nclcaitlin's reviews
1731 reviews

Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson

3.25

Rysn is a merchant whom you might remember from in interludes of The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Oathbringer. She is tasked to sail the mystical lost island of Akinah where a ghost ship has sailed from bereft of crew by Queen Navani. 

She is joined by everyone’s favourite - The Lopen and a few other characters. 

Rysn has lost the use of her legs and must deal with other people handling her differently. She hates feeling useless or less and despises others assuming things about her and her ambitions because of her disability.

It is interesting how she must also deal with her new crews disbelief and irritation at her for taking charge of the voyage. 

“Yeah, maybe. But it's nice to make people laugh at you for something you do, and not something you can't control. You know?"

This one wasn’t as good as Sanderson’s other novellas and I wasn’t as enamoured with the characters or engaged by the plot. 

I would still say it is a necessary read between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War. 

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

3.25

Becoming the savior of a world of wonder and magic before you turn fourteen and then finding yourself standing right back where you started in the normal world can cause a problem. They can be hard for their families to understand, those returned, used-up miracle children. They sound like liars, peering through keyholes wishing to go back to their magical world, their new home. 

Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children is a school for those who have gone, and come back, and hope to go again.

Despite the troubled children and their upside down sense of normal, things are quite ordinary. That is, until a girl dressed in a wedding cake ball gown falls from the sky. 

"We're teenagers in a magical land following a dead girl and a disappearing girl into a field of organic, pesticide-free candy corn," said Kade. "I think weird is a totally reasonable response to the situation. We're whistling through the graveyard to keep ourselves from totally losing our shit."

McGuire uses a diverse cast of characters to interrogate our prejudices and attitudes. Why is ‘fat’ used as an insult? Why do we care about the flesh on our bodies and labels rather than what is underneath? For some, this might be the personality, the heart, or (in a very special lost child case) the skeleton. 

Not my favourite of the series as it felt too light and breezy, even in the darker parts - perhaps this was the point. It is primarily a story about a door leading to Confection after all. 

Jaded by Ela Lee

3.75

If you want to cry, scream, rage, and laugh on occasion, read (or listen as I recommend) this! 

Jade has shaped herself to be someone she thought was her happy ever after. Successful lawyer. Dutiful daughter. Beloved girlfriend. Loyal friend.
Then one night, a work event leads to fuzzy memories and inexplainable feelings. It is not long before Jade can’t hide behind ‘I’m Fine’ and must question her position as an employee, woman, daughter, girlfriend, friend. 

I think we have all had those situations where we laugh when we feel like crying, when we brush off concerns to just make it through the day.  Speaking as a woman, I know how to make myself invisible. As someone who is also British-Korean-Turkish, Jade has also learnt to change her identity to please whoever she's spending time with.

I played Twister with my personality, to see what fit best.

As someone who studied law in London, I completely appreciate the environment and competitive community Lee describes. 

I would say both myself and my buddy reader agreed that there were some parts that made us question Jade’s own ethics, moral standpoint, and values. It would be hard to discuss this without spoiling certain aspects of book, however it did make us ponder certain provoking questions such as what constitutes as racism, who can be racist, does skin colour grant you different privileges when it comes to making your own assumptions and observations. 

I actually thought this was a memoir whereas my buddy reader thought it was completely fictionalised and this made us view Jade’s actions in very different lights. 

In reality, it turns out this is a fictionalised account based on true events in Dallas.

For more information, or to find out how to help, visit Invisaid.com

I would definitely recommend this if you want something as eye opening as the memoir Know my Name. 

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

2.75

A feel-good book which is so outrageously funny, gay, and heartwarming. 

 

Patrick is known as ‘GUP’ - gay uncle Pat - to his  niece and nephew, but from a safe distance in Palm Springs home. But when tragedy strikes (death, addiction), Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. 

He is not ready to deal with two children and their baffling lack of snack etiquette and pop culture knowledge. 

While Patrick’s crazy antics are fun for an uncle, the two children are in need of support in processing their grief and father’s absence. It’s a delight watching him learn how to stop trying to be breezy and joke everything away and let his nephew and niece change him.

“Why do you like boys?” Grant asked sourly, but with slightly more boredom than judgment.

“I don’t know, why do you like pizza?”

“Because it tastes good in my mouth.”

Patrick wasn’t about to go anywhere near that.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I wasn’t in love with this. Patrick was selfish and even though this did decrease, his self-interest remained at the forefront.

I also think this was way too over the top. Perhaps that was the point - a hallmark Hollywood movie in the making with feel-good moments with glimpses of deeper grief.  

This was also used to excuse some despicable behaviour towards others (the whole interaction with his agent left me with a bad taste in my mouth).  

I need Neil Patrick Harris to play Patrick in the upcoming adaption. 

If you want a contemporary version of The House in The Ceruelan Sea, this is for you!

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

3.75

Whilst the House in the Cerulean Sea was like a warm hug, this was a strangling squeeze of reality partnered with a hopeful embrace.

With six children of varying shapes, sizes, and magical abilities, the adventure never ends. 

Told from Arthur’s perspective, our beloved cast must face the prejudice of the world and the trauma from their past to pave a better, more loving and inclusive future. 

Arthur set up the Island so that things would be different form his own abusive upbringing there. He pledges to give orphaned magical children what he never had: a place to be whoever they want to be, no matter what they can do or where they come from.

Now, Arthur is testifying against the government to show the corrupt system and highlight the changes that must be made.

As usual, Klune keeps a light tone with bright humour and scenes that had me giggling. There is also a lovely new addition called David - a yeti. 

But before he could finish, Lucy yelled in unfettered joy, "You can breathe fire? Holy crap, Theodore! Let's burn everything!"

"And that's our cue," Arthur said.

"This is what happens when you sleep late," Linus muttered.

Klune always writes his themes with a heavy hand. His on the nose approach is obvious dealing with the queer community, finding belonging, and standing against a passive, non-transparent, unaccountable, and untrustworthy government.  

In fact, Klune acknowledges himself as the Anti-Jk-Rowling. 

For some reason, the chapters were soooo long! There were paragraph breaks, but sometimes I felt starting a new chapter would have worked better.

This felt cathartic. A scream into the void surrounding a cerulean sea.

Thank you to Del Rey for providing me a physical arc (AHHHH) in exchange for a review.

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

4.0

They had escaped the arrival of a new devastating storm into Urithiru, legendary holy tower city of the Knights Radiant. 

Dalinar, now Radiant bonded to the Stormfather himself, is pressed to unite the world against the enemy faster than he can destroy.

They face the bringing of Voidbringers as more and more secrets come to bite them in the back. 

Our characters’s internal struggle is at the forefront of this instalment. They must face past choices they have desperately suppressed and forgotten. However, their spren are pushing them to confront their own demons before they can face Odium’s champion.  

"It's all good, gancho," Lopen called. "How hard can it be to learn how to fly? Skyeels do it all the time, and they are ugly and stupid. Most bridgemen are only one of those things."

Shallan is separating into three distinct personalities - Shallan, Veil, Radiant. She feels like a puppet feigning humanity, adopting a different face and facade to suit the people and circumstances around her. 

Shallan has been my favourite so far, but this book made my appreciation for her decrease. Perhaps this also coincides with a certain character’s reappearance (won’t name names as spoilers), but it makes her feel like a child. 

We learn more of Dalinar’s past and what he had forgotten. we learn more about the animal legend behind the now noble and honourable man

Kalladin, on the other hand, seems slightly more sure of himself compared to the other characters. 

“Always look on the bright side.”

“Logically," Shallan said, "the bright side is the only side you can look on, because the other side is dark."

THAT BIG REVEAL?! Woah. Whole perspective shift. 

Storms, Sanderson! How can this series continue shocking me?!

Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu

2.25

Enemies to lovers, celestial gods, magick, a doomed love prophecy. This will definitely be popular, but it wasn’t for me. 

For fans of The Book of Azrael and The Serpent and the Wings of Night. 

Elara is the Queen of Asteria following her parents death by her realm’s celestial god - the King of Stars following a doomed prophecy - Elara will in love with the King of Stars, and it will kill them both.

Before she is killed herself, she is kidnapped by her enemy kingdom - to use her as a weapon to kill a Star.

The Lion of Helios, Prince Lorenzo, must dive past her shadows to unlock her true magick.

’You know the most dangerous kind of villain?' she whispered. 'A woman with nothing left to lose.'

Personally, there were too many cringy moments. A seduction competition ball scene, way too many thigh slit gold gowns, seeing each others’ worst nightmares, ‘good girl’, ‘you can take orders’, sex scenes at critical moments….

I think this will be very popular for these very things, but it really didn’t work for me. 

Learning to trust, dark past and secrets, hidden trauma, slow burn, a hint of love triangle at the start… yep, there is a lot of troupes for people to love!

’Because Elara, I may be a monster, but you make me want to be a saint.'

The celestials are listed at the start with what they are known for (war, seduction, etc), but I acknowledge learning the distinctions may be overwhelming. 

Just because it didn’t work for me, I am sure it will find its right romantasy ‘burn the world down’ audience. 

Thank you to Viking Books for the physical arc in exchange for a review!

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

3.5

Jack and Jill descend a staircase and enter another world. 

Their parents (the worst ever) are only able to tell the twins apart by their personality.

Jillian was quicker, wilder, more rough-and-tumble and so is labelled the tomboy.

Jacqueline was slower, tamer, more cautious and was dressed as a princess. 

But each of them are pressed into moulds without considering their own desires so they end up wanting what the other had. 

Jacqueline wants to run, to play, to be free. Jillian wanted to be liked, to be pretty, to be allowed to watch and listen, instead of always being forced to move.

She had tried to make sure they knew that there were a hundred, a thousand, a million different ways to be a girl, and that all of them were valid, and that neither of them was doing anything wrong.

Marooned by the doorway in the Moors, they are each adopted by different men - the Master and the Doctor. The vampire's daughter, the mad scientist's apprentice.

McGuire knows how to get to the heart of the matter in such short novellas that pack such a punch and forces us to consider our conceptions and society’s perceptions. 

Children are not formless clay, to be shaped according to the sculptor's whim, nor are they blank but identical dolls, waiting to be slipped into the mode that suits them best.

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

4.5

The Everstorm comes…

Kaladin is now a captain, in command of the royal bodyguards for both the King and Dalinar, a controversial first for a darkeyes.  

Shallan had betrayed her mentor Jasnah Kholin, but they are both determined to somehow prevent the return of the Voidbringers by returning to the Shattered Plains to seek the relics of Urithiru.

Not to mention, the Assassin in White is striking again, murdering rulers all over the world, causing chaos with unexplainable skills. 

What is a woman's place in this modern world? … They consider themselves progressive because they are willing to challenge many of the assumptions of the past. They ignore the greater assumption - that a "place" for women must be defined and set forth to begin with.

Half of the population must somehow be reduced to the role arrived at by a single conversation. No matter how broad that role is, it will be by nature a reduction from the infinite variety that is womanhood.

We learn more about the spren and their connection with the Radiants and the new powers appearing in Kaladin and Shallon. 

Shallan really grows as a character. She is forced to by an event that happens early on and she is forced to grapple with what is truth. Is it a fact or is it shaped by humans? Our perceptions? 

Not to mention, Kalladin must decide what kind of man he wants to be. Will he let prejudice from his past and vengeance dictate his new truths? 

He saw it in her eyes. The anguish, the frustration. The terrible nothing that clawed inside and sought to smother her. She knew. It was there, inside. She had been broken. Then she smiled. Oh, storms. She smiled anyway. It was the single most beautiful thing he'd seen in his entire life.

I live for Shallan and Kalladin’a interactions. They are like bickering old-timers. THE SHOES! 

I honestly cannot decide whether I preferred this or Way of Kings… That is the sign of an incredible series. Please let it continue!

Chasing Graves by Ben Galley

3.25

Murder, a good old dose of death, and the sale of the dead.

Caltro, our main first person perspective protagonist, arrives in the city of Araxas and is murdered, his soul bond, and sold into slavery.  
Nilith is dragging the ghost of her husband who she murdered across the desert to Araxas to bind his ghost.

Other perspectives include the Empress in waiting, who is trying to remove the Emperor who seems crazy; and a vile soul trader with profitable plans.

Dark, gritty, and crass. This book is filled with hopelessness, swear words, and an all encompassing bleakness that makes a slave market for ghosts seem normal.

“The part of loss that cuts the deepest is that you never know which moments are the last until they’ve already been and gone. The last meal, the last kiss and such. What hurts is how it pales to the glorious finale you might have imagined.”

The audiobook definitely enhanced the experience, with great narrators giving distinct accents and tones. 

The ending felt slightly rushed and abrupt, but this is a first book in a trilogy. However, despite the unique world, I didn’t feel connected enough to the story to continue. 

The start of the book was the strongest where Galley gives the very city a personality and a wretched undertone.