ladyelfriede's reviews
158 reviews

 A reminder that when we lose it all, we never really lose everything.

Thank you Woolever for bringing this book to life, even if we can't bring it all back.

For what this book really is:
Think of it as a travel guide for when you're thinking of going to a place, take a look in this book. See what Bourdain thought. 99% of these places he loved (I would know, I watched his shows almost religiously that my parents wanted me to use that passion in STEM....yeah that didn't happen).
This is not a biography or autobiography, more of, Bourdain, his brother, and colleagues remembering their times with him and Bourdain himself, recalling what he loved about each place.
It's VERY important to read the introduction before reading the rest to understand what you're getting into. Otherwise this book seems lazy and half ass, when it's anything but.

Prose:
Book is split between black text (Woolever's commentary) and blue text (Bourdain either excerpts from his shows or "off-air").
It's like we're seeing a window into the past of what Bourdain thought with the aftermath, in black. It's a bit haunting to realize, we're not HEARING Bourdain, but reading the past.
Either way, whether he realized it or not, Bourdain was up there as being a master in 1st POV. He can describe food and experiences so vividly, you feel like you were there with him.

Plot: Nonfiction, so technically no plot, but it's a sort of travel guide

Pace: It's a travel guide, what do you want me to say. The pace does slow down a little when colleague's essays are inserted, but once you get going, they are emotional and you hit yourself that you shouldn't have doubted them

Vibe: Because he's no longer with us...it's...melancholy, but hopeful.

Characters: Bourdain and Woolever imo

Worldbuilding: Some lore to this book.
I'm not going to details how he exited life, just who he was at least to me.

It's somewhere around 2005.

I entered the most toxic hostage/relationship that it easily gave me PTSD after I exited it in 2013.

I was bullied in high school.

I never ate lunch as I was picky with everything that came on my plate.

My mom was out in the workforce, dad took the job of rearing us being a stay at home stock trader, but it was a joy that was not a joy but one of misunderstandings and rage.

And then there was No Reservations to greet me everyday.
Imagine, you see a new side of the world you were never shown in media, much less high school, and Bourdain's eating delicious food ( and what are usually cheap). From that point on, I WISHED i could eat that food, or not be too scared to eat lunch with people, though it did teach me how to sneakily eat in the library. Sorry, ladies.
He was the best possible distraction of the hand my life shoved in my hands.

I'm not going as far to say he changed my life, but he saved it.
Multiple times.

And we couldn't save him.

Woolever, thanks again for making this book a reality. As a writer, I don't know where my journey leads, I only wish I save someone else with my work, just as he did with me.

Thank you, Bourdain.

4.5/5 

 have no words for this book.

I want to rate it 5 stars SO HARD....but there's a little tick that I can't remove. I won't feel good rating this 5 stars if I feel like it didn't deserve it. It didn't.

This is simultaenously close to being one of the most emotional books while also giving a big L to women but somehow, giving non-binary a rep.

Lemme explain:

The CTA of this book is the MC, Yarnspinner, inheriting a manuscript that was so profound that it was easily the best thing he read. He wants to go to Bookholm, where everything book related exists.
However, Yarnspinner is determined that the author of his manuscript was a guy, not a female.

There are no humans in this book. Everyone is anthropomorphic animal or alien-like creature.
That's fine, but not a single IMPACTFUL character was female. At most, they were non-binary and were Hermaphrodites.

It's hard....it's so progressive and a REALLY great book but at the same time...not really.

If you push that away, this is still a fucking fantastic book that it was almost nominated Book of the Year.
I want to give the benefit of the doubt that Moers doesn't write like this anymore and includes females more but only time will tell. I'll still get Castle of Dreaming Books whenever that comes out.

Prose: It's in 1st POV but don't let that sway you away. This is easily the best case study of first person. Yarnspinner writes like a Victorian Englishman but not a pretentious one like in "Letters from the Deep". It's digestable, albeit long, but approachable. It's complicated, I need to study more how Moers does his prose, it's absolutely genius. .5+

Pace: Slow and then during a point, it REALLY starts going

Plot: Simple, Yarnspinner wants to find the author of a manuscript he inherited from his godfather.

Characters: The characters...are not that deep. Yarnspinner himself is naive and sort of a sponge to self-insert yourself into. As I said above, the -.5 is from the lack of female rep. If you're wondering why I'm not talking about ethnicities well...everyone we meet is literally a different species that there is no ethnicity problem.

Vibe: Books

Worldbuilding: Here, is why the book has 4.5 stars and not a flat 3.
Yarnspinner writes this book hundreds of years in the future, so the worldbuilding we get will literally be explained in exposition. He writes like you the reader are walking in the past with him and we learn everything at the same time as young Yarnspinner did, but he adds OLD Yarnspinner lore alongside this so we don't leave wondering. You would think this is yikes but it works so, so, SO well.
It's like you're reading about, not just Bookholm, but about the world, how it works, authors around us that you feel like you're in there with Yarnspinner as he walks in this uncanny city. He explains it like we're also discovering things along with young 70 year old Yarnspinner.

Not everyone will like this worldbuilding and I was about to DNF this 10 pages in but trust me....give it at least 30% before deciding if this isn't for you.

Don't let my gripes sway you, this is still probably one of the best books I've read even if this is 4.5.

Also let me leave you with this warning if you're still unsure:

THIS IS NOT A YA BOOK. DO NOT LET KIDS UNDER 16 READ THIS. I REPEAT.
DO NOT LET GR TAGS SWAY YOU, IT IS NOT YA, NOT BY A LONG SHOT.

4.5/5 

 This may be one of the best books I've read this year and we may have another Golden Sticks (tm) Book of the Year contender.

Rushdie was attacked on August 2023 and, while attacks on authors has been unfortunately around, it was the first time an Indian writer, that was known in the Western world, was brutally attacked.

All for an idea in a novel and a corrupted vision of what their religion meant to them.

Freedom of speech and ideas has never been more censored than what it is today.
Booktok, or any book community, HATES if you talk about ANY trigger warnings, even if done respectfully, but even if it wasn't done respectfully, that is no reason to murder or attack an author.
Social media scrutinizes anything that doesn't form to their own beliefs. Rushdie leaving Twitter was probably one of the best thing he did in his career.

In an age where ideas can be so widespread, it's absolutely shameful that authors have to think twice what they publish. Would this book be controversial? What if communities flame me? None of these questions should be even a thought in the 21st century.

I'm a firm believer that all ideas, whether I agree with them or not, should be published.

When we stifle ideas and speech, we die as a civilization.

Prose: This is a man who spent his life writing and he knows how to control his prose. If you're a writer and don't know what good prose is: just read this book. A master in his craft is at home with the word.

Plot: The plot is hard to judge here as I'm not versed in nonfiction all that well. For being one of the few memoirs I have read, it never bored me and always wanted me to keep reading.

Pace: As I said in Prose, this is a master at work, and he understands his pace, he doesn't care so much of his audience and how they would perceive it, as he so much cares how the work looks. But by doing this approach, he can focus fully on what makes Rushdie's work shine.

Vibe: Yeah, uh...this is a murder attempt, I dunno what you want me to tell you.

Characters: Names were sorta thrown about, but he does consider that you may never know who a certain writer is and does give a light introduction who they are before resuming his speech. In this way, he is considerate to his audience who may never have read in his circle of literature (me). Eliza and Rushdie are probably the strongest people in this book, and maybe IRL, and let no one tell you differently

Worldbuilding: As this is a nonfiction and not a fantasy book, I can briefly tell you some backstory that might help a reader understand this book better:

On August 12 2023, Rushdie was attacked with a knife in a lecture hall by a religious terrorist that read 2 pages in his book, "Satanic Verses." In the assassin's eyes, the author should no longer be alive to spew his filth.

"Satanic Verses" gave Rushdie a fatwa, an Islamic ruling by a religious leader. What makes this fatwa horrible though, was that the ayatolla of the time, Ruhollah Khomeini, wanted Rushdie assassinated for his book being "blasphemous".
Fast forward to 2023, the assassin was radical in his views and sought to bring his own sense of "justice" toward Rushdie.

Most of the Muslim world supports Rushdie and wanted the removal of the fatwa, but by the time anyone would want to remove it, Khomeini had passed away. Only an ayatolla who issued the fatwa, can remove the ruling.

-

I know I mostly review fantasy books and such, but this book, if you care a lick about freedom of speech in writing, needs to be read. It's a warning of what is to come and what we need, as a society, need to do 110% better than letting freedom of speech die in our words.

5/5 

 een meaning to go through this artbook for awhile and finally did

This is a reflection of what made Tan into an artist, his outlook of his art, and what his muses are.

I don't really have anything too reflective to say about it (I took notes, ofc). I can talk for hours about prose composition but not art comp.
I took one course in art history in college and can proclaim:

You'll find similarities to Monokubo and Tan as they both represent the human in creatures and monsters and questions what it really means to be one and how humans are a little like them than we realize.
Maybe Monokubo was inspired by Tan at one point or vice versa, it's hard to say. Either way, Tan has a way of making you pause and think with his work.

Whether he's the OG inspiration of Monokubo or the new is up to the viewer.
RIP Monokubo

4/5 

 I have a lot of beef and a lot of praise to the editor and/or Srivatsa himself in charge of this book.

One of y'all mother fuckers, idk who, should have been just a LITTLE bit more cut throat in paring down this book.
There was too much telling rather than showing us and allowing the reader to have a brain to piece things themselves. Not a lot of leeway was given to the reader to make their own conclusions and thoughts to the point it felt like this was a better audiobook than reading book if that makes sense.

Srivatsa CAN create a world and plot, that much is apparent, but the editor or author needs to be honest that not everything can be added a book. And that's a good thing! You want to respect the reader can make a conclusion or a thought.

Plot: Plot is ok and a bit basic with the standard plot twist thrown in. But it's a pretty straight forward story.

Prose: Most deductions come here. Too much thinking and coming to conclusion with character's thoughts that Amir himself could have deducted but the narrator doesn't have to do that. Let Amir pick up things, not the narrator. Also, the prose itself has too similar sentence structures with itself that it becomes monotonous to read through a chapter.

Pace: Steady, pretty slow in the beginning, sorta brrrrs to the finish line. There's no hurry to the pacing, even though the plot implies it but for some reason we're still kept at the same pace.

Characters: Minor deductions here. I'm not going to be too harsh on the characters because at least the MC is kinda done with everyone's shit and calls everyone out. It's actually quite nice to see MC done with passive MCs and calls people out in their BS. Perks of being a lower caste in this book. Everyone else is a bit one noted but props where it's due.

Vibe: We're in India, but it's not desert, there's jungles, marshes, cliffs, etc. He actually plays around with it a little and allows some creativity to go in towards the settings. If the map is not a hint towards this, idk what will.

Worldbuilding: Here is why I'm not dropping this to further than 4 (3.5 stars technically). Srivatsa CAN create a world, a good magic system involving spices, and make it interesting. He can create a vibe that you're in a spice miasma dream, however the prose style bogs down this dream that we lose some of it's charm. I want to think it's because Debut Syndrome and I won't lie, I had fun navigating this world he built. I just wish the prose could have been fixed to allow this book to really take off.

Now, if this doesn't turn you off, here's something to keep in mind.
If you're one of the neurodivergents that love to be told what character's thoughts, motivations, and feelings are, you WILL love this book as it does a good job of doing so.

It didn't hit off with me (I'm also a neurodivergent) because I prefer some subtle context to my books and not have everything explained in a controlled environment.

So go with this book with an open mind, you might need to look up some Indian translations (Idk why Srivatsa didn't do a translation for "pajama" but fully translated "chappalu" instead of just calling them sandals), but if you're not thrown off by the prose, it's a real cup of chai

3.5/5 

 I'm not giving this a rating as I skimmed most of it and what I could learn from it was varying.

I personally didn't like it, not for spoiler reasons, but the fact that Ng's prose is mildly.... Bad. I don't know what editor was in charge of her work but the amount of pacing, rhythm, and prose were so off that even if you could argue that it was all in a dream scape style, it made it HELL for the reader to go through.

Either Ng needs a new editor or she needs to read more books

X/5 

 surprised this was under the radar in the fantasy indie community.
For being on KU and was free during the Indie book charity sale, this was almost on par with Stang, AND it's a debut.

Pace: Slow like molasses until you get about 10% past then you slowly get your bearings and feel of the book and then it's a Rollercoaster. Have fun

Prose: The prose is the saving grace but also the reason I deducted a star. The Satire areas of the book were so good I'm surprised Werner isn't writing scripts.
Now... The action scenes... Are a miss. Half the time it was a little hard to imagine what was happening but I'm giving benefit of doubt that it's just debut syndrome.
There was also a weird instance of describing a boob that felt kinda icky too.
But again, I'll give him the benefit of doubt that it was not intended and he'll learn from it

Plot: Simplistic but does the job

Vibe: ostrich. That's the vibe. Also there's a splash zone for gore.

Characters: They're not the deepest, but they were a blast to see Quinn and Fergus go back and forth like a Manzai duo

Worldbuilding: not a book for deep worldbuilding, but the little we get was interesting. You'll see some crumbs of monarchy, journalism, Fergus being an Ostrich, and a little on Quinn

Very fun ride though and I highly recommend it if you need a break from serious novellas, here ya go

4.2/5 

 r/Fantasy - Review: "Murder on Hunter's Eve" by Morgan Stang | That Werewolf Needs a Bigger Brush
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Spoiler-Free Summary:
A werewolf is seen on the streets of Lamplight. Our intrepid quartet team is on the job to catch the elusive werewolf and bring peace to the citizens.

Side effects include dark humor and thunder.
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Characters and Terms:
Isabeau: The MC of our story. Hunts monsters for a living.

Evie: A detective for Waxwick Yard (the equivalent of Scotland Yard)

Penny: A living doll that cannot express emotions and is undead until she cuts through her mouth and releases her soul and truly dies. What a lovely character!

Mr. Homes: A significantly better Sherlock Holmes/Herlock Sholmes that I would die for him in a heartbeat. But also not a detective but a carriage driver for our team.

_________________________________________

Real Thoughts:
I won’t lie.

I was 100% going to bash this book to high heaven and back.

Why?

The dude has multiple Golden Stick Awards (TM) and I wanted to see if he really deserved a nomination this year.

I was prepared to go into this book being jaded and feeling like it won’t meet my expectations.

I wanted to knock him down a peg because he might have Sequel Syndrome.

...He still drop kicked me to tell me he did deserve a spot, the book did meet my lofty expectations, and I meekly told him “Good day” before trying to lecture him about Sequel Syndrome.

(Based on a False Story)

As you may or may not know, this is the 3rd book in the Lamplight Murders series and it changes the structure and pace compared to the first two books. Because of that, I was like, “Why is it so slow and meandering?”

Yeah, I’ll tell you why.

Do not mistake the slow start and different pacing. Let’s just say:

I started yesterday morning at 10% of the book done.

It was 5 AM when I finished it today.

Stang somehow maintained my attention and finished the book in 2 days flat, 1 hour of sleep be damned.

The problem with the first two books I felt I predicted a LOT of what would happen so the plot wasn’t the best part for me, but the vibes and worldbuilding were the stars.

However, that is not the case with book 3. Nearly everything is a star. Worldbuilding, plot is unpredictable, prose, you name it. If you had problems with Stang’s work before, he somehow fixed it and smelted it into mithril.

One thing he did differently in this book is the setting is no longer a closed environment. At first I wasn’t crazy about it, but, by doing it this way, we see a lot of the world than in the previous books. He talks a little more about this in his author’s notes but yeah, I would be welcoming to the idea of more open environments if I get this much worldbuilding, fuck yes.

To say Stang did better than the previous books is an understatement. He shoved them down a sinkhole and proclaimed “Hunter’s Eve” as his new best friend on a pedestal.

Hello, “Hunter’s Eve,” my friendship with “Lamplight Express” is over.

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Cover:
r/Fantasy - Review: "Murder on Hunter's Eve" by Morgan Stang | That Werewolf Needs a Bigger Brush
Elegant, but simple pattern of leaves and flowers, and reds and blacks. A similar coloring pattern can be found in his previous books.

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Prose:
A good prose should not jolt you out of the illusion that you are reading. Rather, it will streamline the words into your head where you forget you're even reading.

"Hunter's Eve" solves the problems of past books and improved immensely.

I want to say, at 5 AM reading this book, I may not be the best judge of this, but put an ill placed comma in between run on sentences and I just might go meditate in a bath of vinegar communing the spirits.

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Pacing:
Slow in the beginning, picks it up at XX%.

I'm not going to spoil the fun when you figure it out!

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Plot:
Without spoiling what will happen, the main premise is a werewolf on the loose and at least 3 people have already died.

As in regards of twists for a murder mystery...somehow Stang out does himself and makes it so unpredictable that a cynic like me would be surprised.

Go into it with the mindset of Isabeau, go out crying like Evie.

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Characters:
I do hope Stang does keep this page count as it does help balance the lack of worldbuilding and character development that we had problems in the previous books.

The characters are way fleshed out more, even the murder suspects, MCs, worldbuilding, nearly everything. For example, we get more info on Evie, not just her being a peppy character, but she's more than that. She's curious, actually gives a fuck, and can be seen walking around with a book if you just give her a chance, BRITTNEY.

Isabeau is...well, Isabeau, but we get more information on her backstory, how she was like as a kid and such.

So Stang, thank you for giving us more pages to explore these characters!

(SPOILER)

I'm just mad I have to wait probably like 5 books for Isabeau/Evie ship to set sail after the Annabel sunk faster than my future. I'm not a ship bitch, but the way Stang doesn't hyper focus on the romance and just leaves crumbs make it so refreshingly organic in development of feelings and relationship....Instead of "insta hump" in Study of Drowning...eugh.

_______________________

Vibe:
Think fantasy London, with fog and gaslamp.

Oh and a giant werewolf. Now with more thunder!

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Worldbuilding:
Thank Lady Constellation, we get more worldbuilding. Though it's more about Lamplight itself and the urban districts, but still, it's something. Hell, if Lady Constellation told me what she does in her free time, I'd be happy about that too.
But, we actually get FULL PAGES of a book about werewolves. You read this right.

ACTUAL PAGES OF A FAKE BOOK INSIDE A FANTASY BOOK.

Do you understand how long I've been waiting for an author to go past more than 1-2 pages on a fictional book?

Fuck, I haven't read many fantasy books about books that actually put pages of a fictional book in their novel. Baldree is the only other author I know that does at least a snippet of fictional books I'll never read in this dimension. (I still need to read "Library of the Unwritten" and "Ink and Bone" but still...)

That aside, our worldbuilding expands into info about werewolves, some info about the Ravaged Continent, the past, a little about philosophy of what happened in the past (oddly refreshing), and the urban underbelly of Lamplight. We also get a legend.

Though we don't get more info about other monsters, the Ravaged Continent, or the Nobles this time around, can't complain too much when the previous 2 books barely gave me a crumb to go off of. I'll take what I get.

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If you're on the fence whether to dive into Book 3, because Book 1 & 2 are so vastly different, I get it, but please, make the leap and get the book.

Yes, it's a little slow, but you will be rewarded with a ride I don't think anyone would have anticipated.

Well done, Stang. You made me fear of my own neck and fear snails again.

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Who should read this?
Read because this book is more satisfying to read than that $30 hardback book at B&N.

That book is probably shit, this book is $4 and has a living doll girl, murder, blood, and 100% less Twilight.

Ez.

Personal Rating:
5/5 

  finished this during Beryl and I barely remember it because this whole entire week was a fever dream.

4.1/5, that's all I remember that I wrote in my notebook 

Some things were too on the nose, so lowered rating as such

 "Solomon is not afraid to worldbuild and it shows in this work. However, they do focus on relationships a little too much sometimes that it detracts from the story, but a solid novella nonetheless.

Prose: fine, but Solomon does not think we remember things easily so they remind us of facts constantly that it got annoying

Plot: Without spoilers, it's simple, but decent

Pace: solid, it's not that long

Characters: mostly 2D, but the depth of characters are not the focus of this story, even though a relationship does happen, it's more of used a distraction

Vibe: Watery with an edge of darkness of the past

Worldbuilding: where this book shines is the knowledge of the wajinru, how they behave, act, and mannerisms that it feels like we are there with Yetu.
For being under 200 pages, it's a solid world they built

Go in for the mermaids, stay for the worldbuilding and vibes.

4/5