ebbiebooks's reviews
464 reviews

It's cute, and it's fun.

The only thing I would say against it is that the two MC undervalue themselves to the point of misunderstanding, which gets a little old towards the end. 
Otherwise, I would understand if, for some people, there's too many deux ex machina happening. I didn't mind too much myself, it didn't hinder my enjoyment.

There are a few things this book did right, and I won't say you get sucked into the worldbuilding and universe (luckily), but there were so many issues as well.

Namely, good God is this book pretentious. The series is as well, let's be honest and I don't think it's a surprise to anyone, but it usually has enough stuff: actions, tensions, intrigues, etc., to balance it so it doesn't just feel like people sniffing their own fart for too long. And boy does this book is long. Sure, there are a lot of pages, but a good book should feel long. Once you're out of the tigers attack, the enjoyment has mostly left the building, and everything is dragged out (except the ending conflict, but I have other issue with that). I get that scifi and existential reflection or philosophy or wtv are closely linked, but at some point, this felt like the characters(/author?) were mainly just yapping and having long-winded intellectual masturbatory monologues in their head or at each other. There was some kind of proselytizing vibe to it all, and if anything, that is NOT the vibe ™ 

I knew there was going to be some sexism. Dune is a product of its time, but also it was never unproblematic. That being said, at some point, I'm going to try to find an article or a study about how many times women are portrayed as cunning-dangerous or some kind of potentially malicious being (when they're not just fukin kinda stupid-ish and/or more prone/fragile to becoming evil, if not straight up evil) instead of the many misunderstood geniuses, unknowing prodigies or intuitive and capable brutes of the series. It is kinda so funny to me that this series is build around the Messiah trope and everything, yet it doesn't subvert it that much. It does dance and battle with the trope, sure, and it's not copy-pasting it, but sometimes, I do feel like it gets lost in its own sauce. Anyway, regarding the oppressive issues, I guess at the very least, the queer and fat people have been left alone in this one.

Now, when you add to that the few pages at the end where the author talks about writting the books, and put it next to last book's intro from Frank Hebert's son (I'll never forget this level of clownery), I have to say I think both of them are cringe and weird. We'll see if I still read what they write in the other books of the series or if I can look away instead of being morbidly curious.

Last thing, the ending conflict was a bit boring. The issue I had with it is that, usually, you'd expect a cool showdown, an over the top fight, a conveluded "feint within a feint within a feint", some kind of explosive stuff. I would have been fine with a subdued Poirot-like "ah-ha" moment as well tbh. But it was a bit... too easy? There is a fight, kind of an echo from the first book ending, but the tension isn't there. There's no wondering if things will turn out fine, no space for doubt that would keep things interesting. The die had been cast a bunch of chapters beforehand, and the result are already in. The main enjoyment was the pathos in Alia's situation + her mother's reaction. But that stuff has already been hammered in a few times before, so it felt kinda flat.

Now, if the book has that many problem, other than the universe being what it is, why did I give it a 3 still? Mainly because the first few chapters were amazing. The showdown between Alia and Lady Jessica was absolutely my shit. The tigers conspiracy was also very good, including how the "behind the scene" stuff from the conspirators (knowing and unknowing). I'd even say there are a few chapters after the attack that were good as well, like the whole interogating scene on Salusa Secundus, with the wires. What the book did good, it did great, and I cannot disregard that. I just wish it would have kept at it a little more, keeping this kind of treasonous tension up high instead of giving it to smaller player doing their master's bidding. The level of danger got affected by that choice. And hey, I understand it cannot always be high-stakes all the time, but I'm pretty sure Leto's PoV could have been cut in half without losing that much of the plot.

So yeah, I'm at the point where I'm going to read the next book in 2025, but if it drops lower than a 3, I might reconsider finishing the series.

I wish I didn't know the plot of this one, but it was adapted to the TV show so I knew how it would play out. However, while reading it, you can understand why it was adapted, as it's one of the good ones out there. It was a fun change of pace as the last few Bosch books were so-so for the most part.

I enjoyed how the investigation and the court part were woven together with Mickey Haller being part of the story. Also enjoyed that Bosch wasn't as morally gray as in the previous few. He's still a cops-cop, but him working for the defense and acting as a PI made the "cowboying" easier to swallow as it wasn't part of a bigger corrupt institution. The fact the bad guys are cops might have played part in the story not rubbing me the wrong way all the time as well.

I'm interested to see where we go from here. I haven't read this far in the series before, so it's going to be new territory, except for the few other story adapated for the TV show that might pop up. But it's still going to be interesting to see how it fit with Bosch not being a cop anymore. Also looking forward to seeing more of Maddie.

Is this the best non-fiction about race? I'd say no, but it's damn good.
This was not my first rodeo on the subject, nor with this author, and yet it didn't felt like it was a "beginner's guide", but it wasn't too advanced for beginners either.

The author is skillfull at presenting her chapters with real life example, real life talking points, advices that can easily be applicable, etc. I was pleasantly surprise at how much I felt like I've been given actual tools to take action in my day to day life, which is something I think is hard for most people, be it newcomer in discussion of race that want to do better, but even people that have been having these discussion and are still struggling. The author doesn't shy away from her own struggles, which was really helpful to put into words many things I've been feeling and experiencing, recently and in the past. 

I'll have to go back an annotate more of the book, because I've read this through audiobook while being on walks and running outside, which wasn't the best for me to be able to highlight. And on top of said advices and tools to use, I've actually learn some new things and angles on how to approach "difficult-er" discussion with well meaning or left leaning people that use, sometimes without realizing it, very high level mental gymnastic to justify them talking over or taking all the space in discussion about race, or reproducing some of white supremacy more subtle discourses to keep people divided. Notably, I really like how the model minority chapter was presented. It's a subject that is easy to quickly gloss over with the usuals (it's harmful, it's too much pressure, "the leopard ate my face", disparities in success and wealth within a seemingly homogeneous group, etc.), but I liked how, after these were presented, we also got more about how it's a tool to keep racialized folks divided by either making them put all their energy in an alienating moving goalpost game or telling PoC that those model minorities don't care about them and never will. I'm not paraphrasing it super well to be fair, but when reading this part, it made me realize something big, just like when you first learn about internalized hatred.

Ijeoma Oluo has a style that is lively and intimate in the sense that you feel like she's talking to you like a friend would. I think I prefer this one over Mediocre, even though Medicore is a super important book as well. I'm really looking forward to "Be A Revolution". 

A bit too lore-dumpy, like almost a whole (very long) chapter towards the end  is just lore, which gave this volume a very meh ending.

Otherwise, it was more focused on the two main characters this time around, with a small side thing about Chu Shuzhi and Daqing.

We sure get to know more about Kunlun, but it's weirdly paced. It's not bad, the vibes are similar to the first volume for the most part, and there's some very funny stuff peppered in. I hope the last chapter bring it all together.

The only reason it's not getting a 5 stars is that it didn't feel like one in a very arbitrary personnal way. If I had to give a less "it's not you, it's me" reason, I would say the ending is a bit easy, and the last competition had some plot issues between the getting the soul part and the prize that was to be won. But those are minor details.

Otherwise, in a more "it's not you, it's me", I'm not a music story girlie. I don't mind music centric stories, I just I'm not super interested. I don't mind them when I'm already reading the thing, but I won't go out of my way to choose a book about music. Music centric fictions kinda always feel a bit the same to me. What felt a little different here, which I liked, is the way some people playing their violin could almost create whole universe in the mind of the people listening. It was more than the usual "you remember the scent of X and the way your granma's cookie tasted", the writing went deeper, where musician could suck you in their memories at times, for example.

Anyway, to me, the real strenght of this story isn't exactly how music is portrayed, but how the struggle of every character is explored, how there wasn't many secondary or even tertiary character that didn't feel fully fleshed out and whole. Yet I didn't feel like I had whiplash from jumping POV, it didn't feel unnecessary (even when it maybe was). I was absolutely interested about each and every one of them. I also really enjoyed how aliens met earth demons, like hello? that's a great idea! It's not relevant until it is, so it's not a huge focus of the book, but it's creative and fun.

I'll be keeping an eye on this author for sure

The whole Usopp story wasn't my vibe, and I also feel that volumes where one story end in the middle or so, then another one start are not my favorite. It still has the One Piece flavor to it, but I'm getting restless for either more goofiness or more overarching stories, where all the background stuff is more solid. Still enjoyable, just not the best volume so far.

I feel like a lot happened, but also not that much. It also feels like the story is still trying to find its footing, it's not completely grounded yet.

Otherwise, even though I love political intrigues set in ancient times, I sometimes have a hard time with all the people and their names. It was a little easier here than in other danmei series of the same style I've read before, but still hard enough for me to be confused at times, confusion that never really gets resolved but I still can follow the overall story fine.

I also have a harder time to grasp what kind of character Shen Zechuan is, compared to Xiao Chiye. He's more transparent to the reader, to be fair, even though he cultivates a false image in the story. Maybe the mysterious aspect of the story, behind the motivation of Shen Zechuan actions, is a bit too mysterious in the first volume for me to understand the basic of his intent. Other than maybe revenge for people who were harmful to him after the whole sinkhole thing, but you get hints here and there there's something more behind it.

I'm motivated to continue reading, but I'll try to keep it at 2 volumes and drop it if it doesn't improve, because no way I'm reading ~7 books of a so-so series.

It felt a little bit like the book was trying to do too much at the same time, and while we were doing those other things, it seems the investigation didn't have enough space to expend properly.

I'm also not always sure if the authors is trying to tip toe the line of "this is not ethical, and it's written to make you feel uneasy" or "this is not ethical, but it should be because the ends justify the means". Like I'm never completely sure if Connelly is more than copaganda. Bosch is flawed, but most of his gray stuff are rewarded or shown as him looking out for others, etc. It used to be less uncomfy, but I cannot say yet as I feel it could have a larger implication a few books forward.

It was better than other volume in the series, but not top 10. Just ok.

I was wary at first since I'm not having a great time with Stars of Chaos, from the same author. But this one is more my cup of tea. 

The urban setting is still heavy with fantasy, as there's a paranormal element to it that ties into the 3 realms and cultivation and such.

The character have a more lighthearted vibe to them, as even when there's tension or obstacles, their banter and jokes lift up the mood. I also feel like I have a better grasp of each character, that I know who they are more than in Stars of Chaos.

I'm puzzled as to how Guo Changcheng is going to come in play later. It was a bold move imo to start the book with the spotlight on him when he's not a main character.

I might check out the live action when I'm done, I'm intrigued to say the least.