columnclub's reviews
506 reviews

This was bizarre and I'm absolutely sure it will be memorable. I thought the beginning was weak – it feels like it's setting up a YA romance, and the worldbuilding feels shallow before we meet Mouth – but it evolved from there into something much more layered and interesting.

There was something really charming about this one. I'm still mulling over how I feel about the ending.

There were parts of this that I really liked, but the central romance(s) were not my cup of tea at all. If I'm being honest, I got the ick a fair few times. I also found this structurally the weakest of the trilogy, with an awful lot going on that doesn't leave much room for developing crucial characters like Deka and Shahar. It was a satisfying ending, though, particularly with the short story about Oree.

don't look at me


Real review: Some of the extra characterisation is nice, especially with Bodhi and Jyn. I'm not sure if this is a symptom of how and when it was written, but there are some scenes that fell oddly flat compared to the film, unfortunately including the really iconic Darth Vader scene at the end. The humour also never seems to quite translate. I think the best written scenes are the ones where there's no direct film comparison, like Krennic's POV and Jyn with her cellmate, probably because the author isn't having to work prose around a pre-existing script.

 Somewhere between 4 and 5, but I think I'll enjoy it more on a second read. I enjoyed this set of characters a little more than those in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but the structure didn't feel as tight, which made it a less cohesive read for me. 

Good fucking food

I really enjoyed this, on the whole. The characterisation was a strong point, particularly Amina herself, and I loved what was done with Jamal. I'm personally not a fan of modern slang or phrasing in historical settings, so sentences like "Let us check it out" were a bit jarring to me, but it was still a fun and refreshing read.