ebbiebooks's reviews
464 reviews

It was fine. I think my expectation might have been too high tbh. And I also kinda figured out while reading it that maybe the "friends to lovers" trope isn't for me.

I still had a good time reading the book, with a few ick inducing moments peppered throughout. Overall, it's sweet. There's maybe one or 2 sex scenes, but not super long and overall not ridiculously written either (like it's more tamed than Hazelwood imo).

I'm also a little bit "pissed" that we never really get the details on what actually happened to Poppy with her bullies. We do get some general informations, but never to the point where we can understand deeply why it was THAT bad, to the point it's still having an impact on the decision she makes for herself and her life. Like, I get bullying is bad and I wasn't lucky enough to not be bullied while in school, but as it's written, it doesn't feel bad to the extend it's supposed to be for Poppy. There's a disconnect, at least there was for me.

But yeah, I cried a whole lot as, somehow, it made me think about my friends, and the people I've lost in my life. The style of the writing is effective, and even though sometimes Poppy feels a little silly, it's not like she's written as an idiot either, which is nice. She does say/do stuff that annoyed me at time, but it wasn't too intense.

I might try another Henry's book, but I'll see depending of the tropes that she uses, since I've heard she has a specific recipe and I'm not necessarily down to read the "same" book another time from her.

I really enjoyed myself reading this first volume. I was on the fense as I've struggled with Thousand Autumns so much, I didn't want to jump back into a series that I would just drag until being able to finish it finally. But this one is nothing like the previous series, even though they share the same universe. The reviews I saw didn't lie about that, and I'm grateful for them.

I think the main thing this series has going for itself so far is that the author put way more funny banter and situtations to counterbalance the politics and otherwise heavy subjects. There is a similar dynamic between the 2 MC: a more arrogant and ruthless one v. a more demure and grounded one (tho physical less powerful). But Cui Buqu doesn't let Feng Xiao just toss him around, he fights back with strong words and schemes. He believes in himself and his purpose, which gives the dynamic a more equal battleground, and make things more enjoyable for me I think.

The fact the others characters are not just martial artist and their disciples, or royals, really give the story a little more breathing room imo. The background of the story is still politic-heavy, but there's some space for people to have lives around the higher up's battle for power and such.

I'm still cautious about being 100% on board with the series, as TA was fine on the first volume as well. But it was refreshing coming off of a not so great volume of another series and the end of TA.

It doesn't hold up to my fond memory of the first time I read it as a teenager. 

Now, part of it might be because there's no way I'm rereading those books with my eyeballs, I don't have the time for it. And I think the contemplative and reflexive style of Anne Rice doesn't suit audiobooks that well.

Another reason I think might have caused less enjoyment is that between my first and second read, I've seen the movie and the first season of the TV show, which created a false idea of what actually happened in the book. My "fond memories" might also be in play as I remember the 2nd book being far superior as well (we'll see in due time).

I guess, all in all, I don't much care for Louis as he's written. I remember not liking Lestat in this book, but since almost no one likes him, that would track. Claudia is the best thing, always, and it's a shame we don't get more of her. Armand is just there. Thing is, at least if I hated anyone, I guess it would have been a little better, but most of them didn't really elicit any kind of feeling, and then because of that, I started getting annoyed at them.

Plot-wise, it's a bit weak since it's mostly internal conflict with some action here and there. I knew I wasn't getting into a rambunctious adventure, but somehow in my mind, I thought there would be just a little more significative actions.

Still happy I've reread it as I wanted to revisit the original story after watching the 1st season of the TV show and getting into the whole Immortal Universe series on AMC. Imo, they did a very good job with the adaptation so far, including with their choice to give it more diversity. It's in New Orlean ffs, she could have done better, even back then. I'll probably reread Lestat at some point, and then decide if I get through the 3rd book and stop, or try to finish the series. Or maybe I'll switch to the Witching Hour (though god oh god, sooo chunky). 

Felt like an "in between" volume. Felt like not a lot happened, even with the whole volcano stuff.
Not a whole lot of Jusetsu either, which probably didn't help the volume feel more substantial as the main character is not that much in it from the start.
But hey, it's not a difficult story to read, and I fly through most volume, so I'm going to see it through the end.

The plot thickens, and again, I'm intrigued. I hope we get some kind of reversal, as in Yoshino gets more deranged and Kirishima gets more "normal". But the story feels unpredictable.

I'm intrigued. It's a good hook, as I want to know how things evolved further. Though I wonder if the unhinged act is going to grow tiring at some point.

It's over, and I'm glad I don't have to read another one. It wasn't bad, it just lost all steam after the 2 or first half of the 3rd book. And I wasn't super impressed by the first few book either. I don't know if it's the translation (though it's hasn't been an issue for me in the past), but I just didn't bound with the story and the characters.

The ending is meh. There a few bits here and there that I liked, namely the whole qinggong between the peaks.

The extra stories are never great for me in other stories, so it wasn't different here, but I cannot fault the book for that as I was already done with the series a while back.

I have no idea if I'm going to try Peerless, I'm going to check some reviews first.

For most of the book, I was pleasantly surprise and having a lot of fun. This book doesn't take itself too seriously and that's was a-ok with me. That being said, I was surprised as well to be sobbing at a very precise part of the story. 

But I felt that as soon as the relationship got stronger, and the sex scenes started, the story lost steam (weirdly enough). The predictability was getting tiring, the MC being to dense to see obvious things coming got on my nerve and the good things about the relationship got a little redondant.
And I think I also grew a little tired of the way the sex was described. The ending was a little lackluster as well.

That being said, I'm definitely going to check out the author's other books, as I did enjoy the unserious rom-com style of it all, while still being able to tackle deeper human emotions now and then (not always in the best way mind you, but I'll give it a W for a few stuff on that end).

I think it's the weakest one out of the Special series. I'm not the biggest fan of those modules to be fair, but this one somewhat lacked pacing more than the other. I needed some breathing room, as in literal rooms (or part of the caverns) that were not populated by a) monsters or b) dangerous wildlife or fungi. 

I don't mind that as much in Tomb, maybe because it was constructed from A to Z, instead of a series of caverns, which would have it's own microcosm on top of the stuff added by the mastermind hiding treasures inside. Mind you, there's some beasts, animals and fungi that coexists, but it's small pockets of 2-3. I'm not into the intricate setting of the last room either. The last few sentence regarding PC leveling, mediocrity of play and how those reflect on the DM was ew.

As a DM, the stuff that I would lift from this and use elsewhere are the diagrams at the end, maybe the magical boat, and that teleportation in different alternate location with a possible puzzle to go back to the place you came from.

As a player, I don't think I would like this module at all. Other than the difficulty of it all, I would feel like I have a hard time staying motivated to get through it.

I don't remember a lot from this part of the story. I know it's a fan favorite, though it's not my favorite arc of Balance. So I wonder if the fact that 1. I don't have a fresh idea of what's going on, 2. I prefer the first few arc had something to do with making me feel like it went by too quickly.
I also feel like there was a lot happening, with a lot of things that needed space visually, but it felt a little cramped at times. But that's issues I faced in other graphic novel & manga, so it's probably more a "me thing" than an issue with the book itself.

Otherwise, unless there's a very major reason, I don't see myself giving any of the books in this series lower than a 3.5 or a 4. It's a good story. There were some clever stuff, both visually and naratively in translating the audio format to paper. I also felt like I could feel more of Magnus anguish that way