or if I'm totally crazy #I want to talk to people #caraval #very mild caraval mentions and spoilers

[jackstheprinceofhearts]

my very opinionated review of TBONA by Stephanie Garber

WARNINGS: I'm a person who rambles a lot and I will be trying hard not to in this review (and I'm using Grammarly lol) but I make no promises.

this review contains spoilers for tbona! (i am writing this review on Monday night {the 12th} the official release date is the 13th but I was lucky enough to get an owlcrate edition and I will be posting this review a few days after then.)

i will also be discussing my opinions on some debates I've been seeing about jacks's character in TBONA so if you can't handle my opinion then this isn't for you.

strap in because this'll be a long one lol

_________________________________________________

first of all, i do have some criticism for this book so let's get that out of the way.

i felt as if tbona was incredibly fast-paced (just like the first one) and I'm a binge reader so it felt like getting thrown all over the place because of how fast I read it lol so I would recommend this book more for slower readers then I would binge readers if you want to absorb the plot more. but i honestly like how she gets straight to the point with it so that's why i love all of her books!

i also guessed a few of the plot twists from some theories I've made and discussed in the Magnificent North discord server but I do that a lot with books so it doesn't ruin much (it just makes me feel smarter than everyone lmfao)

another thing, I didn't really like how towards the end eva kind of gave off the "I can change him" vibes which I mean makes sense in some ways but still I'm not a huge fan of that BUT I like how Evangeline actually listened to him.

I also wasn't very happy that it wasn't really acknowledged that she made his heart beat??...we're ignoring this again??? homie???

and the scar wasn't really a plot point at all which I found to be a bit weird.

but besides that, i don't really have any more criticism for it.

________________________________________________________

here were some of the things i liked a lot:

the ending was IMMACULATE it had so much emotional depth and feeling???? oh my god???

I also liked the backstory we got on Jacks because damn it all makes sense now! and it was interesting to see how he was connected to the north, but now I'm curious about how he got to Valenda and how he ended up in the card.

also, can we just talk about how beautifully tragic that ending was???? like yes it was sad but CAN WE JUST APPRECIATE IT FOR A MINUTE LIKE OMG

moment of silence for jacks......

honestly 5/5 stars. this is definitely my new favorite!

______________________________________________________

alright now to get into the stuff about jacks's character that I'm seeing posts about a lot.

so i've seen a lot of people say that they "hate" him or that he's "toxic" or that evajacks is a toxic ship and honestly I disagree and here's why:

the entire point of jacks's character is that he's a heartbroken VILLAIN, not a hero. and he keeps saying that throughout literally every book he's in. he says to tella "I'm the villain, even in my own story." in Finale. we are told over and over again that he's not a hero. "I hurt everyone, little fox." there are a lot more quotes of him literally saying he's the bad guy in TBONA and OUABH 😭 "you need to stop holding me to human standards," jacks drawled. "I'm a fate." and then again with; "I'm not your enemy, little fox. I know you're still angry with me, but you've always known what I am. I never tried to pretend otherwise, you just let yourself believe I was something I'm not." and once again; "I'm not your friend. I'm not some human boy who will tell you pretty lies or bring you flowers or gift you jewels."

(collectors edition of OUABH) him saying he's a bad guy and he'll do whatever it takes to get what he wants.

the entire point of TBONA and OUABH is people making bad choices because of their broken hearts.

also, i don't see how you guys aren't saying anything about LaLa when she betrayed eva as well, like where's the logic??? and what LaLa did was worse in my opinion because it put eva in danger of DYING jacks never did that.

and don't give me the whole "oh she's a fate she doesn't understand human emotions" BUT YOU WANT JACKS TO??? HOW IS THAT FAIR??? if you don't like jacks that's perfectly fine but let's be fair 😭i'm not saying jacks's actions were okay BUT HE'S A VILLAIN YOU CAN'T EXPECT HIM TO COMPLETELY CHANGE IN TWO BOOKS!!!

overall, you can't expect a character to completely change and I'm glad he didn't get some rushed redemption arc in this. you need to look into it a bit more before you just give it a bad review because "jacks was a bad guy"

______________________________________________________________

believe what you will about TBONA but that's my personal opinion on this book. i think Stephanie did an amazing job writing this and I'm excited to see what's to come next. thank you for reading my review/rant! have a good day!

also, the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie I was eating while writing this was really, really, good.

#tbona #tbona spoilers #jacks prince of hearts #evajacks #the ballad of never after #evangeline fox #jacks x evangeline #stephanie garber #ouabh spoilers #book review #just ranting #LaLa tbona #tbona ending #jacks #ouabh

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Book of Night by Holly Black

Review: Book of Night by Holly Black

Author: Holly BlackPublisher: Tor BooksReleased: May 3rd, 2022Received: NetGalleyWarnings: Violence, con artists, stalking, abuse, self-harm (to get blood), cancer, toxic living situations, drugging Book of Night is Holly Black’s adult debut novel. In other words, it’s the first novel of hers that isn’t labeled young adult, and I am here for it. If you love darker fantasy stories, this will be a…

View On WordPress

#Book #Book of Night #Book of Night by Holly Black #Book Review #Books #Fantasy #Fantasy Horror #Fantasy Novel #Fantasy review #Fiction #Holly Black #Literary #Literature #Net Galley #NetGalley #OwlCrate #Review #Tor #Tor Books #Tor Publishing #Tor Teen #Tor.com

[shsenhaji]

📚 Gallant - Book Review

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5820120851

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: YA Fantasy, ghosts, shadows, a gothic house, themes about family and home, nonverbal protagonist (who uses sign language)

I am on a roll with good books!

Just finished Gallant by VE Schwab, and I absolutely loved it. It's my first VE Schwab book (I have the Shades of Magic trilogy waiting on my e-reader), and it certainly won't be the last.

What struck me the most was the writing style! The beautiful and poetic prose and metaphors and descriptions... Breath-taking, really, and helping to create the book's haunting yet hopeful atmosphere.

I also loved Olivia Prior, the main character, and her stubbornness, and her longing for a home... The themes and how they were presented felt very apt for this kind of book, and it reminded me half of a fairytale, and half of certain books I used to read when I was younger (in a very good way).

Also, I have the OwlCrate edition of the book, and it was lovely and heightened my reading experience.

#mine #books #book reviews #gallant #ve schwab #ya fantasy #ghosts #gothic house #nonverbal protagonist

[bookboxaddict]

Timeless Tales Advent Calendar Day 1!

On the first day of Christmas, Oswald gave to me…

..a Fae beanie!

Traditionally, the “Twelve Days of Christmas” referred to Christmas and the eleven days after Christmas, not before. In keeping with that tradition, I’m opening Owlcrate’s “12 days of Christmas” box starting on the 25th. There are 12 items inside, with one meant to be opened each day.

The presentation of the box is EXCELLENT. I love the fact that each item is individually wrapped, with a fancy little sticker indicating which day they’re meant to be opened on. They come in various shapes and sizes and it makes me SO curious. I also love that the box itself is much fancier than usual. The spoiler card has these extremely fun gold things that you can scratch off to see what each date’s gift is. I really like the green and gold color scheme, and the scratch-to-reveal reminds me of those lotto tickets you can get at grocery stores. Unfortunately the gold isn’t printed on perfectly, but that’s a very minor error.

Day 1 came in a slim box to the side, and was a knitted beanie with a sword design in front of it entwined with holly branches. I’m not sure which fandom specifically this comes from, but I don’t recognize it from the 1.5 ACoTaR books I read; so I do hope it’s from something else. Like a Holly Black book, or just a non-denominational Fae item. It’s actually very perfect, since it is now cold enough to need to wear some kind of knitwear or soft hood, and I couldn’t find my grey beanie anywhere. I’m not quite sure what to pair it with, clothing-wise — I don’t really have any black overcoats, and it looks odd with white — but it shouldn’t need to match too strictly. I do have a sweater that’s in almost the same shade of green, but not quite; hopefully if I wear them out on a cloudy day, no one will notice the discrepancy.

5/5 so far; hopefully the rest of the box stays strong!

#book merch #book boxes #book box review #owlcrate #advent calendar #12 days of christmas #Books #fandom #bookblr