brimelick's reviews
347 reviews

A Classics. One of my favorite series from childhood. Reading it as an adult, very different. All in good ways. I’ll be completely honest, I liked the movies better than the books. This one specifically, I like the more obnoxious Eustace from the movie (love you Will Poulter!, You’re doing great sweetie!) I’ll always be a Edmund fan but Caspian does tug on the heart strings a bit. I do like that the gave Lucy more agency in the movie rather than what it was like in the book. On the same line, I loved that they actually named Liliandil in the movie were she remains nameless in the book and is only known for being Ramandus daughter, being beautiful, and then marrying Caspian. Lastly, I though the plot line was a bit jumpy and not much weaving it together. I was also pleasantly surprised how much I liked the way it introduced slavery to young readings. Of course being a book written decades ago there is so much than can be changed but it in itself is a fantastic teaching method for how verbiage and narratives change.

Diving into the thoughts and politics of four very distinct characters in our nation's founding is incredibly difficult, especially when it comes to their gardens, which are all similar yet very different. James Madison, John Adams, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson are all men of the Enlightenment, sharing different ideals regarding politics, slavery, and the future of our nation. This book chronicles the early stages of the founding of the United States and how all four of these men have something in common. They are begrudgingly involved with politics and would all rather be spending their time at their estates in their gardens. Wulf has a fascinating way of combining the political elements with that of gardens and how they are all the same. During the long days in the presidency and sitting in Congress or even Washington at Valley Forge, they compare what they use the garden and plant metaphors when discussing it. At times it can be dry when going into detail on political issues. It all ties back in some form to plants and seeds and gardens. The last few chapters get into the nitty-gritty of the gardens at their estates and discuss the how's and why's behind what is chosen and what they look like.

Highly researched after spending months at each location and reading letters in the national archive, this book is a perfect read when diving into the presidential gardens for the first time. The book is about half narrative and half notes which are just as interesting as the narrative, and I highly recommend reading them all and using them for further reading.

Okay, I would die for my husband Kell, Just want you all to know that. Reading this again after years was as magical as it was the first time around. Just four people trying to save their worlds and each other. The emotional moments between family members both direct family and found family was superb. The expansion of the amazing world building added such a interesting element to how the magic system worked. I’ll be rereading this with the V. E. Schwab read along later this year and I am so hype

To begin, I want to thank NetGlley for the ARC of this book, not to be insanely excited but it’s my very first one!

Here we go! All i needed to see was the name and the promise of pirates and I was sold. This took me a bit longer to get though than others just based solely on the rich and deep history that the author was able to include in the book. Being the third book in a series, and not reading the first two, I found that it was still quite easy to follow. It is the perfect way to be introduced to the characters in a way that makes you want to read the first two as I discovered they seem t b following one families chronology.

While the first few chapters were slightly confusing, it smoothness out by the second part and the narrative was quite easy to follow. Choosing a female main character for this time period is an incredibly difficult feat and Mosse not only rose to the challenge, but she succeeds in creating an emotional attachment to not just Louse but also Gilles.

Louise comes from a long line of incredibly strong omen, whose stories I cannot wait to read, and her drive to do more, to be more, then the limits of what women at the time can do id inspirational in itself. Gilles story is as heart wrenching as it is powerful, not giving to much away, but the struggles he goes through by being forced by his own mother to be someone he isn’t and seeing the character rise from that and take control of their own agency was just a delight to read.

The history, politics, and romance of this books gives the reader a great ay to learn about this very complex religious and political conflict in such an interesting way from the viewpoint of women was a great way to dive into it headfirst.

I know four stars may not seem like enough based on my review but for me it is a definite reread and there will be a physical copy with lots of notes and annotations in my future.

A very interesting way to end the series, not necessarily a bad ending, it just wasn't the way I thought. But hey, it was a quick read and I enjoyed what was there and the set up at the end for the next book was quite good. It will be interesting to step away from Pan, Darling and the boys. I am very intrigued for it.

Another Peter Pan retelling that brings a modern why choose twist to the original story. As enjoyable as it was, the spicy scenes seemed a bit convenient and rushed and if I had read this for the plot, I wouldn't have liked it. Fortunately, I was not reading it for the plot, so I did enjoy it. I am still debating whether or not I will read the sequel but even if I don't, I did enjoy getting to escape to Neverland for a few days.

I am so angry I finished this days before the sequel was released because I want the sequel right freaking now. I will be buying it right now. I received the beautiful Fairyloot edition last year, and because I read based on books randomly chosen, it has taken me quite some time to get to it. Once I started, it was tough for me to stop reading it. I loved that the main character loved history, worked at a historic house, and focused on seeing art from the Renaissance destroyed in a fire rather than saving the world. I have never felt so seen.

I am a stickler for the magic system, and I'll be honest: when they said monsters, I thought something different than what it was. At the same time, I liked how the magic system was explained to us. Looking from the outside in, I find it challenging to understand magic systems and world-building when you are thrown right into the mix. In this case, we, as readers, learned alongside the main character as she was thrown into this world; we learned as she learned. I also found the time-travel aspect an exciting way I hadn't read before. Taking time from a human to travel in time creates a morally grey aspect of being a Monster. The timelines being wrong was also very enticing to me that their living time is wrong and needs to be changed even though the consequences are devastating on both sides.