chaptersofmads's reviews
828 reviews

A bit too weird for me. I understand it's all probably extremely poignant allegory, but I wasn't even halfway through and I was already done. 

"Death does not die, and neither will I."

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

TW: abuse, abandonment, addiction, animal cruelty, animal death, blood, body-horror, body-shaming (internalized), child death (on-page), confinement, death, death of a loved one, drug use, drug abuse, genocide, grief, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness, panic attacks/disorders, physical abuse, sexual harassment, sexual content, stalking, torture, violence, war.

I am in so much pain.

This book was everything I hoped it would be and more. Sophie Kim created a masterpiece that is devastating and heart wrenching, artfully crafted and engaging. I haven't felt this much about a book in a long time, to the point I was struggling to pick it up because I was so invested in what was happening. And because I knew that this wasn't going to end well, considering the fact this is book 2 in a trilogy.

Which leads to my next point: this is how you write a middle book. It was a perfect bridge between the start of the story and the conclusion. So much happened in terms of plot and world-building but I never felt like the book merely existed because the author didn't know what else to write. Not a single word was wasted.

The ending? I am not going to recover from that for awhile. I cried. Do you know how much it takes to get me to cry while reading? A lot.

Overall, this was... fantastic. It exceeded my high expectations and left me wanting more. I'm unbelievably grateful for the chance to read the ARC and will now spend my time (im)patiently waiting for book 3.

“We are all children of blood and bone.
All instruments of vengeance and virtue.”

Can't believe it took me so long to finally read this, but I'm glad I did!

A fantastic, fast-paced fantasy (unintentional alliteration) with a focus on grief and overcoming prejudices, internalized and otherwise. The characters were a bit... immature, but this is a YA so I feel like it's understandable, even if I wanted to slam my head into a wall reading some of their reactions/decisions.

Also, I will always be excited about an animal companion. More animal companions in books, please and thank you.

Overall, this is seriously such a solid YA fantasy book and I look forward to carrying on with the series. I'm curious where the story will go after that ending.

“I know it hurts," she said. "So make it worth the pain.”

Holy crap?

I don't know how much I can say in this review without accidentally spoiling either book in this duology so what I will say is that this was beautiful and devastating and completely satisfying. This duology is what all other duologies should aspire to be; there's never a moment when I wished for more or less information, a perfect balance of the characters and the plot. Like book one, this book was dark and grim - even darker, but it was also unflinchingly hopeful in a way that book one wasn't.

It also made me miss the dystopian books era so much. At this point, I may have to just reread a few soon.

Also, side note to mention that the core conflict of this book felt like a reference to The Snow Queen fairytale which is one of my favorites and I reference it all the time. I don't know if that was intentional, but I got so excited when that plot-point showed up that I immediately told my sister lol.

Anyway... if it wasn't clear from the rest of the review, this was an incredible conclusion and just a really fantastic duology. If you can handle the darker topics, I highly recommend it. 

“I am evolved as I freed myself from the expectations of others. These memories shape a nonlinear narrative, because queerness is intrinsically nonlinear, journeys that bend and wind. Two steps forward, one step back.”

I'm one of those people that never knows how to review memoirs. What I will say, is that this was a hard read - not because Elliot Page did a bad job; he didn't! - but because the content is so raw and devastating for most of the book. I can only imagine how much it took out of him to be this vulnerable and I'm grateful he's telling his story.

It was heartfelt and hopeful, even with the darkness. A tough read, but an important one. 

“No matter what, I will always fight for you.”

This was delightful!! Yet another reminder I need to read more of the remixed classics books because I just loved practically every moment of this. It was such a sweet YA retelling, with a focus on queer joy - despite some of the heavier topics.

The only complaints I will raise is that I feel the author... not talks down to the reader, but perhaps spoon-feeds the reader everything? There is very little nuance in this book, from Wickham being an abhorrent villain from the moment we meet him to multiple characters telling Oliver he has fantastic child-birthing hips - something I cannot think would have been said during this time, due to the impropriety of the implications.

There's also an issue of Oliver being slightly... dare I say, prideful without the necessary character development to cancel it out. He's incredibly judgmental of everything Charlotte does - not because of the infidelity (which would have been understandable), but because she's compromising. I understand this is part of the original story, but the changes to Charlotte's character made this seem a bit... naive and privileged from Oliver's end.

Still... this was just a lovely read. I loved the scenes that were added (like the bookstore scene), I loved the nods to the original story and the 2005 movie. I loved how supportive Jane and Mr. Bennett were throughout the story. I loved that - even though dysphoria is a major part of this book - so much of the story revolves around Oliver's joy at being trans, which was just a lovely thing to witness.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this - particularly to people that are aware this a YA retelling of Pride and Prejudice and not meant to be a critique or complete rewrite of the original (as some reviewers seem to be implying.) It's simply a quick, heart-warming, delight of a book and I'm glad I read it.

“Chaos, in a sense, was Source: a raw explosion of energy that then organized into the threads of existence. Two sides of the same coin.”

Such a unique, fascinating book!! Some parts of this gave me the same vibe of watching Atlantis or Treasure Planet as a kid and if we could have maintained that vibe for the entirety of the story, this would have been a new favorite.

And while it isn't, I still recommend this because I know that this book is perfect for some people. My only two caveats for recommending it are:
1) There's quite a bit of insta-love in here, as well as some timing issues. Sometimes, it felt like this book wanted more time to have taken place than the plot actually allowed. Which was fine, but it did lead to two separate couples saying they loved each other after two weeks of knowing the other person.

2) Despite this being listed as YA and being written in a very simplistic style, there's quite a bit of mature content in this book. From multiple on-page sex scenes, a brief friends-with-benefits plot, to descriptions of torture, abuse, and sexual assault/coercion, this could be a bit much for younger readers. Clearly, some people in the YA age range will be fine with this, but it still felt deserving of note.

So, to clarify: I did enjoy this, not as much as I'd hoped, but still enough to recommend it.

“A beginning often signals an end. That's the thing with dawn... you must first get through the night.”

Such an awesome book in so many ways, bit of a mess in quite a few others.

I truly enjoyed so many parts of this book, at times leaning closer to a 4.5 rating until some of my issues kicked in. Some technical, some possibly subjective, and some... just things that I felt uncomfortable with (such as the bipoc rep and some of the words used/comments made, particularly when portraying communities that the author is not a part of.)

I do wish the characterization would have been more consistent throughout, as it sometimes felt like changes were made to the characters to either generate shock or cover up a plot-hole. There was also the issue with a large cast of characters, giving some more time than others and letting others fall completely to the sidelines - leaving the reader with minimal information.

For example, the character of Theo is talking about like they are both 5 and 15 throughout the book. I spent the majority trying to figure out their age, feeling like every time I was sure I got confirmation, I had been wrong. This leads to a fifteen year old character being infantilized. If there had been a plot that the character was disabled, I might have understood where this was coming from. As it is, the character simply is treated like a toddler and an adult at the same time.

Also... I included a trigger warning for transphobia but I wanted to add a paragraph within the review to say that for some of this, we are in the head of the transphobic character as they are thinking and saying these things. This could be extremely triggering for some people, so I hope that you go in feeling empowered and aware.

Overall, this was such a fun read! I had a great time with it, except for in the moments when I didn't. I will be carrying on with the series, even if just for the cliffhanger. I knew that was where we were going and I'm curious to see how it will be handled.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

There are so many words that could describe this book (tedious, intolerable, enamored by its own perceived cleverness, etc.) but none fit quite as well as bad. This book was bad.

I'm going to return to my old review style for a moment, list several of the reasons I disliked this book, and then go on my merry way.

- The Main Couple
The main couple's age difference is 19 and 24-25. (I feel I should mention that the older of the two never has her age officially confirmed, with some people thinking she's 20, but her love interest makes a comment ((to her)) about her being mid-twenties and it is not refuted.) That isn't illegal, I get it. However, it's still uncomfortable and only gets made worse by it being consistently repeated that the older of the two is far more advanced and mature due to life experience, even going so far as to call the younger love interest "child". (Not to mention all of the times that she asks her why she must be such a girl or when the older of the two speaks of wishing to have sex with her just so she (the younger love interest) thinks about her when her future husband is taking advantage of her.) This is a problem that is not resolved simply because the younger love interest begins to demand things.

Their entire relationship was not only extremely toxic but so boring. They had absolutely no chemistry, even without all of the aspects that would have made their relationship problematic. I think part of this is due to the fact that they felt more like shadows of a character rather than actually living beings. Neither of them have any personality (aside from cursed, innocent, and horny and also cursed, mysterious, asshole, and also horny). They had the same conversation no less than fifty times.

I kept finding myself secretly hoping the antagonist would win just so the book could be over.

- The Narrator
I hated the narration style. It's clear the author wanted to capture the nearly omnipresent yet gossipy spirit of Lady Whistledown in Bridgerton with a magical twist but failed to account for the ramifications of this. For one, the narrator is incredibly annoying. But on a more objective level, we view every event in the book through the eyes of Robin which not only makes the reader feel incredibly detached from all events taking place but also makes us feel like we're stalking the characters. Despite the fact Robin claims to only watch their faces during sex (which is still weird), we're still a third party observing them.

- The Writing
The writing style tried so hard to be flowery and clever that it forgot to be enjoyable. I realize this is kind of second part of the previous point but it still deserves mention. I know that the author was attempting a very specific kind of writing style, but it unfortunately fell flat for me. Instead of feeling enchanted and whimsical, it just felt excruciating.

- The Pacing
The mystery (if one can even call it that) is solved at the 50% mark. Halfway. Through. The. Book. That means that for the next fifty percent, a dozen things happen for the sake of extending the book and creating conflict. I understand that the plot of the curse had been building, but it almost felt like the book had been split in two - rather than creating a cohesive narrative.


I could keep going. I feel like some of this review is too harsh and I do usually try to stay more neutral in my reviews, but it's been awhile since I was this uncomfortable about a book. Sapphic relationships deserve better than cardboard characters who think vulgarity is the only way to show maturity.

I know nothing of the author, but I can't imagine they meant for the relationships to read this way, but unfortunately that doesn't change the fact they do.

Overall, I went into this book expecting to love it and I'm absolutely bummed that I didn't. I don't know how a book with fae, witches, gods, two curses, and regency lesbians managed to be this boring, but it succeeded... which I suppose is a triumph in and of itself.

While I wouldn't recommend this book, I had only heard positive things before reading it so it clearly has a lot of people that love it and I'm glad. I wish I had loved it. 

“You’ll do what the rest of us do,” he finally says. “And just make it work today.”

I am - and I cannot stress this enough - an absolute mess right now.

For someone that is extremely picky when it comes to romance books, I wasn't expecting to love this as much as I did and I damn sure wasn't expecting to cry. three. separate. times. This was so heartfelt and warm and lovely and cheesy and funny and hopeful and I just? cannot quite put into words how much I loved this book. You know when you watch the kind of movie or read the kind of book that makes you want to live and see the world in a different way? This is that kind of book.

Was it a perfect book? Maybe not. But was it easily my favorite romance book I've ever read? Did it make me believe in love again? Yes. Yes it did.

Also, brief thank you to Darling Desi because hearing how much she loved it is the reason I picked up the book in the first place and I'm so glad I did (if that wasn't already clear.)

If you're like me and picky about romance books, I sincerely do recommend this.