souplover2001's reviews
263 reviews

one of my favourite books and an absolute pleasure to have it narrated by tatiana maslany! for her audiobook debut, i think she did an very good job and captured katniss' voice quite well

will also revisit! need to take some more time with this especially with the pov

will revisit, been too long since i picked it up that i would not remember the plot

unfortunately have lots of thoughts since i read this for a book club and i’ll start by saying that it was just,, okay. lol i don't want to nitpick and mention all of the little things i found to be annoying so i'll try to condense all my thoughts into more general opinions.

i thought that the plot was a little predictable, but it was entertaining and–for the most part–fun! as an adult novel the writing was juvenile at times, egregious in others, and the punctuation use throughout the novel sometimes made me wonder if the story had an editor. had a terrible case of telling, not showing and the dialogue was also incredibly contemporary. i was picturing a sort of ella enchanted (2004) type of world that mixes fantasy elements with real life

i mean they had fantasy wooden hip abduction machines LOL

so the contemporary language worked in some cases, but it really did make it hard to suspend my disbelief sometimes. also a lot of expletives that were a little jarring to get used to. as a fantasy novel, i thought the world building was on the poorer side and wished there was better exposition—loved the dragons though! as a romance novel, i don’t think the main relationship was developed enough for them to be proclaiming their love for one another by the end of the book, especially since i know this is a series. i would have liked for it to have been more fleshed out over the course of several books because for as horny as violet was, i think there was a lack of intimacy between her and xaden and the vulnerability between them felt a little forced. 

hated dain and loved tairn LOL and will probably watch the amazon series when it premieres because i DO want to know what happens later on but don’t think i care enough to read through another novel written like this. i think the story/writing would work better as a screenplay and i'd hope that it will improve upon some gripes i have with the story.

one thing that pleasantly surprised me though was the way violet's chronic illness was treated. i didn't know she had one going into the novel and i wish yarros would have gone in depth (something i found myself wishing often) on how she initially got sick and how it affects her life other than just been "small and fragile and weak" but i loved the bit with

tairn's saddle! i thought it was a great way to address violet's disability and thought what tairn said to her during that scene rang very true when discussing accessibility

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one last thing though completely unrelated to the actual book that i need to complain about but to every reviewer that calls this a "grown up version of the hunger games" i implore you to read more books like CMONNNNN you cannot be serious😭 a grown up version of the hunger games is still the hunger games😭😭 i don't ever want to see her catching a stray when compared to this like... the hunger games has actual themes!!! if ANYTHING this is grown up divergent........

hold at library expired :( but also had a hard time following the plot w the diff narrators and wasn't focusing too much when listening. will revisit though! i think the plot and characters were interesting so far

"Yes, we did many things, then – all Beautiful..." 

interesting reading the works of Sappho from a another translator and seeing how her work differs!

felt like i was being too mean w my last review but not anymore! feel vindicated bcos the descriptive writing DOES hinge on the pov of the character which i hate but wtv. had more fun than just for the summer and realized also that i am reading this series out of order lol

i throughly enjoyed this and i AM going to read every book in this series LOL it's a 4 in my heart for characters and plot but unfortunately i have too many grievances with the actual diction used and descriptions 😭😭 the most egregious writing examples being

maddy unironically using the word "unalived" and a terrible, terrible passage where emma describes her outfit for the day that feels like it was taken directly from a wattpad novel written by a 13 year that had me SO floored because her outfit was just like. a white tshirt and leggings that very much did NOT need a description of it

. also. idk i think that while the first person pov helped to develop the voices for the main characters, but i feel like it also rly inhibits the descriptive writing :/

beautifully written n woven together. thinking a lot abt my own family especially reading this while in the philippines....

another one of those books that i wish i could have read and discussed with an english class.... beautifully written and i thought the narrator was interesting and had a strong voice! i liked looking at sokcho through her perspective and the themes of identity and aesthetics explored through her relationship with the town itself, its residents, and the guest

if my french reading comprehension ever progresses past that of like. an 8 year old i would love to read it in the original language!