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Kiwiria's February Fables
Mar. 1st, 2021 10:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiwiriaKald mig prinsesse - Sara Blædel*, 4/5, 320 pages
(Call Me Princess)
I could not put this book down! It was fascinating and chilling, because it could so easily happen.
My only beef with the book was that it ended too soon. I doubt I spoil anybody by revealing that they catch the guy in the end ;) but the book ends right when they arrest him. I would have appreciated another 20 pages or so - perhaps as an epilogue - wrapping things up. There were too few reactions to the identity of the rapist.
Kun ét liv - Sara Blædel*, 3.5/5, 350 pages
(The Drowned Girl)
Fast-moving and fascinating story, and full of twists and turns where even on my third read-though I couldn't remember all of them. It's an interesting book, especially because of the insight into so-called "honour killings".
Camilla still annoys me though - I really don't get why she and Louise are friends. I seem to recall this improving in the later books though.
Bear, Otter and the Kid - T.J. Klune, 2/5, Audiobook ~12hrs
Well, I guess it had to happen... the first T.J. Klune book I didn't absolutely love. In fact, I came very, very close to giving up on it at around the 80% mark. I know - ridiculously late, but DRAMA(TM) happened, followed by the mother of all bad decisions, and I just couldn't stomach reading it. In the end, my finishing it boiled down to a) me not being able to find a sufficiently spoilerific review to let me know how the drama was resolved (after 80% I wanted to know!) and b) me not being able to return the book to Audible. In the end, I listened to the last 3 hours at 1.5x speed as I wanted to do the opposite of savouring it. I'm slightly curious as to what happens next (this is the first in a series of 4 books), but meh... not enough to actually risk putting myself through something like this again.
Up until that drama I rather liked the book though. Wasn't in love with it, but liked it well enough, and could go either way in regards to finishing the series. Bear was more than a little inclined to angst, but with his history I couldn't really blame him, and the flashbacks and inner monologues didn't bother me as much as other readers. I was very unimpressed with all the secrecy and especially all the tension that could have been resolved if people would just COMMUNICATE ALREADY, but Otter and Creed were lovely, and very 'on point' for how T.J. Klune usually writes characters, and while the Kid was rather precocious, I've met 9-year-olds like that, so didn't find him too unrealistic.
But the drama... the drama was unrealistic, over the top and just badly done. And the worst thing is - THE MOTIVATION WAS NEVER EXPLAINED!! Bear questioned it... but then it just disappeared. Granted, it may be revealed in a latter book (reading the blurbs indicate that parts of the drama may be revisited in the next book), but that's just lazy writing.
So my review on Goodreads ended up with a few more spoilers than I usually include :-P
Reflections - Seanan McGuire, 4/5, Audiobook ~12hrs
I think I possibly liked this one a tiny bit better than the first book in the series... possibly because I knew what to expect this time ;-) I love all the reminders of fairy tales I haven't read in literally decades, and the hints Seanan McGuire throws at the reader along the way.
Sloane is definitely my favourite character (yes, even more than Henrietta), and I really appreciated the additional insight we got into her background story this time around.
Violet - Audrey Faye, 4/5, 153 pages
A very fitting final book in the trilogy. Book two is still my favourite, but the series as a whole makes for great comfort reading. I really liked Linus, and loved seeing how people opened up to him and were willing to make changes to meet his needs.
Stray - Andrea K. Höst*, 4.5/5, 273 pages
My fourth readthrough of this series. I absolutely adore it, and think it's a shame that so few people know of it. It would make for an awesome movie/mini-series!
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson*, 3.5/5, Audiobook ~9hrs
Not quite as enamoured by this as on my first readthrough. I loved the parts that were actually about Bill Bryson's walks on the trail, but wasn't quite as fond of all the tangents about the history of the trail... although I of course understand the relevance and importance of those as well. They just weren't what I was looking for at the time.
Books read: 19
Pages read: 3882
(Call Me Princess)
I could not put this book down! It was fascinating and chilling, because it could so easily happen.
My only beef with the book was that it ended too soon. I doubt I spoil anybody by revealing that they catch the guy in the end ;) but the book ends right when they arrest him. I would have appreciated another 20 pages or so - perhaps as an epilogue - wrapping things up. There were too few reactions to the identity of the rapist.
Kun ét liv - Sara Blædel*, 3.5/5, 350 pages
(The Drowned Girl)
Fast-moving and fascinating story, and full of twists and turns where even on my third read-though I couldn't remember all of them. It's an interesting book, especially because of the insight into so-called "honour killings".
Camilla still annoys me though - I really don't get why she and Louise are friends. I seem to recall this improving in the later books though.
Bear, Otter and the Kid - T.J. Klune, 2/5, Audiobook ~12hrs
Well, I guess it had to happen... the first T.J. Klune book I didn't absolutely love. In fact, I came very, very close to giving up on it at around the 80% mark. I know - ridiculously late, but DRAMA(TM) happened, followed by the mother of all bad decisions, and I just couldn't stomach reading it. In the end, my finishing it boiled down to a) me not being able to find a sufficiently spoilerific review to let me know how the drama was resolved (after 80% I wanted to know!) and b) me not being able to return the book to Audible. In the end, I listened to the last 3 hours at 1.5x speed as I wanted to do the opposite of savouring it. I'm slightly curious as to what happens next (this is the first in a series of 4 books), but meh... not enough to actually risk putting myself through something like this again.
Up until that drama I rather liked the book though. Wasn't in love with it, but liked it well enough, and could go either way in regards to finishing the series. Bear was more than a little inclined to angst, but with his history I couldn't really blame him, and the flashbacks and inner monologues didn't bother me as much as other readers. I was very unimpressed with all the secrecy and especially all the tension that could have been resolved if people would just COMMUNICATE ALREADY, but Otter and Creed were lovely, and very 'on point' for how T.J. Klune usually writes characters, and while the Kid was rather precocious, I've met 9-year-olds like that, so didn't find him too unrealistic.
But the drama... the drama was unrealistic, over the top and just badly done. And the worst thing is - THE MOTIVATION WAS NEVER EXPLAINED!! Bear questioned it... but then it just disappeared. Granted, it may be revealed in a latter book (reading the blurbs indicate that parts of the drama may be revisited in the next book), but that's just lazy writing.
So my review on Goodreads ended up with a few more spoilers than I usually include :-P
Reflections - Seanan McGuire, 4/5, Audiobook ~12hrs
I think I possibly liked this one a tiny bit better than the first book in the series... possibly because I knew what to expect this time ;-) I love all the reminders of fairy tales I haven't read in literally decades, and the hints Seanan McGuire throws at the reader along the way.
Sloane is definitely my favourite character (yes, even more than Henrietta), and I really appreciated the additional insight we got into her background story this time around.
Violet - Audrey Faye, 4/5, 153 pages
A very fitting final book in the trilogy. Book two is still my favourite, but the series as a whole makes for great comfort reading. I really liked Linus, and loved seeing how people opened up to him and were willing to make changes to meet his needs.
Stray - Andrea K. Höst*, 4.5/5, 273 pages
My fourth readthrough of this series. I absolutely adore it, and think it's a shame that so few people know of it. It would make for an awesome movie/mini-series!
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson*, 3.5/5, Audiobook ~9hrs
Not quite as enamoured by this as on my first readthrough. I loved the parts that were actually about Bill Bryson's walks on the trail, but wasn't quite as fond of all the tangents about the history of the trail... although I of course understand the relevance and importance of those as well. They just weren't what I was looking for at the time.
Books read: 19
Pages read: 3882
