readundancies's reviews
1686 reviews

This was not my favourite historical romance romp, but I still enjoyed my time with it.

The characters were likeable enough and the romance was cute but the mystery felt a bit too contrived to be comfortable. And the fact that the whole Lydia-Davis confrontation was not elaborated upon at all outside of its impact as a major conflict coming to a head was genuinely disappointing for me.  Davis in general was a bit of a disappointment for me and the lack of fluidity in the pace of the novel at times was jarring.

So yeah, not sure I’ll be continuing with this series but I also wouldn’t turn anyone away from it as long you’re okay with the knowledge that this of not 5-star material.

Whoa Nelly was this a beast of book and it was FANTASTIC. 

By page 339, I was of the mind that this was a 5-star read. And it may actually be a 5-star read. Because I was having all the vibes with this book. All of them. But I’ve been hurt by books before, so I don’t feel comfortable committing to that because yeah, basically I don’t trust the trilogy as a whole yet. I need the sequel NOW in order to see how things play out because my rating could shift based on the overarching plot and its execution. 

The reveal at the end was predictable. I knew it was coming, but I also kinda wanted that result at the same time, so I'm not overly bothered by it. But I’m also not sure I feel about that. The hesitancy in me is what prevents this from being a 5-star read. I’m like 99% sold, but that 1% left is really holding its own. 

It is also quite slow paced. Which was fine for me - I was digging it. It allowed for so much background and groundwork to be placed in such an effortless way - truly, it was wonderful. The first 200 pages were very foundational but it was also very necessary for the plot. It took a moment to settle in with the pacing being as it was, but now I'm that finished the story, I see the need for it now that I’m done. 

I loved ALL of the characters. The characterization was on point, the relationships and how they evolved and were bent and utilized was brilliant. Grey especially has got a revenge backstory waiting to be unleashed and it just breeds heartache and betrayal in the best possible way. And Ren? Oh Ren. She’s calculating and quick and cold and I live for it. She is the con artist grifter of my dreams and I feel like I've been waiting forever to find a character like her and connect so hard. Vargo on the other hand, is still so mysterious and such an unknown factor, I can't wait to get to explore his backstory and motivations more fully in the sequel, especially if we get to see how Alsius and him began. 

Which brings me to the worldbuilding and the spectacular political manoeuvring and machinations in this. I loved all of it. It was just working for me, especially with how it all is interwoven with the plot and the characters. Once the magic system and all of its fantastical wonder starts being fully explored in the plot? It’s magnificent. I don't quite understand all of it between the numinatria and the patterning but it doesn't even matter because I believe it will all come together in the end. That's how much faith I have in this author duo. 

And the plot itself? Is just so well structured. The end of each Part (there are 4) packs a fucking punch, and each Part has its own kind of mini-arc in addition to pushing the main plot along. And it’s perfection. The further I got in this book, the more I fell for it, and very quickly was in awe of how much this plot was just DOING IT for me. It was such a web; there’s so many threads underlying and twisting and combining and knitting and just genuinely getting all tangled, but it’s all with the intent to come out with a finished product that I cannot wait for. 

Some thoughts of note that came to me towards the end of the novel: 

-

Are we going to get an explanation for how Sedge has distanced himself from Vargo and the Fox Spiders?

- Someone is going to die in the next book I’m gonna be really sad about it.
- I really don’t like Sibiliat and I really think that she’s going to play a major role in the sequel. And that upsets me. Because I don’t like her. But that also means Giuna will have a large role. She’s been groomed by Sibiliat for some reason that is yet to be seen.
- Just me waiting on Vargo’s backstory.
- Ren’s vulnerability lies in what she does not know. With respect to her heritage and father. And that is her major weakness, which I think (hope) will be explored the in the rest of the trilogy.
- Vargo’s perspective does not divulge much of his connection to the Acrenix family, and that irritates me.

I cannot wait for the sequel. I impulsively pre-ordered it before I had even finished this one and have no shame in admitting it. Because I can't seem to stop thinking about this book, and every time it creeps up in my thoughts and I find my self thinking about it, I just get all these warm and fuzzies flooding my soul. This book spoke to me on a spiritual level and just fed my soul with all of it.
 
I cannot recommend it enough if you're looking for compelling characters, all of the political machinations your heart could desire, and a city that is alive as much as its inhabitants as it thrives on both magic and lies.

This one is for the readers who love a good road trip book, some heavy forced proximity, emotional baggage - A LOT of it, wedding-centric romances, messy characters that need to find confidence within themselves and supportive friendship and family dynamics that still have conflicts.

It was a quick read, it was a cute read, and I had a fun time with it. 

read this when it’s raining

let the words wash over you
let them pitter-patter down
around you
and surround you
with a wistful transcience;
where the laughing ephemeral endures to
meet the stunningly tragic

somewhere 
in a different choice
this story is written by the unrequited
and every key that exists 
unlocks only new cages

but you chose this instead

can you taste the regret or does the dream still linger?

-x-

this is story about 
all of the letters that have been left unsent, 
all of the suns that have never set, all of the seeds that never took root,
and all of the goodbyes that were whispered to the water moon

may the words that lie in all of our hearts never go unsaid

-x-

i needed this

This was a bit of mixed bag for me as a short story horror anthology. I was familiar with 8 out of 19 authors who contributed to the collection, and discovered 4 more who I had never heard of but will definitely be looking for more from.

For future me, these were the standout thoughts you had throughout the collection. If there's no notes, it didn't have much of an impact, or rather there was not much I felt needed to be stated about it. Also, this was read non-chronologically because of course it was, I - and I cannot stress this enough - am a chaotic mood reader.

Reckless Eyeballing | N. K. Jemisin: 5/5

Eye & Tooth | Rebecca Roanhorse: 4.5/5

Wandering Devil | Cadwell Turnbull: 3.75/5

Invasion of the Baby Snatchers | Lesley Nneka Arimah: 5/5

The Other One | Violet Allen: 4.5/5

Lasiren | Erin E. Adams: 4/5

The Rider | Tananarive Due: 3.75/5

The Aesthete | Justin C. Key: 3/5

Pressure | Ezra Claytan Daniels: 3.5/5

Dark Home | Nnedi Okorafor: 3.25/5

Flicker |  L. D. Lewis: 4.25/5

The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World | Nalo Hopkinson: 4/5

The Norwood Trouble | Maurice Broaddus: 3.75/5

A Grief of the Dead | Rion Amilcar Scott: 3.5/5

A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree | Nicole P. Sconiers: 4.5/5

An American Fable | Chesya Burke: 3.75/5

Your Happy Place | Terence Taylor: 3.5/5

Hide & Seek | P. Djeli Clark: 4.25/5

Origin Story | Tochi Onyebuchi: 2/5

I think I've discovered something about myself with this story.

While I can fuck with a miscommunication trope with the best of them, whether it be a lack thereof or just assumptions made without explicit verbiage being used, it's a conveniently inconsistent kind of miscommunication that just grinds my gears.

And the main character Denz was full of it. Same with his other half, Braylon.

Denz was MESSY. He had no sense of purpose or direction within himself, and had been perfectly fine just going through the motions and trying to meet the rather lofty expectations of his father and family as a prominent member of the rich and influential Carter family. I wanted to like him so much more than I did, which made reading his love story a bit of a trial and tribulation. 

Braylon, his ex, the love of his life with whom he had a rather devastating break-up with and whom never really gave him a chance to say his piece at the end of it all, was an introverted lonely man that loved few but loved hard and didn't really understand the concept of rules, at least not when it came to the agreement they had for their fake-dating scheme.

I just didn't love this one. The family relationships felt a little all over the place, and Kami and Denz especially never felt quite right as siblings. And while this story does a great job with discourse surrounding boundaries and lack thereof, I also felt like the best representation of them was with Kami and her secret boyfriend, who were not even the focus of the novel.

This just wasn't for me, and that's okay, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm bummed about it.

The Oceans 8 meets Blade Runner comps are not what I would consider to be an accurate description of this novel. Just because we are very much set in a cyberpunk setting does not mean we are getting a Blade Runner experience. From the Oceans 8 perspective however, we are fulfilled in spades.

But to be honest, I could've used more from the cyberpunk angle. Because while the setting and political landscape and the fact that the general society is chipped and modded is a major focus of the story, we don't really get to explore or expand much about it. It's the vehicle which drives the plot along considering the whole potential memory modification that Atlas is fixated on is the proprietary target of the heist with which the story revolves around, but I never felt it was a strong aspect of the novel as a whole.  

The characterization was decent. The story definitely wanted to focus on the relationships between Edie and their family especially Andie and , between them and Angel, and between them and the crew - whether it was Cy as their cybernetic cyborg cousin, Malia as their kid-sister adjacent child hacker, Tatiana as the young upstart runner who could take their place, etc. And it definitely does so in a way that valued all of the characters and what they brought to the table. But I also think because the story is so plot driven, that we don't really get a feel for some of the characters to the degree that I wanted to. But that sense of family and familial bonds was strong and I felt the deep-seated hatred for Tyler, Edie's brother-in-law any time he was on page. Not that it takes much to anger me on a good day, but still, emotion from me means the author is doing something well enough (or sometimes poor enough) to evoke it.

I will say, the representation in this novel is fantastic - it is unashamedly sapphic, and even though I never really came to enjoy Angel as the love interest, I definitely understand her and Edie as a couple. I think the romance was a little lacklustre for me because while it was prevalent in that Angel and Edie were clearly always thinking about one another, I never felt like it was focused on in the way I wanted it to be. And that's just by nature of the story - it was plot driven and about a heist so of course that was what was always at the forefront of the novel. And while it took me a hot minute, I found myself enjoying the Pidgin that was woven into the story by the end of the tale, and if this was ever adapted to the big screen I think it would hit even harder.

I didn't love the story, but I did enjoy my time with it and that alongside a truly gorgeous cover is still a win in my books.