apalershadeofwhite's reviews
244 reviews

I feel undecided about this book. Usually the bad moments feel nit-picky and the good outweigh them or vice versa, however with this book i just feel a bit... mid?

The first chapter was a real drag. It was stuffed with context that we really didn't need. I mean, it's the sixth book in the series... if you've gotten this far, then you know what's happened lol. It just felt unnecessary and word-padding (which is a common issue I'm having with this series). 

However, there are some things I did really like. Firstly, I loved the little detail of Nanny and Fairy Godmother making a pink and blue cake! It played homage to the Disney film as well as the previous book on Maleficent. Also, the 'Mourning Box' story about Jacob was so heart-wrenching. I could have read that part of the book for hours on end and I would read a whole book just about that tale.

Overall, the book is definitely not one of the bed in the series and I can see myself forgetting about reading it in the future.

This book was so freaking funny! I really loved Katerina's attitude and how we could see her settling into the mask she wears in her line of work. Also, Ivan was one of the best side characters, I really enjoyed the scene he was in. I also really liked the pacing of the book and how the chapters shortened as you progressed through the narrative. It really emphasised the urgency in some scenes and quickened the pace when things got especially tense towards the end. It was super effective and done really well. I also enjoyed that the author expanded from solely focusing on Katerina's POV. It was really interesting to get to know more about Winter, for example.

However, I did find it quite sad watching Katerina find more and more (and increasingly worse) reasons to leave this life, but those same reasons are why she CAN'T leave. because it puts her in danger. Now that she knows about how this world operates and became a part of it, can she ever leave? I thought it was a really interesting detail that all the men in high authority positions frequently ended their questions/sentences without the proper punctuation, like a question mark. It emphasised how much power these actually actually possessed and how they demand, not needing to ask for permission. 

(Side note: I noticed that any person in this shady business world that didn't speak English spoke Spanish instead. I don't know if this is an awful racial stereotype or just a language that the author is familiar with. I sincerely hope it is the latter).

Now, the book wasn't perfect by any means: some information seemed misplaced and felt like it wasn't really needed, and I also found some discrepancies and inconsistencies that did play on my mind while reading. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book. It was a really satisfying continuation from the first and previous book in the series. I just hope the next one is as good... Nevertheless, I'm excited to see how the next book will wrap up the trilogy.

My initial reaction to this book was very different to how I felt at the end. The first page, writing wise, was trying to be something it wasn't; in my opinion. It very try-hard literary with such an abundance of techniques that made it feel crowded and a bit substance-less. There were A LOT of metaphors used in the first chapter that felt a bit like a reach and clutching at straws, to be honest. You haven't got to thrust us into all of it like a high-schooler writing their first book, trying to include every literary technique they learned in their last English class. A specific example for me was the overly dramatic rivalry between Gamin and Bexley that was presented immediately. It was laid out in such an exaggerated and cliché way, even more a roman novel. It did make me roll my eyes a bit, not going to lie haha.

I found the romance element a bit predictable. You just know where it was going to go and how it was going to end. Also, there was barely any build up to the first 'are we still enemies?' scene, really. There was such a massive jump from our regular scheduled programming to the next chapter, where she wears a short dress and heels and suddenly he wants to snog her in the lift? No seeds planted, really... just sort of thrown at us haha.

It was a really funny book, though, to be fair, and I did really enjoy that element of the writing. One thing that made me laugh, though I don't think it was intended to be comedic relief, was that the author had no qualms using the word 'fuck' multiple times but used the word 'butt' during a slightly steamy scene... I would've accepted 'backside' but 'butt' feels so juvenile and made me feel like I shouldn't have been reading about two consenting ADULTS for a moment. No, thank you, ma'am.

(End note: no, I'm not going to comment on the Smurfs. I want to forget that part of the book even exists, to be honest.)

The fact that there was no traditional dialogue and punctuation format took me off guard, at first, but I did get a little more used to it the longer I read the book. I had a similar reaction to it when I read Bullet Train, but this entire book had no dialogue punctuation at all. It took me a second at first to realise when someone was talking. I got more used to it because a phrase would be followed by a comma and then "[so-and-so] said" and a full stop, but the phrase after that had me questioning and took me out of the reading flow. I was more often than not super confused about whether it was internal dialogue of the narrator or something a character had actually said out loud in the scene.

There was a very blurred line between writer and narrator, for me. I found that Frances often observed things like she already knew someone's secrets or hidden meanings, but it there was no way for her to actually know those things so the knowledge came down to the author projecting their knowledge onto the narrator. Most times a narrator is written in a way where the readers knows what they know, but in this book it's like Frances knows things but she doesn't know that she knows them or she shouldn't know them.

Overall, I found the first part of the novel quite bland and I wasn't really enjoying it. It took me a long while to actually get into reading it. I originally felt like I was just observing these characters that I was super interested in, like watching through a window. It did start picking up and I was interested by the second part, however, and I felt less detached and more involved in the narrative. I found myself thinking as I was reading that I could have easily put the book down and not come back to it for a while, which is actually what I ended up doing lol. But I did read part two in one sitting because it found it really engaging and evocative.

Despite part two being a wreck, not wanting to watch the awful thing/s happening but being unable to look away, it was melancholically gripping. It was emotional, biting, punching you where it hurt. These characters were feeling and going through these awful things that would make you feel sad anyway, but Rooney described them in such a way that was so real and universally felt. Sometimes they were put in the simplest of terms and sometimes written in the most beautifully sad prose within the entire text. I often felt my face get a little hot when reading what Frances, especially, was going through as I was more connected to her as the narrator. It was just so emotionally hard-hitting, part two.

I do understand the appeal of this kind of narrative. It felt real. I usually read to escape, so reading a book that is incredibly based on and in real life is not usually one I would pick up, but I'm a sucker for wanting to analyse the print and visual adaptations of stories so I decided to read this. I can still appreciate the plot and the writing, though. Reading it does feel like talking to someone and having a conversation (ha). There are sometimes things mentioned by the characters that really specific or usually aren't included or deemed necessary for a traditional novel. The characters would also sometimes say things that I didn't full understand, which reminded me of conversations with people where you pretend you know what they are on about just so you can carry on with the conversation and not feel stupid for asking. For example, Frances says "I was cold like a fish" in the middle of a paragraph about how her father had an alcoholic temper which took me off guard for a moment. It was just very real. I can definitely see the appeal of it, but it's not entirely my style because I like to really be taken into a novel and forget that real people exist haha.

The ending though? Vicious and mean and I hated it but I also loved it. The "come and get me"? So good. As soon as i read that line I was like, it better not be the end but then the next page was the acknowledgements and I cursed at the word haha. It was a great place to end but at the same time I wanted to know more still.

Throughout the entire narrative, I did enjoy being able to see all the different kinds of nuances of human emotion. I like that a lot in any kind of writing. The author didn't stray what was difficult, but it wasn't done in a disrespectful way. There were some uncomfortable moments but I think they were important to the overall story as it made sense with the writing style and chracters that Rooney had been building for the entire book.

Random notes: 
- I very much liked that a lot of the narrative came down to the little things. E.g. Melissa pouring "bowl-sized glasses" of wine to two strangers she'd met mere hours ago, or less, showed that she was financially stable and possibly even well-off.
- I really enjoyed the rapport between Nick and Frances. I think because they were both presented as awkward and quiet characters, especially in contrast to their extroverted companions, it felt very natural for them to bounce off each other.
- I found the immediate hierarchy between Bobbi and Frances that was presented to us quite interesting. Immediately we were given the impression that Bobbi was the dominant one in the relationship and Frances was basically a doormat lol. I think this contrasted super well with the fact that she ended up being quite bold and having an affair with a married man because Bobbi was upset with her for kissing Nick but she had kissed Melissa.
- I liked that the characters were all a bit morally grey, which helped push the narrative that this reading experience almost was like an actual conversation with friends. You don't agree with everything they do or say or think, but at the same time you still want to know what was going to happen.

(Note: take a shot every time I used the word 'sometimes' lmao.)

Overall, this book was so freaking good! I loved the premise, the characters, the execution... but there was one thing that didn't make this a 5-star read which is pretty petty of me, to be honest, but I think it's still valid lmao.

There were some really stunning sentences, metaphors, and similes throughout this entire book. Absolutely beautiful. I did sometimes feel like there were too many in a small space, though. Some of them felt a bit forced and included to try and be beautiful and thought-provoking, but sometimes simplicity is more telling. For example, on one page there were three similes/metaphors all of birds. They were each individually pretty, but there were so many in such a condensed space that it sometimes felt unneeded, unnecessary, etc. Some of the sentences didn't even need a linguistic technique and would have been just as good without them. A specific example being: the sentence "[a]n image of her mum making pastry for mince pies smacks into Lily's head like a robin into a plate glass". In my opinion, you don't need the simile; the word 'smack' is evocative and symbolic enough to insinuate painful or unwanted memories. Also, all of the metaphors and similes were Christmas or winter themed. Kudos to the dedication, but sometimes they didn't make as much sense as they could have if they weren't constrained to a theme.

Regarding characters, I loved Ronnie! He was the cause for a lot of the humour within the novel, which I think was a good choice to offset the darkness of the murder and death lol. I also loved Mrs Castle for her biting nature because she just did not give a shit, which also made for some funny lines.

The author is so good, based on this book, and I will probably read more of their stuff.

(POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD)

When it came to the plot twist (which in a sucker for), the hints were perfectly placed. I started to get suspicious of Tom because he was very attached physically to Lily while also constantly verbalising how emotionally attached to her he was. It happened so much that it started to feel like a diversion, but he was also the first who was attacked and did not succumb to his injuries, which was interesting. The other plot twist, about Sara and Tom made me a bit uncomfortable though, but it is DEFINITELY shocking and a twist, so I guess it works lol.

I had already read three of the tales in this collection after binge-reading the Shadow and Bone series: Little Knife, The Too-Clever Fox, and The Witch of Duva. Therefore, I already knew I was going to enjoy this book and I was right and then some! Bardugo is great at grabbing you from the very start of anything she writes. A lot of books aim to interest a reader through the first chapter or even the first page, but no one grabs your attention from the first line like Leigh Bardugo does. She is so good at what she does. She tells these amazingly intricate and insanely creative stories in a way that is so gripping and attention-grabbing, but also in a way that just hits you completely. These stories have morals that are quite common in fables and fairy tales, etc., but she writes them in a way like no other.

I think The Soldier Prince might not only be my favourite story in this entire collection (which is a big feat considering all of these tales are stunningly written), it may also be one of my favourite beings of writing of all time. I felt myself getting to emotional reading it, which I think was down to my emotional attachment with the story of the nutcracker more than anything else, but it was still an insanely good tale. I felt so nostalgic and happy reading this that I found my cheeks feeling warm and my eyes having a slight sting at the back of them. I grew up loving the tales of the nutcracker, from movies to the soundtrack to watching the ballet when I was a little older. The story was both on the surface - via content and visuals - beautiful but it was also stunning linguistically. Overall, it was just an indescribable experience to read it.

I also adored the last tale, When the Water Sang Fire (which we can all agree is a badass title). It was odd that it was chosen to be the final story because it was the longest of all of the short stories, and you often seen the tales get a little shorter towards the end of a collection. This took nothing away from the reading experience, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed this entire book and struggled to put it down when I needed to do other things and actually be a contributing adult in society lol. I will definitely be coming back to this book and rereading it, probably multiple times. The entire collection was just written so stunningly and it was so evocative. I love it. Completely.

This collection as a whole was pretty middle-of-the-road. There were some tales I really enjoyed, some I didn't like at all, and some that weren't bad but were pretty forgettable. It was especially a bit difficult to want to read in the middle, where a lot of the tales were pretty repetitive, but it did pick up a little towards the end. 

So many of the tales in this collection were basically the same story but wrapped in a different package! There was an insane amount of repetition with the content within the tales and most often had the same ending, just with differently named characters and a different locale. It made the reading process a bit monotonous.

Don't get me wrong, though, there was still some good writing in here! They just felt a bit like finding a pearl in the sea haha. I specifically liked the focus on symbolism and metaphors as I'm a sucker for these in any narrative I read. Although, there were a lot of grim (ha) inclusions in the tales that sometimes were a bit odd. There was, on the other hand, quite a few really funny bits within this collection. I'm unsure if they were all intentional, but they made me laugh either way so it's a plus.

There were, however, massive racist undertones. The tales often talked of women being "black and ugly as sin" but other being "white and beautiful" which was awful to read, to be honest. And I felt like all of the messages to girls in these tales were to just sit and be pretty.

I found that the overarching morals throughout the tales were: honesty versus deceit, selfishness versus compassion, jealously, and equality and equity.

This story is so beautifully melancholic. It's dealing with all these issues - personal, public, controversial, common - and it's done in such a way that you feel every ounce of it. You feel for these characters as if they were actual people you were having a conversation with, and it breaks your heart that someone could be going through things like these all the while dealing with them alone.

This book had  had such an freaking amazing start. Phenomenal, really! I really liked the documentary-style writing because it was super experimentative for me, but it also played into my sporadic habit of jumping down pages to read the dialogue lol. I think, on the surface at least, it's written in a really accessible way; I think even non-readers would enjoy this! I mean, you can't read the word "I'd've" and expect a formal piece of work lol. I think there's an initial worry with this kind of niche writing style, but TJR is a writer like no other and somehow manages it. What talent. 

However, although I think this novel is written in a really accessible way for readers and non-readers alike, I don't think it is very universal. I am definitely someone who thrives while reading more traditional writing styles and I think there's something so powerful in a good description; whether it be tension or the linguistic side of writing or even just being written in a beautiful way. It's definitely fun to experience with writing styles, as both a writer and a reader, but I think the power that description can have is personally an integral part of my reading experience.

With this writing style, as well, I think it draws special attention to the little things. Every single thing someone could say is important. You have to really look at what they're saying and see if it could possibly foreshadow or symbolise something else. For example, some things would seem like an insignificant detail to read in a book but is actually a significant narrative point or turning point in a documentary.

I really like the grittiness of this book though, which was enhanced by the setting and plot as well as the writing style. We got to see what love is like on tour, what relationships and friendships are like, with an insane amount of candour. It made for some shocking things, but also some really funny moments as well. (Side note: I'm sorry but the name Karen Karen had me howling.) An example I like is when Karen is asked to wear mini skirts and low-cut tops and she says "an ugly face isn't, you know, the end of a man". I love that we got deeper things than just the sex and drugs that come with rock and roll and touring; we're getting other things like social commentary, which is really well broached. (Side note #2: Warren is a pig.) For instance, Billy expected to be in complete control and when finally letting someone else have a say in the creative process, even though he 'didn't think he should have', he expected to be praised and rewarded for making people feel included.

The author's note actually took me so off guard! I was not expecting that. I think I forgot that despite this being a book, it is still a documentary-style writing piece on this band, so of course there's going to be a character who is writing it! And that plot twist was one I didn't suspect at all, which just shows that TJR is crazy talented and can even shock you in experimentative writing styles like this!