epsyphus's reviews
319 reviews

This is the kind of duo that I love. And the magic system— magic via cat’s cradle?? Hysterical, superb, I loved it. 

This was fun! I didn’t quite relate to/love the characters as much as I usually do with her other books but I feel that was mostly a byproduct of the book being YA. I loved T. Kingfisher’s world building as always though.  

Not in the mood right now. 

I was going to give myself a day or two to really think about how I felt about this book, but the more I thought about it throughout the day the more certain I am about how I feel about it. From the way it started, I think I expected it to be a lot more reflective than it was or maybe it was but just not in a way that felt very impactful to me, if that makes sense. I suppose I felt that the way the story was told with Richard's POV and the perspective of years having past was obviously very intentional but don’t know if I liked what it did for the story. I also didn’t think the whole Greek thing and how that supposedly framed stuff for them really landed for me. Ultimately I think what my issues with this book comes down to is that I couldn’t help but compare it to If We Were Villains and I enjoyed that book a lot more than this one. The atmosphere, the vibes, of this book were great but the characters and even the plot just didn’t engage me and make me feel they way that If We Were Villains did. That may not be a fair review I know, but it is what it is.  I’m glad I read it, but I can’t say I really enjoyed it. It just really wasn’t for me. 

I just don’t care about the characters and there’s a lot of them. 

It’s not holding my interest. I don’t feel like very much has happened for how far I am into the book. It feels more historical fiction/fantasy than I was expecting or really even like. 

This was so good. I put this on hold ages ago and was absolutely devastated when I judged poorly on how much time I would have to read it (it was an eBook copy) and it expired before I could get very far. But then lo and behold, an audiobook copy was magically available when I looked it up to put it back on hold. Basically all I did today was listen to it; her writing is just so captivating. I really love this World of the White Rat. I didn't realize it was all one world, that her paladin books and her clockwork series were all connected. I was going to read those too sooner or later, but dang I guess it's gonna be sooner rather than later. I would read this woman's grocery list. 

This was really good. If I let myself go back and change ratings, I would probably change the rating for The Love Hypothesis after reading this one. I enjoyed this one a lot more that her other book even though I did like it. This one felt more believable (although I do realize that’s not always the point of romance books). I think part of it was also that I liked or even related more to these characters. 

I had heard really good things about this one, but I felt a bit underwhelmed. I enjoyed the premise, the atmosphere, and the imagery, but I disliked how formulaic it felt. Like I didn't really feel a sense of urgency or drive at all from the characters. It seemed like the unfolding of the plot was just one event after the other without feeling very organic if that makes sense? Still, I'm glad I read it.

I was so nervous starting this behemoth of a series. Mom and even Lauryn (who is on like book 7) have told me I'd really like it and it's not that I didn't believe them, but I just worried it would be a bit too much like LOTR for me. Like I loved the world and the characters were intriguing, but I never really felt a whole lot of connection with them or I never really felt like I knew them. This wasn't like that; I really did feel like I was getting to know the characters and there was definitely a sense that they would grow a lot and I like that. It's probably going to take me several years to get through it (I mean it took 23 years to finish the series itself), but I'm determined to follow through on it. I liked it quite a bit.