ebbiebooks's reviews
464 reviews

I don't mind the whole Jesus undertones of the Chronicles as I've encountered them as a child and didn't know much about that back then.

That being said, this one is very uncomfy, mostly because of the racist undertones. If you couple that with the Christian ones, it gets even more racist somehow. At least, when they get away for Calormen (just now realized the name, ehboy), it's a little less in your face all the time.

Overall, I also felt like none of the characters were likeable, except maybe King Lune, Tumnus and Hwin. Everyone was annoying in a way or another, first and foremost Shasta himself.

Now I'm still givin it a 3 because of the immense readability and the global vine of a tale that takes place in Narnia. It also somehow touched me here and there, when Aslan came and spoke to some of the characters, as his fluffy god-like papa energy somewhat soothed my grieving heart. In a weird way, I felt like he's watching over my friend whom I lost almost a month ago.

Some good goofs, but I was more into the last volume. Some of the chapters didn't hit as high or dragged on a little bit. Still top tier tho 

Meh, it was alright. Either I'm just not a deep sauced true crime girly enough or the way the book was structured didn't pull me in.

Two major parts: one with more action, one with more character development. It was a little shorter than the previous ones. It felt nice to go back to this story, and there were the usual funny bits here and there.

Not the best volume out of the bunch, though some of the mystery was unveiled and the love story advanced further.

It's ok, though I wonder why it's in the S series. Maybe it will make sense after I read the last 2. Or maybe because it's a module where players have to use more wits? Unsure. To me, modules of this era where all a bit wacko in how much players had to think to get away from certain death.

Noteworthy: the heating-metal room, the water membrane room, the rotating cylinder corridor.

I also like the idea of a lair in a volcano, and how the environment informed the terrain and intricate traps in some of the rooms.

To be fair, I've read this book while in a weird state of extreme fatigue, sickness and grief. So my reading experience was weird.

The end conflict is what saved the book for me, because at times, I was considering giving it a little less than 3 stars. Why? Because the dance between "the characters are intelligent" and "the characters are absolutely stupid" wasn't well balanced. I don't think it's that good of an idea to dance between the 2 anyways, or not in the way it was done here, because it wasn't really believable or felt too goofy ah-ah jokey-joke in a book that didn't exactly had that tone to it. And I'm not just talking about how the women are faking being lesser than, or how this specific secondary character plays on the perception people have of her as a simpleton. I'm talking about all the character, and most importantly the MC.

Geeta's growth is weird and a bit chaotic imo. I'm not saying character growth as to be linear, but the inconsistencies feel a little off at times. I wanted to slap her, but also a few other, a number of times, espescially when she's trying to lie. She's shown to be capable and stubborn, even in front of adversity, in the first few chapter. She even lie properly, yet afterward, she can't anymore. It's hard to compute why she falls back into a less capable state in the middle of the story, or else it's not written to make you feel something major happened that would make this earned.

Also, if you need to know if something bad happens to the dog (Bandit):

the dog doesn't die, though there is another death dog at some point, that is already dead when we get to it

I did like the parts where the women uses patriarchy to their advantage. The BEST parts are where they are confronted to a powerful figure or someone with autority, and are able to "charm" or talk their way out of a bad situation. And then the friendships are nice, the bonobo thing is too.

I want to say the story is lighthearted, but at the same time not really. It's hard to pinpoint where it lends tone-wise. I really think I might have enjoyed it more in other personnal circumstances. And I bet it's easier to enjoy if you get into it with the expectations it's not going to be super serious.

I'll have to go back and note the quote about things you have to carry, as I've read that part a few days after losing someone unexpectedly. In the book, it is about a more complicated kind of grief, but I could relate nonetheless.

I'm impressed at how the stories starts like a casual teenager being teenager story, and it then blooms into this commentary about race, motherhood, ethics, becoming an adult your younger self wouldn't have approved of, and such.

I'm going to check other books from this author. I'm not a big contemporary gal, but with this level of quality, I'm down.

I really really really enjoyed myself. Is this book perfect? No. But the smiles and little laughs I had while reading really made this a series I cannot wait to come back to. After a few new danmei by Seven Seas that were WAY too serious for me, this was a breath of fresg air.

It's both cute and funny, and I guess I'm one of the few that don't have contempt against isekai (because with a title like that, you know what to expect). It is very different from Scum Villain System, tho there is also a system "playing" with the MC. I guess I was predestined to like it since Scum Villain is one of my favorite too. But there's something more lighthearted in this one, even if there's some court politica and such. I just needed exactly this kind of story at the time I read it.

[Rating the first published volume for the whole series]

The early chapters are the best, but when the whole crime-mystery + past-life-mystery really got the center stage, I felt like the early feeling and overall vibe I enjoyed went away.
It's like the concept was so good, yet it got overly complicated.
As a whole, I think I've preferred "A Good Day to Be a Dog", including the conflicts and struggles of the later acts.

Another middle of the road. I think I've read this one before, though I didn't remember much of it. But the "mystery" was somewhat easy to guess quickly.
The relationship between Bosch and Anna is a bit boring, I hope she doesn't stay too long still. Maddie is the more interesting character at this point.
Also, I'm getting a little bit tired of the "morally gray" bits from Bosch, it's becoming less nuance and more of a caricature.