laedyred's reviews
279 reviews

I'm lucky to have had opportunities for therapy, thus a couple chapters were repeats for me. But the other 9-10 chapters have genuinely changed my life.

I needed this. I feel genuine change. 

Tragedy in its finest.

I needed this, needed a hug in a book that reminded me of the struggle arguably we all have at some point. I feel happy sad. I am aware that this is a series, but I had hoped for a bit more exploration in the philosophy discussed between Mosscap and Dex. I will be picking up the next one. 

A lot of the writing is nicely done, but doesn't make up the most well crafted prose I've ever read. The lack of real plot or character development isn't made up for by the writing, so I found it uninspiring to finish. I didn't dislike it, but have no strong feelings either way.

Why do I do this to myself, why do I finish series I don't like knowing I'll be disappointed. This was terrible, let me tell you why: 

Elspeth is a wet rag and somehow still the most interesting character. Ravyn is boring and they have no chemistry. I could not care less about Elm and Ione's shoved in "romance" justified by one line where Elm claims to have loved her for years. Basically they bang after he has a vivid description about relieving his sexual tension with an abundance of other women. You know, way after it was established he didn't have "women's clothes all over his room". 

Tell me how the only mildly intriguing part of this series - the Nightmare - was dragged through the mud with stupid rhymes instead of developing the relationship he has with Elspeth. In the first book he was cringey and insufferable, in this one he could have been the only thing to save the "plot". 

God, why is everything so convenient? Need a card? Stolen with one swing of a sword. Find the source of the mist? Wow, the trees just parted for us! Unkillable villain? Just...kill him anyway! All of it is too easy, there are no stakes until Gillig decides suddenly that, oh no!, it's the day of the solstice and there's no more time! Just go with it. 

I'm sorry, you expect me to believe no one found out about the Maiden card's secret for 500 years? Or that the answer to the riddle to save everything was something so painfully obvious even from the first book that not a single character noticed? Jesus christ. 

It's a shame the series is so painful to read because the Deck and lore of the Shepard King could actually be decent. But why wasn't every card's power shone off instead of scythe, chalice, mirror, scythe, chalice, mirror, fucking kill me, scythe, chalice, mirror... Gillig dropped the ball on every occasion to make this halfway redeemable. 

This series could have been a standalone and cut 600 pages and yet, it would still be trash because the writing is a disgrace. The masterful craft of a 12 year old's education. The books aren't even labeled as young adult and have almost every horrid trope associated with it. 

Did I read a different book than everyone else? I actively do not recommend this series. 

Side note: the plethora of typos confirms my thought that there was no (reliable? At all?) editor for this disgrace.

So many things I like. A few I don't. Sonia and her family are compelling, but most of the analysis (including the comparison of Hamlet to the political situation) just scrapes the surface. I wanted more from Sonia, even though I liked an older (by literature standards), experienced woman as a protagonist. 

I wanted more from the symbolism and a deeper delve into Hamlet's actual lines; I really like that they're translated back into English from the Arabic translation. I'm lucky to have studied Hamlet many times before and feel it would have been worth the exposition to fully grasp Hamlet's significance in the allusion.

The ending.

I'm disappointed to see Sonia still wanting Ibrahim after his confession of a wife. But concluding with the question of Sonia's return and soldier intrusion on the play/demonstration was satisfying BECAUSE it was all so uncertain.

I recommend this book to most fans of literary fiction, with a push to theatre lovers who will enjoy the references to acting training.