apollo0325's reviews
394 reviews

I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did, but I absolutely loved the humor throughout the entire book. I loved the cast, and I do want to continue the series, but I want to stay with this cast :(

I WAS SO UPSET WHEN TOBY AND THEN POLTRO DIED!!!!! They were literally my favorites!!!!!!!! The betrayal of it all… -.5 stars for killing my favorites lol

When he started coming up with scenarios on how anyone else but him could have killed his mother, I kept imagining the endings of Clue and then I could no longer take the book seriously 💀

T. Kingfisher aptly summarizes this book in the Acknowledgements section: it is a sweet story. 

Despite a little princess animating dead corpses and water dwelling sharp-toothed faeries.

Did it take me 8 months to finish this? Yes. Does it mean the book is bad? No, I’m just a big dummy who likes their fantasy fiction the most.

I might not be the target audience for a book like this as it is slow, thoughtful, and introspective, BUT I think there is definitely an audience for this series. I can totally understand why people love it due to its simplicity and the through-line philosophy, even if every story is SAD. Especially the last one. It’s not really a series for me though, and I’m satisfied with only having read this one.

This was an incredibly interesting and dark take on mermaids/sirens, and while there was a lot of science jargon, I didn’t find it too difficult to follow. I wish there had been more consistent tension throughout the novel though because I felt in between these really intense parts, the energy would die down. I also felt the intimacy scene was wholly unnecessary because once again: Why do people insist on having sex during life and death situations??? Why are you not more concerned or cautious?? Hello???

I would also like to point out something that isn’t the fault of the book and more so the fault of social media and reviewers: people keep saying this is a sapphic horror with killer mermaids and my monster loving ass thought they meant humans AND killer mermaids falling in love. That isn’t the case unfortunately. People can probably surmise this based off of the idea of a killer mermaid, but I wanted to put this out there for people like me who assumed otherwise.

Not really feeling this vibe right now but one I may revisit in the future

While this one was slowly paced, I really enjoyed listening to Mouse’s perspective, which isn’t surprising because T Kingfisher’s MCs are always compelling and interesting. The build up took a lot of time, but Kingfisher’s supernatural elements are so cool and scary fun. Bongo is the real MVP lol

After sitting with this, I did enjoy the world building, but I wish there had been less explanatory world building and more character world building. We got more of that after the 50% mark, but it was a lot of exposition prior.

I did enjoy the ending as it emphasized the central themes of the book in a horrific way despite anticipating it would happen. Predictable but enjoyable.

I was excited for this installment because I liked Alex whenever he showed up in Spoiler Alert, but I found the romance to be unbelievable and tiresome. While I found Spoiler Alert’s tropes to fit within the context of the story, the fic tropes used in this one (and actually acknowledged) was cringe at best and frustratingly simple at worst. I also found Lauren’s obsession with harpy/crone humor to be millennial cringe (I say this as a millennial). It was an annoying running joke.

I like Lauren and Alex as individual characters, but I literally don’t understand how/why they’re friends or why they love each other.

AND IM SORRY, WHY DID HE REMEMBER TO GET A TATTOO ABOUT A GIRL WHO JUST DUMPED HIS ASS BUT FORGOT ABOUT A WHOLE ASS TRIP WITH HIS BEST FRIEND???? Alex, what the FUCK, bro. That final interview also felt extremely unnecessary. I hate the fact that they got spontaneously married in Vegas lmao

this was so frustrating because of the wasted potential.

Powerful book about being Iranian, an immigrant, a creative, a thinker, and probably a kid with undiagnosed ADHD. The format was interesting but definitely felt some confusion on timing, place, and some characters (there are a lot!). However, this is a great book on the power of storytelling and how mythology shapes our own stories and purposes.