This was not quite what I was expecting. I think I was expecting something more along the lines of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, because people have compared them endlessly, but aside from taking inspiration from Russian folklore, the two books don’t have very much in common. Uprooted is a fairytale, albeit one that is lengthened and deepened. The Bear and the Nightingale is a historical fantasy that is historical fiction first, fantasy second. This book takes place in medieval Russia, then called Rus’. The daughter of […]
“Money pads the edges of things. God help those who have none.”
First, a confession. I can count on my right hand the number of books in my lifetime I haven’t finished. As a rule, I finish all books I start (even if it takes years). You never know when they will turn around on you. This used to be one of the few. I was in my last year of grad school at the time, and only got about 80% of the way through before our class discussion, and just . . . never got around […]
Go for the throat.
I was in just exactly the right mood for this. And this was just exactly the right balance of satire, genuine laugh out loud humor, and sneaky pathos that I prefer in my Discworld books. But, hey, is this really the last of the Witches books? Are they in the Tiffany Aching ones? I’m gonna miss these ladies. (Even Magrat. And hey, she’s not too bad now that she’s a mother. Much more forceful, and less of a limp dishrag.) Firstly, this is a clever […]
Generic, derivative YA fantasy in disguise.
Two things: 1. I wanted to like this. 2. I did not like this. I will elaborate. (NB: I waited a couple of weeks to actually sit down and write this review, because I was so aggravated while reading I was afraid my review would come out more scathing than the book deserved. I’m glad I waited. Rant reviews are fun on occasion, but I prefer to be more level-headed for the most part.) I wanted to like this because: There are not enough diverse […]
Harry’s long dark night of the soul.
See, this is why we need half stars. This book right here. This is not a five star book for me, but I liked it better than four stars, also, and feel weird rating it the same as other books I’ve rated four stars and enjoyed less. It is a perfect encapsulation of the 4.5 star book. So round up or down? Up or down? It is a terrible decision. Don’t read on if you haven’t read through book twelve. Spoilers ahoy. A little bit […]
This book only gets better the more I think about it.
This was so good, it made me cry. I’m still crying right now as I type this! Bawling like a little baby. And not because I’m sad! Just because it was perfect and I have all these feelings and they are leaking out of me without my permission. (Okay, some of those feelings are sadness.) I need to buy this book, and I need to buy it in hardcover (the endpapers are so pretty, and the deckled edges make me happy), and I need to […]
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