chaptersofmads's reviews
826 reviews

“Lingering on the pain of their loss did not serve them now. That would only come with vengeance.”

Happy to report that this was (overall) an improvement on book 1.

I liked book 1 but there were also a lot of flaws that kept me from rating it higher. (Also, Riven was a much bigger part of that book and I don't like that man very much😇.)

This maintained some of the aspects that I didn't like from the first installment, but the focus was mostly on the plot points I was personally more interested in and built upon the pre-existing successes of book one.

Keera remains a really interesting, complex character to follow and I genuinely appreciate her as a protagonist. Her struggles always feel very justified and I appreciate that (unlike some other series) we see actual proof of her abilities. I also enjoy the characterization of the fae and elves in this series and the worldbuilding remains something I'm interested in; as well as the focus on colonization, land occupation, culture, and loss of identity.

That being said, there are definitely aspects of the story that I feel like would fall apart if one was to examine them too closely. Not to mention the ways this story feels very familiar (as I mentioned in my review for the previous book), the very possibly developing (completely unnecessary) love triangle

involving brothers, no less

, and just some issues I have with the odds of some of their plans actually working out.

Still! This is a fun time with heavier themes and I appreciated my reading experience. Even with the darker topics, this is an easy read and doesn't feel nearly as long as it actually is.

I'm not looking forward to if there's more developing romance because I legitimately do not care but maybe the next book will change my mind. I doubt it though lol.

Overall, this book cemented the fact that I do recommend this series to anyone looking for something nostalgically familiar but better developed (even with its shortcomings.) 

Picked this one up for the Letters to Juliet with grief type of plot, but I'm just not connecting with it and after looking up some negative reviews, I don't think my issues with it are going to get any better as the story progresses. 

"I am a witch of Foxhall
And I've come to beg a boon...."

If this was a review for the cover, 5,000,000 stars. Immediately. No questions asked.

Unfortunately, this is not a review of the cover so I will not spend the next few paragraphs waxing poetic about the artistry of this book's physical design and will instead be forced to say how dull the interior was.

I'm not entirely sure how a cottagecore-esque book about witches and Welsh folklore and mythical creatures (including dragons, supposedly) could be this boring, but boring it was. I can't think of another way to put it other than to say that this book felt empty and lifeless, like the idea for the book was there but the heart was not.

I want to be clear: this was not a bad book. I didn't find any enjoyment in my reading experience, but it was not bad. It was just very... okay. Very much a three star book.

Also, I think I may be judgmental lately but so many male love interests (particularly in YA) are driving me nuts. They are the most insipid, spoiled, possessive, petty, vapid, subtly misogynistic little twerps I have ever read about. It gets to the point that even their trauma doesn't make me feel for them, because I'm already so annoyed.

Follow up to that point: I actually like love triangles (when done well) and found this one to be insufferable. There was absolutely no reason for that to even slightly happen. It only existed to create the kind of conflict that even my childhood Barbies would have found cheap.

I keep sounding like this is a terrible book so I want to repeat again: it is not a bad book. I just didn't like anything about it. At all. I can acknowledge that the story is probably perfect for some people, but quality wise I don't think this is all that great - it just isn't bad.

I do agree with the blurb suggesting this for fans of Allison Saft. I wasn't the biggest fan of A Far Wilder Magic and I do think if you liked that one, you might enjoy this one as well.

Overall, I'm really bummed that I didn't care for this. I wish I could have loved it as much as I was hoping to, but unfortunately this was not meant to be.

“We're the children of the gods." I lift my chin. "If someone's running away, it's not going to be us.”

This was the fantasy version of playing Episode with no gems.

I have never (that's a slight exaggeration) seen so many characters make every single wrong decision possible. There wasn't a single, solitary erudite decision made on the political, emotional, or literally any other front. When faced with two options, the characters somehow found a secret third option that was worse than if they'd just done nothing. (And it wasn't just the children, but the adults too.)

I know that this book fell flat for a lot of people so I went into it with lowered expectations, yet I still feel kind of shocked at how this book played out. Not in a plot-twist way, but in a, 'How was this the plot we landed on?' kind of way. Somehow, despite the fact much more happened in this book than book one, it was incredibly boring and repetitive.

Now, while I'm complaining about this, I will say that I thought the ending of the book was better than the beginning. The very, very end felt rushed and kind of cheap but the events leading up to it felt more like what I had liked about book one.

Overall, I don't have much else to say about this other than the fact I'm disappointed and wish I would have been pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed this even more than book 1, but alas. I will be carrying on with the series as I'm curious to see how the trilogy ends and I do genuinely hope it's an improvement on this installment. 

As with the other books in this series, I won't be rating it as this series doesn't really fit into any particular rating category.

What the actual heck was any of this, actually?

I finished this before bed last night and the longer I think about it, the more confused I am about how we ended up here. I don't know if there was a single aspect of this installment that felt like it was the right choice. Everything got so weird, so fast. We followed Alisa for an entire book for literally no reason. The nightmare plot in Full Circle was so weird. And don't get me started on Night's Child because what.

I'm glad I've reached the end of this series and I don't regret reading it, if even just for the bonding I was able to do reading it with my Mom. That being said, this was an absolute mess of a conclusion.

“A broken blade can be mended.”

Quick review tonight because I want to go to bed lol.

Somehow, this was a book that was both extremely derivative and unique at once. Much of the plot feels like something you've read before complete with a smattering of tropes and overused character archetypes, but these are set against a backdrop that's primarily focused with the examination of themes of colonization and occupation - as well as discussions of addiction and mental health.

This was - despite the hard topics - a really easy read, even for someone that's been struggling to read lately. Some of the familiarity of the tropes and plot lent themselves to the reading experience, making it easier to focus on the other aspects of the story.

I think my largest complaint was actually the characters, particularly the MMC. I hate that man and all of his lackluster apologies did nothing to resolve the fact he's an asshole. :)

That aside, I see why people love this and I would recommend it - but definitely not to everyone. If you like familiar fae leaning stories and enjoyed An Heir Comes to Rise but wanted something a bit darker, I think you'd love this.
However, if you're someone that gets irritated with tropey, super predictable stories - maybe stay away from this.

Overall, I did like this and I will be carrying on with the series.

"Rebellions are like fires—something needs to burn to make a flame."

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

Saara El-Arifi deserves every kind of award because how is every book she writes fantastic?

I'm actually incredibly emotional to be at the end of this trilogy, but here's my attempt at writing a coherent review (kindly ignore the distant sounds of my sniffling, please <3)

There are no words for how excited I was when I got approved for this ARC and I can only say that it met every single one of my expectations. Every ounce of excitement I felt for this book was rewarded with the kind of story deserving it. Even with me being locked in a horrendous reading slump, I was either reading this or thinking about reading it.

The story picks up just a bit after where The Battle Drum left off, with our characters each dealing with their own challenges as obstacles upon obstacles get thrown their way. We follow some characters to explore parts of the world we haven't seen before (each beautifully crafted) and others to more familiar places.

One of my favorite aspects was the way each of the main characters was given some sort of closure (or not) of a full-circle moment without the book ever feeling like it was trying to force me to experience that 'end-of-series' emotion that so many finales seem to attempt to manipulate their readers into feeling.

I will admit to struggling with Anoor's naivety a bit more in this book than the previous installments - but I also can't pretend I don't understand the decisions she made or the path that led her to where she was in this book. She was in character the entire time, it was just a bit tedious to read about.

My only other (slight) criticism is that I almost felt as if this book was too short or rushed. That isn't to say that I think it wasn't well-crafted but rather, I wish more time had been given to certain experiences/developments/characters. There were so many things going on in this book and not a single page was wasted; I just wish it could have been a bit longer.

That aside though? This is the kind of finale that makes you feel a bit hollowed out at the end, which is one of the biggest compliments I can give it. I love this series so, so much and it's really bittersweet to know that it's over.

I'm wholeheartedly grateful for the chance to read this and I can't wait to read every book Saara El-Arifi writes from now until the end of time. 

"Chih didn't spend very much time with children, but they lived in stories, and for a little while, they could invite the children of Betony Docks into the house they made, offering them the fragile shelter of a story they had all built together."

Probably my least favorite in the series so far - just because I found it to be the least engaging/interesting to my personal tastes, but still a good read.

I really do like the morals in each of these books and how they broach the subject matter, without it feeling like it's being shoved down the readers' throats (though it did feel a bit more heavy-handed in this one, imo.)

I'm appreciating how quick, fun, and easy it is to read the installments of this series, especially as I'm trying to escape from this blasted reading slump lol. 

“The same universe that dispassionately takes things away can bring you things you weren't imaginative enough to dream up.”

I say this rather hesitantly - but I think this book might have booted Beach Read out of the second spot in my Emily Henry ranking.

This surprises no one more than me. Especially considering the fact I initially didn't think I was going to like this as much as I like her other books. This was partially due to the synopsis kind of boring me and then some immediate personal complaints (like the avocado face; that's one of my biggest book pet peeves.)

Imagine my surprise when the book reaches the last chapter and I'm crying.

I said this in my review of Happy Place (honestly, it's probably come up in my review for every one of her romance books - aside from PWMOV) but Emily Henry's magic is the way she takes emotions and thoughts that seem... inexpressible and doesn't just make them coherent, but something lovable. Something that can be beautiful.

She can take some of the most isolating thoughts and use them to remind the reader that we aren't alone.

I get that this reads a bit dramatically but I don't know how else to put it. When I finished Book Lovers, I (jokingly) said that the entire book was an attack on me personally and Funny Story was very similar. There were so many lines in this book that once again made me feel like Emily Henry observed me personally and decided to psychoanalyze me. Witchcraft, I tell you.

Also, I said this in an update, but I could create a power-point presentation on the ways that Miles was based off of Dylan O'Brien which furthers my theory this book was written specifically for me.

I hope Emily Henry continues to psychoanalyze all emotionally traumatized readers for the rest of time. <3



Current Ranking:

1. Book Lovers
2. Funny Story
3. Beach Read
4. Happy Place
5. People We Meet on Vacation

"To all the queer people in history who have loved each other quietly, fiercely, and— too often—secretly. And to all the queer kids out there now, who deserve the happiest real-life stories, always."

This was a cute, cozy fantasy that suffers from poor marketing.

This is not 'thrilling'. It is not 'action-packed'. It is a slow-paced (yet quite short) novel about two friends, their possibly budding relationship, cats, tea, and the fae. More time is spent on their internal dreams and fears and wants and turmoil than any of the action itself, which I didn't mind - but I think it's one of the reasons this isn't getting more attention. It simply needs to find the correct audience.

If you're someone that loves period dramas and cats with hints of the magical woven throughout, I truly think you'd love this.

But if you're going into this book with the expectations of it being a thrilling heist with Holly Black vibes, you're going to be bored within the first chapter.

I had a fun time with it. It's not perfect, it feels a bit... dramatically stupid at times (with characters that don't ask any of the proper questions and then get surprised things aren't what they originally thought). I also think this would have benefited from being an adult book. Having the characters be 17 felt a little odd to me and I wish they'd been even a few years older.

Overall though? This would have been perfect to read during spring and I will definitely recommend it; I just think it needs to be recommended properly.